Views From The Turnbuckle: Why The Crowd Makes Everything In Wrestling Better (And Worse)

The opinions in this column are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of WrestlingInc. or its staff

Sometimes the most important factor in a wrestling show is the crowd. Even if the wrestling is good, and the storyline is hot and things are going really well, a crowd that sits on its hands and doesn't say anything can zap the energy right out of the show. On the other hand, a mediocre show can be greatly bolstered by a hot crowd that makes a lot of noise and reacts to everything. Realistically, every wrestling companies booking philosophy should be the same thing: Give the crowd a show that they can react too. The reactions of the crowd are the barometer for what the crowd is reacting to, both at the arena and in their homes.

Certain cities, mostly because they have the largest populations and therefore hold the most hardcore fans, are the pinnacle for crowds. No matter what kind of show that is being presented to the fans, if that is in one of those cities, the crowd is going to be hot. The main three that jump out to me are New York City, Chicago and Toronto. Unsurprisingly, those are amongst the five largest cities in North America. WWE can always count on sell-outs in those cities, so it is no surprise that they are often picked to host the biggest Raw's and always get a PPV event each year.

What makes those crowds so good? It is clearly because of the abundance of hardcore fans that attend the shows. Generally, the people who buy the tickets right when they go on sale, and the people that pay top dollar to go to big events, are the ones who care the most about wrestling, ie: hardcore fans. Even though hardcore fans are what generally keep the wrestling industry afloat, it feels like sometimes we disparage hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are the ones who killed kayfabe, that always root for the villains, that made it nearly impossible for a face to get over.

That being said, hardcore fans are the ones who make the most noise at events, the ones that the most invested in the storylines and the ones who care the most about the wrestlers and their characters. This is what all makes shows filled with hardcore fans the most entertaining shows of the year. The Raw the night after Wrestlemania, is the show that has the most hardcore fans attending it each year. Any casual fan would have just gone to Wrestlemania and gotten their wrestling fix. The only people who attend the Raw after Wrestlemania are the ones who traveled to the city where Wrestlemania is being held and are staying an extra night, which of course makes them hardcore fans. Predictably, what event usually has the most entertaining crowd? The episode of Raw the night after Wrestlemania.

A bad crowd does the opposite for a wrestling product. If there is no energy in the crowd there is likely going to be no energy in the ring. Fans killed TNA for being in the Impact Zone, because the fans that were there for the shows were not wrestling fans, but instead just mostly tourist who wanted to get a few hours away from the Central Florida sun.

Something that I find inappropriate is that when a crowd is lackluster, fans blame the city for supplying such a crappy crowd. It's typical to hear or read something like "Richmond sucks because this crowd is dead." The blame should really go onto the wrestling promotion for supplying a show that fans couldn't get into. It's not like people buy tickets to a wrestling show and go "I can't wait to go to this thing and sit in complete silence and not get involved at all." If the promotion gave the fans a 15 minute long Total Diva's segment, a stupid Santino vs Fandango match and 30 video recaps of the show's opening segment, is it really the crowds fault for not making any noise during such a snoozefest?

Like it or not (and a lot of the times, wrestling companies despise this) the crowd makes or breaks wrestling. Just like roman gladiators, if you win the crowd you can win your freedom. In wrestling, if you win the crowd, you can go anywhere. Daniel Bryan won the crowd and look where he is right now. For example, if Stone Cold Steve Austin hit the stunner on Vince McMahon in the ring and everyone in the crowd was silent, would Austin have ever become a multiple time world champion? Of course not. But since when Austin did hit the stunner on McMahon and everyone in the crowd was raucous and losing their s*it, it paved the way for Austin to become the face of the company and one of the top draws of all time. Vince McMahon isn't the most important decision maker in wrestling, and neither is Triple H, or Stephanie McMahon. The real thing that has the largest impact on wrestling is the crowd.

Here are my star ratings for New Japan and Ring of Honor's co-promotional event "Global Wars."

Michael Bennett vs ACH- **1/2
Michael Elgin vs Takaai Wantanabe- **1/2
The Briscoes vs BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs vs reDRagon- ***
Cedric Alexander vs Roderick Strong- ****1/4
The Young Bucks vs Forever Hooligans vs The Time Splitters- ****1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jushin Thunder Liger vs Shinsuke Nakamura and Jado- **
Jay Lethal vs Matt Taven vs Tomaso Ciampa vs Silas Young- ***1/2
AJ Styles and Karl Anderson vs Kazuchika Okada and Gedo- ***
Kevin Steen vs Adam Cole-****1/4