House Show Results from Roanoke (7/25/04)

[cawthon777 0]

I arrived early enough to see almost all the talent show up to the building and, while most at least acknowledged the small group of fans from afar, the only one to come over and shake hands, sign autographs, and take pictures was Rob Van Dam. A class act.

 

Attendance was dismal, even for a small arena. 90% of the floor seats were taken but only 20%, if that, of the rest of the arena was full. I was able to move down 10 rows to a better seat if that’s a better indication of the turn out.

 

Johnny Stamboli pinned Mark Jindrak at 7:11 when Nunzio, who came ringside mid-way through the bout, prevented Jindrak from holding onto the ropes to break a sunset flip attempt and Stamboli continued the move for the pin

 

Kenzo Suzuki (w/ Hiroku) pinned Billy Gunn with the claw / leg sweep at 5:17

 

Hardcore Holly pinned Rene Dupree at 7:06 when, after Dupree avoided the Alabama Slam with a roll up, Holly reversed the cover and grabbed the ropes to score the pin; Dupree received the most amount of heat up until that point in the card; mid-way through the bout, he grabbed the microphone in a showing of desperation and said he didn’t have to put up with this and that he was leaving; as he approached the curtain, Billy Gunn came out and forced Dupree back inside the ring to continue the match

 

John Heidenreich (w/ Paul Heyman) pinned Scotty 2 Hotty at 1:18 with a urinagi / sidewalk slam type move. Heyman came out first and ran down the crowd, which resulted in Scotty coming to the ring and stating that he came for a fight, not to hear Heyman talk. Moments later, Heidenreich ran to the ring and jumped Scotty from behind. Save for an opening burst of offense from Scotty, it was a complete squash.

 

Luther Reigns pinned Charlie Haas at 6:06 by blocking a monkey flip and putting his feet on the ropes for leverage

 

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Spike Dudley and Chavo Guerrero Jr. in an elimination match; Chavo pinned Spike at 6:03 when, as Spike went for the Dudley Dog, he accidentally hit Rey in the corner and Chavo was able to reverse the move into a back suplex for the pin; Rey pinned Chavo with the 619 and springboard splash at 9:02

 

Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie then came out. After explaining that both, along with ring announcer Tony Chimmel, had been rehired following Kurt Angle’s firing, the two agreed to a “friendly” lingerie contest and did their poses to equally big pops. No winner was announced.

 

Intermission

 

Rob Van Dam pinned WWE United States Champion Booker T in a non-title match at 12:27 with a split legged moonsault after hitting the Van Daminator as Booker attempted to hit RVD with the title belt; Booker was not originally announced as champion but wore the belt to the ring; after RVD’s entrance, Booker had Chimmel remind everyone that this was a non-title contest and that Booker was the reigning champion

 

WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champions Billy Kidman & Paul London defeated the Dudley Boyz at 13:56 when London pinned D-Von after countering a suplex in the ring and hitting a superkick. The best match of the card, in my opinion. Kidman played the face in peril for much of the contest and even hit a sommersault plancha off the apron onto Bubba Ray during the closing moments. During the champions’ entrance, one person behind me asked, “Who’s the guy with Kidman?” While I didn’t hear any booing for the title holders, the Dudley Boyz were cheered by at least 70% of the crowd.

 

WWE Smackdown! World Champion John Bradshaw Layfield pinned John Cena in a No DQ match at 12:05 with the Clothesline from Hell after Cena fought off an interfering Luther Reigns. Reigns could be seen standing in the shadows near the curtain for the first several minutes of the match before he actually involved himself. JBL cut a quality promo before the contest, commenting on Virginia’s lack of education, inbreeding, and the like. Cena was without a doubt the most over person on the card. After the bout, a giant brawl occurred involving London, Kidman, Cena, JBL, the Dudley Boyz, Rey, Scotty, RVD, and Booker. After the rest of the heels were sent backstage, JBL was on the receiving end of the FU, Worm, 619, and Five Star Frog Splash. Moments later, Cena cut a promo to send the crowd home happy.

[tekcop 0]

That last part sounds like a really great way to end a houseshow.

[SuperJerk 0]

Rob Van Dam pinned WWE United States Champion Booker T in a non-title match at 12:27

And here I thought Angle was fired as GM before he could get permission to award Booker T the title.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Good to see they're using house shows to give experience to the new guys like Heidenreich who need longer matches to learn ring mechanics.

[spman 0]

Makes me glad that I'm not going to bother with the upcoming SD! House Show in this area.

[SuperJerk 0]

WWE really needs to pimp the house shows with a new round of "I was there..." ads.

 

Imagine, if you will:

 

I was there...

 

...When the Diva Search contestants got booed out of the building.

 

I was there...

 

...When Bradshaw won a friggin' world title!

 

I was there...

 

...The only time Triple H wasn't in the main event in the last 2 years.

 

I was there...

 

...The night Lita agreed to fuck Kane.

 

I was there...

 

...The night Ric Flair wrestled the same match for the 500,000th time.

 

I was there...

 

...When someone got a cheap pop by mentioning the name of the city they were in.

 

I was there...

 

...When Bischoff killed a crowd by teasing a big match then announcing it'd be next week.

 

I was there...

 

...When Vince named a new General Manager for Smackdown.

 

I was there...

 

...When Eddie Guerrero attacked a fan.

 

I was there...

 

...When Eddie Guerrero attacked another fan.

 

I was there...

 

...that motherfucker Eddie Guerrero better not put his hands on me again!