Post by Nikki Heyman on Jan 22, 2012 11:00:59 GMT -5
Yes, I was crazy enough to make the 3+ hour drive out there.
Fargodome has a good layout, WWE had set up a half-house set for this event.
New set looks pretty cool in person- 3 mini-trons and the "X" gate, very simple. Video feeds were also sent to two monitors in other parts of the arena.
Our ring announcer for the evening - Brie Bella. She was HORRIBLE - she could barely read her info, much less get it spit out for the crowd to hear.
Match 1:
Alex Riley v. "Ryback": Riley came out for his match, and his opponent was introduced by Ace Attorney David Otunga. Ryback had on a basic black singlet and was wearing an armband with a red "R" on it. Ryback dominated a good portion of this match, but Riley got away with a win on a small package. Ryback was furious afterwards but didn't pursue.
Match 2:
Natalya & Beth Phoenix v. Eve and Kelly Kelly: Stuck around for the entrances, then went to the souveneir stand. Kelly and Eve won. Sigh.
Match 3:
Jack Swagger v. R-Truth: Swagger bragged that he would be a future hall of famer for his accomplishments, especially since he was the "All American American American American (Kennedy!) United States champion". Swagger issued an open challenge. R-truth came out to a sizeable pop and apparently didn't have to say a word. Solid match with a flood of "Little Jimmy" chants, that Swagger was angrily reacting to. R-Truth actually WINS, but as he's parading around with the US Belt, Ace Attorney David Otunga tells Truth that the match was non-title. "Little Jimmy says you should give the belt back." Truth does (but not between the eyes as the crowd demanded). Swagger celebrates by doing pushups over his beloved title.
Match 4:
Cody Rhodes v. Alex Riley: Cody cuts a promo about the "Bad news" that Ted Dibiase has a broken hand. He originally says he'll be happy to take a forfeit win and celebrate for three minutes before calling it a night, but Riley hits the ring and offers to take him on for that IC title. "These hard-working people paid their hard-earned money to see this!" (well...... not exactly). Cody acquiesces, but ONLY if it's non-title. However, if Alex wins, he can get an IC title match on next week's Smackdown. The two have a good match (Alex has certainly improved) but Cody takes Alex down with a CrossRhodes.
Match 5:
Wade Barrett v. Shaemus: Wade introduces himself and proclaims that he is not afraid of Randy Orton's return to SD next week. He's already focused on the Rumble where he plans not only to win, but to challenge Daniel Bryan for his WHC at Wrestlemania. Shaemus hits the ring and we have a wonderful little brawl (to my demand of "Fight like a couple of soccer fans").During a dominating run, Barrett did pause for the Orton "Release the doves" pose, much to the crowd's frustration (*I* liked it
) Shaemus finally takes Barrett down with the Brogue Kick.
Match 6:
Los Boricuas 2.0 (Primo/Epico w/Rosa Mendes v. Air Boom 2.0? for the World Tag Team Titles:
Champions enter first. Kofi comes out to his "SOS" music, then gestures back to the entrance, bringing out... Mason Ryan! Lots of comedy with PRimo and epico selling scared of the big guy. Once he's tagged in, there's a lot of heel tagging (in panic) to the point that Epico finally just drops off the apron to leave Primo with Ryan. Primo begs for his life and tries to get a handshake out of Ryan. Ryan obliges, crushes his hand and sends him into histrionics all over the ring, ending with Primo putting both feet on the middle rope to get Ryan to let go. He does, leaving Primo to fall flat on his face. Eventually Primo and Epico get the big man down (you're reading that right, MAson Ryan is "Face in peril") and keep him from Kofi for several minutes. Once Kofi is finally tagged in, he starts getting the better of Primo but Epico takes out Ryan on the floor. Kofi notices this and eats a Backstabber. Ryan apologizes post-match, but Kofi's ok with it.
Match 7:
Daniel Bryan v. Big Show for the World Heavyweight championship Guess Big Show's back is ok. Bryan does his over the top entrance, Big Show gets a good pop for his arrival. Lots of heel stalling to start, but Show wouldn't let that last too long. Bryan resorted to a lot of leg-damaging offense, culminating in a half-crab but that didn't seem to slow the giant down. Bryan also tried to save himself from a chokeslam by glomming onto Show in a guillotine sleeper. Show later caught Bryan mid air, but before he could pin Bryan, Otunga and Barrett hit the ring to draw the DQ. Bryan is out cold as Show takes care of the other guys (double chokeslam) and celebrates on his way out. Bryan finally regains consciousness when the belt hits his hands, and he takes a mintue to punch-drunkenly celebrate that he's still champion before heading to the back.
INTERMISSION - why is it so late? So they can get the cage fastened to the ring for our MAIN EVENT!
Match 8
CM Punk v. The Miz for the WWE Title, Steel Cage match:
Miz gathers the mic and explains to us exactly how he is going to beat CM Punk. He should know that Villain Exposition like that won't help him in the long run. Punk gets a HUGE pop when his music hits (for some reason his music started a few seconds after his video did). Lots of teased escapes, including one that started as a footrace (Punk over the top, Miz crawling for the door), but Punk changed his mind and dragged Miz back in. I couldn't see from where I'm sitting but I think Punk almost got out with one foot on the floor before Miz dragged him back inside. Punk kicked out of the Skull-Crushing Finale and managed to get off the Macho Elbow late in the match, but wraps it up with the GTS on Miz for the win.
