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WWE Live @ Ft. Myers, FL - August 28th, 2015
Topic Started: Aug 28 2015, 10:01 PM (1,231 Views)
Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
[ *  *  * ]
- Live from the Germain Arena in Ft. Myers, FL on August 28th, 2015, it’s Scrooge’s live report of the WWE Live. I was expecting something more along the lines of what we see on TV, but when it came to crowd responses, it was almost all what would happen if kayfabe were still a thing. The good guys were adored and the bad guys booed, with me and a few bad apples peppered throughout. I don’t know how large the arena is (numbers wise) and what capacity it holds, but with the sections blocked off for the entrance set, it was mostly full, with a lot of children (all of whom wearing Cena shirts… and a few with GOLDUST MASKS?). Start time was 7:30 pm, so we got to see a clipped version of Brock vs. Rock from SummerSlam ’02 to kill the time. Jojo sang the national anthem and handled all ring introductions.


- No DQ Match: Dolph Ziggler (w/ Lana) vs. Rusev (w/ Summer Rae):
Big heat for Rusev and tons of US chants while he waved around his Bulgarian flag that has his face plastered over it. Ziggler got a hot reaction, but most of the crowd chants were for Lana, who, to no surprise, is just beautiful in person. Rusev controlled early on with his strength advantage. Ziggler’s athleticism is just amazing watching live, and this is coming from someone impressed by his ability on TV. Doesn’t always translates to great wrestling, but the effort is always A+. Ziggler got a few hope spots here and there, taking Rusev down with a tornado DDT and the Fame-Asser, but only for two counts. The action picked up late, both in the ring and out of the ring, with Summer Rae taking Lana out on the floor. She tried to cheap shot Ziggler, but Lana recovered and it was time for a CATFIGHT! Rusev used Summer Rae as a shield to protect from a super-kick, so Lana laid her out with a jumping karate kick. Moments later, Ziggler hit the Zig-Zag for the three count at around the 13-minute mark. Great way to open the show, and despite the No DQ stipulations, there was a minimal amount of illegal tactics, with the women’s involvement being the only part that really stood out as anything that constituted violating the rules. ***


- Jimmy Uso vs. The Miz:
This feels really low on the card for the Miz, considering Uso has been a non-factor on TV with his brother Jey out with an injury. He cut a promo before the match about how much better and how much tougher he was than everyone else. Started off as a comedy match, with Jimmy working the crowd with a lot of dancing. Miz, taking exception to his talents, told us all how much better of a dancer he was… and started RIVERDANCING. I didn’t think Lord of the Dance was still a thing, but dammit was that funny. Miz dominated, but didn’t do a whole lot, other than his signature back breaker/neck breacker combo. Uso made the comeback with a super-kick, Samoan Drop, and running butt to the face. Miz got the Figure-Four applied, but Jimmy managed to make it to the ropes. They battled on the top rope until Jimmy knocked him and finished with the Splash for a clean three count at the 8-minute mark. Wow, I was shocked they put Uso over Miz, again, considering their roles on TV and the fact Jimmy is just a tag team guy while Miz was just challenging for the IC Title. Wrestling was only OK, but for entertainment, the early comedy stuff was great and they finished strong. **


- Team PCB vs. Team B.A.D.:
(Paige, Charlotte, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina)
Before the match, Team B.A.D. taunted Team PCB with a sign from the crowd that looked like a child’s drawing of Paige, Charlotte, and Becky. Crowd was into Team PCB (or moreso Paige), but Team B.A.D. got a mostly meh reaction. I guess when one of them is Tamina and Sasha is still unknown to the casuals, it’s understandable. Becky Lynch dominated the first few minutes, working with all three women. Paige put the knees to Naomi and got in her signature “this is MY house!” line before becoming our woman-in-peril. Team B.A.D. took turns working her over and getting near falls. Naomi did most of the work, but Sasha was in there regularly enough to not feel ripped off by her appearance. Of all the women, Charlotte was mostly a non-factor until the hot tag, and even then, it was only momentarily. The action broke loose pretty quickly, and when the dust settled, Lynch made Sasha tap out to the Dis-arm-her (seated Fujiwara armbar) at the 10-minute mark. Crowd was kind of into it, but not in love with it, and the work was good, with no obvious blown spots. They didn’t work as long as I anticipated, but it was nice to see the match treated with a little more respect than some of the undercard stuff. **1/2


- Tyler Breeze vs. Baron Corbin:
The official piss-break match of the first half. You can tell to what extent the audience was when these guys got the silent treatment from those who stayed to watch, while the other 50% of the crowd left for the bathroom and concession stands. Corbin cut a promo after his entrance about how he doesn’t care what we think. My hollering out “you can’t wrestle” could be heard over the nothingness of the rest of the crowd. Breeze’s selfie-stick was popular, but that was pretty much it. Total ho-hum match. Not being familiar with Corbin, he hit what looked like a Sidewalk Slam and I just assumed it was his finishing move (End of Days?), but it only got two. Breeze never really got much of a comeback and pinned Corbin with a cradle out of nowhere after about 5-minutes. Corbin laid him out post-match with his finisher, but they still played Breeze’s music as he was helped backstage. He didn’t even get to celebrate with his selfie-stick! Not much to this one. DUD


- Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens:
Owens cut a pre-recorded promo for the jumbo screens, talking about wanting to beat Ambrose into jelly. Crowd was fairly split on them, but wasn’t as hot as I was expecting. Ambrose started off hot, but Owens caught him in a suicide dive attempt and rammed him hard into the post. Owens with a bit of resting to dick with the crowd. He twice tried to get Ambrose counted-out, but Ambrose would keep making it back in the ring. After a few more minutes of so-so action (mostly Ambrose getting his ass kicked), we went into the finish. Hot sequence of trading near falls. Ambrose’s spring off the ropes into a clothesline spot was as awesome as I was hoping. Owens’ cannonball looks a lot more brutal than it does on television. Ambrose came off the top rope with his signature elbow drop. Owens fought Ambrose on the top rope and ended up hitting the Fisherman Buster. He went for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Ambrose leap frogged him and hit Dirty Deeds for the clean three count at around the 14-minute mark. No post-match attack, but that shouldn’t be surprising since we just saw that finish. Started off so-so, but the last few minutes was really intense and the near falls had a lot of people on the edge of their seats. ***


INTERMISSION! Lets all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby, and get ourselves some snacks! (I got myself another beer and a program, for the record).


