5 YRS AGO – WWE in San Diego, Calif. (8-24-13): Orton vs. Bryan main event, Mysterio returns home, The Shield heavily involved, small crowd, more

The following report was originally published five years ago this weekend on PWTorch.com… 

WWE Live show results
August 24, 2013
San Diego, Calif.
Report by David Matheny, PWTorch correspondent

The show started at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night with a solid 2,000 in attendance. There was no one in the upper deck, which was odd, and the first time I’ve seen the arena this empty. There was high energy for every match except where I noted.

(1) Zack Ryder pinned Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) with a roll-up. I could easy call this the match of the night, as there was a lot of solid back and forth and the crowd was clearly behind Ryder. Before the match, Zeb started the match with a lot of bashing about Mexicans, which was not appreciated in San Diego.

Next was a video package on The Shield.

(2) Alicia Fox pinned Tamina Snuka after a jumping axe kick to Snuka’s back. The crowd died during this match, as everyone just sat quietly and watched the bout. There was a lot of repetition early in the match – Fox repeated three dropkicks. Snuka then got the edge and repeated snapmares and headlocks. The match picked up towards the end.

(3) U.S. champion Dean Ambrose pinned Rob Van Dam to retain the U.S. Title. RVD is over and could do no wrong. RVD pandered to the crowd and Ambrose had a great counter to RVD’s taunt by re-using the thumb point for U-S-Champ. Solid action. A lot of back in forth. The crowd loved it.

Next, Rey Mysterio came out. The ring announcer interviewed San Diego’s hometown hero about his return, then Shield interrupted.

(4) Mark Henry & Big Show beat WWE tag champions The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) via DQ; Shield retained the Tag Titles. The finish came when Ambrose interfered and Rollins hit Big Show with a chair. The match began with comedy bits and failed tests of strength. Big Show slapped Reigns’s bare chest and the sound was explosive. The Shield beat up Big Show for a while, then Henry got the hot tag and before the match could flip sides, Ambrose showed up.

[Intermission]

(5) The Wyatts beat The Usos & Justin Gabriel in a six-man tag match. Bray Wyatt pinned one of the Usos for the win. The Wyatts have a great live intro. The match started with the faces getting in offense. Soon, The Wyatts took over and slowed the match by beating up Gabriel. Basic tag match until it became a cluster towards the end.

(6) The Miz submitted Fandango via the figure-four leglock. This started as a dance-off, then turned into a match. There was some back-and-forth and a little interaction with Summer Rae, but the match was nothing special.

(7) Daniel Bryan beat WWE champion Randy Orton via DQ; Orton retained the WWE Title. The DQ occurred when Shield interfered. Then, RVD, Henry, and Big Show made the save. Overall, this was another great match. Daniel and Randy have great chemistry together; they clearly shined with fast-paced, back and forth action. All of the spots were glued together with finesse. Great main event.

The show ended at 10:10, providing almost three hours of action. None of the matches were bad, but some definitely shined better than others. No squash matches, no TV drama, just great wrestling. I had a great time and I don’t think anyone at the show left grumpy.

Biggest Pops:

(1) RVD
(2) Rey Mysterio
(3) Daniel Bryan
(4) Show & Henry
(5) Zack Ryder

Biggest Heat:

(1) Zeb Colter
(2) Randy Orton
(3) Rollins & Reigns
(4) Dean Ambrose
(5) The Wyatts

NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT: 5 YRS AGO – NXT TV REPORT (8-21-13): A.J. Lee vs. Bayley, C.J. Parker (Juice Robinson) vs. Baron Corbin, Ziggler vs. Rusev, Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro, plus Ascension, Tyler Breeze