Following recap was sent in by [email protected].
General Information:
The area was about half way full with the upper level empty. I have attended several WWE, WCW, and ECW events in Philadelphia and the typical “hot” Philadelphia crowd wasn’t present. I was sitting on the floor and it was filled with a lot of young children and their parents. The crowd was into the action, but was very tame in comparison to other Philadelphia crowds, probably because the event wasn’t televised.
Bob Backlund was posing for autographs and pictures near the concession stands. The guy couldn’t have been nicer. He never took a break, took time to speak with every one, and even let fans who didn’t pay for pictures pose with him with their camera phone. (which the event planners didn’t like at all!) Backlund was awesome and seemed to really enjoy interacting with his fans. Many cross face chicken wings were applied.
Matches:
R Truth and Tons of Funk vs. 3MB
The crowd was hot for R-Truth, who did a great job of getting the crowd warmed up. Decent heat for Slater. R Truth and Tons of Funk won Truth pinned Slater.
Damian Sandow vs. Tyson Kidd
Probably my favorite match of the evening. Great wrestling put on by both men, with some great spots from Kidd. He really deserves some more TV time. Both seemed to have excellent chemistry together. Sandow was way over and was cheered by many. Sandow took the victory by pin.
Naomi and Natalya vs. Brie Bella and Eva Marie
Eva Marie is smoking hot in person. Too bad she can’t wrestle. She missed a spot where she was supposed to break up a pin and got a couple “You can’t wrestle” chants. It was originally supposed to be a dance off, but Brie Bella and Eva Marie attacked Naomi and Natalya while they were doing their routine (thank god) Not much to say here. Typical Diva’s match. Brie tapped out to the sharpshooter.
Alberto Del Rio vs. the Great Khali
A typical Khali match with a lot of throws, stomps, and chops. Del Rio spent the majority of the match working Khali’s leg, which Khali did not sell at all. Del Rio appeared to be frustrated with him, but could have been him just trying to get heat. Khali took the the win by DQ when Del Rio hit him with a chair.
After the match, Khali knocked out Del Rio and Sandow came out ad teased a MITB cash in. Khali then knocked out Sandow and he left without cashing in.
Big E vs. Zach Ryder
Big E dominated most of the match and it looked like a squash until Ryder won with a roll up out of nowhere. Everyone in the arena was legitimately surprised and it was nice to see Ryder get an unexpected win.
Luke Harper and Eric Rowan vs. Prime Time Players
Bray Wyatt was out with Harper and Rowan. He sat at the top of the ramp the entire match and did not come to ring side. I don’t know what his injury was, but a few people remarked it looked like he was limping. This was a decent match with good back and forth between the two teams. Rowan showed off a decent move set with some good selling on the part of Darren Young. The Wyatts got the win when Rowan hit a tornado punch. No psycho sermon from Bray afterward.
CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman
There was nuclear heat on Heyman, who cut an awesome promo before the match. No EC-DUB chants, which is unheard of in Philadelphia. The match was changed to no DQ by Heyman before it began. Punk was by far the most over of everyone. This was a good match with some Singapore cane and chair shots by both men. Axel got a decent pop when he tried the perfect plex. Heyman really has the crowd in the palm of his hand and you don’t appreciate how great he is until you experience it live. Punk got some cane shots on Heyman, which the crowd went nuts for. Punk won after hitting the GTS. After the match, Punk spent a considerable amount of time at ringside celebrating with the fans. He slapped hands, signed autographs, and took pictures. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and made a lot of fans happy.
Biggest pops:
CM Punk
R Truth
Prime Time Players
Sandow
Biggest Heat:
Paul Heyman
Axel
Eva Marie
Del Rio
It was a decent show despite no Bryan, Orton, Ziggler, etc. The tickets were dirt cheap online and I feel I definitely got my money’s worth.
