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WWE RAW HOLT REPORT (Happenings Off Live TV)
OCTOBER 2, 2017
DENVER, COL.
REPORT BY CURTIS SHANKS, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
Hey guys, I sat front row and attended the Denver Raw event and thought I’d share a few live HOLT notes.
I have done floor seating at the Pepsi Center for a handful of WWE TV events prior, although I attended with my fiancé who was seeing her first live show. We sat hard camera in the very front row (I was the nerdy mark in a Dalton Castle shirt).
Lots of “Woooo” chants and dualing “Let’s go Cena / Cena sucks” chants before the show started.
Overall the crowd seemed louder and more into this show than previous Denver shows I’ve attended, although they are only here once or twice a year so it’s hard to compare exactly. I felt like there were fewer chants overall, but more crowd noise than in years prior, so not sure how it came off on TV.
MAIN EVENT TAPING
(1) Heath Slater beat Dash Wilder.
(2) Rich Swann & Lince Dorado vs Noam Darr & Tony Nese.
Not much of a reaction for anybody (I wish that wasn’t the case), but the matches served their purpose of warming up the crowd.
RAW THOUGHTS
The Las Vegas remembrance went over well. Very quiet in the arena, which is sadly rare since there are always a few disrespectful people that want to “woo” or catcall during moments like that.
Roman Reigns got a 50/50 mixed reaction, but everybody reacted in some way, so that’s a lot more than can be said about some of the Cruiserweight guys or lower card guys.
A few backstage segments were a bit hard to hear, but the Elias segment was horrible. We couldn’t hear one word he was saying on the mic.
I had a sign front row that said “I DON’T LIKE TATERS.” (Inside joke with my fiancé, I just don’t like potatoes). A stagehand came over to me and said “What does your sign say? I’ve gotta take it, it’s irritating Vince.” I guess Vince likes Taters. The crowd around me had a good time over that and gave me plenty of ideas for a sign to bring to Smackdown to show Vince I still hate them. Haha.
The Kalisto reveal went over FLAT. Zero reaction. Which is sad because I’ve liked the guy ever since his Del Sol indy days.
POST-RAW DARK MATCH
(1) Finn Balor beat Bray Wyatt. Bray got a good pop since he didn’t actually appear in person on Raw. Balor also got a good pop, despite us seeing him once already. It was a street fight, but the standard by-the-book five minute match match to send the crowd home happy. A few kendo stick shots and a few reversals leading to Bray going through the table, taking the Coup De Grace, and the pin.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, a great time, especially seeing the joy on my fiancé enjoying her first WWE experience. We are attending Smackdown front row again tonight and hoping for just as much fun.
I suspect that Vince wasn’t sure if ‘taters’ was a shot at an ethnic group or a regional name [like Hoosiers]. I can’t thin of one but I’m sure that was their logic. Draw a potatoe on the sign next time.
Vince probably thought it was a shot at Roman Reigns for that stupid tater tot line he said in one of his promos.
The Kalisto reveal was funny on tv. Unintentionally funny, but he is a borderline jobber. I don’t see why anyone would care. I am not surprised it was a flat reaction.