{"id":53237,"date":"2017-12-29T12:52:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T18:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=53237"},"modified":"2017-12-29T12:52:17","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T18:52:17","slug":"12-28-wwe-hartford-conn-cena-vs-reigns-seth-jordan-vs-bar-hardy-vs-bray-enzo-asuka-balor-joe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/12\/29\/12-28-wwe-hartford-conn-cena-vs-reigns-seth-jordan-vs-bar-hardy-vs-bray-enzo-asuka-balor-joe\/","title":{"rendered":"12\/28 WWE in Hartford, Conn.: Cena vs. Reigns, Seth &#038; Jordan vs. The Bar, Hardy vs. Bray, Enzo, Asuka, Balor, Joe"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3284979849\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT<br \/>\nDECEMBER 28, 2017<br \/>\nHARTFORD, CONN. AT THE XL CENTER<br \/>\nREPORT BY JAY C., PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT<\/h3>\n<p>Definitely not a sell out.\u00a0 A couple sections of the arena (including the upper section behind the entrance way) was tarped off.\u00a0 I\u2019d guess that roughly 85 percent of the arena was available for seating but the arena was maybe 65% full.\u00a0 Lots of scattered seats throughout.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen a sellout there but usually lots more people for Raw.<\/p>\n<p>(1)\u00a0Titus O\u2019Neil &amp; Apollo Crews &amp; Heath Slater &amp; Rhyno &amp; Goldust defeated The Revival &amp; The Miztourage &amp; Curt Hawkins. Rhyno won with the spinebuster to Hawkins. Personally disappointed there was no Gore, but I\u2019m not even sure that he does that move anymore.<\/p>\n<p>(2) Enzo Amore defeated Kalisto to retain the Cruiserweight Title. Enzo\u2019s entrance is still over huge, but after burying Hartford in his promo, the crowd booed and was solidly behind Kalisto.\u00a0 Also of note, he told the crowd that we are not allowed to spell his word out with him and then he spelled &#8220;SAWFT&#8221; again really fast.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if he\u2019s ever done that on TV, but I doubt it, and I think it would help to clearly establish him as a heel.<\/p>\n<p>(3) Sonya Deville &amp; Mandy Rose defeated Sasha Banks &amp; Bayley. Sasha &amp; Bayley were over but the crowd was quiet for Absolution.\u00a0 Can\u2019t remember the finish.\u00a0 There was no Paige (likely due to an injury\/scare reportedly suffered the previous night).<\/p>\n<p>(4) Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt.\u00a0 Both guys received decent pops.\u00a0 Lots of delete chants.\u00a0 Would\u2019ve loved to hear a little Matt on the mic, but we did hear him do his laugh during the match.<\/p>\n<p>Elias segment. Elias and the Good Brothers came out to entertain.\u00a0 They were interrupted by Kane and then sang for him, insulting him and Kane would have none of it.\u00a0 He took them out and stood tall.\u00a0 Elias was most definitely over and got a loud response to his \u201cWho wants to walk with Elias?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(5) Seth Rollins &amp; Jason Jordan defeated Sheamus &amp; Cesaro to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles in a cage\u00a0. Rollins received the loudest ovation of the night at this point.\u00a0 Seth came out wearing Bayley wristbands.\u00a0 Crowd was quiet for Jordan. Certainly match of the night.\u00a0 Move of the night saw Rollins dive off the top of the cage onto Sheamus &amp; Cesaro.\u00a0 Biggest reaction of anything on the show.\u00a0 Creative finish saw Rollins escape while Jordan was left inside.\u00a0 Rollins climbed back in and then Jordan then escaped while Rollins was left inside.\u00a0 Sheamus and Cesaro got the better of Rollins and they started to escape.\u00a0 Cesaro made it out while Jordan stopped Sheamus from hitting the floor by putting Sheamus on his shoulders while Rollins climbed out.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t see many of Jordan\u2019s signature moves that you see on Raw but he got a suplex in there.\u00a0 Good stuff.<\/p>\n<p>INTERMISSION<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3841417953\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>(6) Asuka &amp; Dana Brooke defeated Women\u2019s Champion Alexa Bliss &amp; Nia Jax.\u00a0 Alexa tapped to Asuka.\u00a0 I thought the crowd of seemingly casual fans and parents with children wouldn\u2019t know Asuka, but she got a decent reaction.<\/p>\n<p>(7) Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor.\u00a0 Balor passed out to the Coquina Clutch.\u00a0 Both guys were over but Finn more so.\u00a0 Lots of \u201cLet\u2019s go Balor\/Let\u2019s go Joe\u201d chants throughout.\u00a0 Not sure who got the loudest pop so far between Finn and Seth.