- Jack Swagger vs. Adam Rose:
Most of the crowd was still gone from the intermission when this started. Rose cut-off Swagger’s entrance with a long-winded promo about how we’re not allowed to have fun because they never wanted to have fun with him, so now he’s the ultimate party pooper. Match was just them trading stuff for a few moments before Swagger got him in the Patriot Lock out of nowhere and made him tap in less than 90-seconds. The finish was so sudden I was in mid-sentence of a conversation when I just went “… wait, it’s already over?! That was quick). Swagger’s “we the people” got mild reactions, but that was it. NR


- WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
The New Day © vs. The Primetime Players:

(Kofi Kingston & Big E. w/ Xavier Woods vs. Titus O’Neil & Darren Young)
I was a little disappointed in the lack of positivity for the New Day. Seriously, how can anyone not like these guys?! Their pre-match shenanigans seemed more like a work-out routine, with Kofi and Woods jumping back and forth over Big E’s body. Woods came out wearing one of the belts, teasing he would be wrestling, but it ended up being the normal duo. Big E’s impression of O’Neil’s signature howl was spit-take worthy comedy… that and grinding the middle rope like a stripper pole. The Primetime Players had a surprisingly long portion of dominance on Big E., with Titus leading most of the charge. Young ended up playing the face-in-peril thanks to a cheap shot from Woods on the apron. Kofi and Big E. took turns stomping a mudhole in Young to the point it might be a hate crime. Titus got the hot tag and cleaned house with clotheslines and boots. Chaos erupted and the finish just came out of nowhere with Kofi rolling up Young to retain at around the 12-minute mark. Basic formula match from these two teams, but the crowd was into it and my goodness is it hard not to enjoy the New Day when they clearly are having a good time out there. **1/2


- John Cena vs. Seth Rollins:
The Main Event of the evening. The advertisement on the Germain Arena’s website advertised this as a Championship Match and with No DQ Stipulations, but this was introduced as a straight rules affair and no titles on the line. Cena out-worked Rollins early, prompting Rollins to escape to the floor and trash-talk the crowd for being Cena fans (and to be fair, it was almost 100% Cena fans… and yes, I chanted “Cena Sucks” until my throat was sore). To prove how much better he was, this match would now be a World AND US Title Match. Who gave him that authority?! Won’t Sting be mad?! Rollins worked a complete babyface formula match, minus any big dives over the ropes. Cena actually hit his springboard stunner, and it didn’t look too bad. Lots of near falls, but Cena never could hit the AA. He had Rollins in the STF a few times, but Rollins kept making it to the ropes. Rollins with near falls off a super-plex into a falcon arrow and the pedigree, among other big spots. Finish came when Rollins brought a chair in the ring, but the referee stopped him from using it. Oh well, he went with a trusty low-blow for the cheap Disqualification finish at around the 20-minute mark. Post-match,Cena hit him with the AA and celebrated to send the crowd home happy. The screw-job finish was to be expected, but they worked really hard for a live event. ***1/2


Final Thoughts: The show started at 7:30 and ended at 10:15, so I didn’t feel any of the matches were short-changed. With the exception of the undercard fat like Corbin vs. Breeze and Swagger vs. Rose (which both had their reasons on the card, to cool down the crowd and act as a bathroom break), every match was entertaining and the Main Event, even with a very lame finish, delivered in quality. Take away the finish of the Cena vs. Rollins “Championship Match”, and almost every match had a clean finish and all the babyfaces (except the New Day) went over or left the ring on top. Crowd participation helps, and this crowd was more than willing to eat up what the WWE had to offer. I feel like I got my money’s worth, and would definitely think about checking out WWE when they come back to town.
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Mad Dog
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ho ho who the hell are you?
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What did you think of JoJo's ass live?
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Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
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It wasn't too bad. I'd give it a solid third behind Lana and Paige for the evening.
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Mad Dog
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ho ho who the hell are you?
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She announced the first NXT I went to and I remember her being all ass.
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Mad Dog
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ho ho who the hell are you?
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To go in a non-ass related route. I've seen Baron Corbin live twice now. He wrestled Tyson Kidd the first time and Tyler Breeze a second time. I just don't get what they see in the guy. He doesn't suck inring or anything. I mean, he's not amazing but as far as hosses go I'd say he's above average for your hoss type. But the guy just doesn't give you anything to latch onto. You don't really feel like booing or cheering the guy because he's just there.
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Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
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The crowd was completely apathetic to him, even with a pre-match "I don't care what anyone of you think" promo to get cheap heat. Personally, I don't hate him, but I don't want to see him, either, if that makes sense. He doesn't have a great physique for what he's presented as, and outside of a solid match with Joe at TakeOver, he hasn't done much in the ring, either.
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Mad Dog
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ho ho who the hell are you?
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Yeah, he's kind of flabby live moreseo than on TV.
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