Live Vengeance Report

[Guest Daredevil21]

- When my friend Andy and I heard that Vengeance was going to be in Detroit, we quickly decided that we had to go even though the actual product has been pretty bad for a while now. Anyway, here’s all what went down.

 

- Getting there: Took off for Detroit a little after 4 and quickly got stuck in traffic once we hit the express way. After a bit, it was smooth sailings until we got to Downtown Detroit. We got lost for a bit looking for the parking garage, but only for a few minutes. The parking garage was about a mile or so away from the Joe, but all was well cause for the most part, we were walking by the river which was nice for scenery. Before that though, we had to cut through some sort of Arab festival, that had a lot of hotties (not what you’d expect from an Arab festival, actually). Nice little treat, considering we probably weren’t going to be seeing an abundance of hotties once we reached our destination.

 

- Pre-Show: We got to the Joe, and had to wait about 45 minutes since the doors had yet to be opened. One things for sure, live wrestling events are almost guaranteed to boost your confidence, since your typical wrestling fan isn’t too easy on the eyes. Rubbing elbows with a bunch of odd looking marks for any period of time, and it’s a sure thing that you’ll be hearing some things that are sure to knock a few points off your I.Q. I’m not one to think I’m better than anyone (even though I know I am better than some), I couldn’t help but laugh from some of the marks’ comments not only outside, but during the show as well. We stood out in the crowd since Andy decided to wear his Colorado Avalanche jersey (which is just begging for some sort of reaction in Detroit, which were his intentions), and I was sporting my old school blue Jesse the Body Ventura shirt, both of which got various reactions from passer-bys throughout the evening. When it was said and done, it was all good, since we didn’t get jumped by some rabid Red Wings fan, which was always a possibility (these are dumbass wrestling fans, after all). After hearing some dumbass tell his friend just what Hulk Hogan merchandise he was going to buy, they thankfully started to open the doors. Well one of the 15, anyway. They only ended up opening three, which was pretty damn stupid since there were about 300-400 people out there, and this wasn’t even the main entrance. Oh well, we got in soon enough, so it’s cool.

 

Waiting in line to buy some overpriced food, a large black man in front of me dropped a dollar, and failed to realize it. Now, I began to contemplate as to whether I should point it out to him, or pick it up and pocket it. In the end, the fact that is was just a buck and he was a good 15 feet taller than I’ll ever be, resulted in me telling him that he had dropped it. A minute or two passed, then he turned to me and asked if I was going to get Crazy Bread, and after telling him yes, he handed me the cost of it (three fucking dollars) since I had been honest with him a few moments earlier. Chalk one up for the black man. True gentlemen when it comes to food and money. If it had been a white guy, chances are he would have called for security to escort me out of the building after pointing out that he had dropped his money. Ah, well.

 

Next up- finding our seats. They were in the top level, but it was ok, cause you could still see everything pretty well. It should be noted that the top section on the side where the camera is, was blocked off and covered. After a few minutes, we realize that we had seats in the middle of Markville. I had the misfortune of sitting next to two drunken (or “special”) marks, and had an annoying family with about 29 kids in the seats behind me. The Fink came out first, and after talking to the crowd for a bit, he announced that we were going to get a special bonus match. The King’s music hit after this, and Lawler and Ross came out to a huge ovation, which is nothing new from what I’ve heard. Personally, I think the crowd was just jacked to see anyone come out at that point. As it turns out, Steven Richards vs. Goldust was our bonus match. Crowd wasn’t too happy to see Richards, but Goldust got some big face pops. Match wasn’t much of a bonus, but it got the crowd ready, so I guess it did its job. Jericho cut a backstage promo for Heat, and after they went to commercial (I’m assuming), Jericho came back and cut down Detroit to get some easy heel heat. A few minutes before show time, Tazz’s music hits, and he walks out there with Cole. Tazz got on the mic and bitched out JR and the King, but his mic wasn’t working half the time, and once it did start working, you could hardly understand what he was saying. At any rate, Tazz and Cole took their spots at the commentary table at that point.

 

- The Show: The music hit, the pyro went off, and the crowd was going crazy with their signs, trying to be seen on TV. After a few moments of panning the crowd, the Dudleyz music hit the sound system.

 

- Dudleyz vs. Eddy/Benoit- Eddy and Benoit actually got some face pops from the sections near me, but once the match started they were getting booed. The first “We want tables” chant made its first appearance about three seconds after the bell sounded, proving that the tables were the most over participants in the match. Parts of it dragged, but the table spots were all solid. Not really sure why the Duds went over, but Eddy and Benoit are the Internet’s darlings after all, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they jobbed.

