2/11 WWE in Oakland, Calif.: Harper’s hilarious response to a fan asking for an autograph, Styles and Charlotte each defend titles, odd tag team pairing

WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
FEBRUARY 11, 2018
OAKLAND, CALIF.
REPORT BY BRIAN MATHESEN, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

If you attend a live event, send results and notes to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. We also appreciate you sending crisp photos that can accompany your reports of wrestlers in the ring, at ringside, or their entrances on the stage.

My daughter and I attended the Oakland house show tonight. We had front row ringside tickets and had a blast. They were $133 each after fees, but we had a great time and I would do it again. On to the results.

(1) Bobby Roode beat Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal to retain the U.S. Title in a Triple Threat match. This was a fun match in which the heels mostly teamed up against Roode. The crowd cheered Bobby on during the match and he was able to pull out the victory pinning Mahal.

(2) Mojo Rawley pinned Tye Dillinger in 7:00. The reception to these wrestlers was pretty cold. Tye managed to get a few 10 spots out of the crowd and Mojo tried his best to act as a heel. Toward the end there was a “This is boring!” chant from the crowd.

(3) New Day beat Mike Kanellis & a Colon Brother. The New Day was very over, probably in top three pop of night and sustained interest in them over the match. The pairing of Kannelis and Colon was strange. No chemistry or heat with the heels at all. New Day pinned the Colon brother for the win.

(4) Charlotte beat Natalya and Lana and Carmella and Becky Lynch in a Fatal Five-way match to retain the Smackdown Women’s Title. Another fun match. Lynch and Charlotte got good pops. Lana was showered with “Rusev Day” chants although he was absent from the card. The match followed the typical WWE format where only two people can fight in the ring at a time and the others take a rest period outside until their spot comes up. Charlotte eventually applied the Figure-8 on Natalya for the tap out win.

Intermission

(5) The Bludgeon Brothers beat Breezango in 2:00. Very short match. Some comedy in the beginning from Breezango got laughs from the crowd. Breeze was pinned. After the match, Luke Harper took the top part of the metal stairs and tipped them over. Trying to reinforce that their characters are scary dudes. Funny moment was a fan asked Harper for an autograph. He took her sharpie and just walked off.

(6) Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler. Nakamura came out to a good pop, I would say second strongest of the night. Dolph Ziggler got the most heet of any heel that might by far. People really did not like him and really enjoyed heckling him. He did a good job of playing off of that and giving it back to the crowd. A funny chant that started was “Cut your hair” in reference to Dolphs 1980’s hair band haircut. The match itself was slow-paced, kind of a throwback style. Nakamura got the pin over Ziggler. Funny moment at the end. Dolph (pretend) collapsed outside on the mat after the match. Referee Charles Robinson picked him up like a groom carrying the bride and brought him back through the curtain.

(7) A.J. Styles beat Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a Triple Threat for WWE Title. AJ came out to a good pop, probably best of night. Owens and Zayn came out to mixed boos and cheers. Owens did a great job as a heel. His mannerisms during the match were great. For example, while everyone was announced, he just sat down in the ring looking disinterested. The two heels also fought against each other during the match which I found interesting. Styles hit Owens with the phenomenal forearm for the win. Afterwards A.J. did a lap around the ring to commiserate with the crowd. He asked my daughter if she enjoyed the show and took off his wristband and gave it to her. A cool souvenir for a great night.

If you attend a live event, send results and notes to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. We also appreciate you sending crisp photos that can accompany your reports of wrestlers in the ring, at ringside, or their entrances on the stage.

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS REPORT: 2/9 WWE in Saskatoon, Canada: The Shield vs. The Bar, Hardy vs. Wyatt, Braun, Alexa, Itami, Balor, Miztourage