WWE Raw house show report
August 20, 2010
Tokyo, Japan
Report by David Royer, PWTorch reader

I've attended most WWE house shows in Japan for the last nine years. They've had problems with attendance even since WWE stopped being broadcasted on national TV. They tried to make up for it with two popular stars from Smackdown joining the show, Rey Mysterio and Big Show. Also, they held the show at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, where sumo tournaments are held. It was smaller then previous venues and the place had a great feel. The venue was probably sold out with very few empty seats to be seen.

After Summerslam, the card was changed and they added the Nexus (Barrett, Otunga, and Sheffield) to the mix. However, they reshuffled the whole card, as they often do with house shows. The card was different then what was advertised from the first match on. Previously advertised William Regal and Zack Ryder were nowhere to be seen.

(1) Goldust beat Ted DiBiase. DiBiase was replacing Mark Henry, who was advertised for the match. Goldust came out to a huge pop as the first babyface out. For the younger audience that hasn't seen Goldust wrestle a decent match instead of being in a squash match or in a comedy match, let me tell you, he's still one of the best performers out there. We started a "Let's go Goldust" chant that had the whole place going and everyone got into the match. A lot of back and forth, some good moves from Goldust, and a few nearfalls on both sides led to Goldust actually scoring the win over DiBiase. The crowd went wild with excitement over the outcome.

After Goldust celebrated for a minute, the Nexus (sans Skip Sheffield, who is injured) came down to the ring to beat on Goldust. They also cut a heel promo saying it was a preview of tonight's main event between them and the team of Cena and Big Show. (?) The problem with that promo was that a lot of people were not aware of the Nexus, most people don't understand English, and even those who subscribe to the cable channel that shows WWE are three weeks behind. So, they don't know the story from after Summerslam, but, anyways, they still got a lot of heat.

(2) Eve & Bella Twins beat Maryse & Alicia Fox & Jillian Hall in a six-Divas tag match. I don't have much interest in Divas matches, but Maryse got the biggest reaction and Eve got the pin over Jillian (I believe).

(3) WWE tag champions Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & D.H. Smith) beat Evan Bourne & Mark Henry to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Why do they bother with championship matches at house shows? If they did non-title matches, at least the result wouldn't be set in stone. Bourne teaming with Henry threw out the possibility of a Mysterio vs. Bourne match I was hoping for. Overall, the tag match was decent, especially Tyson vs. Bourne bits. Hart Dynasty won via submission, with Bourne tapping out to the Sharpshooter from Tyson.

(4) Randy Orton beat WWE champion Sheamus via DQ; Sheamus retained the WWE Title. Orton was totally over. Only two people in the building were rooting for Sheamus, including my friend. For the finish, Sheamus pushed the referee to cause the DQ, with the win going to Orton. Afterward, Sheamus got a chair and tried to hit Orton with it, but Orton ducked and hit the RKO for a huge buzz from the crowd.

The announcer came in to announce a break as well as plug the tour t-shirts and some limited, hand-signed Cena pictures.

After the break, there was a special Smackdown vs. Raw match. Beforehand, The Miz cut a great promo talking really slow, asking the crowd if they could understand him. Rey Mysterio then came out to a great pop.

(5) Rey Mysterio beat U.S. champion The Miz in a non-title match. Again, a great match with about half-a-dozen missed 619 chances. Mysterio eventually hit the 619, leading to a drop from the top rope for the pin.

(6) Chris Jericho beat Yoshi Tatsu via submission. Local hero Yoshi Tatsu came out to a decent pop. However, pitting him against the most beloved Superstar in Japan, Chris Jericho, made the match-up a virtual face vs. face match. Unfortunately, Jericho didn't cut a promo, so the crowd had no reasons to boo him! Even with the "Nippon" chants going, the Y2J chants were twice as loud. The match was decent and was the longest match of the night. Yoshi kicked out of the Walls of Jericho once, with a couple of counters. Jericho then went into another Walls of Jericho and Yoshi tapped. Good match, but other than being Japanese, Yoshi isn't that popular in Japan and the crowd was mostly into Jericho.

The last match was supposed be the Nexus vs. Big Show and Cena in a three-on-two handicap match. With Sheffield injured, it was a two-on-two tag match. During ring intros, Cena got a big pop, but Show got almost as big of a pop.

(7) John Cena & Big Show beat Nexus (Wade Barrett & David Otunga). The match started with Cena dominating the Nexus, then Nexus took over with multiple tags dominating Cena and not letting him tag out to Big Show. This went on for a good five-to-six minutes. Show then tagged in and did his thing for a few minutes. For the finish, Big Show chokeslammed Otunga as Cena re-entered for the Attitude Adjustment on Barrett. The ref made a double count on Cena and Show over Nexus. Afterward, Cena dropped a couple more Attitude Adjustments and the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Barret to end the night.

Biggest Pops:
(1) Chris Jericho
(2) Goldust
(3t) John Cena & Big Show
(5) Randy Orton

Best Match:
(1) Goldust vs. Dibiase
(2) Yoshi vs. Jericho
(3) Mysterio vs. Miz


They have another show tomorrow at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, but I am not able to attend it. The advertised main event is Cena & Yoshi vs. Jericho & Sheamus. Also scheduled is Nexus vs. Hart Dynasty, Orton vs. Mysterio, and Big Show vs. Mark Henry.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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