Before Monday Night Raw or monthly pay per views were even a spark in the imagination of Vince McMahon, I’ve been attending WWE events, usually with my friends or family members. But since the birth of weekly television, TitanTrons, and jarring pyrotechnics, it’s become harder and harder for me to find someone to accompany me to a good old fashion house show on the rare occasions that one comes to town.
“You know nothing is going to happen if there are no television cameras there,” is usually the response I hear. They couldn’t be more wrong. As I was reminded this past Sunday when I attended a Smackdown live event at the Westchester County Center, something pretty amazing happens every week at house shows — something almost magical. Fans are transported back in time.
I’ll be honest. About an hour before showtime Sunday, I had little interest in making the hour-long drive in the rain to White Plains to make the show. But, because the Westchester County Center remained one of the few local venues where I had never seen wrestling live, I dragged myself to the event. And I’m glad I did.
Indeed there was no elaborate entrance stage, no 20-foot tall screen, no million dollar lighting rig, and, really, no nosebleed seats. Here were the superstars of WWE — many of the same ones I had seen months earlier perform before 70,000 people at Orlando’s Citrus Bowl — performing under four overhead lights before about 4,000 happy fans in a building usually reserved for gospel concerts and computer shows.
When stripped down of all the slick production value and convoluted storylines, you are reminded of what makes you a fan of pro wrestling — the wrestling part. With nothing to distract them form the action in the ring, fans played closer attention that usual to the ebb and flow of the matches — most of which lasted longer than any TV match you’ll watch.
And while, it is true that you would be a sucker to expect much in the way of story line advancement or a title change at a house show — especially one as small as this — the absence of TV cameras can often be a blessing in disguise. Reasoning that, if few people besides those in attendance will ever get wind of a house show’s happenings, live audiences are often treated to pay-per view main event caliber matches.
Weeks before Chris Benoit, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had a five-star classic at Madison Square Garden at WrestleMania XX, I watched them have nearly as great a “run-through” match at Syracuse’s ON Center in front of a couple thousand fans. A year later, as fans clamored to see the first ever meeting between Triple H and Batista at WrestleMania 21, I saw them go at it a few weeks earlier at a house show — in a steel cage no less.
On this particular night, Westchester fans were treated to a main event pitting arguably WWE’s hottest baby face and hottest heel, as Jeff Hardy defeated Edge in a no-disqualication bout that lasted about 20 minutes, and had most fans standing up from their seats in the closing minutes.
The fans — most of them families with young kids — vehemently booed Edge, deafeningly cheered Hardy, and at the end of the match, ran toward the ringside barrier hoping to touch flesh with either of them.
While NY gets its share of pay per views, live Raws, and Smackdown tapings, I, for one, miss the simple, intimate charm of a house show. Whereas they were monthly occurrences in major markets throughout the 70s, 80s and early 90s for any fan living in a major market, fans are lucky to get one a year in their area these days.
Madison Square Garden — which at one time hosted more important WWE house shows than any building in the world, and even regularly televised them — is set to host its first house show in three years next month. The Nassau Coliseum similarly hasn’t held one since early 2005.
If I had slipped into a coma after attending my first house show 21 years ago, and woke up in White Plains Sunday evening, I would have thought that not much had changed in wrestling while I was unconscious. There was a good guy, a bad guy, a ring and some screaming fans.
And, sometimes, that’s all you need.
Comments (15)
But I like pyro.
I have been saying this for years and people think I'm crazy. In terms of live entertainment, house shows are for the HOUSE and TV tapings are for the TV audience. I would rather pay $40 for a WWE house show (assuming top talent are there, which is not always the case).
Smackdown TV tapings can be CRAZY boring. There are sometimes gaps of 15 minutes (presumably as they are redoing "pre-tapes" backstage) where there is literally nothing going on for the house ...
Even RAW -- I mean, during commercial breaks, you just sit there ...
Plus you can get better seats at a house show.
Back in the Day when RVD and the Dudleys were still in the original ECW, my brother and I went to a house show in Gainesville, GA. There were about 1000 fans there and it was awesome. We got to help RVD set up a table and he told us to hold the security gate so he could jump off and leg drop (I forget) through the table. Little known fact: RVD is as hairy as Wolverine is in the comics. WWE made him do the bodybuilder shave.
Then the Dudleys come out and proceed to berate the audience for a good twenty minutes. They went after this old man in a cowboy hat and boots pretty bad. That old guy was livid. I thought he was going to jump the rail and he wasn't even as big as Spike. It was pretty hilarious.
There's just a sense of intimacy that you get at house shows that you'd never get from a TV taping. You feel like you're part of the action because you're right there on top of it rather than in the nosebleeds. The storylines, for the most part, go out the window and sometimes they break character a joke around during a match.
I don't watch anymore but if you are still a fan, I'd recommend going to a house show or an indy show just for the experience.
House shows are like PPVs without cameras because you'll actually get to see about 8-9 matches, and some of them going past 20 mins. Plus the fan interaction is great on these shows because on camera, they have to stay in character.
