WWE Raw house show results
July 23, 2011
Wildwood, N.J.
Report by Dean D., PWTorch reader

(1) Chris Masters pinned Jack Swagger. In a bit of a surprise to me, Chris Masters was very over, and received the second best pop of the night from the crowd. In a back-and-forth match, Masters got the win by pinfall. I'm not sure what Swagger did to open up house shows and lose, but to see a former World champ relegated to this was disheartening.

(2) Alex Riley pinned Tyler Reks after a sloppy DDT.

(3) WWE tag champions New Nexus (David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty) beat Primo & Zack Ryder to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Honestly, I was getting a soda during the match, so I'm not sure how the end came about. The interesting thing was Ryder and Primo were announced as a team with a name, although I couldn't make out what Justin Roberts said. Ryder got a lukewarm reception.

(4) Kofi Kingston pinned R-Truth after the Trouble In Paradise. Before this show, I was tough on Truth. But, the way he held the crowd in his hand was masterful. He did a long pre-match promo and ran down the crowd. He generated a great deal of heat that was earned, not a cheap heat. Probably the best match of the night and the crowd was pretty hot throughout.

Some kid from Philly won a dance competition. It seemed like the people in the competition were plants. A short intermission followed.

(5) Beth Phoenix pinned Brie Bella after the Glam Slam. Brie controlled the action and Beth hit the Slam out of nowhere when the ref told her to go home. Pretty abrupt ending.

(6) U.S. champion Dolph Ziggler pinned Evan Bourne to retain the U.S. Title. Before the match, Ziggler took to the mic, and was really good. I'm not sure why they have him with Vickie after seeing how good he was on his own. I also believe Ziggler took the Zbyszko master class on stalling. He played the cocky heel really well. The end sequence came when Bourne missed the Shooting Star and Ziggler hit the Zig-Zag for the win.

Next was John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio in the main event. Before the match, Cena, who seemingly can change match stipulations at-will, challenged Del Rio for the Money in the Bank briefcase if he won by pin or submission. Del Rio accepted, as long as if he beat Cena by pinfall or submission, Cena would go to Smackdown. Now, how can these guys make these stipulations? Where was the Anonymous GM? Would Triple H have saved Cena from going to Smackdown had he lost? Why do people even wrestle Cena in a stipulation match when he never faces the consequences of the stipulations?

(7) John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio by DQ when R-Truth interfered. I'm not sure if WWE is going to go with these two as a main event down the road, but these guys had bad chemistry together. There were a few missed spots, botches, and just some poor communication from Cena (who was calling the match). The ending saw Cena lock in the STF on Del Rio and Truth interfered to cause the DQ.

Post-match, Dolph Ziggler, Brie Bella, and The New Nexus came out and stomped on Cena a bit. Then, Kofi, Evan Bourne, Primo, Zack Ryder, and Beth Phoenix came out to make the save. The heels retreated, leaving Ziggler alone in the ring with the mighty face contingent. In succession, starting with Beth, the faces each hit their finishers on Ziggler, ending with the AA from Cena and a Shooting Star from Bourne to send the crowd home happy.

Overall, a solid show. The crowd in Wildwood gets one show a year and they seemed starved for the action. It was a really hot crowd throughout the show.

I was a bit disappointed that Rey Mysterio and Miz were in Pittsburgh after being heavily advertised for the show. That would have likely stolen the show, but I digress. Pittsburgh is a bigger market, I suppose.

Biggest Pops:

(1) John Cena
(2) The kid from Philly who won the dance-off
(3) Chris Masters

Best Heel Heat:

(1) R-Truth
(2) Alberto Del Rio
(3) Dolph Ziggler

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

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