First thing worth noting is that while the live event I was at a month or two ago was almost completely empty, this show was packed. The upper levels were darkened, but then again, they usually are for most TV tapings. I’d say the arena was about three quarters filled, and the crowd was hot. Unfortunately, despite being a “smart” city of fans, this crowd was mainly made up of the current sought after fanbase of women and children. Very different from the PPV I was at in February where the crowd was definitely smarter to the business and not just eating out Cena’s hands. Seriously, $20 for a signed picture of him and I saw people waving them like they were signs.
Anyway, on to the show.
John Morrison and Ted DiBiase opened the show, which I unfortunately missed due to a food line. From what I’ve gathered they came out, the GM beeped in and made a dance off, and….apparently Ted and Maryse danced against JoMo…and lost. That apparently went on for about five minutes before Morrison won over Ted in a match that was less than a minute before the Nexus came in and cut a promo about later tonight. I wish I’d seen it, as I am a Morrison fan, but then again, dance off.
Alicia Fox challenged Melina for the Divas title in a match that went about five minutes and….well, it was what it was. Melina hit her spots, I assume Alicia hit hers (whatever they are), and Melina won with that split leg drop she does.
The Bellas came out to be the ‘hosts’ of the show and asked the usual “What’s the next PPV?” trivia question to a kid in the audience, I presume so they could be the guest time keeper.
The Hart Dynasty defended their tag titles against the Usos in a match that went about thirteen minutes. Action was pretty even, the women got a bit involved, and it eventually ended with David Hart Smith locking one of the Usos in the Sharpshooter. The Hart’s were over, and there was even a bit of a ‘Hart Attack’ chant, but the Usos did nothing as far as reaction went. I couldn’t tell them apart, and I imagine that a lot of people had no clue who they were. Though it baffles me that this is the kind of reaction the Hart’s get and yet they probably aren’t on Night of Champions.
Kelly faced Layla for the Women’s title, and it was a long eight or nine minutes. I mean, exponentially better than Layla vs Tiffany last time, but still not easy to watch. Michelle McTaker was around at ring side to throw out the interference and play up the fans, and to be honest, she helped save the match. Layla and Michelle work well together, especially with one at ringside. I think I saw Kelly pop out of her top at one point, but I don’t have any photo evidence. Layla got the win with a reverse neck breaker.
CM Punk came out nice and slowly and proceeded to cut a five minute promo on St. Louis about us booing him despite him having not even insulted us yet, and he made some good points. I mean, he is a heel and we jumped down his throats, but he’s amazing at it. Then again, he was also announced as being from Chicago, and a little thing about St. Louis? That’s ALL it takes to get booed here. He went on about how we used to cheer him for being straight edge and now we boo him for it, and then he said he was from Chicago, and that Kofi would represent St. Louis, and STL would get what it deserved. Awesome promo.
Punk vs Kofi went about fifteen minutes, and because of Punk’s promo Kofi got a big pop. Kofi threw his shirt into the crowd, Punk faked doing it with his but just dropped it at ringside. Nice back and forth match with a bunch of quick energetic spots at first before they settled into the rest holds. Kofi got some nice reactions, and then eventually hit the Boom Drop. Punk ducked a Trouble in Paradise but was hit with the SOS. Kofi took a nap in the corner so that Punk could put him up for the GTS, which was reversed, and then Kofi won with the Trouble in paradise.
And now it’s time for free stuff as the Bella’s throw shirts. Yes, they threw them, no t-shirt gun, they threw them into the audience. Great for the first few rows.
And then came the awesome as Miz came out and cut the “Your sports teams suck” promo, which works since we have the Rams, and the Cardinals aren’t exactly doing super right now, but then again, he’s from Cleveland. And another thing, don’t say that the Cardinals never win any championships, because if you look up the records, we’ve had the second most World Series appearances, and the second most World Series wins, both behind the Yankees. That would make us, historically, the second best team in baseball. The best part of this promo though was when Miz channeled The Rock and Armando Estrada, as the crowd went to say his catchphrase with him he started yelling at us and I was waiting for a “This isn’t sing along with the champ!”
Miz vs Daniel Bryan for the US title went about fifteen minutes, and while it opened with Miz trying to escape out of the ring, it wound up being a nice little technical match between the two. The Miz has a better ground game than I have ever given him credit for, and he really did hold his own against one of the best solid wrestlers in the industry. Totally a match I would want to see on a PPV. Danielson looked amazing, and in this fans eyes, as good as any other superstar there. The crowd turned on him, which was my first real indicator that the smart St. Louis fans don’t go to live events. Seriously, Danielson got booed because Miz was hotter, and yes, I asked several people and got that reaction. Didn’t matter to me though, he looked like a superstar, and Miz looked like a man who should be in the championship picture. Danielson locked in the LaBelle Lock but Miz got to the ropes (this blogger yelled out “HE’S GOT TILL FIVE!”), and then Miz won with the Skull Crushing Finale.
Kane vs The Undertaker was the match I was most excited to see, and yet disappointed the most by. It was twelve minutes or so, typical big man match, each hit a lot of their own spots and….it really watched like any other match the two have had. The problem? The biggest problem? The finish was horrible! Kane went for a chokeslam, Taker went for a chokeslam, Taker knocked Kane’s arm away, Kane kicked Taker in the balls for the intentional DQ. Taker chokeslams Kane anyway. It was….if that match happened on PPV, I’d want my money back.
The main event was a five on four match as Cena, Orton, Evan Bourne, and Big Show took on the five men of Nexus in an elimination style match. Evan Bourne got a really big pop due to being a local, but it was eclipsed by what we gave to our boy Randy. Unfortunately, due to the audience, Cena’s was almost deafening (and unfortunately the Cena Sucks chants never got off the ground as parents started screaming at people who tried). The Nexus got booed out of the building. Anyway, match went about twenty-five minutes. Big Show was the first elimination after getting himself DQed by holding a chair and pushing a ref. Evan Bourne pinned Otunga with a Shooting Star Press, but was then eliminated by Heath Slater. Cena wound up eliminating Michael Tarver with the Attitude Adjustment, and Justin Gabriel with the STF after a botched 450, but this is after they spent 15 minutes beating him down while Orton stood on the apron. Longest most obnoxious beatdown ever, it was just….ugh. Orton eventually got the hot tag and just cleaned house. Middle rope DDT’s to Slater and Barrett, and then RKO’s to each of them to cap off the night.
I also take no shame in that there were these four girls in the front row, three of whom were smoking hot, and one was their slightly overweight friend. The people I was sitting with kept thinking that they had maybe won their tickets from a radio contest or something because they showed absolutely no interest at all in the show, and were just on their phones, talking, and drinking cocktails all night. The wrestlers noticed though, and Miz gave them a triple take. During the main event I figured it out though, right after Cena made his introduction. Orton and Cena’s wives were sitting together in the front row.
Biggest pops:
- John Cena
- Randy Orton
- The Undertaker
- Evan Bourne
- Kofi Kingson
Biggest heat:
- CM Punk
- The Miz
- Nexus
- Kane (especially after the nut shot finish)
Fun show, now they just need to give us something televised! It’s so rare for them to do two house shows in a row here.
