9/22 WWE Raw in Sacramento, Calif.: Roman vs. Braun, Balor vs. Bray, Neville vs. Tozawa, no advertised battle royal

WWE LIVE EVENT – RAW BRAND
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
SACRAMENTO, CALIF.
REPORT BY TED LONDON, VIP MEMBER

Lower Bowl about 60 percent filled. No one in the upper bowl.  Maybe about 4000-5000. Mostly families. Very different from the Payback crowd. Also, only about 25 percent were wearing WWE merchandise, as opposed to 75 percent wearing WWE merchandise at Payback.

Ring Announcer Mike Rome came out 15 minutes beforehand to warm up the crowd. They played the Bobby Heenan tribute video that was played on Raw and a bunch of WWE commercials.

(1) Finn Balor defeated Bray Wyatt at 8:30 with the Coup de Grace. Both were over big with the crowd, but Balor got by far the most cheers once the match started.

(2) Heath Slater & Rhyno & Goldust (with full makeup) defeated Curt Hawkins & Dash Wilder & Darren Young at 10:05. Rhyno pinned Hawkins. Biggest cheers of the six were for Goldust.

(2a)  After the match, Curt Hawkins said he wouldn’t leave until he had another chance to defeat someone. R-Truth answered the call and defeated Hawkins in about 10 seconds.

(3) Neville defeated Akita Tozawa to retain the Cruiserweight Title at 7:30 with the Rings of Saturn. The crowd hated Neville who played the heal throughout. The crowd even had a loud “Elf” chant at Neville.

(4) Matt Hardy (accompanied by Jeff Hardy) defeated Karl Anderson (accompanied by Luke Gallows) in 9:50 with a Twist of Fate. Lots of Delete chants which Matt encouraged. The Hardys were over with the crowd signing autographs and taking selfies with the crowd on the way back after the match.

(5) Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins retained their Tag Team Championship against Sheamus and Cesaro in 12:15 when Ambrose pinned Cesaro with Dirty Deeds. Strange to have the champions introduced first. Ambrose and Rollins were over huge.

Intermission

(6) Jason Jordan defeated Bo Dallas (accompanied by Curtis Axel) at 8:05. Jason Jordan pinned Bo with the suplex neck breaker. Bo had a lot of heal heat, but not a great match.

(7)  Alexa Bliss retained her Women’s Title against Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Mickie James in a Fatal Four-way at 8:00 when Alexa pinned Mickie James with a DDT. Alexa broke up the Banks Statement, threw Sasha out and scored a cheap win. Alexa was booed and jeered throughout.

(8) Roman Reigns beat Braun Stroman in a Last Man Standing match at 13:25. after a spear through a table.  Roman came out to the loudest fan reaction, about 60% cheers. Much different than a typical reaction on Raw or a Pay-per-View. Loud Let’s go Roman/Roman Sucks battle chants. Tables and Stairs used as weapons.

Biggest Pop: Finn Balor, Rollins and Ambrose, the Hardys, Goldust

Biggest Heat: Neville, Alexa, Bo Dallas

Loudest Reaction: Roman Reigns by far

Best Match: Last Man Standing Match

An advertised Battle Royal with the winner facing The Miz did not take place with no explanation or announcement.

FINAL NOTE: The crowd was very knowledgeable of the product knowing current storylines and the standard cheers for each of the wrestlers.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT: 9/13 WWE in New Zealand: Reigns vs. Strowman, Balor vs. Wyatt, Five-Way Women’s Title match, Miz vs. Jordan

If you attend a live event, send a report like the one above to pwtorch@pwtorch.com.