Smackdown House Show
Green Bay, WI
May 23rd, 2004.
Report by: Joseph Tussing, rajah.com reader
Not many in attendance. Couldn't have been more than 1,500. 2,000 would have been stretching it.
Match #1....The Dudleyz came out to no music. They just sort of strolled to the ring. Bubba grabbed the mic and starting ripping on Green Bay. He said that he and D-Von wanted to wrestle first so they could get out of this hick town. They did the obligatory knock on the Packers to get more heat. He then challenged any team in back to come out and try to defeat them. Cue Music..."Ass Man" started playing and out comes Billy Gunn. The crowd reacted pretty well. Billy got a surprisingly good pop. As he made his way to the ring Bubba advised him that he was only one and he needed a partner. Out comes Hardcore Holly to another surprising pop.
The match lasted about 18 minutes. I said to my wife, "There ain't no way that Hardcore and Billy are winning." I was wrong. They picked up the win.
Match #2...Mordecai defeated Shannon Moore.
Mordecai came out very slowly. I believe his entrance to the ring lasted longer than the actual match. He was very slow and methodical which didn't appease the crowd. I think they are on the right track with Mordecai. He kept looking at the heavens after each move. Implying that he was looking for wisdom from another source. Sort of like the Undertaker's urn. That'll come in to play if they set up a feud between him and the Undertaker. Apparently others didn't like it. Boring chants were heard and mercifully he finished off Moore with the cross slam move. It'll take a while for Mordecai to get over so let's hope McMahon is patient enough to let it happen. The crowd was dead during the match.
Match #3...Mark Jindrak defeated Orlando Jordan.
The crowd reacted exactly the way they were supposed to. When Theodore Long asked them to cheer for the "reflection of perfection" the crowd showered him with boos. He also made a great comment about seeing all the white people in Wisconsin. He said, "When I look around all I see is cheese and crackers...Believe Dat." Orlando got a good pop from the crowd. Both men put on a good match. Lots of high drop kicks and back flip type moves. Of course, Teddy distracted the ref allowing Mark the chance to cheat to get the win.
Match #4...WWE CruiserWeight Championship (Triple Threat Match)...Chavo Classic defeated Billy Kidman and Spike Dudley.
It started with Spike and Billy teaming up against Chavo Classic. As Chavo was in the corner Billy did a flying cross body slam and then stepped aside to allow Spike to do the same. As Spike ran across the ring Kidman jump kicked him right in the chops. One of the people I was with said, "What the hell did he do that for? Aren't they helping each other?" I guess he didn't understand the concept of a Triple Threat Match.
The end saw Chavo Classic distract the ref to allow Chavo Jr to take out Kidman. Chavo then pinned Kidman for the win.
Match #5...WWE Tag Team Championship....Rico and Charlie Haas defeated FBI (Nunzio and Stamboli) to retain. Enjoyed this one a lot. Got to see Rico do all his "gay" stuff which cracks me up. Nunzio was hysterical. After Rico slapped Nunzio's ass a couple times, Nunzio drop kicked him. While Rico was down Nunzio yelled out, "That's what you get for slapping my ass." The end saw Rico grab Nunzio and kiss him allowing Haas to sneak up behind and rollhim up for the win.
Match #6...Rey Mysterio defeated Rene Dupree
Originally Dupree was supposed to face Cena, but they must have wanted to save it for Smackdown. Good match all around. Rey did the 619 and West Coast Pop (twice). Dupree did the frenchie dance which got a couple cheers. I was one of the people cheering. One of the best matches of the night. And it appears that Dupree gets pretty excited when in the ring. If you catch my drift.
Match #7...US Championship....John Cena defeated Booker T.
It was a decent match. Cena did an old Cena rap. Not the new sugar coated stuff for the airwaves. Match went back and forth. Booker knocked down Cena with the scissors kick and then did the Spinaroonie, allowing Cena time to recover. The FU and it was over.
Match #8...Not a match. More of a DIVA pose off. Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson came out in bikinis and posed. Torrie won which pissed off Dawn and they fought a bit. Nothing exciting. Just eye candy.
Match #9..WWE Championship (Street Fight)...Eddy Guerrero defeated JBL to retain.
JBL came out and started on Green Bay trying to build up heat. It might be working cause he was showered with "you sucks" and boos. Eddy came out to the biggest cheers of the night. The match started and immediately they were out of the ring. They started wrestling all over the floor and almost up into the first couple rows of the mezzanine seating. Things calmed down and they made it back to the ring. Kurt Angle came out to watch the event. Near the end the ref was knocked out and Bradshaw had Eddy down. He went for the pin but the ref wasn't moving. So Luther helped Kurt into the ring and Bradshaw went for the pin. Kurt counted. It was a fast 1-2 count but Eddy kicked out. Bradshaw grabbed the belt to strike Eddy with it, but Eddy ducked. Eddy grabbed the belt and struck Bradshaw knocking him down. The ref came to so Eddy then flipped the belt to Angle, who was sitting in the ring, and then Eddy himself fell to the ring. The ref saw both men down and Kurt with the belt. Kurt started shaking his head saying that he didn't do it. While this was going on Eddy made his way to the corner. When the ref looked his way, Eddy fell against the ropes to appear that he was still groggy from the hit. Eddy went to the top rope. Frog splash and it's over. Eddy wins.
After the match Eddy posed for the crowd and gave a little speech. He kept doubling over like he was in pain. And even after leaving the ring he called the ref and someone else over and they helped him out of the arena. After every 15 or so steps Eddy would stop and double over again. Not sure if he was actually hurt or it was just for show.
All in all good show. Most matches exceeded my expectations for a house show. Couple didn't but that's to be expected. Especially when you know Shannon Moore has a snowballs chance in hell of winning.
Biggest Pops:
Eddy Guerrero
John Cena
Rey Mysterio
Rico and Haas
Hardcore and Billy Gun (Believe it or not)
Biggest Heat:
Booker T
Dudleyz
JBL
Biggest Silence
Mordecai
Hope this helps with the house show results. This is just one man's opinion, but it was a fun time. Worth the 40 bucks.
