Post by J12 on Jun 16, 2012 11:23:35 GMT -5
I always enjoy writing up these reports whenever I attend a show. Last night was a strange one. Coming off a two day "vacation" of sorts, WWE headed up to Augusta, Maine last night for the first time in nine years.
One of the first things I noticed was how few rental cars (and vehicles in general) there were in the usual load in spot. By talking to some people in line, and a friend later on who showed up early as well, I gathered that WWE bused most of the talent up to the show. Several people reported seeing nearly everyone get off the same bus around 3:00pm that afternoon. Not sure from where, or why, but there were two "tour" buses and one high end passenger bus (like a greyhound). Other than that, just a couple of rental cars. John Cena's father (who always travels to the Maine shows and congregates with the crowd outside) confirmed this to people as well. He didn't know why either.
I should note, this is only my second house show with WWE's new elaborate set-up. I still can't get over how much of a difference in makes in presentation. A really great move on their part. At times, it can feel almost like a TV taping. In my early days of going to shows, they wouldn't even bring their own speakers - they'd use the house system and nearly blow it out. Half the time the music was so distorted you couldn't make it out. Those days are long gone.
Show begins with WWE's TV intro and Raw opening video, despite being a Supershow. Smackdown really does get screwed out of everything.
Let's get down to the results...
Brodus Clay defeated JTG
Quick match, very much like Clay's usual TV matches. Interesting to note that while he's now apparently selling an "injury" received on Smackdown, Brodus was perfectly fine. After seeing Smackdown, I was surprised they used him on the card, though I suppose since the show started at 7:30 and Smackdown didn't start until 8, "technically" he hadn't been "injured" yet. Clay was a big hit with the crowd. He and the girls brought a few kids in the ring after the match to dance. They were doing flips and attempting the spinarooni, which was quite entertaining. Brodus seemed to be getting a kick out of it. He started mimicking them, which people loved.
Dean Ambrose defeated Alex Riley
Pretty generic filler match here. Ambrose cut a promo on his way to the ring and got the crowd hating him pretty quickly. I could tell immediately that this guy is going to connect with people in no time. People had no idea who he was and he managed to get more heat than half of the regular heels. He talked about how no one knew who he was now, but by the end of the night, he was all they'd be talking about. Riley got a huge pop, crowd was really behind him. It's a shame he's essentially used for enhancement - seems like every crowd loves the guy.
Christian defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Very solid match. Lots of pandering to start things out. Cody was working the crowd flawlessly. Back and forth for about 15 minutes before Cody hit the Beautiful Disaster and got a near fall. Christian countered another attempt and hit the Killswitch to end it.
Tony Chimel announces fans can text in to vote for the stipulation for the Punk/Bryan match later on - street fight, or 2 out of 3 falls. By the way, they use the same number for the live shows as they do for the news line, so if anyone happens to text "1" or "2" during a house show when they run this, you can probably vote even if you're not in attendance.
Kofi Kingston comes out next (carrying both Tag Titles) and tells everyone that R-Truth isn't at the show. He says John Laurinaitis tried to cancel his match, but he refused and found another partner - Zack Ryder. Ryder got a fantastic pop. Chimel announces it as a non-title match as Primo, Epico, and Rosa make their way to the ring. David Otunga stops the referee from ringing the bell and announces that Laurinaitis has decided the match will be for the Tag Team Championship.
Kofi Kingston & Zack Ryder defeated Primo & Epico to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
Fun match. Primo & Epico use typical heel-team tactics to isolate Ryder. Kofi gets the hot tag, but the referee doesn't see it. Kofi gets sent back out. After several minutes, Ryder finally tags in Kofi, and Kingston goes nuts, taking out both Primo and Epico. False finish comes a few minutes later, as Ryder dives to the outside to take out Epico. In the ring, Kofi is distracted by Rosa. Primo hits the Backcracker from behind, pins Kofi, and the ref counts to the three. Kofi's foot was on the rope.
Chimel rings the bell, and announces Primo & Epico as the new Tag Team Champions. Primo & Epico begin to leave with the titles, but the referee calls them back and says Kofi's foot was on the ropes (not sure how he decided this after the fact?). He restarts the match, Kofi and Ryder hit Trouble and Paradise and the Rough Rider at the same time for the double pin-win.
