As part of its Road to Royal Rumble tour in Europe, WWE made its first stop in Poland in over a decade with two title matches and more. The following live report is courtesy of Wrestleview reader and longtime WWF/WWE fan Bartosz Frankowski.
After 11 years WWE has finally come back to Poland.
11 years ago I wrote a little recap of Warsaw house show, so I will try to write you what went down at todays show at Ergo Arena (which is located on the border of two cities Gdańsk and Sopot).
Je’Von Evans vs. Bron Breakker
The show starts with J’Evon Evans (who got a pretty good pop from the crowd), but his opponent Bron Breakker was also very nicely welcomed in Poland.
Pretty basic match between the two, no hard shots from Breakker, no dangerous flying moves from Evans. No one is trying to get hurt at the end of the tour – pretty understandable.
Bronson Reed interfered and Breakker has taken advantage of the opportunity, he hits a gut check on Evans and it’s 1, 2, 3. Breakker wins.
Then they start to beat Evans up, crowd chants CM Punk, and he appears…it’s CM Punk!!! Huge reaction from the crowd.
Evans gets the microphone, and says that he doesn’t want to start the show with an L, and he propose a tag match between all four men involved.
CM Punk & Je’Von Evans vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
Basic tag match, nothing too special, but we all loved Breakker playing a heel with the crowd, Evans was beat up and couldn’t get the tag, and when he finally did Punk came out as a hero…the finish was a superplex combination (Punk took Reed from the top rope), and then Young OG hit his frog splash for a little redemption and 1, 2, 3…Punk pinned Bronson, because he was legal.
After the match, big pop from the crowd, Punk took the microphone and said two words in Polish very fluently (Dziękuję, Dobranoc) (Thank you, Goodnight). And it was great. Thank you Punk, we love you too 🙂 (of course i should probably speak for myself)
Bayley (w/ Lyra Valkyria) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Roxanne)
When Bayley music hits (sorry Bayley I love you also, but I knew it was the perfect time for me to go quickly for something to drink for my 9-year old daughter, and something for me also…before the show there were long queues to the arena, to merchandise, to food, drinks, etc.).
When I came back there were the last minutes of the match. Raquel got the win here. After the match, all the women brawled, and Lyra and Bayley took the Judgment Day girls out of the ring.
Lyra took the mic, and said that after 11 years Poland deserves better and she also doesn’t want to leave Poland like that and she challenges Roxanne for later on.
The MFTs (Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa & JC Mateo) (w/ Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) vs. The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Tag Team Champions Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy) (w/ Nikki Cross)
Uncle Howdy hit his finisher on JC Mateo. Basic, normal match. Crowd chanted in Polish give the lantern back, and it was a fun match overall.
Intermission: Sarah Schreiber run the show, with all the introductions of Superstars, promoting future shows like Elimination Chamber on Netflix, promoting merchandise which was sold at the arena etc. and she did a great job
Lots of clips on the big screens during the intermission, WrestleMania in Vegas commercials and a little promo from new WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, he says that many people said that the hell has to froze over before he will be champion again…so it must be hell. And watching the weather here tonight (minus 4, and the snow all around) it is. You people must be animals living here.
After the break, match number 5 took place.
Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez
Lyra Valkyria got her redemption on Roxanne Perez (Bayley and Raquel were also present on their friend’s sides). Raquel interfered and was sent to the back by a referee Dan Engler, and quickly after that distraction we saw NightWings and the victory for Lyra and she and Bayley celebrate with good reaction from the crowd.
Intercontinental Women Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri
Crowd liked both women, so we got a little let’s go Maxxine – let’s go Becky chants..the match itself was better that the last one, that they had on Monday Night Raw, when Becky won the title. Even the crowd chanted this is awesome. After all their pattern moves, and submission holds (Disarm-her, and ankle lock) Becky got Maxxine in some sort of a small package for a clean, but cheap victory. After the match Maxxine got a huge ovation for her effort.
