House Show Results from Birmingham, England

[Guest jm29195]

Steph Mcmahon greets the audience

 

 

Edge vs Batista:- Edge wins with spear, some nice stuff from Batista including the Mr Perfect neck-snap!

 

Lita/Rhyno vs Tomko/Trish:- Rhyno is a late substitute for Matt Hardy who was taken out by Kane- Lita wins with the ddt

 

Victoria vs Molly:- Victoria's using Tatu music again, Victoria wins with widow's peak, decent match

 

Segment with Regal/Eugene/Kiebler/Nitro/Bischoff segues into Cade/Nitro vs Jericho/Eugene- Regal/Eugene win with simultaneous walls of Jericho- Eugene did Rock Bottom, Nitro blew a moonsault.

 

After the match Regal beat up Nitro and got a huge standing ovation...

 

HBK beat Ric Flair, imo match of the night, we were dead chuffed to have these 2 working in the UK and we gave them both huge ovations and face heat...they put on a hell of an effort and Michaels won with the sweet chin music

 

Intermission

 

Randy Orton vs Shelton Benjamin:_ It appeared that Benjamin wins the belt but Bischoff makes it 2/3 falls, we didn't find it boring like the Manchester crowd, Orton evens thew falls with the RKO soon after and eventually wins with a top rope powerbomb and foot on the top rope pin, very good match imo, Orton pulled out a slingshot suplex!

 

HHH vs Chris Benoit:- What can I say, another great match with these 2 in it, it's just awesome to see Benoit wrestling as champ and to see HHH almost back on form at my first ever wwe event- Benoit wins with the cross face after fending off all of evolution minus Flair...

 

 

Great event, when they come back in October to London, I'll be going again!

[Guest TigerDriver91]

5/29 RAW BRAND RESULTS FROM BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND

by Robert Moody @ 10:25:00 PM on 5/29/2004

 

WWE RAW Tour Of Defiance Report

 

NEC Arena, Birmingham, England, May 29 2004

 

Just arrived home from a pulsating evening at the NEC in Birmingham. It was a 12,000 sellout crowd, most of whom were shouting and cheering like there was no tomorrow the whole evening.

 

The event began a little later than scheduled to allow everyone to get in and get seated (and maybe to sell a little bit more merchandise), but at about 7:45pm the Fink came out and ran through all the legalities etc. He then introduced the first match of the evening.

 

Match 1 - Edge d. Batista

 

Huge reactions for both men, pops for Edge and heat for Batista. The crowd were juiced for just about everyone all night, so if I don't mention crowd reaction for a certain wrestler assume 'very loud'. Good opening match with Batista working lots of sleeper holds to get the crowd chanting for Edge. All the usual spots, Edge gaining the victory with a spear, match lasted about 8 minutes. **1/2, nothing standout but certainly a great match to get an already electric crowd going.

 

Match 2 - Rhyno + Lita d. Trish + Tyson Tomko (Mixed-Tag Match)

 

I never saw an announced card for the event, but I'm assuming this was billed as Matt + Lita vs Trish + Tomko. Anyway, it was Trish and Tomko out first, with Trish cutting a great promo about how she'd been treated since arriving here, getting in all the usual English catchphrases, and going a rather bad job of an English accent which eventually sounded more South African than English! Lita then came out (to a surprisingly quiet reception), and immediately after that the pyro hit and Kane made his entrance. This was all a little confusing, we weren't sure whether Kane was actually supposed to be Lita's partner given that Lita didn't seem to be making any effort to get away from the ring. She really can't act to save her life. It all became clearer when Kane got in the ring, he went to attack Lita but Matt Hardy ran in to make the save, before Kane proceeded to destroy Matt by way of Chokeslams. At this point the match began, in a one-on-two situation. I was left wondering exactly what would happen if Tomko was tagged in, since it was a mixed-tag and the men can't wrestle the women...but I never found out as a few minutes into the match Rhyno ran to ringside and became Lita's partner. From here it was pretty standard fare, with Tomko looking about as unimpressive as everyone says he is, and Rhyno struggling to carry him. Lita's wrestling actually got a good reception, but in the end everyone was happy as Rhyno gored Tomko for the victory after a little outside assistance from a returning Matt Hardy. The actual match was probably just over 10 minutes, although the first 3 or 4 of those were in handicap match conditions. *, the match itself was poor with no strong performances, top marks for the pre-match work by Trish though. Interestingly, this was the only time we saw Kane all night, with no further run-ins and no match.

