Post by J12 on Mar 4, 2012 22:05:07 GMT -5
Just getting home from the Raw House Show tonight in Bangor, Maine. Had a fun time and a pretty neat experience beforehand.
Let me preface it by saying that, unfortunately, I didn't get to work ring crew as I initially thought I would. I filled out and returned my paperwork and had my itinerary in hand, and then WWE changed their schedule on Wednesday night. I got a call informing me that load in had been moved from Sunday morning at 7:30 to Saturday night at 5:30. Both my friend who was doing it with me and I had to work on Saturday evening and it was too late to get it off. Unfortunate turn of events, but perhaps I'll have the opportunity again someday.
I had been following a lot of the superstars on Twitter throughout the afternoon and was excited to find that most of them were pretty damn excited about being in Bangor. This city has a lot of history for the McMahon family and it tends to rub off on the crew when they come up this way, which is usually only once every couple of years.
The most interesting was Chris Jericho. Some of you may have seen that he tweeted a picture of himself sitting outside Stephen King's house reading one of his novels. My friend I drive by King's home every day on the way to class and figured we'd swing by quickly before heading to the arena to see if Jericho was still out there.
As we drove by, we saw a car parked across the street, and sure enough, Jericho was sitting in the driver's seat, reading "Under the Dome". We continued driving and contemplated whether or not we should stop and say anything. I went back and forth with it for a few minutes. I really didn't want to be rude and bother the guy, but at the same time, selfishly I thought about the fact that Jericho has been my favorite wrestler for well over a decade, and I may never have a chance to meet him again.
We decided to pull up beside him on our way back through. I unrolled my window and just said "Hey Chris, sorry to bother you like this, but I just wanted to say hello - I've been a huge fan for a long time and I didn't want to miss the opportunity."
He was very cordial and joked about the fact that he hadn't been sitting there the whole time, he had come back to get another picture. He almost seemed embarrassed that somebody caught him. He asked if we were heading to the show, we said yes and he told us he was taking off too, he was probably late already. I didn't bother asking for a picture, as much as I wanted to. I had a hard enough time working up the courage to approach him the way I did. I thanked him for talking with us and we drove away.
The show may very well have been sold out. It was the best turnout to a Maine show I've seen since 1999 during the peak of the attitude era. Having both John Cena and CM Punk on the card probably didn't hurt, either.
Because of run in with Jericho and the horrendous amount of traffic and construction going on around the arena, we arrived a bit late and got into an unbelievably long line. As a result, we missed the first two matches, which were...
Brodus Clay defeated Michael McGillicuty
Kelly Kelly defeated The Bella Twins (Eve walked out on Kelly)
We arrived and took our seats just as the third match began -
Xavier Woods defeated Curt Hawkins
I could tell right away based on this match that the crowd was going to be hot. They were eating out of the palm of Woods' hand for this quick, but entertaining bout. Hawkins played his role well and Woods was pretty impressive.
Jack Swagger defeated Mason Ryan to retain the United States Championship
Ryan got a huge pop to start things out. Crowd was solidly behind him the whole match. Lots of basic house show pandering. Ryan showing off his muscles, Swagger trying to respond by doing the same. Ryan gets a couple of near falls but Swagger eventually counters a move into the Ankle Lock and Ryan taps out.
Chris Jericho defeated Kofi Kingston
Match of the night, without a doubt. Jericho cut a promo about being the Best in the World, and demanding that everyone in the building take off their CM Punk shirts, or he'd have them removed. Kofi and Jericho pander to the crowd for about ten minutes before really getting under way. Very solid, well-paced 15 (or so) minute match (25 if you count the jocking for position stuff to start it out). Kofi rolls through the Walls of Jericho, misses the Trouble in Paradise, Jericho locks in the walls. Kofi breaks free eventually and connects with Trouble in Paradise. Jericho gets his foot on the ropes. On his way back up, Jericho rakes Kofi's eyes and hits the Codebreaker for the win.
Justin Roberts sends us to intermission.
Primo & Epico defeat Santino & R-Truth to retain the Tag Team Championships
Fun match. Plenty of comedy from both Truth and Santino. Primo & Epico play the typical heels. Much of the match was built around trying to get Rosa to interfere and slap Truth, but they kept getting caught. (Rosa looked fantastic, by the way.) Santino eventually gains the upper hand, attempts to use the Cobra, but gets hit with the Backstabber for the three count.
