7/30 WWE in Perth, Australia: U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose defends against the winner of a Triple Threat match, mother scolds daughter for chanting, fans love The Great Khali, no pyro

WWE Live Event
Perth, Australia at Perth Arena
Report by Dot Net reader Dean Freitas

I arrived at Perth Arena about half an hour before the show, which has only been finished in the past year or so. Very, very nice. I was wearing my replica Undisputed Championship which picked up a lot of compliments and comments, even had a few people ask for photos with it which was sweet. I made a kid’s night by letting him hold it and get a picture with it.

We ended up with floor seats around 10-15 rows behind the ring, but still a decent view, and we rushed forward through the centre partition for entrances and finishes. This crowd was very pro-face due to the audience, which was mostly children and parents. Chanting for heels was a bad idea, as we got a lot of dirty looks from parents for cheering for Cesaro and Ambrose through the night. Then again, the parents did not chant, and the kids were quiet too unless it was John Cena.

No pyro this year which is disappointing, I remember there being pyro at the Melbourne house show I saw last year. The stage set up also lacked that cool new "X" lighting system they usually have in front of the minitron. Merchandise stalls were selling Cena and Bryan shirts like crazy, only saw a small minority wearing any of the Punk, Miz or Ryback shirts that were also on sale. This show definitely felt lacklustrer overall, the matches seemed more like the wrestlers were going through the motions, but this was the final night of a five-night-in-a-row tour of Australia, so you can’t blame them. The lack of crowd atmosphere did not help.

1. Zack Ryder defeated Antonio Cesaro vs. Heath Slater in a Number One Contender’s Match for the United States Championship. Amazing 15 minute match, generally carried by Ryder and Cesaro. It’s true what they are saying about Cesaro putting on five-star matches night in, night out. This Perth crowd was crazy for Ryder though, lots of "Let’s go Ryder" chants, and I couldn’t get a "Let’s go Cesaro" chant happening. Great sequences involving both Cesaro and Ryder taking both opponents out at some point in the match, however Heath Slater struggled to stay in the ring for the match and was on the outside for the most of it. Cool spot with Cesaro spinning Slater around by the legs for almost a minute, before getting dizzied to the point of falling himself. The finish came with Cesaro performing the Neutralizer on Slater, before Ryder pulled Cesaro out of the ring and stole the cover.

2. Natalya beat Aksana. Standard Divas match. During Aksana’s entrance, it was unfortunately dead quiet so I was able to shout out "I love you, Aksana" for her to hear it and retort with "Who doesn’t?" Funny. The crowd was kinda hot for Natalya’s entrance. Both are very stunning women up close. The match went for around 5-10 minutes and between some decent offensive sequences between the two, and Aksana prancing around like a cat on all fours, the match found itself victim to rest holds. The ref found himself tangled in a roll up pin, and I have no idea how. Natalya with the expected win from the Sharpshooter.

3. The Great Khali over Jinder Mahal. Almost a dead crowd for Jinder, but oh my gosh, Khali got one of the biggest pops of the night. Kids were doing the dance and everyone was just in love with the guy. I think Perth as a crowd is Vince’s wet dream; whoever Vince wants them to cheer for, they will cheer for. I used this match as a drinks break, but when I got back, it was an all Khali offense with Khali picking up the win. Kids got to dance in the ring with him, and he even got Justin Roberts to dance with him. Funny stuff.

4. Dean Ambrose defeated Zack Ryder for the United States Championship. Amazing match, terrible crowd. These two put on a top notch match, with awesome sequences and Dean Ambrose playing to the crowd a little by adding in some funny little dance steps and telegraphing his punches. The match went for fifteen or so minutes, and some of the older males in the crowd tried to get some Dean Ambrose chants happening, but this family-orientated crowd was having none of that. Ambrose picked up the win, but Ryder scored the last laugh with a Rough Ryder on Ambrose to send the fans happy going into intermission.

Intermission lasted twenty or so minutes, with the merch lots having killer lines. Everyone seemed rather keen to pick up one of the signed Cena or Ryback mini posters. I just wanted another bourbon and cola...

5. Curtis Axel defeated The Miz in a street fight for the Intercontinental Championship. Justin Roberts announced this as a "Fan’s Choice" match, with the fans either getting a two-out-of-three falls match, or a "Perth Street Fight". Obvious choice was obvious. Miz was very over, a lot of Miz is awesome chants, Axel could barely muster heat without Heyman. This was a lengthy match, with the two spending most of the match outside of the ring, using the ramp and the stage. There were quite a few brutal cane shots, and the steel chair came into play when they returned to the ring. Axel picked up the win to retain, and Miz scored some "you’re still awesome" chants post-match.

A pre-taped promo aired of Ryback "backstage" telling us how he would become WWE Champion and how Ryback Rules yadayadayada... massive pop when Cena’s name was mentioned though.

6. Daniel Bryan and Kane defeated Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) by disqualification in a WWE Tag Team Championship match. Bryan. Is. Over. As. F---. This is the one point I was impressed with tonight’s crowd, as YES! chants filled the arena. I was rather disappointed at a mother who was in front of me, who told her daughter off for chanting. To anyone reading, that’s the best way to describe this family crowd tonight. Kids were barely allowed to chant and the parents didn’t want to chant. Kane was super over as well. I managed to get from my seat to where The Shield came down onto the ground level, and got up nice and close with them which was cool. This match was really good, all four men put on one hell of a show.

It’s hard to pick out highlights, but there was a hilarious spot with Roman Reigns mocking Daniel Bryan who was trying to get up using the ropes. The finish came with Dean Ambrose interfering, causing the DQ finish. Bryan did his usual kip-up and go routine, taking out everyone and finishing with the a double chokeslam with Kane on two of the Shield members. Post-match, Bryan asked the fans if he had a better chokeslam than Kane, but got "NO!" chants in response. Bryan then went for a chokeslam on Kane (I assume he was just messing around), but Kane easily countered and teased a chokeslam before just pushing him away.

7. John Cena defeated Ryback in a tables match for the WWE Championship. Ryback was out first, and he cut a pre-match promo about the Goldberg chants (which barely anyone was doing, and it took thirty seconds for it to really happen at all) and stated he would win the title and then pull his pants down and take a massive "Goldberg" in the middle of our city. Awesome line. Cena came out to an insane pop. Vince just orgasmed, his golden boy got a completely over reaction. Thankfully, the match was quick and painless, using most of the same spots as their tables match at Payback, including Ryback pushing a table over and throwing steel steps through a table. There were dueling "Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks" chants, but the "Let’s Go Cena" chants annihilated the "Cena sucks" chants. Cena picked up the win with an AA on Ryback through a table. Cena interacted with the fans and that was that.