SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
OCTOBER 22, 2019
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
REPORT BY BRETT CLARK, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
There were various changes to the card after the Xavier Woods injury the previous night. It made for a better show.
(1) Daniel Bryan beat Luke Harper in 15:00. Good Pop for Bryan. Early comedy spots really helped the crowd to tune into the match. After getting booed early, Harper eventually had the crowd eating out of his hands. After dishing out punishment to Bryan, he’d stand up in the corner and clap to the audience, who started laughing and clapping back to his antics. Fun match with plenty of back and forth action on the last few minutes. Bryan won with his standard knee finisher.
-Up next, a promo by Daniel Vidot, a Former NRL (Rugby League) player. She was interrupted by Sami Zayn, who did his Brisbane bashing schtick. Crowd retaliated with “D—head” chants. After trash-talking Vidot’s mother, Vidot gave Sami a thrashing, finishing him off with a move that was F5 x Attitude Adjustment.
(2) The Kabuki Warriors beat The Iiconics and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville in 15:00. Good pop for Iiconics, who were the babyfaces in this match. Asuka and Royce started off. Royce took all of the heat during the match from all of the heels. Kaye actually looked good in her highlighted spots. Some nice double-team spots by both women. The heels never faced off at all during the match. The crowd was very happy when Royce and Rose squared off, with plenty of “cat-calling” (whistling). It was a very fast and confusing finish, with Asuka getting the pin on Royce, after a double-team move that I haven’t seen before (more or less a sneak attack).
(3) The New Day (Kofi & Big E) & Buddy Murphy beat The Revival & Randy Orton. We Aussies are dumb. Five minute intro for Orton and the crowd loved him. He received a bigger pop than Bryan. He is a heel, people! The pop for New Day was a little disappointing. Buddy came out to “polite” cheers. All intros took 15 Minutes. Dash & Dawson were great live. Buddy and Dash started off, with Buddy getting the best of the exchanges. Dawson tagged in briefly, until Big E tagged in. Then big “New Day Rocks” chants started. Dawson wanted out, but in a funny spot ran into Big E, who fell backwards, without losing his feet, tried balancing himself for 30 seconds whilst Dawson looked on puzzled, only to have Big E start spanking his butt to the “New Day Rocks” chant. Kofi tagged in, Dawson stopped him and tagged in Orton. Big pop from the crowd. Orton stalked Kofi as only he can do (methodically). Kofi got the better of their exchanges and let rip with some loud chops. Dash ran in to stop him, Kofi whipped him into Orton and chopped him. Dawson came in and cops the same treatment before RKO takes over on Kofi. Dawson tagged in and Kofi started “feeling the power” with his gyrations and tags. Buddy, who cleaned house. (Orton simply jumped to the floor rather than being knocked down). Buddy climbed to the top rope where he was pushed off by Orton, behind the ref’s back. Dawson was showing the ref that there was sweat on the turnbuckle, which made Buddy slip (funny spot). All three heels took turns at beating up Buddy. Dawson interrupted an attempted comeback, but ended up crotching himself in the corner, allowing Big E to get the tag and clean house. Kofi got a tag and dove on The Revival on the outside. Then came an RKO out of nowhere on Big E. Trouble in Paradise on Dawson, Dash nailed Kofi from behind. Some back and forth until Dash took a “legit” bad knock hitting his chin on the back of Kofi’s head. Buddy tagged in and hit Dash who appeared to spit two teeth out (cool spot), then finished him off for the three count. It was a great match. Afterwards, Buddy left the ring, only for the New Day to call him back in for some dancing. Buddy watched both Big E & Kofi “do their thing,” but seemed reluctant to joining in, before showing off his break dancing skills. Great entertainment, sorry wrestling.
Intermission.
