Dangerous Incorporated
11-09-2006, 03:21 AM
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*Results* RAW Brand House Show - 8 Nov 06
Location: Glascow, Scotland
The show began with Lillian Garcia coming to the ring and warming up the crowd. She then sang one of Scotland half-dozen national anthems, on this occasion, ‘Flower of Scotland’. It was an impressive rendition, she seemed to know the song well and she does have an impressive voice.
MATCH 1 – Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
With the child-heavy crowd fired up, the first match got underway immediately. Carlito came out first to a good ovation and Benjamin followed to a chorus of boos.
Before the match started, a boy by the name of Ryan was plucked out of ringside and acted as the special guest…ringside watcher, or something to that effect. The upshot was that little Ryan got to guard Carlito’s apple throughout. Awww.
The match was predominately mat-based, with both men working the other’s arm, of which Carlito did a better job of selling. The match was a standard house show opener, with Carltio getting the clean pin with the Backcracker.
MATCH 2 – Victoria vs. Mickie James.
Victoria emerged to mild heat whereas Mickie was very popular with the crowd. The match was decent, flowed well and Mickie got in a few leg scissor and ‘rana maneuvers. Near the end, Lita did a run-in and tripped Mickie wile Victoria distracted the ref, but it only led to a two-count. Mickie fought back and hit a DDT for the victory.
MATCH 3 – Renee Dupree vs. Tommy Dreamer.
Dupree got on the mic and gave his spiel about being the most extreme athlete and boasted that he had more potential than any of the old ECW guys. Tommy took the stick and said that “it didn’t matter if you were in the United States in Scotland or in French (Dreamer’s own gaffe, which he corrected with a chuckle and the audience joined him in such). Dreamer composed himself and said that anyone could see that Dupree was a ‘wank’, which of course, received a big pop. Dreamer then went on to say that Dupree was the biggest French wank he had ever seen, to more delight from the crowd. Dupree had enough, attacked Dreamer and the match got underway.
Not an Extreme Rules match, so it was a standard brawl with both men getting offence. Dreamer was fired-up throughout and in the end, won with a DDT, the second such finish in a row.
MATCH 4 – Cade and Murdoch vs. Cryme Tyme.
Cade and Murdoch hit the ring first and posed as if they were faces. Cryme Tyme’s music hit to a BIG reaction. They were seriously over. The first few minutes of the match saw Murdoch sulking because the crowd didn’t love him. Even before the first lock-up, he was outside having a fit, screaming verbal abuse at some fan. Back in the ring it developed into a standard tag match, nothing of note. I was bust figuring out what possible items Cryme Tyme could tax (that’s Glaswegian slang for ‘steal’. The only thing I came up with was Lillian’s microphone, but it wasn’t to be and Cryme Tyme knocked (more slang for thievery) nothing. Cryme Tyme got the win with their Drive By finisher.
NON-MATCH 1 – Best Diva Body Contest
Next up was the best body competition, where we, the fans, would decide who went over. It’s even more interactive than Cyber Suckday, folks! Our contestants came out individually and were, in order, Maria, Torrie and Candice. Just as our Mistress of Ceremonies, Lillian Garcia was about to kick things off, the lights went out and Kevin Thorn’s music played as Ariel made her way to the ring, culminating in the bat-entrance-of-doom. She commandeered the microphone and said that if anyone should be in this contest, then it should be her. She then demanded that her music play and proceeded to pose around the ring, showing off her Transylvanian torso. When finished, she went to a corner and waited for the others. Maria was first up and pranced around in a similar fashion. Torrie was next who did her thing and finished off with a kiss on Candice. Fuelled by the liplock, Ms. Michelle then flaunted her particulars. Lillian then called for the crowd to decide the winner by using the patent pending Cheer-o-meter, which conclusively proved that Torrie was indeed the best. Maria and Candice went to the back, and Kevin Thorn and Ariel took the opportunity to close in on Torrie, menacingly. Logic would dictate that Carlito would come out to save the day, but instead it was that well-known defender of the damsel: Hardcore Holly! In the confusion, Torrie ran to the back accompanied by a referee and a towel, which suggested some sort of wardrobe malfunction that I missed, due to nearly passing out from the event programs that gave off paint-like fumes.
