The last few years have been absolutely wild for World Wrestling Entertainment. The biggest pro wrestling company in the world saw a viable new competitor show up (All Elite Wrestling) for the first time since the early '00s, had to perform in empty arenas due to COVID and saw the man behind the company's rise to a billion-dollar entertainment property, Vince McMahon, leave the family business in shame after revelations that he'd been paying off ex-employees to keep quiet about unseemly sexual coercion.
That all seems like a recipe for disaster, but the past few months — since McMahon stepped down and his son-in-law (and former world champ) Triple H took over the creative planning side of the business — have actually seen some of the freshest WWE programming in years. There's been an infusion of new talent to the roster and storylines that seem less like the hamster wheel of same-old, same-old, which makes WWE's upcoming stop in Spokane for "Saturday Night's Main Event" a much more intriguing prospect to check out. Here are a few basics the uninitiated attendee should know before heading to the land of body slams.
"REAL" ENTERTAINMENT
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Everyone older than a preteen is aware that pro wrestling is scripted entertainment, not an actual competitive sport.
That's why we like it.
The UFC and boxing already exist if you want to watch actual fighting. The great thing about the WWE is that it offers athletic displays of gymnastic grace and brute power while everyone is trying to not hurt each other, all while the matches are propelled by actual thought-out storylines with exaggerated drama and a surprising amount of comedy. We go to pro wrestling for an entertainment spectacle, not a sporting contest.
HOUSE SHOW VIBES
The stop at Spokane Arena will be what's known in wrestling parlance as a "house show," a non-televised product (unlike WWE's weekly FOX and USA programs Smackdown and Raw) only intended to play to the live fans in the Arena. This has both positives and negatives worth noting.
On the negative side, don't expect any storyline progression, title changes or major surprises. WWE stories are told through the televised medium, so the house shows are mainly matchups where existing feuds can play out without resolving in a way that would leave weekly viewers in the dark. Also, the house show just uses talent from one of the TV programs (in Spokane's case, Smackdown), and not everyone shows up for all the house shows due to the grind that is WWE's schedule and the wear it puts on wrestlers' bodies. So don't expect Roman Reigns or Raw stars like AJ Styles, Becky Lynch, Rey Mysterio, Bianca Belair or Seth Rollins to attend.
That said, house shows are pretty much all-action events. Without the need to progress storylines, there aren't long promos that drag. And without the cameras on, the wrestlers are free to be a little more loose and free-wheeling, often interacting with the crowd more and never having to stall for commercial breaks. The setting really allows the best in-ring performers to flourish. And there are plenty of talented Smackdown names scheduled to be on the card (which is always subject to last-minute changes): Drew McIntyre, the Usos, Sami Zayn, Liz Morgan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Gunther, Ronda Rousey, Happy Corbin and more.
NEW ERA
As previously mentioned, Triple H taking over WWE creative has been a shot of adrenaline in what had become a stale product. He presided over the best run of pro wrestling in recent years when he was in charge of WWE's developmental brand NXT during the "Black & Gold" era (roughly 2015-2020), when NXT routinely put on shows that blew main roster WWE out of the water with elite-level in-ring action and storylines that actually got fans invested. The hope is that he'll carry that magic over to the bigger spotlight, and so far he's been leaning that direction (including rehiring many NXT stars that McMahon had fired).
"Saturday Night's Main Event" won't just be a chance to see amazing athleticism and in-ring storytelling on display. It's a chance to get on the ground floor of a new era of WWE. ♦
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event • Sat, Sept. 10 at 7:30 pm • $22-$117 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • spokanearena.com • 509-279-7000
