Post by WalterF on Apr 9, 2008 21:08:18 GMT -5
Hey guys!
I went to a RAW house show last night in Trenton which was pretty neat. The venue was rather small, only a couple thousand max so I was actually suprised WWE was putting on a show in such a small place. Here's my review:
I walked in at the tail end of the first match which was Carlito v.s. either London or Kendrick, but I couldn't tell because it ended by time I sat down, lol.
I was fortunate enough to land really good seats and was only 12 rows from the ring. Also, security at the Sovereign Bank Arena was extremely loose with no patdowns or bag checks so my girlfriend and I packed sodas and subs in her large purse so we didn't have to spend any money on food.
Paul Burchill wrestled DH Smith. Despite some reports of Smith acting heel, he was a fullu clean babyface in this match. The bout was decent, but ALOT of restholds. Burchill put his foot on the ropes with a pin to win.
Next was Charlie Haas v.s. Ron Killings. I completely forgot Killings was even in WWE again so it was cool. Annoyingly, he walked around the ringside area shouting "WHASSUP?!?!?" for a good 6 or 7 minutes before the bell rang. I then had to deal with a short, fat 12 year old shouting "WHASSUP?" directly behind me for the rest of the match. The match was for the most part sort of bland, again many restholds, but Killings pulled off some neat acrobatic kicks and sh-t towards the end which was neat. To be honest, I don't even remember what his finished was, I think a Fame-ass-er type move maybe? He won the match, but then just laid on the ground for a bit after the bell rang. The ref's gave the "X" symbol and a stretcher was brought out, but Killings slowly was able to walk back on his own.
Next was Snitsky v.s. Venis. When Venis came out he got a decent pop and let some woman over the rail and gave her a kiss on the cheek and his towel. When these two were moving it was kinda hard to see who was who to be honest. This match was good, a bit more face-paced than the previous few. Snitsky won w/ the pump-handle.
We then had a short intermission, about 15 minutes.
Came back and a Divas tag match took place. Pheonix and Burchill's girlfriend (I forget her name) v.s. Maria and Mickie. The match was suprisingly good, I have to admit. It was quick-paced and all of them pulled off some pretty cool aerial movies, hurricanrana's, headscissors and such. It lasted a lot longer than the Divas matches on Raw or SD!. Again, I was pleasantly suprised, but the match was the best so far of the night (and I usually LOATHE Diva matches). Mickie hit her finisher on Burchill's girlfriend/sister for the win.
Next was a tag title bout between Holly/Rhodes against Murdoch/Cade. The beginning of this match was EXTREMELY irritating. Cade and Murdoch honestly spent nearly ten minutes walking in and out of the ring taunting and making faces at people. I thought the match would never start. Anytime two guys got in the ring and nearly faced off, either Cade or Murdoch would jump out of the ring and tease some fan in the front row, haha. I half admire them for being such bungholes and playing it up like good heels and pissing people off, but it took about ten minutes once the bell rang for the actual match to begin. That being said, the match was of decent length and pretty good. Mid-paced wrestling, not too many restholds. Just a solid match. To be honest, I don't remember the exact end, but obviously Holly/Rhodes won.
Next Santino came out and grabbed a microphone. It was a bit difficult to hear what he was saying because the PA system was really sh-tty. Even when the wrestlers entered, the theme musics, even from being only 12 rows back sounded like they were coming out of a boombox with a microphone placed next to the speaker. He said something abotu being from Jersey and wanting to move because of the high taxes. He complained about Maria and then said he wanted to move onto "bigger and better things." On cue, Umaga entered. Santino, still on the mic pleaded with Umaga to be his friend and not wrestle him. He said he wanted to make a brothership called the "Samoitalians" and gave Umaga a hug. It was truly comical seeing Santino give a big long hug to Umaga and Umaga just stand there stone-faced. Umaga then grabbed Santino by the neck and Santino let out a long high-pitched, girly shriek on the microphone. Umaga hit the spike and got the pin.
Next was the main event, Orton defending his title against Triple H. It was exciting and somewhat unexpected. I figured the event would be a little longer so wen they said "The next match for the WWE Championship" I was shocked. Anyway, HHH got a huge pop for his entrance, very cool. Orton came out and got bigtime heat. The match was really good. To be honest, it was VERY similar to their first bout at No Mercy last year. It was very good, it lasted almost 20 minutes, lots of good back-and-forth stuff. I spent half of the match pretty much front row because I kept sneaking up to the guard rail to take videos/pics and watch. I hadn't had such close seats since Symmerslam 1997 so it was awesome! Regal came out and was yelling at the ref. While the ref was distracted Orton grabbed the belt, but HHH low blowed him and then clocked Orton with the belt. HHH made the pin, but Regal jumped in the ring and kicked HHH, thus causing a disqualification. Afterwards, HHH eventually fought back at Regal and gave him the Pedigree. He then Pedigree'd, Orton, posed with the belt and walked off. After HHH left, Orton stumbled up and held up his belt to a sh-tload of boos (and me screaming "YEAH ORTON!" which enticed a response from the "WHASSUP?!" kid looking at me and screaming "OH YEAH RANDY ORTON SUCKS!!!!) This match was awesome, very sold and PPV-like.
Overall, I enjoyed the event. It was a bit short, but I didn't mind. The only complaint I could make was the lack of mid-card to upper mid-card action. I was suprised Jericho didn't wrestle and was suprised Cena didn't wrestle since 3/4's of the place had Cena shirts on. Overall solid event thought and a great experience as usual.
