I was at the Allstate Arena last night. I've been to about a dozen or so live events in Chicago over the last 5-6 years and something didn't feel right.
There crowd was loud for Hogan, and Angle's 'You Suck' chant, but that's about it. It didn't help that there was no Rock and no HHH for the crowd to pop over.
But it wasn't just the crowd reacting to the wrestlers. Something was missing. There were no fights in the crowd, there were no flashing girls... Now, I'm not saying that that's not a good thing, it's just not the norm. The commerical breaks during a usual show in Chicago are spent watching fights and watching girls in the balcony tease the crowd - or even the occaisional jawing match between fans over whether RVD sucks or not.
It was just there. It was like going to a movie. People cheered the faces, booed the heels and applauded the finishes. I don't know, maybe that's how it is supposed to be, but I didn't get as much out of it as I usually do.
I mean, when the crowd cheered, they were loud (even with three sections of the upper deck blacked off - a first for me to see in Chicago) when they booed, they were loud. It was just missing the usual ... I don't know what...
By the way, I converted almost a half a section into chanting 'You rock' as opposed to 'You suck'. But my 'GO JERICHO GO' fell on deaf ears.
I even started a few chants (wonder if you heard 'em)
The first "Boring" chant was mine!
The "Bullshit" chant after the Test-Rikishi match was also mine.
I also yelled out "D-Von, Get the Bible!" but it didn't catch on.
the "She's a Crack Whore" chant for Ninda wasn't mine, but it was fun to do anyway. Although I tried a "She's STILL a crack whore" when she came out a second time.
The cynic in me would say that the overall lack of McMahon's on SD the past few months may have something to do with the rise in the ratings. Also, they may have actually stumbled across someone who is over in a demographic.
#
Potman