WWE Smackdown TV taping report
April 8, 2010
Newcastle, England
Report by Daniel Ross, Torch reader

This was my sixth time attending a WWE event at the Metro Radio Arena. Sadly, it was my worst and most likely my last.

The arena was about 90 percent full, which isn't bad, but this place seems to be less full every time they come. The crowd was about a 60/40 split with kids making up the majority of the crowd. There were also an unusual number of couples in attendance.

(1) Evan Bourne beat Chavo Guerrero. This was a long, boring match filled with the house show staple restholds. Bourne was late coming out, as it seemed he was not ready on time. He wasn't wearing a belt and had to keep pulling his tights up. After the initial pops for the first stars of the night, the crowd was dead until Bourne hit the Air Bourne for the win.

(2) Christian beat Dos Caras. I read a report that Caras wore his mask in Austria. However, he worked unmasked on this show and he looked similar to TNA's Brutus Magnus. Caras did a basic heel promo telling us how great he was and he was getting a little heat but not much. From where I was sitting, I could see Dean Malenko and Jamie Noble watching to see how he was doing. Noble seemed impressed, however, Malenko less so. Basic match. Caras hit a few nice moves but nothing special. Christian hit the Killswitch for the win.

Post match: Sheamus came out and jumped Christian to immense heat. It was hard to hear everything he was saying, but he basically said he was going to beat Cena for the title tonight.

(3) Divas champion Maryse beat Kelly Kelly and Eve to retain the Divas Title. The crowd was dead for Maryse, which is a shame. Compared to the other two, she looked like Ric Flair. Kelly got a good pop and Eve got literally no pop. Basic Divas match with some comedy thrown in, a bronco buster, and Maryse running away got a few laughs, but the crowd was just not into it. Maryse eventually focused on Eve and kept Kelly out of the ring until Kelly got the advantage and Maryse cheated to win.

Masterlock Challenge: Chris Masters came out to no reaction, but the place went wild for Hornswoggle. After a little bit of Hornswoggle comedy, Masters got a little bit of heat, but it was just a filler segment really.

(4) Randy Orton beat Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase). There was mild heat on Legacy. DiBiase has the Million Dollar belt and Rhodes was selling the WrestleMania punt with some boxing-style headgear. Orton's pop was huge, the best so far. DiBiase and Rhodes took turns leaving the other then coming back, then it turned into a basic handicap match. Legacy took turns beating Orton until Orton got the upper hand again. Orton did the double DDT spot from Mania, which was cool and his viper mannerisms were spot on. He looked like the star of the night in this match. Orton got the RKO on Rhodes for the win.

[Intermission]

(5) William Regal beat MVP. When MVP came out (to no heat), I assumed Regal was going to lose. Although this was a terribly boring match to watch, with the only pop coming from the mandatory "Ballin'," the result was enjoyable. Regal is loved by older wrestling fans in the U.K. and once the kids saw them cheering Regal, they joined in anyways. Regal is always very gracious to the U.K. fans when he returns, and a real class act. Regal won with the Knee trembler. On a side note, MVP is failing miserably as a face. The people seem to want to boo him.

(6) U.S. champion The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston ended in a non-finish. The Miz got about a 60/40 mixed reaction of mainly boos from the crowd. As always, Miz did a great promo on Newcastle picking up local news stories and adding them in. He also added some comments on an earlier signing he had done, which were humorous to us who knew the area we were in. Anyways, Kofi got a fair reaction, but not as good as last time he was here in November during his big push. Kofi was in control, thus Big Show came out to get Miz DQ'ed. At this point, Mark Henry came down the ramp at about 1,000 miles an hour. He can really move when he wants to, and this led to a tag title match.

*On a side note, I attended the Miz signing, which was my first in 15 years as a wrestling fan. I have to say Miz was very cordial and took time to say hi to everyone and share a light piece of banter. When I handed him my "Tough Enough" DVD to sign, he joked "you recognize that guy Ryan Reynolds, don't you?" I knew it was the now-NXT Rookie Skip Sheffield. Miz said, "He couldn't get the job done in one reality show so had to enter another." I found that hilarious considering he didn't win either.

(7) Unified tag champions Showmiz (Big Show & The Miz) beat Kofi Kingston & Mark Henry to retain the Unified tag titles. This turned into a boring match with little crowd reaction except for the Kofi hot tag to Henry. Show hit Kingston with the chokeslam for the pin.

(8) Main event: WWE champion John Cena beat Sheamus. Monster heat for Sheamus and then the usual insane pop for Cena that he always gets from the kids. Cena hit all his signature moves and kicked out of a big boot to pin Sheamus with an Attitude Adjustment. If it were not for a group of guys dressed like wrestlers from the '80s play fighting, I would have left before the end of the match. In a nice moment, Cena noticed the Hogan guy in the group and gave him the classic Hogan posse.

Overall, the crowd was dead and the card just seemed to lack star power, especially with Triple H there despite being heavily advertised on TV. Maybe because Newcastle has had the Raw crew a total of five times in a row now, we were just a little tired of the same old faces. Or, maybe because the last event I went to was a TNA event in Manchester, I've come to expect more then a basic WWE house show. Either way, I doubt I'll be back in November.

Biggest Pops:

(1) Cena
(2) Orton
(3) Hornswoggle

Biggest Heel Heat:

(1) Sheamus
(2) The Miz
(3) Chavo Guerrero

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