Last night I went with my grandfather and we sat in the third row from ringside. Usually there are about 7-8 row total on each side. Not a whole lot you'd think at first, but the crowds in Melbourne are usually their biggest. Tonight was also a treat with the autograph signings from the Miz and Christian, as well as 3 of the NXT rookies.
6:30 PM- Arrive at the Melbourne Auditorium. Get lost trying to figure out which line if for Gold Circle (Ringside) tickets, as well as the one for autograph signings.
An interesting note here is that wrestlers who aren't on the card for the nights show are put on staff duty. Talk about moving up the ranks. I give WWE credit in this regard as it keeps costs down and also allows young talent to "pay their dues" in a respect, along with not take advantage of never having to help our or stay humble.
6:50 PM- Get in line for the autograph signings. Try to stay in the line as it merges with the concessions area. They're also showing an autographed ringside chair signed by Rey Mysterio from the Great American Bash. You could pay $5 for 6 raffle tickets and the winner is drawn at the end of the night.
7:30 PM- Met Christian, Miz, Bryan Danielson, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Jamie Noble. All were really nice and class acts. Danielson seemed tired but was great with his diehard fans and Christian was being rushed by staff, but was still as nice as when I met him in Melbourne at a TNA signing a few years ago (Where he threatened my grandfather with a chair when I said he didn't like him at the time. Now he's his biggest fan). Noble was a surprise and he was classy along with the other NXT stars. My grandfather stated to them that he didn't like how they trashed the arena last Monday and their response was "That was the plan". Good stuff as they were enjoying themselves but still keeping a bit in character.
The biggest surprise for me at the signings was the Miz. He commented on my grandfather's and my shirts (We had matching Instant Classic shirts from Christian's TNA days) and he was probably the nicest guy there. Before we got there he was great with kids and it was just a credit to him for playing a fantastic heel, while still showing what it's all about. I have more respect for him now then ever.
In a nutshell, a great $5 poster with 6 signatures that will no doubt be a freakin' sweet addition to a future game/sport room. 8>)
8 PM- Show begins, pretty close to on time. No pyro of course. They have a decent looking set in the background where oddly enough people have to walk out and around down stairs to get to the ring. There are two female ring announcers, the main one being Jamie Keyes. Training was AJ Lee. Lee was honestly I think a bit better, Keyes got a bit screechy. I believe she was on the second season of NXT as well.
Here's a quick match rundown from memory. I'll discuss what I can to the best of my memory and some interesting notes on the night's card throughout.
Opening match- Conrad Tanner (I think) vs. Yoshi Tatsu
- Seeing Yoshi was a nice surprise and the crowd went nuts for him. He had some mic work at the beginning to get heat on the heel and the match went I would say around 6 minutes. Tatsu picked up the win with a spinning wheel kick off the top rope. And that music is STILL stuck in my head. >.<
6-Man Tag Match- Curt Hawkins, Vance Archer, and Mason Ryan against Michael MiGillicutty, Percy Watson, and Johnny Curtis (I think)
- It wasn't horrible, the crowd was way over for Percy Watson wanting him to dance (It was scary that adults were saying this more than kids!). The heels one with some nice teamwork from Archer and Hawkins and Hawkins got the pin for the win. Archer and Hawkins have improved a lot in my opinion, I haven't watched Smackdown enough to be any kind of judge but females were into Hawkins a lot and he was a great personality. Not a bad match at all, I'd say it was just over 10 minutes max.
Divas Tag Match- Naomi Night and Aksana vs. Tamina and Liviana
- This was one of the worst matches of the night and to be honest one of the more annoying for me simply because of some drunk people behind us (They usually don't always serve beer but Melbourne tends to when they come) screaming at the top of their lungs and yelling a bunch of, let's just say, non-PG things to the ladies in the ring. I feel bad for parents with kids around as the crowds typically aren't like that at FCW shows. It was a decent-length match with a fair share of botches but they were trying their best it seemed. After about 7-8 minutes the face team got the win.
Singles Match- Bo Rotundo vs. Donny Marlow w/G-Rilla
- Nothing really special as I was still dealing with ringing ears from the people behind me. >.< style="font-weight: bold;">Special Challenge Match- Tyler Reks vs. Jamie Noble
- By far the surprise match of the night. It was very good with Reks coming across as a pretty entertaining heel. I forgot how good Noble is in the ring. He's a bit of a cross as many know between a Davey Richards and Chris Benoit. At least in his wrestling style. A lot of near falls and the crowd was eating it up the whole way. I think it was about 12 minutes or so with Noble getting the win. Oddly enough I saw a flying headbutt for the first time in a while. Noble had his son up on the stage to watch his match and he also had a mixed back of high-flying moves. Probably the 2nd best match of the night.
FCW Tag Team Championship Match- The Uso Brothers vs. Hunico and ??? (A masked tag team that were the champions. Didn't catch the names.)
- These teams always put on a good show. I saw both of them in Orlando last month when the Usos when they were the title-holders. Good back and forth match with both teams having good chemistry together. The Usos got more of a face reaction than I would have thought, but overall a fun tag team match. Tamina was good in the Uso's corner as well. The champions retained after a pretty good contest. No complaints really here. But if you ever catch one of these shows and see one of these two teams in action your in for a treat.