Quick John Cena/Rock promo shown on the screens.
John Cena defeated Kane in a Last Man Standing Match
Pretty basic stuff. Cena uses the stairs early on to try to take out Kane. Kane hits Cena with the ring bell, the microphone, and a chair. Cena keeps getting up. Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment on a chair, Kane gets to his feet by nine. Cena brings a table in the ring, props it in the corner. Kane counters Cena and throws him through the table. Cena eventually gets up, meanwhile, Kane sets up another table in the center of the ring. He tries to chokeslam Cena, Cena counters and delivers an Attitude Adjustment through the table for the win.
The ovation for Cena was pretty damn thunderous, and I thought it'd be impossible to beat. Turns out, I was wrong.
CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship
Justin Roberts announces that Chris Jericho will be the special outside official for the match. Punk comes out and the place absolutely explodes, you could tell Punk was genuinely enjoying himself. He had a ton of fun tonight. Ziggler tells the crowd that if they don't stop chanting for CM Punk. he'll leave. He tries, but the referee begins counting him out. Ziggler returns, and Punk chases him in and around the ring for several minutes before they ever even lock up. Very fun match, evenly paced after the initial parading. Ziggler pushes Punk into the referee late into the match, the ref spills to the outside. Jericho takes his place, Punk locks in the Anaconda Vice and Ziggler taps immediately. Jericho refuses to acknowledge the submission. With Punk distracted, Ziggler takes advantage. Eventually, Jericho sneaks back in and gives Jericho the Codebreaker. He pulls Dolph on top of Punk and counts, but Punk kicks out. Punk kicks Jericho in the face, hits the GTS on Ziggler, and the ref returns to count the three.
Post match, Punk made a lap around the ring and slapped/shook hands with anyone in arms reach.
Enjoyable show, and I'm glad the talent seemed to really enjoy their time here. Punk tweeted how pleased he was with the crowd shortly after, which was pretty damn cool to see.
Maybe we can get a TV taping down in Portland sometime because of this.
If anyone wants to see pictures, I took a ton. I can get some up here once I upload and sort through them.
Let me preface it by saying that, unfortunately, I didn't get to work ring crew as I initially thought I would. I filled out and returned my paperwork and had my itinerary in hand, and then WWE changed their schedule on Wednesday night. I got a call informing me that load in had been moved from Sunday morning at 7:30 to Saturday night at 5:30. Both my friend who was doing it with me and I had to work on Saturday evening and it was too late to get it off. Unfortunate turn of events, but perhaps I'll have the opportunity again someday.
I had been following a lot of the superstars on Twitter throughout the afternoon and was excited to find that most of them were pretty damn excited about being in Bangor. This city has a lot of history for the McMahon family and it tends to rub off on the crew when they come up this way, which is usually only once every couple of years.
The most interesting was Chris Jericho. Some of you may have seen that he tweeted a picture of himself sitting outside Stephen King's house reading one of his novels. My friend I drive by King's home every day on the way to class and figured we'd swing by quickly before heading to the arena to see if Jericho was still out there.
As we drove by, we saw a car parked across the street, and sure enough, Jericho was sitting in the driver's seat, reading "Under the Dome". We continued driving and contemplated whether or not we should stop and say anything. I went back and forth with it for a few minutes. I really didn't want to be rude and bother the guy, but at the same time, selfishly I thought about the fact that Jericho has been my favorite wrestler for well over a decade, and I may never have a chance to meet him again.
We decided to pull up beside him on our way back through. I unrolled my window and just said "Hey Chris, sorry to bother you like this, but I just wanted to say hello - I've been a huge fan for a long time and I didn't want to miss the opportunity."
He was very cordial and joked about the fact that he hadn't been sitting there the whole time, he had come back to get another picture. He almost seemed embarrassed that somebody caught him. He asked if we were heading to the show, we said yes and he told us he was taking off too, he was probably late already. I didn't bother asking for a picture, as much as I wanted to. I had a hard enough time working up the courage to approach him the way I did. I thanked him for talking with us and we drove away.
