WWE Live show results
September 13, 2015
Jonesboro, Ark.
Report by PWTorch correspondent Casey Rinaldi

I was in attendance for the WWE Live event at the Arkansas State University Convocation Center on Sunday night, along with my dad. We got to the event early so I could grab a program and a Kevin Owens t-shirt. The merchandise stand included shirts for John Cena, despite him not appearing, Brie Bella, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, The New Day, the aforementioned Owens, Stardust, a new shirt for Cesaro, and other items. After running into The Southside Brawler, a retired local wrestler whose matches I called in a pair of local promotions, RWA and DCW, we headed to our seats on the second row - Seats 8 and 9 of Section B. Of note in the crowd was a "Macho Man" Randy Savage cosplayer and Rick Achberger a/k/a The Sign Guy, who had a little cosplayer of his own in attendance.

The Convo was only at most half-full. The majority of the top section was empty. And even a good portion of the front row of our section, which was just behind the ringpost on the right side, was empty as well. We had great seats with our backs to the entrance ramp.

Eden Stiles was the Ring Announcer, with Charles Robinson handling most of the officiating. Before the show was a pre-taped message from Triple H saying that we would see things that we had never seen before, and asking us "Are You Ready?" to a decent pop.

(1) R-Truth beat Bo Dallas. Truth kicked off the night with his usual “What’s Up?” routine to get the crowd going. Dallas came out proclaiming that we should be glad “I came to your stupid town,” and that we all have dreams, but none of us have the courage or the power to achieve then, but he’d be victorious, because he Bo-Lieves. Not even two minutes into the match after applying a headlock, Dallas did his victory lap around the ring, which he repeated once more later in the match. Basic opener that lasted about five minutes that Truth won after Dallas was caught using the ropes for leverage after blocking a Truth sunset flip attempt. After arguing with Robinson, Truth got Bo in a sunset pin for the victory. After holding his head shocked in the ring for a few moments, Dallas eventually exclaimed “I didn’t like you anyway!” before heading to the back.

(2) Damien Sandow & Curits Axel beat The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor). The Ascension was out first. No Stardust or mention of the Cosmic Wasteland. They saw Sign Guy in the crowd, so they stole his sign and ripped it up in the ring. Sandow came out to some cheers, followed by Axel. Damien did a decent job of trying to get the crowd into it, but it was slow, standard tag team fare, especially since you don’t see much of these teams on Raw. It’s a shame they lost the Meta Powers gimmick, as I’m sure it would’ve been over here. One fan even yelled that Axel was still in the Royal Rumble! Axel played the face in peril in the early going, then got the tag to Sandow, who offered a cartwheel and a tease for the Cubito Aequet, but it was broken up. Axel hit a Perfect Plex for a nearfall, but eventually scored the win in about five minutes with the Axehole to Viktor to pick up the win for his team.

A pre-taped promo from New Day talked about them coming to our town and making us feel the power. I couldn’t hear much of what was said, since they talked so fast and there was so much heat.

(3) Natalya beat Alicia Fox via submission. Alicia came out as the sole member of Team Bella for the evening. Natalya was out to a big pop and lots of “Nattie” chants led by The Sign Guy. Natalya had some unique attire, and it’s a shame she’s not being used in the Divas Revolution storyline. They had a Sharpshooter tease early, but Alicia was able to hold her off. Alicia did a good job of taunting the crowd and heeling it up. Natalya hit a top-rope superplex on Alicia and eventually locked in the Sharpshooter for the submission win in about eight minutes.