\u00a0 Maybe Seth slightly more.<\/p>\n<p>(8) Roman Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the Intercontinental Title.\u00a0 While there were some boos. Cena got more of a pop than I\u2019ve ever heard at the XL Center and the \u201cJohn Cena sucks\u201d singalong seems to be more out of respect\/tradition now similar to Kurt Angle\u2019s \u201cYou Suck.\u201d\u00a0 As for Reigns, he was mostly booed during his entrance and throughout the match, although there was a decent pop when he won with the spear.\u00a0 Interesting.\u00a0 Perhaps because of the impact of the move which is fun to see.\u00a0 Plus, the match was pretty good.\u00a0 Most of the crowd started to file out immediately after the pin, but those who stuck around saw Cena get up to raise Roman\u2019s hand.\u00a0 We left after this, but it can be assumed that one or both of them stayed around to shake hands with the fans.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FINAL NOTES:<\/strong> I thought I heard that they didn\u2019t use Bayley\u2019s inflatable tube men at house shows, but they did here&#8230;\u00a0The show ran nearly 3.5 hours, 7:30 to maybe quarter to 11:00 and had a great pace.\u00a0 When one match ends, the ring announcer is right in there for the next contest.\u00a0 There were, of course, a few video packages disbursed throughout, but none too long except for when setting up the cage.\u00a0 You somewhat miss the promos and other segments that come with a Raw, but the show doesn\u2019t feel like as much of a chore to sit through&#8230;\u00a0For the main event they turned off the video screen above the ring&#8230;\u00a0For the second time, I took a friend with me who used to be a huge fan but hasn\u2019t watched wrestling consistently in about ten years.\u00a0 Last time, he cheered Roman and questioned why most of the fans seem to cheer him then boo. LOL.\u00a0 This time (I believe out of respect for Cena), he booed Roman. Interesting to see&#8230;\u00a0Hartford does not like Reigns.\u00a0 As stated above, mostly boos for him.\u00a0 Personally, I respect him.\u00a0 He has great matches and his promos have gotten decent, but he carries himself in such a smug, brash, and cocky way that I couldn\u2019t help but boo him as hard as I could.\u00a0 He just has this \u201cI\u2019m better than you\u201d look.\u00a0 Such a turn off.\u00a0 As Wade says, \u201cToo cool for school\u201d&#8230;\u00a0Great night overall.\u00a0 But while I had a good time, I think I\u2019ll go back to just attending televised events where you get more for your money (this was my first house show since \u201993; started attending Raw in \u201809) as most of the crowd was quiet with the exception of those on the floor and in front row sections.\u00a0 Usually a much more lively crowd for Raw.\u00a0 This may have just been people who bought their children tickets for Christmas.\u00a0 FYI, we paid $59 each for two tickets and were at the beginning (section C) of the upper (mid?) level&#8230;\u00a0They announced several times that they\u2019re returning April 16, for Raw, a week after Mania.\u00a0 Tickets went on sale after\u00a0the show&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>If you attend a live event for any pro wrestling event, please send a report like the one above to <a href=\"mailto:pwtorch@pwtorch.com\">pwtorch@pwtorch.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS REPORT:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/12\/29\/12-28-wwe-pittsburgh-pa-tye-tests-heel-role-becky-lynch-back-naomi-vs-riott-squad-styles-vs-mahal-cage-breezago-vs-bludgeon\/\">12\/28 WWE in Pittsburgh, Pa.: Tye tests heel role, Becky Lynch back with Naomi vs. Riott Squad, Styles vs. Mahal in cage, Breezago vs. Bludgeon<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2276942616\"><div id=\"pwtor-2856773519\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT DECEMBER 28, 2017 HARTFORD, CONN. AT THE XL CENTER REPORT BY JAY C., PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT Definitely not a sell out.\u00a0 A couple sections of the arena (including the upper section behind <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/12\/29\/12-28-wwe-hartford-conn-cena-vs-reigns-seth-jordan-vs-bar-hardy-vs-bray-enzo-asuka-balor-joe\/\" title=\"12\/28 WWE in Hartford, Conn.: Cena vs. Reigns, Seth &#038; Jordan vs. The Bar, Hardy vs. Bray, Enzo, Asuka, Balor, Joe\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-results","category-results_houseshows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/BayleyBillie_3x2TG.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53238,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53237\/revisions\/53238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}