WWE Live Event Results From Cardiff (4/22): Did The Shield And Fandango Pull Double Duty?
Thanks to WrestlingINC.com reader Mark Abraham (@markabraham89) for sending in these results from tonight's SmackDown live event in Cardiff, Wales:
Lillian Garcia opens the show with the usual pumping up of a very ready Welsh crowd.
New Age Outlaws & Sheamus vs. The Shield
Outlaws came out to huge ovation, still firm fan favourites after all this time. The Shield were a real treat tonight, I doubted their involvement due to their big tag match on Raw, so that was the first surprise of the evening. Match degenerated into a brawl after a DQ finish, with the Outlaws and Sheamus picking up the win after Roman Reigns used a steel chair. The fan favourites hit their finishers on Seth Rollins to even it all out. Great opener to the show, crowd loved it.
WINNERS: New Age Outlaws and Sheamus
Lillian then promoted the interactive voting for #zebstays and #zebgoes, where the fans would decide whether Zeb Colter would be allowed at ringside for Swagger's match later in the evening.
Fandango vs. Ted DiBiase
There was definitely Fandangoing throughout the Motorpoint Arena. Ted dancing along to the Fandango theme chants got a few laughs. Match wasn't too bad, however, it could have had more mileage from it. Fandango won following him hitting with his new finishing move for the 3 count.
WINNER: Fandango
Mark Henry then appeared on the video screens and promised to put his opponent into the Hall of Pain tonight.
Hornswoggle then came to the ring for his duty as special guest ring announcer for the upcoming Divas contest.
Natalya vs. Alicia Fox
An even match that never really got off the ground, tough to get people caring about the Divas division these days unfortunately but as always, they're great to look at. Natalya locked on the Sharpshooter for the win.
WINNER: Natalya
Mark Henry vs. The Great Khali
Standard big man match, slow pace as expected. The tease of a huge upset following Khali hitting a huge trademark chop. Mark Henry turned it around with a World's Strongest Slam to pick up the 3 count. I've seen worse from both men, it was ok in comparison with some snore-fests they've been involved in.
WINNER: Mark Henry
No Disqualification match: Jack Swagger vs Alberto del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez
Zeb Colter accompanies Swagger to the ring, playing on the animosity between the Welsh and English, doing a great job at winding the fans up and getting heat. A huge pop erupts when he is ejected from ringside due to the result of the previous fan voting on Twitter.
The match begins with Del Rio using Swagger's Don't Tread On Me flag as a matadors flag, which was also the debut of the first ever 'Show Us Your Visa' chant I've ever heard.
Singapore cane came into play as Swagger beat on Del Rio, fans consistently chanting for tables throughout the match and being teased by Del Rip bringing one from under the ring before being cut off by Swagger.
A great, GREAT match between the two, switching momentum between both men and was head and shoulders over their WrestleMania match in my opinion. The fans were really into it throughout the match. Swagger hit the Patriot Lock and had fans on the edge of their seat, before having his power bomb reversed and then was out through the table in the corner of the ring. Del Rio them locked on the cross-armbreaker to get a submission from the American Patriot. Match of the night by far.
WINNER: Alberto Del Rio
Triple Threat Tag Team match: Santino & Alex Riley vs. Primo & Epico vs. Primetime Players
Good, solid tag team affair. Nice to see the mid carders able to showcase their skills and some obvious talent. Santino was on top form throughout with some awesome comedy spots. Santino got the win after hitting the Cobra and getting a huge pop in the process. Fun match to lighten the mood after the intense No DQ match.
WINNERS: Santino & Alex Riley
Intercontinental Championship: Drew McIntyre vs Wade Barrett
Drew attacked Justin Gabriel from behind and took him out of the match, saying that he felt far more deserving of the title shot than the South African highflier. Drew got a lot of heat for putting down the Welsh crowd, recently promoted football team Cardiff City FC and Wade Barrett's Cardiff roots. Huge pop for Barrett.
Match felt flat in places, which was a shame, as it was one of the matches that had the potential to be a show stealer. The arrival of Justin Gabriel to fend off Jinder Mahal woke the crowd up after a false finish, courtesy of a kick out of Barrett's Wasteland/Barrett Barrage. Wade picked up the 3 count to retain his title after hitting the Bullhammer as McIntyre came off the top rope. Another big pop for the 'local' boy.
WINNER AND STILL IC CHAMPION: Wade Barrett
Lilian Garcia pumped Extreme Rules next month on PPV and then promoted WWE's next UK tour in November and thanked the fans for being so great throughout the night.
Randy Orton vs. Big Show
Orton out to a HUGE pop, always a big reaction for Orton when I've seen him wrestle in Cardiff. Decent showing between the two men, who are obviously no strangers to one another. Show refused to start the match and waited on the outside for what seemed like ages, agitating the crowd no end.
Orton hit the rope-hook DDT, took the Chokeslam from the Worlds Largest Athlete and then countered the big KO Punch to hit the RKO to a huge ovation, picking up the win and giving everyone a feel good end to the show.
WINNER: Randy Orton.
Considering that this live event fell on the same night as a live RAW taping in London, I didn't think star-power would be all there, but I was surprised and certainly not disappointed.
Great to have The Shield and Fandango pulling double-duty and giving depth to the show. Can only imagine the pop Dolph Ziggler would have had.
Overall, I'd give this a 7.5/10
Match of the night: NO DQ – Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
Biggest Pops: Randy Orton, New Age Outlaws, Fandango, The Shield
Most heat: Zeb Colter, Primo & Epico, Drew McIntyre
Mark Abraham contributed to this article.