WWE Raw house show
Toronto, Ont. at Air Canada Centre
Report by Dot Net reader Tarun Suri

I took my seven year-old son to his first WWE house show in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre. We got there a few minutes late. As we were trying to get into the arena area, we hear Santino Mirella being introduced. He got a nice pop as he's a hometown boy, lived about 30 miles outside of Toronto in a city called Mississauga.

1. Santino Marella defeated a local wrestler. By the time we got into our seats, about 30 seconds later, they were announing Santino as the winner. Looked to see who he had beaten it was just a local jobber. Next thing we know, Nexus is in the ring beating down Santino. Only four members of Nexus - Wade Barret, Michael Tarver, Heath Slater and David Otunga. Not sure where Justin Gabriel was, perhaps he had visa issues.

Great heat on Nexus, including a huge "You Suck" chant. Barret, grabbed the mic and said he that that was no way to treat a fellow member of the British Commonwealth. He was thrilled that the eyes of the world were on Toronto for the International Film Festival as he wanted everyone to see what Nexus would do to their opponents that night, Chris Jericho and Edge. 
 
2. John Morrison beat Ted DiBiase (w/Maryse). Maryse did her usual tearing up of sign to get some cheap heat. Morrison started with some quick offense and DiBiase grabbed Maryse and started to walk away. He taunted some fans and jumped back in at a count of nine. Back and forth action that ended when it looked like Maryse was going to distract Morrison, but he caught Dibiase just in time and ened up hitting him with Starship pain. It actually connected pretty well for once. Morrison wins via pinfall.

The Bella Twins came out and said they needed a special time keeper. The asked a kid what the name of the next PPV was. I actually drew a blank. He guessed right and was escorted to ringside.  
 
3. Goldust over Primo. Primo  came out to silence. A lot of people in my section were wondering why he was even there. Goldust got a great pop and a nice chant going. Nothing special about the match. Goldust won via a funky looking suplex.
 
4. Miz pinned Evan Bourne to retain the U.S. Title. Miz came out to an incredible pop. He grabbed the mic and turned the
cheers into intense heat. He's so smarmy, it's hard not to boo him, but you do it with a smile on your face. The crowd tried to do his catchphrase with him, but he wouldn't have it. He scolded us for trying. He tried it again, but was cutoff by Bourne's music. Really athletic match. Bourne even gave us that cool move where he jumps backwards off the corner and does a leg scissors on the Miz. Miz won clean via his finisher.
 
5. The Hart Dynasty defeated The Uso's to retain the WWE Tag Titles. We're in Canada, so the ovation that the Harts got was no surprise. An "Owen" chant started. Personally, I didn't think it was appropriate, but not a big deal. Natalya gave a nice body slam on the outside to one of the male Uso's. Then they set up their version of the Hart Attack for the win.  
 
The announcer let us know that Smackdown is moving to Syfy, but got some real heat from the crowd since we don't get Syfy in Canada. We get Raw, Smackdown, and NXT all on The Score network, so his announcement was just ignorance on WWE's part. The Bellas come back out throw some T-shirts out the crowd and it was intermission time.
 
As I was outside getting some popcorn, I heard someone on the mic. I got back to my seat and it was Alicia Fox, telling the crowd that she doesn't care if they haven't gotten their popcorn yet, she's ready to win the Divas Championship back. They give her a lot of mic time on TV, but also in the live shows. They must really think she's good.
 
6. Melina defeated Alica Fox and Gail Kim in a Triple Threat to retain the Divas Championship. Gail got a nice pop as the Toronto girl coming home. Typical triple threat. The faces started teaming up on fox and then Kim was knocked out to the floor. She disappeared for most of the match. Melina won easily in about five minutes.
 
7. Chris Jericho and Edge defeated Nexus. Huge pop for Y2J. I came out with all his typical swagger and attitude. I fully expected him to take the mic and tell us to was idiots we were. Surprisingly, he took it all in and accepted the cheers. The crowd loved it even more when we realized that he was going to play face tonight. Edge comes out to an even bigger pop. Nexus was already in the ring. The GM chime went off and the announcer read his blackberry. The GM said that on Barret and Tarver can stay and if anybody else from Nexus interferes, Barret will lose his spot in the PPV.

This is where the comedy started. Tarver announced that there would be no spears. Jericho and Edge made fun of how he talked and called him "marble mouth." They compete with each other to see who gets cheers. No contest here. Nexus is hated in Toronto. Good heat, not go away heat yet.

The match was average with Jericho putting Tarver into a Wall of Jericho, but then breaking it to avoid Barret. Edge speared Tarver for the win. Edge took the mic and spoke about he had his first match down the road about 19 years ago and how this felt really great. He thanked Toronto and said, "I don't know if this will matter, but Go Leafs Go". Great to see them not fight the cheers and play face at home. 
 
8. Randy Orton defeated Sheamus by DQ in a WWE Championship match. Sheamus came out to ring but we don't know who his opponent is. This is what pisses me off. There were tons of kids in the audience with Cena signs. When is the last time Cena missed a house show? Apparently, this show was competing with his new movie premiere. I guess he chose the premiere over this show. Typically I couldn't care less, but the kids were disappointed and this is a guy who says that movies would never get in the way of his WWE career.

Orton still gets one of the biggest pops of the night. Really good match, the "smart fan" next to me even started to think that maybe Orton could pull it off and win the championship. Orton went for an RKO. Sheamus saw it and pushed the ref for a disqualifcation. The crowd booed, but Orton still hit the RKO and knocked him out. The Miz ran in looking to cash in, but Orton hit him with the RKO. The crowd was eating it up. Nexus hit the ring and took down Orton.

The Hart Dynasty's music hit and they tried to come to the rescue. The numbers were still too great and Nexus took over. Jericho and Edge came to everyone's rescue, and some in the crowd were chanting for Cena. Finally, the good guys clear the ring and soak it in. Nexus left Otunga in the ring to take an RKO. Orton quietly left, leaving Otunga lying in the centre, surrounded by the Harts and Edge and Jericho.

Edge grabbed the mic and said that this looks like a new "Team Canada." He said he feels he needs to sing the national anthem. It was the worst rendition I've ever heard, but it was great. The crowd was standing and singing. Edge can't hold a tune, but he got down on his knees, got in Otunga's face, and sang it right at him. They let him get up, only to give him a spear. The faces left the ring. Great ending.

A good show overall. Nice matches. most went 15 to 20 minutes long and the Canadian theme for the night went over well. 
 
Biggest pops
1. Edge
2. Jericho
3. Randy Orton
5 Hart Dynasty
6 Goldust.
 
Best Heat
1. Nexus
2. Miz
3. Alicia Fox.

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