SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE Raw TV Taping Report
April 25, 2016
Hartford, Conn.
Report by PWTorch Livecast listeners Will & Joey
– Raw went off the air with A.J. Styles and Roman Reigns in the ring and Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on the floor. After Styles and Co. left, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho ran down to the ring to attack Reigns. Dean Ambrose then ran down to make the save for his ol’ buddy Reigns. There was no match, just the post-match angle to send the crowd home happy.
– It was a casual-heavy audience in Hartford. The construct of the card led to the majority of the audience disinvesting since the match formula seemed to be extended heel dominance from lukewarm characters (Sheamus, Rusev, Alberto Del Rio, Stardust), cutting off the face’s cool offense and athleticism. This started with the Superstars taping pre-Raw, which carried over to Raw.
The opening segment involving the McMahons really did suck the life out of the building, as Shane told Stephanie.
– The main match the audience really cared about was Sami Zayn against Rusev because of the pre-match video highlighting the Zayn-Kevin Owens relationship and feud that everyone could relate to. It resonated with the general audience.
– The tag team segment involving New Day, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and The Vaudevillains also resonated with the audience. The teams seemed to be the most over of the night, along with Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose.
– WWE’s attempt to get a reaction for Roman Reigns seemed to back-fire. The general philosophy of any reaction being a good thing killed the casual audience’s reception because they were not given strong characteristics to latch onto.
– Damien Sandow got a big reaction for his appearance before his scheduled match against Baron Corbin.
KO ran to the ring? Was Jericho kind of walk-jogging and KO running? I don’t really see how they both RAN there.
I would say it’s more figurative than literal. You could say they came down to the ring, ran down to the ring, made their way down to the ring. But, I get what you’re going for on the visual being striking! [JC]