3/3 WWE in Chicago, Ill.: Lesnar vs. Kane, Reigns vs. Cena, Women’s Four-on-Four, Seth & Balor vs. The Bar, Hardy vs. Bray

WWE LIVE EVENT
MARCH 3, 2018
CHICAGO, ILL. AT UNITED CENTER
REPORT BY CHRIS SAMSA, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Please send results of live events you attend to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thank you! Also, please include any photos you take of either the arena setting, entrance stage, and clear pictures of wrestlers on way to ring or inside the ring.

I’m used to seeing WWE events at the Allstate Arena, and I didn’t expect this experience to be as different as it was. The United Center’s capacity for WWE is probably around 18,500 and Allstate Arena caps out at around 14,500. In addition to its greater capacity, The United Center is a more modern facility; the ceiling is much higher, the aisles are wider, and the seats are bigger and more comfortable. The acoustics and relative intimacy at The Allstate Arena are legendary; crowds can pick up on chants, react entirely in unison, and become a part of even the least exciting house shows. I found the United Center’s more expansive layout to be a detractor from what is usually a very immersive Chicago WWE experience. I was physically more comfortable in my wider, padded seat, and I think The United Center is a fine option for bigger WWE shows that can sell 18,000+ tickets, but I didn’t feel as connected to the action as I have in the past at The Allstate Arena.

The available seats were very close to capacity. I had a friend who bought a ticket from TicketMaster on Saturday morning and the best he could get was a single seat in the upper corner of the stadium. They didn’t sell the seats that would typically be behind a bigger TV production stage, but other than those sections, no sections were empty or closed off. I’d guess they had a crowd in the 17,000+ range.

The Card

(1) Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt in 7:00. This match was really exactly what you’d expect. Bray’s entrance is still over and the crowd participated in Matt Hardy’s delete chants pretty well. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate to win.

(2) Mustafa Ali beat Jack Gallagher and Lince Dorado and Ariya Davari in about 10:00. Mustafa Ali is from Chicago and he is very over with the Chicago crowd. He got a great pop and he was the focal point of this match. Everyone except Ariya Davari got a good amount of offense in, Jack Gallagher executed a few strong headbutts to clear the ring and they all participated in some high-flying cruiserweight spots. Late in the match Ali went through an impressive sequence, taking everyone out. He eventually ended the match with an inverted 450 splash on Gallagher. After the match, Ali grabbed his daughter and brought her into the ring. They waved to a very appreciative crowd.

(3) Braun Strowman beat Elias. Elias did a pretty long musical segment, nothing groundbreaking, but it was entertaining and he got some good heat. He referenced the Bulls as a team that “used to be good,” which was appropriate as you could look up to the Bulls championship banners from the 90’s. Braun interrupted Elias mid song and came out to a great pop. It was nice to see Braun have an actual bell to bell, one on one match. It didn’t go too long and Braun handled most of the offense, eventually hitting the running powerslam for the pin. The crowd chanted “one more time” and Braun obliged with one more running powerslam after the bell. I thought it was interesting that Elias didn’t get his finisher in at all, even against a guy like Braun who we’d expect to kick out of a finisher, maybe WWE is protecting that move so it can get over when he’s in the ring with a weaker opponent.

(4) Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows beat Heath Slater & Rhyno and The Revival and The Miztourage. The babyface team here handled most of the offense in a mostly comedic match. Anderson eventually pinned one of the Miztourage guys after a Magic Killer.

(5) Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) beat Kane in 35 seconds. Kane came out first, then Paul Heyman came out with Brock and did his announcement. He announced Brock from the “ultimate corner,” trolling a smart Chicago crowd who knows the rumors of Brock heading back to UFC. Brock’s entrance got a pretty tame mixed reaction, but Heyman’s schtick got the crowd riled up. As for the match, Brock pinned Kane in 35 seconds after two suplexes, a reversed choke slam, and an F5. Brock and Heyman ran off to the back immediately with no victory celebration at all. The crowd was disappointed, but in more of a “shrug your shoulders and move on” kind of way. Brock might have helped WWE sell some tickets to fill up the United Center, but he didn’t evoke much reaction from the crowd either way.

Intermission

(6) Asuka & Sasha Banks & Mickie James & Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax & Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose (w/Paige). I thought this was a strange lineup with the recent alliance between Mickie James and Alexa Bliss and the tension between Bayley and Sasha Banks, but they ended up working it all into the story of the match. Sasha kept stealing tags from Bayley or tagging herself in once Bayley was in the ring. This got Sasha some heat because Chicago always wants Bayley. Eventually Bayley tagged herself in and, after battling Alexa for a while, she went to tag in Mickie James and Mickie kicked her in the head, starting a ringside brawl between the two. During all of that, Asuka was finally tagged in and she submitted Sonya Deville with an arm bar. After the match, Mickie left the match at Alexa’s side and Sasha hung tight to Asuka. Asuka kept trying to involve Bayley in the victory celebration but Sasha kept excluding Bayley as they headed to the back.

(7) Finn Balor & Seth Rollins beat The Bar via DQ. This was a really entertaining match. The Bar did their usual quick tags while Seth and Finn each had time periods where they worked tirelessly to get back to their corner to make a tag. Just when it looked like Seth & Finn were going to get the momentum, Sheamus hit Finn with a chair and got The Bar DQed. Finn & Seth took the offense to The Bar after the bell and each hit their finishers before giving the crowd an extended exit. This felt like it could have been the main event of the evening. It was the longest match of the night, it built really well and the babyfaces ended up looking strong, even though they didn’t land the titles.

(8) Roman Reigns beat John Cena. This match was very methodical. It started slow, built to a couple of spots where the crowd thought Cena was going to get the win, but eventually Reigns hit the spear and got the pin. While Reigns was doing his victory parade around the ring posts, Cena got up behind him and the crowd expected a surprise AA to send us home happy, but what we got was Cena raising Roman’s hand in victory and heading to the locker room.

Crowd Reactions

-Kind of surprisingly, Seth Rollins got the biggest pop of the night. When his music hit, the reaction was loud and overwhelmingly positive. His Monday Night Rollins shirt was also one of the first to sell out in common sizes.

-Mustafa Ali has become quite a hometown hero, he got a great reaction when he was announced during the cruiserweight fatal four way.

-Braun Strowman got a great reaction when he interrupted Elias. Braun is obviously very big with the crowd, but it also helps that he interrupts a really strong heel act.

-John Cena got his typical loud, but mixed reaction. The crowd skewed younger than usual, so Cena got more cheers than boos.

-Roman Reigns got the usual negative reaction when his music hit. His performance in the match wasn’t particularly strong, so he didn’t end up winning the crowd over by the end of the match like he had been during his Intercontinental Title run.

-Only one C.M. Punk chant that I could decipher, of course it was during the low point of Cena v. Reigns

Please send results of live events you attend to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thank you! Also, please include any photos you take of either the arena setting, entrance stage, and clear pictures of wrestlers on way to ring or inside the ring.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS REPORT: 3/2 WWE in Kalamazoo, Mich.: Reigns vs. Elias headlines, plus Miztourage, Women’s Four-on-Four, Seth vs. Cesaro, Braun vs. Kane, Matt vs. Bray