Yesterday, WWE held a live house show in front of hundreds of Singapore wrestling fans at the Indoor Stadium. It was wonderful to see a good mix of families and friends amongst the attendees. Many also came wearing their favourite wrestling t-shirts.
Though the event was scheduled to start at 7.30pm, many stood in line early to snag official WWE merch from the official merchandise booths. The merch included t-shirts ($50 each, ranging from S to 2XL), autographed posters, championship belt replicas and even pendants.
One booth was set up at the foot of the stairs leading up to the stadium’s North and East entrances, with a snaking long line that went round the corner towards the Singapore Sports Hub visitors centre area. The other was located inside the entrance near the food and beverages stalls.
Excitement was definitely in the air as only happy faces left the booth, clutching precious new merch. Some even rushed to change into their freshly bought t-shirts right after.
Quick thoughts
Overall, it was a good show with some great matches. There were 4 title matches last night: the Universal championship (Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura), the Raw Women’s championship (Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss), the United States championship (Ricochet vs Samoa Joe vs Robert Roode) and the Raw Tag Team Championship (The Revival vs Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins).
Other matches include a 6-man tag team (Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre vs Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and AJ Styles), The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs The IICONICS (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), and Braun Strowman vs Cesaro.
The women’s tag match deserves much praise. Even though it was non-titled, the fight between the two rival teams felt like a Raw Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Good fast pace with fun spots all around.
After the Cesaro vs Braun bout, Singapore fans got a treat to an interesting albeit a little random post-match brawl. It led to the Swiss Superman bringing out a table from under the ring, though not before pulling out a kendo stick and putting it back (possibly a dig as it’s also known as the Singapore cane lol). Cesaro tried to put Braun through a table, only to get slammed into it later by Braun.
Though the true match of the night had to be the main event itself, the Universal championship match. Though the tag title match came pretty close in my mind, the battle between champion Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura just edged out a little more.
THE MAIN EVENT
WWE Universal Championship
Seth Rollins (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Throughout the entire match, the crowd was super into Shinsuke. Even after the opening bell, they wouldn’t stop singing his entrance music and even Seth got in on the fun, doing the gestures of a music conductor. It was an all-round fun match to watch as the fight for control went back and forth.
Some great moments include Seth doing not one but TWO suicide dives, Shinsuke with a sick sliding German suplex while the crowd sings his entrance theme, Seth nearly winning after a fantastic frog splash, and the fans chant “Burn it down!” as Seth stomps the mat before Shinsuke counters with a Samoan Driver. The match finally ends with Shinsuke’s failed Kinshasa finisher that leads to Seth capitalising with his Avada Kedavra superkick and a fast-rebounding The Stomp finisher.
Raw Tag Team Championship match
The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) vs Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins
This tag titles match was a classic “heels doing heel things and keeping the babyfaces isolated from each other” story. Zack was unfortunately the victim here as he was constantly kept apart from his partner Curt, no thanks to The Revival. Meanwhile, the Singapore fans continued to rally support behind them.
The tide soon changed and Zack did get his eventual redemption with an almost win after his Rough Ryder finishing move (jumping leg lariat). However, Zack got thrown aside again and, with the support of the fans, Curt fought back with more near pinfalls. In the end, though, The Revival proved too much for Zack and Curt.
Their strategy was so effective that they managed to gain enough momentum to retain their titles with their double team ender, Shatter Machine (flapjack/double-knee facebreak combo). Despite that, the stadium crowd showed their appreciation to Zack and Curt for their valiant efforts before they left the ring.
All in all, it was a fun evening with WWE Live in Singapore. It’s incredible how wrestling can break barriers of language and culture, and unite fans from all over the world.
Till next time, WWE! You’re welcome back anytime! Even Baron ‘Singapore’s Favourite Son’ Corbin.
Full show results
Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre vs Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and AJ Styles
Winners: Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and AJ Styles (via AJ Styles with Phenomenal Forearm on Baron Corbin)
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs The IICONICS (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce)
Winners: The Kabuki Warriors (via Kairi with Insane Elbow on Peyton)
Braun Strowman vs Cesaro
Winner: Braun Strowman (via Running Powerslam)
Post match fiasco: Cesaro brought out a kendo stick (possibly a dig as it’s also known as Singapore cane) and a table from under the ring. Cesaro tried to put Braun through a table, only to get slammed into it later by Braun.
Raw Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs Alexa Bliss
Winner: Becky Lynch (via Dis-arm-her)
Raw Tag Team Championship
The Revival (c) vs Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins
Winners: The Revival
United States Championship
Ricochet vs Samoa Joe vs Robert Roode
Winner: Ricochet (via Standing Shooting Star Press)
WWE Universal Championship
Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Winner: Seth Rollins (via The Stomp)
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