WWE Live show results
August 7, 2014
Melbourne, Australia
Report by VIP member Ryan

The crowd was full with about 12,000-13,000 people. I noticed a surprisingly large number of adults wearing John Cena merch (something I definitely didn't notice at WrestleMania last year) and they had a fairly decent selection at the Merchandise stands including signed photo cards by Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Sheamus, and Emma. Also of interesting note. In this year's program, Stephanie McMahon was one of the few 'superstars' who got a full page picture profile.

Below are photos from the event.












(1) WWE tag champs The Usos beat Erick Rowan & Luke Harper to retain the Tag Titles. Good opener with the crowd really getting behind the Usos and Rowan/Harper playing their roles well.

(2) R-Truth beat Bo Dallas. A lot of fun and the crowd seemed to be into Dallas's BO-LIEVE routine. Truth won with a roll-up and quickly disposed of Bo when he charged at Truth post-match. Bo still followed up with his victory lap, which was a nice touch.

(3) Diego beat Fandango. It wasn't great on Raw, and giving them more time at this show didn't help at all. My girlfriend (non-wrestling fan whose only two shows were WrestleMania last year and this show) wondered what happened to Fandango since she'd last seen him - "Where'd his dancing lady go? What happened to his fancy entrance? ... People don't sing his song anymore, do they?" Poor Fandango.

(4) IC champion The Miz beat Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental TItle. Miz did a mic spot beforehand where he promised that if Kofi didn't punch or kick him in the face, he would be sure to get him a role as a featured extra in his next movie. He warned that if he injures his money-maker, we the crowd would miss out on there ever being a Marine 5 movie. Good match with Miz faking an injury half-way through only to beat down on Kofi as a result.

(5) Chris Jericho beat Bray Wyatt. Match of the Night with both guys being VERY over. One botched spot looked awkward but both guys got past it quickly and put on a great match. During Jericho's entrance, Bray did a great bit where he ran back up the ramp and stood in front of Jericho's "Y2J" screen doing a "Wyatt" version of Jericho's crucifix pose - a nice touch! After the match, Jericho got on the mic and introduced a guy who proposed to his girlfriend. This of course got the crowd chanting 'Yes!" and sent everyone off to intermission happy.

(6) Emma & Nikki Bella beat Alicia Fox & Layla. Decent Divas match with Emma being VERY over in her hometown. As someone who worked Emma's first shows with her in Melbourne, it was very cool to see her so over and doing well. Hopefully they find something good for her on TV soon!

(7) Sheamus beat RVD and Cesaro in a three-way match to retain the U.S. Title. Solid match with some good spots and a crowd into all three guys. RVD looked sharper than I expected and the others didn't disappoint.

(8) Roman Reigns beat Kane in a Street Fight with Ric Flair as guest referee. Flair came out to a good response, Kane came out to no pyro and Reigns came out to a pretty good (but certainly no Daniel Bryan or John Cena level) reaction. It seemed like the ladies and the kids are pretty into him, but the adults are starting to see through the "Kick, Punch, Spear, Repeat" formula. Flair did very little in the match besides an attack from behind and a few chops, but it set up the finish nicely with Kane attempting to Chokeslam Flair and Reigns stopping it with a Superman Punch. The match itself seemed to have some clunky bits, but went over well with the crowd .

Afterwards, Reigns got on the mic and thanked Flair and the crowd for such a good night, It was interesting as it wasn't a scripted promo (he left the ring, was walking around the ring towards the ramp, and Justin Roberts pulled him up) and as a result, we actually heard Reigns speak a little more normally. He seemed to have good charisma and was comfortable with the live mic, so perhaps if the writers can help find a 'voice' for him on TV we'll get to see a little more of that.

Overall, a good show. I'll definitely head along next time they are out here.

One thing of note: a lot of the time, the crowd kept quiet with chants until the 'vocal males' would start. That would usually lead to the 'right' chant (e.g. it wasn't until a "Lets Go Wyatt" chant started that the rest of the crowd got going with a 'Y2J" chant) which made me wonder if this "everybody chants whatever they please" thing is here to stay as part of the WWE culture.

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