It might seem somewhat childish, but I'm a 33-year old man who still enjoys watching professional wrestling. "Rasslin", as it's sometimes referred to down here in the South - it's the sort of thing that gets you a funny look when you admit to being into it as an adult because, much like cartoons, it's one of those things that society expects to be appealing only to kids. Fact of the matter is, though, I've watched it ever since I was a young lad and I see no reason to stop. Sure there are times where the stuff that makes it to television makes me slap my head because of how ridiculous it is (wrestling is a "soap opera for men" is a phrase I've heard, which is mostly accurate), but the reality of it is that this is a form of entertainment and at this point I'm working on better than 20 years of knowledge regarding the continuity of this story. Not that the plot will ever end, but leaving now would be akin to watching Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back but never bothering to check out Return of the Jedi.
What's more, a common interest in pro wrestling is one of the things that my wife & I share. She informed me of her fondness of it when we first got together and consequently I've used that to my advantage as I've dragged her to some, shall we say, incredibly questionable venues thanks to our mutually confessed adulation of wrestling. That brings us to the event we attended this past Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - an edition of WWE Live held at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
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| This was taken by a photographer at The State newspaper as we entered the building. |
Suddenly I got the feeling this might not be the most extravagant of WWE events. What I mean by that is it didn't exude the big time feel that I've had in the past when going to their shows. Actually, I had concerns about that going into the thing as far back as when I bought our tickets. Reason being, that same day WWE was set to begin a week-long European tour, meaning that while our show was happening a majority of the WWE roster was already in a different part of the world. What that meant for us, potentially, was a show featuring what could best be described as leftover talent. Not to say that they aren't good, just that the event stood to be lacking in star power.
When we got inside we browsed the merch booth and noticed something new. Seems as though WWE has gotten into the idea of selling professional photos of fans holding a replica of the newly redesigned WWE title. I didn't look to see how much the pictures cost but it's probably much cheaper than buying an actual replica belt as a keepsake.
PRO-TIP: I bought our tickets as part of a pre-sale event, and because of this I was able to get us front row seats right up against the railing near where the wrestlers make their way to the ring. I surprised Jill with them as I'd kept them hidden right up until we went through the gates. Pre-sales are usually promoted by event venues via some sort of mailing list, so if you are a fan of concerts and performances and want to get the best seats possible you'd do well to sign up with your local venues. I will tell you, though, that these pre-sales can be a blessing and a curse when it comes to being a patron. On the one hand, if you get in early enough on the pre-sale you can get some fantastic seats like I did. However, sometimes venues only open up certain sections in the arena for the pre-sale, meaning it may look like there are no good or ideal seats left when in reality there are likely still some to be had. To make matters worse, a lot of times some of the best seats get reserved for giveaways and other promotions, meaning the general public essentially never has a fair shot at them. There are a lot of tricks to this business, needless to say!
We found our seats and took a few pictures at ringside. We noticed that it looked like a slim crowd at that point but in my mind I likened the situation to Gamecock football games in that Columbia crowds seem to be late on arrival as a matter of principle. My wife went to the restroom before the show began and when she came back she said there weren't very many people on the concourse at the concession stands. By the time the show started, the floor seats were mostly full but there was what I'd call a "splash" of fans scattered around the lower bowl of the arena. I think Colonial Life holds somewhere around 10,000 at maximum capacity - I'd say there were less than 2,500 in attendance that night.
Tony Chimel was our ring announcer. I don't know why but I thought he'd been released from his contract with WWE at some point in the past (not an uncommon thing for them; almost every year after Wrestlemania there are a series of cuts made to the roster, usually for budgetary reasons but others as well). Regardless, he informed us that we'd have a chance to determine the stipulation to be added to the main event by tweeting or texting our preference. I have to hand it to WWE - involving the fans using social media and technology is pretty awesome, even if it oftentimes seems as though they make the choice an obvious one. ("Okay, guys - who do you want to see face Randy Orton? Hornswoggle, The Brooklyn Brawler, or John Cena...VOTE NOW!") We would get to choose between a street fight or no disqualification rules being added to the CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family tag team match. As an old school fan who's been around long enough to know I kind of shook my head over this because no disqualification technically could be the same thing as a street fight. I say that even though I know well enough by now that looking for logic in pro wrestling is like looking for a specific grain of sand on a beach.
1) The Primetime Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) vs. Hunico & Comacho
Hunico made fun of a kid sitting behind us who was wearing a Sin Cara mask (which looks like this). If you don't get that reference, there was a point in time where there were two Sin Cara's - the real one and the fake one, who was Hunico in disguise. This was a good opener, albeit a classically structured tag team match where Darren Young played the good guy in distress who finally made a tag to Titus O'Neil who promptly laid waste to Hunico and Comacho. The Primetime Players won and got things off to a spirited start.
2) Jinder Majal vs. The Great Khali
Jinder came to the ring using his old entrance music from when he was a singles competitor - I guess he still is a singles competitor, but it seemed odd that he'd be using it since he's part of a group called 3 Man Band (along with Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre, who would be appearing later on in the show). I made the comment to my wife that he looked rather militant with his all-black garb; I doubt this wasn't intentional, seeing as how an Arabic character in professional wrestling is almost universally recognized as being a villain.
It pains me to watch Khali. At better than 7 feet tall, he's a physical specimen but he has severe limitations when it comes to mobility and dexterity. This was more or less every Khali match you've ever seen. He delivers a couple overhand chops to the bare chest of Majal then he gets some heat when he botches a kick to the corner (which looks awful because he doesn't kick, he just throws his leg over the rope), and finally he makes the comeback for the win.
