WWE Raw brand house show report
April 16, 2010
Belfast, N. Ireland
Report by Ryan and Karl H. from Newry, N. Ireland, Torch readers

(1) Evan Bourne beat Chavo Guerrero via pinfall with the Shooting Star Press. Bourne got a good reaction, mostly from kids in the audience. Bourne is very talented and worked well with Chavo. A nice pace and a good set-up for the finish with Bourne hitting Air Bourne for the win.

(2) Christian beat Dos Caras via Killswitch. Dos Caras came out to the usual 'who is this guy?' reaction reserved for rookies at house shows. He cut a nice promo in Spanish, calling Belfast a 'lugubrious' place. He said it didn't matter if the fans understood him or not. Christian came out to a very nice pop. He's extremely over and played to the crowd a lot, even seeing if Charles Robinson could get the same pop (strangely, he did). Caras did two moves I'd never seen before, including a kick while his other leg was planted on the top rope and a reverse Samoan drop. His talent was quite clear. Christian won with the Killswitch. It was a rather rushed finish, but effective nonetheless. Christian looked visibly tired on his way to the ring it must be said.

Chris Masters came out to a mixed reaction, and he issued a Masterlock Challenge. Hornswoggle answered to nobody's surprise, but he received a nice pop. Horny chased Masters around the ring, bumped him off the chair, and went for the splash for the, well, 'victory.'

(3) Divas champion Eve Torres beat Maryse with Kelly Kelly as special referee to retain the Divas Title. Short match and most people treated it as a toilet/beer break. Kelly Kelly was special ref and got the biggest female pop of the night. Eve, as has been obvious on the tour, is not over yet. Her title victory on Raw probably wasn't seen by many people in attendance. Maryse is talented - the best heel Diva in WWE. Eve won with a roll-up after Kelly pushed Maryse.

(4) Mark Henry beat Willam Regal via World's Strongest Slam. Regal cut a fantastic promo before Henry's entrance, slagging off Belfast, etc. He had a hilarious line when he tried to understand what a fan was shouting at him from ringside. Regal said, 'We're gonna need an interpreter here." When Henry came out, to a good pop, Regal went nuts, and kept demanding the mic to tell the crowd not to encourage big Mark. The 'match' was very short, essentially Henry's finisher. Afterwards, Henry pumped up the crowd, and they responded really well. He was definitely over.

[Intermission]

(5) U.S. champion The Miz beat Kofi Kingston and MVP in a triple threat match to retain the U.S. Title. Miz cut an excellent promo after his entrance. He discussed the marathon journey the wrestlers made to get there (ring announcer Justin Roberts and referee Mike Chiota were laughing), and how he's, well, awesome. He had a Rock moment when the fans chanted his catchphrase, to which Miz said that if anyone wanted to speak with him, they better raise their hands. He followed up, "This ain't sing-along with the Champ!" Kofi and MVP got okay reactions, with the kids liking Kofi. The end of the match featured an excellent multiple pin attempt sequence with roll-ups and inside cradles before a triple powerbomb/superplex spot. Miz won by pinning MVP after capitalizing on Kofi's finisher.

(6) Sheamus beat Ted DiBiase with his bicycle kick in a special "Raw Challenge match." Ted came out with the Million Dollar Championship. Sheamus came out to what I'd say was a confused reaction. Solid match; nice heavyweight style, but no heat and no real interest from the crowd. Sheamus's finisher didn't look good in the end.

(7) WWE champion John Cena & Randy Orton beat Batista & Big Show. Show came out to a good reaction and he looked in decent shape. Perhaps TV makes him look bigger. He moved well for someone who's travelled extensively the past two weeks. Batista got excellent heat, due to ripping up a fan sign, giving him the loser sign, and giving many ringside fans the bird. His spotlight entrance works as good at house shows as it does on TV. Simple, but effective. He did his usual flexing on the top rope, and starting making fun of Justin Roberts at one point too. He's the man. Orton's pop was the second biggest of the night, but his ring entrances and poses are still very much "I'm a cool heel, but I know you cheer me." Cena's music caused the roof to nearly blow off. Honestly, it was the biggest pop I've heard in Belfast since Undertaker came to Belfast for the first time. The match was standard fare. Orton got in his hangman DDT on Show, Batista spinebustered Orton, and Show chokeslammed Cena. The finish came when Cena got the hot tag maybe 10-14 minutes in, Orton RKO'ed Show, and that left Big Dave open for the Attitude Adjustment. Afterwards, Batista wanted back in the ring to attack Cena, but the ref stopped him, to which Batista jokingly started hitting Chiota and they went to the back laughing. Cena was about to speak when Sheamus charged the ring and tried to get the better of Cena, but didn't. Cena then went around the ring shaking hands and did his usual franchise player fan interaction.

Overall, the arena was almost full. There were a few empty seats here and there. An excellent atmosphere, the crowd was pumped, and the kids were popping nicely for their heroes. Overall, a very good show from wrestlers who must have been burnt out and missing home. It was particularly nice to see Batista, who didn't wrestle the first half of the tour, and must have been asked to fill in for Triple H when he came over from London.

Biggest Pops
-Cena
-Orton
-Christian

Most Heat
-Batista
-The Miz
-Regal
-Sheamus

We suggest these recent related articles...

SHOW RESULTS - 10/9 AAW in Berwyn, Ill.: Gargano challenges for AAW Hvt. Title, more title matches, big women's tag match, more

SHOW RESULTS - 10/3 NWA Smoky Mountain in Kingsport, Tenn.: NWA Hvt. Title match, Rob Conway, Kid Kash, Ricky Morton, more

LIVE REPORT - 10/4 TNA BFG PPV in North Carolina: Live notes on technical glitches, pre-Angle match announcement, Captain America Fan, more