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The following report was originally published at PWTorch.com 20 years ago today…
WWE Live house show results
July 26, 2013
Melbourne, Australia
Report by Angus & Robert, PWTorch correspondents
Attendance was about 7,000.
(1) The Miz beat Antonio Cesaro via submission. Miz and Cesaro opened with an good match that went about 25 minutes with Miz winning with the Figure Four Leglock. Miz came out sporting a local football team jumper (Richmond Tigers), which wasn’t a good idea since there are 12 teams in Melbourne. It did not help an especially lukewarm face like Miz get the crowd onside. It would have been better to have Cesaro come out in interstate jumper like Sydney to use local sports to set the tone. Still, the match played out well and set the tone for the night.
(2) Natalya beat Aksana in about 15 minutes. The crowd was bored quickly, as Aksana controlled most of the match before Natalya won.
Ryback appeared on the big screen to taunt John Cena’s fans.
(3) Great Khali beat Jinder Mahal. Things picked up with Khali and Mahal in a five-minute match. Khali struggled with some spots were he had to get his legs up and fall over the top rope, but he still had the crowd onside with his amazing size. After he won, he danced with some kids in the ring.
The supposed main event of Cena vs. Ryback in a Tables match went on before intermission.
(4) WWE Champion John Cena beat Ryback in a Tables match to retain the WWE Title. This was a basic match that felt like they were going through the motions with Cena retaining. Weird for the main event to be before intermission and shorter than a Divas match. The crowd was probably 60/40 in Cena’s favor.
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After intermission, there was a three-way Intercontinental Title match.
(5) IC Champion Curtis Axel beat Zack Ryder and Heath Slater to retain the Intercontinental Title. The heels ganged up on Ryder for most of the match. Curtis eventually won, but Ryder gave him the Broski Boot afterward to keep people happy.
Next, Daniel Brian came out to face Dean Ambrose for the United States Title. The audience was 100 percent in Brian’s corner, kids and adult males alike. For the stipulation, the crowd got to choose between a submission match or the famous Melbourne Street Fight.
(6) U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan went to a No Contest. This was the best match of the night and Dean Ambrose was fantastic. 30 minutes into a great match, the other members of The Shield ran in to help their partner. Despite WWE announcing prior to the show that Kane was pulled from the tour, he ran in to make the save, but he was overpowered also. Then, Cena ran out to help Kane take control of the ring and he challenged The Shield to a tag match.
(7) WWE Champion John Cena & Daniel Bryan & Kane beat The Shield in a six-man tag match. Bryan fought most of the match, then tagged in Cena, who then tagged in Bryan again. The crowd was begging for Kane, who eventually made it in the ring to clean the house. The three faces hit simultaneous finishers – AA, Chokeslam, and Suicide Dive – before Kane got the pin to send everyone home happy.
Angus’s Final Notes: Overall, it was a fun night, but there were small things missing, like Kane’s pyro. The only wrestler who spoke in the house mic was Cena; it would have been nice to hear from other wrestlers, like Miz. Also, the seats were at a funny height so despite buying floor seats you couldn’t see what was going on when wrestlers were down.
Biggest Pops: Bryan, Kane, and Cena. Zack Ryder in his Broskie get-up was also well-received.
OR CHECK THIS OUT FROM PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Seth Rollins and Finn Balor contract signing, Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn for the NXT North American Title, Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark, Drew McIntyre vs. Ludwig Kaiser, Bronson Reed vs. Tommaso Ciampa
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