As any frequent readers of this site know I try to get to at least one WWE House Show a year. This time around I made it back to the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia to check out the Supershow. This was dual brand show featuring stars from both Raw and Smackdown. Five titles were on the line, with some other fun stuff too.
US Title Match: Austin Theory (c) vs AJ Styles
I first saw AJ live the night after he won the World Title back in 2016 in this building, so it’s fitting that he opened up the show for me on this night. AJ has become one of my favorite wrestlers over that time so it’s always a joy to see him in action again. This was my first time seeing Austin Theory in person and let me just say that no matter what some people online say about him, he gets it.
Both guys started out playing to the crowd before getting into it. They had a nice match going until out came Kit Wilson of Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince is injured so Kit was on his own tonight) to attack AJ when he was out on the floor and cause a DQ. They double teamed AJ until Gallows and Anderson came out for the save. This lead to AJ giving them an ultimatum: do a tag match now or get beat up in the locker room later. Which of course resulted in….an impromptu tag team match!
AJ Styles and Karl Anderson vs Austin Theory and Kit Wilson
They had a good match with all the good tag team match material. Theory and Wilson meshed well together for two guys who only recently started working together. They got in some good double teaming and cheating tactics, while Anderson took a beating before finally making the hot tag to AJ. Styles and Anderson won when AJ hit the phenomenal forearm on Wilson.
Intercontinental Title Match: Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable vs Matt Riddle
I saw Gunther for the first time a little over a year ago at a house show , a month or so before he won the I-C title. This time he’s defending the title. Gable I saw back in 2017 as a member of American Alpha with Jason Jordan. Since then he’s had a singles run which did not go well, but for the last two years he’s been a part of the Alpha Academy with Otis, which has expanded to a trio with the addition of Maxxine Dupri. I saw Riddle for the first time at RAW last year.
Excellent match here. Gunther was accompanied by Ludwig Kaiser while Gable had his partner Otis and Maxxine Dupri. I’m old enough to remember when house shows meant you didn’t get the whole entourage or sometimes even the manager at the shows, so to see everyone bring their whole crew is refreshing. A ‘USA!’ chant started up at the beginning, showing that some habits never die.
Gunther is one of those people you have to see in person to appreciate him. He works snug, but not in a dangerous kind of way, and he’s great at shutting down his opponent’s comebacks. There was a lot of hard hitting stuff going here, highlighted of course by Gunther’s chops. There was a funny bit where Gunther hit Otis a few times but Otis went into his shaking routine. Gunther would ultimately get the win here and retain the title.
RAW Women’s Title Match: Rhea Ripley (c) vs Natalya
Yes, I know it has a new name to go along with the new belt but I’m still getting the names right and it is defended only on RAW so it is what it is. Anyhow, Ripley was cheered here like a babyface but still played the heel.
I’ve seen Nattie a few times, most recently at an episode of RAW back in 2020 and before that at Battleground 2016. I saw Rhea twice on Smackdown, this past March in DC and at MSG back in 2021. Coming off of their great match on RAW a couple of weeks ago I was curious to see how this one would play out. This was a good but relatively short match picking up where they left off from TV. Nattie got some offense including a sharpshooter in but ultimately got caught in the Prism Trap, and while she escaped it the first time on the second attempt she tapped out.
After the match Rhea got the mic and told us to rise for her man, Dominick Mysterio. Dom came out and got booed heavy when he tried to speak. After a minute or so of that out came Cody Rhodes for the next match!
Cody Rhodes vs Dominick Mysterio
Despite his long previous run in WWE I don’t think I’d seen Cody in person until Smackdown this past March, and I’ve only seen Dom at the Smackdown at MSG in 2021 and the same show show Cody was on.
This match was a little clunky in a few spots but still good. Rhea got in a lot of interference before the referee finally caught her and ejected her. Once he had Dom to himself, Cody was able to finish him off in short order.
Cody spoke to us for a few minutes after, thanked us for coming and that led to the Intermission.
Omos vs Akira Tozawa
You have to see Omos in person, at the floor level, to truly get how big he is. This was my first time seeing him live and it was an eye opener.
This was your basic squash. Tozawa ran away as best as he could and got in what licks he could but he was no match for Omos here. Omos is still learning but he looked good in this match. Tozawa took the beating like a champ, God Bless Him.
Smackdown Women’s Title (yeah, I know) Match: Asuka (c) vs Charlotte Flair vs Bianca Belair vs Bayley
I’ve seen all of these women a few times in person. I saw Bayley’s first main roster match at Battleground 2016, saw Charlotte and Asuka main event the 2018 Holiday Tour with Becky Lynch and other events, and Bianca a few times at RAW and Smackdown and a house show.
Seeing four of the best women to do this was worth the ticket price on it’s own. This and the I-C title match were the two best matches of the night. In a bit of possible foreshadowing, Charlotte and Bianca got a one on one sequence going early into the match.
The match went through several different phases. At times it looked like a tornado tag match with the heels Asuka and Bayley squaring off in separate battles with Bianca and Charlotte. Bayley tried a few times to sneak in a pin attempt while she and Asuka were working Bianca or Charlotte over. Then Charlotte and Bianca met in the ring one on one and exchanged strikes with each other. Charlotte went for the figure eight but it got broken up. Asuka ultimately stole a pin from Bianca to hang on to the title.
Main Event – WWE World Title Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs Finn Balor
Rollins and Balor put on a good one here to close things out. They went outside early and othen, sending each other into the barricade a few times. Inside they hit all the stuff that we’ve comes to know them for. Seth got busted open hardway late in the match but worked through it and finished the match. They got to go long this time, compared to their match at Money in the Bank, and were to let things breathe a bit and progress to a good conclusion since they didn’t have to fit in any angles for the finish. Seth got on the mic after winning and thanked us all for coming out.
Final Verdict
As I usually say, house shows are often my favorite way to take in a wrestling show. Without having to do specific things for TV the wrestlers are able to interact with the fans more and do more fun and silly things to have a good time. This was no exception. God willing, see them again next time!
Stroke of Genius 