Thanks to reader Chase for sending this report.
I was fortunate to be in attendance tonight for MITB. We were seated in Section 108 diagonal from the pre show crew and where a lot of the fighting took place outside the ring for the main event. Event was sold out and this was the first pay per view in Columbus since 2004
The event said it started at 7:30 and so they let folks in at 6:30. Really nothing much happened to Lillian and Jojo came out at about 7:20 to announce the announce team. First match literally kicked off 3 minutes after 7:30. Really sad what they are doing to King Barrett. He actually got a lot of cheers people were rooting for him. I honestly have no idea what direction they are going with him, besides being a jobber. It truly shows the King of The Ring is pretty useless right now. There was a lot of dead time for this match until the start of the PPV.
They did a fantastic tribute to Dusty Rhodes with all the superstars out on the floor. A lot of people had a feeling MITB was first match.
First match kicks off. Reigns came out 2 sections from us. Match was very good, a lot more entertaining then the MITB match I saw at Wrestlemania 23. Honestly nobody in the crowd had no idea about Bray Wyatt. It was completely shocking. The ring going dark and the Titantron with his graphics was great. He got a huge pop. Everyone was hoping as well that Neville would win. It was very half and half for Reigns. He didnt get a really big pop and especially during the match. Sheamus winning took a lot of people by surprised. A lot of people actually booed. I thought it was genius. He has won everything but that match. It shows they have confidence in him. I thought it would be interesting to see him capitalize on it later on in the night. At least that was my hope.
Paige got a nice pop. I kind of figured she wasnt going to win with Tough Enough coming up and her coaching in it. They did a good job of hiding the other Bella sister.
Big Show-Ryback match was pure misery. Lots of folks chanting please retire to Big Show. It was the worst match on a pay per view I have ever seen in person. Miz coming into the ring and ending the misery was a breath of fresh air. Many people chanted Thank You Miz in fact.
Owens Vs Cena Match is hands down a match of the year candidate. A huge Owens crowd. Owens wrestled in Columbus last night and has wrestled for many independent promotions based in Ohio as well. NXT has a huge Ohio fan base so he was way over. Cena got a lot of boos and Cena sucks chants. I thought for sure we would see a Cena heel turn tonight. A lot of folks were surprised that Cena won at least the hardcore enthusiasts especially since Owens won last month and everyone figured they would build him up. Crowd appreciated both competitors in the end. After this match the crowd kind of died because this was such an emotional roller coaster.
The next Dusty Rhodes tribute was fantastic as well. Great job by WWE.
Prime time Players got a great pop. New Day was pretty much in trouble when they bashed Ohio State. Columbus eats sleeps and breathes OSU. I was super shocked by the result. They totally did a 360 on this. It was a very quiet match and nothing spectacular. Folks were happy though that PTP won. I have to wonder where they are going in tag direction.
Main Event lots of Lesnar chants and Ohio chants. Match was very quiet at first with fans. It was all over the place. Rollins kept using a chair on Ambrose. They ended up taking their fight right in front of my section. A bit of high spots in the match. It was the oddest finish I have ever seen. A lot of folks were very confused and not sure what to do.
Overall it was a very average pay per view. Minus the MITB and Owens fight it was mediocre. Ohio is very much an NXT state and lot of NXT chants throughout the night. They will be coming back for Raw in January on the 18th. The presale code for the show is RAW.
