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
