More Reports From WWE Live Event In Portland: Daniel Bryan Vs. Del Rio, R-Truth Beats Ryback
Here are more reports from Friday's WWE SuperShow in Portland, OR, courtesy of WrestlingINC.com readers David, Joe Bukowski and Carl Polzel.
From Carl Polzel:
The show started with Brad Maddox coming out saying that John Cena would not be wrestling, due to an injury. The crowd booed and Maddox announced a battle royal, to determine who would face Alberto Del Rio in the main event. The battle royal participants were RVD, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Big E. Langston, R-Truth, Christian, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, with Daniel Bryan winning it.
Kane defeated Luke Harper, with run ins by Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan.
AJ Lee retains Divas title over Kaitlyn by submission.
R-Truth defeats Ryback by pinfall.
RVD, Mark Henry, and Christain defeat The Shield by pinfall.
Dolph Ziggler defeats Big E. Langston w/AJ Lee in a no DQ match by pinfall.
CM Punk defeats Curtis Axel w/ Paul Heyman by Pinfall.
Daniel Bryan defeats Alberto Del Rio by DQ.
From Joe Bukowski:
Brad Maddox comes out and explains John Cena is not wrestling due to injury. Offers fans the opportunity to leave during the first two matches.. Instead has impromptu battle royal where the winner will face Alberto Del Rio in the main event. Rob Van Dam, The Shield, Christian, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Ziggler, Big E, Ryback and Daniel Bryan. Shield teams up to clean house, RVD had some nice spots, eliminated during rolling thunder. Daniel Bryan wins by eliminating ryback via skinning the cat – big pop for Bryan all the way through. A ton of "yes" chants.
Kane def. Bray Wyatt after DQ run in by the Wyatt Family. Kane chokeslams everyone. Good reaction for Kane, people really dug the Wyatt gimmick
Paul heyman video promo w. Curtis axle.; Huge pop for punk mentions
Fans vote big e v. Ziggler obvious set up for no DQ
AJ def Kaitlin via Black Widow lock. Divas match OK pop for Kaitlyn huge pop for aj. Pretty gross looking backbreaker by Kaitlyn. Lots of false finishes. Decent match aj wins with black widow (?) Hold forces tap. Winner: AJ. Crowd all over AJ all match – generally well received.
Truth Def Ryback:. Big heat on ryback. People chant "bone saw".. some get the Spider Man reference. All enjoy it. Ryback dominates goes for finisher misses and r truth wins via quick roll up. Crowd pops huge no one sees it coming. Huge heat on ryback leaving.
Big E video promo about dolf.. almost no reaction.
christian rvd mark henry DEF. The Shield. Shield huge heat beating on Christians peeps gimmick, Roman Reigns pantomimes using a telescope and a monocle. Henry gets hot tagged cleans house. When match slows down, lots of distraction causes triple team lots of blind ref work on RVD. Henry hot tag cleans house again. Everyone enters the ring. Everyone hits a finisher. Rvd frog splash on Ambrose for the win.
Dolph def. Big E. Lots and lots of false finishes. No DQ kendo stick used by both. Big E cant pin dolph gets frustrated grabs chair. Huge corner/chair bump for ziggler. Still a 2 count. AJ interference hits Dolph with kendo stick, another 2 count. Aj flips and gets ejected. During this theres a zig zag counter out of nowhere for win. Winner: Dolph Ziggler
CM Punk def. Curtis Axel. Before match Paul Heyman comes out trying to cut a promo about how this match will not be for the title as Curtis Axle will not defend such a prestigious title in Oregon. The entire promo is interrupted numerous times as there was serious heat on Heyman throughout it. Pretty standard match otherwise as we've seen for weeks in which Punk gets ahead and his attempt to get Paul Heyman slow him down. Eventually punk hits the Flying Elbow after a couple attempts. Punk locks in anaconda vice, but heyman distracts ref. Finish occurs when Axle goes for his finisher but is rolled up by Punk for the win. After the match, Punk gets Heyman in the ring but is interrupted by Axle. Punk throws Heyman and hits GTS on Axle. Crowd pops huge. This match did a really good job of telling a story that casual fans could understand. Punk wants to kill Paul, it costs him his opportunities to win matches, but he's crafty enough to use it to outsmart his opponent.
Daniel Bryan def Alberto Del Rio via count out. The crowd honestly seemed exhausted at this point due to the Punk match. They arbitrarily chant yes but there's virtually no heat on Del Rio. During the match del rio grabs the mic to put the crowd on blast for chanting yes so much. This is the only thing that seems to get a reaction.. and it's more yes chant. Del Rio quits match after big Daniel Bryan comeback. Daniel Bryan cuts a promo about being from 2 hours away, and that the next time he comes back he'll be WWE champion.
