WWE Live Event results from Newcastle (5/15): Roman Reigns headlines, NXT title match, steel cage
The Shield stand victorious over the Evolution
Justin Roberts starts the evening to a big pop, but is soon drowned out with ‘No!’ chants when he states that due to his recently announced neck injury, Daniel Bryan won’t be in attendance. He advises that attendees have 20 minutes to claim refunds for their tickets should they wish to do so. I didn’t see anyone go from the area I was in.
Roberts is soon interrupted by Randy Orton who gets a lot of heat. Orton takes the mic and states that the only reason he agreed to come to this ‘God forsaken country’ was to claim back his title but seeing as Bryan isn’t there, he’s calling out Roman Reigns.
The crowd give Reigns a big pop as he makes his way through the audience. His eye is still bandaged up from the previous evening in Glasgow and it looks quite swollen. The match begins and there’s a brief bout of evenly balanced back and forth until Reigns is thrown out of the ring. Rybaxel run down the ramp and attack Reigns, only to soon be countered by Ambrose and Rollins, who sprint down from the entranceway.
Brad Maddox appears at the top of the ramp and announces that tonight we will see Ambrose and Rollins go against Rybaxel, and later, Reigns will face Orton in a Newcastle Street Fight.
The Shield (Ambrose and Rollins) vs Rybaxel was a great match with plenty of spots. These guys are all truly talented and sometimes I think that watching them on TV doesn’t do them a hint of justice. Rybaxel is massive, much moreso then you’d expect, and he panders to the audience well. Rybaxel got a lot of heat and plenty of near pin falls. The crowd were really into this match and The Shield picked up the victory after Rollins hit Axel with the curb stomp.
Paige and the Funkadactyls vs Layla, Rosa Mendes and Tamina Snuka
The heel group of Layla, ROsa and Tamina head out together, with Tamina shouting abuse to the audience. Next out are The Funkadactyls followed by Divas Champion Paige, who gets a huge pop in her home country.
Some decent back and fourth action though the Funkadactyls really struggle to run without looking like they’re pretending to do so. Rosa and Layla played the ditzy blondes and at one point, when a member of the audience shouted “We want puppies!”, Rosa pointed at him and shouted angrily “That’s rude!”.
After the heels seperated one of the Funkadactyls for a period of time, she managed to get the hot tag and Paige picked up the pin for her team. After some pressure from Naomi and Cameron, Paige briefly danced a goofy MC hammer routine before getting shy and retreating to celebrate with the crowd around the ring.
Roberts returns to the ring and hypes the matches later in the evening. Kane appears on the screens in a pre-recorded segment and talks about how he will beat Show in their steel cage match.
Sin Cara vs Rusev
Sin Cara makes his way to the ring and stretches, going up the turnbuckle and posing for the crowd. Good to see that they’re no longer insisting on having him wrestle matches in yellow and blue lighting to detract from poor performance. Hunico is a much more solid Sin Cara than the original.
Lana appears at the top of the ramp and gets heat as she talks about how she and Rusev support Vladamir Putin, though a lot of males in the audience make wolf whistles at her. She introduces Rusev, who is billed as ‘now living in Russia’ and his entrance video has a noticeable amount of Putin stills.
As expected, the former power lifter gets in a lot of offensive, mainly slams and delay-holds to showcase his strength. Sin Cara manages to get a few kicks in but Rusev soon sees him off with his camel clutch submission, The Accolade.
NXT Championship Match – Adrian Neville (C) vs Bo Dallas
Bo comes down to a lot of heat. He talks about how each of the audience are dreamers and he loves each of his Bo-lievers just as much as they love him. He adds that he’s sorry, but his opponent, from Newcastle, won’t be leaving with his gold tonight.
Adrian comes out to a huge pop from his hometown and soon a chant of ‘Welcome home’ breaks out. Neville gets a strong start in but Bo soon takes control on the outside. He whips Neville into the ringpost and barricade where Neville’s family are sat in the front row. Adrian’s mam runs up to the barricade and checks he’s alright – she looked mortified and i’m not entirely convinced this was an actual planned part of the match – but Bo continues to mock him infront of her, shouting to the audience that “That’s his mom!”.
Bo maintains control for a good part of the match and is actually a very good wrestler. His moves are tidy and his footwork strong, but eventually Neville, who gets chants of “Neville is a Geordie!” and “New-cas-tle!” gains momentum and puts Bo away to retain the championship. Neville makes his way out of the ring and celebrates with his fans, specifically paying attention to his mam and family.
After a brief intermission, with Justin promoting the merchandise stalls as the ring crew set up the cage which is wheeled out from the back, it’s time for the next match.
