1/18 WWE Raw in Los Angeles: John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler in a fan's choice match, NXT wrestler Bo Dallas teams with Rey Mysterio, Zack Ryder's throwback t-shirt, Brodus Clay vs. JTG

WWE Raw live event
Los Angeles, California at Staples Center
Report by Dot Net reader Michael Huntley

This was my first house show at Staples Center and it was by far the biggest house show crowd I have ever seen. I went to a house show in Anaheim about four months ago and they didn't even sell tickets for the upper deck. The entire lower level and floor were full and half of the upper deck was full. This would have been a decent sized crowd for a TV taping. I am a poor college student so I splurged on some nosebleeds.

1. Brodus Clay defeated JTG. Quick 5 minute match. JTG got a little offense in and played to the crowd and messed with the Funkadactals. Brodus did his belly flop on him for the pin and danced with some kids after. I think most people forgot JTG was still with the company.

2. Jack Swagger defeated Alex Riley. Surprising pop for Riley. I figured casual fans would forget about him too. Swagger had decent heat. Swagger got most the offense early but Riley got him from behind while he was playing to the crowd. Riley did the same exact spot where he did a DDT out of the corner like 4 times. Riley went off the top rope and missed and he sold a leg injury. Swagger hit the ankle lock for the win.

There was a pre-taped promo from Cesaro about how we do not deserve a country as great as America. Got a lot of heat and I could barely hear him toward the end.

3. Kaitlyn defeated Tamina to retain the WWE Divas Championship. Kaitlyn was a hit with the little girls in attendance. Tamina was on offense most of the match. Tamina went for her frog splash and missed and then Kaitlyn hit her with a spear for the win.

4. Bo Dallas beat Damien Sandow by DQ. Only a few hardcore fans knew who Dallas was. Cody interfered and Rey came out and made the save to a huge pop. Babyface Vickie Guerrero came out and made it a tag match.

5. Rey Mysterio and Bo Dallas defeatedTeam Rhodes Scholars. Sandow and Rhodes worked Dallas the majority of the match. He made a hot tag to Rey who did a few kicks and hit the 619 on both of them for the win. 

6. John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/AJ, Big E. Langston) in a Fans' Choice "No DQ" match. Babyface Vickie came out again and banned Big E and AJ from ringside. Awesome match live. The same match you have seen the past two weeks on TV with Cena kicking out of five near falls. There was a ref bump and Big E came out. Cena put Big E through a table and then hit the AA on Ziggler and the ref magically woke up and counted the pin. There were a ton of kids in attendance that loved Cena winning and he gave kids high fives at ringside for like 10 minutes.

7. Zack Ryder defeated Tensai. Pretty good pop for Ryder. He was wearing a purple "Majors Brothers" t-shirt with pictures of him and Curt Hawkins. I know this from Ryder's instagram account. I need to get a life. Anyway, Tensai was on offense at first and did a comical woo woo woo fist pump. Tensai missed his finisher and Ryder hit the Rough Ryder out of nowhere for the win.

8. Antonio Cesaro defeated The Miz to retain the United States Championship. Lots of "Miz is Awesome" chants. He played to the crowd for a long time. A decent ten minute match with both guys getting a lot of offense in. The ref wasn't looking and Cesaro poked Miz in the eye and hit his finisher for the win. Post match he waved the American flag and soaked up some boos. By the way Cesaro's uppercut looks brutal in person.

9. Ryback defeated CM Punk via disqualification in a WWE Championship match. Before the match they played a hype video for CM Punk vs. The Rock at Royal Rumble. Interesting choice considering they announced the Punk vs. Ryback match was for the title. Punk came out to a mixed but loud reaction. Ryback came out to a great pop. Ryback was on offense early and Punk tried to leave with the title but Ryback dragged him back into the ring. Ryback missed a spear and hit the steel steps and Punk went on offense. Punk ripped a little kids sign and yelled at some fan at ringside which I loved. Punk hit the GTS on Ryback but he kicked out in a near fall. Ryback bounced back and threw Punk out of the ring. Punk came back into the ring and hit Ryback with the chair and the ref called for a DQ. Punk was playing to the crowd and Ryback hit him with his finisher to send the kids home happy.

Notes: An overall fun show that felt like it went by fast. The Cena vs. Ziggler match had the most reaction from the crowd and Rey Mysterio's comeback woke the crowd up from the first 3 boring matches. Overall an entertaining show with a large crowd. Justin Roberts did not announce a return date but said they would be back here in "the near future." I assume the next Staples Center event will be Summerslam since it is tough to book Staples Center with 3 pro sports teams playing there. 

Biggest Pops
John Cena
Ryback
Rey Mysterio

Most Heat
Dolph Ziggler
CM Punk
Team Rhodes Scholars