# Any WWE fans in the audience? (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** boxing-wrestling-mma\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124 "2014-06-05T15:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 57
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1122 "2015-01-26T16:35:36Z")
But the important thing is that Roman Reigns looked strong. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1123 "2015-01-26T16:37:51Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > No titles changed, no one turned face or heel, no rivalries were made or renewed. It was just…nothing. Actually, they did set up a Cena/Rusev feud in the Aftermath show, but nobody watched it because they turned off the PPV in disgust. Roman doesn’t reign. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1124 "2015-01-26T16:38:52Z")
The governor of Connecticut has declared a statewide travel ban in effect as of 9 PM tonight, so it’s very possible that tonight’s Raw might have to be cancelled. Which, considering last night, is probably best for business. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1125 "2015-01-26T17:11:27Z")
Just the opposite. They really need RAW so that they can hopefully progess the storylines and try and make last night not sting as much ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1126 "2015-01-26T17:15:56Z")
[…And it’s been cancelled.](http://www.pwinsider.com/article/91120/tonights-raw-taping-is-canceled.html?p=1) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1127 "2015-01-26T17:36:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > […And it’s been cancelled.](http://www.pwinsider.com/article/91120/tonights-raw-taping-is-canceled.html?p=1) Beat me to it! So I’ve not been a fan long enough…what happens when it gets cancelled? Does that throw off it’s longest-running thing? Do they do a rerun? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1128 "2015-01-26T17:53:09Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Beat me to it! > So I’ve not been a fan long enough…what happens when it gets cancelled? > > Does that throw off it’s longest-running thing? Do they do a rerun? IIRC, the last time they cancelled the show was when Benoit died and they ran the ill-conceived tribute episode. I imagine there are some very panicked conversations happening in Titan Towers this afternoon about what to put on the air this week (since the Smackdown taping tomorrow is probably not happening either.) A free replay of the Royal Rumble, maybe, or a recap/“best of” show, or throw some NXT episodes up, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1129 "2015-01-26T17:56:09Z")
Probably be a three hour retrospective on Roman Reign’s rise to the top, with lots of bits about how he’s Rock’s cousin just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1130 "2015-01-26T18:34:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > IIRC, the last time they cancelled the show was when Benoit died and they ran the ill-conceived tribute episode. From the [RAW wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Raw): > [@](#): > > On June 25, 2007, Raw was scheduled in Corpus Christi, Texas to be a three-hour special memorial show for the storyline death of the Mr. McMahon character. Two weeks earlier, the show had broadcast an angle in which Mr. McMahon was presumably murdered by a bomb planted within his limousine. The ‘Mr. McMahon’ tribute was cancelled on the day it was due to air after the real life death of Chris Benoit and his family. The show was hastily canceled, the audience was denied entrance to the arena and that night’s episode instead became a three-hour tribute to Benoit, airing highlights from the WWE DVD ‘Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story’ and a selection of Benoit’s most famous matches. Several wrestlers paid tribute in the form of real interviews about him and Vince McMahon broke character to address the viewers about what had happened. However, when the facts of Benoit’s death came to light, WWE pulled this episode from international markets which aired Raw on a tape delay basis. Several channels announced the episode was being withheld for legal reasons. A substitute Raw, hosted by Todd Grisham from WWE Studios, was created featuring recaps of John Cena’s WWE Championship victories, mainly the ones that had occurred over the past year. The episode started with a message from Vince McMahon which originally aired on the June 26 edition of ECW. Some countries that received WWE programming up to three weeks late had all Chris Benoit matches edited out. So, there will probably be a last-minute effort to save face, maybe even twice within the same show. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1131 "2015-01-26T19:09:08Z")
Was just thinking “See? Even GOD doesn’t want to see Roman Reigns headlining Wrestlemania.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1132 "2015-01-26T19:21:25Z")
Here’s the first official statement; > [@](#): > > STAMFORD, Conn., January 26, 2015 – Due to the impending blizzard in the Northeast and statewide travel bans, WWE has postponed tonight’s live event in Hartford and cancelled tomorrow night’s live event in Boston; however, WWE will emanate live tonight at 8 p.m. ET from its studios in the Stamford world headquarters. > > Ticket Information > > Hartford, Conn., XL Center: Tickets for tonight’s show in Hartford will be honored for a SmackDown event this Thursday, January 29 that will air live on Syfy. > > Boston, MA, TD Garden: Fans with tickets to tomorrow’s event in Boston will have the option of either exchanging tickets for an upcoming WWE event on Saturday, June 27 or obtaining a refund at point of purchase. So no Raw, but there’ll be a live Smackdown on Thursday, and something is going to “emanate” live tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1133 "2015-01-26T19:23:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > … throw some NXT episodes up, maybe. That would actually be too smart for WWE to do. Run the last 3 Takeovers back-to-back-to-back and show the good things happening in NXT and keep saying how you can only see it on the WWE Network for 9.99 ETA: Eminate? Nice vocab use WWE ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1134 "2015-01-26T19:40:38Z")
