John
07-06-2009, 03:58 PM
Wrestling News World reader BRDman40 sent the following:
Arena is about 90% Full but very lively. Big Umaga chants as the local fans know he won't be around but being a heavily Polynesian crowd, they want him anyway.
Match #1
John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin
- Decent Pop for Morrison and Shelton works the "not ready to compete yet" heel tactic as he ducks out of the ring several times to a good amount of heat. A lot of arm drags and stiff kicks but eventually Morrison hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT and Starship Pain for the John Morrison pinfall victory.
Tiffany does the usual, answer a trivia question move to the front row stunt. Is that all they bring her down for?
Match #2
Evan Bourne vs. Mark Henry
- Face pops for both and the collective gasp whenever Mark Henry enters an arena is quite impressive. Henry botches a big boot twice and Bourne actually plays a little hit and run offense before hitting the double knee strike. A standing moonsault gets a near fall for Bourne but he gets caught on a springboard cross-body by Henry who hits the World's Strongest Slam for a Mark Henry pinfall victory.
Match #3
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Great Khali
- Dolph is incredibly over as the cocky heel and he has some good mic work trying to introduce himself. The biggest ovation of the night thus far goes to the Great Khali who is grooving to his theme music and throws up a Shaka to the local fans. They hide Khali's inability to wrestle here as Dolph plays the cowardly heel, running away from Khali on a number of occasions. Dolph targets the legs with a lot of low drop kicks but eventually gets caught in the Punjabi Plunge for a Khali pinfall victory.
Match #4
Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship
- Crowd kind of bewildered why this match is so early on the card. Hardy out first to a good reaction. CM Punk follows to a mostly face reaction. Punk plays up being a good guy trying to shake everyone's hands, including guys booing him. At the beginning, it is a rest hold and posturing fest. Both try to get their own names chanted, and a good CM Punk vs. Hardy chant duel begins. It was a pretty standard match, but I must say I was extremely impressed with CM Punk's slow transition to using heel tactics in this match, almost a micrcosm of his slow heel turn. He argued with the ref, told shhed the fans and broke late on submission holds. He also mocked Jeff Hardy's hand gesture when he hit the high knee in the corner which was a nice touch.The finish comes when CM Punk reverses the Twist of Fate into a GTS which Jeff reverses into a roll-up which is reversed again for a CM Punk pinfall victory. After the match, Punk is booed heavily.
Intermission
Match #5
Alicia Fox and Michelle McCool vs. Melina and Gail Kim (With Special Guest Referee Maria)
- First of all, Maria is beautiful. I know that isn't news, but hot damn! This is about what you'd expect, with the fans a bit more excited than I expected. The sexist, ignorant chants and catcalls are ridiculous and unnecessary however and even Alicia Fox acknowledges a particularly obnoxious fan. Anyway, Kim gets the hot tag and hits her unique offense, really something to see live, she is great! Then she hits her fall-back foot-to-jaw-breaker finisher for the win by pinfall. Heard Michelle McCool blame Fox for the loss and to "head to Raw," a rare bit of house show continuity?
Match #6
Christian vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Championship
- Swagger is enormous. I had no idea how big he is. Anyway, typical triple threat match with one wrestler usually down on the outside. Gut wrench powerbomb onto Christian, but Swagger turns around to eat a Dreamer-DDT for the pinfall victory.
Match #7
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship (With Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat as the special guest referee)
- Big heat for Jericho as he takes the mic and runs down the state for being "pineapple eating, coconut bra wearing, hula-dancing hypocrites. Gelatinous, ubiquitous parasites who are the forgotten state of the United States." Funny stuff. He sees a sign that says "Jericho is Mahu." (Mahu being local slang for Homo) And he plays it up as a term of endearment saying "That I don't speak your primitive language, but if mahu means greatest in the world at what he does, then I am 100% Mahu!!" Which got a huge mahu chant. He gets back on the mic and says, "Mahu pride is alive and well in the isolated state." Crowd is eating it up. He also runs down his accomplishments to a ton of heat.
