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WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT – SMACKDOWN
MAY 14, 2017
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
REPORT BY THOMAS GONZALES, PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
This was the first ever WWE live event in Denmark and they had booked a 12.500 seat arena. In my estimation there was somewhere between 10.000 and 11.000 attendees, which blew my mind as WWE has not been on Danish television for close to ten years and their last few television runs were on B to D tier networks in terrible timeslots.
Before the show began we got to vote on which WrestleMania 33 moment we wanted to see between John Cena proposing to Nikki Bella, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, and A.J. Styles vs. Shane McMahon. Cena got booed and only received 6 percent of the votes, Orton-Bray got around 30 percent, and Styles-Shane got the majority.
(1) Shinsuke Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler. Nakamura got a decent response. The crowd was singing along to the song. During the match there was a vigorous and long lasting “Let’s go Ziggler / Ziggler sucks” chant going on. The crowd cheered when Nakamura won with the Kinshasa kick.
(2) Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) & Tye Dillinger beat The Ascension & Aiden English. The face team got very nice responses and English drew massive crowd heat when insulting local celebrity Mads Mikkelsen. I was impressed he had taken the time to research a celebrity to insult. The crowd was way into this match and there was some loud chants for Breeze. Breeze scored the pin.
(3) Luke Harper beat Erick Rowan. The match got a decent response and there were notable chants for Luke during it. Harper won via clothesline.
(4) Naomi & Becky Lynch & Charlotte beat Tamina & Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) & Natalya. The crowd was very lively for this match. All of the faces got great responses and the heels were loudly booed. Naomi scored the pin.
(5) Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn to retain the U.S. Title. Loud “olé” chants for Sami during the match. This was easily the match that kept the crowd most engaged up to this point. After the match, Owens cut a tremendous promo on the crowd and drew the most heat of the night. Before he could finish his promo, Sami hit him with a Heluva kick.
(6) Baron Corbin beat Mojo Rawley with the End of Days. This match was preeceded with a brief intermission and did not draw in the crowd. It still got a fair response in the end when everybody had returned to their seats.
(7) The Usos beat Epico & Primo Colon and American Alpha (Jason Jordan & Chad Gable) to retain the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Titles. The Usos got a massive face pop at the beginning of the match, probably third best of the night. They managed to turn the crowd during the match though. Usos won via rollup.
(8) Randy Orton beat Jinder Mahal in a Triple Threat match with A.J. Styles via RKO to retain the WWE World Title. Styles got the biggest reaction of the night during his entrance, Randy got the second largest reaction. During the match, Randy got the best reactions. He had the crowd at his finger tips. Jinder was way over as a heel (was loudly booed) and kept up with the others in the ring.
Final Thoughts: All in all it was a fun night and I do not believe many fans left the arena disappointed… The lines for the merch stands were insane and many items were sold out by the middle of the show.
CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS REPORT: 5/12 WWE in Newcastle, England: Shinsuke in the opener, Orton defends against Styles and Mahal, Owens vs. Sami
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I was an attendee for the event; and a local experiencing a WWE live-event for the first time.
Regarding the lack of reaction for Corbin/Rawley, it was simply due to sheer lack of experience: The veterans sitting next to me caught it, and said people simply weren’t ready – I myself were buying the last Nakamura shirt.
I’d say my impression of the Danish crowd was dislike or disinterest for Jinder Mahal and Mojo Rawley before event; but near-universally left happily surprised regarding both contenders.
KO’ promo was on point; most reactions were between cheering, laughing and booing – everyone was entertained, but inexperienced with Owens live: A return would give many times the reactions: I met no disappointed fans, only people who wished they’d prepared better chants or signs.