Post by greeby on May 10, 2009 7:51:29 GMT -5
Just got back from the WWE show at the newly christened Covelli Center (formerly the Chevrolet Centre) in Youngstown, Ohio, and figured I'd give you the results.
Show was close to, if not, a sellout, which means at least 6,000 in attendance if I have my figures correct on that. Hot crowd for most of the night as well, likely due to the large number of kids in attendance.
Howard Finkel does the ring announcing and actually got one of the best pops of the night, partly because the show was starting, and partly because it's Howard Finkel.
1. Mickie James pinned Maryse with the MickieT in 9:28. Non-title, of course. Maryse appears to have gone to the Larry Zbyszko School of Stalling, which I guess is better than the Terry Garvin School of Self-Defense. Decent opener once it got started.
Kelly Kelly is your host and she did the usual "Answer the easiest WWE trivia question in the world and we'll move you to the front row" contest.
2. Chavo Guerrero pinned Festus with the Frog Splash in 1:38. Before the match, Guerrero cut a promo about being a big deal because of who his aunt is, then asked for the bell. Festus responded by singing, and he's surprisingly pretty good (much better than he came off on Raw). Entertaining while it lasted, and the added gimmick of the singing might be enough to get Festus over until it wears thin.
3. Seamus O'Shaughnessy pinned Jamie Noble with a backbreaker out of a Rock Bottom position in 7:49. Noble gave his opponent a chance to leave the ring unharmed, which was declined as usual. The match was mostly Noble working the leg, which Seamus sold well, but overall I wasn't impressed with him. One of the worst matches of the night.
4. The Miz pinned Kofi Kingston with a short DDT in 9:34. Miz cut a promo before the match, basically telling anybody who hasn't been watching TV what he's done since the draft and saying he'll go through the entire roster until he gets to Cena. The match itself was pretty good, with the crowd really into Kofi during his comebacks.
5. MVP pinned William Regal in 15:01 with his mafia kick to retain the US Title. The good news is this was probably the second best match of the night. The problem is nobody was paying attention. Somebody spotted who they thought was John Cena walking through the crowd and taking a seat in the second row. I only saw him from the back but it didn't make sense since there's no angle, but people bought it, especially considering Regal challenged the "lookalike" into the ring on more than one occasion. The crowd was more concerned with the imposter than the match, which is a shame because they missed a pretty good match.
Kelly Kelly came out with two fans to throw T-shirts out to random kids, then it was time for the intermission.
6. Matt Hardy pinned Goldust with a cast to the head at 4:22. Hardy was once again wrestling under protest. Pretty much all stalling with a little armwork by Goldust before the finish. Worst match of the night but it almost had to be.
7. Primo and Carlito defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase by disqualification in 13:48 to retain the Unified Tag Team Title. After the hot tag, Primo appeared to be on his way to beating Rhodes when DiBiase hit Primo with a chair for the DQ. Legacy beat the champions down after the bell. Best match of the night.
8. John Cena and Batista beat The Big Show and Randy Orton in 18:36 when Cena pinned Show with the Attitude Adjustment. Good match with insane crowd heat, as the crowd was about as pro-Cena as you could get, and as a result Batista was super over as well.
Overall a very good show.
www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9248/
Show was close to, if not, a sellout, which means at least 6,000 in attendance if I have my figures correct on that. Hot crowd for most of the night as well, likely due to the large number of kids in attendance.
Howard Finkel does the ring announcing and actually got one of the best pops of the night, partly because the show was starting, and partly because it's Howard Finkel.
1. Mickie James pinned Maryse with the MickieT in 9:28. Non-title, of course. Maryse appears to have gone to the Larry Zbyszko School of Stalling, which I guess is better than the Terry Garvin School of Self-Defense. Decent opener once it got started.
Kelly Kelly is your host and she did the usual "Answer the easiest WWE trivia question in the world and we'll move you to the front row" contest.
2. Chavo Guerrero pinned Festus with the Frog Splash in 1:38. Before the match, Guerrero cut a promo about being a big deal because of who his aunt is, then asked for the bell. Festus responded by singing, and he's surprisingly pretty good (much better than he came off on Raw). Entertaining while it lasted, and the added gimmick of the singing might be enough to get Festus over until it wears thin.
3. Seamus O'Shaughnessy pinned Jamie Noble with a backbreaker out of a Rock Bottom position in 7:49. Noble gave his opponent a chance to leave the ring unharmed, which was declined as usual. The match was mostly Noble working the leg, which Seamus sold well, but overall I wasn't impressed with him. One of the worst matches of the night.
4. The Miz pinned Kofi Kingston with a short DDT in 9:34. Miz cut a promo before the match, basically telling anybody who hasn't been watching TV what he's done since the draft and saying he'll go through the entire roster until he gets to Cena. The match itself was pretty good, with the crowd really into Kofi during his comebacks.
