Thanks to Oliver Roderick for sending in the following:
WWE Cardiff House Show Results May 18th 2014-05-18
Match 1
RANDY ORTON VS ROMAN REIGNS
With refunds having been offered due to Daniel Bryan’s absence, the Viper came out to insist he was disappointed not to get his chance to cash in his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Instead, as the only member of Evolution to make the tour, Orton issued a challenge to ‘the leader of the Shield’, Roman Reigns. It was barely a minute before Rybaxel and Ambrose and Rollins got involved – Orton hadn’t even taken his shirt off when the DQ was called.
Result – NO CONTEST
GM Brad Maddox announced Orton and Reigns would meet in a rematch in the night’s main event, a “Cardiff Street Fight”. Meanwhile, Ambrose and Rollins were to face Rybaxel in a tag match immediately.
Match 2
DEAN AMBROSE AND SETH ROLLINS VS RYBAXEL
A lively and entertaining opening. Ambrose’s mannerisms are comical at times, while Ryback was pretty vocal both in the ring and on the apron. The Shield members won after Seth Rollins hit Piece of Mind on Curtis Axel.
Result – DEAN AMBROSE AND SETH ROLLINS
Match 3
SIN CARA VS RUSEV
Lana gave her usual pro-Vladimir Putin speech before Rusev’s entrance. This was a bit meatier than the usual squash match, but the result was never in doubt, the Bulgarian/Russian winning by having Sin Cara submit to The Accolade.
Result – RUSEV
Match 4
TAMINA SNUKA, ROSA MENDES AND LAYLA VS THE FUNKADACTYLS AND PAIGE
Paige got by far the best reaction of the divas, with her merchandise clearly selling well too. Rosa did little more than scream – her lack of ability was on show even on the apron here. Cameron took the punishment from the Tamina/Layla combination before Paige got the hot tag, winning with the Paige Turner. Paige joined in Cameron and Naomi’s dancing post-match, swinging her hair a lot.
Result – THE FUNKADACTYLS AND PAIGE
Match 5
NXT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – BO DALLAS VS ADRIAN NEVILLE
Bo Dallas was impressively over with all age groups, proof if you like that his promo videos have been really effective. He called for the support of his Bo-liebers, who “he loves almost as much as they love him”. This was a difficult one to call – championships rarely change hands on house shows, but Bo is about to receive what appears to be a big push. Neville eventually got the pinfall victory after the Red Arrow.
Result – ADRIAN NEVILLE
Match 6
TABLES MATCH – KANE VS BIG SHOW
With these two veterans facing off in Cardiff once again, this one was a little over-reliant on near-falls – with Kane hitting Show on the apron to have him dangle precariously over the set up table at ringside just a little too much. Big Show hit a chokeslam, and a WMD dealt with Kane, who fell a little theatrically off the top rope through a table. Kane chokeslammed Brad Maddox after threatening the referee post-match.
Result – BIG SHOW
INTERMISSION
Match 7
DANCE-OFF – FANDANGO VS MARK HENRY
This was an audience’s choice match, with fans voting on Twitter between a dance-off and a match. Dance-off won out (some boos were audible at that decision), but the dance-off was hilarious: after Fandango had done his usual schtick with Layla, the lights went out, and when they came back on, Henry was wearing a glittering Michael Jackson glove and started shaking to Billie Jean. My girlfriend couldn’t stop laughing – and to be fair Henry was truly hilarious. After overcoming Fandango’s jealous attack with a World’s Strongest Slam, Henry brought two kids into the ring to dance with him before departing.
Result – MARK HENRY
Match 8
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP FATAL 4-WAY – JACK SWAGGER VS BIG E VS ROB VAN DAM VS BAD NEWS BARRETT
Zeb Colter got mic time beforehand, saying that a car needed to be removed from the parking lot, not because it was in someone’s way, but because it was a piece of crap. He sang some of legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones’s classics, insinuated Cardiff was in England and had Swagger wear some ridiculous shades while he was performing. Barrett insisted that he wasn’t coming all the way home to lose his belt to “some bloody Yank”, and got a rousing reception despite this being Wales. This was a great match – Five-Star Frog Splashes, Patriot Locks and Big Endings all featured but Barrett hit Swagger with the Bull Hammer.
Result – BAD NEWS BARRETT
Match 9
CARDIFF STREET FIGHT – RANDY ORTON VS ROMAN REIGNS
Reigns started slowly with Orton dictating the pace. Kendo Sticks, Chairs and even another table came into play before Rybaxel again interfered. Reigns went through the table at some speed while also taking the steps hard. The Shield took a while to help out – when they did Ambrose took an RKO, but Orton fell victim to a Superman Punch and then took a spear as The Shield ended the night on top.
Result – ROMAN REIGNS
Oliver Roderick @olrodlegacy
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.
