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Daniel Pena sent along the following:
I, Daniel Pena, was in attendance at Raw at the Mohegan Sun on Monday, which was a unique experience to say the least. I’m late in getting this report up, but better late than never. Here are some off-air notes from the event, as well as other things that happened during and after the show.
* In the show opening dark match, Jamie Noble defeated developmental wrestler Alex Riley with a rollup. It was pretty much the exact same deal as the week before in Washington D.C. with Riley cutting a promo prior to the match to insult the crowd.
* Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Lilian Garcia made their respective entrances.
* Only one match for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars was taped prior to Raw, which saw Chris Masters defeat Santino Marellawith the Master Lock. It was partially a comedy match as Marella was goofing around and even tried putting Masters in the Master Lock at one point. Masters apparently lost a tooth during the match following an errant blow on the part of Marella.
* A graphic featuring Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox was displayed on the TitanTron, but the match would be taped the next night. Can’t say I was awfully disappointed.
* As always, Lilian Garcia sang the National Anthem prior to Raw going on the air.
* Unlike past Raw tapings, there wasn’t much in the way of extracurricular activities during commercial breaks. At times there would be nothing going on for several minutes. Besides a few Tribute to the Troops/WrestleMania highlight videos, the only thing of was note Josh Mathews coming out encouraging fans to hold up their signs. Also, there was no "Kiss Cam" for the first time in a while.
* After being throw out of the ring by John Cena, Dr. Ken could not get up as he fell down again. The lumberjacks did not catch him too well as he hit his head hard on the floor. Chris Masters would carry him up the ramp.
* After Raw went off the air, John Cena got on the mic to tell Randy Orton that the night was not over. He said there was one more match to come. He then cut a promo on The Miz, basically saying he was so happy for him to be gone from Raw. Cena then got the crowd to sing the "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" song to The Miz.
* A lengthy dark match closed out the show, which saw Big Show team up with Randy Orton to take on John Cena and Triple H. Triple H won the match with the pedigree on Orton after Cena played the face in peril the majority of the match. Following the match, Cena went up to the front row and acknowledged his wife and I believe one of his brothers. Triple H went around the ring slapping hands while Lilian thanked fans for attending tonight’s show.
Most Cheers
1. John Cena
2. Triple H
3. Mark Henry and Hornswoggle
4. Evan Bourne
5. Kofi Kingston
Most Heat
1. Chris Jericho and Big Show
2. Randy Orton
3. The Miz
4. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes
5. Jack Swagger
Random observations
What I will remember most from this trip is stuff that didn’t have anything to do with the show.
* Just before I made my way onto the arena floor for my seat, a bunch of kids were acting excited over a peephole. I took a look myself and you could see a part of the backstage area. I managed to see Hornswoggle and some backstage workers. A worker them came along to get everyone to go away. You can find the peephole by the entrance to the right side floor of the arena when entering sections 4 and 5.
* An amazingly hot blonde woman with an "I Love Cena" sign was sitting right in front of me the entire show and one of the cameramen had her move up a row to the first row to get on camera. I looked at my DVR recording and she appeared right before the final commercial break while Cena was in the ring waiting for the ring. I actually managed to get in the shot as you can see me crouching down waving like a dork. Oh well, I got on TV.
* Out of alllllll the people in the arena, I sat next to a girl who brought an "It’s still real to me damnit!" sign. And she was really cute too — I didn’t know attractive girls who are smart to wrestling really existed! I talked to her a bit during the show and I could tell she knows her stuff. From talking to her, she’ll probably read this, but I will say it was a pleasure to watch the show with you.
* Just after the show had ended and Lilian was making her way to the back, she excitedly ran up to me by the barricade, said I was so sweet, and gave me a big hug. She knows me and liked my sign earlier in the night, which read "Thank You Lilian." The week before in D.C., I held up the sign that read "Don’t leave Lilian," which was confiscated by the headset guy before she even got a chance to see it. I was actually mad at myself for not stopping to think that WWE had not made it publicly known yet that she was leaving soon. I e-mailed her about it and she told me she actually taken a picture with her camera phone during the show of her with the sign, which she showed me. Anyway, at this week’s show, I told Lilian "I’ll miss you" and actually gave her a kiss while she was hugging me. Although, it seemed like Lilian wanted me to kiss her as she had conveniently positioned herself for me to easily do so, I definitely would not have tried to otherwise. So anyway, I just went for it! And kissed her. I was completely taken aback that she was letting me kiss her as I did not expect that at all. I thought maybe I’d just get a cheerful greeting and that would be it, but wow, she gave me a lot more. While I’m still disappointed my all-time favorite is leaving, I will always have this lasting memory of her. I will never forget this. So as my sign said, "Thank you Lilian."
* After the show, I had a few hours to kill before I could head home, so I hung around the Mohegan Sun. At around a midnight, to the corner of my eye I could see a lady that looked like Rosa Mendes briskly walking through the hotel lobby. As it turns out, it was Rosa Mendes! And she was with Alicia Fox. They went to hide from autograph seekers behind a desk where I believe people check into the hotel. A fan asked Rosa for her autograph, but she said she had to go. It was funny as hell seeing this guy that looked like he came straight out of The Sopranos insulting Rosa and Alicia while they were hiding behind a wall for ignoring the fans. He was also yelling at his 10-year-old son for missing out on getting autographs from them because he didn’t have a pen ready.
* A short while later, a huge crowd formed by the stairs as apparently a WWE star was signing autographs. However, I did not see anyone, or maybe thought it was a short Diva. I then asked a guy who it was, and he said Evan Bourne. I then went to a different side and could see him. I could not see him at all before because the people crowding him were taller than him. Anyway, he must have met like 100 people and seemed really happy to be meeting the fans. While I was waiting, I just blurted out to Evan, "Go to tnaaaaaaaaay" to see how he’d react. This got a laugh from the crowd (well, mostly boos), as well as Evan. He said, "Hahaha, yeah right!!" I then got his autograph. I must commend him for how nice he was.
* While Evan was signing autographs, Kofi Kingston came right where he was to head out to the casino. Immediately, most of the crowd bailed on Evan and started chasing Kofi. He went to the casino, although he may have simply drifted off past it as I didn’t really follow him.
* Maybe half an hour later, I and a bunch of fans could see Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne and Primo through a glass window partying at one of the night clubs. The club was closed off to the public. Alicia Fox was acting really bizarre, it’s almost hard to explain. She teased the fans and was making funny faces, most especially to this very young boy by pretending to act like she was his girlfriend. She was whispering stuff to him and even kissed him through the glass window for a relatively long period of time. It was really odd. She may have had a little too much to drink as she continued to act weird. She then did something to Evan Bourne, which is hard for me to describe, before waving goodbye to the fans. They weren’t there long, and for a few minutes the same kid was trying to figure how they were going to enter the mall area. It was funny seeing a bunch of people follow him around like a pied piper, and he actually guessed correctly as to what elevator they were going to come out off. After coming out of the elevator, all of the WWE stars immediately headed into the Mohegan Sun Arena alongside a few security guards.
That was pretty much it, although I had heard that Mickie James, The Miz and Hornswoggle were around after the show. It was without a doubt my most unique wrestling-related voyage, which I don’t think will ever be topped.
