WWE Live Event Results From State College (1/24): Cena Vs. Orton, Odd Pairing With Del Rio
Thanks to WrestlingINC.com readers Ron Morris & John Eirich for sending in these results for last night's WWE live event at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College:
From Ron Morris:
Attendance seemed a bit down compared to the last time WWE was here late in 2012. Maybe 60% capacity.
The opening match saw Fandango take on Justin Gabriel. Gabriel was over once again while Fandango got half-hearted boos. That changed when he took a powder several times early on. Surprisingly good and balanced match where Fandango took the win.
There was a promo for Alexander Rusev shown which garnered 'USA' chants from the crowd. When Rusev made his entrance nobody seemed to know what to make of him. This might be in part because of his imposing physical presence.
Zack Ryder then came out to a tepid response which is a big change from the previous show. The match itself was fairly boring since Rusev dominated and he's not a good worker. He does do a nifty fallaway slam that turns into a samoan drop, but that's it.
Next was Los Matadores vs 3MB's Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre w/ Jindrr Mahal. I think Heath Slater is criminally underrated as a performer. The guy is entertaining every time. Anyway, the match was pretty good and featured some fun spots including El Torito getting involved.
Next was Ryback vs Kofi Kingston. Say what you will about Ryback, but the guy gets it and he's getting better. Case in point:
- Kofi got a decent reception from the crowd.
- Ryback worked the crowd on the mic, ripping them.
- Kofi then got a big pop and ovation when he won.
That's what you do as a heel, and he did it well. Even so, he did get a face response from a certain portion of the crowd. The match saw Kofi playing face-in-peril until the comeback. I was happy to see Ryback use the backpack stunner, in this case as a reversal for a sleeper hold.
The next match was The Real Americans and Alberto Del Rio vs. The Rhodes Brothers and Rey Mysterio. Teaming Del Rio with the Real Americans seemed like a real conceit to me. At any rate, fun match with Goldust and Cody continuing to work hard. Goldust continues to diversify his offense and hit a nice sunset flip powerbomb. Rey Mysterio wasn't involved quite as much but was WAY over with the crowd. The 619 got a huge pop.
The main event of Orton vs Cena was solid. Randy has that superstar presence and it's even more so with both title belts. Big pop for Cena. Well-worked match which went longer than I thought it would. Several false finishes that saw the match end with the usual low-blow DQ for Orton. The AA then sends them home happy.
Biggest pops:
Rey Mysterio
John Cena
Kofi Kingston
Most heat:
Randy Orton
Ryback
Fandango
From John Eirich:
Hello I attended tonight's WWE Live Event in State College and i just wanted to give a short report of what happened.
First match was Fandango taking on Justin Gabriel, with Fandango getting the win.
Then we got a squash match with Alexander_Rusev taking on Zack Ryder. Short match with Rusev winning with the camel clutch.
After that was a diva's tag team match that the fans could vote on to either be a normal tag or dance contest. The normal tag match won the poll (yay for the fans who want wrestling) so we got Alicia Fox and Aksana vs Funkadactyls, with Cameron getting the victory.
Next out was Los Matadores vs 3MB, a decent match with Los Matadores getting the pin with their double team samoan drop like move.
After a 15 minute intermission we got back into singles competition with Kofi Kingston facing Ryback. Ryback seemed to control the majority of the match, but Kofi was able to come back and hit trouble in paradise for the win.
Following that was a 6 man tag match, the team of The Real Americans and Alberto Del Rio vs Rey Mysterio and The Brotherhood. This was the best match of the night, all 4 worked well together and Goldust just looks amazing in the ring. Rey ended up getting the pin after a 619 / splash from the top.
And finally we have our main event, which you can see on PPV Sunday Night, lol. Randy Orton Vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. A decent length match, but had the typical house show finish. A DQ to end the match, and so Cena wins by DQ.
Well overall I really enjoyed the show, and I can't wait to have WWE come back to this area again.
Ron Morris and John Eirich contributed to this article.