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In the pre-show match The Blue Day, er New Day, team of Kofi Kingston and Big e took on Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. The crowd was behind the heels and were chanting that The New Day sucked. The finish saw the heels get the win with help from Adam Rose. It was a solid match.Â
As the pre-show ended, the panel made a point to tell us that The Rock is here. Find out why, for just $9.99.
The show opened with a great montage of various guys saying that they will be the one to win the Royal Rumble and go on to headline WrestleMania. Good piece, which put over the significance of the match. We have 17,164 fans at the sold out Wells Fargo Center in Philly. I hope they can get their TV done on Monday and Tuesday with the monster snowstorm that is coming up the east coast.
We are opening up with The New Age Outlaws, who were wearing Philly Phanatic hats to get the pop. Road Dogg then did the DX spiel, and it got a pop. Dogg also joked that he and Billy Gunn were old. They got a big pop from the crowd. The fans yelled Suck It for Billy. Out next was The Ascension. This is a big, big night for them if they want to have any kind of career here.
It was very competitive in the beginning. That doesn’t bode well for The Ascension. Then again, the NAO were tag champs not all that long ago. … After a few minutes the heels went to work on Road Dogg. Billy made the hot tag and he was in control for a few second but then the Ascension finished him off with their version of Total Elimination. The announcers, including JBL, put over the heels and it was the best performance yet, of course that isn’t compared to much.
In the back we have HHH and Steph, they hate Sting. This isn’t WCW, it’s WWE. Triple H will defend his company. Paul Heyman walked in, to a big pop and ECW chant. They kind of blew him off until he said he has their solution, even though he isn’t overly happy with tonight’s match. He had it before with Brock and if you have a problem with Sting, he has it again, Brock Lesnar.
Miz worked against both Usos early, while the crowd chanted “Mizdow’s awesomeâ€. Miz did his bit where he pretended to tag in Dow, but wouldn’t actually do it. The fans wanted Dow. It really is time to have Mizdow break away. They built up a spot where the crowd wanted Miz to tag in Dow and once again Miz left Dow hanging. Miz and Uso traded near falls. Then Miz got another two, the fans again chanted for Mizdow. He has yet to be tagged in. … Miz and Dow were on the floor. Miz pushed Dow in front of one flying Uso. Then the other one got Miz and all four were prone on the floor. … Back in the ring Miz got another two after the SCF. He was shocked he didn’t win. The fans chanted for Mizdow. They didn’t get him. Miz got hit with a kick and a splash and at two Mizdow came in and made the save and then hit an SCF on the Uso. Miz was legal, rolled over but only got a two. … The Usos then got control and pinned Miz, to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. Mizdow was on the floor so he couldn’t help Miz, but the real story was that Miz would never tag him in, even though Jerry Lawler totally missed that aspect. They threw it back to the panel so nothing new on Miz and Dow tonight. ... Corey Graves is doing a good job announcing. Then they showed us footage from the pre-show match.
Tag Title time: The Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. The Usos. Mizdow got a huge pop coming out.
In the back, The Stooges are playing games. Mercury is playing the new Immortals game. Noble can’t believe you can do that on the phone. Seth Rollins came in and told them to get focused. Tonight is the biggest night of his life. Noble says he is the future. Rollins says no, he is the right now.
We are 63 days away from WrestleMania. And it’s time for The Bellas vs. Paige and Natalya.
Right off the bat they talked about the Divas Title right? Wrong, they talked Total Divas. Of course. … The fans cares so much they started chanting OLE early, even though Paige and Natty were doing nice work. JBL tried to say they were doing it because Paige is from the Europe. No, it’s because they don’t push the divas. … The Bellas then went to work on Natty, which meant the sisters yelling to each other. Nikki got a near fall. No reaction from the crowd. It’s a shame, they are trying but the people don’t care about them due to the show being pushed ahead of them. … Natty then stood up and had Nikki on her back. She dropped her and set up to make the (not so) hot tag to Paige.She didn’t get it and instead went for the Sharpshooter. Paige implored Natty to make the tag but Brie pulled her off of the ring apron right before she could. Nikki then pinned Natty. They put over how great a win it was for the Bellas since they dominated. More fodder for Total Divas. Too bad it doesn’t mean much where wrestling is concerned. It should.
A bunch of guys did pre-tapes. Roman Reigns was good. Stardust was weird. Goldust was himself. Rusev was fine. Miz and Dow did their thing….except Miz said he would win the Royal Rumble match. The turn may happen after all. Big Show is a giant, not mortal. And he’s angry. Watch out. Fandango is Fandango. At least when he loses he has Rosa. Bryan told his story from last year and he can do it again this year. He ended with Yes and the fans agreed.
They then pushed the WWE Title. Man, lots of filler here.
Click to Page Two for more thoughts from tonight's show.
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