11/24 WWE Starrcade Live Event Report: Unexpected surprise return, two cage matches with different rules, Dean cheered, Nia booed heavily, Braun replaced, Miz back to being heel

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins in a cage at Starrcade 2018 (photo credit James Medley © PWTorch)

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WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT – “STARRCADE”
NOVEMBER 24, 2018
CINCINNATI, OHIO
REPORT BY JAMES MEDLEY, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT


If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!


-Elias opened the show with a performance. He called out Ric Flair. They were joined by some women. Nia Jax, Tamina, Alicia Fox, and Mickie James interrupted. Jax followed up with some horrid singing. Elias told her to shut her mouth. Nia made a joke at Becky Lynch’s expense. Elias called out their opponents.

(1) Sasha Banks & Bayley & Dana Brooke & Ember Moon beat Nia Jax & Tamina & Mickie James & Alicia Fox. Nia got a ton of crowd heat. There were “Ember” chants early. Sasha got a hot-tag after which mayhem broke out and eventually Banks pinned Fox after a Bank Statement.

(2) Drew McIntyre (w/Dolph Ziggler) beat Finn Balor. Drew avoided Coup De Gras and then hit the Claymore Kick for the 1-2-3.

(3) B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) beat The Revival when Axel pinned Dawson. The Revival did some mic work after their intro and talked about being the top tag team on the planet and the “top guys” on Monday Night Raw, so told fans to enjoy themselves. They had no crowd support. B-Team got a decent pop and then got bigger pops as the match progressed.

(4) The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E w/Xavier Woods) to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles. The New Day brought out an inflatable Booty O box.


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-Baron Corbin came out and talked about Braun Strowman, whom he was scheduled to face. He said he lacked toughness by not being there, then issued an open challenge. After a long pause, Bray Wyatt made a surprise return. Fans chanted “Welcome back!” and he looked to be in great shape, thinner and leaner. Wyatt rolled up Corbin for a win. Corbin restarted the match as no DQ and called for Drew and Dolph to come out.

(5) Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler & Baron Corbin beat Bray Wyatt & Finn Balor & Elias. The heels beat down the babyfaces to start. Finn came back with the Coup de Gras on Corbin, then Bray gave Corbin a Sister Abigail, and then got the 1-2-3.

Intermission.

(6) Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka. Charlotte cut a promo before the match. Then Asuka came out. Charlotte won after reversing a roll-up on Asuka. Both women posed afterward.

A Miz TV segment preceded the match. Miz ripped on the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, so after wrestling as a babyface in the Smackdown dark match against Daniel Bryan, he was back to being a heel here. He talked about the history of Starrcade and then introduced Rey Mysterio. Then he introduced Shinsuke Nakamura. Rey mentioned past Starrcade events and got a big pop when he mentioned Eddie Guerrero. Nakamura acted like he doesn’t understand the word “Starrcade.” Miz said they were live, indicating this would air on the WWE Network “Starrcade” special. Miz blamed Rey for costing Team Smackdown the Survivor Series tag team match. Rey said “When my hand goes up” in Spanish.

(7) Rey Mysterio defeated Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when The Miz interfered. Miz tripped Rey leading to the ref calling for the DQ.

Rusev came out with Lana. Lana challenged Miz to make it a tag match.

(8) Rey Mysterio & Rusev (w/Lana) beat Shinsuke Nakamura & Miz. Lana is insanely beautiful in person. Miz and Shinsuke ran away, but were chased down by the faces at the start. Rusev finished Miz with his kick.

There was a long pause as they set up the cage.

(9) A.J. Styles beat Samoa Joe in a cage match. Joe came out first, then Styles. Joe dominated early, but eventually tapped to a Calf Crusher. Apparently cage match rules here are different than usual – no cage exit required.

(9) Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in a cage match to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Dean got a huge hometown pop. He doesn’t enter the cage at first, so Seth chased him down at ringside. He hit Dean with a kendo stick. Dean took it and used it. They went back and forth. Fans (sarcastically?) chanted “This is wrestling!” Seth climbed up the cage over the top as Dean was trying to climb out. Seth kicked the door shut on Dean and then fell to the floor to win. Seth looked at Dean afterward and said “I’m sorry.” When Dean left, he went after the camera man.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Fun evening, nothing special, though. The lower bowl and floor were pretty full, and the upper deck was weak with a lot tapped off. All of the upper deck behind the hard cam side of the arena was tapped off.

BEST POPS: Bray Wyatt, Dean, Sasha, Balor.

MOST HEAT: Jax


If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!


RELATED: 11/23 Stardome in Tokyo, Japan: Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki vs. AZM & Konami

2 Comments on 11/24 WWE Starrcade Live Event Report: Unexpected surprise return, two cage matches with different rules, Dean cheered, Nia booed heavily, Braun replaced, Miz back to being heel

  1. Do you even edit this anymore?? “(4) The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E w/Xavier Woods) to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles. The New Day brought out an inflatable Booty O box. Big E pinned Sheamus.” “(5) Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler & Baron Corbin beat Bray Wyatt & Finn Balor & Elias. The heels beat down the babyfaces to start. Finn came back with the Coup de Gras on Corbin, then Bray gave Corbin a Sister Abigail, and then got the 1-2-3.” Jesus Christ…..

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