cawthon777

1) The first win was the day after the 93 KOTR at a Wrestling Challenge taping. No clue why it was never televised. The other switches were at house shows that week. 2) Yes. LOD won all the matches. 4) Several dozen times. If you want to know the specific results, try 1991 and 1992.

Brad Attitude is a local Indy talent. He's worked several Carolina Championship Wrestling cards over the past year or so.

I believe that was Scott Keith.

I believe that was a dark match.

Downhome covered the brunt of it but I threw in a few things here and there... A near sell-out crowd, much like Charlotte the night before. Only scattered open seats from what I saw. Dark Match: William Regal pinned David Flair with a running knee to the head Velocity: The Gymini (w/ Simon Dean) defeated Jason Jones & ? Moore when Moore was pinned; after the bout, the Gymini hit the Cross Trainer on Jones Bobby Lashley pinned Brad Attitude with the Dominator WWE Cruiserweight Champion Kid Kash & Jamie Noble defeated Paul London & Brian Kendrick when Kendrick submitted to Noble’s dragon sleeper - Good match with some nice high spots to the floor. Kash was very over as a heel. Smackdown: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Mark Henry (w/ Daivari) - Rey started the show off with an in-ring promo in which he said he knew he was the underdog in this rematch and in the upcoming Royal Rumble. And while he admitted to being small in nature, he said he has a big heart. He dedicated his performance and win in the Royal Rumble to Eddie Guerrero. Rey wore Eddie’s shirt to the ring and there were a lot of Eddie chants during the promo. As far as the match, it was very fast paced with Rey dominating, using a hit-and-run offense which kept Henry off guard. Henry eventually caught Rey and hit the powerslam for the win. Daivari did guest commentary for the match. After the bout, two referees helped Rey from the ring. Randy Orton, Booker T, and Sharmell were shown backstage in which Booker offered to pay Randy back his favor by interfering in his upcoming match with Chris Benoit. Orton declined the offer, saying he could beat Benoit on his own, but said he might cash in the favor at the Royal Rumble, especially if Booker and Orton are the last two in the ring. Orton walked off and Booker and Sharmell did not look pleased with that idea. Footage from last weekend’s Smackdown tour of Mexico was shown, specifically of Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio Jr., and El Hijo del Santo in the ring paying tribute to Eddie Guerrero. Super Crazy & Psychosis vs. James & Chad Dick vs. Nunzio & Vito (Royal Rumble Qualifying Match) - Crazy pinned Nunzio after a wheelbarrow-facebuster double team. The Rob Van Dam Royal Rumble vignette was shown. A Royal Rumble Flashback recapped Chris Benoit’s victory in 2004, a perfect lead-in to … Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton (No Holds Barred, Falls Count Anywhere) - Great match, as is usual when these two are in the ring together. Started scientifically at first but eventually went to the floor with Orton using a trash can lid and dropping Benoit across the commentary table. The finish was fantastic. Benoit went for the diving headbutt but Orton blocked by raising the trash can lid. Orton got to his feet first and set Benoit up for the RKO but Benoit shoved him off into the ropes, quickly picked up the trash can lid, smashed it over Orton’s head as he ran back off the ropes, and applied the Crossface. After several seconds of frantically stretching for the ropes, Orton tapped. Big pop for Benoit’s win. Several Royal Rumble promos were shown throughout the taping, including Road Warrior Animal, Matt Hardy, and Bobby Lashley. Finlay vs. Sho Funaki - Finlay won the match with a Musclebuster but the referee reversed the decision when Finley assaulted his opponent after the bout. Finlay then grabbed the mic, said he came to fight and cut a promo on the fans before hitting a second Musclebuster and leaving ringside. JBL and Jillian Hall were shown backstage (mere moments after I saw them enter the limo; I sat behind the stage) with both talking about the Boogeyman. JBL assured Jillian she had nothing to worry about. A trailer for Kane’s “See No Evil” was shown. Nothing too out of the ordinary as far as horror movies go. John Bradshaw Layfield (w/ Jillian Hall) fought Scotty 2 Hotty to a no contest when the Boogeyman’s music hit and JBL had a bucket full of worms dropped on him. We’re talking “Carrie” … but with worms. They filled the ring. As JBL was becoming freaked out by that, the Boogeyman came out from under the ring and scared JBL to the point where he fell backwards onto the worms, freaking him out even more. He and Jillian eventually ran backstage as the Boogeyman had dinner. A music video was shown to promote WWE 24/7 to the tune of Van Halen’s “Right Now”. Very well done piece capturing key moments in WWE, WCW, NWA, and ECW history. Celebrities like Mike Tyson, Arnold, and Muhammad Ali were featured as well. Mark Henry & Daivari were interviewed backstage about Henry’s title match with Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble. Melina confronted Teddy Long backstage, showing him her taped up ankle, the result of Kurt Angle’s assault the previous week. World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle vs. WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champions Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury (w/ Melina) (Handicap match) - Angle forced Mercury to tap to the ankle lock after belly-to-belly suplexing Nitro over the top to the floor. After the bout, Mark Henry & Daivari came out, with Angle taking the fight to Henry and landing the Angle Slam. The champ applied the ankle lock but, to his shock, Henry powered out of it and kicked Angle to the floor. Henry, Daivari, and MNM stood in the ring and taunted Angle, with Henry signaling that the belt would soon be his, to close the TV broadcast. After several moments, Angle grabbed the mic and said if Henry thought he was so tough, how would he like a title shot right then and there? Henry accepted and we have our dark match main event. World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry (w/ Daivari & MNM) - Not bad but very short. Angle reapplies the ankle lock and all the heels come in for the DQ. Moments later, Rey Mysterio Jr. runs out to make the save, eventually hitting a 619 on Daivari, Nitro, & Mercury at the same time. Moments later, Angle set Henry up so Rey could hit the same move on him. Angle and Rey then chanted “You Suck” in unison with the fans toward Henry, Daivari, and MNM. After the heels left, Angle and Rey posed, with Rey grabbing the belt and doing the Angle spinning pose bit. Angle and Rey then hugged and left the ring together.

