Opinion
Cook’s Top 5: Worst Wrestling Crowds
As SummerSlam heads to “Bizarro World,” Steve Cook takes a look at wrestling’s worst crowds!
As SummerSlam heads to “Bizarro World,” Steve Cook takes a look at wrestling’s worst crowds!
SummerSlam is taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It’s tough to make too many predictions, especially when most of the card is still in flux, but there is one thing that I can pretty much guarantee will happen:
At some point in the evening, the phrase “Bizarro World” will be uttered by an announcer.
See, Toronto has a tendency to react to things in a way WWE doesn’t expect. Sometimes it’s just cheering all the Canadians. Other times, it’s crapping all over a match that WWE thinks will get over big. Then sometimes they’ll just boo the top babyface. Or they’ll cheer Hulk Hogan so hard that his decrepit ass will get a title run. You just never know with these folks.
I like Toronto, for the most part. I can live without Drake, but most of it’s ok with me. The wrestling fans are cool too. Here are five crowds that I’m not as high on…
5. Long Island
New York City is known as the worldwide hub of pro wrestling. WWE has had some of its greatest events in Madison Square Garden & the Manhattan Center. ECW & Ring of Honor have torn it up in the Hammerstein Ballroom. I know there are like ten other venues within the city limits I’m forgetting about. The area has always been hot for wrestling.
But when you head over to Long Island…all that excitement fades something fierce. The Nassau Coliseum was known for years as one of WWE’s worst venues for audience reaction. Maybe it was the perception that MSG got all the good stuff while Nassau got the leftovers. Then you have the Barclays Center, which WWE is trying to turn into their new MSG, but is infested with hipsters that are more interested in getting themselves over than watching the wrestling. Maybe they’ll become the crowd WWE wants them to be at some point.
4. ECW/CZW/The/2300 Arena
Call it what you want, but that bingo hall at the corner of Swanson & Rittner has seen some wrestling through the years. After ECW came through and showed there was a regular crowd that would go watch wrestling there every month, every independent promotion tried to follow in their footsteps.
It wasn’t the worst idea in the world, but at some point every venue gets burned out. CZW had countless shows with 200 people in the Arena that didn’t make any noise and couldn’t have looked less thrilled to be there. At some point, going to wrestling shows became a chore for Arena regulars. They’d seen everything after years of hardcore violence. Ring of Honor ran some TV tapings there and didn’t get any better of a reaction. Sometimes, you just have to let a place go.
3. Impact Zone
Most of the crowd traits we complain about today started in the Impact Zone. Universal Studios Florida played host to TNA Impact episodes from 2004 until 2013, and took the company back later that year when the idea of touring nationally didn’t go as well as hoped. TNA wasn’t able to charge admission, as the soundstage was part of the Universal theme park. Some regulars attended shows, but most of the time there were people just coming through.
WCW had held TV tapings at Universal & Disney MGM Studios previously, and the crowds were generally oblivious to what was going on. They would cheer when the APPLAUSE sign came on, which worked fine for WCW purposes. By the time TNA rolled around, wrestling fans in general were smarkier. The regulars in the crowd came up with some amusing chants and were big on the dueling chants. “This Is Awesome” became a thing thanks to the Impact Zone. That alone puts it on the list.
2. Mid-South Wrestling
We’ve all heard the stories about those crazy Oklahoma & Louisiana crowds back in the day. If you’ve listened to any of Jim Cornette’s historical talk he’s gone on about how those Mid-South crowds wanted to kill him & the Midnight Express. Because they believed it was real, they thought the heels were really nasty people and wanted to fight them. Pretty much any bad guy had to fight for their life to get out of the arena. Guys like Cornette & Bill Watts put this over as a good thing, and a sign of how the business has deteoriated from the good ol’ days when men were men, women were women & the sheep were scared.
What am I missing here? Maybe it’s just me, but a crowd full of angry drunken rednecks trying to fight wrestlers sounds like the exact opposite of a good crowd. It’s one thing to loudly cheer & boo, enjoy the show & have a good time. It’s another to attack wrestlers & end up spending the night in jail with a black eye or two. These dumb fools were the original “fans trying to get themselves over”.
1. WWE Hall of Fame
The 2004 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is one of my favorite DVDs. I could listen to those classic speeches from the likes of Bobby Heenan, Harley Race, Jesse Ventura and others over and over again. I have! Something changed once 2005 rolled around, and subsequent HOF events haven’t been nearly as enjoyable as 2004.
The problem is obvious to me: 2004’s event wasn’t open to the public. It was held at the Hilton Hotel in New York City, in front of WWE Superstars & family & friends & whatnot. After that event was a success, WWE figured out they could make some money out of selling tickets to it. So fans started attending, and acted dumber & dumber with each passing year. An inductee can’t make a speech without people chanting “ONE LAST MATCH” or doing other things to interrupt speeches. Heck, this year saw some idiot attack Bret Hart while he was doing a speech.
It’s not all the fans’ fault, really. You can’t want your fans to act like manaics at every other event and expect them to behave & treat people with respect one night of the year.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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