Source: PWInsider
WWE Live Event Results
3/25/17
Portland, Maine
Big Cass with Enzo Amore vs. Jinder Mahal
Enzo and Cass got a great reaction. They did their usual entrance, but Enzo didn’t speak until they got in the ring. The crowd seemed a little let down when they realized that it wouldn’t be a tag match. Jinder looked good, and the crowd loved to hate him. Enzo was entertaining as a corner man. Cass got the pinfall win with a big boot.
Golden Truth and Curtis Axel vs. Titus O’Neil and Shining Stars
Golden Truth got a solid reaction. The crowd loved singing along. Unfortunately, much of the crowd seemed confused who Axel was when his music hit. An Axelmania chant broke out once he got in the ring. I think since he’s been off TV for so long, it threw people off. Some fans thought the chant was for Wrestlemania, so you heard both. Also unfortunate was the crowd not caring much about the Shining Stars, but given how they are presented on television, it’s not shocking. Axel went into Hogan mode and won with the leg drop. This was a fun match. Axel had the whole crowd into him by the end. Hopefully he is used on television more regularly. After the match, Titus spoke about losing and then tried to get crowd to chant Titusmania, but of course they chanted Titus sucks. He wanted a new opponent to prove himself. Sin Cara came out with no trampoline and to not much of a reaction. People seemed to also somewhat forget about him.
Sin Cara vs. Titus O’Neil
Sin Cara pinned Titus with a swanton in one minute. I wish they had let this have some time. It was over before anyone realized.
WWE Cruiserweight champ Neville vs. Austin Aries
Aries won via pinfall after nailing the elbow. Before the match, Neville got on the mic and bashed the crowd. He refused to defend the belt. Both guys got great reactions. The crowd was really into this one. Thankfully, we did not gave to deal them changing the ropes. They did use purple lighting during the match though.
WWE Raw Tag Team champions The Club vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The New Day (Kofi & Big E)
Anderson pinned Big E with his feet on rope to retain the tag titles. The best way to describe this match is to say it was very spotty. Most of match had one team double team one member of another while everyone else stayed outside and then switched. Rarely was there a point when this wasn’t the case. All three teams got great reactions. The crowd had fun with this one. After the match, Cesaro gave Anderson 20 spins. All 5 fan favorites beat up The Club for a few minutes. They then spent some time goofing around together as Woods played Francesca II. Cesaro danced. The crowd then wanted Sheamus to dance. He said for everyone to turn off their cameras, and teased a dance, but then ran away. Cesaro got him back and he danced for a second before running away again.
At intermission, they asked how many Reigns fans were here tonight. Very mixed reaction. This was to hype up signed Reigns posters at merchandise. That was really the only thing they mentioned during intermission.
Bayley, Dana Brooke, Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax, Alicia Fox, Charlotte
Bayley inflatables took a minute to work when she came out. This was a quick paced match with frequent tags. The crowd was excited to see the ladies. They all got strong reactions, especially Sasha and Bayley. Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly on Charlotte for the pinfall win.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Awesome Owens promo on Portland and on Jericho. Aside from Neville, he was the only to really get the crowd to hate him. Of course Owens is too good at this, so many still cheered him. At the start of the match, Owens put on Sami’s hat and started dancing like him. Two minutes in, Joe ran out to cause a disqualification. Owens got back on the mic while double teaming Sami, saying nobody can stop them. At this point I think everyone felt that Rollins or Balor would come out for the save. Of course, instead Roman’s music hit and he came out for the save. Everyone was chanting for Balor. Roman had been advertised locally against Strowman, so this wasn’t the expected save. I think this situation caused the crowd to not react as positively for Roman.
Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens
Zayn was in there solo for a long while before getting the hot tag. Roman pinned Owens after spear. The crowd was happy with the final moments of the match. I liked the Joe & Owens team. This was an old style tag match, and I really enjoyed it. The crowd’s attitude towards Roman kept shifting from the time he came out. Everything he did got a reaction though.
This event was at a small venue compared to where a live broadcast event would be held. I’m not sure what the current capacity is, but the building was pretty much sold out aside from a few unoccupied stray seats here and there. The venue is small enough that they did not need to utilize the tron or overhead screens during the matches, but it probably would have helped some sections. The lone cameraman only filmed during the in ring promos, which was the only time the screens were used. I guess the lone cameraman was not there to actually film much of anything.
This was an absolutely fun show. I don’t care that it was predictable or that it doesn’t “count” – what counts is that it was a fun show from start to finish. The crowd was having fun and everyone in the ring looked to be having fun. The crowd made it fun for me. I keep using the word fun because that’s what it was and what the WWE should be. This was an audience that was enjoying everything for what it was. Nobody was trying to hijack the show, and there were not constant idiotic chants. It was so refreshing to not be in a crowd of cynical smarky fans. There wasn’t even a “This is awesome” chant. I loved it. The crowd had a wide range of ages, but it was mostly families. One section was populated with a group of fans from a local establishment that obtained a block of tickets. They were the only ones trying to get some of the typical TV chants going, but it didn’t work in this environment, and even they avoided anything too obnoxious. Lately, the crowds have ruined many great television segments, so it was great for the show tonight to just be the show it was.