I went to a RAW house show last night in Trenton which was pretty neat. The venue was rather small, only a couple thousand max so I was actually suprised WWE was putting on a show in such a small place. Here's my review:
I walked in at the tail end of the first match which was Carlito v.s. either London or Kendrick, but I couldn't tell because it ended by time I sat down, lol.
I was fortunate enough to land really good seats and was only 12 rows from the ring. Also, security at the Sovereign Bank Arena was extremely loose with no patdowns or bag checks so my girlfriend and I packed sodas and subs in her large purse so we didn't have to spend any money on food.
Paul Burchill wrestled DH Smith. Despite some reports of Smith acting heel, he was a fullu clean babyface in this match. The bout was decent, but ALOT of restholds. Burchill put his foot on the ropes with a pin to win.
Next was Charlie Haas v.s. Ron Killings. I completely forgot Killings was even in WWE again so it was cool. Annoyingly, he walked around the ringside area shouting "WHASSUP?!?!?" for a good 6 or 7 minutes before the bell rang. I then had to deal with a short, fat 12 year old shouting "WHASSUP?" directly behind me for the rest of the match. The match was for the most part sort of bland, again many restholds, but Killings pulled off some neat acrobatic kicks and sh-t towards the end which was neat. To be honest, I don't even remember what his finished was, I think a Fame-ass-er type move maybe? He won the match, but then just laid on the ground for a bit after the bell rang. The ref's gave the "X" symbol and a stretcher was brought out, but Killings slowly was able to walk back on his own.
Next was Snitsky v.s. Venis. When Venis came out he got a decent pop and let some woman over the rail and gave her a kiss on the cheek and his towel. When these two were moving it was kinda hard to see who was who to be honest. This match was good, a bit more face-paced than the previous few. Snitsky won w/ the pump-handle.
We then had a short intermission, about 15 minutes.
Came back and a Divas tag match took place. Pheonix and Burchill's girlfriend (I forget her name) v.s. Maria and Mickie. The match was suprisingly good, I have to admit. It was quick-paced and all of them pulled off some pretty cool aerial movies, hurricanrana's, headscissors and such. It lasted a lot longer than the Divas matches on Raw or SD!. Again, I was pleasantly suprised, but the match was the best so far of the night (and I usually LOATHE Diva matches). Mickie hit her finisher on Burchill's girlfriend/sister for the win.
Next was a tag title bout between Holly/Rhodes against Murdoch/Cade. The beginning of this match was EXTREMELY irritating. Cade and Murdoch honestly spent nearly ten minutes walking in and out of the ring taunting and making faces at people. I thought the match would never start. Anytime two guys got in the ring and nearly faced off, either Cade or Murdoch would jump out of the ring and tease some fan in the front row, haha. I half admire them for being such bungholes and playing it up like good heels and pissing people off, but it took about ten minutes once the bell rang for the actual match to begin. That being said, the match was of decent length and pretty good. Mid-paced wrestling, not too many restholds. Just a solid match. To be honest, I don't remember the exact end, but obviously Holly/Rhodes won.
Next Santino came out and grabbed a microphone. It was a bit difficult to hear what he was saying because the PA system was really sh-tty. Even when the wrestlers entered, the theme musics, even from being only 12 rows back sounded like they were coming out of a boombox with a microphone placed next to the speaker. He said something abotu being from Jersey and wanting to move because of the high taxes. He complained about Maria and then said he wanted to move onto "bigger and better things." On cue, Umaga entered. Santino, still on the mic pleaded with Umaga to be his friend and not wrestle him. He said he wanted to make a brothership called the "Samoitalians" and gave Umaga a hug. It was truly comical seeing Santino give a big long hug to Umaga and Umaga just stand there stone-faced. Umaga then grabbed Santino by the neck and Santino let out a long high-pitched, girly shriek on the microphone. Umaga hit the spike and got the pin.
Next was the main event, Orton defending his title against Triple H. It was exciting and somewhat unexpected. I figured the event would be a little longer so wen they said "The next match for the WWE Championship" I was shocked. Anyway, HHH got a huge pop for his entrance, very cool. Orton came out and got bigtime heat. The match was really good. To be honest, it was VERY similar to their first bout at No Mercy last year. It was very good, it lasted almost 20 minutes, lots of good back-and-forth stuff. I spent half of the match pretty much front row because I kept sneaking up to the guard rail to take videos/pics and watch. I hadn't had such close seats since Symmerslam 1997 so it was awesome! Regal came out and was yelling at the ref. While the ref was distracted Orton grabbed the belt, but HHH low blowed him and then clocked Orton with the belt. HHH made the pin, but Regal jumped in the ring and kicked HHH, thus causing a disqualification. Afterwards, HHH eventually fought back at Regal and gave him the Pedigree. He then Pedigree'd, Orton, posed with the belt and walked off. After HHH left, Orton stumbled up and held up his belt to a sh-tload of boos (and me screaming "YEAH ORTON!" which enticed a response from the "WHASSUP?!" kid looking at me and screaming "OH YEAH RANDY ORTON SUCKS!!!!) This match was awesome, very sold and PPV-like.
Overall, I enjoyed the event. It was a bit short, but I didn't mind. The only complaint I could make was the lack of mid-card to upper mid-card action. I was suprised Jericho didn't wrestle and was suprised Cena didn't wrestle since 3/4's of the place had Cena shirts on. Overall solid event thought and a great experience as usual.
wit.
