Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle: One of if not the best-

[Downhome 0]

EDIT: I just noticed I said one of if not the best WWE house show matches I've ever seen in the title, and that doesn't make sense considering I've only been to one other WWE show. I've been to a TON of WCW shows in the past and various other wrestling shows, so I meant to say just overall, not just WWE. D'oh! Also, screw limiting it just to house show matches. It was one of the best matches I've seen PERIOD, in quite a long time.

 

Yes you heard me, but first let me get the rest of the show out of the way.

 

Yesterday I headed up to Charlotte, an over three hour trip there for me, to see the Smackdown Road to Wrestlemania house show that took place last night. I wouldn't usually go that far just for a little house show, but my nephew who lives up there had two tickets, didn't have anyone to go with, so I decided to give it a shot.

 

This was the first WWE/WWF show that I've been to since The Vader/Kane feud, whenver that was exactly.

 

Overall, the show was pretty good. Here is a recap of the show from Mike Johnson at PWInsider, with my own comments in bold:

 

We just got back from the house show in Charlotte, North Carolina and here are the results.

 

Show started with GM Teddy Long welcoming the crowd and telling us about a few matches that will take place. He carries himself well and gets a good reaction from our crowd.

 

First match was for WWE tag team titles Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio vs. the Basham Brothers. It started out very slow building suspense for them actually locking up. It was tag in tag out over and over until the crowd just chanted FIGHT. After that big tease session, which actually added to the action, they did comedy with Eddie and the referee which was hilarious for the kids and some adults. They did the false finish with a wrong Basham getting the pin and then Eddie and Rey disputed saying Eddie's foot was on the rope. Referee restarts match and a 619 and frog splash later it was over. Excellent match with good comedy and ring psychology mix. Eddie and Rey were over big time and got the Bashams good heat.

 

Winners Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero The crazy tag exchage at the start of the match, where one team would tag and then the other would do the same, seemed to last forever, and it drove me insane. I lost count over how many times they actually went back and forth with that. I hated it at first, but then I noticed that yes, it really did add to the excitement of the match, as well as the show. By the time this match actually started, the fans were going wild.

 

Next match was Mark Jindrak vs. Luther Reigns. Reigns attacked Jindrak from behind and dominated the match. Jindrak got a quick roll up after Luther uncovered the turnbuckle cover. Not much to it. Reigns attacked him after the match.

 

Winner Mark Jindrak Holy God what a worthless, pointless shit feud this is. I can't remember the last time I cared about anything LESS in wrestling.

 

Third match was a Elimination three way dance for the WWE Cruiserweight title. Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London vs. Shannon Moore. A little pop for Shannon Moore because he is a NC boy. Chavo was over as a face which was weird. Fun match with Shannon Moore getting eliminated first. Then London got rolledup and Chavo cheated to win with holding onto the ropes. Good match with good comedy from Chavo. Paul London looked like a mini Ultimate Warrior in his ring entrance and attire.

 

Winner Chavo Gurerrero Not the best CW match ever, and not the worst. I guess this was just your typical house show deal, and that was pretty good. Also, yes, Paul London is the new UW. I was expecting him to do the finisher to complete the gimmick.

 

Fourth match was a tag match with Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas vs. Johnny Nitro and Joey Matthews with Melina. Melina looked gorgeous and got a good pop for her special entrance to the ring doing a split and sliding under the bottom rope. Left to go to the concessions. Bob Holly did punk out Nitro before I left. Not sure on the ending but Holly and Haas won.

 

Winners Holly and Haas This was a lot better than it had any right to be. I was more shocked over how over Holly was than anything else though. The moment they said his name, the fans went out of their minds. It was like I was in a different world.

 

Next up was Booker T vs. Heidenreich. Booker T was given a great response and tried his best with the big guy. Heidenreich looked uncomfortable doing spots and it wasn't bad but wasn't good either. Ended with a Dq on Heidenreich for pulling the ref in the way of a Booker T kick. I feel bad for Booker T he needs someone to show off his talents with.

