Does Crowd Reaction Affect The Viewing Experience?

[elizabeth6]

I was wondering if you guys think the crowds affect the TV viewing experience of a match? WWE crowds are dead most of the time, especially on the weekly shows, and I find that makes the TV matches feel like they're not important and takes me out of the match. Does this happen to you guys? Do you guys find the crowd reaction affects how you feel about the match?

[ThommyGunn]

Without question, NXT has become especially egregious. The crowd has a huge impact on the matches performance in my eyes.

[NutCrack]

Absolutely. Surprised this even has to be asked.

[mlev76]

It really depends on what is going on in the ring and how invested I am already in the match. If it's two guys/girls I like, then my feelings about the work will usually trump any bad reactions. A good crowd can definitely elevate less than stellar work (watch RR 1990 for a great example of this as everything seemed better due to a hot crowd. A less hot crowd doesn't detract from my enjoyment, but a jerky/trying to get themselves over crowd can definitely reduce my enjoyment.

There are times I watch matches with no sound, so in those instances, sound or lack thereof is irrelevant

[BoxingRobes]

It adds and subtracts from how I view matches nearly every time. Crowds can absolutely bring a match up when they are hot and they can kill a match dead, regardless of the work if they don't make a peep when they should.

Also, there is an art that is amazing to see either live or even through TV when you see real pros take a dead crowd and microwave those sumbitches and have them nuclear for the finish.

[ThommyGunn]

Also, there is an art that is amazing to see either live or even through TV when you see real pros take a dead crowd and microwave those sumbitches and have them nuclear for the finish.

The best part about the big WWE run at the end for Daniel Bryan was right before he really got over he would have some random mid Raw thing going on and all of a sudden everyone would get sucked in. You'd be trudging through a lackluster Raw and all of sudden the buzz would start and you'd be like, "Shit, this is getting lit..."

[Garuda]

I for one feel HEAVILY influenced by the crowd's enjoyment of the match. The crowd response is a major element of how into a match I get or how quickly I bounce off of it. S'why I loved earlier vintage NXT and PROGRESS.