Full Report on the SoBros Doing Raw Nashville Last Night

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The WWE returned to Nashville last night when Monday Night Raw took center stage inside the confines of Bridgestone Arena. From the moment the show was announced, we knew it would be a golden opportunity to get out, create some content, and have some fun.

So, Poppa Bear bought the tickets, and “Nature Boy” Brandon Vick and I joined him for the show. It’s been a minute since we’ve actually been to a Raw. Brandon and I went to Smackdown last August, but I was covered in poison ivy for that show and it ended with a friend of the site laying on the side of Broadway. So, was hoping for a smoother night than that. It was.

As you can tell, we were very ready for the night. By the time 3PM rolled around, I was antsy.

The afternoon started at Buffalo’s Billiards, where I explained to a man what a dark match main event was. He was as old as I am, so I was befuddled to hear he did not know what it was. But, alas – we are in Tennessee. If going to shows at the Gladeville Community Center has taught me anything, it’s that people still exist in this area who preach pro wrestling is a sport.

Anyway, the evening began in earnest with a round of drinks at Rippy’s. I met Poppa Bear and Nature Boy down on Broadway. We convened at around 6PM, started tossing back booze, and talking with fellow wrestling fans about the show. Considering I was in my Braun Strowman t-shirt, I fielded plenty of questions about whether or not he’d show up.

We also got into a heated debate about who would win a race in Heaven, if God’s driver was Dale Earnhardt, and Jesus’ driver was Paul Walker. I don’t remember how that discussion was settled as I had just taken a shot of gin (which disgusted our waitress and those around us), but it ended quickly when we realized it was 6:20 and R-Truth was currently wrestling.

We strolled in just time to see Anderson & Gallows make their way out for a match against Heath Slater & Rhyno. They taped this for Main Event. We were a bit behind schedule so we ended up missing the match as we had to tinkle and wait in line for Jack & Cokes and Hap & Harry’s. But, ultimately, this tardiness led us to an encounter with the Ultimate Predator:

We get to our seats and realize it’s front row club level. Poppa Bear done good.

The crowd was hot right off the bat, something that hasn’t always been the case for Nashville crowds. I was downright shocked to hear the chorus of boos that echoed throughout the arena when Roman Reigns’ face popped up on the TitanTron. It’s still called the TitanTron, right? Anyway, Nashville has always been a babyface-friendly town, but last night, it was not the case.

The crowd maintained a decent level of excitement throughout the entire night. It felt a little flat during the Cruiserweight tag match, but for the most part, it was hot all night. Definitely one of the hottest WWE crowds I’ve been a part of.

Luckily, we were sitting around fellow grown ass men, or else there’s no doubt in my mind we would have been thrown out of the arena. I’ll leave you guys with a few notes about the show and our experience:

*During the opening promo, I had a tear in my eye at the healing that was taking place between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Just as they were about to make up, Brandon screamed “SUCK HIS DICK!” and everyone around us laughed. I thought that was it – one segment in and we’re getting kicked out. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

*Alexa Bliss is cute as a button but man she looks tiny in person.

*The crowd was chanting “we want Sasha” during the Bayley-Alexa Bliss match. It went nuts when Sasha Banks ran out through the crowd.

*Brandon booed every video package shown between segments – this included the ones about celebrity involvement, Make-A-Wish, all of it. At one point, he legitimately looked at me and said, “what is this about? improving your life?” then proceeded to boo. I don’t know that the people around us realized

*Finn Balor’s entrance is incredible to take part in.

*I said I was going to cheer for every man and woman that walked through the curtain. They’re all hard workers and deserve my applause. Well, I didn’t hold true to that. I booed Big Cass….but, can you blame me? Dude’s a tool.

*We were distracted at one point watching Joey Janela’s new finisher on Twitter.

*Credit to Poppa Bear, he called “illegitimate son” as Kurt Angle was walking out.

*The three of us cheered Roman Reigns. I don’t care if the cool thing to do is boo the guy whether you like him or not, the motherfucker is good at what he does and deserves better than the hate he gets online. I thought someone would call me on cheering for Reigns while wearing a Strowman shirt, but it didn’t happen.

*In fact, I tried to mimic Reigns’ signature pose – the fist cocking prior to Superman Punching. Well, apparently I was doing it too hard, too fast, and too much. My friends asked me to stop as I was making people uncomfortable.

*I may have never screamed louder in my life than when Braun Strowman interrupted the main event. My voice is still shot.

*Five years ago, we would’ve hit up Broadway to crush beers and shoot the shit with the boys. Not last night – nope, in our older age, we decided we better call it a night and Lyft home. Sad!

*The Lyft home was eventful, though. Brandon tried to convince our driver that Bam Bam Bigelow wrestled Ray Charles at Wrestlemania XI. He also asked the driver if he would drive him to Kentucky Kingdom after dropping Poppa Bear and me off at my apartment in Hermitage. Now, after tweeting about it, Kentucky Kingdom follows me on Twitter – all in all, a successful night.

Can’t wait ’til the E comes back to Music City.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley@WrestlingNewsCo

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