AEW Chants At WWE SmackDown Premiere, Fans Unhappy
There were boos when the show ended.
Although SmackDown's big FOX debut had plenty to shout about, some in attendance were nevertheless left disappointed by the end of proceedings. Despite quite loudly touting huge appearances by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker, fans at the Staples Center didn't get to see either in the flesh. The Rattlesnake appeared in a pre-recorded video, and 'Taker was entirely absent.
Once the fact neither legend would be showing their faces dawned, the crowd turned hostile. Boos rang around the arena when the lights came up at the end of the night, before making way to inevitable 'AEW' chants.
A bait-and-switch of this magnitude isn't exactly ideal as WWE fights a PR battle with their honest and hip upstart rivals.
SmackDown ended with Cain Velasquez gatecrashing Brock Lesnar's big WWE Championship celebrations. The Beast captured the title after utterly annihilating incumbent Kofi Kingston in just seven seconds.
It's not known at this moment why The Undertaker, who was apparently backstage in Los Angeles, did not appear on the show.