WWE live event
Belfast, Ireland at Odyssey Arena
Report by Dot Net reader Alan Hamilton

The show opened with Tony Chimel in the ring, and he gave the "don't try this at home" speech. He couldn't be taken seriously as when he said the word 'superstars' he went supersonic like he has the past few weeks when introducing Edge.

1. Finlay defeated Tyler Reks. Big pop for Finlay, no reaction for Reks. I think I was the only person knew his theme music. Tyler went to hit Finlay with the shillelagh, but the referee stopped him. Hornswoggle appeared from under the ring and handed Finlay a second shillelagh. He hit Reks and won the match. After the match, Hornswoggle hit the tadpole splash on Reks.

2. Jack Swagger (w/Swagger Soaring Eagle) defeated Chris Masters via submission. Midway through the match, Masters got the Masterlock on the eagle. When he finished and turned around, Swagger locked in an abdominal stretch. The eagle then flapped the whole way up the walkway to the entrance. Later, Masters went for the Masterlock, and Swagger performed a very nice and slick reversal into the ankle lock. Masters tapped out after about 5 seconds.

3. Mason Ryan defeated Chavo Guerrero. After a quick Wikipedia search, Mason Ryan is actually Barri Griffiths, a Welsh wrestler who is the current FCW Champion. He was billed at 302 lbs. From where I was sitting, he looked like a very well built Vladimir Kozlov.

Good match, Mason is very strong and it was kinda like watching Mark Henry. At one point he caught Chavo from a frog splash as if he was about to give him the World's Strongest Slam, but he lifted him above his head and held him there for at least 10 seconds without even a tremor. Very impressive. Chavo attempted the three amigos, but he stalled for a long time between the first and second, and he didn't even hit the third.

4. Dolph Ziggler defeated Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes and MVP in a Fatal-4 Way match to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Dolph got heat, Cody got nothing, MVP got a big pop, and Drew got a very 50/50 reaction from the crowd. I was surprised by Drew's reaction, and I think he was too because he seemed to smile a lot during his walk to the ring. Also, I think Dolph has a new belt. The leather looked very stiff, the gold was very shiny, and it looked a good few inches bigger, but its the same design.

MVP dominated most of the match. The match finished in a flurry of finishing moves and attempts. MVP hit his Ballin' move on Cody, and went for the Playmaker. Ziggler came in and tried to hit the Zig Zag on MVP, but he threw him off and Drew came from behind and hit a big boot to Ziggler.

Cody locked Cross Rhodes on Drew for him to reverse and throw him out of the ring. MVP then got Drew from behind and went straight for the Playmaker again. Drew reversed and hit the Future Shock DDT. As he went for the pin, Ziggler pulled him out of the ring and climbed in to steal the win. Good end to one of the best matches of the night.

After the match, the Nexus came down and attacked MVP. The members of the Nexus were David Otunga, Husky Harris, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Michael McGillicutty. They cut a promo about how they were better than everyone in Belfast. They said they would defend the tag team belts against the Hart Dynasty later in the night. They finished with their 'Nexus or Against Us' line.

Kelly Kelly was announced as the "guest host." All she done was throw t-shirts. Hornswoggle came down to join in.

5. Kofi Kingston defeated Alberto Del Rio. The match was scheduled as Alberto v Rey. But when Rey was doing his ring corner cross thing, Alberto attacked him and tied his legs around the ring post using his silly scarf. (I knew he wore it for a reason!) Kofi came out for the save, and medics tended to Rey. Good match, Kofi teased the SOS move a few times, and ended up winning with the Boom Drop and Trouble in Paradise after Rey ran to the ring and distracted Alberto.

Intermission

6. The Nexus (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) defeated The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships. This was the other really good match of the night. All four guys are very active when they are just standing in their corner. I think that sells their excitement more. The first few minutes were back to back quick tags and very good.

The Nexus then kept Tyson in the ring for a long time and done quick tags in their corner to beat him down. The match ended in a quick roll up pin. I would have really liked to see either a 450 splash or a Hart attack, but the fact the match ended with no finishing moves disappointed a lot of people.

7. Natalya defeated Layla via submission in a non-title match. Layla started with some silly exercise routine on a swiss ball. Natalya threw it at her and the match started. A decent enough divas match. I expected a bit more from two of the best technical divas in WWE at the minute. Natalya won with the sharpshooter. Layla tapped after it was barely locked in.

Layla attacked Natalya from behind as she celebrated. Kelly Kelly came down for the save. Of everybody that ran down the walkway tonight, Kelly was by far the fastest.

8. The Big Show defeated Kane by Disqualification, Kane retained the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show got big laughs out of a sign that read, "I paid big dough just to see Big Show." Kane cut a promo about how he was better than everyone in the ring, arena, backstage and Belfast in general. He said we preach Big Show. Show then got the mic and said that yes, he is better than most people, but most people doesn't include Belfast, The Big Show, or the Undertaker. Show then started an Undertaker chant to start the match.

Kane spent a lot of time outside the ring playing the scared character. Anytime he was in the ring, he attacked Show's left knee. Anytime Show was rubbing his knee, Kane attacked from behind. It was nice to see some kind of strategy behind the match. Big Show hit the chokeslam and a kid behind me screamed "stop stealing Kanes moves!" He went for the pin and Kane reached for the bottom rope.

Despite the fact the referee shouted two, held up the two count sign, and no bell rung, the crowd went mad celebrating that Show was the new champion! Kane Irish whipped Show into the corner, squashing the referee. Show hit an overhead slam and got the pin. The crowd shouted 1-2-3 and celebrated when he won despite the fact the ref was out. Later, Show hit the Knockout Punch and the referee done the slow count to sell the injury. He made it to two before the Nexus interfered, giving Big Show the win by DQ.

After the match, as the Nexus were beating down Show. All the heels came out to the ring and joined in. The faces ran out to make the save and defeated everyone despite being outnumbered 12-8. Big Show finished the night saying Belfast is awesome and thanking everyone.

Top 3 Biggest Pops:
Rey Mysterio
Finlay
Kofi Kingston/Big Show

*It's worth adding that Undertaker got a bigger pop that almost everyone when Show mentioned him.

Top 3 Most Heat:
Nexus
Kane
Alberto del Rio

Other Notes: Last year, a program was £5 ($8), this year they were £15! ($25!) Looks like Vince's quarterly numbers really hurt that bad if he had to triple the price of a 40-page book with pictures.

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