WWE RAW NOTES FROM THE 10/22 GREEN BAY SHOW
by Otto
I was at the Green Bay House show on Friday night. Here are a few notes from the show.

Simon Dean wrestled Val Venus, very different from Simons Nova days, much more ground based. Still he cut a good promo before the match, so he's got a good chance to go somewhere.

Gene Snitsky on the other hand... his promo before the match created heat, but it was more like the X-pac style "get the hell out of the ring heat". And they put him out there with Maven, who while cool just can't carry someone that green yet. The match was horrible, and afterward he came back out and damn neat killed Maven by almost dropping him while attempting a pump handle slam. This guy just isn't ready to be in the big time yet. The positive side was no baby killer chant tonight.

Crowd was ok, not great, I'd say around 3,500 or 4,000. Scarily enough, it was just a little less than they drew in Milwaukee for Taboo Tuesday. Still the WWE should learn not to run shows in Green Bay on weekends when the Packers are home, as interest for anything else in town is like zero.

The main event was actually a lot of fun match to watch. The only part that kinda sucked was when Jericho went for a sunset flip and pulled HHH tights down. Not normally a big deal except HHH then proceeded to leave his ass cheeks hang out for the next 2-3 moves, even taking a slam off the top rope with his ass hanging in the breeze. So within the space of a week I saw more of both HHH and Flair than I ever wanted to for extended periods of time. Man sometimes it's tough to be a wrestling fan. Still everyone got their spots in, and Flair is just awesome, as usual.

Pops:
1. Eugene
2. Jericho
3. Orton
4. Rhyno / Tajiri
5. HHH pulling up his trunks

All and all it was a fun show.

RAW BRAND HOUSE SHOW IN MADISON, WISCONSIN LIVE REPORT
by Jason Geary
WWE Raw house show report from Madison, WI 10/23/04

Hey all. I - along with around 2500 of my closest peeps - attended the Raw brand house show here in cool, crusty Madison. As I pulled into the Dane County Expo, Hair Care & Tire Center parking lot, it hit me that our beloved burg has experienced a relative deluge of live sports entertainment this year. Two, count 'em, TWO live events in the space of ten months. Our collective thimble runneth over. Actually, we should count our blessings. At least they were both Raw shows. Sorry, Ottawa. Now all we need in this town is to get our first TV taping in more than six years. Not likely, since we pretty much killed that with the very creative -- and paraphrased -- chant of "EAT SKIT! FUNK YOU!" that breaks out at UW football games. During a not-so-riveting WWF tag title defense by the New Age Outlaws against Mankind and Al Snow, the very sophisticated crowd broke out into this highbrow exchange. The west side of the arena pitted against the east in a learned and refined debate, rivaled only by Foley vs Layfield. Billy Gunn, in his only smart in-ring maneuver of his career, ran into the ring and started beating on Mankind, hoping to spark the crowd back into the match in the ring. Since this was during the pre-Smackdown era of WWF... ERRR WWE television, every other Raw was taped six days prior to broadcast. This was one of those shows, the offending chant was cleaned up in editing. That's my opinion on why we haven't gotten another major event since that night in October of '98. Or maybe I'm just full of it, and it's Motley Crue's performance that killed the town. Cripes, Vince Neil was BLOWN UP!! During their mangling of the classic "Wild Side," I could have sworn Vince was asphyxiating with the amount of gasping breaths he took. With that kind of cardio fitness, they should change their name to Wheezer.

The other evil aspect of that Motley Crue performance was the inauspicious debut of their security guard, Test, whom Vince McMahon has chosen, with a not-so-stunning impunity, to inflict upon his shrinking fan base ever since. Back in May of this year, I attended a Raw house show in Moline, IL. When I saw Test, who hadn't been on TV in a few months, walking down the aisle, it confused me. I figure the answer lies in this dramatization of a possible telephone conversation between Test and a nameless road agent, the day after the company's previous show in Moline.

Test dials a phone...

