11/28 WWE house show results from Kansas City, MO

by BearHawk, 411mania.com

The WWE Holiday Tour kicked off tonight in Kansas City at the Sprint Center. Between this being a holiday weekend and the threat of more ice tonight, the arena was only about a third full.

* Ryback def. Eric Rowan: Rowan entered alone to the ‘Swamp Gas’ entrance theme but with his solo Titan Tron. They had a fairly short power match that saw Ryback win with Shell Shock. Rowan played a slightly out of character ‘traditional’ heel during this match, mocking the crowd and gesturing more than he usually does.

* Zack Ryder def. Bo Dallas:
Dallas entered the ring first so we didn’t know who the opponent was. He asked the audience who needed inspiration and someone they could look up to, and offered to be that person because tonight was going to be the start of the Bo Dallas Win Streak! When Ryder came out, we thought he might actually have been right. Alas, after another short match, Ryder connected with the Rough Ryder and got the 1-2-3.

* Finn Balor (c) def. Baron Corbin:
They showed an NXT hype video and announced to the crowd that they had a treat for us – an NXT championship match! Finn had been advertised for the card but this was more than I expected. Baron got a few cheers from the hometown crowd, being introduced as “Kansas City’s own”. It was really cool to watch this match because the small crowd in attendance were obviously not familiar with the NXT brand. It was mostly families and a lot of people asking who these two were. The match started quiet enough to hear a pin drop, but both worked a good, long match and within five minutes had the crowd firmly chanting ‘Let’s go Balor’ and reacting to near falls. Nice to see them pull the crowd in based on the quality of the match alone.

* Kevin Owens (c) def. Dolph Ziggler & Dean Ambrose in a Triple Threat Match:
Ziggler entered first, followed by Owens, followed by Ambrose. Ambrose received the strongest reaction of the night to this point by a substantial margin. They worked a standard WWE triple threat match with someone alternating out of the ring. Still, this got over ten minutes and was an enjoyable match. The final sequence saw Owens dumped by Ambrose, who then hit Dirty Deeds on Ziggler. Owens then pulled Ambrose out of the ring to steal the pin.

The Connor’s Cure Video def. The Pregnant Woman in my Group of Friends
She’s about to have her first child and the video won in a complete squash.

* The Usos & Kane def. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Braun Strowman):
The Usos were in most of the match and had some good exchanges of speed vs. power with the Wyatts. After an extended heat segment on one Uso (couldn’t tell from our high seats), Kane took the hot tag and finished off Harper with a Choke Slam.

INTERMISSION

* Becky Lynch & Charlotte def. Naomi and Sasha Banks (w/ Tamina):
Fun match that saw all four ladies get extended action. Naomi tried her best but it’s crystal clear that from a wrestling standpoint the three Horsewomen currently on the main roster operate at a different level. Naomi ate a spear and the Figure 8, giving the win to Charlotte and Becky.

* Alberto Del Rio (c) def. Neville:
We all know ADR has taken some flack for looking unmotivated since his return but he brought his working boots to Kansas City. He and Neville had a very fun ten minute match with lots of high flying from Neville and some fantastic counters and power displays by ADR. Alberto ended up winning with the worst finisher in Pro Wrestling. (Seriously, why do opponents always lift themselves from the Tree of Woe into perfect position to get stomped in the chest??) #BringBackTheArmBar

* Roman Reigns def. (c) Sheamus by DQ:
Roman started off the match with some fire, prompting Sheamus to bail, grab the mic, and declare, “I don’t have to take this. I shouldn’t have to wrestle in a second rate city like Kansas”. While it would be easy to mock Sheamus for that, I bet we Americans would be just as bad at European geography. Roman got on the mic, called Sheamus a coward, and just like that the match was back on – even though the exchange put Sheamus outside the ring way longer than a ten count. After a solid fifteen minutes back and forth match, Roman connected with the Superman punch and lined up for the spear. Before he could take off, Kevin Owens pulled him out of the ring for the DQ. Sheamus and KO began the two-on-one beat down but Dean Ambrose made the save. Ambrose sent KO to the ground, went after him, and Roman hit a spear in the ring to end the show.

Overall, this was a well done live event. The small crowd was energetic, the matches were quality, and WWE was able to put an NXT championship match on for a cold crowd and had them really invested by the end. Great night, but have to give an overall score of negative infinity due to a lack of New Day.