 

Match 3 - Victoria d. Molly Holly to retain the WWE Women's Championship

 

Victoria is back to T.A.T.U here, whether this is simply because they haven't got her new theme and gimmick quite sorted yet, or whether it's because they've realised just how bad it is.....I guess only time will tell. This match taught me one thing, and that is to turn off the commentary during women's matches on RAW. If you take away Jerry Lawler's incessant focus on the visual aspects of the women, these usually dull matches get a bit more interesting. It was by no means a classic, but featured some good psychology, decent counter wrestling and some good spots. We saw all the usuals - shaky-shaky moonsault, and Molly missed her Molly-Go-Round, but eventually Victoria prevailed with the Widow's Peak. Match lasted about 6 minutes. **, a solid women's match, something I didn't dislike from an area of WWE that personally I don't have much time for.

 

At this point, we were introduced to Stacy Keibler, who came out and cut a pointless promo about how fantastic we all are, and then began dancing. Bischoff + Johnny Nitro interrupted the dancing, in order to tell Stacy that no-one wanted to see her, and so on. What was beginning to look like a throwaway segment was more than rescued by the arrival of Eugene and England's own William Regal. Bischoff then proceeded to verbally attack Regal over his lack of control with Eugene, and the exchange continued until Eugene attempted to defend the honor of his mentor (I'm assuming that was the idea, anyway), by hitting Nitro with the Airplane Spin. Eugene then went for Bischoff, but was jumped from behind by Garrison Cade. At this point Bischoff announced he'd had enough. It would be Cade + Nitro against Eugene and a partner of his choosing...but not Regal. Handicap Match on the cards, until Y2J's music hits and Jericho makes his way to the ring to team with Eugene.

 

Match 4 - Chris Jericho + Eugene d. Garrison Cade + Johnny Nitro

 

This was probably the loudest the crowd were all evening. Everything Eugene did was met with a tremendous response, no real standout moments from him, but the act we were used to was hugely popular. The match itself was another solid affair, with a mixture of decent exchanges between Jericho + Nitro and tomfoolery with Cade + Eugene. Nitro looked solid and Cade looked his average self. Memorable moments included Eugene delivering the Rock Bottom to Nitro, and setting up for the People's Elbow (although being interrupted before delivering it), and a double-double axehandle with Jericho and Eugene delivering the move simultaneously. The end came with a double Walls of Jericho, both Cade + Nitro tapping out. Match lasted around 9 minutes. **1/2, not a spectacular match but a fun one and the crowd loved it.

 

Post match, Nitro remained in the ring and asked Regal to come back, with it being Regal's home country and all. Nitro told Regal it was an honor to be in the same ring as him, and then requested we gave him the applause he deserved. Nitro then jumped Regal from behind, and proceeded to put the boots to him, until Regal fought out and drove Nitro from the ring. Regal got a huge ovation as he played to the crowd in what felt a little like a retirement segment to me. Perhaps he knows he won't be around (or at least, not in an active role) by the time RAW returns in October.

 

Match 5 - Shawn Michaels d. Ric Flair

 

As I said, I had no idea what the card for the event was. When Flair's music hit, the crowd went crazy. I was expecting Benjamin at this point...so when Michaels' made his entrance, I was delirious. I have the utmost respect for both guys, and to see them work a match, live in person, is something that will stay with me for a long time. They say high expectation leads to disappointment...but not here. The crowd was hugely into both wrestlers, but as everyone settled into the match the atmosphere quietened as the crowd really got into the match, rather than the spots. This was a superb wrestling affair, with Flair using (but not overusing) the heelish tactics, and some great exchanges between the two. The match was given time to build, so when the pace picked up with Figure Fours and Top-Rope Elbows, the crowd was really into it. In an alarming twist, Michaels used a new counter that I'd never seen before, which consisted of pulling Flair's trunks right down so we could see his fully exposed rear end! Worse still, Flair then went to the top rope without attending to the trunks once! Anyway, eventually Flair's clothing corrected itself, and Michaels picked up the victory via Sweet Chin Music in a match that lasted about 22 minutes. **** from me, although I'm biased due to respect and sheer joy and seeing them wrestle one another. Probably would have come across on TV closer to ***.

 

15 minute intermission

 

Match 6 - Randy Orton d. Shelton Benjamin 2 Falls To 1 to Retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship

 

This was announced as a single fall match. Orton was arguably the greater face here, he got more chants and Benjamin occasionally caught heat for his moves. Anyway, the match built slowly for about 4 minutes until Benjamin went for a rollup, and scored a 3 count, to win the title. This was met by a huge pop, until Bischoff returned to inform us that he had decided the match was to be a 2 out of 3 falls match. At this point, Orton hit the RKO to level the match at one fall apiece, and from there on it was just like a normal one-fall match. If this is how these two will hook up at Bad Blood, I'm looking forward to it. Even at this young age, Orton looks confident in carrying a match, and Benjamin shows no signs of nerves or confusion. They played off one another really well, with loads of exchanges which got the crowd going. I really enjoyed the match, and Orton picked up equal cheers and boos when the won the final fall by dodging the Shelton Splash, pulling him to the mat, and using the ropes for leverage on the pinfall. The whole match went about 14 minutes (excluding Shelton's celebration after the first fall and Bischoff coming out). *** for a good solid match which I'd love to see repeated at the PPV.

