This past Monday, I was lucky enough to score two great tickets to WWE's Monday Night Raw live at Nassau Colisseum here on Long Island. I try and always make the shows near me whenever possible. This time money was tight, and I was originally unable to go, until a stroke of luck brought me two amazing seats from the radio station I intern at. These were the best WWE seats of my life, in the apparent first row in the section right above the floor. I was right between the ring and the entry ramp, so I could see pretty much everything. Unfortunately, they happened to switch up the camera side, so I was not on camera, though I was right next to the amazing and large HD cameras that the WWE currently uses for their broadcasts.
The show was completely live from start to finish. WWE tapes the Raw portion of Superstars before Raw goes live, so I was able to experience that as well. It's amazing how scheduled and organized the production crew is to keep the show moving on time, sometimes even changing the ring apron seconds before the show goes live on USA.
The last time I attended a WWE show at Nassau Colisseum was this past June at the inaugural Fatal Four Way PPV, and the last time I attended Raw in person was last November at Madison Square Garden.
Overall, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this show from beginning to end. I was in my seat long enough to enjoy the opening dark match between Primo and Yoshi Tatsu, all the way through the show to the advertised dark main event after Raw between Randy Orton, Wade Barrett, and Sheamus. While the actual TV show itself may have been mediocre, the experience of seeing it from the arena itself was an experience all its own. I had a blast chanting along with the crowd, booing Michael Cole, and even screaming everytime Miz said Pee Wee's secret word. Speaking of Pee Wee, that whole segment came off really great, and Pee Wee is easily one of the best guest hosts in the past year and a half.
The interesting thing about seeing actual WWE matches live is how different they look than on TV. The brilliant use of camera angles, cuts, and close ups is what makes WWE really come alive so much on TV. But the wrestling was still larger than life. I always have a good time at wrestling shows and this one was no different.
However, I was disappointed with some aspects of the show. First, there was not one single piece of pyro that went off throughout the whole three hour show. The pyro adds something to the show that no indy show can, and WWE without it leaves something to be desired. Also, some of my favorites were nowhere on the card. Raw guys like CM Punk, Goldust, HHH, HBK, and Jericho are either injured, retired, or simply being saved for another show in the week. Not seeing Punk and Goldust when I expected to was a little disappointing.
But that's only if you are looking to be disappointed at a live WWE show, which is very hard. I had a great time, and can't wait until WWE comes back to the New York Metro area. They seem to be visiting Long Island much more often these days, perhaps finally realizing the value in a rowdy and rambunctious crowd. Here's to WrestleMania 30 at MSG?
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