WWE Raw house show results
May 13, 2012
Rochester, N.Y.
Report by Justin of Frankfort, N.Y., PWTorch reader/listener

It was a beautiful day in Upstate/Western N.Y. I picked up a Gatorade during the opening, but arrived inside just in time to see the Funkasaurus, Hornswoggle, and his ladies entering the stage.

(1) Brodus Clay beat JTG. Brodus was well-received to begin the evening. Next out was JTG sporting his new look. JTG worked hard early, but the crowd was not into this one, and Clay romped through JTG with his signature charging headbutt and big splash. The first victory of the night went to the Funkasaurus. Post-match, Brodus wished all the moms a Happy Mother's Day and reminded fans to call their mommas. A few younger fans joined Brodus, the ladies, and Hornswaggle for a dance session. Glad this match was quick.

(2) Zack Ryder beat Dean Ambrose via DQ. Ryder's reception came as close to a Cena pop as possible. After Ryder tossed his gear into the crowd, out came a sinister-looking Ambrose. Dean was booed heavily except for me and a few diehard fans. After a brief stare down, they were off to a good pace. Ambrose controlled most of the match, especially early until Ryder came charging back. To my amazement, Ambrose took all Ryder had and stayed relentless. A frustrated Ambrose removed the turnbuckle pad and sent Ryder into it as the ref recovered the padding. A beat down in the corner ensued and Ambrose was disqualified after ignoring a five count. The few extra minutes given to this match made it seem better than it was. Ryder was declared the winner, while Ambrose heeled it up with some fans.

As Ambrose hit the curtain, Dolph Ziggler made a run-in and hit Ryder with the Zig-Zag. He got the mic and told the crowd he would steal this show just like every show he's on. Great heat for Ziggler.

(3) Divas champion Layla beat Beth Phoenix to retain the Divas Title. Beth was out first to boos, although Rochester is close to her hometown of Elmira, N.Y. Phoenix jawed with lots of fans on the way to the ring. Layla received a decent pop and seemed more excited than during her TV matches. Early punishment from Beth to Layla. Phoenix worked the crowd over well, and showed off many of her power moves. Brief comeback by Layla, in which she spanked Phoenix and wore her tierra. After a brief taunting, Phoenix regained the match to some heat. Layla countered an overhead press and soon after hit Beth with a mean-looking neckbreaker. Layla with the victory. A much better match than any of the recent Divas matches. I think this program could save the women's division.

(4) U.S. champion Santino Marella beat The Miz and Jack Swagger in a three-way match to retain the U.S. Title. Santino received a great reaction, but it was surprising to me how split the crowd was for Miz. Lots of cheers for him, lots of boos for Swagger, and lots of laughs for Santino. This was a standard comedy match, but decent three-way action including a spot where Miz sunset-flipped Swagger by the ropes, Swagger hung on, and Santino slingshot Miz's face into Swagger's groin. Santino then won after a Cobra strike to Miz and Swagger, and a pin on the All-American American. Decent match; I would have liked to have seen Vickie, though.

(5) WWE tag champions R-Truth & Kofi Kingston beat Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes) to retain the WWE Tag Titles. R-Truth came out rapping his old entrance; also, a nice touch opening the ropes and throwing handshakes to Lil Jimmy. Kofi received a nice reaction, although without the pyro, the intro looked rather strange. Rosa led her boys out next. Her dancing and strutting makes the Primo and Epico characters seem more important than they are. This match included two very hot tags, one to Kofi, the other to Truth. Rosa interfered, which led to Primo making the pin after a nice double-team. R-Truth got his leg on the bottom rope, but the ref missed it. A celebration ensued until a second ref corrected the verdict and continued the match. Within a minute, the ring cleared and Kofi hit Epico with Trouble in Paradise for the win. Good match, and the false ending was used greatly here.

