On Saturday the 8th August 2014 I drove my kids over 4 hours to attend the yearly WWE tour to Australia, in particular the Sydney show. With Daniel Bryan currently injured and not attending this year’s tour, John Cena away on movie duty, and both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose also not on the plane to Australia, my expectations were not high, however I was hoping for a better show than last year.
(all photos taken at the Sydney show)
I walked away around 11pm on Friday night with the impression that even with all the drama’s surrounding the WWE losing money, the perception by many that Kane apparently is too old to headline main events, and that without John Cena, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan the WWE lacks depth, the WWE is still alive and in fact in a great position in regards to its talent, and that there is a WWE future that doesn’t need to have John Cena at is centre.
Last year show with John Cena and Daniel Bryan on the card was, on general viewing of the crowd 85-90% full. This year I would have to say it was a full house, and a very noisy and participative crowd was on hand to witness a great show, some great matches and performances and most left the night with the attitude that they will come back next year.
Walking away from this show, I have come up with the viewpoints regarding the future of the WWE:
- The WWE core PG age group (8-14) are moving on from John Cena with Roman Reigns now a major player in the minds of this demographic.
- The WWE legends contracts is money well spent with Rick Flair getting one of the biggest pops of the night.
- Welcome back Miz……a lesson for the WWE creative some WWE superstars are better as heels characters i.e. The Miz, and just because this generation cheer heel characters doesn’t mean you should turn them. The Miz has the look, and attitude that screams arrogant wrestler, and needs to stay that way.
- The Usos and Wyatt’s (Luke Harper & Erik Rowan) need more tag team competition. They both are great tag teams and produce great matches together, but cannot keep fighting each other.
- While it was expected that Australian’s own Emma would receive a great reception (and she did) the ‘pop’ Nikki Bella received surprised me, and showed that with a bit of effort the Diva division can entertain WWE fans.
- The entrance of Bray Wyatt with the crowd lighting up their phones is goose bump worthy, second only to an Undertaker entrance.
- And finally Roman Reigns is almost there in regards to being ‘the face’ of the WWE, and should be handled with care and not rushed, pushed or forced into that position. He will reach there.
If I have one major criticism regarding these live shows in Australia is we tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to merchandise. Even though they were not attending the show, John Cena and Daniel Bryan merchandise was front and centre in all the merchandise stands. The WWE often says that the reason John Cena is still the face of the company is that he out sells all other superstars in merchandise. Well he would when there are not any other options. If a superstar is not attending the show then I feel their merchandise should not be sold. Kofi Kingston, Kane, Bo Dallas, Fandango, Bray Wyatt, The Divas, R-Truth, The Miz and even Rick Flair, all performing on the night had nothing in the merchandise stand to purchase to show our support. My son walked away from the merchandise stand empty handed as he did not want Cena, Bryan or Sheamus merchandise, he wanted a Kane mask, or shirt. Something the WWE (won’t) should think about.
For those interested here are the results of the shows in Australia
Thursday’s WWE live event in Melbourne, Australia:
* WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos b. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
* R-Truth b. Bo Dallas
* Diego b. Fandango
* WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz b. Kofi Kingston
* Chris Jericho b. Bray Wyatt. The Usos neutralized a threat from Luke Harper & Erick Rowan. After the match, a man proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes!
* Emma & Nikki Bella b. Alicia Fox & Layla when Emma made Layla tap out.
* WWE United States Champion Sheamus b. Cesaro & RVD
* Roman Reigns b. Kane with Ric Flair as the special guest referee.
Fridays’ WWE live event in Sydney, Australia:
* RVD defeated Bo Dallas, Fandango, Kofi Kingston, The Usos, Luke Harper, Erik Rowan, Diego and R-Truth in a 10 man over the top battle royal. The winner (RVD) would face The Miz later on in the night for a shot at the Intercontinental title
* Emma & Nikki Bella b. Alicia Fox & Layla The crowd had a chance to vote for either the tag match or a dance off. The Tag match won the vote easily…
* Sheamus defeated Cesaro to retain his US title
* The Usos defeated Luke Harper and Erik Rowan to retain their Tag Team titles
* The Miz Defeated RVD to retain his Intercontinental Title
* Chris Jericho defeated Bray Wyatt, after the Usos came out to even the odds and take out Luke Harper and Erik Rowan
* Roman Reigns b. Kane with Ric Flair as the special guest referee.
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Saturday’s WWE live event in Perth, Australia:
* R-Truth b. Bo Dallas
* Diego b. Fandango. After the match, Bo Dallas came back out and assured the crowd he wouldn’t be losing against. R-Truth came back out and beat up on him
* WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz b. Kofi Kingston
* WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos & Chris Jericho b. The Wyatt Family when Jericho pinned Bray Wyatt after hitting the Codebreaker.
* Nikki Bella & Emma b. Alicia Fox & Layla
* WWE United States Champion Sheamus b. Cesaro & Rob Van Dam in a triple threat match
* Roman Reigns b. Kane in a Street Fight with Ric Flair as referee.
 
Hooroo and see you next week.
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