Live Report: WWE Augusta, Maine July 12, 2019

For the third year in a row the WWE returned to the Augusta Civic Center for a night of wrestling.  WWE comes to Maine at least once every year and typically it's in Portland and Bangor but they go through spurts running in Augusta: 1996, 2002 & 2003, 2012 & 2013, and 2017 - current.  It's a great venue for wrestling, WWE even had a TV taping here back on December 15, 1993, and my favorite part is that it is only twenty minutes from my house.

In total five of us went to the show, my son Canaan, cousin Paul, my nephew AJ who is 8 years old and attending his first ever wrestling show, and for the first time since June 4, 1989, my Dad.   We grabbed some dinner at the KFC before the show.  If you get a chance try to Cheetoh's Popcorn Chicken, holy cow it's good!

We got the venue and our seats, we have a great view of the ring and entrance way and could appreciate all the nights festivities.  As it was AJ's first show I bought him something from the merchandise table, he wanted a hat and with three to chose from, Cena, Reigns and Becky Lynch he went with The Man.

Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder defeated Raw Tag Team Champions: The Revival: Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder by disqualification at 5:25

I was the most excited to see The Revival tonight, it was my first time seeing them live and they have a reputation of putting on killer house show matches.  Tonight was not one of them.  The match with the former Major Brothers was just okay and after Ryder hit Rough Ryder on Dash and Dawson pulled the referee out before he could complete the three count with generate the DQ.  This frustrates me to no end as on TV or PPV the ref never calls for the bell.

The Viking Raiders came down and attacked Hawkins and Ryder with The Revival.  The Usos ran out and made the save which lead to...

The Usos: Jimmy & Jey and Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder defeated Raw Tag Team Champions: The Revival: Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder and The Viking Raiders: Ivar & Erik at 9:29

The Revival wanted no part of this match but were coerced into it by the Vikings.  This was a much better match than the opening one.  After several minutes we got one of those fantastic everyone takes turn hitting a high spot on someone spots and that lead to and Uso pinning Dash after a splash from the top rope.

No Way Joe pinned Mojo Rawley at 3:25

Mojo sorta looks like and indy jobber with his black MVP style gear and lightning face paint.  This match felt longer than it was but the pin came out of no where with a quick roll up.

Mojo cut a promo calling Augusta Disgusta, he's not wrong, and saying he's not going down like and issued and open challenge which lead to...

Titus O'Neil pinned Mojo Rawley in 24 seconds

Mojo jumped Titus as he got in the ring beating him down in the corner.  The ref made Rawley step back allowing Titus to get up and he called for the bell.  Not to long later we got Clash of the Titus and a three count

Mojo cut another promo, once again saying he wasn't going down like that.  These promo's were actually quite hilarious and well done.  Braun Strowman answered the challenge this time.  After Braun got in the ring Mojo said he challenged any man and as Braun is a monster he can't answer the challenge.  Mojo then tried to attack Braun and...

Braun Strowman pinned Mojo Rawley in 13 seconds

Not much to say, he hit him a couple times and nailed Mojo with the powerslam for the pin.  Braun was scheduled to wrestle Bobby Lashley tonight but he didn't appear.  The fans were super pumped to see Braun.  After the match he signed a lot of autographs at ringside making his way to the back.  It's nice to see the wrestlers doing that.

The first two matches lead to five matches which was half the card

Dana Brooke & Naomi defeated Tamina & Sara Logan at 7:32

Talk about two throw together tag teams, but I enjoyed the match and it's all thanks for Dana Brooke.  She spent about five minutes in the ring, looked awesome on offense with some great acrobatic moves and sold her ass off on defense.  I would love to see her on TV for more than a minute in her matches.

Dana timed her hot tag to Naomi perfectly who came in and cleaned house getting the pin on Tamina after a split-leg and moonsault.  When Naomi landed her knee struck Tamina right directly in the face, it was wicked!  Naomi knew straight away something was wrong and after the three count alerted the referee who looked at Tamina and threw up the X.

