WWE Live show results
March 15, 2015
Minneapolis, Minn. at Target Center
Report by PWTorch reader Ryan

I arrived right before the first match and missed Triple H's opening video. The Target Center did not open up the 200 level for seating, but the rest of the seats were full, and the energy in the crowd was great, much better than the Raw taping a few months ago. Fans were invited to vote for either a singles Divas match or tag team Divas match using hashtags on Twitter. Fans were also invited to tweet using the hashtag #WWEMINNY for a chance to see their tweets on-screen at intermission.

(1) Goldust beat Stardust. Stardust drew heat with stall tactics in the beginning and did a great job of reacting to the plentiful "Cody!" chants from the crowd. The match got underway in earnest after Stardust tried to call a time-out, then he took a drink of water and spit it in Goldust’s face. Goldust ultimately got the upperhand and pinned Stardust after a snap powerslam. I can’t overstate what a great job Stardust did reacting to the crowd - he played to every single "Cody!" chant. And there were a ton.

(2) Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young) beat Heath Slater & Adam Rose. Rose and Slater came to the ring with five Rosebuds in none of the usual costumes. Rose did his usual dancing routine while Slater gyrated his crotch, to the benefit of no one. PTP came out to a good pop from the crowd and Slater delivered an obnoxious promo calling out O’Neil as the weak link of Slater Gator, the Prime Time Players, and the Florida Gators. Decent match with Young in peril much of the time. The crowd went quiet mid-match when a too long string of Rose and Slater restholds sucked the life out of the crowd. O’Neil did a great job of pumping the crowd up and everyone went bananas when he got the hot tag. Young clotheslined Slater over the top rope and O’Neil hit Clash of the Titus on Rose for the win.

Bray Wyatt appeared on the video screen. Bray called Randy Orton and John Cena a disease that has infected the earth, and Bray Wyatt is the cure.

(3) Adrian Neville beat Curtis Axel. Big hometown pop for Axel, who wished his son a happy birthday, then told the crowd that when he wins the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania, he’s going to come back to Minneapolis, throw a parade, and drink beers all night long. Neville got a big reaction as well - people here definitely know who he is and the crowd was impressed by his offense. Neville won with the Red Arrow, which is absolutely stunning live. After the match, Neville offered his hand and Axel shook it. Nice touch to help get Neville over after beating the hometown guy.

(4) Zack Ryder beat Brad Maddox. Ryder came out to little fanfare and Maddox came out in a tight-fitting long-sleeved top to generic rock music and no entrance video. Fans were vocally wondering who he was. After the bell rang, there was a strange spot where Maddox couldn’t get out of his shirt and he asked the referee to help pull it off. The crowd was quiet the entire match, and Ryder eventually won with the Rough Ryder. Afterward, Maddox failed to put his shirt back on to loud boos. Whatever they were trying for with this one, it didn’t work.

The Connor The Crusher video played to a very positive, very genuine reaction from the crowd. Oddly, they followed it up immediately with a video of Attitude Era footage, mostly of cars being destroyed. Available now on the WWE Network for just $9.99!

(5) U.S. champion Rusev beat Jack Swagger and Ryback in a three-way match to retain the U.S. Title. Rusev drew the most heat of the night by a huge margin. "We Want Lana!" chants were popular throughout the match, and Rusev cut a great promo, selling his gall that Americans don’t cheer their undefeated, one true champion. Once Swagger and Ryback came out, Rusev took exception to Eden Stiles trying to announce the challengers first and demanded she announce the champion first. He is so good. After some early double-team offense by Ryback and Swagger, Rusev grabbed the belt and tried to storm off to the back, but Ryback stopped him. Over the course of the match, Swagger and Ryback had a few several catch phrase-offs, and Rusev stopped to wave the Russian flag mid-match when the crowd went a little quiet. In the end, Ryback hit Shell Shock on Swagger, the Rusev kicked him to the outside and tapped Swagger out with The Accolade.

Post-match, Rusev re-applied The Accolade, but Ryback broke it up and delivered a Shell Shock to Rusev to keep the crowd happy.

[Intermission. Fan tweets were displayed while everyone went to get snacks. At the end of intermission, Eden Stiles revealed that the Divas tag match option won the fan vote, 88 to 12 percent.]

(6) Naomi & Paige beat The Bella Twins (Divas champion Nikki & Brie Bella). No one booed The Bellas, and Naomi got a very positive reaction as well. Huge cheers for Paige, with “We Want Paige!” chants throughout the match. Good, ten-minute match with The Bellas isolating Naomi most of the time, tearing her shirt off at one point. Paige finally got the hot tag and finished off Nikki with the Ram-Paige. The crowd seemed more into this match, and the Divas, than much of the rest of the card, which was great to see.

(7) Jimmy Uso beat The Miz (w/Damien Mizdow). Pure comedy match, with Miz commanding Mizdow to sit in a chair outside the ring. A guy on the outside handed Mizdow the chair, which he folded and teased swinging at Miz before heading to the outside. Miz told him not to touch the fans because they are losers who have germs that could get Miz sick. Jimmy Uso interrupted and cut a promo about how much Miz has lost lately, so how can he call the fans losers? In fact, the fans can ALL watch Miz lose on The Network for $9.99! Very little wrestling to speak of, and it wasn’t long before Mizdow was back to stunt-doubling. Miz and Uso had a dance off mid-match for some reason, and Mizdow got a huge pop for doing the sprinkler. There was a great, extended bit with Mizdow stunt-doubling for a top rope-crotched Miz, which got Miz mad enough to order Mizdow to the back. Mizdow took exception and got in Miz’s face, but ultimately left the ring, leaving Miz to walk into an Uso superkick that ended the match.

Post-match, Mizdow stunt-doubled Uso's dance moves while Miz limped off. The crowd absolutely ate up every single moment of Mizdow.

Raw will be returning to Minneapolis on August 17.

Main Event time. Wyatt came out first followed by Rollins, who got a mix of boos and cheers, maybe 70/30 and sold injury with a taped-up midsection. Orton was out next to a good reaction, but not as big as I’d expected. Cena was out last for the biggest pop of the night by a mile. Unlike at the Raw taping a few months ago, this crowd was solidly behind Cena, with very few fans on the “Cena Sucks!” side of the usual chants.

(8) John Cena & Randy Orton beat Bray Wyatt & Seth Rollins. After the bell sounded, Rollins refused to start the match against Orton, so it was Wyatt and Cena to start. Cena got some offense in early, but Wyatt quickly took control and ballroom-danced with a listless Cena at one point. Wyatt and Rollins were in firm control for quite a while, and Cena had a number of near-tags bringing on the “We Want Orton!” chants, until Rollins missed a curb stomp allowing Cena to get the tag. The crowd went bananas. Orton hit his signature offense and began pounding the ring until Wyatt blindsided him. Wyatt tried Sister Abigail on Orton, but Cena took him out with an AA, allowing Orton to hit the RKO on Rollins. Another good match that kept the crowd invested. There were quite a few kids in my section and they were on the edge of their seats the whole time.

Overall, this was a great show with solid pre-match promos and plenty of time for all the wrestlers to show off what they could do. The super-fun crowd helped a lot, and I’ll definitely be coming back in August for Raw.

Biggest Pops: John Cena, Damien Mizdow, Paige, Curtis Axel.

Biggest Heat: Rusev, The Miz, Seth Rollins.

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

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