12/27 WWE in Uniondale, N.Y.: Cena replaces Styles in main event cage against Bryan that highlights show, Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Asuka closes out evening
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WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
DECEMBER 27, 2018
UNIONDALE, N.Y. AT NASSAU COLISEUM
REPORT BY MIKE OMANSKY, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!
Estimated crowd: 7,000 range
Return date: None announced
Length: 3 hours 21 minutes including intermission
Good show overall; excellent cage match.
Miz TV started the show. Miz came out, taunted crowd as usual. He then did a straight announcement that A.J. Styles could not appear tonight against Daniel Bryan in a cage match due to Styles having the flu (Styles vs. Bryan in a cage for the title had been the advertised main event). However, John Cena would substitute, and it would be Cena-Bryan for the title. Cena was originally scheduled as the “guest” for Miz TV.
Mustafa Ali came out. Miz pretended at first not to recognize him. Miz said that Ali had a long way to go to be in the same ring as the Miz. After they verbally attacked each other, Ali wanted a match right now against Miz. Miz reluctantly accepted.
(1) Mustafa Alie pinned The Miz in 5:00 after a flip off the top rope.
(2) R-Truth & Carmella beat Andrade Cien Almas & Zelina Vega in a mixed tag match. In the end, Truth pretended to be hurt while lying on the math. Almas bent down to pick him up, but Truth rolled him up for a three count. The best part of the match was in the middle when Carmella and Truth started dancing. The rest of the match was okay, but nothing special.
(3) Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson & Shelton Benjamin beat Primo & Epico & Aiden English when Gallows & Anderson double-teamed Primo with the Magic Killer, then Gallows scored the pin. Good action along the way.
After the match, Sanity came out. They wanted a rematch against Gallows and Anderson after what happened on TV. Benjamin stayed at ringside for the match.
(4) Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson beat Sanity. This ended again with the Magic Killer, but Anderson scored the pin.
(5) Rey Mysterio pinned Randy Orton in 3:00. Not much action with a sudden finish – the 619 followed by a dive off the top rope for the three count.
(6) The Bar defeated The Usos and New Day to retain the Raw Tag Team Titles. The usual New Day comedy; good interaction from all six. Fairly fast-paced. In the end, an Uso was about to do a dive onto three opponents outside of the ring, and Cesaro came from behind with a school boy for the pin.
(7) Jeff Hardy pinned Samoa Joe after a leap off the ropes. Good back and forth match.
(8) Daniel Bryan beat John Cena in 19:00 in a cage match to retain the WWE Title. Excellent cage match, and by far the best of the night. Lots of attempted escapes y both over the top and through the door, with signature moves and pin attempts mixed in. The crowd was totally into this match. Cena and Bryan worked hard. For the finish, Bryan caught Cena with a low blow. He grabbed the title belt which was lying on the cage steps and hit Cena with it, then crawled through the door to win.
The crowd was pretty spent after the cage match and didn’t come back to that level for the rest of the night.
(9) Lana & Naomi beat Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville when Naomi pinned Rose after her hip attack. The IIconcis were “special guest” ring announcers for the match, stayed at ringside, and kept trying to trip up Naomi and Lana. Okay for what it was.
(10) Rusev pinned Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the U.S. Title after a kick to the head and a kick to the chest.
(11) Asuka beat Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match to retain the Smackdown Title. Little reaction for any of them coming to the ring, but definite reaction for Lynch as the match went on. As noted, the crowd was pretty drained at this point. For the finish, Charlotte brought in a kendo stick and whacks both of them, then Becky flies out of the ring. Asuka still caught Flair in the Asuka Lock for the submission win.
RELATED: 12/26 WWE in New York City, N.Y. (2nd Report): Nearly full MSG features special appearances by John Cena, Vince McMahon, ten NXT wrestlers, Rousey vs. Jax main events
If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!