RING RING... RING RING...
ROAD AGENT: Hello?
TEST: Pat/Michael/Arn/Dean/Lanza/Sarge??
ROAD AGENT: Yes?
TEST: Hey, it's Test. I overslept and missed my plane to the next town. What should I do??
ROAD AGENT: TEST?? This is a test??
TEST: What? No, I'M Test!! ME!!
ROAD AGENT: Oh yeah... Test. I remember now...(feigning recognition). Anyway, you say you can't get to the next show??
TEST: Yeah, man. What should I do??
ROAD AGENT: Well, we don't really have the available funds to get you another ticket. You think you could... oh, I don't know. Hang out for a while?
TEST: Hang out?
ROAD AGENT: Yeah, just sit tight for a while. It doesn't look like we're doing anything meaningful with you on television. And we're running that market again in May. We'll just swing back through and pick you up then. That work?
TEST: I don't know...
ROAD AGENT: Great. Fantastic. See you in seven months, Chest.
TEST: It's TEST!!! TEST!
ROAD AGENT: Yeah, me too. Later.
TEST: IT's TEST, I tell you!!! AHHHH!!

Thanks for indulging that hypothetical flight-of-fancy.

Anywho, Coach opens the show by bullying the new, nameless ring announcer out of the ring, so he can force-feed us his recap of Taboo Tuesday. As soon as he says that he has the legs to pull off wearing a mini-skirt, Kid Rock's silly rendition of the ZZ Top classic hits and the crowd goes absolutely HOSS for the incredibly tallish Stacy Keibler. She's soon jumped by my best girl Molly Holly and Trish Stratus. Victoria hits the ring for the save, and Coach books the four in an immediate tag team match.

STACY KEIBLER & VICTORIA vs TRISH STRATUS & MOLLY HOLLY - I tend to be very forgiving with these Divas matches, especially when the admitted novice - Stacy, in this case - is trying so darn hard. Predictably, Molly carried the action in this one, repeatedly getting heat with the ringsiders until she goes down on Stacy's schoolgirl for the pin. Molly and Trish did a great job of getting heat merely by sneering and scoffing at people. It's all about the fundamentals, baby. Your winners: Stacy & Victoria.

SIMON DEAN vs VAL VENIS - Of course, Simon had to do a mini-infomercial for the Simon System, endearing himself to the fans by calling the city "Fat-ison." I looked around, and I can tell you he wasn't entirely wrong. The waitresses at the local IHOP outlets took a hit on their tips tonight. This ended up being a pretty good match that exemplified the night's theme, which was HARD WORK. The match itself was better than your average Heat bout, as these two clicked very well together. Extra credit for the loud "SIMON SUCKS" chant from the vengeful audience. Simon eventually takes the win with a Greco-Roman rope grab during a rollup. Your winner: Simon Dean.

GENE SNITSKY vs MAVEN - Snitsky cut a big-jawed nothing of a promo before the match. He proceeds to disavow any involvement in, among other things, Lita's miscarriage, Kane's messed-up eyes, the Yankees blowing a three-game-eight-inning lead in the ALCS, the war in Iraq, and Charter Communications not carrying WWE 24/7. Big time heel squash, with minimal offense from Maven. I think the crowd earned some brownie points by doing a great job of applauding the defeated babyfaces back to the dressing room. A small crowd, but they were into pretty much everything. Snitsky uses a backbreaker variant for the finish. Your winner: Gene Snitsky.

THE HURRICANE & ROSEY vs CHUCK PALUMBO & RODNEY MACK w/Jazz - Hurricane does some good comedy stuff with Chuck to start things out. Nothing spectacular, other than the crowd really being into Rosey's offense after the hot tag. Rodney collides with his boo, and falls prey to that Samoan drop/swinging neckbreaker hybrid that Shane and Rosey do, taking us into intermission. Your winners: Hurricane & Rosey.

15-Minute intermission

WILLIAM REGAL & EUGENE vs LA RESISTANCE vs RHYNO & TAJIRI in an ELIMINATION MATCH - OK, I think everyone who reads this site would agree that the one great thing about house shows is that the boys tend to act a hell of a lot goofier when there are no cameras around. The pre-match antics of Regal point to some kind of rib on Tajiri. For whatever reason, Regal would hop in front of Tajiri, and slam his foot into the mat and then squat, sumo-style. And a few times he just pointed at Tajiri's rear end and then smacked his own, pointing at Tajiri the entire time. Eugene was hitting all his gymnastic spots, including using the Quebecian(?) flag as a proctological implement. Long (almost 20 minutes) but entertaining match, with minimal involvement from Rhyno until his and Tajiri's elimination in the first fall. Don't know if he's injured, but he only did four or five spots before losing. Eugene makes the eventual hot tag, hitting a rock bottom on Sylvan Grenier for an apparent victory, but Coach pulls the referee out of the ring before he can count three. Grenier accidentally nails Coach in the boiler with the flagpole, and walks into a stunner. Your winners: William Regal & Eugene.

