The crowds were aplenty and the merchandise was flying out the door as WWE’s RAW roster filled the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia last night for WWE Live Australia 2017, and thanks to our friends at 2K Games we were right in the thick of it to see some of the biggest WWE superstars today.
We were ushered to the WWE Lounge for some pre-show wining and dining and had the chance to meet Sasha Banks and Titus O’Neil. The WWE Lounge was busier than we expected, but it was fantastic to see some children get up and close with their idols.
The show began with Olympic gold medallist and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle coming out to the sound of the “You Suck!” chant. Angle announced the participants and stipulation of the first match, an over-the-top-rope battle royale where the winner will face The Miz later on that night. Without further hesitation, future Hall of Famer Goldust’s music hit and out came the WWE Superstars in droves.
Heath Slater & Rhyno, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Elias, R-Truth, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, Jason Jordan and the lunatic Dean Ambrose all joined Goldust in what was a memorable bout. The match came down to Ambrose, Jason Jordan and The Miztourage team of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, with Ambrose ending up in a 2 on 1 after Jason Jordan was knocked out of the ring. As soon as Ambrose was eliminated though, Jason Jordan rushed back into the ring, eliminating both members of The Miztourage to earn his match for the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz later that night.
Next was the Cruiserweight Championship match with Enzo Amore on the mic before the fight – a very memorable moment, particularly with the heat of his current storyline with Big Cass! The triple threat match also featured Cruiserweight Champion Neville and Akira Tozawa who were great to watch live. The great thing about WWE’s new 205 Live show and their big cruiserweight push is that we get to see talent like this do what they do best, without having to face off against the freaks and giants on the main card.
Cesaro and Sheamus then faced off against The Hardy Boyz, yet another match with legend wrestlers that were great to see live for the first time. The recent return of The Hardy Boyz has continued and helped cement their great legacy, and we hope to see them in some great matches against the Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in upcoming WWE Pay Per Views as they DELETE the S.H.I.E.L.D.
The biggest match of the night ended the first half of the show, with Bray Wyatt facing off against Finn Balor. These two have been feuding for months now, with Balor (as The Demon King) defeating Wyatt at the recent Summerslam Pay Per View, however Bray demanded that Finn faces him man to man at WWE No Mercy, and we got to see exactly what that was like last night. In short: Bray Wyatt was still no match for Finn Balor, who picked up the victory after a signature Coup de Grace.
After a short intermission of absolute crowd chaos outside the Rod Laver Arena, it was time for the women’s division. Alexa Bliss vs Sasha Banks vs Mickie James vs Nia Jax vs hometown favourite Emma for Alexa Bliss’s RAW Women’s Championship in a Fatal Five Way Match. It was hard to keep up with the pace of this one with bodies flying everywhere, as the Women’s division is definitely much more fierce than it was in the Attitude era. Seeing Nia Jax dominate the ring was great, and it’s a shame Kharma (Kia Stevens) didn’t last long in WWE as the two of those facing off would have been Wrestlemania quality.
The Intercontinental Championship match went down exactly how you’d expect it to on TV. Jason Jordan put up a good fight against The Miz, the referee removed The Miztourage from ringside due to interference, they then returned and caused a disqualification costing Jason Jordan a potential win. R-Truth and Dean Ambrose then rushed to the ring to help Jason Jordan, when Kurt Angle’s music and the ‘You Suck!’ chants hit. Angle announced a new 3v3 tag team match would begin immediately, and after some signature moves the match ended with a Dirty Deeds from Dean Ambrose. The stand-out for this match was Jason Jordan who is looking very impressive despite only being drafted to the main card a year ago.
As the night came to an end, we got to see the two opponents for the biggest names in wrestling currently. Braun Strowman (who is facing off against Brock Lesnar at No Mercy) versus Roman Reigns (who is facing off against John Cena at No Mercy) in a Street Fight. Instantly the crowd was screaming for tables and after some Kendo sticks and the use of the ring steel steps the crowd got what they asked for. While the men were screaming “BRAUN”, the women and children were enjoying Roman Reigns and it was Reigns who picked up the victory after spearing Strowman through a table.
If any company knows how to put on a fantastic live event it’s WWE. They do it week in week out with several shows each week and maintain quality storylines and evolving talent to keep up with the kids of the day. While there were no WWE title changes (there never are at these events), it was great to see the new WWE titles in person. We were kind of hoping for surprise appearances from the likes of Seth Rollins or even John Cena, but all we got was what was announced in the final card which excluded the previously announced Big Cass. Hopefully next year when the WWE Universal Champion is a full time wrestler we’ll get to see a bigger main event.
A big thanks to 2K Games for a fantastic evening at WWE Live Australia 2017, and make sure you check back at Rocket Chainsaw for all the latest on the upcoming WWE 2K18 video game coming October 17, 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
