SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
“WWE Live: Road to WrestleMania” Results
March 4, 2016
Minneapolis, Minn. at Target Center
Report by PWTorch contributor Joel Dehnel
It didn’t happen tonight, but I vow to meet Hall of Famer Wade Keller in-person at a wrestling show. He got away again. This was the first WWE house show in Minneapolis in a year, but this time there was not the overly crowded lobby or long lines two hours before the show as there usually is.
Just a modest crowd, which is abnormal for a Minneapolis show. Attendance in the arena was poor. No one was sitting upper level and a lot of the lower bowl contained scattered seats. Attendance was roughly 4,500, which is substantially less than the last house show in Minneapolis, which headlined with John Cena, Randy Orton, and Seth Rollins.
Maybe 3,500-4,000 here at Target Center in Minneapolis for Friday night house show. Lowest attendance I've seen here in many years.
— Wade Keller (@thewadekeller) March 5, 2016
Per usual, there were a lot of families and older people, not a ton of 20-somethings like myself roaming around. Dean Ambrose was popular with merchandise. Also, John Cena, some A.J. Styles, and Kevin Owens. I saw a few New Day unicorn horns before the show. Best piece of merchandise was a Money in the Bank lunch box. If I were 10, you’re damn right I would bring that to school.
Before the show, there were typical woos and WWE videos repeated over and over. Fortunately, they did not do the Triple H promo video intro. I mean how ridiculous would that be if they played that now with his ongoing storyline? Instead they just had a countdown clock.
Before the clock, they had a poll asking fans what classic WrestleMania match they would like to see before the show started. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin won, so we saw some highlights of that.
(1) A.J. Styles beat The Miz. Miz got a mediocre response compared to other times Miz has been in Minneapolis. A.J. got a huge response from the crowd, which was great to see. The match took a while to start because Miz egged on boos by taking off his sunglasses. The match was a very good opener as Styles was very over and Miz got more of a response as he did more of his schtick. Styles eventually won with a springboard elbow.
(2) Darren Young & Jack Swagger beat Adam Rose & Curtis Axel in his home market. Totally honest, I forgot Jack Swagger was on the roster. Young got a good response, but Curtis Axel got nothing compared to his previous homecoming cheers. Swagger won via anklelock submission.
(3) Ryback beat Neville via Shell-shock. The crowd was warmed up by this point. People bought Ryback as a heel, but were disappointed by the lack of high spots from Neville. The obligatory “Goldberg” chants rang throughout the match and I listened to one of the guys around me explain to his girlfriend why Goldberg is one of the all-time greats.
(4) WWE tag champions New Day beat The Usos. New Day did their thing telling Minnesotans that they’re ugly and what-not. Then, the Usos came out and you got what you expected. The crowd really bought into the New Day comedy, as a lot of the fans treated them like babyfaces. Kofi Kingston got the win for New Day with trouble in Paradise.
By far pop of night so far for New Day.
— Wade Keller (@thewadekeller) March 5, 2016
(5) Dean Ambrose beat IC champion Kevin Owens via DQ; Owens retained the Intercontinental Title. Great responses for both guys. They put on a very good match and the crowd was very into it. This should’ve gone last. Owens knows his character well at this point, but Ambrose has got to cut out the silly crap. It’s okay for a house show with families, but it screams mid-card. If he was much more serious and seemed like he’s out there to win a fight he could be real top-tier. It’s the really little things that count. For the finish, Owens got DQ’ed, then beat down Ambrose until Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds. He then limped off.
[Intermission]
(6) Divas champion Charlotte (without Ric Flair) vs. Becky Lynch went to a No Contest. This one ended very early after Charlotte took a knee to the face. She was excessively bleeding on the mat where the ref called for doctors. Becky looked shocked by what happened and was not sure what to do. The ref ruled a No Contest and everyone was very confused on what to do, especially Becky. She wasn’t sure what to do because obviously she felt real concern towards Charlotte. She walked back and still celebrated with fans.
Charlotte vs. Becky cut way short after injury to Charlotte two minutes in. She walked out with ref help, left puddle of blood behind.
— Wade Keller (@thewadekeller) March 5, 2016
Becky looked on freaked out and concerned as Charlotte kneeled face down bleeding heavily. Guessing broken nose.
— Wade Keller (@thewadekeller) March 5, 2016
WWE then moved on replaying the same videos while they cleaned the mat and they acted like nothing happened. There was update given on Charlotte, but I would be shocked if this made her miss WrestleMania. She may take the rest of this tour off then be ready again next week unless she broke her nose.
(7) U.S. champion Kalisto beat Sheamus. The crowd was still out of it because of Charlotte’s injury. Fans were tuning in and out of this one, but they had an okay match.
(8) Kane beat Bray Wyatt in a Street Fight. I wasn’t sure what think of this going on last. It turned out well as Kane got a descent pop to start. Wyatt has lost a ton of his mystic seeing him a few times now. I saw him with the Wyatt family face The Shield at Elimination Chamber in one of the best matches that year where he was super-over. Now he gets a decent response, but I think people like to get out their cell phone lights more than the gimmick. I think what makes me think he’s lost what he had is he seems so “WWE,” not a rogue badass character. As for the other side, Daniel Bryan once said that Kane is one of the smartest guys he knows and in the ring Kane showed it with knowing what the crowd wants and how to react to the moment.
Kane capped off the night bysaying Minneapolis has always been one of WWE’s favorite crowds. WrestleMania 33 or 34, maybe? No announcement of a return date.
Overall Thoughts: The sound was way too loud and distorted tonight. I’ve been to many concerts at Target Center and I can tell you it hasn’t been loud and distorted like that. … Alberto Del Rio was advertised but did not appear. I think this show had enough star power to be fine with the crowd. … The matches were very formulaic with way too many spots where guys are walking out on matches. … It was sad to see not a lot of people at this event, as it was a pretty decent show overall with the exception of Charlotte’s match cut short. … Best audible line walking out was, “I like Kalisto and the weird guy.”
Biggest Pops
(1) Dean Ambrose
(2) A.J. Styles
(3) The Usos
Most Heat
(1) Kevin Owens
(2) Ryback
(3) The Miz
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.