What was the event?
The first O2 staging of a bunch of spandex-clad, muscle-bound 'sports entertainment' stars cavorting around a roped arena. In other words, WWE, the touring wrestling juggernaut, had come to town from over the pond to stage - on two consecutive nights - its flagship weekly shows 'Raw' and 'Smackdown'.
How was the brief met? WWE has been producing this sort of event since Raw first hit TV screens 16 years ago. As such, the basic format was the same as ever: a wrestling ring in the middle of the arena, at the side of which sat two television commentators; a ramp leading down from a small stage, where the wrestlers made their entrance; and a stunning level of audio-visual and pyrotechnic activity designed to ramp up the audience fervour.
The audience itself - a sell-out - comprised a surprisingly wide demographic, not just the spotty teenagers and burger-eating fanboys that an outsider might expect to see.
To make sure an already excited crowd was as vocal as possible, a 'dark' match featuring English wrestler William Regal took place off-camera before the first official bout. This was complemented by a London bus, black cab and stirring rendition of God Save The Queen just before the live show started, maintaining a thoroughly British theme.
Lighting, PA, outside broadcast trucks and even the ring were sourced locally, but audio equipment and props were brought over for use on the brief UK tour. Kent Productions helped to source catering and crowd security, but corporate security was supplied by WWE itself, possibly because scary muscular types are not exactly thin on the ground in the world of sports entertainment.
What was good?
The event was very slick. Everything from the venue itself - which featured O2 angels at the entrance and an impressive rush of O2 customers who had received a special pass for a VIP area at the show - to the wrestlers' ability to stoke up an audience and produce some genuinely awe-inspiring athletic feats, made it easy to see why WWE is a company currently worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the US stock market.
What was bad?
Some confusion over press access, but little to complain about. Interestingly, the British crowd seems to react a little differently to American ones, so it must have been a little tense for the script writers when 'heel' Chris 'Y2J' Jericho was getting cheers every time he landed a blow on US hero John Cena.
ON THE SPOT - Duncan Leslie, VP, technical events operations, WWE
What was the biggest challenge?
To try and replicate both the technical and production elements that we use in the United States. For our UK set we used a new LED product.
What would you do differently next time?
Nothing major - we have a very good system in place now.
What did the event achieve?
We gave our UK fans a different experience, because a TV show is a much larger spectacle than a normal live event.
SUPPLIER FILE
Visions
http://takeone.nepinc.com/visions/
(01784) 411000
Audio Rent
www.audiorent.co.uk
(0115) 972 9509
Neg Earth
www.negearth.co.uk
(020) 8963 0327
Eat Your Heart Out
www.eatyourheartout.com
(01908) 677445
Kent Productions UK
(01622) 684637