5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 23)

2. Road Wild

WWE SmackDown Rolling Loud
WWE.comn

This, according to Cole, was the first time in brand history that SmackDown had been beamed from multiple locations. That sounds about right, to be honest, but the whole Rolling Loud deal was a miss. Despite the interesting look on camera, nothing else about the experiment clicked.

"Fans", if the folks in attendance waiting for live music could even be called that, didn't give a hoot about wrestling at all. They were flat for Dawkins vs. Gable and (more regrettably) for Carmella vs. Belair. Plus, resident fanboy Wale looked like a tool for trying to get the crowd onside.

They were pretty much silent.

WWE ended up piping in some obviously-fake noise, which shouldn't be necessary now that they're packing out buildings again. This might've been cool towards the end of the ThunderDome era just to show some bodies, but it didn't work here.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.