WWE is in Toronto this week, where it will be broadcasting its weekly episodes of Raw and Smackdown Live. In keeping with tradition, the company has spent the past week hosting live events in several cities across the ‘Great White North’.
As many of you will know, WWE live events are untelevised house shows, designed to bring some of the promotion’s biggest stars to as many fans as possible in the week leading up to its scheduled programming. But simply because these shows are not broadcast on TV, does not mean that they do not form part of the larger continuity or that they should be ignored.
House shows are a great way of gauging crowd reactions to new gimmicks, allowing younger talent to hone their skills and giving main-eventers an opportunity to practice certain spots for upcoming pay-per-view matches. Plus, they’re just a ton of fun.
On Saturday night, such a WWE Live event was held in my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I attended. It was a really enjoyable show, but more importantly I came away with a few interesting observations. Of course, these moments may foreshadow things to come or they may be completely forgotten by Monday.
Either way, I thought I’d share some of them with you now.
8) Where Are All The Children?
Well if that wasn’t one of the creepier things I’ve ever said. But, like many of the unspoken things that pop into my head each day, this was the first question that ran through my mind as I arrived at the Halifax Forum.
“Where are the kids?“, I worried. Scattered around the parking lot were pockets of men in their twenties and thirties, wearing fifteen-year-old ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin’ and ‘Rock’ shirts. No families and no kids.
The obvious implication was troubling. WWE has positioned itself as a family friendly promotion throughout the last decade and yet, if it isn’t attracting future generations of wrestling fans, then where does that leave the product? What happens if it can’t create new stars for kids to idolise? I was really concerned that perhaps the golden generation had passed, and wrestling simply wasn’t as popular as it once was.
Fortunately, as I entered the arena, those fears were cast aside. Pin-balling between concession stands and merchandise vendors were hundreds of wide-eyed kids all kitted out in Rey Mysterio masks and AJ Styles shirts. Their excitement was contagious and it was heartwarming to see.
7) Zelina Vega Will Turn Andrade Cien Almas into a Star
Make no mistake who’s driving this partnership. Almas may have the wrestling chops and natural athleticism – but Vega is the beating heart of this tandem. She has the charisma. She has the personality. She determines whether the fans invest in the wrestler or not. And man, does she do an amazing job.
Byron Saxton was on announcer duty all night. As he was making the requisite introductions prior to this match, Vega interrupted him. She cut a terrific promo that served to hype up Almas and run down their opponents (they faced Rusev and Lana in a Mixed Tag Team Match).
And that’s not where her influence stopped either. Throughout the match, she was showboating around the ring, hurling insults at Rusev and engaging with the audience.
She is a star maker and Almas will benefit from tagging along for the ride.
6) Lana Can Wrestle
I mean, sure, not well. But she’s okay, right? I’m willing to go down to mediocre. Alright, she’s passable!
As mentioned, she and Rusev were pitting against Vega and Almas in yet another mixed outing. However, in contrast to their recent encounters, it was the women that took center stage on this occasion – with Lana getting in the majority of the offence.
This match had all the ingredients to be an almighty turd sandwich and I fully expected it to be awful. But I have to say it was oddly entertaining. Lana hit a decent looking body slam on Vega, connected with some nice clotheslines and demonstrated some pretty good timing. In the end, she rounded it off with a Machka Kick and locked in the Accolade, securing the win for Rusev Day. Overall, it was a good showing from the ‘Ravishing Russian’.
WWE seem intent on turning Lana into a genuine contender in the Women’s Division, and based off of this showing, they may be succeeding.
5) Tye Dillinger’s Days May Be Numbered
He’s from Canada. He was billed as being from Canada. The show was held in Canada. And still nobody cared.
Make no mistake, I love Tye. I’ve always been a sucker for the career underdog… someone who’s battled, scratched and clawed for every opportunity thrown their way. And nobody embodies that archetype more than Dillinger.
But a year’s worth of awful booking has absolutely killed his momentum as well as fans’ enthusiasm for his gimmick. Watching him desperately trying to drag any ounce of excitement out of the crowd was heartbreaking. At one point, I honestly couldn’t tell whether he was praising a suplex or just counting the TEN! TEN! TEN! people who actually cared about this match.
The twelve minutes of absolute silence while he wrestled Shelton Benjamin gave me time to ponder Dillinger’s future in the WWE. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he has one.
4) The Becky Experiment Continues
Our first women’s match! This short bout saw Charlotte defend the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship against Carmella.
Just three minutes into the match, the ‘Princess of Staten Island’ looked to be in real trouble and about to tap out to the figure eight, when Becky Lynch ran down (to thunderous applause) and attacked Charlotte.
Asuka – for reasons that only make sense if you don’t think about it – then came to champ’s aid and sent Becky packing. Quicker than you could say “has anyone seen Teddy Long lately”, we had ourselves a tag team contest playas.
Despite partnering with Carmella, ignoring the fans and wrestling a clearly heelish style, Becky was BY FAR the most over person in this match. Now, it’s not uncommon for WWE to suddenly abandon an idea that isn’t working (‘memba Emmalina?), but it also wouldn’t be out of character for the company to force its narrative on the fans regardless. Like when they spent months insisting Rusev Day were heels.
For now though at least, it appears that the ‘Becky is a heel’ experiment shall continue.
3) The Match I Never Knew I Wanted
With Randy Orton presumably holding a meet and greet with prospective WWE employees (… allegedly!), the Miz was recruited to fill in for him in a Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship, which also featured Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura.
In what would’ve made for a terrific TV encounter, these three men put on a real show. The highlight however had to be every encounter between Miz and Nakamura. The Miz was at his obnoxious, self-absorbed, goofy best, and his style neatly complimented the eccentric, quirky Nakamura.
I had never considered these two as a prospective rivalry down the line, but this dynamic carries a ton of potential. Both men played to the crowd perfectly; however what sold me was when the Miz and Nakamura started re-enacting scenes from The Matrix and the Karate Kid. Yes, it’s every bit as awesome as it sounds.
On a related note…
2) A Legend’s Farewell Tour?
Even before the bell rang, Hardy looked uncomfortable. He had a noticeable grimace on his face and every movement seemed belaboured and painful.
Being the daredevil that he is, he still did a dive to the outside and hit a massive Whisper in the Wind on both of his opponents. But it was after the match ended that he looked at his most vulnerable.
After taking the pin, Jeff sat in the ring for a good minute or two, soaking in all the applause. He then struggled to his feet and rolled to the outside. While his entrance music played, the ‘Charismatic Enigma’ took time to speak to all the fans sitting ringside before pausing at the top of the ramp, turning around and saluting the fans.
I may be doing Hardy a disservice, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this is a man making his last appearance up North. If that is indeed the case, then he will undoubtedly be remembered as a legend who revolutionised the business. Clearly ahead of his time in both style and attitude, and with countless memorable matches under his belt, Hardy’s legacy will forever endure. He is one of the best ever.
1) The Best Is Yet To Come For AJ and Joe
Punctuated by chants of “who’s your daddy?” and “oh, Wendy!” – which I can only imagine would be incredibly confusing to anyone who had been dragged there by their partners – this was our main event. And what a spectacle it was.
Without spoiling any of the spots, these men clearly went out there with two objectives in mind: entertain the crowd, and hone some of the high points ahead of their encounter at Hell in a Cell. They succeeded on both counts.
Completely different to their match at SummerSlam, this was a fast paced, high octane slug fest that included moves that I had never seen either man perform before. If this is an indicator of what we can expect when this pair next face off, then colour me excited.
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