What is the proper way for the wrestlers to react when the crowd is brutally turning on their match a la Brock/Goldberg or Sunday's Orton/Cena? Just going about your match as if it's not happening doesn't seem like the way to handle it. Neither does clamping a chinlock or bearhug for a while and hoping it blows over. So from the performers' perspective, what's the best thing to do in that spot? And do they get any direction from Vince/HHH either before, or during the match via the referee?
Signed,
Dave Batista
(just kidding)
Signed,
Randy Orton
There are actually a lot of varying ways for guys to deal with it. Generally guys will in fact just clamp on a headlock or chinlock, because part of the deal with being a main event guy is that you dictate the crowd reactions and not vice-versa. If it's a case like Benoit v. Malenko at Hog Wild where the crowd just doesn't give a shit and aren't fans to begin with, you just go about your business and worry about the home audience. Especially on live PPV, where you're under strict time constraints and don't have the leeway to fuck around and coral the audience again. Personally if I'm Orton, I clamp that chinlock on and wait out the crowd, because eventually they'll get it out of their system, or else do something to cause them to reflexively get involved like chops in the corner so they'll woo and not chant. Cena is a pro because he never takes that shit personally and just kind of shrugs it off, which is why fans rarely derail his matches even when they're doing the most vitriolic chants against him.
It cracked me up at the Rumble when Orton responded to the "We Want Divas" chant by doing his pose. That was great.
ReplyDeleteYou could just quit on 1 days notice bc you're pissed at being in a WM feud with the top heel in the company.
ReplyDelete#kidding.
Orton seemed a bit more composed this time than with Sheamus (I think) the night after WM. That crowd was brutal, and they completely fell apart in the ring. Orton/Cena kept pushing at the Rumble, and I honestly thought it was looking like a good match... I just didn't want to see it, either.
ReplyDeleteWith the way he handles shit like this, Orton really proves that without either A) his last name, or B) HHH's cronyism to fall back on, he doesn't get anywhere NEAR the main event.
ReplyDeleteI think in those situations, no reaction is the best reaction. Like Paul Anka and Lisa Simpson once sung: Just don't look, just don't look.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this is one thing Cena is fucking awesome at. Especially during promos. Just off the top of my head look at how he improvised during the Miami post 28 mania when the crowds were chanting for Brock, amd the Seattle raw where the crowd hijacked the segment for bryan. He's the master at this
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I do like Actively Trolling Orton, like doing his pose or going for the Walls when the Jericho chants came up.
ReplyDeleteWell, he's had a lot of practice.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it Cena who tried to do the Walls in response to the Y2J chants?
ReplyDeleteSeems like Randy BoBandy held his composure quite well Sunday compared to his post-WM match with Sheamus.
ReplyDeleteIt's been 8 years of this. EIGHT! It sounds like the crowd has gone from hating Cena to just not caring. That "Lets go Cena/Cena sucks" from Monday was quite sad.
ReplyDeleteCena really has mastered not letting the crowd get to him to the point its admirable.
ReplyDeleteCena is the example of why scripted promos are bad. He improvises well, and we saw what HBK did to that trolling crowd a couple of months ago. I like to imagine guys like Pillman, Bockwinkel, Ole, young Flair etc. in the modern trolling era. They'd thrive.
ReplyDeleteDisagree. That chant on Monday in all its weakness was an anomaly. Most of the time, the crowd tends to be really into his matches, even if it's just for the duelling chants.
ReplyDeleteIt was.
ReplyDeleteThe Cena fans are always in it. I'm talking about the Cena trolling. Monday may have been an anomaly but it's not nearly as strong as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteTaker is pretty good at it too, I recall him getting some "What?" chants and dealing well with em...
ReplyDeleteThat was just a weak ass crowd....
ReplyDeleteVince is pretty good with this stuff too. He actually seems to get a kick out of it.
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely tell who the pros are when it comes to dealing with a crowd....
ReplyDeleteNo one in our section was contributing to the chant, so my buddy turned to me and asked "Are they chanting 'We Want Tivos'?"
ReplyDeleteI was there live, so I'm not sure how it came across on TV... but when Cena and Orton went into that exchange of finishers/stealing finishers, the arena was eating that shit up.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was WE WANT PIZZA. I didn't think a crowd could lose its sanity to the point where it would want the divas.
ReplyDeleteAh. *botch*
ReplyDeleteThe hilarious, "Say 'What' if you like to sleep with your sister!" is pretty great.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it did look like the crowd finally gave a shit.
ReplyDeleteHogan still wins IMO
ReplyDeleteCrowd: WHAT?!
Hogan: ...chagonnado?
What you do is sit down, watch Shawn Michaels' promo on Bret and Hogan, and learn.
ReplyDelete