2/26 WWE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Wyatt vs. Cena vs. Corbin vs. Harper, American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. Breezango

WWE LIVE EVENT – SMACKDOWN BRAND
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER
REPORT BY CARLOUS RICHARD, VIP MEMBER

WWE usually comes to Cedar Rapids once a year, and tonight they had a very good sized crowd. I can’t give an estimated number, but it looked like all but the top few rows were full. The end of the arena that had the entrance and video wall was blocked off.

Dasha Fuentes aka the nameless female Smackdown interview, was ring announcer, and another nameless woman helped with MC duties for some contests for the crowd. At least I think Dasha was ring announcer. She said WrestleMania will be in her hometown of Orlando, so I am pretty sure it was her.

After the national anthem, they played a pre-taped welcome from Daniel Bryan.

(1) In the opener, Heath Slater and Rhyno beat The Ascension with The Gore. Slater & Rhyno were quite over. 

(2) Kalisto beat Curt Hawkins with the Salida del Sol. Lots of “Lucha, Lucha” chants.

(3) Alexa Bliss beat Becky Lynch, Natalya, Carmella (with James Ellsworth), and Tamina Snuka to retain the Smackdown women’s championship.

(4) In the match of the night, in this reporter’s opinion, Dean Ambrose beat The Miz to retain the Intercontinental championship. Before the match, Miz was getting some off the charts heat including using an old Ravishing Rick Rude line when he called the fans “Cedar Rapids sweathogs.” The funniest part was when he said that he has the microphone so he can be louder then them. By that point the boos were so loud that they drowned out his catch phrase.

(5) After the intermission, Apollo Crews pinned Dolph Ziggler. Apollo has a lot of potential just due to his athleticism, and I just don’t know if Dolph has a future in WWE without a severe reboot, whether that be a new look, a new name, or perhaps going the Cody Rhodes route and hitting the indies. He has been damaged beyond repair.

(6) American Alpha beat The Usos and Breezango in a Triple Threat match to retain the Smackdown tag team titles.

(7) In the main event, Bray Wyatt beat John Cena and Baron Corbin and Luke Harper to retain the WWE Championship. In the local advertising in the days leading up to the show, AJ Styles was supposed to be in this match while Harper was scheduled to face Randy Orton. Wyatt won via pin over Cena by low blowing Cena as he was about to give Corbin an Attitude Adjustment. After the match, Wyatt did some mic work and got a table from under the ring. Cena gave Wyatt an AA through the table to send the fans home happy.

Biggest face pops:

1. Cena
2. Ambrose

Most heel heat:

1. Miz, and no one else came close
2. Wyatt 

Final Notes: Fun show, everyone worked hard.  There was a good cross section of adult hard core fans along with families. 

NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: 2/25 WWE in Regensberg, Germany: Owens defends against Reigns, Neville defends against Swan, Bayley defends against Charlotte

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