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8/24 WWE in Las Cruces results: C.M. Punk vs. Curtis Axel in a No DQ match, Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian for the World Hvt. Championship, Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E Langston, Ryback vs. Kofi Kingston

Posted in: WWE Live Events
By
Aug 25, 2013 - 11:01 AM

WWE Live Event
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Report by Dot Net reader Isaac Hernandez


Arena was maybe 3/4 full. Advertising wasn't what it normally is and the lack of John Cena probably contributed to that. The crowd itself was so/so.

1. Prime Time Players defeated Drew McIntyre and Jhinder Mahal. I usually fast forward the Prime Time Players matches so I was a little surprised for a baby face reaction. Titus got the pin with what I think was his finisher.

2. The Great Khali defeated Hunico by Karate Chop of Death. Hunico got a decent hometown (a few miles east) pop. I didn't even know he was still on the roster. It's just painful to watch Khali. My son and I were laughing at his four move arsenal.

3. Ryback defeated Kofi Kingston by pinfall. Ryback squeezed the referee in the middle of them and shot off the ropes for a finishing meat hook. Decent back and forth match. I really wanted to see a shell shock though.

4. Natalya and Kaitlyn defeated AJ and Layla by submission. The fan vote they mentioned at the beginning of the show resulted in a dance off, over a tag match. AJ refused to participate but Layla wanted to and busted out every cliche dance move from the '90s. The babyface divas said they weren't there to dance and the heels ended up attacking them to start the match after all. Nattie ended up putting Layla in the sharpshooter and she tapped before the move was even fully in (extreme pet peeve of mine).

5. Dolph Ziggler defeated Big E. Langston. Big E had cut a little promo on the house show tron earlier in the show. The sound was terrible but I think he was saying SummerSlam was a fluke and it wouldn't happen again. It was a pretty good match after a slow start, it had a bunch of believable near falls. Ziggler won with the Zig Zag.

Intermission

6. Cody Rhodes defeated Damien Sandow. It was pretty cool to see Sandow at a house show for the first time. He cut a small promo on the ramp saying he deserves a proper reception and bad mouthing New Mexico (I'm from Texas, so I cheered this). Cody got a decent pop for his entrance. I went to get a soda expecting a long match, yet it ended right after I got back. Cody won with CrossRhodes.

7. Christian defeated World Hvt. Champion Alberto Del Rio by DQ. Man, I miss the Ric Rod entrance. Del Rio got a decent pop with a very Hispanic crowd. Christian also came out to a good pop and got some easy love by calling Del Rio a Spanish bad word. Del Rio also got some of his heat back by trying to leave with the title a few times. Del Rio ended up throwing the ref at Christian and slapped on the armbar. When Christian tapped he celebrated and got upset when he found out he won by DQ. I've seen Christian at so many house shows and yet I think every one of his matches is exactly the same.

8. C.M. Punk defeated Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) in a No DQ match. Axel and Heyman came out together to some decent heat, but Heyman cut a promo to way more heat. He said that the match was unfair to Axel being a no DQ match for the title and he had his lawyers make sure that since the match was no DQ it wouldn't be for the IC title. Punk came out to a huge pop. Punk sold a knee injury most of the match. It wasn't bad except for Punk winning with a cheap roll up. Ugh, not how I wanna see my favorite wrestler win, it caught the crowd off guard too.

Many thought it was just a near fall and didn't react till the music hit. Punk almost got his hands on Heyman after the match until Alex jumped in for the save. Punk gave him a GTS and sold the knee injury with it (nice touch). After Heyman escaped, Punk addressed the crowd and saw a sign he made Tony Chimel get for him. It said "Eddie Guerrero Country" he said that while this place is no more or less special than the next, while he's here he always thinks of Eddie and got the "Eddie" chants going. He called him the best in the world.

Notes: Roster wise, I can only think of one better house show I've seen in the last ten years. The merch stand was a little funny to me. The only wrestlers who were there and had merch were Ryback, Ziggler, and Punk. Orton, Sheamus, RVD, Miz, and, of course, Cena all had merch for sale.

Biggest Pops
1. Punk (by far)
2. Ziggler
3. Christian

Most Heat
1. Paul Heyman during his promo
2. Del Rio/ Curtis Axel
3. Damien Sandow

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