5/2 WWE Smackdown HOLT Report in Montreal: On-site correspondent details what happened off live TV, Bryan vs. Nakamura

WWE SMACKDOWN HOLT REPORT
MAY 1, 2018
MONTREAL, QUEBEC AT BELL CENTRE
REPORT BY KEVIN P., PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

-Good attendance again tonight. Some of the upper deck was tarped off, but it was about 80 percent full, not too far off from the night before for Raw.

PRE-SHOW DARK MATCH

(1) Rusev & Aiden English vs. The Usos. Rusev was more popular than I imagined he’d be and more popular than anyone else on the show.

SMACKDOWN ON-SITE NOTES

-A.J. Styles came out to a big roar, but then there was a weird vibe that it started to sound violent and focus so much on low blows. My friends and I were looking at each other thinking things were getting kind of intense.

-Shinsuke Nakamura got a good crowd reaction, even after the low-blow. We didn’t notice him come in and we were right behind the commentators. He snuck in without us noticing even though he was in our nightlines. He got a big pop and chants for his name going into the break.

-Samoa Joe might have had the second biggest pop of the night. My girlfriend asked, “Isn’t he supposed to be a bad guy?”

-New Day were also among the most popular acts on the show. Randy Orton surprisingly didn’t get much of a response.

-Charlotte was the biggest star of everyone in the main event tag match.

-The first chant during Miz TV was “We Want Maurice,” but in French. There was also a “We Want Lana” chant. Later, during Big Cass’s promo, fans chanted “We Don’t Give a Sh–” in French. Everyone was really creative.

-Fans were ready to leave after Smackdown and as 205 Live was about to start, but then they announced Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura would take place afterward. That led to a lot of fans staying instead.

-I sat a few rows behind the announcers and paid $120 including fees for my ticket.

DARK MAIN EVENT

(1) Daniel Bryan beat Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ after a low blow. Not a long match, but intense and good while it lasted. Bryan talked to the crowd afterward and joked around about not understanding their chants in French.