A rough in-arena experience overshadowed parts of this week’s WWE Raw, as fans in attendance dealt with uncomfortable conditions throughout the night.
According to local coverage, those inside Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas on Monday were met with excessive heat and limited air conditioning, leading to widespread complaints from the nearly 8,000 fans in attendance.
The situation reportedly stemmed from a power outage earlier in the day. District 5 Council Member Ruben Gutierrez stated that the arena lost power around 2 a.m. ahead of the event.
While electricity was restored hours later, preparations for the show, including setup and repeated opening of doors, prevented the building from properly cooling down.
That didn’t help.
Gutierrez explained that the combination of production activity and crowd volume ultimately overwhelmed the system.
“By 4 p.m., of course, WWE is setting up stuff there, fire going on inside there, fireworks going on to make sure stuff is working, heating up the place. Once the doors opened up at 5:30, the doors are open again, letting over 8,000 people in there. The AC is just going out, going out, going out, and the AC just could not recoup fast enough with 8,000 people in there, pyrotechnics going on inside the arena,” he stated.
Despite the conditions, the Laredo Fire Department confirmed they received no emergency calls tied to the heat, and no illnesses or injuries were reported.
Still, several WWE Superstars were visibly sweating during the broadcast as the environment took its toll.