It was a nice little swerve to have Primo & Epico win the tag titles temporarily, but it didn't really work. The referee called for the bell, and then just changed his mind. Kofi never pleaded that his foot was on the ropes. He just rang the bell, and then swore it off. Nice idea, poorly executed, but the fans didn't seem to care
The show got interesting next, as Chimel announced a two on one handicap match. Everyone figured it was Ryback. In fact, a few chants even started. Instead, John Cena's music hit.
John Cena defeated The Big Show & David Otunga in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match
Really strange match. A Steel Cage main event between Cena and Show had been advertised for a few weeks, and clearly they went in a different direction. The strange part was, there was a steel cage sitting up by the entrance ready to go. They seemed to be really rushing through this. I'm not sure if Cena had somewhere else to be, or what, but he wasted no time getting to the ring and they wasted no time getting to the match. A quick bout, maybe six or seven minutes tops. Otunga and Show beat the hell out of Cena, Cena plays some mind games to take control over Otunga. Show gets angry, goes to knock out Cena, Cena ducks, Show hits the WMD on Otunga. Cena quickly follows up with the Attitude Adjustment on Big Show for the quick win. Cena doesn't even stick around to slap hands, he leaves quickly. The entire segment went no longer than ten minutes.
Chimel announces a brief intermission.
Layla defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the Diva's Championship
Really solid diva's match. Beth played the crowd perfectly. She sat on the turnbuckle and refused to come down until people cheered for her. Layla eventually goes after her, the match begins. Lengthy contest with a lot of near falls. Beth eventually lifts Layla for the Glam-Slam, Layla counters into a roll-up. Beth kicks out, goes for a shot, Layla counters into the Neckbreaker for the win.
Chimel announces that the Street Fight has beat out 2-out-of-3 Falls for the WWE Title match.
CM Punk defeated Daniel Bryan in a Street Fight to retain the WWE Championship
Match of the night, without a doubt (no surprise). Bryan had a large chunk of fans, but the majority of the crowd was chanting "NO!" throughout the match. Chain wrestling to start out, with Punk pandering to the crowd a lot. Bryan eventually brings a kendo stick and a chair into play, screaming "YES!" every time he hit Punk. Punk would later counter and do the same thing, screaming "NO!" every time he hit Bryan, it was quite entertaining. While you could tell they were being a bit cautious, they each took some pretty serious shots with the kendo stick. Each had a decent welt on their back by the end of the match. Finish came with a chain of events, starting with CM Punk attempting an elbow drop with a chair onto Bryan from the top rope. Bryan moved, driving the chair into Punk's own elbow. Bryan quickly locked in the Yes Lock. Punk slowly fought out of it and kicked Bryan in the head. Bryan stands, goes to irish whip Punk into a chair tucked into the corner, Punk counters and sends Bryan into it instead. A dazed Bryan walks into Punk, who hit the GTS for the win. A great back and forth contest that went a solid 20-25 minutes.
Chimel announces another brief intermission so they can set up the steel cage for our main event.
Sheamus defeated Kane in a Steel Cage Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
No idea why this became the cage match instead of the advertised Show/Cena or Punk/Bryan. Sheamus got a huge ovation. Slow, methodical, and typical house show bout here. The house show cage is incredibly shaky. I couldn't believe Kane and Sheamus kept climbing it, let alone attempting to climb over it, but they did, several times. Sheamus attempts a Brogue Kick after a powerslam, Kane catches the foot, goes for a chokeslam. Sheamus counters that, tries the Brogue Kick again. This time, Kane ducks and catches Sheamus with the chokeslam. Sheamus kicks out. Back and forth for a couple more minutes. Sheamus counters Kane's irish whip, sends him flying to the cage. Kane turns around, Sheamus nails the Brogue Kick. Kane kicks out at 2 and a half. After a couple more near falls, Kane tries escaping through the door, but Sheamus quickly climbs up and over the cage to win.
Sheamus made three loops around ringside to slap hands and celebrate. The crowd loved him and he really seemed to be enjoying himself.
I can't stress how damn shaky that cage was. Every time they would climb, I was terrified it would fall apart. Kane even seemed a bit uncomfortable at times, having to stop and stabilize himself and the wall before continuing shots at Sheamus.
Overall a fun, interesting show that ended up being completely different than advertised. This was the furthest back I've ever sat at a house show in years (6th row) because I refused to pay the $106 they were charging for the first five rows because it was a supershow. Seats were still great, and I managed to get some decent pictures, which I'll share a little later on.
