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I attended the WWE House Show at the PNC Arena in Raleigh. A show in Virgina occurred at the same time, but it looks like Raleigh got a majority of the A-list stars (unfortunately no New Day though.) The card was pretty similar to the previous night's show in Greenville, with notable differences in the main event.
The merch booth naturally had Cena represented, as well as strong showings for Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Charlotte, Kevin Owens, and the New Day. They also had signed Cesaro and Sami Zayn shirts, which seemed to be popular. As were light up WWE World Heavyweight Championship necklaces that you could see flashing throughout the audience.
Jojo was our ring announcer and Greg Hamilton hyped up the crowd with social media posts about the event.
After a brief video promo from Baron Corbin in front of an NC State logo, he took on Dolph Ziggler in the opening contest. Corbin dominated much of the match, and they traded moves once Ziggler got some steam, hitting the Famouser. Ziggler picked up the win after a Zig Zag, and ran to each side of the stage, hugging an older woman on the far side.
Apollo Crews vs. Stardust was next. Decent positive reaction for Stardust, who played it up at first. Stardust went to hug a guy in the front row dressed in a Bayley shirt and her tassels, but then blew him off, prompting Crews to hop out and hug him instead. Crews continued tossing Stardust out of the ring until Stardust caught Crews coming through the ropes and wrenched his leg over them. Stardust continued working the leg for most of the match until Crews made a comeback with the standing moonsault and the spin out powerbomb to get the pin.
D-Von came out with Bubba Ray to face Big Cass, who got on the mic and told him he was going to taste his size 16 boot, finishing up with S-A-W-F-T. Bubba Ray got on the apron a few times and flipped it once, teasing looking for a table, which gave the distraction for D-Von. Eventually, D-Von stopped himself from getting tossed into Bubba, but ran into a big boot and then the East River Crossing, giving Cass the win. Cass looked good here.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn started with Owens telling the crowd that, unless they were chanting his name, he wanted silence. After getting dumped out of the ring by Zayn, he got back on the mic and pointed out the guy "dressed like a teenage girl" in the front, before telling us he was out of here. Zayn cut him off, however, and the two had a good back and forth match. It was a little shorter than expected, but typical of what you'd expect from these two. They teased a superplex and Owens knocked him off the top once or twice. Zayn eventually leaped out of a Popup Powerbomb and hit the Helluva Kick to get the win.
During intermission a little girl correctly answered what happened next after Mr. McMahon got in his limo (the one that blew up,) and her family got to sit in the front row for the second half of the show. Funny enough, the twin smoke stacks on either side of the stage that they substitute for pyro ran out of steam at this point, so several talents entered to smoke jumping about a foot in the air.
Natalya came out next with an extended entrance to allow people to get back to their seats. Charlotte came out, unfortunately with no Ric in Raleigh. Solid match between the two, lots of mat work by Nattie. Charlotte set up for the moonsault, but Natalya turned it into a sitdown powerbomb. She also reversed a Figure Four at one point and locked in the Sharpshooter, but Charlotte got to the rope more than once. Finally, Charlotte got her into a rollup in the corner and threw her legs on the middle rope for leverage to get the dirty win.
The Miz entered with Maryse and took the mic after she introduced him in French. He told us how he was disrespected, with a ten year old boy telling him he sucked, and an even smaller little girl telling his wife that she sucked. He started to go on about how he had been put in a triple threat, with another opportunity to lose his title and not be involved in the decision, until the lights went out, and Sheamus unexpectedly made his way to the ring. After taking the mic and jawing with Miz over his assured victory, Cesaro entered to a sizeable reaction.
This was match of the night for me in terms of pure action. Miz jumped out of the ring and watched the other two attack each other, until he leapt back in to break up a pin by Sheamus, prompting Cesaro and Sheamus to stalk Miz, who dove in and out across the ring until Cesaro caught him from behind. Lots of good spots here, with Cesaro hitting both with uppercuts and a double bulldog. Miz got the Figure Four in but Sheamus took control and hit the Irish Curse and the Ten Beats of the Bodhran to Miz. Cesaro came back and teased the big swing until Sheamus interrupted, but he managed to get rid of him and swung Miz for close to ten rotations. He then locked in the Sharpshooter and Maryse pulled him into the ropes, but Cesaro pulled back, dragging Maryse into the ring. Miz began to tap out, but the referee was distracted getting Maryse back into the ring. Finally, Cesaro hit the Neutralizer on Sheamus, but Miz jumped in and dumped Cesaro to steal the pin and retain the Intercontinental Title, leading to Cesaro chasing him to the back.
The main event was announced as a six-man tag, with Gallows and Anderson entering first. Chris Jericho made his typical blackout entrance, sans jacket, but plus scarf, which he kept on while on the apron, and even in the ring at first. Jericho got on the mic and told The Club they were good, but he is great, and they are elevated just by teaming with him. As long as they listen to every thing he says, they'll win, and they seal the deal with a triple handshake. Jericho let us bask in his greatness until The Usos hit the scene.
As for Roman Reigns, sorry baby, he's popular with the kids. The reaction was most definitely the loudest of the night, and it never tapered off into boos like usual. That being said, as the match began, we did get a loud dual chant of "Let's Go Roman/Roman Sucks." However, the "Let's Go" chants got audibly louder in response. Jimmy Uso got in some good offense until Jericho clubbed him from the apron and took over, making most of the match The Club side isolating him from the rest of The Family. He made the tag at one point, but the ref never saw it. Loud "We Want Roman" chants finally turned into cheers as Jimmy got the tag, and Reigns started cleaning house. Around this point, the familiar boos happened, but never louder than the cheers. Jericho got some payback with a Codebreaker on Reigns, and locked in the Walls of Jericho at one point, but Reigns powered out and hit a Superman Punch. He went for the spear, but Jericho kicked him in the face. Jericho started berating Anderson, who got fed up and jumped off the apron. Gallows followed suit after Jericho slapped him, but before The Club could leave, The Usos hit them with dual dives to the outside. Reigns hit the Superman Punch on Jericho and then connected with the spear for the win. The Family celebrated and slapped hands with the fans as the show ended.
Overall, a great show full of stars, past and present. The crowd was full of kids and families and they all loved Reigns. He has a bright future if he can win over the rest of the crowd.
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