SHELTON BENJAMIN vs CHRISTIAN for the INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE - Christian riles up the crowd, threatening to kick everyone's fat asses. I guess Simon wasn't the only one to notice the "grazing" vibe that permeated this very hungry crowd. The two engage in some quick back-and forth offense and counters, with Shelton always getting the last word. Christian takes over, hitting near falls and cheating the whole way, and coming precariously close to throwing one of those tantrums I miss so much. Shelton comes back and sort of hits his finisher, losing Christian's leg on the way around and making it look more like a hiptoss than anything else. Kinda took away from the finish, but a very good match. Almost "RAW top of the second hour" level stuff. Your winner and still IC champion: Shelton Benjamin.

RANDY ORTON, CHRIS BENOIT & CHRIS JERICHO vs HHH, RIC FLAIR & BATISTA - Crowd lit up for every entrance theme, so this shaped up to be a hot main event, and it definitely delivered. Easily on a par with some of the best Monday night main events you'll see, an the hands-down pick as the match of the night. Orton and Batista start out, evidently bumping heads on a lockup or something, because Orton was juiced from his left eyebrow in about thirty seconds. Might have been his gusher from Taboo Tuesday peeking out over the horizon. Once again the funny bug bit the boys, and this time it was the boys in Evolution. At one point, all three members ended up with their trunks pulled down after sunset flip attempts by the babyfaces. HHH proceeded to work the next FOUR FULL MINUTES with his vertical smile hangin all the way out of his trunks. Of course, this was a steady diet of comedy spots, but he also let Benoit slam him off the top rope with his tackle out. Eventually, Trips takes over, yanks up his bloomers and tags out. Evolution get heat on Jericho, with Flair egging on the ringsiders with his patented brand of chauvanistic heelness. Hot tag to Benoit, who works over the heels until he can lock HHH in the sharpshooter. While the referee is occupied with putting Orton out of the ring, Batista pulls Benoit out of his hold, straight into a vicious spinebuster. More solid work from Evolution, particularly Flair's working of the figure four on Benoit. Orton gets the next hot tag and the crowd goes batty for his offense, wriggling out of a pedigree attempt by HHH and scoring a very nice-looking RKO on the champ for the victory. Your winners: Randy Orton, Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho.

Thanks for reading,

Jason Geary

WWE SMACKDOWN BRAND HOUSE SHOW IN OTTAWA, ONTARIO LIVE REPORT
by Darrin Granter
I just got back from the Holla Holla Holla show at the Civic Centre in Ottawa, ON. It was a decent show. The Civic centre was probably half full, if that, and the place only holds about 5000-6000 people (rough guess). Not a good sign, when they used to sell out the much larger Corel Centre.

These are all from memory, so I may be off on some of them.

Theodore R Long came out to introduce the show. He ran down some of the matches we were going to see that night and pump up the crowd a bit. He got a decent pop from the crowd. He then made way for the first match of the night.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Fatal Four-Way
Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki vs Rob Van Dam & Rey Mysterio vs Dudley Boyz vs Basham Brothers

Rey and RVD got a good pop from the crowd with everyone alternately chanting "RVD" and "619". Dudleyz had a ton of heel heat on them(with a few scattered fans popping for them). Dawn Marie accompanied the Dudleyz for some unexplained reason. Hiroku accompanied the champs of course. No Fifi.

Bashams were eliminated first(I forget by whom). Dudleyz were the next to go. I believe RVD got the pin on Bubba. Rene and Kenzo got the win when Rey was pinned by Rene, I think.

Winners: Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki

Johnny The Bull Stamboli vs Luther Reigns

Mark Jindrak was with Luther but for some reason Nunzio was nowhere to be found. I guess he was injured, I don't remember hearing about that. Luther got the pin on Stamboli.