Steel cage match – Kane vs Big Show
Big Show is out first to a decent pop, followed by Kane. This was a slow match filled with little more than headbutts, punches and irish whips into what looked like an incredibly flimsy cage. At one point Show missed an attempted Banzai Drop which led to Kane climbing the cage but he was soon caught up with and after trading blows balanced on the top rope, both Superstars ended up hung up.
After hitting a knock-out punch, which looked no different to any other punch and is a truly laughable ‘signature’ move, Show exited the ring via the cage door for the win, then headed straight backstage without embracing the crowd.
Kane, left in the ring, was angered by ‘Yes!’ chants and targeted the ref, who he looked to choke slam, only for Nick Patrick to attempt to stop him and again be grabbed, but Brad Maddox emerged and told Kane not to do so, only to eat a choke slam himself. Strange ending for an Authority heel.
Later on, Fandango meets Henry in a match of the choice of the audience. Will they have a wrestling match, or a dance off? Instructions on how to vote are shown after a pre-recorded promo by Fandango where he talks about the air on Henry’s face. Bizarre and not relevant at all.
Intermission!
IC Championship Fatal Four Way – Wade Barrett (C) vs Jack Swagger vs RVD vs Big E
Swagger and Zeb are out first for this fatal four way match. Zeb states that it’s good to be back in Scotland, to which he receives a lot of boos. He says Newcastle is practically Scotland anyway and do the English think they’re better than the Scottish, Welsh, Irish, English – the crowd started booing but then stopped at this point – and Americans, to which the crowd recommenced their jeers. Zeb states that if the crowd don’t stop booing, which they don’t, he’ll show them what he thinks of Newcastle. Swagger produces a Newcastle United strip and proceeds to throw it on the floor, stomping on it, which gets them more heat.
Next out is RVD who gets a big pop, followed by Big E, who doesn’t. Barrett appears next, getting a huge pop as another English Superstar. He’s afraid he has some bad news for the three athletes around the ring as he promises he’ll never loose on British soil.
Chants of “Bad News Barrett”, “Zeb’s mustache”, “RVD”, “Dutch Mantel” and “Five” break out throughout the match.
Great match with a lot of too and fro action. Big E makes friends with the steel steps courtesy of Wade. Swagger nearly saw off Big E with a Patriot lock but the ref caught Zeb pulling the bottom Rope away from Big E, and is sent to the back by the ref, though he doesn’t actually go. Wade also gets landed with the Big Ending.RVD gets a lot of momentum and maintains control of the match for the majority of it’s duration. Swagger, who impressed me with some great displays of athleticism, eats a five-star frog splash, but the subsequent pin is broke up by Wade, who has recovered on the outside.
There’s a rush of action in the ring and Wade clocks Swagger with the Bullhammer for the win. The crowd go wild.
Mark Henry vs Fandango
Fandango is out first with Layla, still wearing her ring gear from earlier in the evening. Some of the crowd start Fandangoing. Next out is Henry, to a decent pop. Roberts announces that the votes are in and the match will be a dance off, which generates a lot of booing from the audience.
Fandango does some fruity routine and gets in the face of Henry, who steps up and the lights go out. A spotlight shines down on Henry who has produced a sequined glove and starts dancing to Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, crotch grabs, moonwalks and all. He even attempts the splits, to which Fandango reacts by stomping at his head. A fight breaks out and there’s a scuffle outside the ring which Henry gets the better of. The crowd cheer as he returns to the ring and celebrates, though a winner wasn’t announced. He climbs out the ring and gets a young girl from the audience, bringing her into the ring and they dance to Billie Jean before he raises her hand and the crowd cheer.
Street Fight – Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns
Orton is out first to some major heat followed by Reigns who gets a big pop as he emerges from a different part of the audience to that which he did earlier in the night.
Orton gets an early advantage over Reigns and controls the match for a long period of time. He leaves the ring and returns with a Kendo stick, blasting it across Reigns back and chest repeatedly. A chant breaks out for Reigns who eventually starts building momentum and brings a table into the ring, propping it up against the turnbuckle. Orton retakes control of the match and hits his signature second-rope DDT on Reigns, setting up for the RKO but the bigger man gets out the way and hits Orton with a flying forearm. He follows up with a flurry of shots with his own Kendo stick. He positions Orton to be drilled through it but the former champion dodges and the Samoan crashes through it. It’s weird that you don’t pick up the sound of the metal bending on the tables when watching on TV but it definitely sounds more viscous in person.
Orton gets cocky and soon loses momentum. Reigns looks close to ending it when Rybaxel once again emerge and beat Reigns down with steel steps.The other members of the Shield soon even the odds and all hell breaks loose. With the additional Superstars indisposed, Reigns hits the Superman punch and follows up with a massive spear for the win.
The Shield pose as Rybaxel scarper back to the ring and Ambrose starts throwing steel chairs into the ring for no apparent reason. They pose to end the night and Roberts thanks everyone for coming.