COMPLETE WWE RAW IN ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS LIVE REPORT
By Gregory Davis on 2010-07-12 00:08:27
Before the show outside, The Bellas, John Morrison, The Hart Dynasty, and a couple more signed autographs for the fans. When Cena arrived from his bus, he came out in full Cena gear (ugly orange shirt and all), threw out some wristbands, and hugged a few fans. Big pops to them. When the Nexus arrived (they all came together in a few cars without any regular WWE stars), they all had on their N armbands. When Sheamus arrived, he received a lot of boos, and just stood there smirking at everyone.
Justin Roberts was the ring announcer. Surprisingly, no Daniel Bryan chants from what I could hear. The floor was sold out, the lower level was 85-90% full, and the upper level was about 50% full. I would guess 8,000 seats sold, but I’m always bad on that.
1. Mark Henry defeated Zack Ryder. Great "first guy out" pop for Henry, while equally as much boos for Ryder. Not much of a match, which Henry easily won.
Edge came out for a bonus "Cutting Edge" segment. First he guaranteed that he won't be hit with the Shooting Star Press against Evan Bourne later. He then introduced his guest, Sheamus. Edge noted that Sheamus had a bulls eye on his chest from the Nexus, while Sheamus said it didn't matter. The "new mail" sound went off, and one of the Bella Twins brought a phone out. Roberts said that the WWE Title match later tonight between John Cena and Sheamus would be a lumberjack match. Edge simply said good luck and walked out, while Sheamus complained about how the new GM is picking on him with the match tonight and at the PPV.
2. The Great Khali defeated William Regal. Ugh. First Regal waited on the apron for what seemed like forever staring at a couple of rowdy fans. Then when the match began, there was even more stalling by him. Regal had a bit of offense, but Khali won with the chop in what was basically a squash.
The Bella Twins came out to look for a guest time keeper. They had to answer the question of “What’s the name of the next pay per view?”, which they obviously got right.
Santino Marella was introduced as the guest referee for the next match. When it was announced for the Divas Championship, he did the “YES!” gesture with his arm.
3. Alicia Fox defeated Eve Torres to retain the Divas Championship. I really enjoyed this match. A good mix of comedy and wrestling. Of course the divas would roll over Santino, who then promply celebrated. One of my favorite moments was Eve holding Alicia up in a delayed scoop slam, and dropping her down on her knee for a gut buster, but then started spanking her. The crowd was way into it more than you’d see on Raw. Alicia hit the axe kick for the win.
4. Edge defeated Evan Bourne. Best part of the show up to that point. Edge was in control for most of the match. They also brawled outside for a bit. They did a lot of fighting up in the corners, and the SSP was teased several times. In the end, Bourne was going to try some sort of move from the top, but Edge knocked him off, and after taking a sick fall, he was covered for the win. Edge then tried to hit a spear, but Bourne countered, and hit the SSP.
The Bella Twins came back out to shoot T-Shirts into the crowd, leading to intermission.
5. The Hart Dynasty w/ Natalya defeated The Usos w/ Tamina. It was a good, leaning toward great match. The crowd loved Smith’s delayed suplex, while Tyson was just so smooth. I felt the Usos held their own. Tamina, who was dressed more as a valet than a wrestler, didn’t get involved until the end, which was countered by Natalya. Hart Attack for the win.
6. The Miz defeated John Morrison and Ted DiBiase. No Maryse, despite being scheduled originally. She was instead on a promotional tour in Japan with Yoshi Tatsu. The Miz started with his usual good mic work. He told the crowd that they are to not repeat his catch phrase without his permission, but to instead raise their hand and wait to be called on. Miz and DiBiase had a truce early on but it didn’t really last. Fun match. Morrison his Starship Pain on DiBiase, but Miz then hit Morrison with the Skull Crashing Finale for the clean win.
After Cena and Sheamus came out, and right before Roberts was going to make the big fight announcement, the GM sent another email. At this point the crowd was really into the gimmick, as they waited with anticipation for what the ruling was going to be. A Bella came back out, and the message said the lumberjacks would be The Nexus. On a side note, can we have the Bella Twins bring out the GM announcements on Raw, instead of having Michael Cole read them? I think we can all agree that this would be better.
7. Sheamus vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship in a lumberjack match went to a no contest. Cena threw his hat to the two clowns (literally dressed as clowns) that often appear at shows in the region. He did the same for Rick the Sign Guy a few months ago, so I think he appreciates fans who go to a lot of shows and are there to have fun. As for the match, after each tie up, they would instantly look outside to see if the Nexus were doing anything. Sheamus was the first to be tossed out, and after staring at the Nexus, they beat him up and tossed him back in. For the rest of the match, anytime someone was tossed out they would gang up on them. At one point the ring steps were tossed. The action inside was allright as well. I was shocked that they had Sheamus kick out of the Attitude Adjustment. When Cena put on the STF, Nexus hit the ring to gang up on Cena, and Sheamus bailed. A face wrestler came out one by one, only to get destroyed, until Mark Henry’s music hit, and the remaining faces ran out (except for Khali, who walked out). The faces ganged up on one of them, and tossed him out, while the whole group bailed. The faces posed with the crowd to end the show.
Overall an OK show. Started badly, but finished strongly.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section,
which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts,
interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