5. MVP pinned William Regal in 15:01 with his mafia kick to retain the US Title. The good news is this was probably the second best match of the night. The problem is nobody was paying attention. Somebody spotted who they thought was John Cena walking through the crowd and taking a seat in the second row. I only saw him from the back but it didn't make sense since there's no angle, but people bought it, especially considering Regal challenged the "lookalike" into the ring on more than one occasion. The crowd was more concerned with the imposter than the match, which is a shame because they missed a pretty good match.
Kelly Kelly came out with two fans to throw T-shirts out to random kids, then it was time for the intermission.
6. Matt Hardy pinned Goldust with a cast to the head at 4:22. Hardy was once again wrestling under protest. Pretty much all stalling with a little armwork by Goldust before the finish. Worst match of the night but it almost had to be.
7. Primo and Carlito defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase by disqualification in 13:48 to retain the Unified Tag Team Title. After the hot tag, Primo appeared to be on his way to beating Rhodes when DiBiase hit Primo with a chair for the DQ. Legacy beat the champions down after the bell. Best match of the night.
8. John Cena and Batista beat The Big Show and Randy Orton in 18:36 when Cena pinned Show with the Attitude Adjustment. Good match with insane crowd heat, as the crowd was about as pro-Cena as you could get, and as a result Batista was super over as well.
Overall a very good show.
www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9248/
WWE Smackdown/ECW Grand Rapids, MI House Show 5/9
By Tom Bobo
I attended this show tonight at the Van Andel Arena. First time for WWE back in Grand Rapids since a Smackdown/ECW Taping about 1 year ago. Floor seats and Lower Bowl was full, Upper Bowl was very sporadically filled. Likely between 5,000-6,000 in attendance. Angela Fong (I believe) was the ring announcer.
1, Evan Bourne over Tyson Kidd following a Shooting Star Press; Kidd worked the arm and shoulder of Bourne until the end.
2. Vladimir Kozlov over Finlay
3. John Morrison over Shelton Benjamin; Benjamin tried to come on to Fong and tell her why he was the "Gold Standard" before the match. Morrison stopped to speak with her before the match and dismiss Benjamin's comments. Pretty good action here where at one point Shelton leapt to the top rope, was shoved off and came right back with a leaping kick and sent Morrison hard to the floor. Shelton controlled until Morrison's come back and he got the pinfall following a Split-Legged Spinning Moonsault.
4. Gail Kim & Eve Torres over Natalya & Layla; Natalya controlled the body of the match against Eve until the hot tag. Gail Kim came in with great fire and took it to Natalya. Following a nearfall from a flying body press that was broken up by Layla, Kim hit her finisher and got the win.
5. CM Punk over Umaga via DQ; First match of the night where the crowd really reacted to both wrestlers. Punk got early offense, but then Umaga took over with his power moves. Late in the match, Punk got Umaga up for Go 2 Sleep, but collapsed due to the weight. Umaga fell right in front of the MiTB briefcase and eyed it. He then grabbed it and threatened using it despite referee admonishment. He then smashed Punk over the back for the DQ. Umaga and the referee exchanged words, leading Punk to get the case and smack Umaga over the head 3 times to send him over the top rope and get a measure of revenge.
***A brief intermission was taken
6. ECW Championship: Christian fought Jack Swagger to a No Contest when Mark Henry interfered. Christian and Swagger started to have a decent match with Christian gaining the upper hand, leading to Henry's interference. Tommy Dreamer hit the ring and made the save as Henry and Swagger double teamed Christian. After some mic work, the referee agreed to make it a tag match.
7. ECW Champion Christian & Tommy Dreamer over Jack Swagger & Mark Henry. A match dominated by the heels until a Henry collision with Swagger in the corner. Dreamer hit his DDT and Christian hit a Top Rope Headbutt to pin Henry.
8. Intercontinental Championship: Rey Mysterio over Chris Jericho to retain his title. Best match of the night. Great heat for Jericho and he just continued to milk and incite the crowd. Rey got the 2nd loudest pop of the night. In pre-match mic work, Jericho guaranteed that he'd win the title and not get hit with the 619. Match was built largely around the 619 and it was teased 2-3 times before Rey finally hit it. Also, Jericho ripped at Rey's mask and loosened it enough that when Rey was sent hard into the turnbuckle it flew off! Rey immediately bailed to the floor and in what could not have been a plant, a fan launched a mask from the 2nd row towards Rey. Mysterio returned to the ring with the fan's mask and his original in his hand and was crotched on the top rope. Jericho again went for the mask and ripped the 2nd mask off, but Rey put the original back on and use high flying to get back into the match. In a great segment, Rey attempted the 619 and was caught as he came around and Jericho ripped him off the ropes and applied the Walls of Jericho before a rope break and then the Codebreaker for a great nearfall. Rey then came back and sent Jericho to the floor, who grabbed a chair. As he tried to enter the ring with it, the referee grabbed the from the floor and the momentum put Jericho in position for the 619, which Rey was finally successful in hitting. He followed it with a splash and got the win.