3) Brie Bella w/Nikki vs. AJ Lee (WWE Diva's Champion) w/Tamina
This was advertised as being a Diva's Championship match but AJ got on the microphone immediately as she entered the ring and announced that she would not be defending the title tonight. This was a solid match, which was a great thing to see since WWE's female wrestlers are often criticized as being one of the low points of a given card. Brie got the victory after Tamina attempted to get involved only to have Nikki yank her off the apron.
Trust me when I say that the aesthetic differences between the Bellas, who are identical twin sisters, are especially noticeable up close. Nikki is more enhanced than her sister is, if you catch my meaning. Also, during this match there was some dude perched beside me on the other side of the railing who seemed to be trying to take pictures of the Bellas with an iPhone. I'm not sure who he was or what that was about, though.
4) Intercontinental Championship Match - Curtis Axel (c) vs. R-Truth
Axel, who has an incredible lineage as he is the grandson of Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the son of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, ran down the crowd as being beneath him before the match. R-Truth came out to his usual pre-match antics, rapping and dancing on his way to the ring and getting the support of the fans in the process.
Curtis looked good coming off of a recent hip injury, although I want to be critical of the fact that his physique isn't anything to be especially proud of. I say that because here lately there have been a number of stories published by wrestling news websites regarding a talent named Khasius Ohno (who is better known as Chris Hero) who was more or less demoted from his position in the company for supposedly not focusing intently enough on developing his physical appearance. Why does a guy like him get thrown under the bus but not Axel?
Truth came off well here because it never felt like he
wasn't capable of winning the match - right up until he finally lost,
that is.
- Intermission -
5) Heath Slater & Drew McIntyre vs. The Usos
I can't lie, Drew & Slater are entertaining in the role of bandmates in the 3 Man Band gimmick. In the realm of potentially awful creative ideas that have been thrust upon otherwise solid wrestlers, that's the kind of thing that could end careers but these guys have found a way to make it fun if nothing else. The Usos, on the other hand, do nothing for me. Their work just seems sloppy and I do not get their appeal, at all. That said, the Usos won after what was a fairly competitive match with all parties getting involved.
6) Ryback vs. Justin Gabriel
When Gabriel came out I was hoping it wouldn't be Ryback as his opponent. To give those of you who don't follow wrestling an idea of why I didn't want it to be Ryback, Justin is a high-flying cruiserweight and Ryback would be considered a super-heavyweight who's so muscular that he looks like he could throw a Volkswagen through a brick wall. I didn't want to see a squash match this late in the card ("squash match" being wrestling vernacular for a match designed to make one competitor look better by having him soundly beat what is typically an inferior opponent), but but sure enough it was Ryback.
Ryback came out and tried to get the crowd against him by running down the University of South Carolina Gamecocks football team and how they're going to get beaten down by the University of Florida Gators in a few weeks. I'd like to have seen him say that to Jadeveon Clowney - that would've been entertaining, likely more entertaining than this match as a matter of fact.
The match went about how you'd expect it. Gabriel had a few fleeting moments of hope but couldn't get past Ryback, the guy who (WARNING - STRING OF WRESTLING & POP CULTURE REFERENCES APPROACHING) looks like Bill Goldberg wearing Rob Van Dam's singlet with randomly-placed Team Rocket logos on his gear.
7) Tag Team Street Fight - CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper & Eric Rowan w/Bray Wyatt)
At this point, my wife & I got a little upset because we realized the card on this night was, in fact, subject to change (that little phrase has adorned every wrestling poster that I've ever seen, and for obvious reasons). In promoting the event, WWE and the Colonial Life Arena had advertised appearances by Kane, Paul Heyman, as well as Cody Rhodes and Goldust who are the current WWE Tag Team Champions. Not that we didn't look forward to the main event, but we were hoping to see Kane and The Rhodes Brothers. This goes back to my notion of this show not being all that loaded with star power, but hey - CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are a good get any day of the week as far as I'm concerned.
This match was the highlight of the night. The street fight stipulation won the fan vote (real shocker, that) but they never really took advantage of those rules - no brawling in the crowd or what have you. There was a point in wrestling's history where a match like this would've involved blood as it's a great tool that, when used appropriately, can add to the drama of a contest. That doesn't happen as often anymore as athletic commissions have had their say in trying to limit the dangers of exposing athletes and fans to blood-bourne pathogens.
There was some great work at the start of the match where it looked like Punk & Bryan would establish control early on but Harper & Rowan managed to get the upper hand by isolating Bryan, who took the bulk of the punishment from Bray's disciples. The Wyatt's introduced a kendo stick to the match, beating down both Punk & Bryan but Punk found his own kendo and evened things up. The finish came after Harper ran himself into a table that the Wyatt's had set in one of the corners after which Punk hit him with his signature finishing maneuver, the GTS (Go To Sleep).
After the match Bryan & Punk spent a good bit of time going around ringside, meeting with fans, taking pictures and signing autographs. I "slapped hands" with them and I will admit that in that moment I was a small child who just happened to be shaped like a grown man.
Overall I'd say that this show was quite entertaining but it was also very rushed. It started on time at 7:30 PM and even with the intermission it was done around 9:30-9:45. I guess these guys all had planes to catch in order to join the rest of the crew across the pond.
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