What is the proper way for the wrestlers to react when the crowd is brutally turning on their match a la Brock/Goldberg or Sunday's Orton/Cena? Just going about your match as if it's not happening doesn't seem like the way to handle it. Neither does clamping a chinlock or bearhug for a while and hoping it blows over. So from the performers' perspective, what's the best thing to do in that spot? And do they get any direction from Vince/HHH either before, or during the match via the referee?
Signed,
Dave Batista
(just kidding)
Signed,
Randy Orton
There are actually a lot of varying ways for guys to deal with it. Generally guys will in fact just clamp on a headlock or chinlock, because part of the deal with being a main event guy is that you dictate the crowd reactions and not vice-versa. If it's a case like Benoit v. Malenko at Hog Wild where the crowd just doesn't give a shit and aren't fans to begin with, you just go about your business and worry about the home audience. Especially on live PPV, where you're under strict time constraints and don't have the leeway to fuck around and coral the audience again. Personally if I'm Orton, I clamp that chinlock on and wait out the crowd, because eventually they'll get it out of their system, or else do something to cause them to reflexively get involved like chops in the corner so they'll woo and not chant. Cena is a pro because he never takes that shit personally and just kind of shrugs it off, which is why fans rarely derail his matches even when they're doing the most vitriolic chants against him.