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The following report was originally published on PWTorch.com ten years ago today…
WWE Supershow Report
August 11, 2013
Oakland, Calif. at Oracle Arena
Report by Brandon Tanguma of San Lorenzo, Calif.
This was my first-ever WWE house show and it definitely has a different feel compared to a TV taping with the smaller stage and lights right on top of the ring. The entire top deck was blocked off and there were a lot of empty spots on both sides of the arena. There was probably 5,000-7,000 people.
Justin Roberts opened the show and announced that John Cena will not be on the show to face Alberto Del Rio in the main event. He said refunds would be given if you asked by the start of the second match. Raw GM Brad Maddox came out and announced that a battle royal would decide who would face Del Rio for the World Title.
(1) Big Show beat The Shield, Usos, Miz, Christian, Wade Barrett, Mark Henry, Curtis Axel, RVD, Ryback, and Justin Gabriel in the battle royal. All of the participants came out at one time and all of a sudden Big Show’s music played to the surprise of everyone. In the end, Ryback went for a Shell Shock but Big Show countered into a suplex and clotheslined him for the win.
(2) Kane beat Luke Harper via DQ. A pretty boring match with Harper having Kane in a headlock for the most of the match. Erick Rowan interfered and Bray Wyatt came in and was about to attack Kane until he made the comeback and chokeslamed Harper and Rowan.
IC Champion Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman appeared on the big screen. Axel started talking about how he’s back in one of his dad’s favorite places, the slums of Stockton (about an hour from Oakland) which drew good heat from the crowd. Heyman told Axel that they are in Oakland; apparently this was all Miz’s fault and he’s going to pay for it later.
(3) Rob Van Dam beat Ryback via pinfall. Everyone loved RVD and hated Ryback. RVD did his signature RVD spots and hit a Five Star Frogsplash for the win. A pretty good match.
(4) Kaitlyn beat Alicia Fox via pinfall. Typical Divas match; the crowd didn’t react much. Kaitlyn won with a spear.
(5) Mark Henry & The Usos beat The Shield via pinfall in a six-man tag match. Henry caught Seth Rollins off the top rope into the World’s Strongest Slam. Since The Usos are from San Francisco, it was pretty cool because it looked like they were having a lot of fun. The best match of the night so far.
Justin Roberts plugged the merchandise and said they would have a 15-minute intermission.
Paul Heyman came out to introduce Curtis Axel and the crowd started chanting, “C-M-Punk!” So, Heyman sat down with his feet crossed like Punk, which was pretty funny.
(6) IC Champion Curtis Axel beat The Miz via pinfall to retain the IC Title. Miz was sucking up to the fans, who really got behind him. After Miz targeted the leg and applied a weak-looking figure-four, Axel escaped and was leaving until Miz brought him back in. I didn’t see what move Axel did to win, but it was kind of out of nowhere.
(7) Big Show beat Alberto Del Rio via DQ; Del Rio retained the World Title. A good back and forth exchange, then Del Rio hit Big Show with a chair to get DQ’ed. Afterward, Big Show chokeslamed Del Rio. Even though I’m not of fan of Cena’s, I wanted to see the Champion vs. Champion match, but I’m pretty sure they would of done the same finish.
Brad Maddox came out to reveal the results of the fan choice for the stipulation of Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton in the main event. The crowd decided a No DQ match over two-out-of-three falls match.
(8) Daniel Bryan beat Randy Orton via pinfall in a No DQ match. It was probably the Match of the Night. The crowd was into both Bryan and Orton, who did not take the MITB briefcase with him to the ring. The weapons of choice (Kids on Bridges voice) was a kendo stick, steel chair, and a table. Bryan powerbombed Orton through the table to get the win. It was a good match, but I don’t think it was as good as the main event they had on Raw. Bryan shook hands with fans while his music played to send the crowd home happy.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, it was a fun show since the crowd was into it and there were not too many annoying fans. Well, except for the wannabe smarks and a drunk guy yelling “Yes!” and “No” throughout the entire Bryan-Orton match. I can’t wait to do it again in San Jose for Smackdown.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: 10 YRS AGO – WWE Live Event in Australia (7-26-2013): Cena & Bryan & Kane vs. The Shield, plus Ambrose, Great Khali, Ryback, Miz, Cesaro, Curtis Axel
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