 

- Cruiserweight title match: Noble vs. Kidman- Noble got the least heat of anyone all night, with the possible exception of John Cena. Not really surprising that the fans don’t boo Noble. I mean, look at his gimmick. Why would the fans boo their own kind? Bunch of fans in my section started yelling this is boring a few minutes in. I wouldn’t say it was boring, but it was pretty lacking for a cruiserweight match.

 

- European title match: Jeff Hardy vs. Regal- They always find a way to throw Regal or the Euro title on to the card at the last second. Jeff was pretty damn over, which is probably a good thing, considering how much they’ve built him up in the last couple of weeks. Pretty dull match with little heat. The little girl behind us warned Jeff that he better be careful cause Regal cheats, so I guess we know who to credit for Jeff’s win.

 

- Flair and Hogan talk with Jeff. It was pretty hard to hear anything from any of them, but the crowd laughed pretty hard when Flair burned Hogan. I dunno if it was just me, but I found it hard to clearly hear much of anything in the back or in the ring all night.

 

- Jericho vs. Cena- Going into this, I figured that Jericho would go over, but make Cena look tough in the process. Instead, we got a slow match, with Jericho trying to do what he could to make it entertaining, which probably wasn’t easy since he knew he was jobbing. I’m all for getting over new talent, but putting a rookie over someone like Jericho on PPV isn’t the brightest move. I was looking for Jericho winning in a hard fought match. Guess that’s logic, though. That’s a no-no in the WWF.

 

- JR and the King return to ringside with JR’s music playing over the sound system. They wasted a few moments with a Tazz/Lawler stare-down, but I guess they remember what happened the last time they had a program, since they just shook hands.

 

- Intercontinental title match: RVD vs. Brock- Brock’s entrance was met with a dismal reaction, which wasn’t good considering that the crowd was pretty hot for just about everything all night. RVD on the other hand was just mad over with the fans. His pops have decreased a tad in the past few months, but the one he got last night was not unlike the ones he was getting late last year. Match was really good, IMO, and the fans popped big for all of RVD’s trademark moves (which I thought came off as really smooth). Brock even got a little heel heat when he was in control of the match. The DQ ending was pretty lame, and had many confused, since they looked to be continuing the match for about five minutes after the ref called for the bell. Matter of fact, when Brock’s music started playing after he nailed RVD with the F5, the guy sitting next to me was legitimately confused, as he was unaware that the match was over. He wasn’t too bright anyway, but still. On one hand, I was glad to see RVD keep the title, since it makes no sense to put it on Brock if he’s probably winning the world title in a month, but on the other hand, Brock still came out looking like he can’t win a big match without Paul’s help. One of the better matches of the night, but that’s from a live perspective. SK made it sound as if it were quite terrible. Dunno if that’s cause it didn’t come off as good on TV or if it’s just cause SK’s a jaded prick. I’m going to go with the latter. BTW, as RVD went to go get a chair for the Van Terminator, Brock (who was off camera at the moment) realize he was not even near the corner, so he had to pull himself into position for the move. No big deal, since Van Dam didn't even get to do it, it just looked odd to see Brock realizing he was out of position for the move, and pulling himself into the corner. He's pretty lucky that the camera wasn't on him, and that the majority of the audience was too busy looking at RVD.

 

- Booker T vs. Big Show- Show got his usual holy shit reaction from fans who have never seen him in person. Booker got a huge pop, just proving that the fans still want him, contrary to WWF belief. Match was actually a squash for Booker, who was in control most of the way. Any match where you get to see Show go through a table, job, and see Booker bust out the Harlem Hangover and win on PPV, is ok by me. Plus, we got to see the Spinaroonie.

 

- 20 minute interview- Ya know, they could have booked another match, or maybe given some more time to another, instead of feeding us this free television crap. HHH was so ungodly over during his entrance that it was scary. He milks it for all it’s worth, as he killed five of the 20 minutes with his entrance alone. The pop he gets for spitting the water on the fans in just ridiculous. Only in the world of pro wrestling could a man be cheered like a god for spitting up his beverage. I can only hope to get half the response for spitting up Gatorade some day. Dare to dream. Anyway, the whole in ring dealie, yeah, I was just dying to know what brand HHH would choose. As a matter of fact, that was the sole reason that I was even there. The fact that seemingly every guy who’s ever had a title, is a free agent and able to sign with a brand of their choosing, just proves how moronic WWF booking is. Did they even give a reason why HHH is able to pick where he goes? Just cause Bisch came back? If that’s the case, then how come Spike Dudley can’t choose where he goes? While the three morons were gabbing about whatever in the ring, you could see WWF crew members setting up some pyro at the top of the ramp, which was a good indication that someone would be joining them soon. Michaels got a huge face pop as well, but I wasn’t too happy to see him out there, since I knew that the segment had just been given at least five more minutes of life. I cringed when I heard some faint DX chants start up around the arena, and I can only imagine what the combo of HHH and Shawn will be doing on TV. Taking up at least 40 minutes is a given, but what else? Guess we’ll just have to stay tuned and see what the two man power trip does next. BTW, I was also frightened when Steph got some decent face pops, since I know they’ll take what they can get with her. Any sort of face reaction, and we’ll continue to see Steph on our TV.

