Submitted by Richard Kelly from the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware
– The Usos defeated Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
A basic opener tag team match, crowd was really behind the Usos. Anderson and Gallows were good at playing the heel tag team. They cut off the Usos, getting the heat for a while. Usos won with a double superkick to both guys and then a splash off the top to Anderson.
– Apollo Crews defeated Aiden English
I guess that fight in catering gave Simon Gotch a few days at home to relax. Crews knocked English out of the ring and English grabbed a mic, he said he was an artist and began singing, but Crews cut him off before he could finish.
English got the heat for a while, but Crews made a comeback, hitting his backdrop powerbomb for the win. A nice little match.
– Kevin Owens did a backstage promo with Mike Rome, their new backstage announcer guy. Owens panned the camera down to show Rome with his legs spread wide apart to make him smaller than Owens, and he told him to stand up straight.
Owens then said even though Rome was now taller than him, it didn’t matter, because he’d still knock him out easily anyway. He then took the mic and cut a promo on Sami Zayn.
– Darren Young & Zack Ryder defeated The Ascension
Young and Ryder teamed up before their title matches this weekend. The Ascension got the heat on Ryder for a while, really building up the hot tag nicely, Young makes the hot tag and hits a few big moves. Ryder cuts off Konnor and hits the Broski Boot.
Young hits a back suplex onto the apron, the Gut Check, and then the Crossface Chickenwing for the win. Both guys looked strong in anticipation of their upcoming title matches.
– Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens
Owens is the best heel in the whole company. The way he can work a crowd is great. He attacked Zayn before the match, put on his hat, and danced around.
They had a nice match, but much shorter than I expected. Owens kept Zayn down for most of the match. Zayn made his comeback until Owens hit a giant superkick and went for the Pop-up powerbomb, but Zayn hit a tornado DDT and the Helluva Kick for the win. Short but safe. I’m sure these two can have a match in their sleep.
– Natalya defeated Alicia Fox
Natalya worked the match as a heel, arguing with the crowd, but there were still a lot of Natalya chants. I’m not sure people know she is supposed to be a heel. Natalya won with the Sharpshooter.
– The Shining Stars defeated Jack Swagger & Sin Cara
The Shining Stars cut a promo about how much they love Puerto Rico and how boring Delaware is. It was a boring match, Shining Stars won with their finish.
– WWE Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins to retain his title
This went a little over 20 minutes and it was a nice match. It was a generic house show version of one of their big main events, with a lot of playing to the crowd and stuff like that.
The crowd is conditioned to main event stipulation matches at these house shows I think, so they kept getting a “we want tables” chant going. Rollins teased it but then backed off for some big heat, Ambrose then went for it, but Rollins blocked it for more heat, then Rollins grabbed the mic and said he wasn’t going to use a table and risk getting disqualified.
They had a bunch of big near falls which were really good. Rollins at one point hit the superkick and went for a frog splash, but decided against it and tried to walk out with the title belt. He gets to the top of the ramp before changing his mind after being heckled by fans, and goes back to the ring.
After a brief exchange, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds to win the match.
Post-match, Ambrose starts cutting a babyface promo about how he’s a fighter, but he gets jumped by Rollins. Rollins grabs the title and cuts a promo saying he’s going to win at Battleground, when Roman Reigns’ music hits!
The crowd goes crazy, Rollins says, “Haha, very funny,” but then Reigns comes out from behind the curtain. The crowd comes unglued. Reigns comes down to the ring and hits the Superman Punch, followed by a spear on Rollins. Reigns raises the title belt and Ambrose gets back in the ring, but he just tosses the title to Ambrose and leaves.