But Smackdown had the tour of Mexico, not Raw.

Before the taping began, I saw Beth and Shelly from OVW take front row seats. This would be explained later. Dark Match: Domino & Deuce (w/ Cherry) defeated Chris Hamrick & Brad Allen at 4:25 following a kick to the face - Domino, Deuce, and Cherry had gimmicks circa 1955. The two males were dressed as John Travolta in ‘Grease’ and Cherry chewed gum and came to the ring on roller skates as if she worked at a drive-in fast food restaurant. If you thought the Spirit Squad was funny, you would have died laughing at this. Not much to the match. To their credit, those involved pulled off the gimmicks well, if not annoyingly. Sunday Night Heat Trevor Murdoch pinned Romeo (w/ Antonio) with the bulldog off the top at 2:48 - Prior to the bout, the Heart Throbs talked about all the hot girls in Charlotte and wanted to dance with two of them. But to narrow the field down to two, they would have to use the “Throb-o-Meter” and then proceeded to gyrate their hips in the direction of the nearest attractive female. I guess the most gyrations won. And of course Beth and Shelly received the most. The girls were brought in the ring and started dancing with each other until Murdoch came out for the match. After the bout, the two women were shown with disgusted looks on their faces as Murdoch put his chewing tobacco back in his mouth. Matt Striker had a classroom segment during which he talked about the Royal Rumble and whether or not he would be a participant. He eventually said he would not be competing, citing that he was above it and if he got hurt in the match all the fans would be without a suitable teacher. Chavo Guerrero Jr. pinned Jason Jones with a DDT and the Frog Splash at 2:55 - A very strong response for Chavo and lots of “Eddie” chants Val Venis & Viscera defeated Gene Snitsky & Tyson Tomko at 4:53 when Viscera pinned Tomko with a splash after Snitsky accidentally kicked his partner in the face After the show: Cena put over Flair huge, saying he was truly the man and it was an honor to be in the same ring with Flair in Charlotte. Cena eventually left and Flair embraced his several female relatives in attendance before taking the mic and giving a heartfelt thanks for all the support. His voice cracked a little; he was getting choked up. Flair left and Lilian thanked us for coming. Cena, and I think this came across on TV, got a thunderous applause. There were boos but it wasn’t overwhelming. And I’m sure teaming him with Flair in Charlotte did much to kill off whatever Cena hate there was.

I figured that was going to be the case so I skipped out on waiting to meet anyone. I'm just going to assume right now that meeting talent before and after tapings is a near impossibility - especially when the talent parking lot is inside the arena. If Trips was on the bus, I'm wondering if it's the same bus I saw Sunday in Asheville. It came in about an hour and a half - 2 hours before the show and they had to clear the entire driveway of fans so it could fit. I figured Trips would be the first one there so I didn't think it was him on board. I was about halfway up, northeast corner from the ramp.