Most cheers: CM Punk followed by Daniel Bryan
Most Heat: Paul Heyman followed by The Shield
Best Chant: BONE-SAWWWW (ryback)
Best Finish: Truth def. Ryback
Best Match: CM Punk v. Curtis Axel
From David:
Brad Maddox comes out to quit a bit of heat from the hostile crowd, and proceeds to inform the audience that John Cena will not be at tonight's event. Refunds were offered to those who left before the end of the 2nd nights match. The advertised Main Event was a Champion vs. Champion match, Cena vs. Del Rio. Maddox then went on to tell the crowd that the night would start with a Battle Royal, featuring Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, RVD, Mark Henry, Ryback, R-Truth, Christian, and the Shield with the winner taking Cena's place in the Main Event. After a slow start, things picked up, with Ryback eliminating a majority of them until it was just him and Daniel Bryan. It looked as if he would win until Bryan came out of nowhere with a running clothesline to send Ryback over the ropes and get the victory. The Yes! chants were explosive, as expected, since he grew up 2 1/2 hours outside of Portland.
Kane vs. Luke Harper (w the Wyatt Family)
As Erick Rowan and Bray Wyatt watched ringside. Kane was dominated early, but picked up momentum not to long in. At this point Rowan and Wyatt both started distracting Kane ringside, eventually getting Harper a DQ by interference. It looked as if Kane would be getting Bray Wyatt's finsiher, Sister Abigail, but he fought the attack off, chokeslamming both Harper and Rowan, sending an upset Wyatt back to the locker room.
AJ Lee vs Kaitlyn.
This was a surprisingly well done match, that at this point of the night, was the best wrestling the crowd had yet to see. AJ made Kaitlyn tap with her submission move, The Black Widow.
Maddox then announced later in the evening would be a fan's choice match, featuring Dolph Ziggler vs Big E Langston. The choices were either a 2 out of 3 Falls Match or No Disqualification Match. Fans could send there vote via text message.
6 Man Tag Match: The Shield vs RVD, Mark Henry and Christian
Christian was caught singing the Mark Henry theme song lyrics, which was funny if you caught it. This match was very competitive, with Christian getting a lot of heat from a pro Shield crowd. He was roughed up pretty good, until Mark Henry got in the ring and cleared house. It ended with Seth Rollins receiving the World's Strongest Slam followed by a 5 Star Frog Splash for the loss. Christian looked old.
R-Truth vs Ryback
R-Truth came down to some good pop. Ryback came out to a bit of heat, but that was soon forgotten when the match started. He tossed R-Truth around from the ring of the bell. The crowd started some Feed Me More chants, and he actually resorted to some of the older ring antics. As he went for his signature clothesline, R-Truth jumped out of the way, sending Ryback into the turnbuckle, and then rolled him up for a 3 count and the win. Ryback was enraged in disbelief.
Big E Langston (w AJ Lee) vs Dolph Ziggler in a No DQ Match
This might have been the best match of the night. They both went back and forth most of the match, until Big E brought out a Kendo Stick. This set things in his favor. You don't realize how impressive an athlete Big E is until you see him live. He gets amazing air on the Warrior Splash he does. AJ even got her hand on the Kendo Stick, hitting Ziggler square between the eyes. Ziggler pulled off the win with his Zig Zag.
Curtis Axel (w Paul Heyman) vs CM Punk
Heyman tried to cut a promo that no one could hear do to the heat he got. The crowded was relentless on Heyman. Punk came out to a huge pop and went straight after Heyman. The fight started on the outside of the ring in streetfight fashion. Both Punk and Axel looked great, with Punk getting the win after hitting the GTS.
Main Event: Alberto Del Rio vs Daniel Bryan
The pop Daniel Bryan came out to was on a Stone Cold level. His rise has been meteoric at best. Del Rio came out to a lot of heat, prompting him to taunt which direction he'd throw his shirt. He ended up just tossing aside, getting even more heat. This match had all the usual spots with Del Rio even grabbing a mic during the middle of the match and telling the crowd how much he hates the Yes! chants. He told the crowd to chant Si! which turned into a No! It was pretty damn good. Bryan eventually got Del Rio in the Yes! Lock only to have Del Rio grab the mic, hitting Bryan in the head and getting a DQ. Bryan put Del Rio in the submission again after the match, as Del Rio immediately tapped. Bryan picked up the mic and thanked the crowd for being so awesome, then went on to promote the Smackdown that is coming to Portland on December 10th, 2013, and said he hoped he could come back as Champ. The crowd erupted, Yes! chants followed as the show came to a close. All in all, an amazing show, considering no Cena or Orton. Great crowd, great matches.