WWE Raw house show report
March 9, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Report by Peter, PWTorch reader

The event was three-fourths-full with only the seats behind the entrance available. Probably 8,000 in attendance.

(1) U.S. champion Santino beat Jack Swagger to retain the U.S. Title. Huge ovation for Santino, being Canadian. They started with a push-up and sit-up competition. Swagger took the action to the ground and used his power to dominate early. A hot crowd rallied around Santino and he got his first action with a shoulder block and a bodyslam, sending Swagger outside the ring. Swagger took over and started working the leg. Swagger hit a nasty-looking legbreaker off the ropes into a Vader bomb for a two count. Santino started "hulking" up and took control. Out came the sock, but Swagger was ready and countered into a slam. He went for another bomb, but Santino was ready and hit the Cobra for the win in 15 minutes.

(2) Ryback defeated JTG. Little crowd response to either. Ryback used power early and JTG countered with a nice-looking Bronco Custer. Ryback put him in a Torture Rack into a running Simian Slam to end it in three minutes.

A promo from Chris Jericho aired to get some cheap heat, as he ripped Ontario.

(3) Eve beat Kelly Kelly. Kelly took early control and hit a nice-looking tarantula from outside. Back in the ring, she hit a Lou Thesz Press. Eve stalled and took control with a dropkick to the knees. She slowed it down with a headlock and then tried to lap dance Kelly, which got turned into a small package and a two count. Kelly took control with a modified bulldog into a flying head scissors. Eve tripped her up and got the pin with her feet on the turnbuckle.

Next was The Miz vs. R-Truth. Miz came out to good heat. He took the mic and was great at getting the crowd going. Truth did his "What's up?" rap to a nice response. It took Miz a while to take off his shirt and got some more heat by teasing throwing his shirt in the crowd before dropping it to the floor. Five minutes of stalling was too much.

(4) R-Truth beat The Miz. Miz took control early with a headlock and Truth countered with a flying kick to the head off the ropes. Some impressive aerial came from Truth until Miz countered ten punches to the head. A big kick to the head from Miz put Truth down. Miz hit a big running clothesline into the corner, then went up for a double axe handle for a two count. Two big running knee lifts only got a two count. Miz took a sip of water, which went flying into the air a la Triple H, thanks to a punch from Truth. Two running clotheslines got a two count. Miz countered a backslide into a modified neckbreaker and went for his finisher, which was countered. Miz took control and caught him in a DDT for a close three. Lots of nearfalls. Truth then caught his finisher out of nowhere for the three. Very good match at around 15 minutes.

Next was Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston. Massive reaction for Jericho despite his attempt for heat. He took the mic and tore apart Toronto to gain heat. Great promo building up his WrestleMania match against C.M. Punk. Kingston got a nice pop.

(5) Chris Jericho beat Kofi Kingston. Jericho took early control with a side headlock. Jericho started working the arm. Kofi reversed and they reset. Jericho re-took control, and back to the headlock and working on the arm. Kofi reversed and took Jericho's arm. After action on the outside, Kofi got back in the ring at nine and he was met with a facebreaker. Jericho hit a nice plancha to the head for two. Jericho went old-school with an abdominal stretch. Kingston powered out and went for his book drop, but was met with a Walls of Jericho, which was countered and Kingston landed a Steamboat splash for a close count. He went for Trouble in Paradise, which was countered into Walls of Jericho to a massive pop. Kingston reversed into a small package and hit Trouble in Paradise, but Jericho got his foot on the ropes. A codebreaker later and it was all over. A slow start into a hot finish at 13 minutes.

[Intermission]

(6) WWE tag champions Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes) beat Mason Ryan & Alex Riley to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Little response for both teams. Primo started against Riley. Some quick action, with Riley taking control before tagging out. Epico came in and was totally overpowered and destroyed with power move after power move. Epico did the Flair flop. Ryan hit a gorilla slam and then hit a double suplex for a big pop. Riley came in and hit a big DDT off the top rope. Some distraction from Rosa turned the tide, though. Primo tagged in and took control. Epico tagged in Ryan, who got back in and cleaned housed. A backstabber later, though, and the champs retained in 15 minutes.

(7) John Cena beat Kane In a Last Man Standing match. Cena came out to a massive response, mostly negative. A "Rocky" chant started. Cena took early control before Kane took over with big strikes. A "Let's Go Cena / Cena sucks" chant took over the arena. Kane threw Cena over the top rope and followed to the outside. Cena reversed a throw and put Kane into the steps. Kane was not selling well. Back in the ring, Cena went for the Attitude Adjustment, but Kane blocked. The action went back outside and Kane put Cena into the steps. Kane grabbed the ring bell and hit Cena in the head, which got a nine count. Kane grabbed a chair, which Cena kicked into Kane's head. Kane countered a throw into the ropes and hit Cena twice with the chair. Kane grabbed a table to a huge pop. He went to grab Cena, but Cena hit a back suplex into the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He tried to throw Kane through a table against the ropes, but Kane reversed and sent Cena head-first into it. Cena was up at nine. Kane grabbed another table. A "Cena" chant started and Cena reversed a chokeslam into the AA through the table, which was good enough for the win at 17 minutes. A strong match that Kane dominated until the end.

Next was C.M. Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler in the main event. No Vickie Guerrero for this match. Not a big response for Ziggler, but a massive response for Punk. It was nowhere near the response for Cena, though. As Punk entered, Ziggler attacked Punk with a broom that was used to clean up after the Cena-Kane match. A massive "C.M. Punk" chant erupted.

(8) WWE champion C.M. Punk beat Dolph Ziggler in a two-out-of-three-falls match to retain the WWE Title. Nice to see an old-school start with the ref checking boots and in-ring intros. Stalling to start. Punk attacked the arm. The crowd was dead to start the actual wrestling. Ziggler took a break on the outside. Back in the ring, Ziggler took charge with some ground and pound. Out of nowhere, Punk hit a small package at five minutes. So anti-climatic. The crowd did not respond.

*** Punk 1, Ziggler 0 ***

Ziggler hit a beautiful dropkick to take Punk down. Punk reversed into a nice neckbreaker before Ziggler threw him over the ropes. The action spilled into the crowd and Punk took charge and held Ziggler while a fan headbutted him. Had to be a local wrestler. Punk was thrown hard into the corner and Ziggler hit nine elbows. On the tenth, Punk moved. Ziggler regained control and hit his headlock handstand. Punk hit a viscous counter into a two count. Punk hit a backbreaker, then a second-rope elbow drop. He then applied a Sharpshooter to a huge pop from the Canadian crowd. Ziggler made it to the ropes, but Punk went up top for the Macho Man elbow. But, Jericho interfered, distracting Punk, which allowed Ziggler to hit the Zig-Zag for the second fall.

*** Punk 1, Ziggler 1 ***

Jericho got thrown out. Ziggler hit a Rough Ryder, but only got a two count. They stood and exchanged blows until Ziggler caught Punk in a sleeper. Punk fought and threw Ziggler off. Both came off the the ropes and caught each other with cross bodies. Punk took control and hit a flying knee in the corner into the bulldog. The crowd popped for the Go To Sleep, which was reversed, but Punk hit a powerslam. Punk went up and hit the Macho Man elbow again. The ref was taken out. Jericho then came back out and hit the codebreaker, but Punk kicked out. Jericho tried to come in, but was thrown out. Punk then hit the Go To Sleep to send the crowd home happy. Excellent end to the match.

*** Punk 2, Ziggler 1 ***

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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