(4) WWE World Hvt. & U.S. champion Seth Rollins beat Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE World Hvt. Title. This was easily the match of the night, and it did NOT disappoint. Ambrose was loved by everyone and Rollins got a ton of heat. These guys worked hard for at least 35 minutes in what would have been a main event caliber match. Seth, who looked a bit smaller in person than I expected, stalled for a bit and grabbed a mic to deny a young fan’s claim that he was a sissy, which of course, got a “You’re a sissy” chant going. Rollins went to leave early with his titles, but Ambrose gave chase and brought him back into the ring. They had a cool spot where they dodged each other’s chops in the corner until Ambrose finally nailed him. Rollins also avoided the Ten Punches in the corner by powerboming Ambrose into the Tree of Woe in the corner, before landing a running dropkick to the face. Lots of near falls that had the crowd in suspense, including Ambrose hitting his signature clothesline off the ropes twice, and a foiled attempt at Dirty Deeds. In the end, Rollins brought the WWE Title in for a belt shot, but the ref caught him. While he was putting the belt back, Rollins untied the turnbuckle pad, and though he was caught again, saying that it “slipped off,” he was able to ram Ambrose’s head into the exposed steel and hit the Pedigree for the win. After the match, he tried to hit a second Pedigree on Ambrose, but got Dirty Deeds for his trouble.

[Intermission, which included WWE Network promos.]

Then, "Awww Jonesboro!" filled the arena from Big E. Woods cut a promo about his bags being lost by the airport when they flew in from Canada, which included his wrestling gear. Fortunately, E. had a spare singlet, so they were matching.

(5) WWE tag champions New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E.) beat Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) to retain the WWE Tag Titles. About an even split of “New Day Sucks/Rocks” chants throughout. Woods was his usual entertaining self, stopping the ref so that he could take his shirt off and saying that the singlet “fit him so good!” He also jawed with Sign Guy. New Day gyrated every chance they got, and Woods even used some of E.’s power moves. Big E. also taunted a young fan by holding his arm just out of reach when he wanted a high-five. Hilarious. On the face side, Titus’s bark was over. Young played the face-in-peril as usual before he got the hot tag to Titus. Eventually, E. took out Darren on the outside, while Woods came off the top with a dropkick for the pin in about 10 minutes.

Next up was a Summerslam re-match between Kevin Owens and Cesaro.

(6) Cesaro beat Kevin Owens via pinfall. Great hard-hitting match. Owens did a great job heeling up the crowd, taunting the “Cesaro Section,” even though there weren’t any signs out. He also made fun of a fan’s weight in the crowd, in addition to jawing with Sign Guy. Cesaro hit a nasty sequence of multiple rapid-fire uppercuts to Owens in the corner, as well as a big uppercut when Owens went up top. Owens repeatedly got frustrated with Ref Robinson when he scored nearfalls, and also made a point to exploit Cesaro’s taped ribs throughout the match. Cesaro went for the Swing a few times, but Owens always slipped out. Owens went for the Pop-up Powerbomb, but Cesaro reversed it into a roll-up for the surprise pin in about 15 minutes.

Finally, it was time for our Main Event, brought to us by the WWE Network - a Street Fight between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt! Bray came out alone with his lantern to an arena full of “fireflies,” and the Convo was a sea of cell phone lights. Roman came out through the crowd with a spotlight to a massive pop, with a lot of women and children making noise for him.

(7) Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a Street Fight. Wyatt attempted to walk out of the match after a few moments before Reigns gave chase and sent him into the steps. After fighting to the outside, Wyatt stole Sign Guy’s hat, wiped his butt with it, and threw it away. The first weapon of the match was a kendo stick, which Reigns broke in half after they traded shots. Bray set the steps up on the stage, but had an Irish Whip attempt foiled, which would come into play later on. After trading some chair shots, Reigns brought out a table to a big pop, but found himself going through it, courtesy of Sister Abigail, but it was only good for a nearfall. Luke Harper ran interference, but ate a Superman Punch as well. The lights went out, and when they returned, ‘The Black Sheep” Braun Strowman appeared in the ring and put his choke on Reigns. Ambrose’s music then hit, as he ran out to a massive pop to help Reigns fend off the Wyatts, and Roman picked up the win with a spear through a table to Wyatt in about 20 minutes. Reigns and Ambrose celebrated to close the show.

Eden Stiles thanked us for coming, but no return date was announced.

Overall, a good, fun show, even though I was a bit disappointed by the lack of attendance. I wonder if Raw being in Memphis had something to do with it, even though I heard a few people on Twitter, including the Sign Guy, saying they were going to both.

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

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