She lay in the ring for several minutes while medical staff attended to her.  She eventually left the ring on her own power but it was nasty.  I'm glad she appears to be okay.

United States Champion: Ricochet pinned Cesaro at 11:13

This was a great match as I expected it to be.  The action was fast paced with Ricochet showing off his high flying mastery and Cesaro his technical prowess and uncanny strength.  Ricochet got the pin after a standing shooting star press.

Cedric Alexander pinned Robert Roode at 12:44

Another really good match that was far more competitive than I thought it would be, but with Cedric getting the clean pin after a lumbar check it appears that he is in for a push.  He hasn't done much of anything since leaving 205 Live for Raw brand.

Lacey Evans pinned Nattie Neidhart at the 7 minute mark

My Dad was super excited to see Lacey Evans, he's a big fan.  Me not so much, but she is getting better and look good.  I really think that Natayla needs to leave the promotion and wrestle elsewhere.  Right now all she does is put people over, which is fine but I think she could do well for herself on the indies or even in AEW or Impact.

"Street Fight" WWE Universal Champion: Seth Rollins pinned Baron Corbin at 16:46

This was billed as an Augusta Street Fight, but I've seen actual street fights in Augusta that were better than this.  They barely fought outside the ring, the didn't even break the rules and when the kendo stick was introduced Corbin gave Rollins two weak ass shots across the back that could barely be heard over Corbin stomping his feet, same thing for the single chair shot the back that made a barely audible "tink" upon impact.

Yes they broke two tables but they were pre-cut and it was not impressive.  Just don't have a street fight if this is what you are going to do.  Just have a normal match give us a good wrestling display.  This is precisely what turns me off to WWE house shows, when the main event talent just goes through the motions.  These two guys looked like they were rehearsing at the PC in front of no one.  Rollins pinned Corbin after a curb stump.

In the end though we all had a good time and AJ loved the show, and that's all that really matters, that the 8 year old had fun and his first live wrestling experience was a positive one.

WWE is returning to Bangor and Portland at the end of August, I will not be going. Not because of this show but because of work and other plans I have.

I took all the photos with my phone and the match times are from @CPGOAT on twitter.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Until next time!

WWE Smackdown Live Report 7/9/2018

Monday night July 9th my son, cousin, and I attended the WWE Smackdown Live house show in Augusta, Maine.  The reason for the lateness of this report was that the following morning we headed out of town for the rest of the week camping and I'm just now getting some internet to write this.

The Augusta Civic Center was not sold out but there was a few thousand people in attendance.  My wrestling friends Roy, Cheryl, Phil, and Alex also went to the show, I'm sure there were a bunch of other people that I know from wrestling that were also there.

Let's get to the matches:

Triple Threat Match
United States Champion: Jeff Hardy defeated Samoa Joe & The Miz

The Miz did his beast Rick Rude impersonation calling us Augusta sweathogs and asking us to keep the noise down while he took off his robe.  Solid opening match that saw Hardy get the pin after a twist of fate and a standing splash on Miz.

Andrade "Cien" Almas with Zelina Vega pinned Sin Cara

Photo credit Philster

This match was great!  They gave us a good lucha style match with fast paced action and Sin Cara displaying some impressive aerial offense with a few dives to the floor.  This was probably the best match of the night!  I haven't thought much of Sin Cara but if he was given to chance to have longer matches like this many people would think differently of him.  Almas got the pin with his DDT finisher.

Photo credit Philster

Nikki Cross & Becky Lynch defeated The IIconics: Billy Kaye & Peyton Royce

Photo credit Philster

Cross was a surprise as she hasn't officially been called up yet to the main roster from NXT.  The IIconics came out and insulted us all before making their way to the ring.  Decent match where Nikki took the majority of the heat before making the hot tag to Becky.  Finish came when Becky submitted Peyton with the disarmer

Rusev with Aiden English submitted Tye Dillinger

Dillinger was a surprise and had he not been facing Rusev I think he would have been tremendously over.  He was getting some good "10" chants until Rusev came out.  Short solid match with Rusev winning with the Accolade.

