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Arena was probably 60% empty, with most of the crowd being far from the ring since they were the cheap seats. Large empty areas, which gave a strange feel. Probably no more than 2,200 in attendance.
Jojo sang the national anthem and did the ring announcing duties.
1) Cesaro beat The Miz -- good opener to get the crowd going. Miz does a great job of playing the over-the-top heel. Cesaro hits his finishers after a back-and-forth match that went about 15 minutes.
2) Fandango beat Heath Slater - Since Fandango is from about 20 minutes away, you'd think there might have been something more than him just staying in character, but you'd be wrong. This was strange. A lot of stalling...then the old pull the ropes to flip the heel into the ring trick that defies physics...and then the pin. Probably 5 minutes, with about 15 seconds of action.
3) The Ascension vs. Los Matadores vs. Lucha Dragons - Dragons were way over with the crowd and took most of the heat in the match, hitting all of their signature spots. Torito made a cameo, distracting one of the matadores enough to score a pin. Fast paced match that didn't disappoint with the Dragons picking up the win in about 15 minutes.
4) Braun Strowman beat Jack Swagger in a five-minute squash. The crowd go to say "We the People" a few times, so that was fun.
5) Natalya beat Tamina w/Sasha in about 10 minutes. Crowd was really hoping to see Sasha wrestle, but maybe their protecting her until she makes it to Takeover. I don't blame them. When it was announced it was Tamina and not Sasha, my son and I hit the souvenir stand. Natalya won because we heard her music.
6) Dean Ambrose beat Luke Harper in 15 minutes. This was a high-quality wrestling match. Not as crazy as I expected, but both worked hard considering it was a poorly attended house show.
7) R-Truth beat Adam Rose in 10 minutes. Rose's heel character, if he's allowed to run with it, could be great. They just need to give him the freedom that The New Day were given to change up their character. The two had a dance-off that got a "This is Awesome" chant going because Rose was pure comedy gold. For entertainment value, this was a great match to get the audience back into the show following intermission.
8) Ryback beat King Barrett in 10 minutes. When all else fails, yell "Feed Me More" a bunch. I wish they'd let Barrett go back to Bad News. His heel heat comes with the mic, not with the crown.
9) Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in 20 minutes. For a late afternoon house show the day after Wyatt got busted up the night before, these two held nothing back in their No-DQ match-up. Multiple fals finishes, several stair and chairshots and each wrestler went through a table. Strowman interfered, but Ambrose made the save. Reigns finally won with a spear. Easily the loudest pops of the night and deservedly so. I don't hate Reigns, but have never been a huge fan. Same with Wyatt. Both of these guys won me over big-time tonight with the effort they put in.
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