Getting ready to rumble

By Anthony Galaviz
The Collegian

Professional wrestling has already come to Fresno with World Wrestling Entertainment’s Smackdown and Royal Rumble. Now, it is time for WWE Raw.

WWE Raw television will make its debut at the Save Mart Center at 5:30 p.m. today, which will be aired on the USA Network beginning at 6 p.m. East Coast and 9 p.m. West coast. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.

according to general manager of the Save Mart Center, Steve Tadlock. The 5:30 p.m. start time is for the Heat program, which will air on WWE.com this weekend.

More than 30 WWE superstars will be in Fresno for the event.

“The superstars of Raw are excited in bringing Raw to Fresno,” said Joe Villa, WWE’s live event media director. “The fans in Fresno are unbelievable. If the fans want us, we’ll go.”

Tadlock said he is thrilled to have another live event come to Fresno.

“It’s always great to have a live televised event. It’s great exposure for Fresno,” Tadlock said. “We do good business with them and treat them well.”

The popularity of WWE has grown in Fresno since the days it held shows at Selland Arena. The arena hosted various WWE events such as Superstars, Wrestling Challenge, Raw and Smackdown.

WWE likes the fan support they receive in Fresno, Villa said.

“It’s more of the fan base that determines where the shows will go,” Villa said. “Fresno has a very enthusiastic fan base.”

The Save Mart Center hosted several WWE televised events including January’s Royal Rumble that drew 11,000 fans.

“We’ve done a variety of different WWE products,” Tadlock said. “We’ve done Smackdown twice and the Royal Rumble. We want to make sure you keep some kind of rotation going. You’ll see in our history (the WWE events we had) were close together.

“It also depends on the building availability. We’re very pleased with the working relationship we have with WWE.”

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