MATCH 5 – Kevin Thorn vs. Hardcore Holly
An impromptu match that went about five or six minutes. It was a solid effort, but not earth-shattering. Holly escaped an impending Crucifix Bomb and gave Thorn a fairly weak Alabama Slam for the 1-2-3.
Next was the Spirit Squad who came out to an initial cheer, but overpowering heat. They all chipped in on the mic and gave a pretty weak cheer and did a quintuple point to the crowd to get a cheer, a la DX at Cyber Sunday, but received boos, not cheers. There was absolutely no hint of any dissention in the Spirit Squad camp.
When they settled down, the lights dimmed and Lillian introduced “one half of the NEW tag team champions” and out came Ric Flair in his blue sequin boa robe. Of course, the Nature Boy was very well-received in the arena.
He got on the mic and said in all of his years of wrestling, he’s seen some special moments and that we were about to get one tonight. Ric put over various Glasgow traits, saying we had the best beer, the best wine, the best-looking women (oh Naitch, how naïve…) and so on. He then ramped up his enthusiasm to introduce his new partner and the other half of the tag team champions, Rowdy Roddy Piper. He had a black Hot Rod T-Shirt on, concealing his bulge, in case anyone is wondering.
Piper came out to a massive ovation. He was carrying two scarves, one for Rangers and another for Celtic, the two biggest football teams in the city. Just as well, since if he only had one or the other, he’d be booed out of the building. Piper then got on the mic and said that this may be the last time we’d see Piper back ‘home’ in Glasgow, so he was going to make it a good one. He then proposed that they have an eight-man tag against the Spirit Squad and then introduced The Highlanders, who again, emerged to a massive pop.
Rory and Robbie were both wearing Scotland football team shirts and Rory wielded the yellow and red Lion flag, representing William the Lion, our former King. Piper kissed both the Celtic and Rangers scarves, which was very bizarre. Imagine someone kissing a Mets and Yankees jersey at the same time!
As the match was getting underway, The Spirit Squad took turns to blow their nose with and wipe their behinds with the Rangers scarf only, which amused me greatly, being a Celtic fan.
The match got underway and the face team were over throughout. Flair worked hard, despite his age and the grueling tour ahead of him, which I was very pleased with personally as it was the first time seeing him live. Both Highlanders were working equally hard themselves, pulling off stereo planchas at one point. Piper mainly kept the crowd fired up and assisted with double-teams when necessary.
After some offence on the Spirit Squad’s part, an attempt of High Spirits was stopped by the Highlanders and hit the Scot Drop off the ropes and then Flair finished things off with a figure four leglock submission victory. Good match which the crowd loved.
After intermission, it was time for…
MATCH 6 – Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy.
Nitro and Melina came out first, with Johnny being more restrictive of the view of Melina’s ‘entrance’ than the televised version. Jeff came out to a massive pop. He was certainly very popular with the kids. He was also very throughout at dishing out high fives to the ringside audience, hardly missing a fan. Impressive entertaining on Jeff’s part. This was the match of the night, I would say. Fast-paced and very fluent. Both men were very much on-cue tonight. Jeff and Nitro got some good exchanges in against each other and it wouldn’t take much more work to get this up to PPV-quality. Perhaps a little more psychology, if I’m being picky. When Jeff hit his Swanton, Melina did her bit by distracting the ref. The allowed Nitro to recover and get some blows in on Jeff. Neither man had any clear advantage when Nitro caught Jeff in a backslide and used the ropes as leverage to retain the title. After Nitro and Melina had left, Jeff shrugged his shoulders in frustration and posed some more for the crowd, who were very appreciative of his efforts. Jeff gave another thorough acknowledgment of the ringside youngsters and went to the back.