9:30 PM- 15-20 minute intermission. Nothing to special going on here, it did come a bit late in the card though.
FCW Championship Match- Alex Riley vs. Lucky Cannon
- This wasn't horrible to be honest, Riley isn't bad and plays a good heel and Lucky Cannon (Formally known as Johnny Prime) had some good face reactions. It was a simple back and forth match with the end being a countout and a Riley win after a nasty-sounding bump outside involving the steel stairs. Not a bad match, but a bit of a down spot in the show as it was just after intermission.
Main Event- Christian and the Miz vs. Bryan Danielson and Heath Slater
- This last match took the cake. It pretty much worth the price of admission alone to be honest. It was advertised to my understanding as the Miz and Bryan Danielson vs. Christian and Heath Slater. To start the entrances, Miz's music hit but he didn't show. Christian then came out to some odd, Heath Slater-like music afterward and cut a great promo about how he thanks FCW for playing his ring entrance music from 6 years ago. He calls out Heath Slater on the "cowardly" acts last Monday night and said that he never returned his phone calls. There were chants of "Cena Sucks" and he witfully replied "He's the champion, so I'll have to disagree".
Heath Slater came out to a ring of boos and had a good exchange with Christian for the next few minutes about how he didn't like the answers Christian gave him when he called before and that fourth place wasn't acceptable for him. The crowd blew up when all of a sudden Bryan Danielson hits the ring and decks Christian from behind. He and Heath put the boots to him and then out runs the Miz for the save. He clears house before Danielson and Slater get the better of him and it was here that Danielson whips out the "N" armbands. This got a ton of heat from a small crowd of maybe about 100-200 people. It was a great moment as personally I was stoked for the continuation of a major storyline from TV. Eventually though Miz and Christian recover and challenge them to a Pros vs. Rookies match.
This match went about 15 minutes and was an absolute blast. Ring psychology was fantastic and there was a handful of fun moments with the Miz and Christian where after the Miz took off his shirt and got the girls screaming, Christian asked for the Miz's shirt and put it on before taking it off for still a decent reaction but it moreso got a ton of laughs. They both also did the clapping crowd pleasing action that Christian does during every match about half-way through. It was also a lot of fun to see Danielson as a heel. He and Slater were all over the crowd and got a lot of good, solid heat. I was shocked as well though to see the Miz cheered so much even by kids. To me, this shows that NXT angle is already working where the crowd gets behind the "WWE Pros" no matter who they are. I'll be interested to see if they use Miz as a face-figure now on TV since his angle with Danielson has seemingly evolved into this faction storyline. Works for me either way.
The match had some good heel tactics and great overall tag team action. Near the end the crowd blew up again when the rest of NXT Season 1 made their way to the ring lead by Wade Barrett. Christian and the Miz got back to back and took the beating like men but got outnumbered by the "Rookies". Another funny spot here was the referee taking off his shirt and joining the Miz and Christian. After a good laugh from the crowd he was tossed out of the ring. The crowd was all over them and the reaction was fantastic for an indy-size group of fans. They laid out Christian and the Miz before tearing the area around the ring up a bit and threatening the two ring announcers and Tom Prichard himself. They all lined up on the stage to close the show as the crowd booed and Dr. Tom Prichard went in the ring to help Christian and the Miz who got a great standing ovation. Most of the crowd was on their feet for the whole main event.
So far the NXT Invasion storyline is shaping up to hopefully be a classic, especially if it's included in a small-market house show for their development brand. My only gripe is that, especially in FCW, why don't people come and help the Pros? They could have easily laid out some guys, especially if the hometown boy Jamie Noble tried to make the save. The same deal goes for Raw. Evan Bourne at least could have came to help but proceed to get laid out as well. Either way I can't wait to see where they go from here.
10:40 PM- Left the show. Ironically as people left the wrestlers/event staff were giving out a promotional card for the "American Dream Tour" for the show in Melbourne on July 2nd. I ran into Wes Brisco and after I told him I already had one, he said just take it, which got me to chuckle and I was like "Alright, hey, can't wait to see you in the ring instead of passing these out." His reply was something along the lines of "Me too, thanks". Nice guy though, it's a bit odd to see someone in the ring one night and doing this the next, but I give them credit for doing so for the most part, and not acting completely like they're miserable.
Show Rating- 8.5 (Some matches were too close to duds, but was still a great show with about 7 matches on the card. I'm not a wrestling teacher of course, but that's just my two cents from ringside.)
Experience Rating- 9.5 I'll be an FCW fan for as long as their around. Anyone who has the chance to go for a fairly cheap price and a change of pace, I highly recommend you do so.
The invasion was similar to what we saw last Monday night. For some pictures there as well as some of a select other matches, click the link below. They aren't of the best quality but with an iPhone and a 6 year old digital camera, we made due. 8>)
Photos
All in all, FCW is flawed with minor stuff like any "Indy show" and sometimes it's laughable, but to experience all walks from wrestling as a fan from that stage to Wrestlemania level is a real treat and makes you appreciate what they all go through. I think little things like in the main event tonight get people buzzing, excited, and looking forward to whats to come, especially in the way of the NXT Invasion. Congratulations WWE, I was about to write off wrestling for the Summer but you sucked me back in. Keep me that way for a while will you?
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