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WWE LIVE EVENT RESULTS – SMACKDOWN
MARCH 11, 2017
FAIRFAX, VA.
REPORT BY MICHAEL HOTTLE, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
Kayla Braxton is the host for the evening & Greg Hamilton is the ring announcer. Prior to starting the event they presented a social media poll to the audience asking you to use the appropriate hashtag to vote for the following:
Which match would you like to see in its entirety before tonight’s event?
-Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart from WM 10: 15%
-Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle WM20: 50%
-Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H at WM30: 35%
Daniel Bryan opens the show appearing (pre-taped) on the small video wall asking if the crowd was ready to have a good time. Greg Hamilton then announces the first contest. All times are approximate.
(1) Heath Slater & Rhyno & Mojo Rawley beat Breezango & Curt Hawkins at 7:12. There was a smattering of “He’s got kids.” chants for Slater chants prior to the bell. Lots of chant for Rhyno as the match built to his hot tag. Rhyno nailed the Gore for the win.
(2) The Miz (w/Maryse) beat Kalisto at 10:18. The Miz arrived to great heel heat from the crowd. It later intensified when he began chastising the crowd by mockingly saying, “You’re from Fairfax.” “We’re from Hollywood! That means we’re better than you!” Miz began his, “Because I’m the Miz and I’m…” and was interrupted by Kalisto’s entrance. After the bell rang The Miz spent the majority of the time demanding Kalisto return to his corner because the audience demanded to hear his catch phrase. He probably killed five minutes doing that. There were a lot of lucha chants generated by Kalisto. The Miz had great heat throughout.
(3) Apollo Crews beat Dolph Ziggler at 7:28. Dolph jumped Crews during his entrance. You heard a few kids shout out in support of Apollo Crews here and there throughout the match. Dolph had no reaction other than one time the fans chanted, “Get the chair! Get the chair!” He retrieved one from ringside then dropped it to gain heat. That was about the only booing he got all night. Later he did retrieve the chair, the ref took it from him, and Crews scores the pin during the distraction. This was match very flat in terms of reaction for either person.
(4) American Alpha beat The Usos at 8:56. There was little to no reaction for AA when they came out. The crowd didn’t seem to know who they were despite them being the tag champs. You’d think they’d never seen them before. There was an uprising every now and then in support of the Usos. The match was the typical heels working over Gable, cutting off the ring, Gable teasing tags to Jordan. Eventually Jordan gets the hot tag. Teams work back and forth teasing a few false finishes. Jordan scores the pin after the Steiner Brothers bulldog finisher off the top. Crowd acknowledged their victory but was still kind of flat. I hate to see this for them.
(5) Bray Wyatt beat Luke Harper at 12:26. Of course everyone (expect me) did the phone light gimmick during Bray’s entrance. When Hamilton attempted to hand the lantern to ringside he teased multiple times that it was very hot seemingly burning his hand. There was surprisingly good support for Harper throughout the match. Often lots of “Harper! Harper!” chants when he was down. They wrestled a good television style/level match that was stiff for a house show which saw Harper get launched into the steel steps that Bray had erected vertically in the entrance way. Great back and forth match. Bray scored the pin following a sister Abigail… You’d think he’d be so distraught he couldn’t bring himself to do that move anymore. I digress.
Intermission: They announced WWE is coming to D.C. for Raw on July 24. Presale code: FAIRFAX
(6) Alexa Bliss beat Becky Lynch, Tamina, Nattie, Mickie James, Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) at 6:14
Becky Lynch came out to a decent pop but not one that ever topped the big pops for the men. The match quickly became the lackluster four persons down, two in the ring, switch out battle. When Tamina was in the ring I heard someone say, “I don’t even know who this girl is.” The match was very quick. Seemed everyone got in their two, 30 second showcases in-ring and then they went home for the finish. Bliss scored the pin (Carmella?). The finish came abruptly. No real heat on her winning or at all.
(7) Baron Corbin beat Dean Ambrose at 16:16 by DQ after Corbin used a chair so Dean retained the Intercontinental Title. Corbin destroyed Dean for the first half of the match playing to the crowd for heel heat. He’d throw the crowd a look and they’d boo the shit of out him. They teased multiple pinfalls ultimately building to the heat-garnering chair shots for the DQ. This too was a good television style/level match.
(8) Randy Orton beat A.J. Styles in about 20:00 (forgot to stop the clock 3-4 mins prior). Orton was over huge despite his recent arson. AJ had major mixed reactions at first. Styles worked the crowd getting in people’s faces for heat. One time he flicked a guy off at ringside that had been heckling him. When the crowd hated AJ, they really hated him. Dueling AJ Styles/RKO chants. Near the end, Styles throws up too sweet sign and a lot of people started clapping. Later a deep “A.J. Styles” chant broke out against a high pitched Randy Orton chant. Orton scored the pin following Styles’ attempt at the flying forearm. Styles leapt to the ropes and kind of froze there perched like a frog as Orton grabbed the head and threw his legs out to the center of the ring. It looked like a diamond cutter more than the flashy RKO we’re used to (see photos). I surmised they’re building (practicing) for the day when we’ll see that great flying forearm jump into an amazing RKO. Orton hit all posts posing and celebrating. Styles disappeared without fanfare.
Top Face Pops: Orton, Ambrose, (Styles), Becky; Good support for Luke Harper, Rhyno, Kalisto
Heel Heat: Corbin, (AJ), Miz. And then there’s A.J… I’d place him behind Ambrose in terms of face support and behind Corbin on heat.
The crowd seemed to be very family oriented; lots of kids. The arena was almost 3/5 full; capacity says 10K. Overall, good show. Match rankings- IC title, Orton/AJ, WWE title, Tag title, Miz/Kalisto, Women’s, Opener, Dolph/Crews.
NOW CHECK OUT THESE RECENT RESULTS: 3/6 WWE in Bloomington, Ill.: Report from adult fan attending his first live pro wrestling event, Bray defends, Dean defends
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that’s sad when the WWE Champion isn’t in the Main Event (unless, of course, he’s wrestling Cena)