Winner: Luther Reigns

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Triple Threat
Spike Dudley vs Sho Funaki vs Shannon Moore

Good cruiserweight match. Shannon and Funaki teamed up most of the match on Spike, but Shannon quickly turned on Funaki. In the end, Spike pinned Shannon with a roll-up to keep his title. Afterwards, Shannon and Funaki made up.

Winner: Spike Dudley

WWE US Champion shop
Carlito Caribbean Cool vs Bob Holly

Holly got a lot of cheers in the match(not from me however).. At one point in the match, Carlito removed one of the turnbuckle covers, which backfired on him when he got whipped to the corner himself. But he managed to roll up Holly for the win(with his feet on the ropes). Good heat for the match.

Winner: Carlito Caribbean Cool

Kurt Angle vs Big Show

Angle got the usual heel heat from the crowd. Luther Reigns came back out to be in Angle's corner. Big Show got probably the biggest pop of the night. He is definitely getting over huge. Very funny spot early in the match where Big Show picked up the referee(I think it was Brian Hebner) and sat him in the top corner. Every time he made a move to get down, Show would give him a look and he would stay where he was. Angle finally pulled down Hebner, but he scrambled up to one of the other corners. Show eventually gave him permission to get down. Show did a bit of his Hogan impersonation by "Hulking" up at one point in the match. Big Show got the pin after the chokeslam.

Winner: Big Show

Next up we got Torrie Wilson shooting t-shirts into the crowd with that bazooka device. Nice to know she's earning her salary.

Rico vs Heidenreich

Miss Jackie accompanied Rico to the ring. Heidenreich came out in his straight jacket, but no Paul Heyman. Usual gay comedy spots for Rico, including having fun with Heidenreich while he was still in his straight jacket. He went after Miss Jackie a few times as well. Rico was over huge with the crowd. But Heidenreich got the pinfall on Rico.

Winner: Heidenreich

Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero

Decent pop for Chavo. Good solid math between the two. Chavo got the pin on Billy. No shooting star press.

Winner: Chavo Guerrero

Main Event
WWE Championship
John Bradshaw Layfield vs Booker T

Before the match, JBL came out in his limo with Orlando Jordan. He proceeded to cut an anti-Canadian promo(surprise, surprise). The fans ate it up and booed him royally, not to mention an "A**hole" chant that was pretty strong throughout the match. JBL tried to escape by walking back to the locker room and getting intentionally counted out, but Booker T wouldn't let him. Back and forth match that saw the referee get knocked out. Booker hit the scissors kick and a second referee came out but was pulled out by Orlando who knocked him out as well. Orlando then tried to nail Booker with the title belt, but missed and was given the Book End. But JBL recovered the belt and nailed Booker for the pinfall.

Winner: John Bradshaw Layfield

After the match, JBL and Orlando beat down on Booker who was saved by Rey and RVD. That prompted the Dudleyz to come out to tip the scales in JBL's favor. But then Chavo and Funaki came out to give the odds to Booker's side, and then Luther and Jindrak came out as well. It was turning into a battle royal until the Big Show came out and cleared out all the heels. Show even did his version of the people's elbow on Bubba, I think. He did another "hulk-up" too. He managed to get in a leg-drop too. Then all the babyfaces had their turn at JBL. They left JBL laying, but he called for the microphone begging that he get an American doctor. He was finally helped out by Orlando as the show came to a close.

Overall, a decent show. I had fun, which I usually do at a house show, even when it sucks. The attendance doesn't bode well for future shows, but what can you do. Again, I did this all from memory, so I may be off on one or two details.

Biggest pops:
Big Show
Booker T
Rico
RVD & Rey

Biggest Heel heat:
JBL
Dudley Boyz
Billy Kidman

10/24 RAW BRAND RESULTS FROM CEDAR RAPIDS
by Adam Martin
WWE RAW Brand House Show Results - 10/24/04
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Report by: Adam Martin of WrestleView.com

- The show started with Justin Roberts doing the announcing duties for the event. The Coach's music hit to cut him off. He told everyone to hurry up and take a picture while the moment lasted since a big star like him wouldn't be back in Cedar Rapids for a long time. Stacy Keibler came out soon after getting a big reaction from the crowd. Molly Holly soon joined the party followed by Trish Stratus and Victoria. This started up the first match.

