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Originally appeared on PWInsider.com in April 2005 in the PWInsider Weekly Newsletter, available exclusively to subscribers of the PWInsider.com Elite section. To become a subscriber, click here.
LOTS OF LIVE NOTES & NEWS FROM WWE SUPERSHOW TAPING INCLUDING BACKSTAGE REACTION TO THE LITA/EDGE CHANTS
The 4/19 joint Raw/Smackdown taping drew in the area of 14,000-15,000 with Madison Square Garden scaled back for the stage and production areas. There were very few tickets left at the door when the show opened, as the venue was selling scattered single seats. The taping was the first time since Wrestlemania XX that MSG had opened up the upper bowl for wrestling, selling seats in the 400 section.
Buck: It's pretty sad that the "mecca" of wrestling hasn't drawn this well in over a year.
WWE announced last night that they would return for another Raw taping at Madison Square Garden on 7/11. (This show would later be moved to the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey). Tickets will go on sale 6/4. Chris Jericho's band Fozzy will be playing BB King's in Times Square following the taping that night.
Dave: I hope they sound better than they did on Raw. Man, that was bad!
Mike: I just sat there at the Garden wondering why they would do that bit.
While Shane McMahon came out and stood in the crowd to give him father a standing ovation when he came to the ring during the segment with Christian, Linda McMahon stood inside a tunnel leading into the Arena watching but never came out in front of the fans.
Jess: Not that it needs to be said, but I'll say it again. Vince is unbelievable.
Dave: I still wonder if the second quad tear was a work to make Vince seem even more superhuman than he already is.
Mike: But there are two braces being auctioned off! Ha!
As one could imagine, there were chants for Hogan all night. At one point during the Triple H vs. Jim Ross bout, the crowd began chanting "We Want Hogan." There were a lot of pro-Hogan signs in the crowd and when he arrived to save Shawn Michaels from Muhammed Hussan and Daivari, it was easily the biggest pop I've heard in MSG since Chris Benoit won the WWE World championship. It was ridiculously loud and a really cool moment.
Jess: The Hogan run-in and post-match deal was really fun to watch.
Mike: That was pure magic live.
Buck: That was fun, especially when you consider that MSG was the site of Hogan's last WWE match (to date).
Triple H was said to have been in a lot of pain but was "gutting it out like a warrior" as one wrestler told me.
Jess: That description could also apply to everybody who stuck through that entire abortion of a match he had with JR.
Dave: I also wonder if he is not hurting at all but trying to make it appear like he is gutting it out. I have heard there is no serious injury, so you never know.
A number of the wrestlers in the back were said to have been "silently popping" for the anti-Lita and Edge chants during Raw. According to several sources, it was a case where the wrestlers felt that Matt Hardy was being vindicated by the MSG fans. A number of those I spoke to wondered what Vince McMahon thought of the reaction since he uses the Garden audience as his barometer for what is working and not working in a lot of cases. There was a lot of smirking to each other during the chants but no huge loud reaction for obvious reasons.
Dave: I talked to a lot of people that don't like Lita all that much, and they popped for sure.
Mike: I sure was!
Buck: As I mentioned above, it will be interesting to see if this reaction keeps up outside of New York.
According to a WWE backstage source, Lita was said to have been somewhat shaken up by the reaction the Madison Square Garden crowd gave her at Raw, but was doing her best not to react to them. Edge was said to have taken it as business as usual and "laughed the reaction off" seeing it as great heat for his character.
There was a huge "ECW" chant after WWE played the commercial for the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD on the Titantron. They also played music videos pushing the new Viva Las Divas DVD and WWE 24/7. Before Muhammed Hussan came to the ring, they aired a video pushing his character and background in order to get a bigger heel reaction when he came out.
Jess: Did they really need to do that? I mean, the guy is doing a heel Arab gimmick in New York City. And this is the same promotion that has exploited 9/11 over and over again.
Dave: They are just so classless sometimes. They think "anything goes in wrestling" and that is just sad.
There was a "Carlito" chant when Carlito Carribean Cool was in the ring waiting for his Smackdown segment to start.
Buck: For those that don't know, New York has often supported heels, and there is also a large Puerto Rican population, so it is no surprise that Carlito was over with the crowd.
Before he was live on the air, Simon Dean cut a promo on the live crowd from inside the ring, saying that the fans in Madison Square Garden were so huge, they needed to rename the building "Madison Circle Garden."
WWE developmental talent Marty Wright (now known as The Boogeyman) was backstage and worked out before the show, but wasn't used during the actual taping.
Roman in the Chris Masters segment is a regular performer for Kevin Knight's IWF promotion. He's done a lot of enhancement work for WWE when they are in the New York area.
WWE was selling a special "Supershow" T-shirt last night featuring John Cena, Batista, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, The Undertaker (who did not appear) and others on the shirt.
The show marked Madison Square Garden debuts for MNM, Simon Dean, The Heart Throbs, and Matt Morgan.
Former MTV personality Scribble was sitting ringside last night as he's a regular at WWE events in the area.
Dave: Scribble? With a name like that it's no wonder he's a FORMER MTV personality. I guess "Nitwit" was taken when it came time to come up with a name.
Buck: All MTV has is "personalities" because they sure don't have music!
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