3/19 WWE Raw HOLT Report: Fans in attendance in Dallas didn’t get to watch Final Deletion video, saw Ronda Rousey instead, crowd reaction to Reigns, dark matches

WWE RAW HOLT REPORT
MARCH 19, 2018
DALLAS, TEX. AT AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA
REPORT BY CHRIS RAMIREZ, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

PRE-RAW MATCHES

(A) Heath Slater beat Curt Hawkins.

(B) Kalisto & Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik beat TJP & Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese.

RAW NOTES

-Fans in attendance did not get to see the Ultimate Deletion video at the end of Raw. When the TV show went to the Ultimate Deletion video segment, the lights went out. Fans began chanting “Delete! Delete!” Instead, the lights came up and Michael Cole, Coach, and Corey Graves were gone. Instead, Elias was inside the ring under the spotlight. My friends and I were pretty upset. Elias was incredible. He was entertaining the entire arena.

(1) Braun Strowman beat Elias in a lengthy match by Strowman standings.

-Afterward, Kane came out and brawled with Strowman, with Kane eventually going through a table.

-Ronda Rousey came out and addressed the crowd. She was interrupted by Dana Brooke right after saying hell to Dallas and giggling. Dana asked Rousey, “Who do you think you are? You walk around here like you are somebody.” She told her to start at the back of the line. She said this ring has four sides, not eight, which makes her a nobody around here. Dana entered the ring. She said she can’t wait until WrestleMania when Stephanie McMahon makes her her property. She told her to get out of her ring “before I make you.” Rousey took a deep breath and smiled. Rosey said, “I would really really like to see you try.” She dropped the mic. Dana threw a punch. Rousey blocked it. Rousey grabbed her arm. Dana tried to leave. Rousey suplexed her onto the mic and she fell to the floor. Rousey’s music played.

Watch the segment HERE.

-People were excited to see Rousey. It was a nice reaction, but nothing special and not a mega-response. It was the end of the third hour and everyone was tired. She said a few words but didn’t do much. It felt like they had to squeeze her in because they promised us she’d be there. Then when Dana came out, we were confused. The segment seemed all over the place. Then Rousey did some wrestling moves and Dana landed on the microphone and it looked nasty. Then Rousey left.

-After the Rousey segment, which was underwhelming, people around me were going: “Okay, that happened. Now let’s get to Matt Hardy.” And we didn’t get it.

OTHER NOTES

-When Reigns first came out, it was 60/40 boos, but as the segment went on, the crowd was more pro-Roman. There was a pro-Roman chant. The crowd ate up what Reigns was saying with the whole anti-establishment bit. When the U.S. Marshalls came out, you could tell the crowd was siding with Reigns.

-The further Brock went with the attacks, the more the audience started to have fun with the fact that Reigns was getting beat up. They were so pro-Roman, but you can’t cheer Lesnar being a monster. It became fun to watch. Fans chanted “You deserve it!” by the time Lesnar knocked him over.

-The crowd seemed mostly pro-Cena, but they booed him because it’s the thing to do. Fans really wanted to see Undertaker, and they were more pro-Cena because they wanted what he wanted, which was an answer from Undertaker. They did seem to boo the idea that Cena was calling Undertaker a coward with the hope that Taker would do something about it. It seemed Cena had us the entire time.

-The crowd was really fatigued from so many commercial breaks by the time Finn Balor came out.

-I went with some non-wrestling fans and they loved the athleticism in the cruiserweights tag match before Raw. They also really popped for Asuka’s entrance and thought she came across as a star. The non-fans thought the show was produced for the TV audience and we were just there to watch the production, but the show wasn’t for us in attendance.

-The Elias segment that didn’t air was the highlight for me. Every time he’d stand, the crowd would cheer because he wasn’t going to sing. When he’d sit, they’d boo. This went on several minutes. He’d step out of the spotlight and then put a little finger into the spotlight, and the crowd would boo. Then he’d put his arm in the spotlight and the boos got longer. And when he stepped into the spotlight entirely, they exploded with boos. He had the crowd the whole time. I’m excited to see where he goes.

-Biggest Pops: Brock Lesnar most, then Cena and Reigns tied, with Braun close behind. Kane got a nice pop, too, because he was an unexpected surprise.

Please send results of live events you attend to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thank you! Also, please include any photos you take of either the arena setting, entrance stage, and clear pictures of wrestlers on way to ring or inside the ring.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT ON RAW: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW REPORT 3/19: Alt Perspective coverage of live show from Dallas including news on WrestleMania 34, Strowman, Reigns, more