(4) Nakamura beat Ali in 10:00. Huge boos for Sami. Very little reaction for both Nakamura and Ali. It was hard to gauge over the music which was overly loud for their entrances. Duelling “Nakamura/Ali” chants as the match got underway. Nakamura is a very unusual dude. Very sedate start to the match. Nakamura got the best of things early before some acrobatics by Ali. Zayn got involved distracting Ali, then beat him up behind the ref’s back, allowing Nakamura to dominate for most of the match. Then a comeback with several near falls, finally went for 450. Nakamura moved, Ali rolled through and landed on his feet in time to catch a Kinshasa. Good night nurse, 1, 2, 3. Surprisingly short match. Huge reaction for Zayn. Good applause for Ali after the match as he left the ring.
(5) Bayley beat Charlotte in 13:00. This was the fourth in a row for Little Naitch as ref. (Good payday for him?) Good pop for Charlotte, although I expected better due to her star power. No theatrics or interaction with the crowd from her, making me think she would be the heel. Even Little Naitch opened the ropes for her. All that changed as Bayley’s music started. She didn’t appear on the ramp and suddenly attacked Charlotte from behind. Charlotte ended up getting on top and Bayley bailed, picked up her belt, and ran up the ramp. Charlotte caught her and smashed her from behind. Back in the ring, there was an interesting set of moves with Bayley face down between Charlotte’s legs, flipping and rolling around in that position for near falls for about a minute. Yank of the hair to the mat by Bayley helped her get control. I LOVE her mean streak. (Side Note: Walking to the building I asked my ten year old if he thought the crowd would sing Bayley’s song tonight (being the song from NXT Takeover London Nia Jax where the crowd sang “Hey Bayley, oo ah, I wanna know, would you be my girl”), now that she’s a heel. He didn’t think they would.) The crown started singing Bayley’s song (of course, I joined in, but son didn’t). She threw Charlotte out of the ring and grabbed a mic saying “Hey Brisbane, I don’t wanna be your stupid girl.” Then she went back to kicking Charlotte. Very funny spot. Back in the ring, Bayley started showing off, doing the Flair Strut. Then chops from Charlotte, followed by a fallaway slam. A sharpshooter by Charlotte, Bayley to the ropes, release and Strut by Charlotte, and some more sustained offense. Set up for figure-four, push-off by Bayley who floored Charlotte. Loud “Charlotte” chants. Another figure-four attempt, roll up by Bayley with feet on the corner ropes, missed by Little Naitch, who counted the three for a Bayley win. Great match, I love Bayley as a heel.
(6) Roman Reigns beat Rowan in 25:00. Biggest Pop of the night for Reigns. Seems that Brisbane loves him. Big cheers from my son and I. He took his time and shook hands with the fans on the way to the ring, He stopped and talked to a few kids as well. Biggest boos of the night for Rowan who kept that heat for the entire match. Unlike Harper earlier, he couldn’t turn the crowd. Early burst from Roman, but turned quickly by Rowan who dominated most of the match. He used stairs and kendo sticks as weapons. Comebacks kept getting stopped by Rowan who through a chair into the ring. At one stage, Rowan had Roman in the corner and stopped punching him in the head at nine, just to annoy the counting crowd. Finally a “nut shot” by Roman, then some chairs to the back swung things his way (did he have to cheat?). He played to the crowd only to turn into a face full of stairs. Another comeback, one back elbow in the corner, the Samoan Drop. Both men were slow to their feet. A missed Superman punch by Roman, missed powerbomb by Rowan. Superman punch for two count. Roman grabbed a table form under the ring to the delight of the crowd who’d been asking for tables since the first minute of the match. As Roman set the table up in the corner, Luke Harper came out. The crowd started chanting for Daniel Bryan. Roman doesn’t need him. After a brief beat down, he came back with a Superman Punch to Harper, tossed him out of the ring, and speared Rowan through the table for the three count. The crowd went home happy.
Biggest Pops: Reigns, Orton, Bryan, IIconics, Murphy.
Biggest Boos: Rowan, Zayn.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: 10/19 WWE in Trenton, N.J.: Seth vs. The Fiend headlines, plus Becky vs. Lacey vs. Natalya, Ricochet vs. Andrade, Cesaro vs. Aleister, Braun vs. Corbin, more
Corrections- the crowd absolutely did Not go home happy. Not sure where this guy found people who ‘popped’, but the groan for erick rowan in the main event was the loudest reaction all night.