WWE Raw live event
BankAtlantic Center – Sunrise, FL
Report by Dot Net reader Nathan Oppe

1. Santino Marella defeated Drew McIntyre. The match started off with the typical comedy routine from Santino. He tried to push Drew around to no avail and then chased him out of the ring with the Cobra pose. It ended up being a quick match where Drew got dazed and Santino hit the Cobra to grab the pin. The crowd was behind Santino so it got everyone into the show. I saw Drew McIntyre defend the Intercontinental Title at a house show just two years ago and it’s just strange to me to see him be in this position now.
 
2. The Uso Brothers defeated Primo and Epico. The Usos came out and did their war dance and immediately got the crowd behind them. Conversely, people didn’t really seem to care about Primo or Epico one way or the other.  Jay Uso got in some good offense before it switched gears to Primo and Epico controlling the offense. Eventually, the Usos hit superkicks and then the Samoan Splash from Jay ended the match.
 
3. Skip Sheffield defeated Alex Riley. Riley got a pretty good pop throughout the match but I honestly didn’t know Skip had returned from injury. Pretty solid match, and Sheffield ended up kicking out of Riley’s DDT, much to my surprise. Skip then hit Riley with a massive spear and an even bigger clothesline for the win. Sheffield really played to the crowd and he seemed to have won them over, as most people were cheering for him when he got the pin, myself included. I never really cared about him prior to this match but I feel like he could be the monster WWE has been looking for recently, and he seems way more polished than Mason Ryan. After the match was over, Dolph Ziggler ran out and hit Alex Riley with the ZigZag as he was trying to get up. Ziggler got good heat from it as he strutted to the back.
 
4. Mason Ryan defeated Jack Swagger. The crowd was split between Jack Swagger and not caring from what I could tell. Swagger carried most of the match and he hit his corner splash and played to the crowd. Eventually, he went for the corner splash again but Ryan got his knees up to block the maneuver. Ryan then locked him into a full nelson, shook him around a few times and then hit his variation of the full nelson slam. He won to what felt like disappointment from the crowd and the match was pretty slow moving at times.
 
5. John Cena defeated The Miz in a Street Fight. Miz came out and cut a promo about how he took out Truth and JoMo and said that Cena was next. Cena then came out to his usual “mixed reviews” of “Lets go Cena!” and “Cena Sucks!” chants. It seems that John Cena has turned parents and children against each other. Regardless, pretty entertaining match and Miz even stopped during the match to spout off on the mic a couple times. The finish was entertaining, as Miz set up a chair between the turnbuckles and ended up getting thrown into it by Cena. Cena hit the AA and people cheered or booed. I saw them work a WWE title match against each other in Miami on the 5/2 Monday Night Raw and I thought that was a much better match but this match was still entertaining.  
 
A brief intermission took place where Justin Roberts plugged the John Cena and CM Punk autographed pictures you could get at the merchandise stand. I grabbed a Punk picture and thought it was a pretty cool souvenir for $20.
 
6. Beth Phoenix defeated Eve. I’m not sure if this was for the Divas title or not but I believe that it was, but I just missed them saying it. Pretty good Divas match and they both got in good offense. Beth got Eve hooked with the chickenwing but Eve fought out and did some of her tumbling style moves. Eventually, Beth caught her again and nailed her with the Glam Slam for the win. Beth got a pretty good pop from the crowd and I don’t think anyone was too disappointed she won.
 
7. Dolph Ziggler defeated Evan Bourne to retain the United States Championship. Ziggler cut a promo talking about how he grew up around the corner and he knew how everyone came to see him, the hometown hero. He also made reference to people cheering for Ryder with something to the degree of “this isn’t the internet, it’s not going to happen.” The match itself was really entertaining as Dolph controlled the match and really acted like a showboat about 90 percent of the time. They also did a series of pinfalls that was really fun to watch as well. The finished had Ziggler hit Bourne with the Fameasser and then he used the ropes to hold Bourne down for the 3-count. 
 
At that point, Ziggler celebrated with his U.S. Title but then turned to stomp on Bourne. Zack Ryder’s music hit and he rushed to the ring to hit Ziggler with the Rough Ryder. Ryder did the Woo Woo Woo chant and then pulled Ziggler over into the corner. Bourne hit Ziggler with the AirBourne and then he and Ryder celebrated and posed for the audience. Great pop for Ryder but it wasn’t anywhere near CM Punk or John Cena like, as I know I have heard people say he is getting that type of reaction. Either way, the whole thing was really entertaining.
 
8. CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the WWE Championship. Awesome match. Punk and Del Rio both worked the crowd for about 10 minutes before the match even really got underway. Del Rio wouldn’t get in the ring and Punk spent that time taunting him. Punk even took a picture with fans at ringside while he was waiting for Del Rio. Punk got the crowd to start a “Chicken” chant and Del Rio eventually got the match started after he and Punk did a cat and mouse routine around ringside.

Punk and Del Rio both got in good offense and Del Rio worked the arm over as Punk kept taking him to the ground. The finish was great, as Punk hit ADR with the GTS, but the referee was down while the crowd counted the pinfall to about 7 or 8. Ricardo Rodriguez then tried to attack Punk, but Punk then hit him with the Hulk Hogan big boot and leg drop. Everyone, including myself, went crazy for the whole thing. Punk then hit Del Rio with the GTS again and got the win. After the match, Punk celebrated and then went to all four sides of the ring and bowed from his knees to both the WWE Title and the audience.
  
Biggest Pop
1. CM Punk
2. John Cena
3. Zack Ryder
 
Most Heat
1. Alberto Del Rio
2. Dolph Ziggler
3. The Miz (Miz and Ziggler both had their fair share of cheers though too)
 
Notes: It was the first time I have seen a WWE show at that arena since Jericho returned to Raw in '07. There couldn’t have been more than around three thousand people there for the show. The show wasn’t even announced prior to about three or four weeks ago, and I didn’t hear any marketing for it outside of one local radio station. In other words, the turn out didn’t really surprise me. It was an entertaining show though in my opinion and I went home happy.

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