Since it has been bumped ... the theory that Luger was getting the belt at WrestleMania is wrong, newspaper article or not.

I've got tickets for Raw tomorrow in Charlotte and Smackdown! in Greenville so I'll be passing along those notes when I can. Asheville Civic Center January 22, 2006 (matinee) The arena was about 60% full. The ringside and lower riser sections were full; lots of open areas up top. I saw most of the talent arrive to the building. The only one that came out to sign was - surprisingly - the Coach. 1) Chavo Guerrero Jr. pinned Rob Conway with the Frog Splash at 6:56 after reversing an attempt at the Ego Trip into a DDT - Lots of Eddie chants; the crowd was very receptive to both men. 2) Viscera pinned Trevor Murdoch with the Embalmer at 4:55 - The crowd popped big for Viscera; Murdoch cut a promo before the match to the effect of the crowd was jealous of him because he made something of himself despite looking like them. The rear end humping thing Viscera does was very over with the crowd. 3) Lita & Victoria defeated WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus & Mickie James at 10:09 when Lita pinned Trish with a roll up as Trish argued with Mickie for spearing Victoria just as Trish prepared to hit her with the Chick Kick; after the bout, Trish left Mickie alone in the ring; Maria was the guest ring announcer and Val Venis was the guest referee; Maria put over the local team by saying she was going to be watching the Carolina Panthers beat the Seattle Seahawks later in the evening - Lots of heat; Mickie played the face in peril for most of the contest but pulled out some good offense; after the bout Trish actually left to some boos because of her treatment of Mickie for costing the team the match - Jonathan Coachman, who assured everyone the Panthers would be losing, introduced Ricky Steamboat, who came out to a very strong reaction. Coachman insulted Steamboat almost immediately, saying Steamboat wasn’t a real legend and was comparable to Iron Mike Sharpe, Doink the Clown, and even Val Venis. Within moments Ricky removed his glasses, watch, and jacket. He then laid Coach out with several chops, played to the fans, and left without having said one word in the ‘interview’. At this point, Carlito’s music played. As the spotlight shone on the entrance, Arn Anderson came out instead and went to what I can only assume is the production table to tell them they messed up and Carlito wasn’t on until later in the show. Arn received a big applause and on his way back he paused … looked at the crowd … to which they popped … he took a bow, and went backstage. 4) Brent Albright defeated Aaron Stevens (w/ Beth & Shelly) via submission with an armbar at 7:28 after avoiding a clothesline, moments after ramming Beth and Shelly’s heads together - I felt so bad for these guys (and girls) because they seriously put on the best match to that point in time and the crowd crapped all over it. All involved put on a strong showing but the chants of “boring” started before they even had a chance to do anything. Most of the crowd used this as a food / bathroom break but, thankfully, by the end of the contest at least some in the audience were receptive to their hard work. 5) WWE Raw Tag Team Champion Kane pinned Carlito Caribbean Cool with the tombstone at 7:33 after causing Carlito to choke on his own apple; surprisingly, Kane actually came out with the title belt - Carlito had quite a bit of offense in this, much more than I expected. Intermission 6) WWE IC Champion Ric Flair defeated Shelton Benjamin via submission with the figure-4 at 15:12 after avoiding a reverse crossbody off the ropes - Flair was treated like a God. Benjamin attempted to cut a promo before the match about his momma and how he was on the “Momma Said Knock You Out” tour but the crowd would have none of it and kept chanting “We Want Flair.” Good match, lots of heat, but Benjamin didn’t bust out any strong offense such as his spin kicks or the Exploder suplex. 7) Shawn Michaels & WWE Raw Tag Team Champion the Big Show defeated Triple H & Chris Masters at 14:39 when Show pinned Masters with the chokeslam as Masters had Michaels caught in the full nelson - All involved worked this one well. At one point Michaels attempted a sunset flip on HHH and ended up pulling his tights down. They stayed down for a good 2-3 minutes as Trips was beaten down by both members of the opposition. Another spot had Triple H jump face-first into a boot from Michaels … stand there for a good 15 seconds as though he was going to take the face-first drop … then shake it off, walk toward Masters to make the tag, and drop hard face-first to the mat. Important to note is Show wore the cast on his right hand to sell the sledgehammer injury. 8) John Cena defeated WWE World Champion Edge (w/ Lita) via disqualification at 13:42 when Edge hit a low blow on the challenger as Cena prepared to hit the FU on an interfering Lita; after the bout, Cena avoided being hit with a chair and dropped Edge with the FU - Cena’s applause was deafening. Within 5 minutes, they were fighting in the crowd, with Edge dumping the challenger between the ringside section and the lower risers. A dazed Cena barely made it back in the ring to break the referee’s 10-count. Cena could do no wrong here and Lita received many harsh words from the fans for interfering.

