John
01-08-2011, 02:05 PM
WWE Raw brand house show report
January 7, 2011
Augusta, Ga.
Report by Chris Cushman, PWTorch reader
I attended the Raw house show Friday night in Augusta, Ga. and thought it was an awesome show. Pretty good crowd and they were loud for most of the night. Justin Roberts and Charles Robinson came out and they played the National Anthem. On to the opening contest...
(1) U.S. champion Daniel Bryan beat Ted DiBiase (w/Maryse) and Primo in a three-way match to retain the U.S. Title. Great match. The crowd was hot from the get-go and everyone was really behind Bryan. I was a little surprised to see Primo in the match, but he had a good showing as well. The finish saw Maryse interfere, which brought out the Bella Twins to chase her to the back. Bryan then locked on the LeBell Lock on Dibiase for the win. Bryan celebrated with the Bellas before heading to the back.
alberto_150_21.jpg
(2) R-Truth beat Alberto Del Rio in a Raw vs. Smackdown match. Pretty good match. Del Rio cut a good heel promo before the match and sneak-attacked Truth. Truth won by hitting his version of the scissors kick on Del Rio. Truth’s intro was way over.
(3) WWE tag champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov beat the Usos (Jimmy & Jey) to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Santino got a nice pop and the crowd was into him the whole match. There were even a couple of "Koslov" chants. Lots of comedy spots as you would imagine. Santino and Koslov won after Santino hit a double Cobra on both Usos.
(4) Yoshi Tatsu beat Zack Ryder. Before the match could start, the anonymous GM sent a message that there would first be a dance contest with the crowd picking the winner. Ryder went first and got a few chuckles from the crowd. Tatsu then did a karate type dance. Of course, Tatsu won. Ryder then grabbed the mic and said he came here to fight, "not to dance, bro." He threw down the mic and Tatsu connected with a kick to the head for a three count. It was over that fast.
(5) Gail Kim & Tamina beat Maryse & Alicia Fox. It took the crowd a little while to get into this one, which was unfortunate, because I thought this was actually a pretty good match. I think the crowd was disappointed Melina, Eve, Natalya, or Laycool were not there. The finish saw Tamina hit the Superfly Splash off the top rope for the win.
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(6) John Morrison beat King Sheamus in a street fight. This was an "Augusta’s choice" match, as we could chose between a street fight or a two-out-of-three falls match. The crowd went with the street fight. This was a good match, which saw the wrestlers use chairs and a kendo stick. Morrison picked up the win.
[Intermission. Roberts brought out the Bella Twins to help him throw out some t-shirts.]
(7) David Hart Smith beat Tyson Kidd via submission. Good match. Hart's delayed vertical suplex from the second rope was impressive. Hart won with the Sharpshooter.
(8) C.M. Punk (w/ Nexus's David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, and Husky Harris) defeated Mark Henry. Punk cut a promo like only he could do, with Otunga grabbing the mic to tell everyone to shut up and listen to Punk. For the finish, Punk landed a knee to the head followed by a kick to the head after Henry took down interfering Nexus members. After the match was over, Nexus attacked Henry, which led to Santino, Kozlov, R-Truth, Tatsu, and Daniel Bryan running out to make the save.
(9) WWE champion The Miz (w/Alex Riley) beat Randy Orton to retain the WWE Title. Orton got a huge pop. Good back and forth match and both men teased their finishers. The finish came when Riley distracted Orton long enough for Miz to land the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
After the main event, the GM sent another message, this one sending The Miz to the back and ordering Riley into a No Holds Barred match against Orton.
OrtonRandyArt_130GG_60.jpg
(10) Randy Orton beat Alex Riley in a No Holds Barred match. I'm not sure why it was No Holds Barred as it only lasted a minute, with Orton hitting the RKO for the victory. After the match, Orton posed in the corners and shook hands with the fans.
Overall, a great show that was very enjoyable. I couldn’t believe how many matches there were, even if two of them were quickly over. The audience was disappointed there was no John Cena (pulled from the tour due to injury), as a lot of people were wearing Cena's gear.
Before the show, I got there early trying to get some autographs and catch some of the wrestlers coming in. The first I saw pull in were the Usos and Tamina, then Jaime Noble pulled in and went straight inside. Next were Mark Henry and Primo. Mark Henry waved at first, but decided he would take a picture with a kid. Henry quickly put the security guard in his place and posed for the pic. Next were Gail Kim, David Hart Smith, and Alicia Fox. Next was Finlay, then Justin Roberts, Yoshi Tatsu, Zack Ryder, and John Morrison pulled in. Morrison was great, as he signed for everyone and posed for pics with anyone who wanted them. He was the only one to do this. Next up, Nexus pulled in and went straight in the building.
Biggest Pops:
(1) Orton
(2) Santino
(3) Truth, Morrison, Bryan (tie)
Biggest Heat:
(1) Miz
(2) Punk
(3) Sheamus
January 7, 2011
Augusta, Ga.