I am attending the 8/23 house show @ MSG, and I can't wait. I thought I would be seeing the first meeting between Cena and Batista but they rushed the feud for Summerslam so it'll be their 2nd encounter instead but still excited for it, and wonder who the NY crowd will cheer more for. There are usually more kids at house shows.
I want to see CM Punk's reaction and if he's still champion by then. I've never seen Dibiase or Rhodes (not counting his rumble appearance), Kofi Kingston or Paul Burchill as well, I'm excited. I've attended several RAWs @ MSG, the in-ring action has never up to par, and always feel like I'm missing out when I can't listen to the commentating. But definitely at house shows, you pay more attention to the wrestling and story.
I remember just walking up and paying the full $20 for the front row tickets to see a WCW house show around 97. Great and right up close. It was I think 15 for front section but 20 for first row. Great time. 2 things stuck out, how small the ring looks when up close and how big the guys actually are (espescially Nash and the Giant). I remeber thinking guys could jump off the top rope and across the ring if they really wanted. I also remember Scott steiner (he was a "good guy" then) flipping out on a fan and tossing him over the rail during there enterance
House shows are awesome. I'm also headed to the MSG show on the 23rd (my first MSG show ever...i'm from PA). I sat thru the Smackdown tapings last night in Hershey...and like the guy above said, there were times where NOTHING happened for 10-15 minutes. To pass the time they'd show a "commercial" for one of the DVD's that are out now.
Was at the house show last summer the night before Summerslam, and got to see the Cena/Orton match that was booked for the next evening (they did the same spots at the house show as they did the next night at SS). Not sure where I'm going with this...but anyways, i'm finding house shows to be more enjoyable than sitting thru a TV taping or even a pay per view.
I don't know how you can even claim to be a fan and not like house shows. Someone mentioned it above, but most everything in a live taping is geared toward the TV audience, while EVERYTHING at a house show is geared toward the live audience.
Some of my hightlight moments: chanting with a bud for the Stevie Kick during a match with Steven Richards. He went for the setup, looked at us and grinned and let it go. Another time we were watching Edge v Batista, and again, a friend and myself were going crazy for Edge, it was funny to watch him play up to us the whole match (pointing and clapping, etc).
I wish they'd come up to Washington once in a while, I think it's been about 2 years since they were in Tacoma for a Raw show, and I had a final exam that night :(
Man, I met Stone Cold before a show at a hotel and I was convinced to go. My friends wouldn't go because they said nothing happens.
Wrong, Christian beat Booker in the middle of the ring for the IC belt, in Des Moines IA.
It was announced the next night on Raw.
WCW ones were great, I saw Flair/Sting, Sting/Bret Hart and Disco Inferno/El Dandy.
WWE...
Well there was RVD/Kane cage match, HHH/Orton, Eddie/JBL and Bradshaw/Scott Hall.
Well the last one sucked, but great moments, especially when I was drunk and wandered backstage, right into Lance Storm and Citizen Helms, boy were they pissed!
Of course when I was a kid, tv was to build the house shows. Almost everything happend at house shows not on TV. In fact it was frustrastrating not knowing what happened at those house shows. Sometimes you would see stuff on Prime Time and the used to be Spectrum wrestling (basically a house show on TV) if you had the pay channel PRISM in my area. Times have changed but everything on TV was geared to sell tickets to house shows.
hmm.. thanks a lot - usefull :)
btw did you see Lindsay Lohan sex tape?? She is just crazy! Take a look:
http://lindsay-lohan-sextape.blogspot.com/2008/05/lindsay-lohan-sex-tape-2.html
it is not just a blowjob - she sucks that cock like a champion :)))) haha
hmm.. thank you very much. usefull information
i went to my first house show around last year at the honda center in anahime leading to the great american bash ppv that was held the next night..There were alot of neat suprises like we saw sylvan and maryse together for a night with an angle that never made it to tv. Sad becasue they looked well together. Carlito actually ran in to the stands where i was sitting fourth row ringside and i got to touch his back. Santino marella started his heel turn while he was still being a face on tv as well. There were also two ppv preview matches with candice vs melina, which was suprisingly very good and a umaga vs jeff hardy match where they tore the house down. The main event was randy orton vs john cena with ricky steamboat the special ref. I have to say that match was way better then the one they would have one month later at the summerslam ppv and at the end bobby lashly came out and stared down the champion letting cena know he was going after his belt. Then cena cut a very good promo to end the night, and im not a cena fan. I think the event i went to also broke a new in door attendance record. Was pretty fun.
Also i forgot about two special momments, one mike chioda after i screamed his name gave me the devil horns sign. That was so wicked awesome and i saw in the parking lot umaga with out his make up being driven to his hotel by a guy who just came to watch the show while he was rehabilitating a knee injury, rey mysterio himself, WITH OUT THE MASK ON. That was a great night.
House show attendance would be a lot higher if they cut ticket prices a bit...