By Tim Drake

he WWE is alive and well and if Friday night was any indication,

they have quite a stronghold right

here in Vancouver. The WWE Superstars of Monday night RAW packed the Agrodome, and despite a show lacking John Cena, undoubtedly the most popular wrestler on the planet, the crowd was alive from the opening bout right through to the main event. There was a unique feel to the event

that you don’t get when watching a regular edition of RAW or Smackdown on Monday or Friday nights on T.V. Maybe it was the relatively dark lighting, the closeness of the crowd to the ring or the interaction between the wrestlers and the fans, but this just didn’t have the standard larger-than-life feel that generally comes parcelled with any type of WWE

programming. And you know what? This time around, that was a good thing.

The event had an old-school aura about it that made for a great night of wrestling. The interaction between some of the more despicable stars, such as CM Punk and Ted Dibiase, with the crowd really enhanced the experience, and it was just something that you don’t often see on a televised show.

At first, 1 was a little unsure of decision to book the event in the 5000 seat Agrodome, but in the end it proved to be a brilliant move. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house and perhaps because of the closeness of it all, the crowd was wired from bell to bell. The Agrodome, which was previously used in the filming of Rocky IV, really added to the evening.

Another great aspect of the night was the lengths of the matches themselves. Because of time constraints and advertising commitments, the matches

on T.V. can be a bit short at times, but that certainly wasn’t the case on Friday. Almost all the contests went for longer than ten minutes, and they got longer as the night progressed.

The match of the night was the sub- main event bout between John Morrison and Sheamus in a street fight, and man, to say that those two delivered would be an understatement. Two of the best performers on RAW who are both right on the cusp of breaking into the main event picture, it was easy to see why Morrison and Sheamus are going to be cornerstones of the WWE for years to come. They went at it for close to half an hour, and held the audience for the entire time. Morrison in particular, who’s reaction from the crowd rivalled anyone else’s, even Randy Orton’s, took some wild bumps throughout the match that left the crowd gasping. Morrison pulled out the victory in a great finish with a running knee on a

eel to WWE event

steel chair.

The main event featured the aforementioned Orton against The Miz for the WWE Championship, and it didn’t disappoint. No matter where you were sitting, it wasn’t hard to really feel the intensity from Orton, and The Miz got the crowd even more fired up before the match. The match itself was fast-paced and exciting the entire way through, and while it was disappointing to see The Nexus cost Orton the championship at the end, it was more than satisfying seeing The Viper get the upper hand on Punk and his group with a great comeback.

The only real downside to the night, other than Cena not being there, was the fact that it will probably be another full year or two before the WWE returns to Vancouver. Until then, we’ll just have to settle for the awesome action on T.V.

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