 

Winner Booker T  Another pointless feud, so I didn't care too much. The big things here is how over Bookter T was, and then how Heidenreich was acting. He acts weird on TV, but not THIS weird. He came to the ring totally shielding his eyes from all of the lights, acting like some sort of animal, he was walking very oddly, and after the match he took two chairs and got on his knees using the chairs as crutches, then tossed them aside and then crawled up the entrance "ramp". They should play up him being this weird on TV, the fans were eating it up. The match itself was ok, and wasn't close to being as bad as it should have been.

 

Intermission

 

Main event one was a tag match with John Cena and Big Show vs. JBL and Orlando Jordan. Cena was the man there tonight with the crowd, it got loud. JBL came out in the biggest Limo he has yet. It was a good match with JBL not wanting to go in against Cena or Show The Bashams interfered but were taken out by Show. Not a long match but Cena hit his moves and beat Orlando with the 5 knuckle shuffle. JBL and Orlando got good heat by spinning the US title. It was funny. Big Show is huge in person.

 

Winners: Cena and Show HOLY. CHRIST. Cena is over, at least at this show, and I'm talking Rocky/Austin over, it was that wild. I thought people were going to have heart attacks since they were going so fucking insane over Cena. TBS was almost just as over, but not quite. Wow.

 

This match was also one of the highlights of the night for me as well as one of the coolest things I've ever seen at a show, because I saw BRADSHAW live. Oh to hear his music, coming out in his limo, it was great. Heck, his limo looked even bigger than usual. Fuck what anyone else says also, he is just about the perfect heel. The way he was working his character in this match was just perfect, and Orlando and the Bashams played along just perfectly. Long live Bradshaw, bwahahahahahahahaha!!!

 

The Divas Challenge was next with Joy, Michelle, Miss Jackie, Dawn Marie, and Torrie Wilson. All the girls got a good reaction and looked hotter than a barbecue. These girls are all Playboy material. Torrie won, but that was expected. Dawn got mad and attacked her only to have her wig pulled off. All the women got respectable ovations. Pretty good sign for Vince's New Divas. Bah, I still don't get this type of thing. I could care less about this sort of thing at a show. Dawn was just about booed out of the building for some reason, and that's all I got to say about it.

 

Main Event Two: Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker. Awesome heat for Angle. It got loud with cheers for Taker as well. A great old school match with numerous counters and Angle working over Takers knee/ankle. Great heat for using a figure four in Flair country. They both did outstanding with numerous near tap outs and Kurt reversing about 5 tries of Takers finishers. Even escaped the triangle choke after almost tapping. Kurt hit the Angle slam and put the ankle lock on a good bit toward the end. But Taker finally got him in a Tombstone after several attempts. It was over then. Part of the crowd left assuming Taker would win, and they missed a Wrestlemania quality match.

 

Winner: Undertaker See my comments after this quoted section about this one.

 

A good crowd, as the building was about 75% full. A good live crowd all night which made the matches better. A great show overall. Ricky Steamboat and Fit Finley were ringside all night.

 

Big thumbs up to Angle, Undertaker, Mysterio, and Eddie Guerrero for putting on some excellent matches. Booker T tried hard and did good on what he does, but was pulled down big time. Show lasted almost three hours.

 

Biggest Pops:

1.Cena

A close 2. Undertaker

3.Eddie and Rey in their pink Cadillac low rider

4 Divas

5 Booker T / Big Show it was close

 

 

Biggest Heat:

1 Angle

2.JBL/ Orlando Jordan

3. Bashams

4. Tony Chimell when they ran out of T-shirts to throw out

 

So yeah, the show as pretty good overall, but the main event totally knocked my socks off. I don't know if anyone else here was at the show, but trust me when I say this:

 

The match was one of the best, if not THE best house show matches I've ever seen.

 

I'm talking, just like Mike Johnson mentioned, WrestleMania quality of a match. It was a back and forth contest, with both guys getting close falls and moments where you just knew one or the other was going to submit. No title was on the line so you didn't really know for sure who was going to win, so it was just a straight up one on one clinic. Had I seen this match on a PPV, I would have been glad I ordered the show. It was the type of match that just flat out MAKES a show.

 

I was just shocked to see two main stars work this hard, for no reason other than for the few fans who were there watching the show. It almost didn't make any sense to me. My hat is off to both of them, in a big way. Screw what anyone says about how both of these guys should retire...I don't think so.