Victoria & Stacy Keibler defeated WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus & Molly Holly. This was honestly one of the best women tag matches I have seen in a long time. They really got the crowd into it. The finish saw Stacy get a quick roll-up on Molly for the win. Good way to start off the show.

Gene Snitsky defeated Val Venis. Before the match started, Snitsky got on the mic and talked about the loss of Lita & Kane's baby to get some heat from the crowd. Lots of back and forth action between the two. It ended when Venis missed with the Money Shot off the top and Snitsky hit the pump-handle slam for the pinfall.

Rhyno & Tajiri defeated Rodney Mack w/ Jazz & Chuck Palumbo. Mack, Palumbo and Jazz came out to zero reaction from the crowd. Rhyno & Tajiri got a nice reaction overall. Rhyno seemed to be the most over of the bunch. Your basic tag match with Tajiri hitting a lot of stiff kicks. Palumbo kinda has that "I'm about to get released by the WWE" feel to him. The match ended when Rhyno hit the Gore for the pinfall.

Simon Dean defeated Maven. Before the match started, Justin Roberts introduced Dean to the crowd. He does a great job of making this gimmick work great and I'm glad to see him get a spot on the roster after hard years of work. He ran down the crowd in Cedar Rapids calling them some of the fattest people he has ever seen. He offered anyone in the back a chance to take part in his system. Maven came out and Dean said it took a lot of guts for him to come out and admit he was overweight. Lots of funny spots in the match that saw Dean check his pulse while locking on a submission and do sit-ups. Dean rolled up Maven and held the ropes for the pinfall.

--INTERMISSION--

William Regal & Eugene defeated La Resistance & The Hurricane/Rosey in a 3 Way Elimination Match. Lots of joking around with La Resistance before the match starts. Big USA chants as well. Eugene stole one of the flags, rode it like a horse, tried to stick it up Regal's ass and then was told to give it back. When Grenier tried to pull it back, Eugene held on then let go allowing Grenier to fall back quickly to get a laugh from the crowd. The Hurricane & Rosey were first to go. On his way out, The Hurricane slapped Regal on the ass. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun today. Eugene busted open his nose late in the contest as well. The match ended when Eugene hit the Stone Cold Stunner to get the win (he had done the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow earlier as well).

Shelton Benjamin defeated Christian to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title. This was a very solid match with Christian playing with the crowd throughout the contest. Lots of CLB chants. He really made this match more fun by posing in the corners and yelling at the crowd. Benjamin had some great counters as well. The match ended when Benjamin hit the T-Bone Suplex for the pinfall.

World Tag Team Champion(s) Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho & Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Ric Flair & Batista. This was a very entertaining match overall. As Justin Roberts introduced Ric Flair, Batista backed him into the corner and wouldn't move. It was pretty funny to watch them mess around with Roberts. Before it started, Ric Flair got on the mic and started punking out a very overweight guy at ringside. Flair then told Benoit, Jericho and Orton that they would kiss Evolution's ass. Flair threw Benoit the mic and he agreed with Flair, saying he will KICK their asses. Flair did his usual pissed off reaction. All six men seemed to have a lot of fun overall. One spot saw Triple H, Flair and Batista get their trunks pulled down to reveal their backsides. For some reason, Triple H insisted on keeping his trunks down for another five minutes. Both Flair and Triple H did the famous nose dive together to get a laugh from the crowd. Flair did it another two times alone. It ended with Randy Orton hitting the RKO on Triple H for the pinfall.

BEST MATCH: Benoit, Jericho & Orton vs. Evolution.

Biggest Pops:
1. Ric Flair (during his entrance)
2. Triple H (during his entrance as well)
3. Chris Benoit
4. Randy Orton
5. Eugene

Biggest Heat:
1. Batista
2. Gene Snitsky
3. La Resistance
4. Christian
5. Simon Dean

Overall, this was a very solid event. They drew a lot better this time around then in September of 2002, mostly due to the increase in promotion. If I had to estimate the attendance, it would be between 1,500-2,000 at most. The arena holds around 5,000. Next Page >>

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