 

Match 7 - La Resistance d. Hurricane + Rosey

 

Rosey has graduated! He came out wearing a proper superhero's costume, so maybe we'll be seeing something on RAW soon. I wasn't paying the closest attention here, as I was trying to pick the right moment to tell Grenier just how much he sucked (I think he heard me, too, although I can't be sure). It was another solid if unspectacular affair with all the usual spots. I cursed very loudly when Grenier scored the fall on Hurricane via a chop-block from Conway after about 6 minutes. *1/2, probably the worst match of the night and it wasn't bad in anyway (except Grenier scoring the fall but that's personal opinion). A nice rest for a tired crowd before the main event.

 

In a fantastic post match segment, Hurricane and Rosey pulled two kids who were in their exact full costumes (and they looked exactly like them, the only problem was the kid dressed as Rosey was about 250lb lighter) into the ring, and posed with them. I'd seen the kids beforehand, they had the poses down to a tee and were fully in character the whole time, so I have no doubts it was a special moment for them. Cameras caught this, so look for them in the video montage they'll play on RAW this week.

 

Match 8 - Chris Benoit d. Triple H to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

 

This was great, from the moment Triple H's music hit to the moment Benoit exited the curtain to end the show. The match was about to start, until Helmsley became distracted by a fan in the second row who was giving him a serious verbal attack (plant or not, I don't know, although he looked genuine). Helmsley actually went outside, looking like he wanted a fight with the guy, but ultimately it led to the standard "I'll beat every one of you" promo, which was followed up by Benoit cutting a brief promo on Helmsley. When the match finally began, it was everything I expected. A great technical wrestling match between two great wrestlers. Nothing stands out, which is arguably what makes the match so good, the build up and psychology got the crowd involved without highspots in much the same way Flair\Michaels had earlier on. The screwjob ending was teased after a ref bump led to Orton and Batista interfering on Helmsley's behalf, but when the belt came into play Benoit turned the tables, knocked Orton and Batista out, and slapped the Crossface on for the submission victory. Match went about 20 minutes. ***1/2, not quite as good as Flair vs Michaels in my opinion, but easily a PPV quality match.

 

After the match, Benoit cut another short promo, then celebrated and left. Show ended at 11pm exactly, so the show actually lasted 3 hours.

 

Overall, this was a super show. As I've mentioned the crowd was into everyone all night, even the worse matches on the card generated a lot of noise from the fans. There were no stinkers in terms of matches, with Rhyno just about saving me from saying that. Tomko really looks rather poor. A top 3 card of Benoit\HHH, Michaels\Flair and Benjamin\Orton is easily PPV quality as far as I'm concerned, and all 3 were PPV quality matchups. On the undercard, everyone did their jobs and did them well, and I was thoroughly impressed that after 4 consecutive days of shows, that everyone still seemed up for the matches.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I see Kane got the night off to recover from a few nights ago. And overall, RAW is smoking hot lately. I hate to see it go into a bad spell especially if Smackdown stays the same.

[The Mandarin 0]

Damn. Sounds like a solid show.

 

I'd be interested in seeing both Edge/Flair and Flair/Michaels. Both sound pretty good.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

If I was a millionaire, I'd gladly invest in a company to teach the WWE Divas how to dance, especially Victoria, Nidia, and Stacy.

 

(has nightmares) So...horrible...

[King Cucaracha 0]

Hmm...seems I should get tickets next-time. Not sure why, but I thought it was the Smackdown crew touring and decided to pass.

[Guest Dazed]

Match 5 - Shawn Michaels d. Ric Flair

Probably would have come across on TV closer to ***.

 

Match 8 - Chris Benoit d. Triple H to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

***1/2, not quite as good as Flair vs Michaels in my opinion

 

Hmm.

 

Sounds like a much better card than they usually throw out over here, shame I missed the tickets

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

<slingshot suplex> Yes Randy Orton slowly continues his morphing into Tully Blanchard! </slingshot suplex>

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Well lets not make Tully/Orton comparisons yet.... but Orton has been doing great lately.

[Dangerous K89 0]

Why does Arkansas ALWAYS have to get the Smackdown house shows? .