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Last night, on November 2, I was lucky enough to witness my eighth-straight WWE Live Event at the 3Arena Dublin.
It was SmackDown Live's first date of the European Tour, with Superstars like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamure, Charlotte, AJ Styles, WWE Champiom Jinder Mahal, SD Live Women's Champion Natalya and Irish native Becky Lynch.
It was my first time to see a lot of these Superstars live, with SmackDown not being here since the Brand Split, and before that, some of the guys just happened to be doing the live event over in England whilst the others were in Dublin.
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Hence, I was more excited for the event than I have ever been before.
Let's get to the results and everything else that happened during the event.
Greg Hamilton and Dasha Fuentes were the ring announcers for the night and did a great job throughout.
The crowd was pretty close to a sell-out as the opening match started. There were not many empty seats in the 3 Arena, which can hold about 13000 people.
This was impressive considering WWE attendance over in America had not been going well as of late.
#1 SmackDown Live Tag Team Title Match (Triple Threat): The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Rusev and Aiden English
Rusev and Aiden English seem to be definitely forming a tag team together as they took on The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) and The Usos (the Champions) in a three-way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles.
Rusev got a positive reaction from most of the Irish crowd despite him being a heel, but English was received with a chorus of boos as he entered the ring singing.
The New Day made their entrance to a big pop, as you can see in my video below
The titleholders, The Usos came out after them, also to a good reception. It definitely seems like The Usos have turned babyface again.
Although the bout did not quite reach the heights of some of other Usos and New Day' matches as of late that I have seen, the three tag teams showcased solid in-ring competition.
The 10-15 minute match was an entertaining from the get-go, with Big E's body movements being even funnier when watching them live. Aiden English played off the crowd well too.
In the end, The Usos retained their titles via pinfall after a frogsplash to Aiden English.
Result: The Usos defeated New Day + Rusev and Aiden English via pinfall to retain their Tag Team Gold.
As per usual, The Samoan Twins did not disappoint here in Dublin
#2 Singles Match: Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bobby Roode made his Glorious entrance to a good pop from the crowd. Ziggler made his entrance with his music going off halfway through, continuing his current gimmick of hating WWE Superstars' over the top entrances.
Roode and Ziggler put on a good back and forth match here in Dublin, which lasted about 8-10 minutes. It was actually better than their recent match at the SD Live Hell in a Cell PPV
After kicking out of a superkick and a Zig-Zag, Roode managed to beat Ziggler with his Glorious DDT (which can see in the video below)
Result: Bobby Roode def. Dolph Ziggler via pinfall.
Roode headed back after a few more Glorious poses. Despite poor booking so far, Bobby Roode was very popular among us Irish and he made me a fan of his last night.
#3 UK Division Match: Joe Devlin and Tucker vs. Tyler Bates and Trent Seven
Jordan Devlin, an Irish man from Bray Co.Wicklow, got a great home-country reception as he wrestled for the second time at a WWE Live event in Dublin.
His tag-team partner, Tucker, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, was also well-received as the two took on former UK Champion Tyler Bates and Trent Seven.
This contest lasted for about 12 minutes. Bates and Seven's slow-paced moves were met by 'boring' chants during the match, but once Devlin got the hot tag towards the end of the bout, the crowd were into it again.
It must be noted that Jordan Devlin is one heck of a talent in the ring, and I am not just saying that because he is Irish.
Devlin won the match for his team with his diving moonsault finisher onto Trent Seven.
Result: Devlin and Tucker def. Bates and Seven via pinfall
Devlin and Tucker stayed in the ring after the match as the fans showed their respect to the two of them. However, all of a sudden, The Bludgeon Brothers (Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) debuted (with new ring gear), came to the ring, and attacked the Irish duo to boos from the crowd. Rowan and Harper destroyed the pair and hit their high cross finisher on Devlin.
Breezango made the save eventually, to a good pop, and an 8-man Tag team match was announced, with The Ascension siding with Rowan and Harper and The Colons, who seemingly turned face, sided with Breezango.
#4 8-Man Tag Team Match: Breezango and The Colons vs. The Ascension and The Bludgeon Brothers
This was the toilet break match for a lot of people, to be honest. The bout never really got going, despite best efforts from all in the match.
The Colons are never going to work, face or heel, and this night confirmed it to me.
Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) are very good in the ring and I hope WWE continues to push them and their Fashion Files in the future.
The Ascension and Bludgeon Brothers won after about 8 minutes when Rowan and Harper did their finisher on one of The Colons and pinned him.
Result: The Bludgeon Brothers and The Ascension Def. Breezango and The Colons via pinfall
The Bludgeon Brothers were made to look really dominant in this match.
#5 Singles Match: Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The last match before the intermission was of two Superstars I have not seen in Dublin before and two of my personal favourites. Shinsuke Nakamura took on The Prizefighter Kevin Owens in a singles match.
Nakamura's entrance was the best part of it. It truly is awesome to hear his theme live.
To be honest, the match was not the greatest in my opinion. It only lasted around 12 minutes when I expected these guys to go at it for about 20 minutes.
A lot of the contest saw Owens avoiding Nakamura, sliding out of the ring every time they went to lock up for the first five minutes of the match. Fans started to chant at Owens to go in the ring. KO responded by getting on the mic and hilariously shouting back at the audience 'You idiots don't tell me what to do!'.
That was the Kevin Owens savage moment I have waited to see live for so many years now/
The best parts of the match were Kevin Owens doing a senton from the top-rope (which Nakamura blocked), and then the match's finish which saw Shinsuke defeat KO via pinfall after he managed to do the Kinshasa.
