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I attended last night's WWE Supershow with my two kids and it’s safe to say we had a fantastic time. Say what you want about WWE’s booking of their main shows but when it comes to a live event they still know how to entertain the fans.
Byron Saxton came out first and got the crowd fired up. He was on double duty as a ring announcer and did a great job, both with his announcing and his hosting duties.
First match was Nakamura (with Boogs) vs. Jinder for the IC belt. Nice reaction for Boogs and everyone loved saying ‘Boooogs’ along with him. He had the full guitar gimmick and he introduced Nakamura to a big pop from the crowd. Jinder came out to great heat to everyone except the Indian family sitting next to us who cheered his every move. Good match which ended with Nakamura hitting his finisher.
Next up was a Fatal Four Way for the US title. Priest got a friendly, if not particularly huge, reaction. Balor and KO both came out to great pops. Seth came out to great heat and was absolutely brilliant at playing the villain. They did a thing at the start where they would all take turns going up on the turnbuckles to get a pop from the crowd but when Seth did it, he got big boos and acted as though he was furious. He kept gesturing everyone to do it again and every time it was a huge pop for everyone else and boos for him. The crowd started chanting for Byron and he came in and got a huge pop too, so then the babyfaces got the referee to do it too. Again, huge pop. A furious Seth then attacked them and the match was on. Great match which ended with Priest picking up the win. I can’t stress enough how great Seth was in his role.
Next up was the first surprise of the night. They ran a video package of the NXT rivalry between Ciampa and Bron Breaker. We thought it was just an advert but then Byron announced an NXT championship match. Great match. Respect given to both guys, including a fairly sizable ‘Steiner’ chant. He did a Frankensteiner which is insane to see live. After the match, Ciampa left and Breaker got up to a standing ovation from the crowd.
A 3-way for the Raw Women’s title was up next. Bianca and Doudrop came out to nice but not huge reactions but when Becky’s music hit the place exploded. Once she was in the ring, she took the mike and totally heeled the crowd, saying she was told she’d be ending the tour in Dublin and if she’d known it was London she’d never have come. She then called Londoners snobs and her tactics worked because suddenly the crowd started chanting EST. This was another great match but the surprise to me was Doudrop. I knew of her as Piper Niven but hadn’t really seen her work until the Doudrop gimmick. She had the crowd rooting for her big time with her move set. Her moves were so snug looking and her rolling cannonball thing looked like it would kill them. Anyway, as expected, Becky got the win and then Bianca and Doudrop had a ‘show of respect’ hug to a nice reaction from the crowd.
We than had an intermission before resuming with a triple threat for the Raw Tag Team titles. Big pop for the Street Profits. Good heat for Ziggler and Roode and monster pop for RKO Bro. What really surprised me about this match was Randy Orton and his reactions. He was a total babyface. Not his tv character, I’m talking Hogan in the 80s babyface. He was smiling and playing up to the crowd in a big way. They did a similar thing to the Seth stuff, ie the babyfaces would go up on the turnbuckles and blow a double kiss to the crowd, followed by the heels refusing to do it. This led to another ‘Byron’ chant and even a ‘referee’ chant. Naturally, the babyfaces got them both in and the did the double kiss thing to huge cheers from the crowd. Match was really entertaining. Riddle and Orton looked to be having an absolute blast. Riddle just oozes happiness and Orton was unlike anything I’ve ever seen from him. I remember his debut and I’ve never seen him looking this happy, even when he was the white meat rookie. Anyway, the match finished with a double RKO to the delight of everyone. After the match, Orton and Riddle spent forever shaking hands and taking selfies at ringside until eventually it looked as though Riddle was told to get a move on, as he suddenly started waving and sprinted to the back.
Another great surprise that wasn’t advertised was the Smackdown Women’s title match between Charlotte and Sasha. They ran a package earlier in the night showing Charlotte attacking Sasha backstage to lead us to believe Sasha might not make it. Charlotte heeled the crowd and told them to count to ten so that she could be declared the winner. Of course, before we could complete the count, Sasha’s music hit and she came out to a big pop. They had a great match which ended with Charlotte cheating to win.
The main event was a London street fight, which I assume is like a normal street fight, except in London. Bobby came out to a mixed reaction and Big E came out to the huge reaction you’d expect for such a likable guy. The worked very stiff with each other and we saw chairs, tables and even Kendo sticks. Big E wins with the big ending after Lashley went through a table. They certainly didn’t hold back. After the match, Big E took the mike, put over the UK crowds and thanked us for being loud all night long. He then left and that was that.
Overall it was a fantastic show. Without the time constraints of a TV show, the wrestlers seemed to have much more creative license and it made for such a fun show. Biggest pop was for Orton but Becky and Big E also got true superstar reactions. There was no popcorn match and no match where the crowd was dead. My kids, who are 12 this month, went home saying it was the best night of their lives, so at least they’re still appealing to kids, even if it’s hard going for the grown-ups at times. A great night’s entertainment was had by all.
Well done WWE!
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