12/29 WWE in Providence – RADICAN in-person report on Cena vs. Del Rio, Gronk Smash, more

While half of the WWE roster was in Washington, D.C. for this week’s Smackdown TV taping, the other half was in Providence for a house show headlined by John Cena. Plus, NFL star Rob Gronkowski appeared at ringside during the show…

WWE Live show results
December 29, 2015
Providence, R.I.
Report by Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist

Read Radican’s in-person tweets from the house show @SeanRadican on Twitter.

The show drew about 6,000-7,000. The building filled up nicely right before the show with a late-arriving crowd. About one-fourth of the building was not used behind the Titantron.

Upon entering the building, they had a security check-in. Everyone at the gate had to be wanded.

(1) Neville beat The Miz. Neville gets the pin after the Red Arrow. This was a fun opening match with Miz getting lots of heat.

(2) Mojo Bros. (Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) beat The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor). Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots was in the front row. He jumped up and down with Mojo Rawley before the match. The Ascension got some good heat jawing with Gronk during the match, but the Hype Bros. won with a tandem Ruff Ryder on Viktor.

U.S. champion Alberto Del Rio cut a generic promo on the big screen on John Cena.

(3) Ryback beat Rusev (w/Lana). Gronk went backstage during the match. Rusev and Lana ran him down on the mic saying he sucked and asking where our hero went. Lana called him a stupid American football player, which got big heat. This led to Ryback’s comeback after a long heat segment. Rusev got The Accolade after a distraction from Lana. Ryback tried to fight out of it and the crowd chanted for him. Rusev let go eventually and Rusev ducked a splash off the ropes and hit the Shell-shock for the win.

A video for Connor’s Cure Fund played.

(4) Kane beat Bray Wyatt. Wyatt stalled a ton during the match, but eventually went for Sister Abigail, which Kane countered into a chokeslam for the win.

[Intermission]

(5) Big Show beat Mark Henry. Show dominated most of the match and got “please retire” chants from the crowd. He got on the mic and yelled at the fans that he’s the greatest giant, but Henry jumped him from behind. Henry went for a splash out of the corner, but Show got out of the way and got the pin with the KO Punch. The young kids enjoyed the “please retire” chants.

(6) Divas champion Charlotte beat Becky Lynch and Paige in a three-way match to retain the Divas Title. Team PCB implodes! Not a lot of heat for this match. Paige got some heat doing Flair mannerisms. Becky had the Fujiwara armbar on Paige, but Charlotte broke it up and won with a handful of tights on Paige.

Notably, WWE had Christmas presents next to both sides of the entrance and a big inflatable Santa bear and Christmas lights on the ramp, but the Divas were the only ones to wear Christmas gear to the ring.

(7) John Cena beat U.S. champion Alberto Del Rio via DQ; Del Rio retained the U.S. Title. Del Rio came out first to boos. Cena got a big pop coming out. He and Del Rio posed back and forth in the ring to cheers and boos. Cena did have a bit of a mixed response, but it was mostly positive. It didn’t last long, as “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants broke out a short time later. Del Rio dominated and the ref got bumped. Cena then hit the FU for a visual pin. Rusev ran down and kicked Cena to boos. He then tossed the ref into the ring, but Cena kicked out. FU on Rusev and Del Rio hit the superkick for a nearfall. The crowd gasped. Del Rio then slipped out of another FU attempt and hit a low blow for the DQ.

Post-match, Rusev and Del Rio beat down Cena. Del Rio swung a chair at Cena, but he ducked and he hit Rusev in the back. Cena then hit the FU on Del Rio and his music played almost as soon as Del Rio’s body landed to close out the show.