Thanks to Jason Rainwater for sending in the following:
I attended the RAW taping in Des Moines, IA tonight and wanted to give a live report.
The Wells Fargo Arena was a full house other than the usual seats left empty for the static camera.
It was a hot crowd all night and definitely helped show WWE that Des Moines can be a location to come back regularly to.
The crowd was unique in that there were pockets of areas where fans were pro-Orton and pro-Bryan so there was a good back and forth between these sections.
Natalya got a good pop when she came out but that was trumped by AJ's entrance as she is a big hit with the Des Moines crowd.
During the Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton match, a group of cos-players dressed as Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Jack the Snake, got big crowd chants. Security had to tell them to stay seated as not to overshadow the match.
JBL and Jerry Lawler chants hit high during the commercial breaks and both JBL and Jerry acknowledge it. Justin Roberts got a small chant and was very gracious in acknowledging it.
All in all, the Des Moines crowd was into it. After the dark match, CM Punk did not speak but you could see him mouthing the words "Thank you, Des Moines" and made sure to high five with everyone near the barricade taking extra time to talk with the children in the crowd as well.
Biggest Pops:
CM Punk
Daniel Bryan
RVD
AJ Lee/Primetime Players for an honorable mention
Biggest Heat:
Triple H
Randy Orton
Stephanie McMahon
Big Show after hitting Daniel Bryan with the knockout punch
Paul Heyman during the dark match for making fun of Des Moines for an honorable mention.
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.
