CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
Arena Reports
SHOW RESULTS - 8/7 WWE in Melbourne, Australia: Second Report on Flair ref'ing main event, was Kane mask-less?, more

Aug 7, 2014 - 10:37:16 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


Kane_Wide_GG_2.png



WWE Live show results
August 7, 2014
Melbourne, Australia
Report by Cam Buchanan, PWTorch reader


I just attended the WWE live event at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. For the out-of-towners, this venue is the place where the finals of the Australian Open Tennis is played. The venue holds about 14,000, and it was close to a sell-out.

Loads of "wooooing" before they let us in, then even more in the arena. For those attending other Aussie shows, t-shirts are $50 and souvenir WWE title belts are $40. Astonishingly a sheep mask is $30! They had programs for sale outlining who's who in the roster. Apparently big Zeke Jackson, Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, and Yoshi Tatsu still work for WWE among other released talent. That wasn't good!

On with the show... The stage was about the width of the curtain and there was no pyro all night. Strange.

(1) WWE tag champs The Usos beat Erick Rowan & Luke Harper to retain the Tag Titles. The Wyatts entered to a mix of music starting with the kid singing 'whole world' then switched to a generic rock track. Usos wore Melbourne Storm rugby tops through the match (the team trains across the road from this venue). Great opener with loads of energy and a mix of brawling and high-flying, similar to their Battleground bout. Usos of course won after a top-rope splash.

(2) Bo Dallas beat R-Truth. Bo was introduced as 'The inspirational' Bo Dallas. His entrance alone gets heat because he is so full of himself! The arena had a lot of Bolievers, though, and in a promo he said he 'loved them almost as much as they loved him!' Great ability to draw heat! This promo should have been on TV at some point, it was priceless. Truth rapped to the ring, so we got his full intro. Kids loved it! He even got a dance routine in there. As for the match, Truth suddenly won by roll-up. Dallas tried a post match attack, but Truth saw it coming. Nevertheless Bo still got another victory lap in before leaving the arena. Bo was awesome!

(3) Diego beat Fandango. Fandango entered minus dance partner. Diego entered minus bull, tag partner, or women! The crowd chanted for Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, RVD, and C.M. Punk through the match. It went a little longer than it should have, but it was okay. Diego won with a backstabber.

Bray Wyatt cut a video promo for his match. Everyone though he was next but it was just a tease for later...

(4) IC champion The Miz beat Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Title. Miz opened with a promo, claiming the IC titleholder was 'our champion' given our location. He played up the 'moneymaker' gimmick pretty heavily. He claimed no one wanted to see him get hit in the face! Hilarious promo. Kofi's entrance looked really awkward without the pyro and no sign of Xavier Woods and Big E. Did they toss that story to the side or what? Good back and forth match as you would imagine with these two. Miz won after rolling through a top-rope move from Kofi.

(5) Chris Jericho beat Bray Wyatt. The Pre-Entrance Video intro had to be replayed, and we only got a generic 'Australia, we're here' from Bray. Excellent mach showcasing the offense of both guys. There was a bit of an assist from the Usos when Rowan and Harper got too brutal on Jericho when the ref was down. Jericho got the pin after escaping out of Sister Abigail and hitting a Codebreaker.

After the match, he cut a promo, then called a couple into the ring, where the fella proposed in the ring. Pretty cool moment!

[Intermission]

(6) Emma & Nikki Bella beat Alicia Fox & Layla. A. Fox has new music! Nikki got a pretty good pop. Hometown girl Emma got a bigger one, though! Fun match. Alicia sold really well and Emma got the submission win by getting Layla to tap. They could have done more to build to a hotter tag moment to bring Emma in, but otherwise it was an okay match with all four ladies working hard.

(7) U.S. champion Sheamus beat Cesaro and Rob Van Dam to retain the U.S. Title. This was a fun bout to watch, including a Cesaro Swing in the mix. Shaemus won with the Brogue Kick after a good final exchange. Not much actual three-way action with someone always outside selling, but otherwise pretty good.

Next was Roman Reigns vs. Kane in the main event with Ric Flair as referee. Flair got a good pop as he entered and Kane had his mask back on again after removing it on Raw.

(8) Roman Reigns beat Kane in a Street Fight with Ric Flair as special referee. This was No DQ, No Count-out. The match went 20 minutes with a lot of bells and whistles to make it interesting. Kane is limited and Reigns worked hard, but he only has four impacting moves and a heap of punches and headbutts! The crowd cared more about Flair than the wrestlers and woooed him every time he counted. There was a kendo stick, a chair, the steps, and a table involved and it was a good crowd-pleasing match in the end. Reigns got the win after a spear. The night ended with a brief promo from Roman thanking Ric Flair first, then the crowd.

Overall, not as good as previous shows I've attended but a good show nonetheless. The wrestling was actually quite good but the production around it suffered. No pyro and some video glitches hurt the presentation. It won't stop me attending next time, though!

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


We suggest these recent related articles...
SHOW RESULTS - 10/9 AAW in Berwyn, Ill.: Gargano challenges for AAW Hvt. Title, more title matches, big women's tag match, more
SHOW RESULTS - 10/3 NWA Smoky Mountain in Kingsport, Tenn.: NWA Hvt. Title match, Rob Conway, Kid Kash, Ricky Morton, more
LIVE REPORT - 10/4 TNA BFG PPV in North Carolina: Live notes on technical glitches, pre-Angle match announcement, Captain America Fan, more
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY