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WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT – “Holiday Tour”
DECEMBER 16, 2016
ROCHESTER, N.Y. AT BLUE CROSS ARENA
REPORT BY MATT PRENTICE, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
Estimated Attendance: 4,000. The lower level was about 75 percent full and the upper level was nearly empty, although those seats were not made available until the day of.
(1) Kofi Kingston & Big E defeated Cesaro & Sheamus and Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships.
(2) Neville defeated Jinder Mahal.
Jinder Mahal issued an open challenge, which was answered by the Big Show, who left Mahal lying.
(3) Sin Cara & R-Truth & Goldust & Darren Young (w/Bob Backlund) defeated Epico & Primo & Curtis Axel & Titus O’Neil.
(4) Seth Rollins defeated Rusev (wLana).
~Intermission~
(5) Bayley & Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte & Nia Jax (w/Dana Brooke) with special referee Emmalina.
(6) Braun Strowman defeated Sami Zayn.
(7) Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE United States Championship.
FINAL THOUGHTS: House show in Spring 2015 was double the attendance. Jojo was the ring announcer for the night. A ton of New Day merchandise was moving; they were very over. Seth Rollins was also given the big star welcome by the crowd. Zayn and Strowman went close to 10 minutes in a one-sided affair. Very pro-Reigns crowd for the main event, but a noticeable number of people were filing out before and during the match, not something you’d ever see happen during past John Cena-headlined shows in Rochester.
NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT: 12/11 WWE in White Plains, N.Y.: Reigns pins Universal Champ Owens, Backlund makes appearance, plus Rusev, Lana, Neville, New Day, Sasha
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Having attended both the 2015 and 2016 Rochester shows, the crowd was sparse compared to the Cena headlined show. However, tickets were more expensive compared to last year which may have made a difference.
As for the action, Reigns was not as over as mentioned in the article. The reaction was mixed and boos came whenever he mounted offense. KO was a heat magnet, as was Lana. The Rollins/Rusev match stole the show and would be a strong program down the road. Overall, the show featured too much filler and was hurt by the number of wrestlers on Raw. Multiple 8-man bouts dragged down the card and made everything more predictable. I understand the concept of the crowd going home happy, but the face went over in every bout except Strowman vs. Zayn.