David Hood passed along this report:
WWE Raw: Wrestlemania Revenge Tour
May 8, 2011
Greenville, SC (Bi-Lo Center)
3,500-4,000 People made the place look pretty crowded.
Evan Bourne def. Dolph Ziggler
– Bourne and Dolph really put on a good match to open the show with. The crowd was really into Bourne and Ziggler got a lot of heat. The crowd really started popping when Bourne picked up the pace and started flying around the ring. Great succession of false finishes at the end that ended with Bourne getting the better of Ziggler and hitting the 450 Splash for the win.
-After the match, R-Truth ran down to ringside and attacked Evan Bourne. Truth really got some major heat from the crowd, and did a great job of making everyone there want to see him get an ass kicking. Rey Mysterio ran down to make the save and chased Truth out of the ring. Ricky Steamboat came out and announced that tonight, Rey Mysterio will face R-Truth one on one. Mysterio received a huge pop, and the segment really had me looking forward to the match.
-Mason Ryan def. Primo
– Pretty basic match here, with Ryan getting in some heavy offense while Primo occasionally mounted a comeback. He was no match for Ryan however, with Mason Ryan scoring the pin after hitting a sit out Rock Bottom.
-Jack Swagger def. Percy Watson
-This match calmed the crowd down quite a bit, but as it went on Percy really started to win over the crowd. Swagger grabbed the mic early on asked the crowd for their attention, ala Michael Cole. Percy showed him some attention by knocking him off the ring apron. After a bit more back and forth action, Swagger picked up the win using his ankle lock submission.
-Chris Masters def. Zack Ryder
-This match was pretty short, but Masters really looked like he should be displayed on TV in some fashion. Would have liked to see it go a little longer, but it was ended when Masters applied the Master Lock and Ryder gave up.
-Big Show & Kofi Kingston def. CM Punk & Alberto Del Rio
-Big Show got a huge pop from the crowd. Punk and Del Rio really set up the hot tag to Big Show, and the fans popped very loud when Kofi finally made it to his corner. All four men brawled for a bit, with Show and Kingston getting the best of Punk and Del Rio. Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise on CM Punk, and Big Show nailed Del Rio with a Chokeslam and followed it up with a pin scoring the victory.
-Intermission
-Ring announcer Justin Roberts and special guest host Ricky Steamboat hyped WWE All-Stars the video game. Roberts also mentioned they were selling autographed John Cena posters at the merchandise stand.
-WWE Diva’s Title Match
Brie Belle (c) def. Eve
-Eve had complete control of the match until about the midway point when the Bella Twins swapped places in the ring. That led to Nikki Belle scoring a pinfall after hitting a sit out facebuster.
-Rey Mysterio def. R-Truth
-Once again, Rey Mysterio received a huge pop, and the crowd was really booing R-Truth. The match started out really solid, until about five minutes in when the middle rope snapped while Mysterio was bouncing off of it. Mysterio crumbled to the outside, and Truth followed suit no doubt thinking the same thing everyone else was, that Mysterio was probably dead. To their credit, they went another ten minutes and Mysterio actually still used the two remaining ropes to assist in his offense, hitting a splash from the top rope and picking up the win.
Props to Rey for really taking the time to visit everyone that made their way down to the ringside areas.
-WWE Championship
John Cena (c) def. The Miz
Cena easily had the largest reaction of the night with 99% of the audience cheering as loud as they possibly could.
*Overall, it was a really solid show and I felt like I got my moneys worth. Greenville has played host to a lot of wrestling history, and it’s always great to catch a show when the WWE comes to town. It will be interesting to see if R-Truth and Rey Mysterio feud on television because they have great chemistry in the ring. Truth certainly makes a better heel than he does a babyface. It seemed as if there were more ringside seats available than normal and they were completely sold out. The last time I visited the Bi-Lo Center was to see TNA Against All Odds, and this house show drew as many if not more people than that PPV. Great job WWE!