9. World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge over Jeff Hardy to retain his title. Hardy got the best reaction of the night by far and really made an effort to slap hands and connect with the majority of the fans he could. Both men worked hard, but these guys have worked together enough that you tend to know what to expect. The nearfalls were good and Hardy was hot-shotted off the second rope and Speared for the win. Hardy sent the fans home happy as he was able to send Edge into an exposed turnbuckle cable and the Swanton before posing to close the show.
www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9247/
By Tom Bobo
I attended this show tonight at the Van Andel Arena. First time for WWE back in Grand Rapids since a Smackdown/ECW Taping about 1 year ago. Floor seats and Lower Bowl was full, Upper Bowl was very sporadically filled. Likely between 5,000-6,000 in attendance. Angela Fong (I believe) was the ring announcer.
1, Evan Bourne over Tyson Kidd following a Shooting Star Press; Kidd worked the arm and shoulder of Bourne until the end.
2. Vladimir Kozlov over Finlay
3. John Morrison over Shelton Benjamin; Benjamin tried to come on to Fong and tell her why he was the "Gold Standard" before the match. Morrison stopped to speak with her before the match and dismiss Benjamin's comments. Pretty good action here where at one point Shelton leapt to the top rope, was shoved off and came right back with a leaping kick and sent Morrison hard to the floor. Shelton controlled until Morrison's come back and he got the pinfall following a Split-Legged Spinning Moonsault.
4. Gail Kim & Eve Torres over Natalya & Layla; Natalya controlled the body of the match against Eve until the hot tag. Gail Kim came in with great fire and took it to Natalya. Following a nearfall from a flying body press that was broken up by Layla, Kim hit her finisher and got the win.
5. CM Punk over Umaga via DQ; First match of the night where the crowd really reacted to both wrestlers. Punk got early offense, but then Umaga took over with his power moves. Late in the match, Punk got Umaga up for Go 2 Sleep, but collapsed due to the weight. Umaga fell right in front of the MiTB briefcase and eyed it. He then grabbed it and threatened using it despite referee admonishment. He then smashed Punk over the back for the DQ. Umaga and the referee exchanged words, leading Punk to get the case and smack Umaga over the head 3 times to send him over the top rope and get a measure of revenge.
***A brief intermission was taken
6. ECW Championship: Christian fought Jack Swagger to a No Contest when Mark Henry interfered. Christian and Swagger started to have a decent match with Christian gaining the upper hand, leading to Henry's interference. Tommy Dreamer hit the ring and made the save as Henry and Swagger double teamed Christian. After some mic work, the referee agreed to make it a tag match.
7. ECW Champion Christian & Tommy Dreamer over Jack Swagger & Mark Henry. A match dominated by the heels until a Henry collision with Swagger in the corner. Dreamer hit his DDT and Christian hit a Top Rope Headbutt to pin Henry.
8. Intercontinental Championship: Rey Mysterio over Chris Jericho to retain his title. Best match of the night. Great heat for Jericho and he just continued to milk and incite the crowd. Rey got the 2nd loudest pop of the night. In pre-match mic work, Jericho guaranteed that he'd win the title and not get hit with the 619. Match was built largely around the 619 and it was teased 2-3 times before Rey finally hit it. Also, Jericho ripped at Rey's mask and loosened it enough that when Rey was sent hard into the turnbuckle it flew off! Rey immediately bailed to the floor and in what could not have been a plant, a fan launched a mask from the 2nd row towards Rey. Mysterio returned to the ring with the fan's mask and his original in his hand and was crotched on the top rope. Jericho again went for the mask and ripped the 2nd mask off, but Rey put the original back on and use high flying to get back into the match. In a great segment, Rey attempted the 619 and was caught as he came around and Jericho ripped him off the ropes and applied the Walls of Jericho before a rope break and then the Codebreaker for a great nearfall. Rey then came back and sent Jericho to the floor, who grabbed a chair. As he tried to enter the ring with it, the referee grabbed the from the floor and the momentum put Jericho in position for the 619, which Rey was finally successful in hitting. He followed it with a splash and got the win.
9. World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge over Jeff Hardy to retain his title. Hardy got the best reaction of the night by far and really made an effort to slap hands and connect with the majority of the fans he could. Both men worked hard, but these guys have worked together enough that you tend to know what to expect. The nearfalls were good and Hardy was hot-shotted off the second rope and Speared for the win. Hardy sent the fans home happy as he was able to send Edge into an exposed turnbuckle cable and the Swanton before posing to close the show.
www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9247/
Shame in a way, as the guy could still be a convincing monster with his size and mannerisms, even as a comedy monster.
