Smackdown was a lot of fun. I highly recommend going to a WWF event if possible. This was the second time I've gone to one, the first time being RAW in Buffalo, NY in Nov. '99. I was skeptical about going to Smackdown since it is recorded before it is aired. I thought it wouldn't be as great, but I was wrong. I was also worried how it would be since they (McMahon and Flair) decided to split WWF. But it was alot of fun.
Anyway, I'm not gonna bore you with who fought who, as you could have watched it on tv anyway. Here is my day at Smackdown:
My brother (Steven), my boyfried (Jeff), a friend of my brother's (James), and myself all had tickets together. Though not floor seats, we were still close enough to have very good views. James wanted to beat the long lines, and since he had the tickets, we were outside the Blue Cross Arena (a.k.a. the War Memorial) at like 4:30. It was very cold standing out in the drizzly rain, especially since they wouldn't open the doors until 6:30. All I can say about James is that he is psycho or something. Just to spite the security, he deliberately went inside and wiped his muddy feet on the carpets until security came and reprimanded him.
Despite the cold, many people had already started showing up at like 5:00-ish. A radio station I've never heard of was set up outside giving out free stuff. After asking the crowd "Who doesn't have tickets yet?" this one teenage kid yelled to them that he didn't have one yet. So they told him to strip down to his underwear. And he did! Not only that, he ran around the entire B.C.A. in his underwear in 35 degree weather.
Anyway, about an hour went by, so it's now like 6:00, and still a half hour before they would open and these people start to go in, so James assumes he can go in too. So Steven follows, and so does myself and Jeff because we don't want to get split up. All of a sudden like 100 or so people are stampeding inside and security is telling us that they aren't open yet. It was rather amusing since there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. There was only like six of them and 150 of us. So we just got warmed up for the next half hour until they started to collect tickets.
During that time, another radio station (set up inside), called the Nerve, was giving away free t-shirts from the second floor. So mobs of people are tromping each other trying to catch these shirts that are falling down. So anyway, they finally open and he go upstairs to go to our seats. I couldn't believe how many people there were until I looked down at the crowd.
The night went as normal during the matches for a while. Nothing really unusual happened. Another friend of Steven's (Angelo) works for the B.C.A. and got paid to watch the event. Although he was there from 8a.m. until far after, he earned like two weeks pay in one day. $16.00 for the first 8 hrs, then $24.00 until midnight, and then $32.00 after that. Just for setting up, and taking down everything!
Since Angelo worked for the B.C.A. he got to go backstage, and took Steven with him once. Steven got within 10 ft. of the Hurricane, but unfortunately, that was the only wrestler he came close to.
Finally, the 'black matches' end and Smackdown begins. If you watched, you would've known that McMahon said he would announce the #1 contender. Then Angle and Jericho come out to the ring squabbling over who deserves it more. Jericho said he was the first undisputed champ, and not a has been (in his Canadian accent which Steven and I found amusing.) So Steven and I began yelling "HAS BEEN!" at Jericho. A few people around us began to chant it as well, but it died down as Jericho began to whine a little more. After insisting he was not a has been a second time, Steven and I began to yell it again, and before we knew it, the whole entire arena was chanting! It was so hilarious! And in a sissy fit, Jericho kicks the ropes because were making fun of him! It was sweet!
The show goes on and not much interesting happens for a while, with the exception of these two groups of people in the next section squabbling at each other everytime there is a small break between matches. Everytime, it gets worse and worse. Eventually they are calling eachother names and calling out to eachother what they did with the other's mother or girlfriend the night before.
Suddenly, during the middle of the second half of Smackdown, this big biker type dude from the lower group goes up the the punk kids in the second group. He's telling them how he's ticked off and sick of their sh*t and whatnot. And he's trying to provoke them into 'settling things' once and for all. Security comes up and is trying to break it all up. Something happens (I think one of the kids throws beer at the guy) and he flips out. He dives onto the kid (who is this kinda scrawny college punk) and the biker dude's got the kid in a head lock, beating him in the head. The kid in turn, had the guy in a head lock as well, beating on him too. Security breaks it up and escorts the three kids out of the arena while the crowd is screaming "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye!"
But now back to Steven's friend James, with a death wish. James had been up and down during the entire show. He had some other friends in another section. James hates the Rock, probably because of the Rock's popularity. So, the match before the main event, he leaves to where his friends are. After that fight broke up, he comes back with this sign that says "KILL ROCKY" I die laughing because almost everyone in the arena loves the Rock, and most of 'em are drunk by this point too. People around us are getting pissed at the sign.
Finally the main event is about to begin, and James gets up to walk around the arena with his sign. Not even five minutes later James is back. Why? Well, he only made it about 2 sections over when this kid grabs his sign and rips it in half and starts pushing James. Well, James pushed him back and two other kids jump over this rail to attack James as well. And according to James, the first kid to attack him was arrested.
The last match between the Rock and Jericho was pretty good, but we left as soon as it ended to beat the crowd leaving. The airing ended at that point as well, but Jericho began bawling like a baby at his loss after the Rock left the arena. I didn't pay attention to it because while we were walking towards the exit, we heard what sounded like glass breaking (no not Austin's entrance). But when we turned and looked, there was these two college kids with their faces being smashed into the ground, each with two security guards on them handcuffing them.
So it was a pretty wild night. I totally recommend going to an event because it's not just the show you experience, but everything around you is just awesome. And you have so much fun interacting live with the show. (Chanting at and cheering for the wrestlers.) It was so much fun!
