By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
We are looking for reports on all WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, MLW, ROH, GCW, and other notable live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report or even basic results to dotnetjason@gmail.com
WWE Live Event
April 27, 2023 in Manchester, England at AO Arena
Report by Dot Net reader Rob Coll
It was almost sell out and there were way fewer empty seats than when I was last at a show in November 2021. Lots of kids and families, which is always a good sign of business being up. Tickets were around £70 on average, so WWE made some good money tonight!
1. Bianca Belair and Askua defeated “Damage CTRL” Bayley, Iyo Sky, and Dakota Kai in a handicap match. A fun match to start. We got around three minutes of Bianca vs. Io Sky in a singles before Dakota and Bayley ran down to beat up Belair. Askua ran out for the save, shouted at the heels, and the three on two was underway. Bianca was over with the crowd mostly and won with a KOD on Kai.
2. Rick Boogs defeated Baron Corbin. A bit of a dull match, as neither wrestler had the crowd that invested. Boogs’ strength is impressive in person, but this was your basic match, with Boogs winning with a roll-up in around seven minutes.
3. Dominik Mysterio (w/Damien Priest) defeated Dolph Ziggler. Dom was booed HEAVILY. He is so good at being an annoyance, and the crowd loved booing him. He did a lot of Eddie and Rey mannerisms, which always got a reaction. Ziggler got some love from the crowd as well and did his role to perfection. Dom won after Priest distracted Dolph and Dom got a roll-up.
4. “Alpha Academy” Chad Gable and Otis defeated Maximum Male Models” Mace and Mansoor. MMM did some funny crowd work pre-match, attempting a “five-minute pose.” They got 90 seconds in before Chad and Otis came out. Otis was the most over, with a loud “ We want Otis” chant during the match. Alpha Academy won after Otis hit the Caterpillar on Mansoor.
5. Seth Rollins defeated The Miz. The Miz was great, as expected, at crowd work, having a go at the crowd for the “Tiny Balls” chant. Seth was beloved, with the fans singing his song for a long time after his entrance while the Miz essentially encouraged it to keep going by trying to leave the match because of it. Seth won with a Stomp in a fun match that was mainly about crowd work.
Intermission. The number of fans I saw come back with belts and t-shirts was crazy. The t-shirts were £35 and even a Program was £15, but people have money to splash when WWE comes to town.
6. Bronson Reed defeated Dexter Lumis. Not the best match to bring people back after a break. Neither guy was really over with the crowd. Dexter got some responsibility for his creepy stuff and Bronson for his Tsunami, but people just didn’t really care. Bronson won in around 10 minutes and cut a promo afterwards saying he was staying at ringside to watch the next match.
7. Bobby Lashley defeated U.S. Champion Austin Theory by DQ. Bobby got a fantastic reaction and soaked it in with the crowd. Theory was solid too but the match didn’t go long before Reed attached Lashley for the disqualification. Lashley speared both men to make the crowd happy and posed with the U.S. Title afterwards.
8. Cody Rhodes defeated Finn Balor. Cody was so popular with everybody in the arena. It is great to see a babyface be cheered by all. One thing I noticed was the number of signs for Cody, You can pipe in cheers on TV, but you can’t make a 10-year-old spend his afternoon drawing out the American Nightmare Logo on a sign and hold it up for 20 minutes. This was the match of the night. It was really great when it kicked up a gear. Priest and Dom both got involved. Cody won with a CrossRhodes in 20 minutes.
Afterwards, Cody delivered a speech about how glad he is to be back wrestling in the UK (first time since 2018) and how he loved performing for us all. He stuck around for a long time afterwards, signing autographs and taking pictures. He really is a great face of the company.
Overall, it was the best recent WWE house show I have been to. The crowd was great all night, it was a full house and the wrestlers gave us a fun show. That is as good as you can ask for.
Top Babyface Reactions
1. Cody Rhodes
2. Seth Rollins
3. Otis
Top Heel Reactions
1. Dominik Mysterio
2. Austin Theroy
3. Finn Balor
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