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3/17 RAW RESULTS FROM PROVIDENCE, RI

WWE at Dunkin Donuts Center
Saturday March 17, 2012

WWE treated their RI fans to a great show and a fun night. To my surprise, the Dunkin Donuts Center was a sell out with over 9,000. The night began with 6 men in the ring being sworn in to the RI National Guard. They got a big cheer and a “USA” chant. At 7:30 sharp, it was time to begin.

1. SANTINO MARELLA pinned JACK SWAGGER with the Cobra to retain the U.S. Title in 10:33. Santino got a real nice pop coming out. The crowd hated Vickie but was pretty indifferent towards Swagger. The match ended with Hornswoggle interfering while Swagger had the ankle lock on Marella. As Swagger was chasing Hornswoggle, Marella hit the Cobra for the pin.

2. R-TRUTH pinned MIZ in 9:29 after a face plant. Miz ran down Providence and whined about not having a match for WrestleMania. Miz channeled Mr. Wrestling II with an offense that was kneelift heavy.

3. BETH PHOENIX and NATALYA beat EVE TORRES and TAMINA SNUKA in 7:03. Eve did a great promo prior to the match where she sincerely apologized for her recent actions. After working the entire match, Tamina went to tag Eve and Eve took off, leaving Tamina vulnerable to a Glam Slam. By the way this report is intended for the readers of pwinsider.com. If you are reading this on some other site, rest assured it was copied and pasted from a far superior site to the one you’re reading now.

4. CHRIS JERICHO pinned KOFI KINGSTON in 14:55. Now THIS is what wrestling should be! Tremendous back and forth. Jericho treated Kofi like he was a star at his own level. They both worked their tails off. Jericho had Kofi in the Walls and Kofi took a long a time to get to the ropes. Just as Kofi reached the ropes, Jericho pulled him back to center, which we all assumed was the finish. Kofi with a BEAUTIFUL rolling reversal out of the Walls for a 2-count. Jericho immediately hit a Codebreaker for the pin. Outstanding match!

5. BIG SHOW beat DANIEL BRYAN by DQ in 12:55, so Bryan retains the World title. They worked a very believable big man v. little man match, with Show tossing Bryan at will for the first half of the match. Bryan started working the legs and got Show off his feet. Bryan with a great Labelle Lock on Show, but Show was able to toss him off. Show with the knockout punch, which brought Jack Swagger to the ring to attack Show for the DQ

6. PRIMO and EPICO beat ZACH RYDER and MASON RYAN in 7:15 to retain the WWE Tag Team Title. First time I really got to sit back and appreciate the work of Epico and Primo, and boy are they a crisp, old school working tag team. Basically the entire match was the champions dominating Ryder until the “hot” tag to Ryan, who got pinned in about a minute with the champions’ finisher. Decent match, nothing to write home about. Crowd was really into Ryder and popping big….until the match actually started.

7. JOHN CENA beat KANE in 11:54 of a Last Man Standing Match. Perhaps, older males stayed away tonight because Cena got a reception equivalent to my niece cheering for Big Time Rush. Match was a fun brawl, with Kane hitting Cena with everything from a table, chair and a microphone, each time putting Cena down for a 9 count. Cena made a rally with the 5 Knuckle Shuffle and an Attitude Adjustment through a table. Cena stayed out a little longer to drink in the cheers of the fans.

8. CM PUNK pinned DOLPH ZIGGLER in 20:30 with the Go 2 Sleep. Great pre-match promo from Punk talking about how he can’t overlook a great challenger like Ziggler as he heads to WrestleMania. Personally I thought it was very helpful in getting the crowd to see Ziggler as a legit challenger. Match was a little weak when Ziggler was on offense, but picked up as he started hitting a neckbreaker and zig-zag. Punk rallied until a ref bump. Jericho interfered and hit Punk with a codebreaker. Ref took a long time to make the count, allowing Punk to kick out. Shortly thereafter, Punk hit the G2S for the pin.

Biggest pops:

1. John Cena (by far and not even close)
2. Punk
3. Santino (1st babyface through the curtain)
4. Ryder
5. Big Show

Biggest Heat:

1. Vickie
2. Jericho
3. Miz
4. Eve
5. Bryan

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