WWE House Show Results 9.20.14 – Huntsville, Alabama

Credit: John Corrigan & PW.net

About 3000-4000 attendees and the arena holds about 9,000. The majority of the fans, as you might expect, were children. Also, probably 90 percent of the audience had no idea about Roman Reigns’ surgery and were disappointed that he couldn’t make the show as scheduled. It’s fascinating when you step outside the Internet Wrestling Community and witness the casual fans’ reactions to the wrestlers.

1. Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Huge pop for Ziggler and tons of heat for Miz who played to the crowd old-school Memphis style. They went about 25-30 minutes and delivered a great match. Remember when Tully Blanchard would bounce his opponent of the rope for his slingshot suplex? Well, Miz bounced the back of Dolph for a slingshot powerbomb. I’ve never seen it before and it was pretty damn cool. Ziggler won with the Zig Zag and I hope they get as much time tonight at Night of Champions.

2. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze. Even though they showed highlights from NXT Takeover on the screen, I couldn’t believe the crowd not only knew who these guys were but actually cared. At one point, they began singing ole! Ole! Ole! And there wasn’t an Anderson to be found! Good match with Zayn picking up the win after a running boot in the corner.

3. Mark Henry beat Rusev (w/Lana) by DQ. As you can imagine, Huntsville, Alabama hates the Russians. Lana cut a promo I could barely hear because of her Vickie Guerrero heat. But she’s absolutely stunning in person. Mark Henry emerged to an ovation deserving of the RAW main event. His popularity can be attributed to a combination of USA chants and his badass theme song. A few older guys bobbed their heads to the beat, their first reactions of the night. The match itself was nothing special—there were two bearhugs on the ground which slowed down the show’s tempo. Rusev got disqualified for swinging a steel chair at Henry’s left ass cheek. Then Henry recovered and delivered the World’s Strongest Slam.

The Connor Michalek tribute aired. Surreal to see at a pro wrestling event because it truly does make you tear up.

4. R-Truth over Bo Dallas. Based on the loudest and most sustained cheers, R-Truth was the most popular superstar of the night. Crowd popped for his entrance, yelled What’s Up several times, cheered for him during the match, popped for the finish…he’s perhaps the most underrated babyface on the roster. But Bo also got a big pop when he came out. And he stole the show when responding to “What’s up!” with “Hey! What’s going on!” Decent match—Truth hit his finish out of nowhere for the victory. Crowd popped for his entrance, yelled What’s Up several times, cheered for him during the match, popped for the finish…he’s perhaps the most underrated babyface on the roster. But Bo also got a big pop when he came out. And he stole the show when responding to “What’s up!” with “Hey! What’s going on!” Decent match—Truth hit his finish out of nowhere for the victory. When heading back up the ramp, Truth signed autographs and took selfies with the fans.

10-15 minute intermission which breezed by.

5. Dolph Ziggler pinned Damien Sandow. Miz’s stunt double delivered a lengthy promo, channeling Superstar Billy Graham, claiming to be the champion of Alabama, and issuing an open challenge to anybody in the back. Since he kept insulting Alabama, I foolishly expected Bobby Eaton or Hardcore Holly to come out. But Ziggler appeared for the second time and instantly hit a superkick for the pin in under 30 seconds.

6. Brie Bella, Emma, and Naomi beat Nikki Bella, Eva Marie, and Cameron. The crowd went apeshit over Tony Chimel’s announcement of a six Diva tag team match. Nikki carried herself like a star so good for her for making the most out of this trainwreck sister feud. But then the screechy Brie Mode theme assaulted our ears, and my God, the fans loved her. It was a shame seeing Emma do her stupid dance to crickets because she’s the most talented wrestler out of the six but completely forgotten. The match was entertaining because no Diva overstayed her welcome in the ring. Brie got the hot tag and you would have thought Hogan slammed Andre as “Brie Mode” wiped out everybody. She picked up the win for her team.

7. Big Show defeated Seth Rollins. I think even some kids were disappointed that Big Show replaced Roman Reigns. They like Show, he received a good pop, but Roman is a star now, folks. Rollins received a mixed reaction which was pretty surprising. Then when he teased tossing his shirt into the crowd, it felt like these people had no idea he turned on The Shield—they’re jumping, begging, salivating over this man’s shirt, seemingly disbelieving he’s one of the top villains in the company. Of course, he didn’t throw it. The match was my favorite of the night because they worked hard to overcompensate for Reigns. Several near falls with Rollins kicking out of a choke slam and final cut, then Show kicking out of the briefcase to the skull. Rollins went to the well one too many times and Show goozled him for a second choke slam to send the crowd home happy.