3/5 WWE Results: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Report by: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
WWE returned to Cedar Rapids at the US Cellular Center on Saturday night for the first time in two years. With injuries plaguing the roster, I was very interested to see what kind of a crowd the show would draw after the likes of John Cena and Roman Reigns had been advertised locally until Cena’s injury and Reigns getting pulled off WWE TV.
To my surprise, the US Cellular Center drew a very solid crowd given the circumstances. I’d estimate around 4,500-5,000 turned out to witness WWE Live. New Day was a very popular merchandise item with many familes walking around with the unicorn headbands.
* AJ Styles def. The Miz. Styles received a very loud reaction from the Cedar Rapids crowd. Miz did some really fun heel work keeping the crowd involved.
* Jack Swagger & Darren Young def. The Social Outcasts (Curtis Axel & Adam Rose). Swagger and Young are a very odd tag team pairing, but the crowd didn’t seem to care. Swagger did a great job working the hot tag spot in the corner. Axel and Rose did some pre-match mic work to annoy the audience.
* WWE United States Champion Kalisto def. King Barrett. If WWE was hoping for a Rey Mysterio replacement, they definitely seem to have one in Kalisto. Kids went crazy for this guy and the crowd loved doing the “Lucha! Lucha!” chant. Barrett was showing no signs of any neck problems taking lots of bumps from Kalisto’s high flying offense.
* WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston def. The Dudley Boyz & The Usos in a triple threat tag team match. Easily the most entertaining match of the night. New Day did some pre-match mic work with Kofi bringing up that Big E graduated from the University of Iowa. Big E quickly covered his ears when Kofi talked about the Hawekeyes getting blown out by Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Kofi also picked on a kid at ringside painted up like The Usos. The Dudley’s did some fun heel tag team work including a spot where Woods attempted a sunset flip on Bubba, Bubba loudly asking what he thinks he is doing and one of the Usos catapulting the head of Woods into the crotch of Bubba. The audience enjoyed Bubba pausing and yelling, “D-Von…my balls!”
Intermission
* WWE Divas Champion Charlotte def. Becky Lynch. Charlotte showed no signs of her minor injury the night before in Minneapolis taking a knee to the face from Becky. Both ladies worked very hard and kept up a good pace.
* Sheamus def. Neville. Lots of flips from Neville in this one. Sheamus was sporting some nasty looking cuts and bruises on the left side of his face.
* Dean Ambrose def. WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens via DQ. Ambrose easily got the loudest and biggest reaction of the night. The crowd just loves Ambrose. Owens did a really good job messing with the crowd including telling a girl at ringside filming on her phone to watch out and then proceeding to throw Ambrose out on the other side of the ring. That got many laughs and smiles from the front row. Owens wouldn’t stop beating down Ambrose in the corner causing the DQ. After the match, Owens grabbed his title proclaiming himself everyone’s champion until Ambrose gave him a Dirty Deeds to send everyone home happy. Ambrose took pictures and signed autographs afterwards.
Considering the injuries, WWE was able to put forth a really good live event. The audience in Cedar Rapids was interactive and loud all night. WWE has definitely found a good market here in Eastern Iowa for these types of live events as they continue to draw well.
You can check out photos and video from the event on my Twitter below.
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