Credit: Jordan Southard and Prowrestling.net
I’ve been to WWE shows in the past and I’ve always had a positive experiences, so I was really looking forward to this show. We arrived at the arena at around 6:30, which was when the doors were supposed to open, but we actually had to wait until 7. We got to our seats and the crowd was really hot. El Torito and Hornswoggle each made their entrances and the crowd was surprisingly into it. The big bump on the ladders was really cool and it was a fun match to watch.
Up next was the triple threat elimination match. Good reaction for RVD and the crowd was into We the People, but Paul Heyman made the roof come off. All three guys were really good here. It looked like RVD took a rough hit to the head with the trash can on his frog splash, but other than that the match seemed clean and the crowd was into Cesaro going over. Personally, between RVD, Heyman, and the Extreme theme, I wish we saw more ECW-esque spots.
Alexander Rusev was out next, and the crowd bought into the Russia heat, but other than that the crowd was more into Lana than anything.
Following that was the IC match. The crowd popped pretty big for Bad News Barrett but was quiet once things got under way. They seemed to work hard but it wasn’t much of an exciting match. The crowd popped for the title change, but wasn’t to into it.
Next up was a surprise as we got The Shield and Evolution. I think the crowd was a bit surprised and I could see a lot of people running back from the food stands to catch the entrances. Evolution got some decent heat but nothing crazy. The Shield actually came out right underneath my section which was really cool to see them up close. The match started out slow, and Batista was getting A LOT of heat, but I don’t think in a good way. Once the match picked up it was great. The finish with Reigns was good and the crowd was happy to see Batista take the fall, but the spot outside the ring with Rollins jumping off the balcony was INSANE. The crowd popped big for this one, and I would say match of the night.
Soon after, the cage lowered and so did the blood pressure of paranoid Daniel Bryan fans fearing John Cena being in the main event. Cena got a half and half reaction, but damn it was the loudest of the night. Bray Wyatt got a really big pop too. The match was slow paced and I think the crowd was just getting over the six-man match. Cena’s power bomb off the cage was a cool spot, but their was just way to much campy BS and the crowd was losing interest fast. The finish was crap, but the crowd loved Wyatt winning.
The Diva’s match was up next. Most people didn’t give this one a chance, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t great by any means, but the crowd was into Paige and she sold some nice bumps for Tamina. Their was some confusion following the Wyatt sounder. I think a lot of people were expecting some kind of Sister Abigail interference, assuming she’s a real person and not another child Wyatt has sing to him.
D-Bry then came out to a huge reaction. The crowd was really into the yes chant and the hot start with Bryan attacking Kane. The backstage segment initially drew boo’s but was pretty entertaining. The forklift spot was stupid in my opinion, but seeing Bryan jump off was a sight. The fire drew a huge pop from the crowd and everyone went crazy over the finish. The match itself was alright. The extreme gimmick worked in some places but was just to corny in others. Also, I have no idea what to expect from Kane and Bryan in the future, as Kane’s music hitting took us all by surprise.
Overall, I’d say this was a good but not great show. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match was pretty good, and The Shield tag match was easily the match of the night. Wyatt and Cena was the only real disappointment for me as it was just to slow and to campy. The undercard was alright, with some highlights but no show stealing performances. I do look forward to the next time I can come out ( they announced WWE will be coming back to the IZOD Center on Sept. 26th for a live show).
Biggest Pops
1. Daniel Bryan
2. The Shield
3. Bray Wyatt
Most Heat
1. Batista
2. John Cena
3. Paul Heyman
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