Thanks to Ideen Barimani for sending this in:
The new Raw house-show set up is tremendous.
Howard Finkel welcomed us to the show before being interrupted by the Miz. Not much DC bashing. Moreso talking about his title match with CM Punk. R Truth did his run-in and this set a good tone for the rest of the show.
1) Dolph Ziggler quickly won the 10 man battle royal to compete for the U.S Title against Zack Ryder. 3/4*
2) Beth Phoenix beat Eve Torres. One of the Bellas was the guest referee, the other the guest timekeeper. Better than any women's match I remember from tv recently. Eve had the victory wrapped up, but the one Bella pretended her arm was hurt and couldn't count the three. Shortly thereafter Beth won with the Glam Slam. The Bellas beat down on Eve after the match, until Kelly Kelly in a Washington Capitals jersey came to her aid. ** 1/4
3) Jerry Lawler beat Jack Swagger. Mick Foley was at ringside. Prior to the match he was interrupted by Jack Swagger which lead to the match. Ok action * 1/2
4) Alex Riley and Mason Ryan beat Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins. Riley had a huge pop from originally being from Fairfax Station, VA, a suburb of Washington, DC. Riley and Mason got the win. ok for what it was * 1/4
5) Santino Marella beat David Otunga. Not much to this. Mainly a comedy match 1/2 *
6) zach Ryder retained the US title against Dolph Ziggler after the same false-finish as recent house shows have dictated. Ziggler was awarded the pin, but Ryder had his foot on the ropes. Charles Robinson restarted the match and Ryder won with the Rough Ryder immediately. *** 1/4
7) John Cena beat Kane via DQ after Kane used a chair. A bit sloppy at times. Post-match
Kane used a chokeslam and after leaving the ring area, came back, but was met with an Attitude Adjustment. * 3/4
Intermission
8) WWE champion C.M. Punk defeated the Miz with the GTS in a steel cage. Afterwards Punk shook hands with fans around ringside, left the ring area, then camed back for the encore with Cult of Personality restarting. Very good match *** 1/2
Enjoyable show. The building was half-full maybe? The entire upper-deck was empty. I am estimating maybe 5-6,000 for the attendance. But a great crowd.
Biggest Pops
1) CM Punk
2) John Cena
3) Zack Ryder
4) Jerry Lawler
5) Mick Foley
honorable mention : Alex Riley & R Truth
Most Heat
1) The Miz
2) Dolph Ziggler
3) Beth Phoenix
4) Kane
5) Jack Swagger
Crowd was really into it, aside from the Santino/Otunga match. Fun night overall.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
