WWE Brighton Live - 10 Interesting Observations

7. The Wayne Rooney Angle Has Done Its Job

Next up was a Triple Threat match for the US title. Out first was Bad News Barrett. As soon as his music started, a loud chant of €œRooney! Rooney!€ went up. This was before Barrett had the chance to get on the mic and tell people to not chant Rooney€™s name, which is traditionally how to get people to start chanting precisely that. However, it wasn€™t needed and Barrett was over huge as a heel, despite being in his home country. Next out was Jack Swagger, who got a decent reaction, followed by the new US Champion Alberto del Rio. He came out to a different mix of his music, without the signature brass fanfare, and this seemed to dampen the reaction to him. Despite recently returning to the company and cleanly beating John Cena, Del Rio €“ Bert River to his friends €“ received a very muted response. The match itself was poor, and they all seemed very hesitant at times to the detriment of it. It wasn€™t your usual high-paced, all-action three way match. This was the first match where the crowd were quiet during the action, only springing to life when the almost traditional €˜Tower of Doom€™ triple threat match spot occurred, with a superplex and powerbomb combination, which suddenly woke everyone up and elicited a €œThis is awesome€ chant. The end of the match came when Swagger had Del Rio in the anklelock, which Barrett broke with the Bullhammer Elbow, only for Barrett to get quickly rolled up by Del Rio for the win. Del Rio didn€™t look like he was pleased with the match either and made a hasty exit up the ramp.
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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.