BRM's Final Battle Live Report

[Big Red Machine]

The arena was pretty packed, but not 100%. There were a few empty seats up in the first balcony, and because I was sitting in the first balcony, I couldn't see the second balcony, so I don't know what the story was up there.

The only pre-show match involved QT Marshall coming out, whining that he wasn't on the card and saying he could beat anybody. The crowd crapped on him with "WHO ARE YOU?!" chants. Then Grizzly Redwood came out and we had a match which people weren't very into. After Marshall hit a move, an "END THIS MATCH" chant started, and wouldn't you know it, Grizz got the win via school boy less than half a minute later.

The opener was Roddy vs. Elgin and crowd was pretty hot for it. Very good match.

Next came Rhino vs. Lethal. This really wasn't very good and the crowd didn't care too much. They were a bit more into the post-match angle, though.

Nana vs. Evans got people back into things. That was a fun match.

Then came WGTT vs. Titus & Whitmer in a street fight. Rhett & BJ brought Christmas themed weapons which allowed for a lot of fun. I took the opportunity to help start dueling chants of "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and "HAPPY CHANUKAH!" which is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life.
One of the Christmas themed weapons was a three-foot long Christmas tree which the fans loved. Lots of "USE THE TREE!" chants, so when Shelton actually picked it up, the whole placed popped huge... then Shelton proceeded to toss the tree out of the ring without ever using it, provoking a chant of "YOU'RE A GRINCH!"
It did feel really odd to be so jovial and be having so much fun with what was supposed to be a hate-filled grudge match. They took some hard bumps including using a guardrail. The finish involved BJ Whitmer taking a Super Belly-to-Belly Suplex through a table... but something went wrong and BJ basically went through the table forehead-first. It was really, really, scary.

Next up was Lynn vs. Bennett. Maria got the expected "SLOPPY SECONDS!" chant... then people started chanting "I'LL TAKE THIRDS!" The crowd was into Lynn and hated Bennett. Good heel heat on the win for Bennett but Jerry gets some revenge after the match. Then Nigel and some babyfaces came out to give Jerry an award. Then Jay Lethal came out and demanded that Nigel give him Generico's spot in the main event. Things got heated and Jay spat at Nigel. They had to be pulled apart and Jay was removed from the arena.

We came back from intermission with Mike Mondo coming to the ring with crutches and a boot and saying he didn't need the crutches anymore. He also said that rather than the previously reported year, he will be back from his injury in just one more month. Then Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly came out and attack Mondo's injured leg. Davey Richards came out to make the save and got no pop at all... although I think that is because he came to save Mondo. The heels had Davey down 2-on-1, then Eddie comes out, and after a quick but dumb swerve, we got the advertised match. The match was good, but short than I expected. I think it only went about twelve minutes. It was good, though, with a lot of cool stuff.

Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy was pretty good, but the fans really pooped on Matt form the moment he came out. I thought this was extremely unfair of them. Matt worked pretty well and took some good bumps. The finish got great heat and was clearly designed for a rematch.

The tag title match wasn't too much to speak off. Briscoes won the belts... again. Then they got on the mic and said that anyone who wants a title shot just has to ask... but they will make sure that Coleman & Alexander get the first shots because they have earned the Briscoes respect, etc.

The Ladder War was AWESOME! Generico's back is going to hurt like a motherf*cker tomorrow. They did some cool and innovative stuff here. The thing I hated the most was actually the kind-of, sort-of handshake afterwards.

The "TWINKIES" chant was (hopefully) officially put to rest with chants of "NO MORE TWINKIES!" and F*CK YOU HOSTESS!"

Overall, the show was very good, and more importantly, I had a lot of fun!