Notes: The first two matches were incredibly hot and the place was rockin'. DiBiase was mega over, I think because he was the first face of the night and also because he got some USA chants going with some troops at ringside.
Sheamus took Orton's place in the streetfight with Wade. Drew (!) interfered on behalf of Wade, but Sheamus managed to kick out of the Future Shock DDT and the Winds of Change, and eventually took out McIntyre and nailed Barrett with the Brogue Kick. They had the crowd in a frenzy one way or the other every second of this match. Sheamus is legit over.
Crowd was dead for Rollins vs. Kidd and Gabriel vs. Hunico. Rollins vs. Kidd was well structured but sloppy on Seth's end. Very few in the audience gave a crap until the finishing sequence which involved a tope and Avada Kedavra. Mild applause for him after the match. I was surprised he was working face.
Crowd remained dead for Hunico vs. Gabriel, but this was kinda their fault. Really dull match that seemed to be just stalling for time. Gabriel kicked out of Hunico's swanton which surprised me, and then he hit the 450. Camacho attacked Gabriel after the match, and then Cody came out for his match and hit CrossRhodes on Justin as well, just to be a dick.
They ran the exact same angle (minus one) from TLC for Cody vs. Booker. The match was "scheduled" to go third, but Cody attacked Booker from behind and postponed the match until now. Mediocre match, hopefully if they're going to continue this feud they're using these house shows as a chance for Booker to work off his ring rust. He survived a Rhodes Figure Four for 3 minutes or so and then barely sold the leg after. Rhodes kicked out of the Bookend, dodged the Scissors Kick, and then shoved the ref for the cheap DQ to retain. Booker still beat him up more post-match.
Total by-the-book Dusty Finish in the Tag Title match. Primo had nuclear heat for some reason, I can't explain it but it really helped the match. Epico just had heat by association; the crowd just REALLY hated Primo. They managed to pin Kofi and "win the titles," got announced as new champs and got to celebrate with the belts, until a second ref came out to point out that Kofi's foot was on the rope. Match restarted, Champs retain, hopefully Dusty gets a royalty check. Maybe they're contemplating a title change for real and want to test out the reactions? Rosa was awesomely pissed afterwards, as she should have been! I think they've fallen ass-backwards into a really solid team/stable here with Primo/Epico/Rosa.
For the main event, crowd was 100% (well minus me I guess) behind Big Show. Henry had good heat, crowd was just kinda meh on Bryan. I don't really see how it's a good idea to get him over as a face by squeaking out a cage escape victory over a decade-long beloved face like Big Show. Big schmozz afterwards, Henry left, Drew/Wade came back out to attack Bryan/Show, then Sheamus re-appeared and beat them up again, and fed them to Show for a double chokeslam while Bryan just kinda laid there. Then Show handed him his title and shook his hand and then the three faces stayed around ringside to shake hands and kiss babies. Really puzzling trying to grasp how they think they're building Bryan up with this sort of booking, but hey, I got to walk out of an arena with Daniel Bryan wearing a World Title with his music filling the hallways A good night.
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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
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