The show may very well have been sold out. It was the best turnout to a Maine show I've seen since 1999 during the peak of the attitude era. Having both John Cena and CM Punk on the card probably didn't hurt, either.
Because of run in with Jericho and the horrendous amount of traffic and construction going on around the arena, we arrived a bit late and got into an unbelievably long line. As a result, we missed the first two matches, which were...
Brodus Clay defeated Michael McGillicuty
Kelly Kelly defeated The Bella Twins (Eve walked out on Kelly)
We arrived and took our seats just as the third match began -
Xavier Woods defeated Curt Hawkins
I could tell right away based on this match that the crowd was going to be hot. They were eating out of the palm of Woods' hand for this quick, but entertaining bout. Hawkins played his role well and Woods was pretty impressive.
Jack Swagger defeated Mason Ryan to retain the United States Championship
Ryan got a huge pop to start things out. Crowd was solidly behind him the whole match. Lots of basic house show pandering. Ryan showing off his muscles, Swagger trying to respond by doing the same. Ryan gets a couple of near falls but Swagger eventually counters a move into the Ankle Lock and Ryan taps out.
Chris Jericho defeated Kofi Kingston
Match of the night, without a doubt. Jericho cut a promo about being the Best in the World, and demanding that everyone in the building take off their CM Punk shirts, or he'd have them removed. Kofi and Jericho pander to the crowd for about ten minutes before really getting under way. Very solid, well-paced 15 (or so) minute match (25 if you count the jocking for position stuff to start it out). Kofi rolls through the Walls of Jericho, misses the Trouble in Paradise, Jericho locks in the walls. Kofi breaks free eventually and connects with Trouble in Paradise. Jericho gets his foot on the ropes. On his way back up, Jericho rakes Kofi's eyes and hits the Codebreaker for the win.
Justin Roberts sends us to intermission.
Primo & Epico defeat Santino & R-Truth to retain the Tag Team Championships
Fun match. Plenty of comedy from both Truth and Santino. Primo & Epico play the typical heels. Much of the match was built around trying to get Rosa to interfere and slap Truth, but they kept getting caught. (Rosa looked fantastic, by the way.) Santino eventually gains the upper hand, attempts to use the Cobra, but gets hit with the Backstabber for the three count.
Quick John Cena/Rock promo shown on the screens.
John Cena defeated Kane in a Last Man Standing Match
Pretty basic stuff. Cena uses the stairs early on to try to take out Kane. Kane hits Cena with the ring bell, the microphone, and a chair. Cena keeps getting up. Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment on a chair, Kane gets to his feet by nine. Cena brings a table in the ring, props it in the corner. Kane counters Cena and throws him through the table. Cena eventually gets up, meanwhile, Kane sets up another table in the center of the ring. He tries to chokeslam Cena, Cena counters and delivers an Attitude Adjustment through the table for the win.
The ovation for Cena was pretty damn thunderous, and I thought it'd be impossible to beat. Turns out, I was wrong.
CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship
Justin Roberts announces that Chris Jericho will be the special outside official for the match. Punk comes out and the place absolutely explodes, you could tell Punk was genuinely enjoying himself. He had a ton of fun tonight. Ziggler tells the crowd that if they don't stop chanting for CM Punk. he'll leave. He tries, but the referee begins counting him out. Ziggler returns, and Punk chases him in and around the ring for several minutes before they ever even lock up. Very fun match, evenly paced after the initial parading. Ziggler pushes Punk into the referee late into the match, the ref spills to the outside. Jericho takes his place, Punk locks in the Anaconda Vice and Ziggler taps immediately. Jericho refuses to acknowledge the submission. With Punk distracted, Ziggler takes advantage. Eventually, Jericho sneaks back in and gives Jericho the Codebreaker. He pulls Dolph on top of Punk and counts, but Punk kicks out. Punk kicks Jericho in the face, hits the GTS on Ziggler, and the ref returns to count the three.
Post match, Punk made a lap around the ring and slapped/shook hands with anyone in arms reach.
Enjoyable show, and I'm glad the talent seemed to really enjoy their time here. Punk tweeted how pleased he was with the crowd shortly after, which was pretty damn cool to see.
Maybe we can get a TV taping down in Portland sometime because of this.
If anyone wants to see pictures, I took a ton. I can get some up here once I upload and sort through them.