MATCH 7 – Test vs. Sabu
Test came out first looking muscular and oily. Sabu followed, with no muscle or oil, but he did have a steel chair, which is the next best thing, really. Alas, the match was to be contested under Extreme-ly Boring Rules, meaning the chair had to go. After threatening to clobber the ref a few times, Sabu reluctantly relinquished his weapon. Test then grabbed it from the ref and set it up, intending to destroy it with brute force. He completely messed this up though, and after three or four failed kicks, just booted it out of the ring. I think I was the only one who laughed a little at that. So, with standard rules, the match was a basic brawl to start out with. Test, rather than whipping Sabu, just shoved him into the ropes, but Sabu came back instantly and threw a first or three at Test. This repeated a few times until Test eventually over-powered him. The ropes were quite slack tonight, but Sabu compensated well, hitting his barebones springboard spots that you would expect from him when Extreme Rules are not in force. He also hit a somersault legdrop on one occasion. Halfway through the match, Test undid a turnbuckle pad (eventually), which stayed out of play for a little while. An inevitable ref bump allowed Sabu to get another chair and he hit the triple jump moonsault. Both men brawled their way to the exposed turnbuckle and Test ended up smashing his head off it, and bladed at this point. It was quite a big one too. The plasma didn’t exactly gush out, but it was enough to give the lucky kiddies ringside some nightmares tonight. The finish came about after Test ducked out of the way of Air Sabu, which just so happened to be at the still-exposed turnbuckle. Test hit his TKO finisher for the pin. Something I noticed throughout the match is that Sabu’s finger still seems to be bothering him. He kept flexing and nipping at it. On the way back, Sabu didn’t really get that good a reaction for the effort he put in and just as he was entering the curtain, I noticed a subtle shake of the head from Sabu, which was a shame.
MATCH 8 – D-Generation X & John Cena vs. Umaga, Randy Orton and Edge.
By far and away what everyone wanted to see more than anything else. DX’s music hit to the biggest reaction of the night and when HBK and HHH came out, their claim for biggest pop was cemented. DX were over as hell and despite the objections of us wrestling nuts, DX is still a draw and will be here for a little while yet. HHH took the mic but before he said anything, he and Michaels did the crowd pointing bit they did at Cyber Sunday, for almost as long. Eventually, HHH asked everyone to ‘Shhhh’ as he went through the DX routine. One funny bit was the far crowd, who were out of my earshot, but clearly chanting ‘You Screwed Bret’ at Shawn. HHH caught this and said, “Of course he screwed Bret! He’s a wank!” Again, he said ‘wank’ and not the more logical, ‘wanker’. Best move on, methinks. So, after two separate and deafening, ‘Suck It’s, it was Cena out next. He too, was massively over, with only a few dissenters in the crowd. Umaga came out next accompanied by Estrada, who was wearing a short sleeved shirt and what appeared to be, some slacks. Maybe his suit got creased on the flight over? Also, his hat kept falling off. I feel this is importing information that you all need to know. Moving on, Orton came out to some very high-pitched screams, confirmed that the ‘best women in the world’ (according to Ric Flair) were also gaga for Orton, for whatever reason. He got decent heat from the normal people in the building. Finally, Edge and Lita made their entrance. Given my vantage point, I could see behind the curtain slightly and noticed that his extravagant smoke effect was produced tonight by…a fire extinguisher. No expense spared for Glasgow! After a lot of stalling and heat-garnering by all six men, although none of it verbal, the match got underway with HBK and Orton starting things off. Standard six-man fare for the most part. HHH appeared to be working the hardest. After a period of heel dominance and a hot Heartbreak tag, Michaels hit the springboard elbow and did a kip-up, straight into an Umaga clothesline. And sadly, it was at this point that I had to leave early in order to secure a spot on the last bus home! I’m sure the match developed into a runaway Match of the Year candidate, though! Overall, it was a good show, even though I wasn’t particularly hyped for it myself. I just wanted to see the Nature Boy live, and I have now done so. The vast majority of the crowd were into most of the work and performances though. I think they got their money’s worth.
To close, a run down of the biggest heat and pops:
Top Five Pops
1.) D-Generation X (by far)
2.) Rowdy, Roddy Piper & The Highlanders
3.) John Cena
4.) Jeff Hardy
5.) Any references to wanking.
