WWE RAW HOLT REPORT 4/11: Detailed notes from Nassau Coliseum including crowd reaction to Braun beating up Reigns

WWE RAW HOLT REPORT (Happenings Off Live TV)
APRIL 10, 2017
UNIONDALE, N.Y. AT NASSAU COLISEUM
REPORT BY MAT LAVORE, PWTORCH VIP SUBSCRIBER

Biggest pop of the night was for Braun Strowman beating up Roman Reigns. Everyone was passionately cheering Braun on during the entire segment. Biggest pop to a wrestler coming out was for Finn Balór. Seth Rollins, Kurt Angle, Jericho, and the Hardys received really big star reactions as well. The crowd was really into everything Seth Rollins did the entire night.  Alexa Bliss was also really over, with almost the entire crowd popping big and cheering her when she came out. Most merchandise I saw fans wearing were for Seth Rollins, Finn Balór, John Cena, and A.J. Styles.

Most heat was by far for Roman Reigns. Every time they showed him on screen the crowd booed and chanted “Roman sucks!” and “Delete!” Lots of “Thank you, Strowman!” and “You deserve it!” chants during the backstage Strowman-attacking-Reigns segment and during the Ambrose-Owens match. The crowd very enthusiastically sang Roman out with “Na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” when the ambulance took him out. The booing of Reigns was so loud during his backstage promo I couldn’t hear a word he said on the screen.

The booing of Bailey was also quite noticeable, as a significant number of people in the crowd were booing her when she came out and during her promo. So disappointing to see how bad WWE has botched such a marketable character for her to already be getting booed.

During the Charlotte-Nia Jax match, Elias Samson was walking through the crowd carrying a guitar and doing his drifter thing. I didn’t see any cameras on him so it may have come across as just a distracted crowd.

During the Ambrose-Owens match there was a guy dressed as Roman Reigns antagonizing the crowd with Reigns-style poses for anti-Roman Reigns chants. He played into it really big and it went on for quite a long time with many fans choosing to watch and boo the pretty hilarious antics of the Roman Reigns look-alike instead of the match going on in the ring.

After the show went off air, Samoa Joe came out to join Kevin Owens in beating down Jericho. Rollins came out to make the save and then they challenged Owens and Joe to a tag match. This was by far the best match of the night with the most crowd engagement as well. It actually seemed as if the wrestlers came alive for the first time during the night once the cameras were off and they weren’t stuck to following a script anymore.

Before the match Owens antagonized the crowd with insults and got some real heat by threatening to leave and not wrestle. Rollins sold his knees a couple times during the match, but he didn’t seem to slow his regular pace for wrestling a match at all. He moved around without any limitation and even did several of his big spots during the match including a dive through the ropes. The show ended with Jericho & Rollins winning and celebrating. All four guys worked hard to put on a good athletic match and sent the crowd home happy with Jericho adding the Long Island crowd to The List to cheers and applause.

A fun show to attend live. Balór’s entrance is incredible to see in person. He was the star of the night with the NYC crowd. From a fan perspective coming out of this show, there is no reason WWE should be asking themselves “But if not Roman then who?” Balór gets a rockstar reception and knows how to carry that momentum all the way through the match to the final moments of when he walks back through the curtains. Coming out of this show I see so much money for WWE in a built up heel Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balór match if they will just pull the trigger on a Reigns heel turn and get in-sync with the damn fans.

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