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Went to the show in Birmingham yesterday night, so thought I'd report back on the goings on!
I missed R-Truths entrance whilst getting a Sheamus shirt...not a big loss.
R-Truth Defeated Alex Riley
- Really short opener which the crowd was a little quite for the action. Once the crowd realised who Riley was (His music is kind of generic) he got some great heat though. R-Truth won with his terrible finisher...nobody knew it was going to be the finish either.
Santino/Kozlov defeated The Uso's
- Santino got a big pop, and surprisingly The Uso's got some pretty good heat too. The match was basic, but the crowd was into it and cheered on the hot tag. Santino won with a double cobra on both of the Uso's to win with a big pop from the crowd. Santino's really fun to watch live.
Ezekiel Jackson defeated Zach Ryder
- Pretty much a squash match. Zeke didn't get much of a reaction, but again surprisingly Ryder got some good heat. Zeke got a cheer when he won though.
Daniel Bryan defeated William Regal for the US Title
- Both guys got kind of quite reactions on their entrances, Bryan got the bigger pop but once the match got started Regal got the better reception. There were duelling chants a lot of the match but Regal was getting the bigger face reaction I think. Bryan seemed to me like he was playing a slight heel role. The match was pretty good, a little slow but some good technical wrestling. Bryan won with the Labelle Lock which actually got him some pretty big heat. Regal raised his hand at the end though.
Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett for the WWE Championship
- I thought it was a little early for the title match and it should have gone last but still. Wade Barrett came out to MASSIVE heat from the crowd, he cut a promo mentioning that he was from the 'greatest city in the universe, Manchester' which got even more heat. Orton then came out, to what I would say was the pop of the night, it was huge. The crowd were hot for this match, lots of 'RKO' and 'Orton' chants going around. We had a referee bump, Barrett demanded Cena come out to referee, he did to another massive pop. However when Barrett was arguing with Cena, Orton hit the RKO for the three count. Pretty good match though.
Randy Orton took his time greeting the fans, including a man in a wheelchair which I thought was really good of him.
INTERMISSION
Eve and The Bellas defeated Maryse/Alicia/Tamina
- They pretty much killed the crowd to be honest. Nobody cares at all which was expected. The highlight was a nice northern lights suplex from Alicia. The faces won...I don't remember how.
Sheamus defeated John Morrison
- Sheamus came out to some good heat, but got a fair share of cheers thrown in there too, big pop for Morrison on his entrance. The match was a little slow at first, and the crowd (killed by the DIVAS) had some trouble getting into it at first. They liked both Sheamus and Morrison ut the match picked up big time and they got behind Morrison well. It was match of the night and the last seven or eight minutes were fantastic. Morrison hit his ankle on the ring post and did an awesome sell job the entire way through the match. Sheamus ended up winning with the Brogue kick. After the match, Morrison stood up and got an ovation as he headed to the back (still selling) and greeting the fans.
John Cena defeated The Miz
- Suprising main evnet I thought. Miz came out to some good heat and Riley got on the mic cutting a promo on how he does everything for the Miz including folding his underwear...interesting. Miz bragged a lot, and did his catchphrase. That made me realise that people do in fact say 'awful' and not 'awesome' to reapeat it. The match was pretty good, as most Miz/Cena matches are. Crowd loved Cena and gave Miz some great heat through the match. In the end, Cena won with the FU to a massive pop. Good end although I would have preferred the title match to end the show.
Overall this was a quality house show. The crowd were hot for the majority of the card (a lot better than the Newcastle show I went to in April) and a lot of the matches were pretty good (Morrison/Sheamus, Barrett/Orton, Cena/Miz and Bryan/Regal in particular)
Also, not sure if it's because the purple shirts aren't as noticeable but there didn't seem to be as many around as last time. I'm sure I saw more with Orton shirts on, a lot of Nexus shirts and a fair few Miz shirts around too.
BIGGEST POPS
1. Randy Orton
2. John Cena
3. John Morrison/Santino
BIGGEST HEAT
1. Wade Barrett (by far)
2. Sheamus during his match
3. Bryan after winning his match.
I missed R-Truths entrance whilst getting a Sheamus shirt...not a big loss.