Biggest Heat
1.) Edge
2.) Lita’s run-in in the women’s match
3.) Nitro cheating to beat Hardy
4.) Randy Orton
5.) Spirit Squad desecrating the Rangers flag
*Results* RAW Brand House Show - 8 Nov 06
Location: Glascow, Scotland
The show began with Lillian Garcia coming to the ring and warming up the crowd. She then sang one of Scotland half-dozen national anthems, on this occasion, ‘Flower of Scotland’. It was an impressive rendition, she seemed to know the song well and she does have an impressive voice.
MATCH 1 – Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
With the child-heavy crowd fired up, the first match got underway immediately. Carlito came out first to a good ovation and Benjamin followed to a chorus of boos.
Before the match started, a boy by the name of Ryan was plucked out of ringside and acted as the special guest…ringside watcher, or something to that effect. The upshot was that little Ryan got to guard Carlito’s apple throughout. Awww.
The match was predominately mat-based, with both men working the other’s arm, of which Carlito did a better job of selling. The match was a standard house show opener, with Carltio getting the clean pin with the Backcracker.
MATCH 2 – Victoria vs. Mickie James.
Victoria emerged to mild heat whereas Mickie was very popular with the crowd. The match was decent, flowed well and Mickie got in a few leg scissor and ‘rana maneuvers. Near the end, Lita did a run-in and tripped Mickie wile Victoria distracted the ref, but it only led to a two-count. Mickie fought back and hit a DDT for the victory.
MATCH 3 – Renee Dupree vs. Tommy Dreamer.
Dupree got on the mic and gave his spiel about being the most extreme athlete and boasted that he had more potential than any of the old ECW guys. Tommy took the stick and said that “it didn’t matter if you were in the United States in Scotland or in French (Dreamer’s own gaffe, which he corrected with a chuckle and the audience joined him in such). Dreamer composed himself and said that anyone could see that Dupree was a ‘wank’, which of course, received a big pop. Dreamer then went on to say that Dupree was the biggest French wank he had ever seen, to more delight from the crowd. Dupree had enough, attacked Dreamer and the match got underway.
Not an Extreme Rules match, so it was a standard brawl with both men getting offence. Dreamer was fired-up throughout and in the end, won with a DDT, the second such finish in a row.
MATCH 4 – Cade and Murdoch vs. Cryme Tyme.
Cade and Murdoch hit the ring first and posed as if they were faces. Cryme Tyme’s music hit to a BIG reaction. They were seriously over. The first few minutes of the match saw Murdoch sulking because the crowd didn’t love him. Even before the first lock-up, he was outside having a fit, screaming verbal abuse at some fan. Back in the ring it developed into a standard tag match, nothing of note. I was bust figuring out what possible items Cryme Tyme could tax (that’s Glaswegian slang for ‘steal’. The only thing I came up with was Lillian’s microphone, but it wasn’t to be and Cryme Tyme knocked (more slang for thievery) nothing. Cryme Tyme got the win with their Drive By finisher.
NON-MATCH 1 – Best Diva Body Contest
Next up was the best body competition, where we, the fans, would decide who went over. It’s even more interactive than Cyber Suckday, folks! Our contestants came out individually and were, in order, Maria, Torrie and Candice. Just as our Mistress of Ceremonies, Lillian Garcia was about to kick things off, the lights went out and Kevin Thorn’s music played as Ariel made her way to the ring, culminating in the bat-entrance-of-doom. She commandeered the microphone and said that if anyone should be in this contest, then it should be her. She then demanded that her music play and proceeded to pose around the ring, showing off her Transylvanian torso. When finished, she went to a corner and waited for the others. Maria was first up and pranced around in a similar fashion. Torrie was next who did her thing and finished off with a kiss on Candice. Fuelled by the liplock, Ms. Michelle then flaunted her particulars. Lillian then called for the crowd to decide the winner by using the patent pending Cheer-o-meter, which conclusively proved that Torrie was indeed the best. Maria and Candice went to the back, and Kevin Thorn and Ariel took the opportunity to close in on Torrie, menacingly. Logic would dictate that Carlito would come out to save the day, but instead it was that well-known defender of the damsel: Hardcore Holly! In the confusion, Torrie ran to the back accompanied by a referee and a towel, which suggested some sort of wardrobe malfunction that I missed, due to nearly passing out from the event programs that gave off paint-like fumes.