Result: Nakamura def. Owens via pinfall
Nakamura got loud cheers following the match. He also high-fived lots of ringside fans after the bout and took pictures with some too.
The show then had a 15 minute intermission.
#6 3-on-4 handicap match: Becky Lynch, Naomi and Charlotte vs. Natalya (c), Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Tamina and Lana
The match after the intermission was one of the best matches of the night.
The babyface trio of Charlotte, Naomi, and Irish native Becky Lynch took on the heel quadrant SmackDown Live Women's Champion Natalya, Ms.Money in the Bank Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Tamina and Lana.
Becky, from Dublin, got a thunderous welcome back as the hometown girl and I was delighted to see her live again.
Seeing Carmella drag along James Ellsworth to the ring on a leash was quite the comical site, may I add.
The 15-minute match was really good, with Charlotte and Naomi pulling out lots of moves. Natalya continuously told people in the crowd to 'shut up' during the match, as a way to get some heat. Carmella's in-ring work impressed me too.
The heels kept Lynch at bay on the outside.
Eventually, Becky got the hot tag to a huge reaction.
After a few near falls, Lynch got the win to the delight of the Dublin audience as she made Lana submit to the DisArmer.
Result: Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi def. Natalya (c), Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Lana and Tamina via submission
Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi celebrated their victory together in the ring. The Lasskicker then went around ringside, high-fiving and taking pictures with lots of her hometown fans.
#7 United States Championship Triple Threat Match: Baron Corbin (c) vs. Sin Cara vs. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn was the first man to make arrive in the ring for the US Title Match. Zayn, who turned heel recently at the Hell in a Cell PPV by aligning himself with Kevin Owens, cut a funny promo before the contest, mocking Dublin.
Zayn said there was nothing to do in Ireland's capital city, so he just 'took a nap' in his hotel room when he got here, and that he now felt great. I have to say that as someone who dislikes Sami, I think I am starting to warm to his heel character.
Anyway, Sin Cara and then the US Champ Baron Corbin made their ways to the ring and the triple threat title match began. (Corbin's theme music is actually
This was probably the best fight of the night, with the 20-minute bout getting 'this is awesome' chants from the 3 Arena crowd. Corbin was excellent in the ring, which really impressed me when compared to some of his poor TV matches. Sami's cowardly heel antics throughout the match were very entertaining and I laughed more than once at them.
Sin Cara also put in a good performance and showed that he could be a valuable asset to WWE if they wanted him to be, now that he has signed a new multi-year contract with the company.
It came as no shock though when Corbin retained his US title, this after he did his End of Days' finisher to Sin Cara.
Result: Baron Corbin (c) retained his US Title, def. Sin Cara and Sami Zayn via pinfall.
Charles Robinson raised Corbin's hand and that was that from these three.
#8 Non-Title Main Event Match: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) (c)
Before the Main Event of the night started, The Singh Brothers came out and got on the mic, hyping up the WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. They took shots at Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, who Jinder is scheduled to face in a Champion vs. Champion match at Survivor Series on the 19th of November. Sunil and Samir then introduced Mahal.
The Modern Day Maharaja made his entrance, which I found really cool to see live. Mahal did a promo of his own when he got to the ring, saying how he was gonna prove that SmackDown and himself are 'superior' to Raw and Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. He stated that Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton could not stop or defeat him, and AJ Styles and Lesnar won't either.
Mahal also mentioned how earlier on in the day Shane McMahon announced that he would defend his WWE Championship against "The Phenomenal One" on next Tuesday's edition of SmackDown Live in Manchester, England.
Mahal said the fans booing him during his promo will mean he won't give AJ Styles a WWE Championship match in Dublin. Therefore it became a non-title match between the two here.
AJ Styles arrived on the scene as his music hit fetched an incredible pop. This was my first time to see him live, an experience I won't forget.
The two wrestled for 20 minutes in what was a decent contest, although nothing special. This was certainly not one of AJ Styles' best matches, however, I thought the match was of reasonable standards for a live event.
Mahal got a lot of 'you can't wrestle' heat during the bout from the WWE Universe in Dublin, which was amusing to hear.
Despite distractions from The Singh Brothers, (which included helping Jinder to the bottom rope when he was in a Calf Crusher) Styles was able to get the victory against Mahal in the via pinfall following a phenomenal forearm.
Obviously, there was no Title change as the Gold was not up for grabs. However, the babyface winning was a awesome way to send the fans home happy.
Result: AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal (c) (w/ The Singh Brothers) via pinfall in a non-title match
Following his win, Styles celebrated in the ring and then took a mic. He proclaimed that he will beat Jinder again on SD Live in Manchester next Tuesday, but this time for the WWE Championship.
Styles then professed that if he does, in fact, beat Jinder for the Title, he is then coming for Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. He finished up with a 'Too Sweet'.
AJ stayed for a few minutes after his promo, bringing a young fan into the ring. Following multiple high-five and pictures, he went back and that was, unfortunately, the end of the show.
Author's Conclusion:
WWE Live in Dublin was an amazing event. The entertainment slightly outweighed match quality on this night, but both were at a high-level.
It was a great night which the nearly sold-out crowd was very much into.
I can't wait for May 11th, 2018 which is when we will see WWE Live again in Dublin.
Rating of the Event: 8.5/10.
Loudest Pops of the night: Becky Lynch, Aj Styles, Bobby Roode, The New Day and Jordan Devlin.
Biggest Heat: Jinder Mahal, The Bludgeon Brothers, Aiden English and Baron Corbin.
Missing SD Live Superstars:
*NO Hype Bros (Thank God)
*NO Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
*NO Tye Dillinger
*No Randy Orton
Meet Randy Orton's lovely wife HERE
