12/27 WWE in Columbus, Ohio: Rousey vs. Nia Jax, Bray Wyatt substitutes for Braun against Corbin, Ambrose vs. Rollins in a cage, Battle Royal, more
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
DECEMBER 27, 2018
COLUMBUS, OHIO AT NATIONWIDE ARENA
REPORT BY JORDAN THOMAS, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!
Best guess of attendance: 7,500-8,500 fans. The lower bowl seemed about 90 percent full.
(1) Finn Balor beat Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Pretty solid match, same as we saw on Raw. The crowd was pretty fired up for the match with Balor getting strong response, Ziggler 50/50 face heel response, and McIntyre getting respectful boos. McIntyre hits Balor with the Claymore kick after the match to stand tall.
(2) Apollo Crews eliminated Dolph Ziggler to win a 15-man battle royal to earn an Intercontinental Title opportunity. Also involved in the battle royal: Lucha House Party, The Ascension, Titus O’Neil, Rhyno, Jinder Mahal, Curt Hawkins, No Way Jose, Mojo Rawley, and Zack Ryder. Hawkins was out first, then quickly Ryder and Mojo, then Jose. The Lucha House Party worked together for a while, then turned on each other to eliminate one another. Slater actually looked pretty decent here even in a loss. Crews got a decent response after the win.
(3) Natalya & Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan. Natalya and Moon got decent pops, but overall the crowd was pretty quiet at times.
(4) Bobby Lashley (w/Lio Rush) defeated Elias after interference by Rush. Elias opened with a song which involved the “OH- IO” chant and was really over, but soon interrupted by Ohio-hater Lashley. Pretty solid match between the two as Rush ate a rough spear from Lashley in a mix up but his guy still picked up the win.
(5) Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins to retain the Intercontinental Title after Baron Corbin interfered. Probably the better of their matches in this feud. Both showed an urgency to escape the cage to win, but a good amount of brutalness towards each other in the cage because of how personal this feud is. Rollins was set to walk out the door to escape when Corbin cost him.
(6) Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated The Revival and Authors of Pain to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles. Fun match with great effort from all the team. Crowd was quiet at times, but it felt like they won them won over after the solid performance by the babyface.
(7) Bayley & Sasha Banks beat Dana Brooke & Mickie James (w/Alicia Fox). The faces got a decent response, but one of the weaker matches on the card.
(8) Bray Wyatt defeated Baron Corbin after replacing Braun Strowman in what turned into a No DQ match. Rollins came in to stop Corbin from leaving the match and later stomped Corbin after Wyatt’s win.
(9) Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax (w/Tamina) to retain the Raw Title. The Riott Squad attacked Rousey afterwards. Natalya and Moon ran out to her aid. Then out came James, Brooke, and Fox. Then Bayley and Banks. The babyfaces end up standing strong after Rousey did a dive into all the heels.
Note: The show started at 7:30 and ended by 10:45. It felt like a pretty long show.
If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!
RELATED: 12/27 WWE in Uniondale, N.Y.: Cena replaces Styles in main event cage against Bryan that highlights show, Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Asuka closes out evening