 

When Taker hit the tombstone at the end of this match everyone, including myself, just went insane. It was an awesome moment, one I'll never forget.

 

I have a few pictures of the match, but they aren't close or anything, but here you go anyway, just for the hell of adding something more to this thread:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[claydude14 0]

Bob Holly was monsterly over when I went to the Thanksgiving Smackdown! in Rochester. This was the show where he was 'punished' for stiffing Dupree at a house show, so he jobbed to Masters in a dark match. Crowd went nuts for him the whole time, and gave him a standing O at the end, despite him losing. Holly had a curtain call and returned to the ring from his way up the aisle way because the response was that overwhelming. He came back and posed some more and the cheering didn't end until he was behind the curtain. Guess Vince was on to something pushing him at the Rumble last year.

[Guest Shadow]

That was supposed to be the Mania sd main event a few months ago but they scrapped it because vince wanted Shawn/Angle instead and was gonna do hoss tag match.

 

I hope they get another match before they retire. They had a clinic on 4th of july 2002. (or 2003, not sure which)

[Myxamatosis 0]

Say what you will about Undertaker, he has been around the business long enough to recognize and work around his limitations. And when in the ring with someone as fluid and smooth as Angle (as shown before), the matches are always good.

[Taker666 0]

I've been wanting to see Undertaker Vs Angle for a long time now. their last match they had. I think on SmackDown! in 2003, was just fantastic and one of my fav matches of that year. I was excited that Taker Vs Angle was rumored to be the Main-Event at Mania. althought their current matches at Mania are still gonna be very good though

 

Undertaker gets so much blind hatred around here is all just bullshit. Undertaker can still put on some of the best matches in the WWE right now and hes definlly a much better wrestler than alot of the other WWE wrestlers right now. he pulled a good match out of Heidenreich at Survivor Series and the Rumble. he moves a hellava lot faster in the ring for a 43 year old. If the bullshit rumor of him retiring is actually true. that'd be a waste of talent gone right their IMO. Taker still has alot to offer for the WWE and his fans. I hope Taker sticks around a good 5 more years or more.

 

I was watching the Armageddon DVD, and fans were BOOING when Eddie and Booker were kicking taker down. they were booing Eddie for Taker. Face it, Taker is really hot right now.

[Guest Shadow]

Too bad the ratings properly reflect otherwise on Undertaker's "hot"ness.

[JJMc 0]

That was supposed to be the Mania sd main event a few months ago but they scrapped it because vince wanted Shawn/Angle instead and was gonna do hoss tag match.

 

I hope they get another match before they retire. They had a clinic on 4th of july 2002. (or 2003, not sure which)

Yeah, it was '02. That's the one where they had to re-shoot the finish with only crew members in the audience.

[Guest Brian]

I don't think the hate is totally irrational, since there's a whole lot of politics and the shitty way he treated me at the WrestleMania XIX convention to back it up. He treated me like shit. HATE~!

[Art Sandusky 0]

You know, I didn't really need to see who started this topic to know who it was.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

Yeah I was okay with Taker-Angle, but I didn't think it was a good program for the WWE title, as they need to make new stars, not prolong careers that need to wind down (or will wind down in Angle's case).

 

I think everyone is talking about the same Angle-Taker match from SDD a while back, I remember it being really really strong, to the point that I though it could have been a MOTY winner, or at least a close runner up. I recall Taker collapsing int he back after the match was over. I'm sure someone knows the exact date, if it hasn't already been correctly identified.

 

But yeah, I'd liek to see them work another program. However, I got a feeling after Mania one of them is going to RAW.

[Positively Kanyon 0]

They had the same match here in Australia when SmackDown! came to Brisbane in August 2004. I was actually quite surprised with the quality of the match as Taker was actually making an effort and put on a good show.

[Guest Fook_Theta]

Taker and Angle are the top guys on Smackdown. They're easily the two people that have mastered the WWE backstage politiking game. JBL is a close third that got extremely lucky with a vince mcmahon approved gimmick.

 

Taker loves MMA/shooto stuff, Angle is old school wrestler, they for some reason decided to put on a fun house show match. I'm not surprised at all.

[Enigma 0]

Can someone explain to me why Dawn Marie was wearing a wig?