WWE Live Event Results From Odessa (5/11): Swagger Gets "You Hurt Ziggler" Chants, Orton Headlines
Thanks to WrestlingINC.com reader Tony Ambrose for sending in these results from last night's WWE live event at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, TX:
The arena was about 85%-90% full. The show opened with a 6-man tag:
The Usos & The Great Khali defeated 3MB
The Usos got an ok reaction, although they weren't as in sync on their intro as they usually are. Khali got a surprisingly big pop. 3MB got a mixed reaction, leaning towards boos. Drew was wearing a strange thin beard. The match, which went 12 minutes, was pretty standard. Slow start, with 3MB running scared a lot. Khali got the hot tag and Jinder Mahal took the punjabi plunge to finish.
They announced that the Del Rio/Swagger match would be either 2 Out Of 3 Falls or a Street Fight, and told us how to vote. Interestingly, the graphic they showed on the screen included an old pic of Del Rio holding the World Heavyweight Championship Belt.
Ted DiBiase Jr. defeated Corey Graves
Neither guy got much initial reaction, although Graves cut a heel promo on his way to the ring that did draw some heat, which grew throughout the match. The match was pretty fast paced and entertaining. Graves took a HUGE sitout spinebuster, but it was a back-and-forth match. DiBiase won with Dream Street after 8 minutes.
The Funkadactyls defeated The Bella Twins
Both groups got moderate reaction. 6 minutes long. Naomi gets the pin with a springboard crossbody block
Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger (Street Fight)
Swagger came out with a "Don't Tread On Me" flag over his shoulders to some very real heat. This area has a pretty substantial Latin population, so it was definitely not a surprise that it was pro-Del Rio. Swagger cut a promo before giving the mic to Colter, who referred to Odessa as Oklahoma, then Lubbock in order to draw heat. He also asked how many "undocumented workers" were in the building, and got a pretty decent cheer in return.
Ricardo was introduced to a strong pop, and introduced Del Rio to an even bigger pop. After both were in the ring, they announced that it would be a street fight.
Del Rio grabbed the flag that Swagger had hung over the ropes and teased throwing the flag into the crowd. When Swagger came after the flag, ADR played bullfighter with him, causing Swagger to miss it a few times, before finally throwing it into the crowd. At some point while this was going on, a "You hurt Ziggler!" chant broke out in the ringside area, which might have been the funniest moment of the night.
Once the match got going, they went into the crowd and up on the ramp right off the bat. Swagger focused on ADR's ankle early, and pulled out a table (which got set aside without being used) and a kendo stick (which got used immediately and often). Swagger got an ankle lock in, but got out after Rodriguez tossed him a kendo stick. After about 15 minutes of back and forth, AJ and Big E showed up. ADR took a Big Ending, but kicked out of Swagger's pin attempt. Almost immediately, ADR countered a gut wrench attempt into a cross arm breaker for the tap. Bell-to-bell, the match went 17 minutes.
Then came a Komen foundation promo and 15-minute intermission.
Tons of Funk defeated Rhodes Scholars
Both got the expected reaction. Sweet T doesn't have his face/head tattoo on tonight. Rhodes Scholars gave each other long, dramatic introductions before ToF came out. Once the bell rang, Rhodes and Sandow spent 7 full minutes running scared before the action really got going. At one point during the action, Sweet T got hung up in the second rope, and the Bellas got up on the apron and each hit him with her butt from either side, after which he requested another in the 2nd funniest moment of the night. Once the action actually began, they went for about 5 minutes Tons of Funk won with a double landing slam.
Wade Barrett defeated Justin Gabriel (Intercontinental Championship)
Barrett actually got a mixed reaction before cutting a short heel promo to get some heat. Gabriel came out to a moderate pop. They went 11 minutes of fast paced action before Gabriel went for a springboard and took a Bull Hammer for the loss.
Randy Orton defeated Big Show
Show actually came out to a face pop, but Orton's was considerably louder (and female-led). They went 11 minutes in a standard match. The only spot even remotely worth noting was that Orton's rope-hung ddt came with Show hung on the top rope instead of the middle. Orton got the win with an RKO after ducking under a WMD, which my brother called exactly literally less than a minute before it happened.
Overall, it was a decent show, if a predictable one. The only result that surprised me a little was the DiBiase/Graves match, simply cause I thought they might give the young up-and-comer the win over a guy whose stock has fallen as far as DiBiase's has.
Pops of the Night:
1. Orton
2. Del Rio
3. Rodriguez
Most Heat:
1. Swagger
2. Barrett
3. Graves
Best Matches:
1. Del Rio def Swagger
2. Barrett def Gabriel
3. DiBiase def Graves
Tony Ambrose contributed to this article.