No Cena, no Funkasaurus, but still worth my time.
Fargodome has a good layout, WWE had set up a half-house set for this event.
New set looks pretty cool in person- 3 mini-trons and the "X" gate, very simple. Video feeds were also sent to two monitors in other parts of the arena.
Our ring announcer for the evening - Brie Bella. She was HORRIBLE - she could barely read her info, much less get it spit out for the crowd to hear.
Match 1:
Alex Riley v. "Ryback": Riley came out for his match, and his opponent was introduced by Ace Attorney David Otunga. Ryback had on a basic black singlet and was wearing an armband with a red "R" on it. Ryback dominated a good portion of this match, but Riley got away with a win on a small package. Ryback was furious afterwards but didn't pursue.
Match 2:
Natalya & Beth Phoenix v. Eve and Kelly Kelly: Stuck around for the entrances, then went to the souveneir stand. Kelly and Eve won. Sigh.
Match 3:
Jack Swagger v. R-Truth: Swagger bragged that he would be a future hall of famer for his accomplishments, especially since he was the "All American American American American (Kennedy!) United States champion". Swagger issued an open challenge. R-truth came out to a sizeable pop and apparently didn't have to say a word. Solid match with a flood of "Little Jimmy" chants, that Swagger was angrily reacting to. R-Truth actually WINS, but as he's parading around with the US Belt, Ace Attorney David Otunga tells Truth that the match was non-title. "Little Jimmy says you should give the belt back." Truth does (but not between the eyes as the crowd demanded). Swagger celebrates by doing pushups over his beloved title.
Match 4:
Cody Rhodes v. Alex Riley: Cody cuts a promo about the "Bad news" that Ted Dibiase has a broken hand. He originally says he'll be happy to take a forfeit win and celebrate for three minutes before calling it a night, but Riley hits the ring and offers to take him on for that IC title. "These hard-working people paid their hard-earned money to see this!" (well...... not exactly). Cody acquiesces, but ONLY if it's non-title. However, if Alex wins, he can get an IC title match on next week's Smackdown. The two have a good match (Alex has certainly improved) but Cody takes Alex down with a CrossRhodes.
Match 5:
Wade Barrett v. Shaemus: Wade introduces himself and proclaims that he is not afraid of Randy Orton's return to SD next week. He's already focused on the Rumble where he plans not only to win, but to challenge Daniel Bryan for his WHC at Wrestlemania. Shaemus hits the ring and we have a wonderful little brawl (to my demand of "Fight like a couple of soccer fans").During a dominating run, Barrett did pause for the Orton "Release the doves" pose, much to the crowd's frustration (*I* liked it
) Shaemus finally takes Barrett down with the Brogue Kick.Match 6:
Los Boricuas 2.0 (Primo/Epico w/Rosa Mendes v. Air Boom 2.0? for the World Tag Team Titles:
Champions enter first. Kofi comes out to his "SOS" music, then gestures back to the entrance, bringing out... Mason Ryan! Lots of comedy with PRimo and epico selling scared of the big guy. Once he's tagged in, there's a lot of heel tagging (in panic) to the point that Epico finally just drops off the apron to leave Primo with Ryan. Primo begs for his life and tries to get a handshake out of Ryan. Ryan obliges, crushes his hand and sends him into histrionics all over the ring, ending with Primo putting both feet on the middle rope to get Ryan to let go. He does, leaving Primo to fall flat on his face. Eventually Primo and Epico get the big man down (you're reading that right, MAson Ryan is "Face in peril") and keep him from Kofi for several minutes. Once Kofi is finally tagged in, he starts getting the better of Primo but Epico takes out Ryan on the floor. Kofi notices this and eats a Backstabber. Ryan apologizes post-match, but Kofi's ok with it.
Match 7:
Daniel Bryan v. Big Show for the World Heavyweight championship Guess Big Show's back is ok. Bryan does his over the top entrance, Big Show gets a good pop for his arrival. Lots of heel stalling to start, but Show wouldn't let that last too long. Bryan resorted to a lot of leg-damaging offense, culminating in a half-crab but that didn't seem to slow the giant down. Bryan also tried to save himself from a chokeslam by glomming onto Show in a guillotine sleeper. Show later caught Bryan mid air, but before he could pin Bryan, Otunga and Barrett hit the ring to draw the DQ. Bryan is out cold as Show takes care of the other guys (double chokeslam) and celebrates on his way out. Bryan finally regains consciousness when the belt hits his hands, and he takes a mintue to punch-drunkenly celebrate that he's still champion before heading to the back.
INTERMISSION - why is it so late? So they can get the cage fastened to the ring for our MAIN EVENT!
Match 8
CM Punk v. The Miz for the WWE Title, Steel Cage match:
Miz gathers the mic and explains to us exactly how he is going to beat CM Punk. He should know that Villain Exposition like that won't help him in the long run. Punk gets a HUGE pop when his music hits (for some reason his music started a few seconds after his video did). Lots of teased escapes, including one that started as a footrace (Punk over the top, Miz crawling for the door), but Punk changed his mind and dragged Miz back in. I couldn't see from where I'm sitting but I think Punk almost got out with one foot on the floor before Miz dragged him back inside. Punk kicked out of the Skull-Crushing Finale and managed to get off the Macho Elbow late in the match, but wraps it up with the GTS on Miz for the win.
No Cena, no Funkasaurus, but still worth my time.
Thank you Nikki!)
