Front row at WWE LIVE in Baton Rouge

I was able to snag two front row seats for the WWE RAW house show tonight in Baton Rouge, so I took my son, who is (also) a huge fan.

Was disappointed to find out that Jojo Offerman wasn't there, but my sorrows were soon erased with the arrival of her replacement, Kayla Braxton. I wasn't familiar with her before tonight, and well, this gif probably explains her best...














First match of the night was Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor. Balor won with the Coup de Grace...








Next up was Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews) and No Way Jose vs. The Ascension and Curt Hawkins. Once again the faces emerged victorious. Didn't want to waste any time taking photos of these scrubs. This was actually my son's favorite match of the night, because there was a lot of comedy and also Titus was talking trash to a fat fan at ringside.

Next was a Cruiserweight championship match between champion Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy. I really wasn't expecting much, but it was excellent not just by house show standards, but by ANY standards. These two really came to work. Alexander retained.






Next was a six-woman tag match featuring Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Dana Brooke vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan). I was looking forward to seeing Sasha up close, but she was looking pretty ragged. Definitely needs a new weave before RAW on Monday. Sasha/Bayley/Dana won this one. Liv Morgan was kinda hot, in a crazy way.




















I told Sasha she was "the most beautiful flower on the bayou" and she grinned




Next was "Glorious" Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley. Lackluster match that Roode won with the glorious DDT.






Up next was Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley. Lashley is a physical specimen but has no intensity whatsoever. I stood less than a foot from Strowman and he was about 2" taller than me (I'm 6'3") but he had some thick-soled work boots on. He's not as tall as I thought he'd be.


















After this there was a brief intermission so I took my son to get a Coke. It took forever and when we got back our seats, the next match was just ending. The Deleters of Worlds (Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt) defeated The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) by disqualification to retain the RAW tag team titles.




Up next Nia Jax successfully retained her RAW Women's championship vs. Alexa Bliss in a 3-minute squash. I was wondering how big Nia would be in person, and all I can say is that's one BIG bitch. In the past I have underestimated and underappreciated the gloriousness of Alexa's booty, but I won't make that mistake again. Honestly the photos don't do it justice. That big pointy nose of hers still bothers me, though.












Finally the main event was Intercontinental champion Seth Rollins defending against Elias. Before the match, Elias sang a (somewhat accurate) song about what a shitty town Baton Rouge is. During the match he drew color (bled) -- not sure if it was intentional or not, but I doubt it. I was one of the few fans there cheering for Elias (I can't stand Rollins), but Rollins won with the curb stomp in a solid match and sent the fans home happy.
















All in all, one of the better house shows I've been to (and I've been to a lot). Didn't like the fact that all the faces won. Some of the face wrestlers were much more engaging with the fans than others -- Rollins, Strowman, Bayley, & Lashley for example were great. Roode and Nia just went straight to the back when their matches ended. Oh well my son enjoyed it and that's all that mattered.