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Frank Boris sent this report:
Had the pleasure of sitting second row for WWE's Hershey Live Event 12/29/13 - I was a little surprised, the building was nearly full - only the highest section was not filled, and the crowd was electric, which made the event a lot more fun!
*Opening match saw the reunion of Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara teaming up to take on The Real Americans - great back & forth match here and the crowd was really into all four guys! Mysterio & Sin Cara won when Sin Cara hit Cesaro with a top rope plancha... great efforts by all four wrestlers.
*Justin Gabriel defeated Tyson Kidd. They teased a Kidd heel turn at the end, when Tyson refused to shake hands with Gabriel, but he eventually hugged him anyway.
*Ryback beat Zack Ryder. Ryback had a lot of heat with the Hershey crowd!
*The crowd voted for Natalya VS. A.J. Lee to be a Divas Championship match instead of a Dance Off, but A.J. Lee refused to defend the title. After a good, Divas match, Natalya won when A.J. submitted to the sharpshooter!
*The Big Show defeated Kane inside of a steel cage - this match was a little slow and didn't have a lot of big spots. One highlight was Kane hitting a flying clothesline off the top rope, another being Big Show hitting a chokeslam off the second rope. Big Show knocked Kane out with the fist punch for the win.
*Los Matadores (with El Torito) defeated 3MB with Ricardo Rodriguez - the kids love Los Matadores, 3MB was a little ridiculous - Brad Maddox introduced them as "New Year's Babies" and McIntyre & Mahal came out wearing diapers? Rodriguez was wearing some kind of sumo suit with a diaper as well. McIntyre's diaper created a wardrobe malfunction - it didn't stay on through the whole match and he ended the match in his underwear. Kind of silly, but the kids really loved this match.
*Special Referee Booker T. was introduced for Dolph Ziggler VS. Alberto Del Rio. Man, Del Rio had nuclear heat with the Hershey crowd! While Del Rio was jaw-jacking with some rowdy fans, Ziggler was way over, and so was the referee Booker T. To everyone's delight - Ziggler won after Booker T. gave Del Rio a scissor kick. Booker T. then invited ring announcer Justin Roberts into the ring for a Happy Birthday song - and of course, spineroonie's, which he didn't do too bad a job of! Happy Birthday, Justin Roberts!
*Main Event - John Cena VS. Randy Orton - the crowd was really anti-Orton, and about 75%-25% in favor of John Cena. He received a lot of cheers, but there were pockets of fans who were booing for Cena - very few cheering Orton, though. Good match that saw Orton dominate, and using quite a few head locks... Cena eventually rebounded but Orton was disqualified when he low-blowed Cena. Cena then gave Orton the Attitude Adjustment and sent the kids home happy.
Overall - a very fun show, and the crowd loved it!
Match of the night: Dolph Ziggler VS. Alberto Del Rio.... I was surprised, but this really stole the show! Honorable mention; Mysterio/Sin Cara VS. The Real Americans.
Worst Match of the night: Steel Cage Match, Kane VS. Big Show - just not enough action, crowd wasn't really into it.
My photos from the event can be seen here: http://forum.wrestlingfigs.com/thread/293211/house-show-report-photos-Hershey
Jason D'Agostino sent this report from the show.
Giant center
3/4 full, upper level mainly empty.
Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio over The Real Americans w/ Zeb Coulter when Sin Cara hit a Senton Bomb.
Justin Gabriel beat Tyson Kidd with a sunset flip from a Tyson Kidd top rope Frankensteiner. They hugged after the match.
Natalya over AJ with the sharpshooter in a very good match both ladies worked very hard in the match.
Zack Ryder loses to Ryback in a match that was far more competitive than it looked on paper.
Big Show over Kane in steel cage match with the KO Punch. Match was well received by the crowd.
Brad Maddox came out to a wall of heat and the introduced Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal and Richard Rodriguez as new years baby's to take on Los Matadores and El Torito in a six man tag match. When Torito pinned Ricardo.
Booker T came out as the special guest referee for Ziggler vs Del Rio. Del Rio with massive heat from the crowd. Ziggler came out to one of the loudest pops of the night. Ziggler with big crowd interaction to start. Del Rio with a lot of stalling to work the crowd up. Back and forth match ton of near falls. This is awesome chants from the crowd. Axe kick from Booker T to Del Rio into a Zig Zag. Ziggler with the win. Match of the night. Booker T gets the crowd to sing happy birthday to Justin Roberts and then had Justin try a spinaroonie. Booker finally does one himself to a big pop.
Main event time: Orton out to a loud mixed reaction. Cena got the loudest pop of the night. This is the first time at a house show where the main event had a big match feel. The crowd is that hot tonight. Dueling chants from the crowd. Match was a good brawl with action both in and out of the ring. The crowd stayed into it never cooling down. Ref bump lead to Orton hitting Cena with the belt but Cena kicks out. Orton kicks out of the AA and the crowd is losing their minds. Cena kicks out of the RKO. Orton dq'd for a low blow. Orton his for the concussion kick Cena with the AA to send the crowd home happy.
Overall a very fun show. No one phoned it in which made the atmosphere in the building that much more electric.
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