SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE LIVE EVENT – RAW BRAND
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
SARCAMENTO, CALIF. AT GOLDEN 1 ARENA
REPORT BY JOHN M. OF RIPON, CALIF., PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
Very light attendance. Nobody in the upper deck. Lower bowl was about half full. Ringside seats were full. Ring announcer was Mike Rome.
(1) Finn Balor beat Bray Wyatt with the Coup de Grace. Good back and forth action. Bray was actually received really well. The usual cell phone entrance and lots of cheers. Finn Balor was one of the popular guys on the entire show.
(2) Heath Slater & Rhino & Goldust beat Dash Wilder & Curt Hawkins & Darren Young when Rhyno pinned Hawkins after a Gore. Goldust was extremely popular. Lots of “We Want Goldust!” chants early in the match. After the match, Hawkins cut a promo saying he wasn’t leaving until the own a match and challenged anyone in the back. While my son and his cousin were chanting for Brock Lesnar to come out (which made me laugh), we were treated to R-Truth.
(2b) R-Truth pinned Curt Hawkins in about 10 seconds after hitting his finisher.
(3) Neville beat Tozawa to retain the Cruiserweight Title. Good match ending with the Rings of Saturn.
(4) Matt Hardy (w/Jeff Hardy) pinned Karl Anderson (w/Luke Gallows) after hitting the Twist of Fate. Not sure why this was a singles match and not a tag match. Maybe somebody was banged up. Either way, the Hardys were over huge.
(5) Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins beat Sheamus & Cesaro when Ambrose pinned Cesaro after Rollins hit his high knee and Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds to retain the Raw Tag Team Titles. Very good match. The small crowd got into it when Dean got the hot tag. They stayed ringside after the match for a while taking pictures and signing autographs.
Intermission
(6) Jason Jordan pinned Bo Dallas (w/Curtis Axel). Let’s just say people weren’t rushing back from the concessions and the bathrooms for this one.
(7) Alexa Bliss beat Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Mickie James in a Fatal Four-way to retain the Raw Women’s Title when Alexa pinned James after a DDT. Sasha and Bayley were ver popular. The crowd was split with these two. Alexa got a great reaction as well. Pretty mixed. Mickie, unfortunately, didn’t get much of a reaction at all. Sasha had Mickie in the Bank Statement when Bliss came from the outside, threw Sasha out, and hit Mickie with her DDT.
(8) Roman Reigns beat Braun Strowman Tonight was a very pro-Roman crowd. Different dynamic than seen on TV every week. Braun got a big reaction, but very mixed. Cheers and boos. Crowd was the hottest for this match and it was probably the best match. Great back and forth. Roman got a nine count after a Samoan Drop through a table and secured the victory after spearing Strowman through a table set up in the corner. Strowman almost got up at 9 and then stumbled back down as the ref counted to ten. The show ended and the crowd went home happy.
FINAL NOTES: Not a great crowd, but they were into all the entrances. They were fairly quiet during the actual matches until the main event. Not a good trip through Northern California, attendance-wise. I wasn’t able to attend Raw or Smackdown this week, so I’m happy I made it out for this show. The product just isn’t hot right now, but I enjoyed myself and the kids (two eight years olds) had a great time. It was a show more geared to them. I recommend house shows over weekly TV for attending live. I attended No Mercy for Smackdown in this building last year and the place was a lot more full.
TOP REACTIONS
1. REIGNS
2. HARDY’S
3. BALOR
4. DEAN/SETH
5. BRAY WYATT
BEST HEEL REACTIONS
1. MIZTOURAGE (MIZ WASNT HERE)
2. CURT HAWKINS (SURPRISINGLY)
3. BRAUN STROWMAN
4. CESARO/SHEAMUS
5. THE CLUB
If you attend a live event, please send a report like the one above to pwtorch@pwtorch.com
NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT: 9/22 WWE Raw in Sacramento, Calif.: Roman vs. Braun, Balor vs. Bray, Neville vs. Tozawa, no advertised battle royal
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