3/4 WWE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (2nd report): Styles, Roode, Charlotte, and Usos all defend their titles, plus Shinsuke vs. Ziggler, Mojo vs. Tye

WWE SMACKDOWN LIVE EVENT
MARCH 4, 2018
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
REPORT BY LUKE HAMES, 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.

Tonight’s house show was rocking! I’ve been pretty quiet on watching WWE TV for around a year, only watching PPVs and NXT. I think tonight restored my faith in WWE, but… only time will tell!

Building was around three-fourths full. Crowd was into the majority of the show.

(1) The Usos beat New Day and Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin and Rusev & Aiden English when an Uso pinned Gable in 12:00 to retain the WWE Tag. Cheers for everyone but BenjaGable. Comical, yet solid opening match.

(2) Mojo Rawley beat Tye Dillinger in 10:00. A bore-fest when Mojo rolled up Tye using the ropes for leverage. Little cheer for Tye, no reaction for Mojo. Lots of restholds. The crowd was hardly into it for the majority of the match.

(3) The Bludgeon Brothers crushed Breezango in about 3:00. For the little bit of action we got, it was actually really damn awesome. I wish the previous match was nixed and this was used for the time left. Comical shirt-ripping spot from Breezango before the bell. Cheers for Breezango, mixed reaction for the Bludgeon Bros.

(4) Jinder Mahal beat Sin Cara in around 3:00. One of the Singh brothers came out to introduce Jinder, and was met with loud boos and “USA” chants, as was Jinder, when he got on the mic to remind us all that he was our WWE Champion for six months, and then spoke in Hindu. Sin Cara got quite a pop. Short and no flesh to it whatsoever. Next.

(5) Naomi & Becky Lynch beat Carmella & Lana and Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan when Naomi pinned Lana after a legdrop from the top in about 15:00. Cheers for Becky and Naomi, mixed reactions for all else. Lots of cat calls towards Carmella and Lana, who teased the masses of male college students. Very good tag match, slightly above what you’d expect. Becky was worked on for a majority of the match, which led to a hot tag on Naomi.

(6) Bobby Roode wrestled Randy Orton to a DDQ do Roode retained the U.S. Title in about 20:00 ending Jinder Mahal ran in and attacked both competitors. Solid match. Roode opened with cheers, but was mostly booed during the match. Randy had a HUGE pop and was cheered during the match. Randy was teasing the RKO the last parts of the match, and hit it on both Roode and Jinder, which got huge pops.

*Intermission*

(7) Charlotte defeated Natalya and Ruby Riott when Charlotte submitted Nattie via Figure-Eight in 15:00 to retain the Smackdown Women’s Title. Fine match. Charlotte and Ruby worked the bulk of it, with Nattie spending a lot of time on the floor outside. No shortages of “Woo’s!” during the match – and the whole night in fact. Lots of cheers for Charlotte. No reaction for Ruby, little reaction to Nattie.

(8) Shinsuke Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler in about 20:00 after Nakamura hit Ziggler with the Kinsasha. Long match, but passable. Nakamura came out to a huge pop and was cheered heavily. Ziggler had lots of heat before and during the match.

(9) A.J. Styles beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in 12:00 to retain the WWE Championship after Syles hit Owens with the Phenomenal Forearm. Decent match. Owens and Zayn worked the crowd with cheap heat throughout the match. Corbin was there. A.J. had the biggest pop of the night, Corbin was mixed, and Sami & KO were booed. Styles interacted with fans to send everyone home happy.

Solid show!

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 ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON THIS SAME EVENT: 3/4 WWE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Roode vs. Orton, Rusev Day chants rival New Day and Uso response in their match, Shinsuke vs. Ziggler, Fatal Four-way main event