Rey comes out to a good ovation and poses with the belt and throws a bunch of Shakas. He also went up to every kid in the front to touch heads regardless of whether they were wearing a mask. Biggest ovation of the night goes to the Hall-Of-Famer The Dragon as he is billed from Hawaii. Jericho protests and says he "doesn't want to see any mahu discrimination." More mahu chants. I think they went for a lost mask spot but it went wrong. I know it is supposed to come off, but Rey's mask totally came off exposing his face for a good bit of time. Even Steamboat went outside to check on him. Jericho played it up by taunting the crowd. Deafening "Mahu" Chants. Great back and forth action all match. Jericho reverses two 619's, one into a back breaker and one into the walls of Jericho. Mysterio hits the west coast pop onto Jericho on the outside but eats a devstating-looking codebreaker when Jericho returns. Rey kicks out and a frustrated Jericho goes for a chair but Steamboat intervenes. While Jericho yells at Steamboat he takes a 619 and a splash for a Rey Mysterio pinfall victory.
Mysterio celebrates to the back but Jericho attacks The Dragon. Eventually RIcky gets the upper hand and Jericho retreats. The night ends with Steamboat posing in the ring.
All in all, a great night, albeit a bit short no doubt because of Edge's injury. People were upset the Undertaker wasn't around because he was advertised locally. Also, no one knew Edge was hurt so they were mad about that too. But all in all, it was a very hot crowd who reacted very well to everything, sans the botches.
Match of the Night: Jericho vs Mysterio (Hands down, although Morrison vs Shelton and Hardy vs Punk were very good contests)
Biggest Pops:
1) Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
2) Rey Mysterio
3) Jeff Hardy
4) The Great Khali
5) CM Punk/John Morrison
Biggest Heat:
1) Chris Jericho
2) Dolph Ziggler
3) CM Punk
4) Mark Henry
5) Jack Swagger
Arena is about 90% Full but very lively. Big Umaga chants as the local fans know he won't be around but being a heavily Polynesian crowd, they want him anyway.
Match #1
John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin
- Decent Pop for Morrison and Shelton works the "not ready to compete yet" heel tactic as he ducks out of the ring several times to a good amount of heat. A lot of arm drags and stiff kicks but eventually Morrison hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT and Starship Pain for the John Morrison pinfall victory.
Tiffany does the usual, answer a trivia question move to the front row stunt. Is that all they bring her down for?
Match #2
Evan Bourne vs. Mark Henry
- Face pops for both and the collective gasp whenever Mark Henry enters an arena is quite impressive. Henry botches a big boot twice and Bourne actually plays a little hit and run offense before hitting the double knee strike. A standing moonsault gets a near fall for Bourne but he gets caught on a springboard cross-body by Henry who hits the World's Strongest Slam for a Mark Henry pinfall victory.
Match #3
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Great Khali
- Dolph is incredibly over as the cocky heel and he has some good mic work trying to introduce himself. The biggest ovation of the night thus far goes to the Great Khali who is grooving to his theme music and throws up a Shaka to the local fans. They hide Khali's inability to wrestle here as Dolph plays the cowardly heel, running away from Khali on a number of occasions. Dolph targets the legs with a lot of low drop kicks but eventually gets caught in the Punjabi Plunge for a Khali pinfall victory.
Match #4
Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship
- Crowd kind of bewildered why this match is so early on the card. Hardy out first to a good reaction. CM Punk follows to a mostly face reaction. Punk plays up being a good guy trying to shake everyone's hands, including guys booing him. At the beginning, it is a rest hold and posturing fest. Both try to get their own names chanted, and a good CM Punk vs. Hardy chant duel begins. It was a pretty standard match, but I must say I was extremely impressed with CM Punk's slow transition to using heel tactics in this match, almost a micrcosm of his slow heel turn. He argued with the ref, told shhed the fans and broke late on submission holds. He also mocked Jeff Hardy's hand gesture when he hit the high knee in the corner which was a nice touch.The finish comes when CM Punk reverses the Twist of Fate into a GTS which Jeff reverses into a roll-up which is reversed again for a CM Punk pinfall victory. After the match, Punk is booed heavily.