One of the first things I noticed was how few rental cars (and vehicles in general) there were in the usual load in spot. By talking to some people in line, and a friend later on who showed up early as well, I gathered that WWE bused most of the talent up to the show. Several people reported seeing nearly everyone get off the same bus around 3:00pm that afternoon. Not sure from where, or why, but there were two "tour" buses and one high end passenger bus (like a greyhound). Other than that, just a couple of rental cars. John Cena's father (who always travels to the Maine shows and congregates with the crowd outside) confirmed this to people as well. He didn't know why either.
I should note, this is only my second house show with WWE's new elaborate set-up. I still can't get over how much of a difference in makes in presentation. A really great move on their part. At times, it can feel almost like a TV taping. In my early days of going to shows, they wouldn't even bring their own speakers - they'd use the house system and nearly blow it out. Half the time the music was so distorted you couldn't make it out. Those days are long gone.
Show begins with WWE's TV intro and Raw opening video, despite being a Supershow. Smackdown really does get screwed out of everything.
Let's get down to the results...
Brodus Clay defeated JTG
Quick match, very much like Clay's usual TV matches. Interesting to note that while he's now apparently selling an "injury" received on Smackdown, Brodus was perfectly fine. After seeing Smackdown, I was surprised they used him on the card, though I suppose since the show started at 7:30 and Smackdown didn't start until 8, "technically" he hadn't been "injured" yet. Clay was a big hit with the crowd. He and the girls brought a few kids in the ring after the match to dance. They were doing flips and attempting the spinarooni, which was quite entertaining. Brodus seemed to be getting a kick out of it. He started mimicking them, which people loved.
Dean Ambrose defeated Alex Riley
Pretty generic filler match here. Ambrose cut a promo on his way to the ring and got the crowd hating him pretty quickly. I could tell immediately that this guy is going to connect with people in no time. People had no idea who he was and he managed to get more heat than half of the regular heels. He talked about how no one knew who he was now, but by the end of the night, he was all they'd be talking about. Riley got a huge pop, crowd was really behind him. It's a shame he's essentially used for enhancement - seems like every crowd loves the guy.
Christian defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Very solid match. Lots of pandering to start things out. Cody was working the crowd flawlessly. Back and forth for about 15 minutes before Cody hit the Beautiful Disaster and got a near fall. Christian countered another attempt and hit the Killswitch to end it.
Tony Chimel announces fans can text in to vote for the stipulation for the Punk/Bryan match later on - street fight, or 2 out of 3 falls. By the way, they use the same number for the live shows as they do for the news line, so if anyone happens to text "1" or "2" during a house show when they run this, you can probably vote even if you're not in attendance.
Kofi Kingston comes out next (carrying both Tag Titles) and tells everyone that R-Truth isn't at the show. He says John Laurinaitis tried to cancel his match, but he refused and found another partner - Zack Ryder. Ryder got a fantastic pop. Chimel announces it as a non-title match as Primo, Epico, and Rosa make their way to the ring. David Otunga stops the referee from ringing the bell and announces that Laurinaitis has decided the match will be for the Tag Team Championship.
Kofi Kingston & Zack Ryder defeated Primo & Epico to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
Fun match. Primo & Epico use typical heel-team tactics to isolate Ryder. Kofi gets the hot tag, but the referee doesn't see it. Kofi gets sent back out. After several minutes, Ryder finally tags in Kofi, and Kingston goes nuts, taking out both Primo and Epico. False finish comes a few minutes later, as Ryder dives to the outside to take out Epico. In the ring, Kofi is distracted by Rosa. Primo hits the Backcracker from behind, pins Kofi, and the ref counts to the three. Kofi's foot was on the rope.
Chimel rings the bell, and announces Primo & Epico as the new Tag Team Champions. Primo & Epico begin to leave with the titles, but the referee calls them back and says Kofi's foot was on the ropes (not sure how he decided this after the fact?). He restarts the match, Kofi and Ryder hit Trouble and Paradise and the Rough Rider at the same time for the double pin-win.
