7/2 WWE Raw HOLT Report: Crowd reaction to Braun-Owens port-a-potty segment, crowd reaction to Lots-o-Roman, off-air happenings, Dr. Shelby

WWE RAW HOLT REPORT
JULY 2, 2018
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. AT THE DENNY SANFORD PREMIER CENTER
REPORT BY CHARLIE, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

TAPED FOR MAIN EVENT

(1) The Ascension beat Rhyno & Heath Slater

(2) Jinder Mahal (w/Sunil Singh) beat Zack Ryder.

NOTES FROM RAW

-The security guard estimated about 6,500 in the arena, which is good with all of the equipment and staging. Our capacity is around 12,000 if there’s no staging. Some of the upper deck taped off, but about 50 percent of it was full opposite the hard camera.

-We waited around for a dark match after Raw went off the air, but it never happened. The security guards told us there was going to be one. We waited ten minutes and they began tearing down the ring. We took that as a sign and left.

-After Raw ended, Braun Strowman high-fived some fans as he was leaving but there wasn’t much after the live TV broadcast ended.

-The crowd was excited that Braun chased Owens and not worried about him leaving the arena and ending up on a big screen. They got the payoff back in the arena for the tipping over of the port-a-potty.

-The crowd was into just about every single match with just a few lulls.

-Braun was far and away the most over guy. Then Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. The crowd definitely wanted more Finn. They were expecting a good match from him.

-Kevin Owens got a good response. We have a pretty good “internet wrestling crowd” in Sioux Falls.

-There was a lot of Roman Reigns. It felt like they were trying to put the first two hours on the back of Roman. In the opening segment he was getting the boos/yeas as usual. By the last segment he was in, fans were over him. That’s the first lull of the show. People wanted to see more of others. The most cheering for Reigns was when he was with Seth. He didn’t have very memorable segments. His tag match with Seth against Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler was a very very well put together match.

-There is a crowd in Sioux Falls who take trips to Minneapolis and they were excited to see Ruby Riot because they saw her grow up on the indy scene going to First Avenue for a few shows in Minneapolis. Unfortunately because of her injury, we didn’t see her. Ariya Daivari also has a local following and he wasn’t on the show, so some fans were disappointed in that.

-The Nia Jax vs. Mickie James was one of the highlights of the show. Natalya worked the crowd really well at ringside. Kids especially will remember her energy at ringside keeping the fans vocal.

-Dr. Shelby is more over than the segment itself was. Some people reacted to when they mocked each other, but otherwise it felt very flat. The feeling I’m getting, especially now seeing it live, is people want to see Bayley as a full-on heel and don’t want this “I’m the same person and just had a bad day” thing. People want to see a different character out of her.

-For the second show in a row, no acknowledgment of the city. When Smackdown was here, Shane McMahon didn’t even give a shout out to Sioux Falls to get his usual pop. This time they didn’t mention the city. That’s disappointing.

NOW CHECK OUT THE FULL RAW REPORT: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW REPORT 7/2: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including Sasha Banks and Bayley at counseling, tag team rematch, IC title fallout, and more