For the results themselves, please go to PWTorch and check out the detailed results I submitted to them earlier. PWTorch Report
This is more of a blog about the experience itself and some of the key things I noticed. I'll also be including some insightful comments from my family who attended the show, including my brother-in-law, nephews, father, and best friend/brother.
We arrived at the PPG Paints Arena around 6:00pm. Thankfully, I had gotten a parking space at the parking garage attached to the arena. Unfortunately, the wind blowing into the garage created a wind tunnel that dropped the temperature by about 10-15 degrees. While outside, I noticed a lot of people wearing general wrestling gear: Bullet Club, AJ Styles, Undisputed Era, The Man, etc. The great thing about going to a wrestling event is the culture of wrestling fans you are surrounded by (more on this later).
Once we got inside of the building (roughly around 6:20pm), it was easy to find our seats from there. The merchandise stands were a little busy. And as you can see below, they were selling a ton of merch.
The production for a TV taping are amazing compared to the last time I was at an actual TV taping 16 years ago (not counting 2 PPVs I attended since then). The LED screens are truly massive and impressive.
The cool and hilarious thing about this show was that I was not only taking my blood family with me but my oldest and closest friend with me as well. He had never been to a wrestling event before this, and I was determined to make sure I corrected this injustice. The hilarious part was that his oldest brother and his wife were just two or three rows below us in the same section. So, that became an awesome part of the experience for him as well.
Speaking of my friend, the match that started the 205 Live tapings (Lio Rush vs. Kalisto) won him over for the night. The match itself entertained the hell out of him (and our group), but the Salida del Sol finisher from Kalisto just absolutely captivated him. We had been talking about Cruiserweights in the car and in the arena, but I was glad to see that joy in his face from seeing what the modern Cruiserweights could do.
The negative part of 205 Live was the selling of Drew Gulak from what our group discussed. The match with Tozawa got better towards the end when Gulak decided to start selling what Tozawa was handing out, but my friend (a non-regular viewer) was openly criticizing Gulak's lack of desire to sell anything Tozawa was doing or even selling his application of his own submission holds. This was probably the worst match of the night that had a good bit of time.
The New Day have a magnetism about them in the arena. These guys just know how to work a crowd either in the ring or on the mic. I'm glad I got to see them even just cutting a promo. The hilarious thing about this was that as they were going over the odds of them winning the Royal Rumble, they went into "Steiner Math." I had mentioned the Steiner promo earlier that weekend on Facebook when discussing the Steiner vs. Swoggle match for WrestleMania 35 weekend and in a discussion in the car. So, we all laughed hard at the irony that that promo was mentioned directly on this night.
Samoa Joe's physicality is a sight to behold in person. Joe didn't get the biggest pop from the crowd, but the Joe chants were there. Respect to the Samoan Submission Machine. As for Jeff Hardy, a great ovation for him when he came out. Hardy was one of the most over acts of the night with a lot of fans clapping along with his theme.
Naomi's entrance is something that I don't believe WWE does a good enough job showcasing on their TV programs. It wasn't just the neon glow-in-the-dark dance, but the light show that goes on behind her once the theme kicks into high gear that I feel WWE needs to do better at showing off.
John Cena still gets a reaction. I know I've gone on record for saying that just getting a reaction is not always a positive. But at this point, I think WWE will take a guy who's got a big movie in the theater and just happens to be a former 16x world champion showing up on TV more often. In something I never thought I'd do a few years ago, I ended up standing up to applaud John Cena when he came to the ring. Cena has earned my respect for everything that he does, and the fact that he is a major box office attraction (the numbers don't lie, folks) and still making time to do WWE shows when he can shows the type of professional he is.
That all being said, when The Man came around, I was still cheering for Becky Lynch. In my opinion and that of those around me, Becky was the most over act on the show that night. A lot of loud Becky chants throughout her promo, and the crowd roared when she got that dig in about Nikki Bella not being the only woman to dump John Cena.
Enter Almas and Zelina to cut their promo on Cena and Becky. Zelina and Almas didn't get great heat for Zelina's cuts on Cena, at least from the section I was in. But Cena and Becky got some applause when Cena suggested teaming with The Man.
