SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE RAW ON-SITE REPORT
MAY 13, 2019
LONDON, ENGLAND AT O2 ARENA
REPORT BY TOM CRAZE, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
If you attend a live event, please send results with details on the matches, crowd reactions, and attendance to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!
NOTES FROM THE ARENA (in no particular order)…
Low attendance tonight. By far the lowest I’ve seen since I started watching wrestling again in 2012. Entire camera side upper deck sectioned off. Never seen that before. This was a sellout only a few years ago.
Raw taping tickets are in high demand in the UK and any chance of a good seat requires very early purchase. Normally for a May show tickets need to be bought in November. Low attendance tonight is not necessarily a result of bad booking recently. It could very well be a result of bad booking in the fall season.
The tickets for the next UK tour go on sale later this month. Has the booking since the fall merited higher attendance next time? Did the show tonight encourage another ticket purchase? I would say say no. It has not.
As a side note ringside package (non-vip meet-and-greet) tickets for a Monday Night Raw in the UK cost £700 each. Thats roughly $975 for a front row seat at THAT show. That glorified reduced roster house show. 975 DOLLARS. EACH.
The UK has been charged a premium for a below-standard product for too long, and the result is now coming home to roost.
Shortened production tonight. Tapings began at 7 p.m. for Main Event quickly followed by Raw and all was done by 10:20 p.m.. Little to no time between segments, kept things flowing at a steady rate. Previous recordings have have taken the full four hours.
Non-WWE shirts were in the absolute minimum. Literally just one Kenny Omega shirt, one AEW shirt, and ZERO Bullet Club shirts. I think just that alone can give you an idea of the type of crowd in attendance tonight. Undisputed Era, Usos, Brawn, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, and Becky Lynch would account for 98 percent of all shirts. Oh, John Cena shirts in very small numbers too.
ECE3 does not come off as a star. I thought he would. He didn’t.
It’s the first time Roman Reigns has been back to London since his remission and he was over with the crowd. The Miz TV segment really worked and the crowd eat it up. Both were seen as TOP guys to this crowd.
Too many people with Ultimate Warrior apparel. I wanted to lecture them all on his abhorrent views, but sadly may be wasting my breathe.
I’ve got a joke for you: How do you empty a wrestling arena? Play Mojo Rawley’s music. Oh no, that’s not a joke. That actually happened.
Biggest reactions by far were for Becky and Seth. Next were Charlotte and Rey Mysterio followed by the Revival, Brawn Strowman, and Sami Zayn.
Best chant of the night: Matching the tune of the “Ooooo Walk with Elias” chant, “Ooooooo Baron is boring”
RECOMMENDED: 5/13 WWE Raw On-Site Report: Impressions from attending Raw taping, crowd response for Roman, pace of show, more
You guys need better quality control on guest posts. Lol. ” By far the lowest I’ve seen since I started watching wrestling again in 2012.” followed by “This was a sellout only a few years ago.” Soooooo 7 years counts as a few. Oh, and this gem, “Too many people with Ultimate Warrior apparel. I wanted to lecture them all on his abhorrent views, but sadly may be wasting my breathe.” So people (too many) can’t express themselves and you feel the need to lecture them but are concerned about your breathe. Good god PW Torch, get it together.
I enjoyed this review. I wouldn’t lecture anyone, but Warrior was a horrible person.