Photo credit Philster

Six Man Tag
New Day: Big E, Xavier Woods, & Kofi Kingston defeated Sanity: Eric Young, Killian Dain, & Alexander Wolfe

I was excited to see this as a six man.  It was a good match, with expected New Day antics and comedy spots.  Canaan wanted to see a Trouble in Paradise badly, and he got one post match.

Tag Team Champions: Bludgeon Brothers: Haper & Rowan defeated The Club: Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

This was the first match after intermission and it was bad.  Rowan worked most of the match for his team and he's just not that good.  Anderson took the fall for his team.

Women's Champion: Carmella pinned Naomi

Just terrible

Photo credit Philster

No Disqualification
WWE Champion: AJ Styles pinned Shinsuke Nakamura

This was a great match and I'm so happy that I got to see these two wrestle each other live.  It was no five star classic but they worked hard and it was extremely entertaining.  This was also the match I finally found the right setting to get okay pictures on my phone.

They used the standard house show weapons, table, chairs, and kendo stick.  Styles got the pin after a phenomenal forearm.

All in all this was a decent show with the top two matches being Almas vs. Sin Cara and AJ vs. Nakamura and the worst matches being the Tag Team and Women's title matches.  One thing that bothers me the most about house show title defenses is that I know I'm not going to see one so the finish of the match becomes a non-factor.

In the case of the AJ vs. Nakamura match it was exceptionally annoying, being a No Disqualification match the only possible outcome is AJ defeating Nakamura by pinfall or submission.

One of the coolest things for me was there were several wrestlers I had never seen wrestle in person before.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

WWE Live Report 8/12/2017 Augusta, Maine

When the WWE comes to town about 10 miles from your home and you're a lifelong wrestling fan, you go! A few weeks out I went to the Augusta Civic Center box office to pick up a couple of $25 tickets to avoid the ticketmaster fees.  We were in section 24 right in the front row on the aisle and they were fantastic seats.

This is Canaan's fifth WWE event and my 36th.  Rating overall definitely not the best show I've ever been to for the company, but it was a fun above average show.  The civic center was close to full, I'd wager about 4,000 fans, and they were into it which always makes it better.

One of the things that I liked the most about the house shows when I was younger was that the set up was simply, ring in the center of the venue, spotlights and the house public address system.  No lighting set up, no entrance set, just bare bones like the footage I used to watch on Coliseum Home Video or Prime Time Wrestling.

In 2012 when they started adding the set with mini titantron, lighting rigs, and sound system it was when they jacked the ticket prices up from $55 to $95 on the first few rows.  I was super annoyed because it priced me out of trying to buy front row for my son and I. Last night was the first I night I truly enjoyed those additions.

Ring announcer Tom Rome was the host for the evening and from when we got through the doors just past 6:30pm until the show started at 7:30pm they played various clips on the tron from top 10 lists to retro wrestling moments.  Also Rome did various live spots from around the building about that nights show and the upcoming SummerSlam.  It really helped pass the time until the show started, which was promptly at 7:30pm.

The Hardy Boys: Matt & Jeff and Finn Balor defeated The Club: Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows and Elias Sampson

Big pop for this opening trio, all guys my son wanted to see the most at once.  Hardy's got some delete chants in showing that even the fans in Maine know what up with the Broken.  Samson sat on a stool at the top of the entrance ramp singing a song.  At one point when he was booed loudly he told the crowd to quiet down or he'd have to start over.

Decent match, all the guys worked hard, probably my favorite match of the night.  The good guys for the win when Balor hit the coup de gras on Anderson for the three count.

Goldust pinned R-Truth

I was excited to see Goldust, probably the only one.  I've always been a fan of Dustin/Goldust because he's really good in the ring and historically he's put on some pretty fantastic matches on house shows.  This one lasted two minutes when he pinned Truth with his feet on the ropes.
 

Interesting note, the first ever WWE show I went to at the Augusta Civic Center in March 1996 and Goldust was on the card.

