What to Expect at Your First WWE House Show

A WWE house show is a wrestling event that happens in towns all across the country. When you see that the WWE is coming to town, it is likely a house show rather than an actual WWE Raw or WWE Smackdown taping. Occasionally your city or town might get lucky enough to have a Pay-Per-View event. If it does not specifically say that show is a television taping of Raw or Smackdown, then you are watching and attending a house show. Many people do not know the difference.

The first major difference you will see is that a house show is not set up with the ramps, pyro, lights and so on. The WWE will set up some lights of course, but the big Titantron and pyro entrances of the WWE superstars is often much more reserved. This is a huge letdown for some WWE fans that are expecting more, but it really comes down to money and common sense. Installing that stuff takes large amounts of time, and it is not realistic financially to do so at every single house show.

With that said, some of the WWE superstars still have some pretty awesome entrances anyway. The Undertaker for example still comes in to the darkness and the fog. As much as can be done, the WWE still amps up the experience of the wrestler's entrances.

The audio at a WWE house show is still through the roof. If you are not expecting it, the sound of a WWE wrestling event will completely take you by surprise. They have super loud entrance themes, and piped in crowd noise at times. This makes the entrances of the superstars a fantastic experience for fans. Having thousands of people standing and cheering at one time is a very exciting thing to witness. Add in the house noise that is piped in and you have absolute bedlam.

Many people are surprised also at the size of the wrestlers. While the WWE has been known to exaggerate the size of their wrestlers when describing them, they are huge in real life. The Big Show is one example that would completely blow you away. Big Show is so big that even at a distance he is monstrous. Undertaker, Kane and several others are as well. Some of the wrestlers that are smaller are still pretty big when you see them in real life. It makes tiny guys like Rey Mysterio seem even smaller to be sure.

WWE house shows often will be a "practice ground" for wrestling matches that are coming up on television also. This can really be odd when you see it later. Any match you see at a WWE house show can potentially be seen again later on Raw or Smackdown, down to the way the match ends. I guess they get the routine down pat during the house shows so that the televised events appear flawless.

Another surprise at house shows for those that do not know involves the announce team. You will not likely see Jim Ross and the boys at the WWE announce table unless the show is a television taping or a Pay-per-view. There is no reason for them to be there as announcers. The match is quiet save for the wrestlers and the slams to the mat aside from the crowd of course. House shows are wholly dependent upon the wrestlers drawing the heat or cheers of the crowd. Otherwise the match is wrestled in total silence. This is the best way to figure out what wrestlers are truly "over" with the crowd. If they draw loud noise during the match of any kind, then they are deemed "over" in the wrestling world. The level and amount of noise is usually the measuring stick for how over they are.

Wrestlers like Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, Rey Mysterio and others draw an insane amount of "pop" or "noise" from the crowd. That is the primary reason that they draw in the big bucks from Vince.

A WWE house show is a ton of fun for any wrestling fan, and even for someone that is not. The excitement is palpable and the rush that one gets when the stars enter the arena is something that you will never forget. If you get the chance to attend a WWE house show, then you should take it right away.