WWE Raw brand house show report
February 6, 2010
Alexandria, La.
Report by Jereme Hubbard, Torch reader

WWE ran a small venue, the Rapides Paris Coliseum, which was around 90 percent full. The sound system was bad, though, as Justin Roberts could not announce from the middle of the ring because of feedback from the microphone. They also had minimal lighting and sound due to the venue and sound system.

(1) Chris Masters (w/Eve) beat Carlito via submission. Masters and Eve came out first and the crowd loved them. Once Carlito made it to the ring, there was a mini-stare down before Masters began his pectoral bouncing. Carlito left the ring three or four times in protest of Masters doing this. Pretty decent match that ended with Masters putting the Masterlock on Carlito.

(2) Jack Swagger beat Santino. Swagger came out first doing his usual promo of why all of the kids in the crowd should look up to him. Swagger might have drawn some of the loudest boos other than Sheamus later in the night. Santino came out and was carrying his own microphone and told Swagger that he was going to take a poll, asking the crowd if they would like to see him beat Swagger or not. After a resounding yes from the crowd, the match began. Swagger dominated the majority of the match before Santino made a small run at the end, but Swagger ultimately got the pinfall. Torch Note: This was Swagger's first victory of 2010, ending his 0-15 streak, which the Torch has been tracking with the weekly WWE Stats feature.

(3) Paul Burchill beat Johnny Curtis. Curtis came out first and did a small promo saying that Raw had been full of young stars in the recent months and told the crowd to keep watching because they had not seen anything yet. The crowd did not seem interested in him or the match, because most of the crowd did not know either wrestler. Burchill won a slow, boring match.

As Burchill went back down the entranceway to the main entrance, The Miz came out and jumped him on his way to the ring to cut a promo before his match.

(4) U.S. champion The Miz beat MVP. The Miz came out doing his usual routine talking about how awesome he is. The crowd really enjoyed giving it to him. MVP came out to one of the loudest cheers of the night. The match started slow with The Miz avoiding MVP for the first few minutes. They had a pretty solid back-and-forth match before The Miz was able to finish off MVP.

(5) The Bellas & Gail Kim beat Maryse & Katie Lea Burchill & Alicia Fox. This match was definitely entertaining. There were multiple times throughout the match when all six Divas were in the ring at once. At one point, one of the Bellas rode Maryse around the ring like a horse. You could definitely tell that all six Divas were having a good time with the match and they put on a good show.

[Intermission]

(6) Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) beat Evan Bourne & Mark Henry. Rhodes and DiBiase were introduced first and there were surprisingly lots of boos from the crowd. After making their way to the ring, the crowd went crazy when Evan Bourne was introduced, but not near as wild as when Mark Henry was introduced. Henry is from nearby Southeast Texas and I'm sure many of his personal fans were in attendance. The match was probably the most exciting of the night. Bourne flew off of the top rope more than once. Rhodes and he working together in the ring are quite an athletic pair. The match ended with Rhodes and Henry outside the ring while DiBiase pinned Bourne.

(7) Randy Orton beat Kofi Kingston. Kingston was introduced first and he has definitely become quite the crowd favorite. Orton had a mixture of cheers and boos. I had never seen the ratio of Orton fans and haters as close as it was Saturday night. During the match, Kingston hit the Boom Drop, but missed on the Trouble In Paradise. Orton hit the RKO on Kingston once, then Kofi fought back momentarily, but the match ended with Orton hitting the second RKO.

(8) John Cena beat WWE champion Sheamus via DQ, Sheamus retains the WWE Title. The match was announced as being for the WWE Championship, which obviously meant we would see a Cena DQ win. Sheamus came to the ring first and took the microphone, announcing how remarkable it was that a successful team like the Saints could come from a state like Louisiana. Cena then came out to the loudest reaction of the night by far, as it seemed half the crowd was wearing the orange-and-blue Cena gear throughout the night. Cena held control early and often, but Sheamus took over the match for a while. Cena did the "vintage" Five Knuckle Shuffle before Sheamus got out of the Attitude Adjustment. The match ended after Sheamus was upset about the ref not giving him a three count and Sheamus threw him down. The bell rang as Cena had Sheamus in the STF and the crowd went crazy not realizing at first that the belt would not change hands via DQ. Cena was announced as the winner and Sheamus was announced as still being the WWE Champion, receiving lots of jeers.

Cena ended the show by talking to the crowd about how the state had recovered from Hurricane Katrina, how they deserved to cheer for the Saints on Sunday, and how the state of Louisiana had something to be proud of.

Overall, the show was entertaining, the crowd was into the event, and the wrestlers put on a great show despite the venue, which is not very well equipped for a show like that with music and lighting. It was my first house show to attend and I really enjoyed it.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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