Went to the house show tonight...

[Guest Zack Malibu]

WWE did a Smackdown house show tonight in Providence, RI, not too far from my hometown, so me and some people from work decided to go for shits and giggles. Got to see Mysterio in action (Mysterio/Kidman vs. Tajiri/Chavo) and he looked great. His new look has an updated mask and Tajiri style pants, and he got a huge pop coming out. Got to see other guys, like Rob Conway and Steve Bradley in action. John Cena took on Albert, and got a good response working the crowd up. This guy will be a huge star one day, I'm sure of it. But the most entertaining part of the night came after main event, where Edge beat Kurt Angle (I know some of my friends on the board cough Anglesaultcough may not be happy with that result...). Angle got on the mic, assuring us fans that he was fine, but that he felt like his balls were in his throat. He said that the guys knew what he was talking about, and that some of the women from RI probably knew what it was like too. But no, that's the not best part...during the promo, the idiot marks started with the "WHAT" chants. Now, don't get me wrong. I have always and will always like Steve Austin, dating back to the Chris Adams feud in the USWA. But the man is gone, at least for now, and he's not going to be back anytime soon, so get over it. As soon as I said this to my friend, sure enough, Angle repeats it over the mic, saying that Stone Cold is gone for good, so we can "Eh eh" the what chants. To me, that was the best part of the night. Better than the Undertaker saying "Say what if you sleep with your sister". Better than Hogan's "What...ya gonna do." Once again, Angle saves the day!

 

Oh, and Rikishi's luggage got lost, so we got spared a Rikishi-Test matchup, and instead had a Rikishi-Team Canada brawl. Overall, an enjoyable show, just one complaint...no Jericho (not like he cares about us smarks anymore anyways.)

[Guest Downhome]

Sounds like a passable show, I wouldn't have minded being at it live. Now concerning Rey Jr., was he flying around as he did when he was at the top of his game, or was he more so working the mat and staying grounded? I can't wait for him to show up on TV, and I hope this Smackdown is where he debuts! Also...

 

...who is Rob Conway and Steve Bradley? What style do they present, and where are they from?

[Guest Zack Malibu]

Sounds like a passable show, I wouldn't have minded being at it live. Now concerning Rey Jr., was he flying around as he did when he was at the top of his game, or was he more so working the mat and staying grounded? I can't wait for him to show up on TV, and I hope this Smackdown is where he debuts! Also...

 

...who is Rob Conway and Steve Bradley? What style do they present, and where are they from?

It was a good show all around, here are the results.

 

John Cena b. Albert

Jamie Noble b. Hurricane w/ help from Nidia (afterwards, Hurricane chokeslammed Noble)

Billy/Chuck (Chuck is from RI, but they didn't announce his hometown, since he was playing heel and would have gotten the babyface pop) d. Hardcore Holly/Val Venis (had matching black/purple on...didn't see Smackdown, so I don't know if they had matching tights on then. Are they a full fledged team now?)

D-Von/Rob Conway (with Batista) d. Hugh Morrus/Steve Bradley

Lance Storm/Christian d. Mark Henry/Funaki

Rikishi brawled with Storm, Test and Christian, giving Test and Storm stinkfaces. He then danced with the ref.

Torrie d. Stacy in a Bra and Panties match

Rey/Kidman beat Tajiri/Chavo

Edge b. Angle

 

Rey was def. on top of his game. They finished the match with Rey running towards Kidman, and Kidman tossed him up, resulting in Rey hitting a Super Frankensteiner on Chavo for the pin. That and Edge/Angle were the matches of the night.

 

Conway is currently in OVW, but debuted on Velocity last week, and impressed some with his heelish antics (I believe he fought Randy Orton). He's actually a member of the popular babyface Lords of the Ring team with Nick Dinsmore, and given the dismal tag division right now, I'm not sure why they don't bring them in to challenge Billy and Chuck. He's quite a good technical wrestler. I'm not sure how he is on highspots.

 

Bradley has been in the minors for about 4 years now. He got signed around the same time as Angle, and was considered to be the "next big thing" before Angle even made it up to the majors. Bradley was compared to RVD in his early days, but with RVD in the WWF/E these days, he may have altered his full arsenal, so that could be why we haven't seen him yet. He does have the look of a punk heel. If anything, Conway should be the face, and Bradley should debut as a heel.

[Guest Downhome]

Speaking of tag teams, I really wish they would have Rey/Kidman get a run with gold at some time, I've ALWAYS loved how they work with each other, and they have the potential to get over huge, like they both were in WCW for a time.

[Guest Downhome]

Thanks for the info. on the other two by the way. I remember hearing about Rob last week, and I have HEARD of Stephen, so I can't wait to see them for myself!

[Guest undisputedjericho]

Was Steve Bradley part of the "Minnesota Stretching Crew" with BROCK~! or was that someone else?

[Guest Zack Malibu]

Was Steve Bradley part of the "Minnesota Stretching Crew" with BROCK~! or was that someone else?

You're thinking of Shelton Benjamin.

[Guest Downhome]

Damn, all of this talk about new guys just astounds me. In all seriousness, WWE has enough of talent not even IN WWE as of yet that they, in theory, wouldn't need to worry about signing anyone for quite some time. If they didn't sign anyone else to a contract, they have enough talent right now to last them for the next decade at least. It's just amazing that they are in this situation, but then, well, they are currently sucking.