Report by Chris Cushman, PWTorch reader
I attended the Raw house show Friday night in Augusta, Ga. and thought it was an awesome show. Pretty good crowd and they were loud for most of the night. Justin Roberts and Charles Robinson came out and they played the National Anthem. On to the opening contest...
(1) U.S. champion Daniel Bryan beat Ted DiBiase (w/Maryse) and Primo in a three-way match to retain the U.S. Title. Great match. The crowd was hot from the get-go and everyone was really behind Bryan. I was a little surprised to see Primo in the match, but he had a good showing as well. The finish saw Maryse interfere, which brought out the Bella Twins to chase her to the back. Bryan then locked on the LeBell Lock on Dibiase for the win. Bryan celebrated with the Bellas before heading to the back.
alberto_150_21.jpg
(2) R-Truth beat Alberto Del Rio in a Raw vs. Smackdown match. Pretty good match. Del Rio cut a good heel promo before the match and sneak-attacked Truth. Truth won by hitting his version of the scissors kick on Del Rio. Truth’s intro was way over.
(3) WWE tag champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov beat the Usos (Jimmy & Jey) to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Santino got a nice pop and the crowd was into him the whole match. There were even a couple of "Koslov" chants. Lots of comedy spots as you would imagine. Santino and Koslov won after Santino hit a double Cobra on both Usos.
(4) Yoshi Tatsu beat Zack Ryder. Before the match could start, the anonymous GM sent a message that there would first be a dance contest with the crowd picking the winner. Ryder went first and got a few chuckles from the crowd. Tatsu then did a karate type dance. Of course, Tatsu won. Ryder then grabbed the mic and said he came here to fight, "not to dance, bro." He threw down the mic and Tatsu connected with a kick to the head for a three count. It was over that fast.
(5) Gail Kim & Tamina beat Maryse & Alicia Fox. It took the crowd a little while to get into this one, which was unfortunate, because I thought this was actually a pretty good match. I think the crowd was disappointed Melina, Eve, Natalya, or Laycool were not there. The finish saw Tamina hit the Superfly Splash off the top rope for the win.
MorrisonJohn_130GG_24.jpg
(6) John Morrison beat King Sheamus in a street fight. This was an "Augusta’s choice" match, as we could chose between a street fight or a two-out-of-three falls match. The crowd went with the street fight. This was a good match, which saw the wrestlers use chairs and a kendo stick. Morrison picked up the win.
[Intermission. Roberts brought out the Bella Twins to help him throw out some t-shirts.]
(7) David Hart Smith beat Tyson Kidd via submission. Good match. Hart's delayed vertical suplex from the second rope was impressive. Hart won with the Sharpshooter.
(8) C.M. Punk (w/ Nexus's David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, and Husky Harris) defeated Mark Henry. Punk cut a promo like only he could do, with Otunga grabbing the mic to tell everyone to shut up and listen to Punk. For the finish, Punk landed a knee to the head followed by a kick to the head after Henry took down interfering Nexus members. After the match was over, Nexus attacked Henry, which led to Santino, Kozlov, R-Truth, Tatsu, and Daniel Bryan running out to make the save.
(9) WWE champion The Miz (w/Alex Riley) beat Randy Orton to retain the WWE Title. Orton got a huge pop. Good back and forth match and both men teased their finishers. The finish came when Riley distracted Orton long enough for Miz to land the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
After the main event, the GM sent another message, this one sending The Miz to the back and ordering Riley into a No Holds Barred match against Orton.
OrtonRandyArt_130GG_60.jpg
(10) Randy Orton beat Alex Riley in a No Holds Barred match. I'm not sure why it was No Holds Barred as it only lasted a minute, with Orton hitting the RKO for the victory. After the match, Orton posed in the corners and shook hands with the fans.
Overall, a great show that was very enjoyable. I couldn’t believe how many matches there were, even if two of them were quickly over. The audience was disappointed there was no John Cena (pulled from the tour due to injury), as a lot of people were wearing Cena's gear.
Before the show, I got there early trying to get some autographs and catch some of the wrestlers coming in. The first I saw pull in were the Usos and Tamina, then Jaime Noble pulled in and went straight inside. Next were Mark Henry and Primo. Mark Henry waved at first, but decided he would take a picture with a kid. Henry quickly put the security guard in his place and posed for the pic. Next were Gail Kim, David Hart Smith, and Alicia Fox. Next was Finlay, then Justin Roberts, Yoshi Tatsu, Zack Ryder, and John Morrison pulled in. Morrison was great, as he signed for everyone and posed for pics with anyone who wanted them. He was the only one to do this. Next up, Nexus pulled in and went straight in the building.
Biggest Pops:
(1) Orton
(2) Santino
(3) Truth, Morrison, Bryan (tie)
Biggest Heat:
(1) Miz
(2) Punk
(3) Sheamus