MATCH 5 – Kevin Thorn vs. Hardcore Holly
An impromptu match that went about five or six minutes. It was a solid effort, but not earth-shattering. Holly escaped an impending Crucifix Bomb and gave Thorn a fairly weak Alabama Slam for the 1-2-3.
Next was the Spirit Squad who came out to an initial cheer, but overpowering heat. They all chipped in on the mic and gave a pretty weak cheer and did a quintuple point to the crowd to get a cheer, a la DX at Cyber Sunday, but received boos, not cheers. There was absolutely no hint of any dissention in the Spirit Squad camp.
When they settled down, the lights dimmed and Lillian introduced “one half of the NEW tag team champions” and out came Ric Flair in his blue sequin boa robe. Of course, the Nature Boy was very well-received in the arena.
He got on the mic and said in all of his years of wrestling, he’s seen some special moments and that we were about to get one tonight. Ric put over various Glasgow traits, saying we had the best beer, the best wine, the best-looking women (oh Naitch, how naïve…) and so on. He then ramped up his enthusiasm to introduce his new partner and the other half of the tag team champions, Rowdy Roddy Piper. He had a black Hot Rod T-Shirt on, concealing his bulge, in case anyone is wondering.
Piper came out to a massive ovation. He was carrying two scarves, one for Rangers and another for Celtic, the two biggest football teams in the city. Just as well, since if he only had one or the other, he’d be booed out of the building. Piper then got on the mic and said that this may be the last time we’d see Piper back ‘home’ in Glasgow, so he was going to make it a good one. He then proposed that they have an eight-man tag against the Spirit Squad and then introduced The Highlanders, who again, emerged to a massive pop.
Rory and Robbie were both wearing Scotland football team shirts and Rory wielded the yellow and red Lion flag, representing William the Lion, our former King. Piper kissed both the Celtic and Rangers scarves, which was very bizarre. Imagine someone kissing a Mets and Yankees jersey at the same time!
As the match was getting underway, The Spirit Squad took turns to blow their nose with and wipe their behinds with the Rangers scarf only, which amused me greatly, being a Celtic fan.
The match got underway and the face team were over throughout. Flair worked hard, despite his age and the grueling tour ahead of him, which I was very pleased with personally as it was the first time seeing him live. Both Highlanders were working equally hard themselves, pulling off stereo planchas at one point. Piper mainly kept the crowd fired up and assisted with double-teams when necessary.
After some offence on the Spirit Squad’s part, an attempt of High Spirits was stopped by the Highlanders and hit the Scot Drop off the ropes and then Flair finished things off with a figure four leglock submission victory. Good match which the crowd loved.
After intermission, it was time for…
MATCH 6 – Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy.
Nitro and Melina came out first, with Johnny being more restrictive of the view of Melina’s ‘entrance’ than the televised version. Jeff came out to a massive pop. He was certainly very popular with the kids. He was also very throughout at dishing out high fives to the ringside audience, hardly missing a fan. Impressive entertaining on Jeff’s part. This was the match of the night, I would say. Fast-paced and very fluent. Both men were very much on-cue tonight. Jeff and Nitro got some good exchanges in against each other and it wouldn’t take much more work to get this up to PPV-quality. Perhaps a little more psychology, if I’m being picky. When Jeff hit his Swanton, Melina did her bit by distracting the ref. The allowed Nitro to recover and get some blows in on Jeff. Neither man had any clear advantage when Nitro caught Jeff in a backslide and used the ropes as leverage to retain the title. After Nitro and Melina had left, Jeff shrugged his shoulders in frustration and posed some more for the crowd, who were very appreciative of his efforts. Jeff gave another thorough acknowledgment of the ringside youngsters and went to the back.
