SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RADICAN’S WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
APRIL 14, 2017
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
(1) The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) won a Fatal Four-way match over Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows and Enzo & Big Cass and Sheamus & Cesaro to retain the Raw Tag Team Titles. Lots of delete hands for Matt and Jeff during the early going. Hardys retained with a Twist of Fate/Swanton combination on Anderson. Very fun opening match.
(2) Jinder Mahal pinned Curtis Axel. This match got “This is boring!” chants. I missed the finish, but Mahal won. This was a big comedown from the previous match.
Charlotte cut a promo on the big screen saying she wanted to bring the Raw Women’s Title to Smackdown.
(3) Neville beat Austin Aries via submission to retain the Cruiserweight Title. Neville got hear as he worked over Aries. They worked at a slower rate than they did for their WrestleMania match. Neville won via submission with the Border City Stretch variation. The match got good late. The fans chanted for Aries after Neville left the ring.
It was announced that Roman Reigns isn’t medically cleared to compete. This brought out Braun Strowman. The fans chanted “Thank you, Strowman.” Strowman said this is his yard and Reigns’s music played. He came out and the refs tried to hold them back and they started brawling on floor.
Stroman dominated and Reigns only had one arm. Reigns eventually mounted a comeback and hit a Superman Punch and then speared Stroman through a table to a big pop. Huge heat for this angle.
(4) Bayley won a Fatal Four-way match over Sasha Banks and Nia Jax and Charlotte to retain the Raw Women’s Title. Everyone worked together to get rid of Jax. Bayley then won with a Bayley-to-belly out of nowhere on Charlotte. This was a fairly short match that was just getting going when it ended.
(5) Big Show beat Titus O’Neil. Titus got in a lot of offense, but Show eventually hit a chokeslam for the pin.
Kevin Owens came out for the main event. He got a mic and stalled for boos. He said the title he currently holds reads U.S. Champion Kevin Owens. The fans booed. He said he’s been champion in WWE many times. He said the U.S. Championship was something he took very seriously. He said the crowd made him see things that physically and mentally hurt him. The fans continued to boo him. He made fun of a couple of women wearing bright green shirts. He then told a little boy on his dad’s shoulders he felt bad for him because he wasn’t being raised right. A teenager had a sign that said “It’s my birthday” and Owens told him that nobody cares it’s his birthday. He said now the fans had a champion who could show them the way and be a leader. Owens said he was the new face of America.
(6) Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins beat Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens. Zayn took a sustained beating to start the match. Zayn finally made the hot tag to Rollins to a big pop. Zayn hit the helluva kick on Joe and Rollins followed up with a knee lift for the win.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a fun show that went by like a breeze. A lot of the matches were short, but the fans got what they were looking for. The Hardy Boys, Seth Rollins, and Braun Stroman got the biggest pops of the night. Roman Reigns also got a face pop after hitting a spear on Stroman.
The opening tag match was a lot of fun, as was the final stretch of the main event. There were actually a fair amount of Roman Reigns shirts in the crowds and I saw a lot of Hardy Boys shirts as well.
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Six matches? Wow. That’s not much.