WWE – Monday Night Raw

WWE – Monday Night Raw

I am a major fan of WWE, if you’ve read this blog you would know. I’m a newer fan, having revisited it for the first time in twenty years. I just like the escape of it, it is a fun television show without any serious consequences that you can let play in the background. If you miss a week, who cares? It’s easy to catch up. I will admit, the new stuff isn’t quite the same as the glorious Attitude Era with Stone Cold Steve Austin and De-Generation X. This is more PG rated, but the production, performances, and wrestlers themselves are very talented. Probably the most talented in sports entertainment ever.

The venue for the taping was in Cincinnati in the Heritage Bank Arena. First off, this place is a total dump. I sat down in our seats and my feet immediately got stuck to the floor. I was wearing my El Dorado boots so I wasn’t too happy about that at all. What irked me is that show hadn’t even started, meaning this was old, really old spilled soda on the floor. You don’t hear many complaints about the arena though, which is interesting, because it’s really hampering the city and region. Its small size limits the types of shows it books and the state of other public venues really highlights how much of a refresh it needs. I’d suggest razing it and starting over, possible in a different place. There is no need for Cincinnati to jam everything along the river as it limits the radius around it for parking and makes walking take forever. Never sure why Cincinnati does that with all of its stadiums – they do realize that you can’t build a parking lot on the Ohio River right?

The show started and I soon realized that this was a live taping of a show. I know that sounds self evident, but there were commercial breaks and the lights would dim, stagehands/talent would move around, and the action would start again. If a match went through a commercial break, the performers would noticeably take breathers and slow down the action. To note, this was my first ever WWE Raw taping. Yes, I know it is a TV show, I guess I expected it to be a wrestling show first. I get it, its live and nobody wants a lot of action cut out during commercial breaks, but it felt weird. What was odd though was that the crowd clearly knew what to expect and how to act. Going forward I will probably know the same as I expect to go again – and I definitely will go again.

Overall – I got what I wanted. I only hoped to see AJ Syles and Rey Mysterio Jr. I got my wish as they battled each other in an electrifying match. I got to witness two surefire future WWE Hall of Famers perform in what could be their last few years of professional wrestling ever. Finally, you can’t visit a WWE taping and not get a t-shirt. They had these show specials advertised during commercial breaks – the one that caught my eye was a Steve Austin 3:16 Cincinnati shirt that I had to order for the upcoming Super Bowl. That shirt is really one of a kind and I am glad I bought it.

Monday Night RAW Taping - Cincinnati, OH
Monday Night RAW Taping – Cincinnati, OH
Monday Night RAW Taping - Cincinnati, OH
Monday Night RAW Taping – Cincinnati, OH