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WWE Raw HOLT report
July 14, 2008
Raleigh, N.C. at N.C. State University
Report by Scott Lunn, PWTorch reader

Let me start by saying that it seems like every time I go to a WWE event they push back the start times more and more. Tickets said the event started at 8 p.m. tonight, and generally doors are an hour before. I arrived at the RBC Center at 7:15 and didn't get inside until just after 8 p.m. The event began at 8:30.

I would place attendance somewhere between the 8,000 and 10,000 range as the entire upper level was tarped off, about half of the 200 level was tarped off, and probably a third of the lower level was blocked by both the set and the camera setups. This is the first time I've seen the new set as well; pretty impressive in person, and the HD screen is gorgeous. I was located on the floor alongside the entrance ramp and got a pretty good look at all the entrances and such. Anyways, on to the show!

DARK MATCHES

(1) D-Lo Brown defeated Matt Striker with the Lo Down. Nothing memorable here, other than the return of D-Lo. Crowd seemed to remember him for the first part and he got the traditional first face out of the back cheer. Real short match with Striker not getting much offense in.

(2) Charlies Haas defeated Local Jobber. Local guy billed from Raleigh, couldn't catch the name though. Haas destroyed him really quickly and I can't even recall what he finished him off with.

LIVE RAW NOTES

We got the intro video and the Shane and Steph bit about five minutes before Raw actually came on the air, then Chris Jericho came out and ran down the crowd and HBK a bit before Shawn Michaels ran in, which is apparently where it picked up for those watching on TV (I haven't had time to watch yet, just read the report here on the site).

Kofi Kingston yelled at Paul Burchill for a few minutes and then the impromptu match started, apparently during a commercial break.

I was surprised by a fairly luke warm reaction for C.M. Punk. He got cheers, but not nearly as loud as expected. Perhaps putting him against a top face at this point isn't going to help him a whole lot. Batista definitely got the louder cheers, even after slamming Punk down.

Jamie Noble vs. Snitsky might have been the most dead segment I've ever witnessed in person. Absolutely nobody seemed to care about it.

Shortly before the main event, two females were in a section of the crowd right near me, handing out several "Hire Cham Pain" signs. Found this interesting, having read The Hardyz book before, I recognized the name quickly. Cham Pain is also known as Marty Garner who has had a few appearances in WWE (including jobbing to MVP in his first match at No Mercy in 2006, which I also attended here in Raleigh) and wrestled with Matt and Jeff back in the OMEGA days. Fans seemed real interested to get the sign from the ladies, but after a few minutes stopped holding them up altogether.

I left as Cena was on his cautionary manhunt for JBL in the back, so I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet there was nothing untelevised after the show. The main event that was being advertised locally I believe was Jericho & JBL vs. HBK & Cena, and given the ending with Cena, I doubt they had the match.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This seemed to me like it probably one of those shows that was good for television, but not so much fun in person. The matches and storylines progressed well for a TV point of view, but the wrestling was very forgettable to see live. Certainly not amongst the better shows I've been to. Also odd to be in the middle of both Flair Country and Hardy country and see neither of them, but I supposed the Smackdown/ECW taping in Charlotte tomorrow will have plenty of both. Also conspicuous by his absences was Rey Mysterio. The Raleigh area has a very large Hispanic community, many of whom were in attendance tonight, and a large percentage of those folks were younger kids with plenty of Mysterio gear. They seemed dissapointed not to see him.

MOST HEEL HEAT
1. JBL (far and away!)
2. Jericho
3. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase (mostly because they deprived us of Kelly and Kelly and then ran down Hacksaw)

BIGGEST POPS
1. John Cena (probably 90+ pro Cena crowd and the kids could be heard in force)
2. HBK
3. Batista

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