Thanks to Michael Howard for sending in the following:
WWE Live in Hampton, VA at the Hampton Coliseum:
Fandango vs. R-Truth
Crowd was hot for this curtain-jerker. Fandango got lots of heat with his dance moves, while R-Truth took the usual cheap pops with his dancing. Truth got a roll-up for the win. Fandango got on the mic and demanded a re-match because he is the only “true dancer” in the WWE. Truth ran back down the ramp, hit him with a kick and pinned him in a fifteen seconds. So yes, two R-Truth victories.
The Ascension vs. Kofi Kingston and Big E w/ Xavier Woods
A good back and forth tag match in which Big E took quite a beating from the NXT Tag Champs. This led to a hot tag for Kofi. It ended with Big E and Kofi doing their new finisher that combines Big E’s finisher with the Boom Drop. Big E and Kofi win. Interesting that this group is still together here, but haven’t been on TV together in weeks. Still working as faces.
Tyson Kidd vs Sami Zayn
Tyson came to the ring giving high-fives and working babyface, despite his heel role on NXT. However, about three minutes into the match, he kicked Zayn in the gut as Zayn was trying to shake his hand. He was firmly in the heel role after that. These two went about ten minutes with Zayn getting the pin after delivering a Helluva Kick. The crowd was really into this one and these guys probably had the second best match of the night.
Nikki Bella, Cameron and Alicia Fox and vs Brie Bella, Naomi and Eva Marie
The crowd was very excited for this Total Divas themed match. Early in the match, Eva Marie gave a super stiff smack to Nikki that was met with “YES!” chants all around the building. It all built toward a hot tag for Brie and she eventually got the pin. Not a lot to this, but it is worth mentioning that Brie’s team came in and left to her new theme music. It was not a remarkable tune.
Bo Dallas vs Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship
Bo came out first and insulted quite a few fans in the crowd. He talked about his dream of being the IC Champ. At one point he pointed at a man in the front row and said, “Sir, you are wearing the dumbest hat I have ever seen, but you still have dreams.” The match itself was decent and it was good to see that Dallas can really work if he is given time. He controlled most of the match. Bo kicked out of the Famouser. Dolph kicked out of Bo’s doubled-armed DDT. Dolph ended up winning with a Zig Zag.
Intermission (Featured a Flair piece taken from the Countdown about Catch Phrases, which was basically five minutes of everyone crowing, “WOOOOOOO!”)
Adam Rose vs Damien Mizdow
The fans were legitimately excited when the Miz’s music hit because he wasn’t advertised for the card. Everyone was quite disappointed with Sandow appeared. Adam Rose came out with a toned down version of the Exotic Express, slapped Mizdow on the butt a few times and ended up pinning him after hitting his finisher. There isn’t a lot to say here. The crowd was dead, waiting for the two big matches to come.
The fans, who were silent during Rose and Sandow, erupted in passionate hate for Rusev upon his entrance. Lana was sporting a new straight-haired look that certainly didn’t hurt her. Big Show came out to a huge pop and threw Rusev around for the first few minutes. Rusev did this great thing where he would go to Lana and complain about Big Show’s size. It was funny. The guy can really sell and is really good about generating heat. The match turned with Rusev started to chop Show down by working his left leg. In the end, Rusev put his version of the Camel Clutch on Big Show and held him in it for about a minute. Big Show grabbed the ropes, Rusev wouldn’t break as Charles Robinson counted to five. Big Show won by DQ. Afterward, Big Show choke-slammed Rusev in the middle of the ring.
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins in a Tables Match
Rollins had the most heat of the night and Reigns got the biggest pop of the night. No surprise on either account. The match started with the crowd being given a choice of a “Best Two Out of Three Falls Match” or a “Tables Match.” Of course, the crowd chose the latter. These two got thirty minutes and they used every bit of it. I was surprising to see Reigns taking chair shots and Rollins taking crazy back bumps off the apron. Part of me thought, “This isn’t on TV guys, save yourselves!” Nonetheless, hats off to them for entertaining the crowd. Reigns won by spearing Rollins through a table. This was a nice preview of what is to come from these two in the future.
All in all this was a great show and I enjoyed it much more than the Raw I attended at the Richmond Coliseum in July. As a side note, this was my three-year old son’s first wrestling show and he loved it. His joy over something as silly as R-Truth getting a win reminds me of why I watch this in the first place.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
