5/28 WWE in Peoria – two detailed reports on Reigns vs. Styles & reactions, Enzo & Big Cass, Zayn vs. Owens, overall experience

WWE Live Show Results
May 28, 2016
Peoria, Ill.
In-Person Report by PWTorch VIP member Jerry (JDead120)

The first thing we did was get merchandise. They had an autographed A.J. Styles poster and an autographed Roman Reigns poster. What was unusual, though, was all the shirts were older. There was no “Certified G” shirt for Enzo and Cass, though they did have the “how ya doin'” one, no updated Cena merchandise, the older Kevin Owens Prizefighter shirt, and Roman Reigns had about four shirts. My wife went to get a soda and the collectors cup was advertised to have Sasha Banks on it. Instead, we got one with Cena and Seth Rollins when he wore gloves.

Also of note, we didn’t get pyro, but we got smoke. Everyone had akin to Neville’s smoke when he has an entrance. One final note, John Cena’s video presence was heavily cheered and Roman Reigns’s was heavily booed. Cena was cheered by kids and adults, Reigns was booed by several kids and more adults.

When Enzo’s music hit to start the show, the crowd went nuts, and they did all of his lines with him. Then, the Dudleys came out. D-Von got in the face of ringside fan Sign Guy, whose sign he ripped in half and then spit water in the fan’s face. He then immediately squirted the contents of the water bottle on him. It would have been believable if he hadn’t said “did that look all right?” when a producer came by.

(1) Enzo & Big Cass beat The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & Devon). It was a fun match. Bubba talked to the crowd quite a bit, which made it fun. Enzo and Cass won with the Rocket Launcher.

(2) Titus O’Neil beat Viktor. This was an okay match. I’m not really a fan of either. I was keeping myself entertained by the fan behind me who was in shock Viktor still had a job. Also Viktor had red facepaint that reminded me of Kodoma’a from Chikara. Titus won with the Sky High.

(3) Goldust beat Tyler Breeze. Neither one of these men were advertised. When Tyler’s music played, the crowd popped a bit. Then, Goldust’s music hit and the crowd popped more. This was more of a comedy match with a kind of funny moment when Goldust atomic-dropped Breeze, who then grabbed himself and in a high voice said I’m okay. Fandango ran out to help, and then Truth came out to even the odds and Goldust won with his corkscrew suplex.

(4) The Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) beat Hype Bros. (Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley). The Club came out to a mixed reaction with a lot of people doing the “too sweet” hand gesture. They grabbed a sign that said “The Bullet Club needs Hair Club,” Gallows tore it in half, and Anderson stomped on it. Their opponents were the Hype Bros. who got a reaction, but it wasn’t stellar. To my surprise a “He ain’t hype” chant started. Gallows and Anderson won with the Magic Killer.

(5) Sami Zayn beat Kevin Owens. This was weird. The crowd was split between Owens and Zayn. Owens got a pop when he came out, and Zayn got booed. Zayn slapped my hand after the match, which was cool. What can I say, it’s an Owens vs. Zayn match? So, it was amazing. Zayn won with a Helluva kick.

[Intermission – they hyped the autographs.]

(6) Apollo Crews beat Sheamus.  This was weird because Sheamus’s music hit and the lights went out. The spotlight went on him and Sheamus’s video didn’t start until he was halfway to the ring. His opponent was Apollo Crews, who had barely any reaction. Crews won with a roll-up.

(7) Women’s champion Charlotte beat Natalya. This was for the Women’s title, so I knew who the winner would be. Still a fun a match. Charolette won with a roll-up.

(8) WWE World Hvt. champion Roman Reigns beat A.J. Styles to retain the WWE World Title. A.J. got a mixed reaction (kids booing and adults cheering), while Reigns even had kids booing him. This was a great back and forth match. Reigns won with a spear. Afterward, Reigns went around ringside slapping hands. I was booing him and he had his hand to his side and extended his middle finger. So, the WWE champion gave me the finger because I booed, so that was interesting.

Overall, this was a very fun show, and I would go back to another one. I was sitting ringside by the entrance, and this was the most fun I have had.

***

In-Person Report by Wayne Yeager

Standard house show. The big change was not having a triple threat for the WWE Title. It was advertised as Reigns vs. Styles vs. Sheamus, but it ended up just being Reigns vs. Styles in a one-on-one for the title. Really good match with several nearfalls, but of course Reigns won with the spear.

Sheamus instead faced Apollo Crews coming out of intermission. Somewhat one-sided, though Crews did get in some offense. Crews won with a roll-up as Sheamus argued with the ref.

Sandwiched between those two matches was Natalya vs. Charlotte for the Women’s Title. Decent match that the crowd was into. No Dana Brooke (who was on the other tour). Just Charlotte solo. Of course, she won by pinning Natalya with her feet in the ropes.

Prior to intermission there was a solid match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Zayn won after a back-and-forth contest.

One of my favorites was the opening match between the Dudleys and Enzo & Cass. Very old-school feel to the tag match, which I miss a lot in wrestling today. Lot of heel double teams building to the hot tag to Cass, which eventually led to their finisher and the win.

Goldust beat Breeze that saw distractions by Fandango and R-Truth. A dance routine followed. Also, the Hype Bros. lost to Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. And, Titus O’Neil beat Viktor of The Ascension.

Overall, it was a pretty good show even if it was predictable. Reigns was pretty over with women and kids. I would say a 60/40 split in favor of Reigns over Styles. Maybe even 70/30. Kevin Owens also worked really hard to get heel heat. I appreciated his effort. Enzo & Cass were way over as well.