Last night I attended my first ever WWE show when Smackdown came to Charlotte. I used to keep up with wrestling a lot back around the 2005 time-frame, but really haven’t kept up with it since then. There’s a lot of new faces and storylines that I don’t have a clue about, but I still wanted to go to see what it was all about. I was not disappointed.

It was a packed house at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets, as I expected it to be. Fans came in with their wrestling shirts, championship belts, and other accessories like the “Money in the Bank” briefcases. It was evident how passionate WWE fans are. The show started with a contract signing, which featured Vince McMahon making an appearance to steal the spotlight from wrestler Kofi Kingston and give a championship opportunity to Kevin Owens, who made a surprise return appearance. It was pretty cool seeing Vince McMahon, given he’s a legend in the industry. It was also pretty cool seeing his son Shane McMahon, even though he didn’t fight.

Soon after, Sheamus and his teammate Cesaro entered the ring for a tag team match. The following events were the highlight of the night for me. Jeff and Matt Hardy (The Hardy Boyz) entered the ring together, signifying the return of Matt Hardy. Matt had retired last year, so nobody was expecting to see him. The Hardy Boyz were always one of my favorites back when I used to watch wrestling, so it was awesome seeing those two fight together again. Both guys did their finishing moves before nailing down the victory. Seeing Jeff Hardy fly off the top rope to do the Swanton Bomb was very cool to see in person.

Rey Mysterio was also one of the big-time wrestlers when I used to keep up with it. He came running into the ring, which gave way to a triple-threat match between him, R-Truth, and Andrade. Even though Mysterio didn’t win the match, I enjoyed seeing him perform his famous finisher, the 619, on Andrade after the match was over.

The daughter of the famous Ric Flair, Charlotte Flair, was there also and was given some microphone time, which she used to promote her future women’s championship fight. She also came out later to fight after the live show had went off the air. I was hoping for a Ric Flair appearance, especially given the show was in Charlotte, but we didn’t get it. It was cool hearing everyone yell “Woooo!” when Charlotte Flair was in the ring, though.

The one wrestler that I was disappointed I didn’t see was Randy Orton. In the promos last week it sounded like he would definitely make an appearance. He did appear on the big screen for a few seconds, but that was it. Orton is another guy I remember watching back in the day with his feuds with the Undertaker. He has really become a huge name in the industry, so I hated not seeing him live.

Overall, I was highly impressed and had a great time. I figured I would enjoy it, but it went beyond my expectations. My two biggest takeaways were the athleticism and the entrances. You see wrestlers do high-flying moves on tv, but you gain a whole new appreciation for them seeing it live. It was incredible to see how athletic those men and women are. They made so many difficult moves look effortless. The entrances of the wrestlers were simply electrifying. The loud music, light shows, and the theatrics all put together made for one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed live. Even though I didn’t know who many of the wrestlers were, I was very entertained the entire time. I would recommend attending a WWE show to anybody, because it is certainly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Garett

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