MATCH 7 – Test vs. Sabu
Test came out first looking muscular and oily. Sabu followed, with no muscle or oil, but he did have a steel chair, which is the next best thing, really. Alas, the match was to be contested under Extreme-ly Boring Rules, meaning the chair had to go. After threatening to clobber the ref a few times, Sabu reluctantly relinquished his weapon. Test then grabbed it from the ref and set it up, intending to destroy it with brute force. He completely messed this up though, and after three or four failed kicks, just booted it out of the ring. I think I was the only one who laughed a little at that. So, with standard rules, the match was a basic brawl to start out with. Test, rather than whipping Sabu, just shoved him into the ropes, but Sabu came back instantly and threw a first or three at Test. This repeated a few times until Test eventually over-powered him. The ropes were quite slack tonight, but Sabu compensated well, hitting his barebones springboard spots that you would expect from him when Extreme Rules are not in force. He also hit a somersault legdrop on one occasion. Halfway through the match, Test undid a turnbuckle pad (eventually), which stayed out of play for a little while. An inevitable ref bump allowed Sabu to get another chair and he hit the triple jump moonsault. Both men brawled their way to the exposed turnbuckle and Test ended up smashing his head off it, and bladed at this point. It was quite a big one too. The plasma didn’t exactly gush out, but it was enough to give the lucky kiddies ringside some nightmares tonight. The finish came about after Test ducked out of the way of Air Sabu, which just so happened to be at the still-exposed turnbuckle. Test hit his TKO finisher for the pin. Something I noticed throughout the match is that Sabu’s finger still seems to be bothering him. He kept flexing and nipping at it. On the way back, Sabu didn’t really get that good a reaction for the effort he put in and just as he was entering the curtain, I noticed a subtle shake of the head from Sabu, which was a shame.
MATCH 8 – D-Generation X & John Cena vs. Umaga, Randy Orton and Edge.
By far and away what everyone wanted to see more than anything else. DX’s music hit to the biggest reaction of the night and when HBK and HHH came out, their claim for biggest pop was cemented. DX were over as hell and despite the objections of us wrestling nuts, DX is still a draw and will be here for a little while yet. HHH took the mic but before he said anything, he and Michaels did the crowd pointing bit they did at Cyber Sunday, for almost as long. Eventually, HHH asked everyone to ‘Shhhh’ as he went through the DX routine. One funny bit was the far crowd, who were out of my earshot, but clearly chanting ‘You Screwed Bret’ at Shawn. HHH caught this and said, “Of course he screwed Bret! He’s a wank!” Again, he said ‘wank’ and not the more logical, ‘wanker’. Best move on, methinks. So, after two separate and deafening, ‘Suck It’s, it was Cena out next. He too, was massively over, with only a few dissenters in the crowd. Umaga came out next accompanied by Estrada, who was wearing a short sleeved shirt and what appeared to be, some slacks. Maybe his suit got creased on the flight over? Also, his hat kept falling off. I feel this is importing information that you all need to know. Moving on, Orton came out to some very high-pitched screams, confirmed that the ‘best women in the world’ (according to Ric Flair) were also gaga for Orton, for whatever reason. He got decent heat from the normal people in the building. Finally, Edge and Lita made their entrance. Given my vantage point, I could see behind the curtain slightly and noticed that his extravagant smoke effect was produced tonight by…a fire extinguisher. No expense spared for Glasgow! After a lot of stalling and heat-garnering by all six men, although none of it verbal, the match got underway with HBK and Orton starting things off. Standard six-man fare for the most part. HHH appeared to be working the hardest. After a period of heel dominance and a hot Heartbreak tag, Michaels hit the springboard elbow and did a kip-up, straight into an Umaga clothesline. And sadly, it was at this point that I had to leave early in order to secure a spot on the last bus home! I’m sure the match developed into a runaway Match of the Year candidate, though! Overall, it was a good show, even though I wasn’t particularly hyped for it myself. I just wanted to see the Nature Boy live, and I have now done so. The vast majority of the crowd were into most of the work and performances though. I think they got their money’s worth.
To close, a run down of the biggest heat and pops:
Top Five Pops
1.) D-Generation X (by far)
2.) Rowdy, Roddy Piper & The Highlanders
3.) John Cena
4.) Jeff Hardy
5.) Any references to wanking.
Biggest Heat
1.) Edge
2.) Lita’s run-in in the women’s match
3.) Nitro cheating to beat Hardy
4.) Randy Orton
5.) Spirit Squad desecrating the Rangers flag