Wrestling fans of all ages came out to support their favorite WWE superstars on Monday, as WWE SmackDown Live invaded the Don Haskins Center.
WWE action returned to El Paso after a five-year absence. From kids to adults, the crowd was hyped and eager as the show went on for over two hours.
The first bout was a Fatal 4-way match for the tag team championships. The champions, The New Day faced The Hype Bros, Fandango and the team who got the most heat yesterday, the heel group of the Usos. The bout was tag team wrestling at its finest as the company displayed its two powerhouse teams the New Day and the Usos. As the New Day retained the tag titles after pinning one of the Usos after giving him a ride on the Midnight Hour, New Day’s finishing move.
Next, was former Ring of Honor star Mike Kanellis, facing El Paso’s very own Sin Cara. The hometown favorite used the WWE universe for momentum as the fight wore on.
The bout featured an homage of multiple sights. First it displayed some high-flying action in the style of lucha libre, as Sin Cara payed tribute to another hometown hero.
Sin Cara ended the match jumping off the top rope in a Five-Star Frog Splash, the move made famous by WWE Hall of Famer and El Paso’s very own Eddie Guerrero.
The pace did not let on, as the night continued with a six-man tag team match that featured, Chad Gable, Luke Harper and Sami Zayn as the faces, while their opponents—the tag team partners of The Colóns and Erick Rowan—played the heels of the match.
The bout ended when the hot-tag was made to Zayn, who was easily the crowd’s favorite superstar of the match. He put the heels away with his finisher, Helluva Kick.
Next was a bout between the crowd favorite “The Glorious One” Bobby Roode, and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler is well known as WWE’s best seller when it comes to selling moves. He came out in full heel form by claiming he is the best thing to happen to El Paso, but the crowd was behind the glorious one throughout the match. Roode put the match to bed after hitting Ziggler with the Glorious DDT.
The final bout before the intermission was a no disqualification match between Rusev and “The Viper,” Randy Orton.
This bout was the match of the night. It featured everything you would want in a no disqualification match. Rusev brought out the Kendo stick from underneath the ring and used it to hit Orton. Shortly, as the fight made its way out of the ring, the steel steps were used as a weapon by both superstars. Chairs were left and right of the squared circle. The bout ended when Orton put Russev through a table. When Russev got up, Orton hit him with an RKO and the bout ended in a three count.
After a brief intermission, fans witnessed the first and only women’s match of the night, featuring former WWE SmackDown champion Naomi, going against “Ms. Money in the Bank,” Carmella, who had her manager James Ellsworth by her side.
The bout featured Naomi showing off her athletic ability with her high-flying kicks. While Carmella was being distracted by Ellsworth, Naomi was able to pin her for a three count.
The co-main event was for the United States title, as Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens faced the champion the Phenomenal one AJ Styles in a triple threat match.
Styles was able to retain his title after a back and forth battle between the three men. A highlight of the match happened when Owens hit Styles with a powerbomb that had the crowd on its feet.
Corbin, the crowd’s least favorite of the match, was able to show off his former football abilities by stomping Owens and Styles because of his height advantage. Styles though was able to hit Corbin with his finisher the Phenomenal Forearm and it was all over.
Lastly, was the main event for the WWE Championship, the challenger Shinsuke Nakamura, faced the champion Jinder Mahal, who was accompanied by his henchmen, the Singh Brothers.
Mahal was playing a classic heel, by belittling the fans and talking in his foreign tongue of Punjabi, before Nakamura’s entrance cut him off making crowd rise to their feet. The fans continuously sang his theme song as the match progressed and even after the match.
The fight ended in a sloppy finish, as the Singh Brothers were able to distract the referee for Mahal to retain the belt with a dirty move. After the match Nakamura was able to get some revenge on the Singh Brothers by hitting them both with his finisher the Kinshasa, as Mahal ran away from the ring holding on to his title.