Tonight on RAWish: three hours of Roman Reigns reaching out to superman punch the face of God (and/or the WWE Universe). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1135 "2015-01-26T19:43:16Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Tonight on RAWish: three hours of Roman Reigns reaching out to superman punch the face of God (and/or the WWE Universe). If Vince is writing RAW I doubt he’ll show himself getting punched in the face ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1136 "2015-01-26T20:09:27Z")
Wow, WWE started a major shitstorm then got a massive karmic bitch slap from Mother Nature. While we’re having all sorts of fun with the schadenfreud aspect, we don’t really want WWE to go tits-up from this debacle. Maybe they learned their lesson and will pace themselves better in the future. _Naaaah._ At any rate, here’s some ideas for how they can salvage the situation. [ol] [li]Have Roman join the Authority. Say that it was a back alley deal, like when they recruited Seth. Since Seth couldn’t capture the title, they decided to make Reigns their front runner, and they expect Seth to keep him in line and guide him like he did when they were SHIELD mates. This sets up a heel Reigns vs a face Brrrock match at WM. Kane, BS, and J&J go along with this, but Seth is furious. He eventually realizes he burned his bridges with everybody else in WWE though, so he reluctantly agrees as well. But he still has the MITB briefcase…[/li][li]VKM wakes up and says “It was all a dream…” Stephanie, Hunter, Kane and BS are all around his bed, wearing farm apparel. He says “You were there, you were there, and you were there…” pointing at each of them as they amiably smile back at him. Then he realizes something and a look of shock crosses his face. “I pushed that stupid Samoan to the title match at WM! What the hell was I thinking? Why didn’t any of you stop me? This is why I’ll never retire! You meatheads ruin everything!”[/li][li]They discover that Bray Wyatt had actually hypnotized DB prior to the Rumble, to make him throw himself out willingly. To make it up to Bryan, WWE schedules a triple threat between Bryan, Bray and Reigns at the next PPV, and the winner goes against Brrrock at WM. During the match, Bray attempts to hex DB again, but goat boy holds up a mirror and makes Bray hypnotize himself. DB then Yes Locks Roman and there is much rejoicing.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1137 "2015-01-26T20:45:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So you know how Cole always likes to bring up what’s trending on Twitter? > > The current #1 worldwide Twitter trend is “#CancelWWENetwork”. > > I have no words. I think the number of people cancelling, or at least trying to cancel, WWE Network immediately after the Royal Rumble may not have too much to do with how it ended, but with the fact that, since there is now no six-month advance requirement to get the 9.99 rate, people can use the service effectively as a PPV purchasing service (e.g. order it just before SummerSlam, watch the PPV, then cancel; repeat for Survivor Series, the Royal Rumble, and especially WrestleMania). > [@Smapti](#): > > IIRC, the last time they cancelled the show was when Benoit died and they ran the ill-conceived tribute episode. > > I imagine there are some very panicked conversations happening in Titan Towers this afternoon about what to put on the air this week. If they’re not airing RAW, then what airs in its place is probably USA Network’s call, although they probably would ask WWE to see if they have anything they want to air as a substitute. Airing the Rumble has two problems with it; one, it gives people who missed the live broadcast less incentive to watch the network for the replay, and two, WWE has about 12 hours to edit it down so it can fit in the time slot with the extra commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1138 "2015-01-26T21:00:52Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > At any rate, here’s some ideas for how they can salvage the situation. > > [ol] > [li]Have Roman join the Authority. Say that it was a back alley deal, like when they recruited Seth. Since Seth couldn’t capture the title, they decided to make Reigns their front runner, and they expect Seth to keep him in line and guide him like he did when they were SHIELD mates. This sets up a heel Reigns vs a face Brrrock match at WM. Kane, BS, and J&J go along with this, but Seth is furious. He eventually realizes he burned his bridges with everybody else in WWE though, so he reluctantly agrees as well. But he still has the MITB briefcase…[/li][li]VKM wakes up and says “It was all a dream…” Stephanie, Hunter, Kane and BS are all around his bed, wearing farm apparel. He says “You were there, you were there, and you were there…” pointing at each of them as they amiably smile back at him. Then he realizes something and a look of shock crosses his face. “I pushed that stupid Samoan to the title match at WM! What the hell was I thinking? Why didn’t any of you stop me? This is why I’ll never retire! You meatheads ruin everything!”[/li][li]They discover that Bray Wyatt had actually hypnotized DB prior to the Rumble, to make him throw himself out willingly. To make it up to Bryan, WWE schedules a triple threat between Bryan, Bray and Reigns at the next PPV, and the winner goes against Brrrock at WM. During the match, Bray attempts to hex DB again, but goat boy holds up a mirror and makes Bray hypnotize himself. DB then Yes Locks Roman and there is much rejoicing.[/li][/ol] Alternately, Curtis Axel was never actually eliminated. So it turns out that the moment Roman stepped out of the ring at the end of the night, Curtis Axel won the Royal Rumble. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1139 "2015-01-26T21:05:27Z")
(Missed the edit window…) According to the Hartford Courier: _“The WWE said that it will broadcast its Raw show live from a studio at its Stamford headquarters at 8 p.m. tonight.”_ Makes sense, especially if they were hyping an appearance by The Rock. – Don ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1140 "2015-01-26T21:09:01Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > (Missed the edit window…) > > According to the Hartford Courier: > > _“The WWE said that it will broadcast its Raw show live from a studio at its Stamford headquarters at 8 p.m. tonight.”_ > > Makes sense, especially if they were hyping an appearance by The Rock. > > – Don Without a crowd? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/1141 "2015-01-26T21:18:09Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Without a crowd? It’s probably going to be a best-of show due to the travel ban. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124.md?page=58)