WWE Raw house show results
April 21, 2012
Antwerp, Belgium
Report by Cedric Lynum, PWTorch reader

The arena was packed with very few empty seats. My friend was wearing the new Daniel Bryan "Yes, Yes, Yes!!" t-shirt and for what I know he was the only one in the building with this shirt; it was not on sale with merchandising. Upon arrival, there was a sea of John Cena green t-shirts and hats visible.

(1) Kofi Kingston & R-Truth beat WWE tag champions Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes) in a non-title match. This match was originally for the titles, but a second referee came to the ring before the opening bell with a note from John Laurinaitis stating that the belts were not on the line. There was a funny spot at the beginning of the match - R-Truth and Primo conversed with "Lil Jimmy" and Primo even had "Lil Jimmy" on his knee. When he kicked "Jimmy," R-Truth took Primo down and commenced a pummeling. The finish came when Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise to finish a great opening match.

(2) David Otunga beat Alex Riley. Otunga did a pose-down in the ring. The lights went down and the music changed. Good shine time for him and should be added to his intro on TV. Solid match that Otunga won after a spinebuster.

(3) Zack Ryder beat Dolph Ziggler. The match started with Dolph feigning throwing his t-shirt to the crowd, but ended up dumping it on the mat outside of the ring. Ryder then did Hulk's tear-off-the-shirt routine and he threw it into the crowd. The crowd was solidly behind Ryder with constant "WOO WOO WOO" chants. Ziggler's in-ring ability was on-display in this match, showing why he is WWE's best bumper. The finish came when Ryder hit the Rough Ryder. In a funny spot, Ziggler was carried from the ring by WWE's big security lady.

(4) Lord Tensai squashed Tyson Kidd. Enough said. If you've seen it on Raw, then you have seen this match.

(5) U.S. champion Santino Marella beat Jack Swagger to retain the U.S. Title. Santino had the third biggest pop of the night. Swagger appeared to win the championship after a distraction from Dolph Ziggler and a gutwrench powerbomb, but a second referee came to the ring to inform the assigned official that Santino's leg was on the ropes. The match was re-started and Santino won after hitting Swagger with the Cobra.

[Intermission]

(6) Bella Twins beat Divas champion Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres. The crowd was on the Eve's case the entire match despite Ryder's tweet to stop the "HOESKI" chants! This match had a couple of comedy spots; one including Beth and Eve being spanked by the Bellas, who then won via small package, which was preceded with Twin Magic.

(7) John Cena beat The Miz. Miz got on the mic first and spoke slowly to the Belgium crowd. He said something in Dutch to invoke a loud reaction from the capacity crowd. John Cena then came out to the second biggest pop of the night. The obligatory "Let's Go Cena / CENA SUCKS!" chants were audible throughout the arena along with a "Fruity Pebbles" chant. Upon hearing this, Cena mocked eating a bowl of cereal. The finish came after an Attitude Adjustment from Cena.

(8) WWE champion C.M. Punk beat Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Title. Without question, this was the match of the night. Punk had the biggest pop of the night. Chairs, kendo sticks, ring steps, and a run-in from David Otunga could not stop Punk from hitting the GTS for the pinfall victory. Great work in this match, further solidifying both wrestlers's claim to being "Best in the World."

Conclusion: Very enthusiastic crowd from start to finish. Good solid card (minus the Tenzai squash). The Smackdown crew is scheduled to come to Brussels in November 2012.

[ Cena Photo Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE ]

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