BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) NEW FACES
When you go to a house show there is a very good chance you’re going to see people who haven’t gotten on TV yet. It’s pretty common now, but once you’re “in the WWE system” you don’t always just get to show up on TV. You have to go through their farm system and then get on the house show circuit. There anew guy can try out their personalities, get the ring rust off, work with vets, and see how their coming along. It’s fun to look back at these matches. I can personally remember when Golddust was first starting off, when Johnny Ace was trying to get on the shows, and more. Hell, even on an indies I specifically remember watching “Seth Rollins” work a dark match in Berwyn, IL when he was first getting out there. It’s being part of history.
(THREE) LAID BACK VIBE
When you watch a live TV taping, it’s not always that great. We can’t hear the backstage promos all that well, the production is slow, and there is a lot of down time. The matches are shorter, storylines are important, and they have to stick to a very specific schedule. On a house show, you get to see the wrestlers go out there and just wrestle. They’ll push their personas and common stories will continue, but all in all, no one is watching but the people in the building. It gives the performers more time to screw around, have fun, try new spots, and get the crowd going with a healthy amount of crowd work.
(TWO) OWNING THE EXPERIENCE
When you go to a house show, it’s YOUR show. Unless you’re a creep, you really don’t have to worry about anyone taking your signs. There is more of a chance for a wrestler to hear your cheer or boo. They’ll interact WAY more with you. The matches and moments are things that only YOU get. Sure, these matches are done over and over again but for that moment it’s all yours. You don’t have to wait to read match ratings, read reviews, or go home and over analyze the recording of it. It’s all you.
(ONE) THE SUPER RARE TITLE CHANGE
It doesn’t happen all that often, but it does happen. Once in a blue moon, the WWE will actually book a title change at a untelevised house show. In many cases it’s because they REALLY need to get the belt off of someone, maybe it’s someone’s hometown, maybe they want to make their international tour seem note-worthy, or maybe they’re just mixing things up. The big one that always comes to mind is when Diesel beat Bob Backlund for the WWF Title. It was untelevised, but they still had ringside camera footage to document the moment. It seems to happen mostly with the Tag Titles or the mid card titles though. Regardless, it’s always something that’ll get my attention. I love the idea mainly because you can guarantee the kids in that crowd are going to remember it forever.
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