In an interview with Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, Drew McIntyre commented on performing in the Thunderdome compared to the Performance Center:
“Yeah, it’s a big difference maker. It has that kinda, big feel that you expect from WWE as a viewer and as a performer. Not that I didn’t have the butterflies in the PC, I certainly did and always do, but I especially have them here. Right now I’m just getting into the zone, getting ready for Raw as I always do and man, the entrances are something else. When I first came out, on the first Raw in the ThunderDome and I raised the Title and freaking fire started going off around me and pyro going off around me, you know I’m still a wrestling fan at heart, I’m just standing there trying to keep a straight face, but in my head I am marking the hell out, man this is really freaking cool. And then when it comes to the matches themselves and the atmosphere, I’ve been able to see faces react but also hearing and feeling them in the arena. When Randy and I were in that match it was such a difference maker for the emotion and that’s kind of what Randy and I are about, is telling the story, and you really need that feedback from the crowd to kinda dictate where you’re going and feel that emotion. It made such a difference during that match, again we’re feeling things out as we go, maybe my initial promo I realized that the reactions weren’t quite going to be from a live crowd, we have a slight delay, it kinda threw me off but we tweaked it a bit, we figured it out. I did a promo last week and OK, we’ll figure that issue out and it’s a figuring out process every step we go, you know we progress and our team are so unbelievable and they’re making us look like stars, it feels closer to what you would expect with WWE with the pyro and the lights and those drones flying overhead, so we feel good. Hopefully the fans feel good and tonight you’re going to feel really good after you see Drew McIntyre versus Keith Lee.”