Cruiserweight Champion: Neville submitted Tozawa

This was a good match, I was hoping we'd get a title change.  I really want to witness a house show title change.  Someday it will happen!  The finish came when Tozawa missed his senton and Neville locked on his submission finisher for the win.

Big Cass beat up Enzo Amore

This was not a match, there was no referee in the ring.  Enzo came out and did his typical microphone work, called out Big Cass.  Cass came out and after a minute layed out Enzo.  That was it, both guys went to the back after.

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated Curtis Axle & Bo Dallas

For some reason the order of introductions was Seth Rollins, Axle & Dallas, and then Ambrose.  I'm pretty sure that they were trying to telegraph the alleged tension between Rollins and Ambrose if they are going to actually team together at SummerSlam.  They didn't relay that message well.

Rollins, Axle, and Dallas all looked great, Ambrose was is typical lazy self going through the motions.  His neckbreaker consists of facing a guy grabbing a him by the head and and rotating them both around and they both fall flat on their backs and during the fall Ambrose lets go of the guy.  Somehow, even though they both do the same thing taking the same back bump it only hurts the other guy and Ambrose jumps up.

John Cena pinned Rusev

This SmackDown feature match was the last prior to intermission.  That is also a decent match, better than I expected it to be.  Cena was over big time I can only recall a small smattering of Cena Sucks chants.  This match featured a ref bump and then a low blow by Rusev.  He then tried to hit Cena with the belt but Cena nailed and AA for the pin.

Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke & Mickie James defeated Nia Jax, Emma, & Raw Women's Champion: Alexa Bliss

Mickie James substituted for the injured Bayley.  Sasha Banks got the biggest reaction.  I'm a fan of almost all these ladies and this is the first time I've seen four of them.  Once a again a decent match with everyone putting in a great effort.  It's the best of seen Dana Brooke in the ring to date.

The finish came when Sasha showed us all just how flexible Emma was submitting her to the Bank Statement.

Tag Team Champions: Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews

This was a title match that I had no belief that title would change hands.  I like the team of Sheamus and Cesaro, they've become and actual team, wearing similar outfits to the ring, creating signature entrance and even tandem moves.  They just need a name.

Sheamus brogue kicked Apollo Crews into unconsciousness for the three count.

Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman

Somehow Strowman is bigger in person than on TV.  I mean he really is a mountain of a man.  I know I sounds like a broken record but, this match was better than I thought it would be.  I was actually kind of impressed with Reigns tonight and Strowman has consistently surprised me with just how good he is in the ring for a man of his size.

Braun was disqualified when he took the ring steps and struck Reigns.  Post match he continued the beat down of Reigns hitting him with the stairs and tossing him into the ring post before putting him back in the ring.  Braun then slide a table into the ring setting it up in the corner.  Of course, Reigns eventually made a comeback and speared Braun through the table much to the delight of the crowd.

Like I said the fans were really into the match, the booed the bad guys and cheered the good guys just like there were supposed to.  Cena got nothing but love and even Reigns was heavily cheered.  Again definitely not the best house show I've ever been took but it was better than average.  Our seats were great and I will buy those in the future.

I took all the pictures with my phone, the lighting is never good for pictures at wrestling but these are some of the better shots.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page.

Later Readers!

For those wondering...

March 1, 1996 Civic Center , Augusta, ME

The Godwinns: Henry & Phinneas defeated The Bodydonnas: Skip & Zip with Sunny
Duke “The Dumpster” Drose pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley
“The Ringmaster” Steve Austin pinned Marty Jannetty

Owen Hart pinned Scott Taylor (sub. for Yokozuna) following an enzuiguri

Savio Vega (sub. for Razor Ramon) defeated Intercontinental Champion: Goldust via count-out when he walked to the back

The 1-2-3 Kid pinned Bob Holly at the 10-second mark with a spin kick

Ahmed Johnson defeated Tatanka
World Champion: Bret “The Hitman” Hart defeated the Undertaker via count-out when Goldust interfered piledriving Taker on the floor; Diesel was also scheduled to be part of the match, making it a 3-way, but was unable to wrestle due to injury

“Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels pinned “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith with sweet chin music