Intermission
Match #5
Alicia Fox and Michelle McCool vs. Melina and Gail Kim (With Special Guest Referee Maria)
- First of all, Maria is beautiful. I know that isn't news, but hot damn! This is about what you'd expect, with the fans a bit more excited than I expected. The sexist, ignorant chants and catcalls are ridiculous and unnecessary however and even Alicia Fox acknowledges a particularly obnoxious fan. Anyway, Kim gets the hot tag and hits her unique offense, really something to see live, she is great! Then she hits her fall-back foot-to-jaw-breaker finisher for the win by pinfall. Heard Michelle McCool blame Fox for the loss and to "head to Raw," a rare bit of house show continuity?
Match #6
Christian vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Championship
- Swagger is enormous. I had no idea how big he is. Anyway, typical triple threat match with one wrestler usually down on the outside. Gut wrench powerbomb onto Christian, but Swagger turns around to eat a Dreamer-DDT for the pinfall victory.
Match #7
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship (With Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat as the special guest referee)
- Big heat for Jericho as he takes the mic and runs down the state for being "pineapple eating, coconut bra wearing, hula-dancing hypocrites. Gelatinous, ubiquitous parasites who are the forgotten state of the United States." Funny stuff. He sees a sign that says "Jericho is Mahu." (Mahu being local slang for Homo) And he plays it up as a term of endearment saying "That I don't speak your primitive language, but if mahu means greatest in the world at what he does, then I am 100% Mahu!!" Which got a huge mahu chant. He gets back on the mic and says, "Mahu pride is alive and well in the isolated state." Crowd is eating it up. He also runs down his accomplishments to a ton of heat.
Rey comes out to a good ovation and poses with the belt and throws a bunch of Shakas. He also went up to every kid in the front to touch heads regardless of whether they were wearing a mask. Biggest ovation of the night goes to the Hall-Of-Famer The Dragon as he is billed from Hawaii. Jericho protests and says he "doesn't want to see any mahu discrimination." More mahu chants. I think they went for a lost mask spot but it went wrong. I know it is supposed to come off, but Rey's mask totally came off exposing his face for a good bit of time. Even Steamboat went outside to check on him. Jericho played it up by taunting the crowd. Deafening "Mahu" Chants. Great back and forth action all match. Jericho reverses two 619's, one into a back breaker and one into the walls of Jericho. Mysterio hits the west coast pop onto Jericho on the outside but eats a devstating-looking codebreaker when Jericho returns. Rey kicks out and a frustrated Jericho goes for a chair but Steamboat intervenes. While Jericho yells at Steamboat he takes a 619 and a splash for a Rey Mysterio pinfall victory.
Mysterio celebrates to the back but Jericho attacks The Dragon. Eventually RIcky gets the upper hand and Jericho retreats. The night ends with Steamboat posing in the ring.
All in all, a great night, albeit a bit short no doubt because of Edge's injury. People were upset the Undertaker wasn't around because he was advertised locally. Also, no one knew Edge was hurt so they were mad about that too. But all in all, it was a very hot crowd who reacted very well to everything, sans the botches.
Match of the Night: Jericho vs Mysterio (Hands down, although Morrison vs Shelton and Hardy vs Punk were very good contests)
Biggest Pops:
1) Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
2) Rey Mysterio
3) Jeff Hardy
4) The Great Khali
5) CM Punk/John Morrison
Biggest Heat:
1) Chris Jericho
2) Dolph Ziggler
3) CM Punk
4) Mark Henry
5) Jack Swagger