 

- Tag Team title match: Hogan/Edge vs. ANTI-AMERICANS- That team name just screams originality, does it not? Anyway, everyone got a good reaction, especially Hogan, who competed with Rock for biggest face pop of the night. I dunno, I just can’t hate Hogan at the moment, since he is at least working with some of the midcarders and doing what he’s told. I enjoyed the huge ovation he got during his entrance, since the only other time I’ve seen Hogan live was at Nitro in mid-97 when he was a heel. Storm and Christian drew some good heel heat for their promo, which was pretty clever, if I do say so myself. Match was a bit slow paced, but the ending was pretty crazy, as there ended up being three additional guys involved in the match. Jericho came out of nowhere, and I didn’t even realize who it was for a few moments. Have to wonder if his intentions were to aid the Anti-Americans or to mess with Edge. Average match, but it got the belts of Hogan and Edge, and now Edge can move on without a heel turn on Hogan.

 

- Undisputed title match: Rock vs. Angle vs. Undertaker- Headache time, as the marks revealed themselves fully and got way too in to the match. Rock got a huge pop, which wasn’t surprising since they had gone crazy all night whenever his image had appeared on the Tron. Angle was the only one to draw a lot of heel heat all night, and Taker got a big face pop. The two morons I was seated next to were Taker marks, and seated next to them may or may not have been Anglesault, as this guy was a total Angle mark, and I spent most of the match trying to establish whether he was drunk or retarded. He literally talked the whole match, even when Angle was on the outside doing nothing at all. Lines of pure intelligence such as “Take the medals back to Pittsburgh, Kurt….and the title!” was pretty much all I heard when the Taker marks weren’t sounding like complete tools. Onto the actual match; it was actually my favorite match of the night, which surprised me just a bit. I thought there weren’t too many slow spots, and it was hot the whole way through. Halfway through the match, the drunk Taker mark leaned over to me and said, “A dawg, who you want to win?” I replied that I wanted Angle to win, but the Rock was going to, which pissed him off and set him off on a little tangent, including such great points as, “Undertaker been there for like 14 fuckin’ years or some shit, dawg.” Although I knew the Rock was winning, I had some false hopes that maybe lightning would strike, and Angle would win. Rock winning was a bit pointless, since he’s leaving right after Summerslam, but whatever, better he play the transitional champion than Angle, who can’t afford to have any of his credibility damaged. At any rate, it was a great match, which is all I was asking for.

 

- Post-Show: After the cameras went off, the Rocked posed some more, slowly made his way up the ramp, and that was that. Nothing special at all. Fink thanked everyone for coming and yada yada yada. We made our way out of the arena where some drunk guys yelled “JESSE!” at me, and Andy got some bold comments from some obvious Red Wings fans.

 

- Overall: Fun, solid show. A lot of people are hating on it, but I don’t think it was bad at all, and the reason that most are crapping on it because they are just used to crap at this point. We got lost getting out of Downtown Detroit, but all was well, cause I made it back home in one piece, which is all you can ask for after attending an event where not many of the people in attendance have a stellar I.Q. For those of you who have never been to a live show, it’s a must, regardless of the product, because it really is a different experience. Try to get to one, even if it’s a house show. You’ll enjoy it.

 

- Match of the Night: Rock vs. Angle vs. Taker

 

- Worst match of the night: Goldust vs. Richards

 

- Biggest Face Pops:

 

1) Rock

2) Hogan

3) HHH

4) RVD

5) HBK

 

- Weakest Face Pops:

 

1) Cena

2) Dudleyz

 

- Most Heel Heat:

 

1) Angle

2) Jericho

3) Anti-Americans

4) Eddy/Benoit

 

- Least Amount Of Heel Heat:

 

1) Noble

2) Big Show

3) Brock

[Guest bob_barron]

Wow- you saw the last ever European Title match.

 

And Regal lost- :-(

[Guest Daredevil21]

That's always a good thing.

[Guest bob_barron]

Well anyone would lose when the ref fast counted the final pinfall. Of course Nick 'The Dick' Patrick slow counted everytime Regal pinned Jeff

[Guest Anglesault]

Hey, I said I was going to Summerslam, not Vengeance.