WWE Wrestling Weekend Kickoff Upsets Thousands When The Rock Is Late
by Alex Lloyd Gross
The first law of promotion is to respect your audience. Apparently, the folks that ran the WWE weekend event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center did not learn that fundamental rule. This was billed as an extravaganza ,where wrestling fans could see and possibly meet their favorite characters of the ring.
Cody Rhodes, AKA The American Nightmare was there for a 2:30 PM panel and he was prompt. Thousands of people crammed the stage to see and hear him speak. He was well put together and clearly was a fan favorite.
When he was finished, many people went to see the exhibits and other wrestlers that were making an appearance. This is Wrestlemania weekend and the two shows are just about sold out at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Rock was scheduled to appear at 4:00 PM. Huge signs were illuminated in the hall, it was on the website. Thousands were interested and surrounded the stage. This is where the ball was dropped.
A “sizzle reel” is a term used to describe a video played before an event to hype up the crowd. This was played, at high volume, on a continuous loop. The same thing, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Did we mention it was played at top volume? Psychologically, it builds to a crescendo and whips the crowd into a frenzy, full of anticipation,when it’s played once.
By 4:15 PM the Rock was nowhere to be seen. He was not even in the building. Meanwhile, the now annoying sizzle reel played on. at 4:30PM a quick announcement was made to fans telling them not to leave their seats and the Rock would be there shortly. He would in fact not bet here shortly.
As the now annoying sizzle reel droned on, fans were now visibly upset and a few were pissed off. Chants of “Rocky” changed to “Rock You Suck”. It was after 5:00PM and no one from the show or The Rocks management team made any effort to let the crowd know the status on the appearance.
By 5:30 many people left and they left pissed off. Some had wasted over two hours of their time and were sick of the sizzle reel. Pick a commercial play it at high volume for two hours straight with no break and you will get the point. It is unknown if The Rock showed up. One thing is for certain.this experience left a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths.