1. John Cena Beat Seth Rollins In A Streetfight In 20:12
Cena came out to a ridiculously loud reaction. He was clearly the star of the show and the one name that everyone wanted to see. However, despite reading previously that house show crowds are usually 100% pro-Cena, Brighton was split about 60/40 in favour of the pro-Cena camp. Lots of duelling Lets go Cena / Cena sucks chants. I guess Brightons always been a bit of a maverick city. Weve got the UKs only Green MP for a start. Anyway, this one started off quite slow and safe as the two combatants let the crowd get all of their chants off their chest first. After 10 minutes or so, the action started to heat up, with a table being propped up in the corner and a steel chair being used. Cena brought the steel steps into the ring and Rollins eventually tried to piledrive him onto the steps, only for Cena to counter with a backdrop. The end of the match came when Cena was draped across a table with Rollins climbing the ropes for the mother of all curb stomps, but Cena was playing possum, sprang to his feet, met Rollins at the top and gave him a spectacular looking top rope AA through the table for the pinfall win. It was the tamest streetfight Ive ever seen, but times have changed and this is a different era. Cena took in one final ovation and threw the rest of his wristbands out to the crowd and then made sure that he shook hands with every single fan within reach. It was a really classy touch from the hardest working wrestler in the business at the moment. Everyone seemed to leave the Brighton Centre happy. We had a rushed goodbye from Lilian Garcia from the top of the ramp without any announcement of a return. I hope that they do come back. The last WWE house show I attended a few years ago saw a lot of people making the minimal effort, but everyone on this show really worked hard and gave the fans their money's worth. It was a fun night out, and, to quote the WWEs brand mission statement, they did indeed put smiles on faces of those in attendance.
Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.
