5 YRS AGO – WWE in Trenton, N.J.: C.M. Punk, Ryback, Santino, A.J. Lee, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Brodus Clay

WWE Raw house show results
October 19, 2012
Trenton, N.J.
Report by Puko, PWTorch correspondent

The arena in Trenton holds about 10,000. About 20 percent was blocked off, and the rest of it was nearly full, so I say about 7,000 in attendance.

The night started with Raw GM A.J Lee. in the ring. C.M. Punk and Paul Heyman then came out to say that since John Cena is hurt, Punk is not competing. But, A.J. ended up setting up a Punk-Ryback lumberjack match. This was kind of weird since Punk-Ryback was already advertised.

(1) Santino beat Tensai. Santino is very over with the kids. Typical match with Santino’s comedy worked in. After an extended Cobra tease, Santino finally hit his finisher and got the pin.

(2) Divas champion Eve beat Layla. WWE actually gave them some time and it was better than anything they’ve done on TV. The crowd wasn’t really into it, but wasn’t at the point of “boring” chants. Eve won; Layla got the ovation afterwards.

(3) Michael McGillicutty beat David Otunga. My nephew asked if he could get M&Ms during this match. Enough said. McGillicutty won.

(4) Brodus Clay beat Jack Swagger. Swagger now has the look of a 1983 “Iron” Mike Sharpe. Got some title matches, ultimately a jobber, no one understands how he got the title shots. Brodus won and danced with the kids at the end.

[Intermission]

(5) Damien Sandow beat JTG. Sandow is definitely over. More or less a squash.

(6) WWE tag champions Kane & Daniel Bryan beat Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes). Kane and Bryan played up dissent non-stop. Pretty good match, and the crowd was way into it. Team Hell No won. Afterwards, a prolonged charade ended with a Kane/Bryan hug, after which Bryan stole the second tag belt from Kane and ran off with it. This match had the crowd going more than anything all night, including the main event.

(7) U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro beat Sin Cara. Sin Cara is loved, loved by the kids, especially for his high-flying stuff, most of which ended with fancy armdrags. Cesaro finally caught him with his finisher. Decent match, but crowd was dead, except for the kids.

A.J. came out and announced Heyman was banned from ringside for the main event. The crowd was kind of into Ryback, but I was expecting ear-splitting “Feed Me More” chants that never materialized.

(8) Ryback beat WWE champion C.M. Punk via DQ; Punk retained the WWE title. The lumberjacks barely came into play. Late in the match, Ryback hit Cesaro, Primo, and Epico, who’d jumped onto the apron. Punk then smashed Ryback with the belt and got DQ’ed. As Punk walked to the back, Daniel Bryan ran out and threw Punk back in the ring and Ryback hit his finisher.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT: 10 YRS AGO – WWE in Luxembourg City: C.M. Punk, Batista, Undertaker, Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Jesse & Festus