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WWE RAW HOLT REPORT
JANUARY 29, 2018
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
REPORT BY MATT ZALUCKI, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
If you attend a live event, send results and notes to pwtorch@pwtorch.com.
TAPED FOR MAIN EVENT
(1) Bayley pinned Sonya Deville (W/Paige, Mandy Rose). Rose tried to interfere, but Bayley won with a roll-up anyway.
(2) Kalisto & Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik beat TJP & Jacvk Gallagher & Ariya Daivari.
ON-SITE NOTES
-Nearly the entire lower bowl was full. The upper level had one section tapped off, but it was otherwise mostly full with a couple top rows empty in some section. The floor was full of course.
-I’m not from Philly, I’m from upstate New York, and there was too much Eagles gear for my taste! Lots of Eagles chants during the evening. They showed a Viking player during a video package and the crowd booed.
-The crowd didn’t boo or heckle Stephanie McMahon. It was tame, actually. No “C.M. Punk” chants or anything. She didn’t get the normal heel reactions where fans have fun booing her. Maybe the fans were waiting to see Ronda Rousey.
-Braun Strowman got the biggest reaction of the night. Finn Balor’s entrance was a distant second. Asuka got a pretty good pop even though the crowd faded as the match progressed. Nobody else got a huge babyface pop. Roman got a big reaction, but mixed as usual.
-John Cena got a lot of hardcore fan hatred. There were louder pro-Roman Reigns chants than pro-Cena chants.
-The crowd got into the Miz vs. Reigns match as it progressed. By the end of it, there was a “This is awesome!” chant and fewer boos for Reigns. I didn’t think the crowd was allowed to do that! He deserved it, though.
-Cena seemed to let the fans get under his skin more. Cena vs. Finn Balor wasn’t as good as I expected. After the match, off-air, Cena told the crowd that they got under his skin for some reason. I was surprised to hear that. He acted that way during the match. A beach ball did come out during the Cena-Balor match. (Cena is a Patriots fan, and he was in front of Philadelphia Eagles fans. Hmmm.)
-The WWE Raw Tag Team Title match didn’t get much of a response.
-Elias got more boos than he did at the Royal Rumble.
-When Sasha Banks made a faceplant, right before that I told my friend “I hope she doesn’t do it.” The whole crowd gasped. Then we saw the ref check on her and the Asuka continued, so we knew she was okay. Why does she continue to put herself through these moves that she never seems to hit. She puts herself in unnecessary danger.
-At NXT Takeover, they hyped Braun Strowman vs. Kane for Raw tonight, which did take place. There were no dark matches after Raw ended.
-WWE advertised A.J. Styles would defend the WWE Title against Kevin Owens with Daniel Bryan as the special referee the next night in the same arena on Smackdown. (The match would not take place as advertised.)
If you attend a live event, send results and notes to pwtorch@pwtorch.com.
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