Stevens (the current OVW TV Champion) seems to be getting more dark match spots for the tapings so I guess they're looking to bring him and the girls in ASAP. Not sure what the plans are for Albright. Interesting to note is the two actually had a TV title match at the Jan. 20 WWE house show in Louisville. It was taped for OVW TV.

I don't know if I would go that far. But it is bad, that's for sure. July 04 I went to a Smackdown show in Roanoke that had worse attendance than this. And the main event? Newly crowned WWE World Champion JBL defending against John Cena.

Actually she and Victoria worked well together. Lots of double teaming behind the referee's back mixed in with Lita distracting Val as Mickie tagged Trish, with Val then sending Trish out since he didn't see the tag. I think it helped that Lita didn't attempt any high spots.

I moved to Shelby back in October. It was about an hour - hour and a half drive. Never visited Asheville previously but it seemed pretty cool. Might have to come back the next time I have a free weekend.

Asheville is NC.

Wow, thanks for that. 2 "limited view" tickets for $8 isn't bad. Of course this is after I dropped $30 for a single upper level seat.

I'm not quite sure I understand this...Studd had to pick up Akeem without his assistance, or what? That came straight from the Observer. I think he was just out of shape at the time and the WWF wanted at least one spot in the match the crowd wouldn't crap on.

Oh, I totally agree with you there. But the WWF wasn't exactly selling out every arena at that point so the explanation would make sense.

I haven't heard / seen anything on a dark match.

I have a ticket for the Raw in Charlotte and Smackdown in Greenville, SC in three week's time, just before the Rumble. I wanted to see if there were any members on here that going that wanted to meet up before the show. The dark match for Charlotte is advertised as Cena & Flair vs. HHH & Angle. No clue on what's planned for Greenville.

While I agree that attendance won't be strong compared to what they've seen in Japan, I'm more surprised to see Angle booked as a babyface.

Now that's what I call "TV that's changing Friday nights." Hell, I'd watch that for at least an hour and a half.

If I remember correctly from reading Piper's book, he and Savage were put back on the road in the fall of 91 because Vince needed more drawing names at the house shows. On top of that, Sid Justice - who Vince clearly had a lot invested in - was out with an injury. So he had to fill some spots.

I posted this on my board but wanted to hear your opinions as well. I think the WWF/E production team should certainly be commended for the number of great video packages and music videos produced over the past 6 years. Out of all of the various tribute videos, what would you say was your favorite? "Hurt" by Johnny Cash - Eddie Guerrero "One Thing" by Finger Eleven - Chris Benoit "Clocks" by Coldplay - Kurt Angle "My Sacrifice" by Creed - WWF 2001 "Not Enough" by Our Lady Peace - Jeff Hardy "Beautiful Day" by U2 - Triple H "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down - Eddie Guerrero "Lonely Road of Faith" by Kid Rock - WWF History 2002 "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan - Mick Foley "So Far Away" by Staind - Mick Foley "My Immortal" by Evanescence - Freddie Blassie The various Creed / Scott Stapp songs / "Right Here" by Staind - Middle East Tours ... And I'm sure I'm forgetting several. Some might remember that Sunday Night Heat, back in 99 and 2000, would have weekly recap music videos. There was one in particular that I thought was great - "Yeah Yeah Yeah" by Uncle Cracker, from the "Shanghai Noon" soundtrack. Various clips from KOTR 2000 / Raw / Smackdown with the chorus line of "I don't know why I come here, but I know I'll never leave, it's the only place I want to be, yeah, yeah, yeah" Thought it worked well for giving the perspective of a wrestling fan.

Having watched a good amount of 1999 PPVs recently, most of which I've never seen before, I would definately agree that D-Lo was a top rising star that was quickly depushed following the Droz match. I guess the first sign of that was dropping the Euro title to the British Bulldog. I've always been a fan of Davey Boy Smith but, in retrospect, to put a belt on him at that time was just funny.