R-Truth Defeated Alex Riley
- Really short opener which the crowd was a little quite for the action. Once the crowd realised who Riley was (His music is kind of generic) he got some great heat though. R-Truth won with his terrible finisher...nobody knew it was going to be the finish either.
Santino/Kozlov defeated The Uso's
- Santino got a big pop, and surprisingly The Uso's got some pretty good heat too. The match was basic, but the crowd was into it and cheered on the hot tag. Santino won with a double cobra on both of the Uso's to win with a big pop from the crowd. Santino's really fun to watch live.
Ezekiel Jackson defeated Zach Ryder
- Pretty much a squash match. Zeke didn't get much of a reaction, but again surprisingly Ryder got some good heat. Zeke got a cheer when he won though.
Daniel Bryan defeated William Regal for the US Title
- Both guys got kind of quite reactions on their entrances, Bryan got the bigger pop but once the match got started Regal got the better reception. There were duelling chants a lot of the match but Regal was getting the bigger face reaction I think. Bryan seemed to me like he was playing a slight heel role. The match was pretty good, a little slow but some good technical wrestling. Bryan won with the Labelle Lock which actually got him some pretty big heat. Regal raised his hand at the end though.
Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett for the WWE Championship
- I thought it was a little early for the title match and it should have gone last but still. Wade Barrett came out to MASSIVE heat from the crowd, he cut a promo mentioning that he was from the 'greatest city in the universe, Manchester' which got even more heat. Orton then came out, to what I would say was the pop of the night, it was huge. The crowd were hot for this match, lots of 'RKO' and 'Orton' chants going around. We had a referee bump, Barrett demanded Cena come out to referee, he did to another massive pop. However when Barrett was arguing with Cena, Orton hit the RKO for the three count. Pretty good match though.
Randy Orton took his time greeting the fans, including a man in a wheelchair which I thought was really good of him.
INTERMISSION
Eve and The Bellas defeated Maryse/Alicia/Tamina
- They pretty much killed the crowd to be honest. Nobody cares at all which was expected. The highlight was a nice northern lights suplex from Alicia. The faces won...I don't remember how.
Sheamus defeated John Morrison
- Sheamus came out to some good heat, but got a fair share of cheers thrown in there too, big pop for Morrison on his entrance. The match was a little slow at first, and the crowd (killed by the DIVAS) had some trouble getting into it at first. They liked both Sheamus and Morrison ut the match picked up big time and they got behind Morrison well. It was match of the night and the last seven or eight minutes were fantastic. Morrison hit his ankle on the ring post and did an awesome sell job the entire way through the match. Sheamus ended up winning with the Brogue kick. After the match, Morrison stood up and got an ovation as he headed to the back (still selling) and greeting the fans.
John Cena defeated The Miz
- Suprising main evnet I thought. Miz came out to some good heat and Riley got on the mic cutting a promo on how he does everything for the Miz including folding his underwear...interesting. Miz bragged a lot, and did his catchphrase. That made me realise that people do in fact say 'awful' and not 'awesome' to reapeat it. The match was pretty good, as most Miz/Cena matches are. Crowd loved Cena and gave Miz some great heat through the match. In the end, Cena won with the FU to a massive pop. Good end although I would have preferred the title match to end the show.
Overall this was a quality house show. The crowd were hot for the majority of the card (a lot better than the Newcastle show I went to in April) and a lot of the matches were pretty good (Morrison/Sheamus, Barrett/Orton, Cena/Miz and Bryan/Regal in particular)
Also, not sure if it's because the purple shirts aren't as noticeable but there didn't seem to be as many around as last time. I'm sure I saw more with Orton shirts on, a lot of Nexus shirts and a fair few Miz shirts around too.
BIGGEST POPS
1. Randy Orton
2. John Cena
3. John Morrison/Santino
BIGGEST HEAT
1. Wade Barrett (by far)
2. Sheamus during his match
3. Bryan after winning his match.