It was a nice little swerve to have Primo & Epico win the tag titles temporarily, but it didn't really work. The referee called for the bell, and then just changed his mind. Kofi never pleaded that his foot was on the ropes. He just rang the bell, and then swore it off. Nice idea, poorly executed, but the fans didn't seem to care
The show got interesting next, as Chimel announced a two on one handicap match. Everyone figured it was Ryback. In fact, a few chants even started. Instead, John Cena's music hit.
John Cena defeated The Big Show & David Otunga in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match
Really strange match. A Steel Cage main event between Cena and Show had been advertised for a few weeks, and clearly they went in a different direction. The strange part was, there was a steel cage sitting up by the entrance ready to go. They seemed to be really rushing through this. I'm not sure if Cena had somewhere else to be, or what, but he wasted no time getting to the ring and they wasted no time getting to the match. A quick bout, maybe six or seven minutes tops. Otunga and Show beat the hell out of Cena, Cena plays some mind games to take control over Otunga. Show gets angry, goes to knock out Cena, Cena ducks, Show hits the WMD on Otunga. Cena quickly follows up with the Attitude Adjustment on Big Show for the quick win. Cena doesn't even stick around to slap hands, he leaves quickly. The entire segment went no longer than ten minutes.
Chimel announces a brief intermission.
Layla defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the Diva's Championship
Really solid diva's match. Beth played the crowd perfectly. She sat on the turnbuckle and refused to come down until people cheered for her. Layla eventually goes after her, the match begins. Lengthy contest with a lot of near falls. Beth eventually lifts Layla for the Glam-Slam, Layla counters into a roll-up. Beth kicks out, goes for a shot, Layla counters into the Neckbreaker for the win.
Chimel announces that the Street Fight has beat out 2-out-of-3 Falls for the WWE Title match.
CM Punk defeated Daniel Bryan in a Street Fight to retain the WWE Championship
Match of the night, without a doubt (no surprise). Bryan had a large chunk of fans, but the majority of the crowd was chanting "NO!" throughout the match. Chain wrestling to start out, with Punk pandering to the crowd a lot. Bryan eventually brings a kendo stick and a chair into play, screaming "YES!" every time he hit Punk. Punk would later counter and do the same thing, screaming "NO!" every time he hit Bryan, it was quite entertaining. While you could tell they were being a bit cautious, they each took some pretty serious shots with the kendo stick. Each had a decent welt on their back by the end of the match. Finish came with a chain of events, starting with CM Punk attempting an elbow drop with a chair onto Bryan from the top rope. Bryan moved, driving the chair into Punk's own elbow. Bryan quickly locked in the Yes Lock. Punk slowly fought out of it and kicked Bryan in the head. Bryan stands, goes to irish whip Punk into a chair tucked into the corner, Punk counters and sends Bryan into it instead. A dazed Bryan walks into Punk, who hit the GTS for the win. A great back and forth contest that went a solid 20-25 minutes.
Chimel announces another brief intermission so they can set up the steel cage for our main event.
Sheamus defeated Kane in a Steel Cage Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
No idea why this became the cage match instead of the advertised Show/Cena or Punk/Bryan. Sheamus got a huge ovation. Slow, methodical, and typical house show bout here. The house show cage is incredibly shaky. I couldn't believe Kane and Sheamus kept climbing it, let alone attempting to climb over it, but they did, several times. Sheamus attempts a Brogue Kick after a powerslam, Kane catches the foot, goes for a chokeslam. Sheamus counters that, tries the Brogue Kick again. This time, Kane ducks and catches Sheamus with the chokeslam. Sheamus kicks out. Back and forth for a couple more minutes. Sheamus counters Kane's irish whip, sends him flying to the cage. Kane turns around, Sheamus nails the Brogue Kick. Kane kicks out at 2 and a half. After a couple more near falls, Kane tries escaping through the door, but Sheamus quickly climbs up and over the cage to win.
Sheamus made three loops around ringside to slap hands and celebrate. The crowd loved him and he really seemed to be enjoying himself.
I can't stress how damn shaky that cage was. Every time they would climb, I was terrified it would fall apart. Kane even seemed a bit uncomfortable at times, having to stop and stabilize himself and the wall before continuing shots at Sheamus.
Overall a fun, interesting show that ended up being completely different than advertised. This was the furthest back I've ever sat at a house show in years (6th row) because I refused to pay the $106 they were charging for the first five rows because it was a supershow. Seats were still great, and I managed to get some decent pictures, which I'll share a little later on.
