With the United Kingdom being WWE's second most vital market, it's always important that Vince McMahon and company deliver strong UK shows. That importance is even greater when the shows are taped for global broadcast, so it was fair to expect some entertaining Raw and Smackdown action this week in Liverpool. This year there was extra importance, with the WWE needing to restore some goodwill to the disgruntled UK fanbase. We are just a week past the UK WWE Network debacle. The timing of the 10th and 11th November tapings in England were more than a little awkward for WWE. I attended both tapings and was looking forward to both shows. Tapings are that little bit more exciting than house shows, with a little more unpredictability and gravitas in the air. You also get all the fireworks (interestingly there was way more pyro for Smackdown) and more emphasis on promos. WWE balances this with usually at least one stellar match-up. Past examples would include the epic hour battle that John Cena and Shawn Michaels had in London during 2007. The other thing about UK shows is that the fans are always raucous. This is a group of people who are extremely passionate and informed about pro wrestling. They want to make sure their voice is heard, they enjoy the fact the UK crowds have a reputation for noise. Across forty-eight hours in Liverpool, here's some insight and observations I made. Everything from security fights, bad language, meeting wrestlers, Stephanie's Network rattling and even CM Punk's still lingering ghost.
