WWE superstars wow Kansas City fans young and old at packed Monday Night Raw
Professional wrestling shows have always been a hot ticket in Kansas City, and coming off the heels of one of the most successful events in sports-entertainment history with WrestleMania 41, the T-Mobile Center was packed with WWE fans for Monday Night Raw on Monday, April 28.
Hundreds of fans were lined up hours before the arena doors opened at 5:20 p.m. on a warm and cloudy Monday, many of whom were parents with their children dressed in shirts featuring their favorite wrestlers. They could be heard on Grand and Oak streets chanting the wrestlers’ catchphrases and talking about what and who they want to see.
It was a chance before the action began for fans to also show off their replica championship belts and masks they brought to the event, like Cam Lee from Sedalia. He was decked out in championship gold and found many other fans coming up to him for pictures of a small sample of his collection.
Lee’s been a fan since he was a kid and like most adults, when they get adult money, they start to buy the things they couldn’t get as kids. He said he may have gotten carried away with the belts, since they are priced around $340 on average (WWE was selling replica Chiefs and Royals championship belts for $549 each inside the arena).
“As a kid, I went to the live shows and I loved seeing them, but I never could have them,” Lee said.
He’s a part of a fan community called The Belt Squad, a group sharing their love of pro wrestling through the most coveted prizes in the industry. Lee often finds himself challenged by other fans to put one of his belts on the line in a wrestling match, but lucky for him, no referees are around to make the match official.
No title matches happened Monday, but fans got to feast their eyes on some of the WWE’s champions, like Women’s World Champion Iyo Sky, Men’s World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso, Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria, and Men’s World Tag Team Champions “The New Day,” Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
Fans also faced some ribbing from Grayson Waller, who gave a shout-out to his favorite NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles. He didn’t wear his signed Jalen Hurts jersey like he said he would during an interview at Children’s Mercy, but fans in attendance got to boo him until they drowned out his voice.
Other fan favorites appeared like Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker, who received heavy cheers from the crowd at the end of the show despite being portrayed as bad guys, and Rhea Ripley, the former Women’s World Champion, who got the crowd to stand up when her entrance music played for her match.
From one generation to the next
How does one get into the world of professional wrestling? For many of the fans in attendance, like Irv Edwards from Topeka, it started in 2008 with the help of his dad, who got into it because of their parents. He brought along his 5-year-old son, who was dressed as WWE Champion John Cena, as he now tries to do what his parents did for him.
“I remember I got my first wrestling game on the PlayStation 3 with Randy Orton on the cover, I think it was WWE 12,” Edwards said. “It was lit and ever since then I’ve been hooked.”
His family used to get together for every WWE pay-per-view, but now it’s been reserved for WrestleMania because life priorities change.
While pro wrestling’s been a part of the family tree of many ticketed guests, it’s also played a role in major relationship milestones as one partner tries to convince the other to watch it along with them (the writer of this story may have successfully converted a new fan this way).
Take Paul Sanchez and Lorena Gutierrez from Kansas City, Kansas. Sanchez, the lifelong fan, brought Gutierrez to her first-ever WWE event Monday, only three weeks after she started watching it with him. Sanchez said it was the perfect time for her to start since WrestleMania just passed and it’s the start of the new season.
Sanchez said his grandma used to pay 50 cents per ticket to watch wrestling in the nosebleeds at Memorial Hall, and it was she who introduced it to his father, which then trickled down to him as a child. It’s the feeling of watching someone’s entire career play out that draws Sanchez in, and he’s hoping to keep Gutierrez interested.
The same rings true for Robert Raymond, who currently lives in Lee’s Summit with his wife. Raymond and his brother watched when they were young and had all the video games and action figures to accompany the on-screen storylines playing out every week on television. It was Raymond’s mom who got him and his brother into pro wrestling, but she got into it from her dad.
The best way to convert a new fan? Taking them to a live show, according to Raymond. It’s a much different experience than what’s portrayed on television, as you don’t hear the commentary team of Micheal Cole and former NFL punter Pat McAfee or commercials on Netflix where it airs now, but you see the production crew changing the ring mats and aprons or getting into position to film the wrestler’s entrances.
“My wife isn’t too into it, but she supports me,” Raymond said.
4 letters, 1 word
The professional wrestler fans wanted to see the most Monday? The World Heavyweight Champion.
Uso has caught fire in the world of professional wrestling since becoming a singles wrestler, breaking away from his twin brother Jimmy and moving to the Monday Night Raw brand in 2023. He’s garnered the support of the fans the entire way during his climb to the top with an electric entrance and a simple catchphrase:
“4 letters, 1 word: Yeet.”
The word “yeet,” has taken many meanings over the years, from celebratory to wanting to physically throw an object as far as possible. Whatever Uso means by it has captivated the WWE fan base. His shirts were some of the most worn and purchased inside T-Mobile Center and the design features the four letters that make up the one word.
Every time Uso speaks and takes a pause, the crowd yells “yeet” toward him. Every time he throws a punch in the ring, the crowd “yeets.” Even before the show, one fan would yell “yeet” and it would spread across the arena from the floor to the upper level.
His entrance features him walking through the crowd, waving his arms up and down and creating some iconic scenes as the crowd joins him. Edwards said he was looking forward to seeing his son do Uso’s entrance taunt when he made his appearance, and Raymond and Lee both said the World Heavyweight Champion was at the top of their lists for who they wanted to see Monday.
The champion didn’t come through the crowd, but they got their wish, as he came out and “yeeted” with the Kansas City fans to confront social media star Logan Paul after Paul challenged him for the championship. His entrance music blared throughout the arena speakers and crowd rose to their feet and immediately started waving their hands up and down. So did commentators Cole and McAfee at their announcer’s desk.
Monday Night Raw capped the five-day takeover from media conglomerate TKO, who owns Professional Bull Riders and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Each night brought exciting action to T-Mobile Center, but where else can four letters send a crowd into a frenzy?
Yeet.
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
