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The WWE returned to the Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois tonight. Considering they chose to run Champaign during Spring Break (with the vast majority of the 40,000+ college students out of town), they drew a pretty solid crowd of about 5,000 people.2UUNAYESXKZD
The Miz opened the show by interrupting the National Anthem (which got big heat as you’d expect) and then cut a very long promo. He bragged about all of his talk show gigs & then called out Randy Orton, who he predicted would be too injured to face him.
WWE Championship Bout -The Miz (Champion, with Alex Riley) vs. Randy Orton (Challenger)
Our ref was local boy Jack Doan. This match only went 2:35 before CM Punk ran in and attacked Orton for the DQ. During the brief bout, Orton utilized an Austin/Thesz Press & punches, which drew a huge pop. Orton ended up avoiding the GTS & cleaning house. The GM texted Justin Roberts & Roberts announced (no surprise) Orton & Cena vs. Miz & Punk.
Tyson Kidd & the Usos vs. Santino Marella (with Tamina), Vladimir Koslov & Evan Bourne
This was a surprisingly long, but generally entertaining match. Santino was over with the kids definitely. Evan went for the Shooting Star Press on one of the Usos, but the other Uso broke it up. Then Evan was a face-in-peril for a while, and Boune was getting a lot of love. Eventually, Bourne tagged out and the heels were in trouble. Santino got a “can of Spinach” kiss from Tamina and then hit one of the Usos with the Cobra. He tagged in Bourne, and Evan hit the Air Bourne Shooting Star Press to great fanfare for the pin at 11:56. Decent match.
Zack Ryder vs. The Great Khali
Ryder ran down Champaign, the local ladies & their physical attractiveness (shouldn’t have run Champaign-Urbana during spring break then), and challenged anybody to a match. He got the Great Khali. Khali quikly chopped & pinned him in 22 seconds.
Primo Colon vs THE DEBUTING SIN CARA
Wow, this was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to Sin Cara hopefully bringing back this exciting style to Monday nights. Mistico errr Sin Cara did most of his trademark spos, including the Corkscrew Plancha, the Springboard Rana, the Spinning Flying Head Scissors and the running headfirst dive between the ropes. They weren’t all super smooth, but this is still night one. Sin Cara tried for another springboard rana but Primo reversed it into a power bomb. Primo tried for another Power Bomb, but this time Sin Cara reversed it into the La Mistica (!) for the submission win at 11:12. Good match and people liked Sin Cara, especially considering no one had seen him before or knew who he was.
Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison
Dolph really stirred up the crowd by baiting various people in the crowd before the bout. The match itself was pretty good. Dolph worked over Morrison with some Minnesota Offense early, namely the Rude Awakening & the Hennig Running Neck Snap. Morrison came back and went to the top rope, hitting a flying crossbody. However, Morrison’s momentum carried him over and Dolph got a nearfall. Morrison tried for the Moonlight Drive Neckbreaker but Dolph reversed it. He tried for a Zig Zag, but JoMo blocked it and then sorta hit the Starship Pain for the pin at 10:04. Pretty good.
R-Truth appeared, sang “What’s Up?” and then chose 4 fans to compete in a dance-off for a chance to go backstage. A little kid in a John Cena shirt won (shocker).
Eve Torres & Natalya Neidhart vs. Alicia Fox & Melina
This was really long. Eve hit a standing moonsault, and then Eve pinned Melina after a neckbreaker at 12:07.
United States Championship Match – Sheamus (Champion) vs. Daniel Bryan (Challenger, with Gail Kim)
As expected, this was a very good match. I was pleased that Bryan was really over. Bryan connected with a dive through the ropes and a Missile Dropkick and went to the top for a Flying Headbutt. Sheamus moved, and Bryan crashed hard. Sheamus used the Irish Curse backbreaker for a near fall. Sheamus tried for the High Cross, but Bryan escaped and turned it into a sunset flip for a nearfall. Bryan applied the LeBell Lock, but Sheamus got to the ropes to force the break. Sheamus tossed a chair into the ring to distract the referee, and then used a second chair to KO Bryan as he was trying to another dive through the ropes. Then Sheamus ditched the chair and covered Bryan for the pin at 13:20 to retain the title. Like I said earlier, it was a very good match.
John Cena & Randy Orton vs. CM Punk & The Miz
Before the match, Punk explained to the good people of Champaign that even though most of the world considers champagne to be one of the finer things in life, it is merely pee-water to him. Therefore, our town Champaign and its residents are nothing but pee-water. Also, he ripped on us for being so close t indiana. The Miz and the referee were in stitches at this point. Cena and Punk started the bout in the ring, and when Cena tagged in Orton, Punk ran to his corner and literally hid behind Miz. Then Punk tagged in Miz. Orton dropped Miz with a powerslam and a 2nd rope DDT for nearfalls. Then Orton laid out Miz with a beautiful top rope superplex for a huge pop and another nearfall. Punk drilled Orton with a kick to the back as Orton was running the ropes, and Miz followed it up with a skull crushing finale for a nearfall. Miz also used the People’s Elbow on Orton, tossing his elbow pad to a way-too-excited Punk (man, Punk and Miz are a really entertaining tag team). Eventually, Orton connected with the RKO on Miz at the same time as Cena dropped Punk with the Attitude Adjustment (apologies to Lex Luger) at the same time Orton RKO’s Miz for the stereo pin at 16:51. It was a really good main event, and the crowd was loving it. Cena was super, super over.
In conclusion, this was a great house show. There were several really entertaining matches. Most of the guys worked really hard, and it was just under 3 hours long including intermission. It was also really cool to see the debut of Sin Cara. I hope he will be a top guy in WWE for years to come
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