When I was a little kid, I went to the WWF every time they came to town (Des Moines), even though they were just "house shows". Back in the day, that's what everything was, there was no Monday night TV.
We did a couple Sat. night main events though.... if anyone remembers the Zeus/Hogan confrontation (steel cage), I was there. Aww yeah. I used to make Hogan, Macho Man, and Jake the Snake signs and shit. Man, life was easy and easily entertaining when you were a kid.
I've been to two Raw's in Ames, and they're never coming back because we didn't sell out the last one (Iowa sucks, plus there was something going on that night, can't remember what). It does kinda suck not having the announcing, and just sitting there during the commercial breaks. It also sucks not being able to hear the backstage segments (at least we couldn't). I think it's easier for the hardcore fan to appreciate it, the casual fan could very well not like it. But only one way to find out. They're doing a house show in DSM the night before Backlash. It was tempting mainly because you'd probably see some hints of how the PPV will go down, but house shows aren't crap to me.
...Oh, and about Jericho not having a match. Rumor is they were leaving him open in case Benoit would be ready for Backlash. Since he's not, no match for CJ.
The real question here is: How busy will Hooters be this Sunday? First PPV since the split, and we don't get Smackdown in Central Iowa. But on the other hand, Hogan's going for the title... hmm.