Thanks to Mike R. for the following:

Belltime was listed as 7:30 p.m.; when we arrived at 7:20 p.m., I was surprised to see a line stretched around the building. Despite the massive number of people waiting, we all made it inside by 7:35 or 7:40.

While in line for the restroom and then food/refreshments, there was a big pop which I was told by somebody else who got in line afterwards was a pop for hometown boy Bob Holly. A similar loud pop was heard 10 minutes later, which I would assume meant that Bob won. (I didn't see it myself, so if another attendee disputes my account, by all means take his/her word over mine). This would be the only dark match of the evening. Sorry, but I have no idea who the opponent was.

By 7:50 p.m., we filed in to see Lillian Garcia do an awe-inspiring version of the National Anthem (really, it was amazing), and then J.R. and Lawler made their entrances to rousing ovations. It sure seemed to me like everything was running late and cutting it pretty close to showtime. I don't know if such a late start is the norm or a result of some backstage or arena snafu.

I've been to several WWF/WWE house shows over the years, one early-'90s WWF syndicated show taping, and a couple of live WCW Nitro tapings back in the NWO heyday, but never a live Raw taping. I must say even for a jaded old-timer like me, I was overwhelmed by the spectacle and pomp and circumstance of the whole affair. All the cliches one reads about in these live reports but can't truly appreciate until they've been there came flooding over me: the pyro was really loud, the light rig was amazing, the jumbotron was impressive, etc. etc. Living down here somewhat in hicksville, I've grown accustomed to performers cutting some corners on an off night down here in the boonies, but this was a grade-A production and then some, all the way, I can't compliment the production value of it enough, even from the cheap seats.

Jeff Hardy got the biggest pop of the night, in my opinion, from the get-go. If the WWE brass is hearing this night after night, they've got to be considering putting the belt on this guy for at least a short-term run.

JBL got the biggest heat of the night, and rightfully so as I really believe this was the best promo of his career. Looking into the camera and talking about Jericho's children while Jericho wasn't there to answer him was just an amazing heat-seeker.

Speaking of the pomp and circumstance, that JBL entrance had to be the icing on the cake. If you're wondering how they got all those balloons out of there, as soon as they went to commercial it sounded like a microwave oven popping a bag of popcorn from the crew of people apparently armed with sharp objects to pop the balloons and sweep the remains away quickly before returning from commercial break. Not only was the entire ring like a floor of balloons, the entire ringside area was too. It took a lot of work to clear all of that crap out of there so quickly. Also, I'm not sure if this came across on tv, but an entire waterfall of glitter fell from the ceiling right behind JBL. I'm sure that section of the crowd will be picking glitter out of their hair and off their clothes for days to come. It was quite the spectacle, made all the more worth it by that promo.