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WWE Supershow at Eaglebank Arena, Fairfax, VA - July 15, 2023
This was my son's first-ever show, so I took him to the Superstar VIP experience before the show started. We had access to the merchandise stand early, then we were taken to an area to sit and wait (not his favorite part!). We got to meet Omos (who is HUGE, I'm 6'2" and come to his shoulder), Natalya, and Matt Riddle (who was already in his gear). They ran things pretty efficiently. Then it was off to our ringside seats! Sarah Schriber was the ring announcer.
AJ Styles vs Austin Theory for the US Title opened the show. It was going along nicely, though I was a little worried as AJ jumped over the ropes at one point and slipped to the floor. Kit Wilson from Pretty Deadly ran in for a DQ. The OC made the save, and AJ proposed turning it into a tag match. This led to...
AJ Styles and Karl Anderson (with Luke Gallows) vs Austin Theory and Kit Wilson - AJ gave the heel team the moniker "Pretty Stupid" and the crowd was happy to chant it at them. Another good match that ended with AJ hitting Kit with the Phenomenal Forearm.
GUNTHER (with Ludvig Kaiser) vs Chad Gable (with Otis and Maxxine) vs Matt Riddle for the IC Title was next. Gable was very over with the crowd, and Otis is a great hype man - he also apologized for being in our way since he's, well, big. At one point Maxxine got on the apron to try and challenge GUNTHER and she quickly backed down, but Otis got up and took two chops from GUNTHER, and each time he sank a bit and then did a big wiggle to get back up. GUNTHER hit the powerbomb on Gable for the win. After the match, Gable got an ovation in the ring...there's something there with him if they can keep tweaking the right hook. Also, GUNTHER chops from a few feet away sound like a cannon going off!
Rhea Ripley vs Natalya for the Women's World Title followed that. Rhea got a lot of cheers coming out and at the announcements. Rhea beat down Nattie some before the bell, but it was an even match. At some point I think Nattie lost some hair, which Rhea swung around like a trophy. Rhea tried an Eddie shimmy and frog splash, but ate knees. Rhea won via submission with the Prism Trap (going by its name in WWE 2K, the suspended cross-leg cloverleaf). After the match, she introduced Dominic Mysterio to massive boos, and he wasn't allowed to get a word out by the crowd.
This led right to Dom vs Cody Rhodes, who got a heroes' welcome and a serenade of his theme song by the crowd. Cody's lost no steam with the audience, that's for sure. Dom is improving day by day and hung in there with Cody. At one point, after a Disaster Kick, Rhea grabbed the ropes to block a Cody Cutter, and the ref tossed her. Shortly after that, Cody hit the cutter and Crossrhodes and won. Also should note Dom went for a frog splash and ate knees too. After the match, Cody announced it was intermission, thanked the staff and facility, and then signed autographs and took pictures around ringside.
After the break, we had Akira Tozawa vs Omos. Tozawa got the big man down to his knees, but it was mostly a showcase for Omos, who won with a chokeslam that would make Undertaker or Big Show proud, and a one-foot cover.
This led to a fatal four-way for the WWE Women's Title, with Asuka defending against Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, and Bayley. Bianca got the loudest cheers, with Asuka a close second. Bayley was really the only one booed and played it up, including taunting Bianca with a fan's autographed sign and ripping some of it (carefully not ripping the autograph though). Bayley complained early on that she couldn't see out of her right eye, I think from getting misted last night. The heels bailed early so the faces could showcase their wrestling skills. At one point, Bayley stomped a mudhole in Bianca and did a Steve Austin-esque pose to go with it. Bianca nailed a strong-looking double suplex on the heels, and Charlotte got a double Natural Selection for a near fall. The match ended with Bianca hitting KOD on Bayley, but Asuka tossed her and picked the bones to win.
The main event was Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight Title. Of course there was a ton of singing for Seth, with breaks early on for encores. Throughout the night, the security guards made sure kids stayed back from the rails, and this match proved why, as Seth and Finn took turns tossing each other into them from pillar to post. Seth hit the buckle bomb at one point, escaping from Finn trying to superplex him, so he had to haul Finn around a bit before nailing him. Somewhere in here, a turnbuckle pad got pulled off, and for a minute I thought the buckle bomb would go there, luckily not. Both guys had some near falls, including Seth with a Pedigree after a boo/yay exchange. They had a ref bump that let Finn hit a low blow and then toss Seth into the exposed turnbuckle, which led to a near fall counted by the second ref. Seth ended up moving out of a Coup de Grace attempt and got the Stomp for the win. I saw blood on Finn's shoulder near the end, which turned out to be coming from Seth, I think he got a cut under his chin, maybe from the turnbuckle corner. Seth did some mic work to thank the crowd, then gestured his apologies that he couldn't do a lap around for autographs and photos due to the blood (sad for the fans but very smart). Some fans kept hanging out while they cut the souvenir chairs loose, hoping Seth or someone else would come back out, which a ringside worker said there were only three people left back there at that point. Gotta make the next town!
Overall a good show with a lot of good action. My son enjoyed his first experience, and while he liked trying to get high-fives and autographs, I don't think he'll mind skipping the sit-and-wait of the VIP to just enjoy a night of wrestling.
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