Main Event – WWE Undisputed Championship: Drew McIntyre vs Cody Rhodes
Cody came up first with a good reaction, but the crowd was clearly with Drew in this one..the Scottish Warrior got a bigger pop in the introduction from Sarah, and this is when the fun starts.
Drew took the mic, and cut a heel promo, that he doesn’t want our cheers because fans left him when he needed them, and basically he didn’t like Poland. The weather is terrible and what did Poland ever contribute to the world?
Scotland gave people Television, Radio and for you filthy bastards (from what I understood) even penicillin.. and what has Poland done? (He asks) Pierogi (some guy has a sign with Pierogi – Polish dish), Pierogi are disgusting…and now when he is the champ Cody doesn’t call the shots around here, and he don’t want to wrestle here tonight for the title, and WWE will not come back to Poland for the next 10 years…(loud boos from the crowd) and maybe for 15 years (boos) 20 years (boos) as long as his the champion WWE will never come back to Poland…and he starts to leave.
And then Cody run for him to the aisle, and starts beating Drew up, and both man are back in the ring. The match starts. And now Cody is our guy, and Drew is not. (Job well done, great, great promo and heel work by McIntyre)
Basic match, normal procedure from both men (“another day in the office”).
When Cody attempts another Cody Cuttter on Drew, Drew covers himself with a referee Dan Angler and Angler fell out of the ring. Cross Rhodes on Drew, and he covers him..1,2,3,.5..but there is no one to count. New ref runs in.
The match ends when Drew kicks Cody in the crotch and the referee disqualifies McIntyre. Cody wins the match, and Drew is still the champ.
After the match Drew put the chair between the ring ropes in the corner, and he wanted to put Cody’s head there, but Cody manage to reverse and The New Champ was the one who felt chair to the head. Then Cody brought a table to the ring (which they teased throught the whole match, Drew first took it out from under the ring – played with the crowd, and of course put it back, then Cody tried to took it out but Drew stopped him) and Cody puts Drew on it and hits him with a little frog splash from the top. Drew crawls out of the ring, Cody’s music plays, and we all celebrate, and tried to sign his song (not everybody knew the words, English is not our first language, but we tried our best)
Cody took the mic, asked us – Poland do you understand me ? (Yes Cody, we do)
It is very important, we’ve been here last time 11 years ago, and I know that Triple H and Nick Khan pay very close attention to these shows. And he asked the crowd to get a lot of noise (the cameraman was in the ring and he was filming, so we were tested for Triple H 😉) but i think that the polish crowd did very well. Each Superstar got the reaction, the crowd was lively, humorous (many funny chants, but you have to be Polish to understand the humor) and I think we had a great fun (I did).
Cody cleared the ring with a table, but left a little piece of it, and he said that it should stay in Poland as a souvenir for the loudest fan here.. Of course it was another trick to play with the people. A little kid with a hat, chain and t-shirt (probably John Cena, I think?) was the lucky one who Cody invited to the ring, hug him up and gave him signed by Cody piece of the table.
The show was over, Cody started to sing autographs, taking pictures with fans, as his music played and the WWE Staff started to dismantle the ring.
Good show; with minimal injury risk, it was enough that they simply showed up, and I think that they knew it, but everybody did they part, and they all were professionals and tried to get the fans invested. Bayley, Lyra, Raquel, Breakker, Evans…The Wyatts etc. great job everyone, and thank you for your effort! Great crowd in Sopot/Gdańsk as well, what else can you want… cheaper ticket prices probably, because it was fun but expensive(!!!) experience.
Sorry for my English if I did some mistakes. And I hope I will not have to wait until 2037 for another show in my home country.
Greetings to all readers,
With Best Regards, a long time WWF/WWE fan, and Wrestleview reader,
Bartosz Frankowski
WWE Royal Rumble emanates from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, January 31.