[Intermission]

Ziggler came out to continue the show. He talked to the crowd about how much of a show-off he is, and, tonight, he will have an insurance policy. Mason Ryan was then brought out to no reaction. Ziggler called the crowd losers, then told Justin Roberts to announce him as "The Show-Stealer, Dolph Ziggler."

(6) Lord Tensai beat Tyson Kidd. Tensai in a squash victory, which showcased Kidd's lone offense as a sleeper and a few nice kicks. I would have loved to have seen a "Rudy" type victory to throw a wrench in things, but WWE has invested too much in Tensai for that to happen. Basic squash match.

Next was Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena. Ziggler came out with Ryan as his "Diesel-like" muscle. Ziggler confronted Justin Roberts on forgetting to announce him correctly; cue Cena's music. The crowd immediately went wild. Biggest pop of the night.

(7) John Cena beat Dolph Ziggler. Cena looked great on offense and with his over-the-top selling for Ziggler. Each man went out of his way to make this match special. A few "Let's Go Cena / Cena Sucks" chants were quickly drowned out by straight "Cena" chants. Lots of highspots including multiple Attitude Adjustments thwarted by Ryan, and one by virtue of an amazing Ziggler counter. Cena won after about 20 minutes of action with a successful AA. A great match. Ziggler has it all, and Cena is a true wrestler. He seemed like the normal John, and did so much extra in this one, despite his real-world divorce. He spent some time after the match with the fans at ringside. Top-notch entertainers.

Next was the main event of Chris Jericho vs. C.M. Punk with special enforcer Mick Foley. Foley was out first to his car wreck music. Great pop for Mick with lots of "Foley" and "Bang-Bang" calls. Mick was wearing the traditional sweatpants with a tye-dye shirt, along with a black cut-off vest, and classic crazy hair. The lights went off, then Jericho came out in his lite-bright jacket. Jericho was on the receiving end of normal heel heat. Punk then entered to great reaction, although lots of the Cena fans were neutral to this match all together. There was also a nice touch re-announcing the participants in the WWE Title match, which led to Jericho grabbing the mic and proclaiming himself, "Best in the World." After getting upset with the crowd's "C.M. Punk" chants, he called Punk a drunk and said the match was off. Punk, Punk got things rolling with kicks, punches, and some chops to Jericho.

(8) WWE champion C.M. Punk beat Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Title with Mick Foley as special enfrocer. A very physical match between the two, and having had seen this match twice on PPV already, watching it live was worth the trip. The match included all of the moves from their previous encounters, and with some outside-the-ring brawling and counter moves, they kept the match-up fresh and exciting. At one point, Punk countered the Walls of Jericho in a nice sequence. Jericho also countered the GTS. The ending came when Jericho looked to smash Punk with a chair, but Mick Foley slid into the ring, and caught it during its the back swing. Jericho, angered, backed Foley into a corner. Jericho returned to work on Punk, then swung around again to find Foley this time with Socko. Foley jammed it into Jericho's gullet. Foley then launched him into Punk for the GTS and the win. Best match of the night. The two guys mesh like Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect in the ring. I'm very glad I was able to see this match live.

Post-match: Punk got on the mic and thanked the crowd before he sent it over to Foley. Mick talked about why he showed up tonight to be a special enforcer. He explained a 14-hour round-trip was worth it to make a fan's dreams come true meeting some of the wrestlers. He threw Socko to the fan and thanked everyone again. (Foley tweeted after the show, "Thanks to all the @WWE Superstars & Divas who went out of their way to make tonight's show in Rochester, N.Y. so special for my buddy Noah.")

Punk then gave the crowd a nice good-bye speech, and Punk and Foley stayed with the fans ringside for a few minutes. As Punk left ringside, I got a nice hand slap from him as he waved and thanked the crowd at the stage. Awesome show.

Biggest Pops - Cena, Ryder, Punk, Foley
Biggest Heat - Phoenix, Ziggler, Jericho, Ambrose

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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