Former five-time World Champion Booker T has these takes on things that are either embraced by or bother modern fans. Leg slapping on kicks? Booker T hates them and said talent who does it should be released from the company—that’s coming from a wrestler whose offense involved kicks.
Booker T Doesn’t Care About WWE Piping in Crowd Noise – Blames Wrestling Writers for Pointing It Out
The new topic is something that been pointed out whenever it’s caught. Sweetening the crowd or piping in crowd noise is when production adds crowd noise—cheering, chanting, booing, etc—to the televised broadcast. This is usually done to make the crowd sound more invested in a segment when the might not be as excited or absolutely indifferent towards what’s going on.
Needless to say, that doesn’t look good on television. If the crowd in attendance aren’t feeling the match or an interview, the viewer at home might go get a snack or something. They’re not going to miss anything apparently.
It’s something that I first remembered being mentioned with WCW and the Goldberg chants a little bit after the company closed. The practice has been used several times since then generally in larger promotions that need to convey hype around a wrestler, team, faction or angle.
Booker T who worked in behind the booth, in the dojo, in the booking office and in the ring for all of his career didn’t care about the piped noise in WWE. He’s never held a position on the production staff. Piping in noise is their job with orders from above.
He noted that during the ThunderDome era, WWE piping the crowd noise in made the shows better. Apparently, that’s the least offensive use of sweetener. On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T started:
“I think, for me, I am not really paying too much attention to something like that. The thing is, the people that’s writing about it probably wouldn’t have paid a whole lot of attention to it if someone wouldn’t have written about it and said that it actually happened.”
So, piped crowd noise is it fine or should promotions stay away from the practice? Share your thoughts below.
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