There were several things I loved about this match.
1) Almas got the rub of working with John Cena. In addition, Cena didn't just overpower Almas. He made Almas' stuff look good.
2) Zelina did a good job of working up the crowd with her heel tactics.
3) Becky Lynch didn't get awestruck by teaming with John Cena. Rather, she acted as if John Cena should have been awestruck to have been teaming with her. And that's a great development for her character. Throughout the entire segment (the promo, the match, and the post-match), she let it be known that she was The Man now. This included insulting Cena, giving him a hard tag on the chest, throwing Cena out of the ring (in a great spot), and then doing Cena's "You Can't See Me" hand gesture in his face after the match. Becky owned the night, and Cena was more than willing to give her the rub.
4) Again, and I am repeating myself, John Cena did not have to do ANY of this. This needs to be made clear: He is giving back to the business with every appearance he's making.
This final picture from the SmackDown TV Tapings themselves is from the entrance of someone who has won me over in the past few weeks since his debut on SmackDown. Mustafa Ali is one of those talents who needs to be seen live in order to truly appreciate what he does. I'm a Mustafa Ali fan after seeing his performance on this show. I was also honored to have finally seen Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio work live as well in this match. Rey is still incredible after all these years, and seeing him do what he can do at his age is a great visual. Be sure to check out Rey's encounter with Ali during this match as these two gave a tease for what could be an incredible match in the future.
After the show, Shane McMahon came out and announced a Steel Cage Match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. As I mentioned on the report I turned in for PWTorch, this was the 4th or 5th advertised main event for this show after weeks of shifting cards.
During the introduction and the match, my friend/brother mentioned to me how it was virtually impossible to boo Daniel Bryan. This was something I've heard others talk about (Wade Keller, for instance on his podcast). And on the surface, I can see why people would have that initial reaction. 1) Daniel Bryan's story is the ultimate underdog. The Yes Movement was so organic that it made him a household name very quickly. 2) The environmentalist tweak on his character has some sound truthful vibes to it. Things we are doing is having a negative effect on the planet, and there are viable things we can do.
But watching Daniel Bryan's performance live, you have to give the man credit for finding a way to get that crowd to boo him. He does speak environmental truths, but here's the thing about life: most people do not like being told that what they are doing is wrong or to have someone harshly tell them so. Bryan's found a way to become the over-the-top heel that makes people want to see him get beat up. Can he improve on it? Sure. But it's not a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination. It's silly to suggest that WWE is ruining Daniel Bryan with this heel turn at this point.
These guys wrestled a good 8 minute Steel Cage match with a couple top rope moves and some great drama on top of the cage. For a dark match, this was a pretty cool finish to an already great night. (And it wouldn't have been complete without AJ getting another low blow.)
After the match ended, Daniel Bryan cut this little bit of greatness on the mic...
But as you probably guessed, AJ turned the tide and sent the crowd home happy.
After the show was over, I made my way over to the merchandise table to see if I could get any autographs. Last year, WWE was selling autographs from AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. I was able to get a hold of a Nakamura autograph last year. Unfortunately, there were no autographs to be had this year. But I would be damned if I was going to leave PPG Paints Arena without some sort of overpriced memorabilia. Therefore, I got myself a T-Shirt reflecting who I thought was the most popular act of the night: The Man. Yes. I paid WWE $30 for a T-Shirt that literally just reads "The Man." But Becky deserves some of my money. So I can rest easy knowing that "The Man" will get a few bucks from me in that Merchandise Royalties check in the coming months. In all seriousness, I pay homage to The Man.
The car ride took 2 hours to get back to my family's home. After typing up the report and sending it to PWTorch around 1:30, I decided to call it an evening and cap off what was a great day.
If you get a chance to see a wrestling event, do yourself a favor: Go do it. This was my 7th major company wrestling event that I've seen (with 2 independent shows before that). As a total experience, this ranks near the top in terms of the overall quality of the show. Each show I've been to has had fond memories, and the memories of the show itself and the company that came with me will be life-long. Thank you to them, to the WWE, PPG Paints Arena, and to Pittsburgh in general for a great experience.
I will be writing another review of this show on Tuesday once the TV show airs. Until then, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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