Thanks to Taylor Gombos for sending this in:
I was at the Smackdown taping last night in Bakersfield, Ca and I wanted to offer some thoughts and observations of what I saw at the show:
The biggest and first observation that I can make is the fact that I have been to the last three Smackdown tapings here and it's weird WWE seems to schedule these events right after Pay Per Views which I'm sure might be a coincidence or maybe.
During the Randy Orton promo to start the show, the live crowd gave him an expected huge pop, as well Teddy Long got a pretty big pop especially after he announced that there would be a 20 man over the top battle Royal to determine the number one contender for Orton's title. As Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes came out, the crowd was booing like crazy and giving them some heat, but I have to say the arena nearly exploded as Orton gave DiBiase an RKO.
Alberto Del Rio's first segment was met with expected heat from the crowd yet I observed (and I mean this in the most non racist way possible) but every Mexican person in attendance cheered Del Rio, again I don't mean that racially at all. As Del Rio went on and on the crowd grew a bit impatient but I especially liked how he shared about this being the one year anniversary of his debut on Smackdown, that was kind of cool. Also before Daniel Bryan came out, Del Rio was talking about how no one could beat him on the roster and a loud Cena chant broke out which surprised me considering the hate for John Cena from a lot of fans. Of course I must add on a side note that during the NXT taping I went and purchased several John Cena items from the merchandise stand. The Bryan-Del Rio match was a lot more exciting than I expected, I thought "Del Rio is the champ he will roll over Bryan easily" but that wasn't the case at all. I can also add you know when Smackdown is on a commercial break because the pace of the match is a lot slower As it has already been reported Del Rio won via the arm-bar submission move.
At one point during the taping, I observed Michael Cole going absolutely ape shit, I can't watch to watch the show Friday to see what he said, but who cares it is just Cole (Cole sucks).
Del Rio's second promo was met with more heat than his first of course this one was a Dark Segment as it has already been reported. He came out and starting going on and on about how he was disappointed in Bakersfield and how he thought we were his friends and blah blah blah. After he went on for a bit, Triple H's music hit and he came out and told Del Rio "I think I speak for everyone here, Shut Up." Those words were met with a loud cheer from everyone in attendance. Del Rio told HHH that he had three seconds to leave the ring or else he would be sorry. HHH of course took advantage of this by joking around about it but HHH added that he wasn't out there to pick a fight with Alberto but it got to the point where HHH explained that due to his new job as COO he couldn't hit or lay a hand on Del Rio. HHH then asked Ricardo Rodriguez to hold his coat, Rodriguez said "I don't work for you," and HHH said "Yeah that's right you don't," and he gave Rodriguez a pedigree to end the segment.
A final observation to make on the "live" portion of the show was that everyone seemed to go crazy during the Battle Royal. For example several Sin Cara chants broke out during the course of the match, also everyone in my section was standing up but security told us to sit down because the match would be a long match. Also Sheamus got a huge pop as did Mark Henry despite his reputation as a heel. Henry even got a pop after he won the Battle Royal.
The dark match main event was actually longer than most dark matches taped in Bakersfield or any other city. I believe the match was about 10 minutes long but don't quote me on the time. Someone from the crowd shouted "You suck Randy" and Orton while standing on the apron just put his hands up air as if to say "Oh well." The match ended after Orton hit the RKO on Christian to get the 1, 2, 3 to send us home happy. After the match, Orton went around the arena and shook hands with several of the fans in attendance although I couldn't get over to get a handshake from Randy there were too many damn people lol.
All in all, the show was great, the excitement in the arena was electric and the fans were into the whole show, I know I have said this before but if you are a WWE Fan and you get the chance to go to a WWE show whether it's a TV taped event or whether it's a house show you need to take advantage and get tickets.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
