Report by: AlaskaCowboy, rajah.com reader
Well, I Have to say that of all the "Live" shows I
have been to, this one takes the cake. Coming off the
over seas tour (which the RAW and Smackdown shows have
been taped for the week before Valentine's Day) they
held a cross promotional show for us frozen folks here
in Anchorage and let me say that it was far better
than AWESOME!!!!
Let me start the day by saying that I spent all of
last week making posters. It was fun.
Sunday morning started with the arrival at the
airport. I arrived just in time to see Sgt. Slaughter
come out through customs. I stayed over the next 1
1/2- 2 hours watching them ALL (at least everyone who
was here for the show) come through the Customs door.
I was very impressed to have seen everyone there in
street clothes. About every 3-5 minutes any number of
them would come out and sometimes in a 4-6 group then
it eventually turned into a steady pace. Shane-O-Mac
was even there. Needless to say I had a blast. There
were mostly airport employees there, but there was
somewhat of a crowd and I know they just wanted to get
to their hotel and rest up.
So, as the day progressed and the stupid ol' "Super
Bowl" Got nearer, I finished up a few touches on my
posters. I got a call from a friend (this is an
important part so I hope you post ALL of this
information). He's a shuttle driver for a "nameless
hotel". I say nameless because a lot of them up here
are chained and he does not necessarily work for the
one that Amy Webber stayed at. Anyways, my friend
called to tell me that he had just drove her back to
the airport because she was leaving. I guess that
during the flight, some ( I don't know who or how
many) of the wrestlers were being rambunctious or
something, but they started pouring tomato juice all
over her. Well she got fed up and quit. This is why
I hope you post this whole e-mail because I know they
have already filmed next week's show's and don't know
what's going to happen. Weather or not she's really
going to quit. I'm sure it'll still be up in the air.
Ok, so now I am getting ready for the actual "Super
Show" and I have to pick up a friend of mine. We had
to get to the arena early for backstage meet and
greet. That was a lot of fun even though we only met
a few select wrestlers and divas. Maria, Christie,
John Cena and Chris Benoit. We got pictures with each
one and autographs also. Man that was fun!!!
This is the third live show I have been to in Alaska
since 1989. Only the fourth since I have lived here.
I missed the one in 1990 when Andre The Giant was
here. I was at the RAW and Smackdown "LIVE" shows
when they promoted WM19 in Seattle. Some of you that
were there might remember the RAW show because after
taping was through, Booker, The Rock, Vince, Gold Dust
and HHH all came down to the ring to try to get Taker
to do a "Taker Roonie. Vince even called Goldie's
what ever, a "Fag-A-Roonie". Those were my first and
only TV shows.
OK, so now we are back stage still and Lilian is
singing the National Anthem. Needless to say we
weren't finished backstage.
So the show is starting. We missed Eric starting off
the show, but oh well.
First match was Benjamin vs. Edge for the IC Title.
Usual entrances with Huge Pops for Shelton and lots of
Boos for Edge. Although I Am still waiting for Edge
to win the Heavyweight belt one day and fulfill his
High School "Most Likely" title. So there were some
Irish whips, some body slams, some submission type
holds, all basic match fill in. The end was Shelton
getting the pin.
Next match was the Women's Title match between Trish
and Victoria. I was really looking forward to this
match because our local Country station got a phone
interview with Victoria last week. She's very
exciting, but I still was disappointed that Lita
couldn't make it. Victoria is just as good and I love
her. The women had their usual entrances. Victoria
came down in an all out work out suit with a very very
HOT pink cap on. Then she hopped in the ring and
jumped on the turn buckle directly in front of me.
She looked right at me and winked because I had a sign
that asked her to be my Valentine. She then enticed
the crowd to get loud and when we did, she took off
the top to reveal a HOT yellow wrestling attire top.
She then turned and looked to the other side of the
arena and did a "Hulk Hogan" ear clasp to get that
side to yell and get loud. She did that to all four
sides then took off the pants to reveal matching
bottoms and her black shoes and knee brace. Man is
she friggin'' SEXY in person. I would leave my
girlfriend to be with her if I had a slight chance.
Trish came down her usual way, but with a neck pad on
like she was injured. Same stuck up attitude with her
nose pointed high in the air.
So the match started off with a few grapples and hip
tosses. There were a few arm bars and wrist lock type
submission holds. Victoria had Trish in the corner a
few times. Finally Trish got the upper hand and when
Victoria was on the mat, Trish took off the neck pad
and danced around the ring tossing the pad like it was
a Steelers "Terrible Towl". She then hit Victoria
with a few more moves. One of them was something I
didn't quite see, so I don't remember. Anyway,
Victoria was down and Trish got the pin. Big pops for
Victoria and Boos for Trish.
At this point I can't remember the order of matches up
to the intermission, so I'll just give the results.
Eddie and Rey Rey came out next. Eddie drove down one
of his usual low riders with the hydraulics. I was on
the other side of the ring so I didn't quite get a
look to see what it was and I really don't
particularly care for that hip hop stuff(hence the
country station mention earlier). The Bashams came
out and the match got started after a few stare downs.
I was not really into this match too much, but I do
remember a lot of running around and Rey Rey running
like he always does when two guys are chasing him and
Eddie doing his usual cheating by untying the Tag Rope
and sliding it half way down the rope. All in all the
Bashams got DQ'd for using a chair so they retained
their titles. Well Rey Rey and Eddie weren't having
that. They grabbed the belts and danced around and
hugged before the ref too the belts and gave them
back. Oh well it was fun to watch. Eddie then
grabbed a mic and talked to the crowd. He thanked
Anchorage for having them and so on. It was very
cool.
So big Pops for Eddie and Rey Rey and Boos for the
Bashams.
At some point in the night, I think it was after Eddie
and Rey Rey, Coach came out to talk and called down
Maven. Anyway they trash talk about Coach getting his
ASS tossed from the Rumble and Maven not even being in
it. Maven went on to bad mouth Batista to the point
that he came down and cleard the ring of both Coach
and Maven. Maven took a hard spine buster and then
they all left. This eliminated our triple threat
match for the heavyweight title. Any way, I did read
the spoilers for RAW and Smackdown and now understand
why the match got changed. Batista is leaving
Evolution and will either whoop up on HHH or JBL, not
sure of that part yet. Big Pops for Batista and Boos
for the "other guys".
Big Show w/ Joy vs. JBL and Orlando (Minus Amy He He)
I had a sigh with FogHorn on it, but was unable to get
JBL to look at it. I can't say that I was impressed
with this match because It was a usual Show handicap
match where he takes them both on. Having an
advantage and not, trading back ond forth. He did try
to double choke slam them both, but got a low blow.
To tell you the truth, I can't remember who won this
match, but do remember Show and Joy kissing after and
waving to the crowd. She was looking good.
So HBK and Flair had their match with usual entrances.
This was a real good match. Lots of patented knife
edge chops from both. I was very pleased to see that
up close. Usual Flair eye gouge, usual Flair top
turnbucke back drop and usual Flair face plant. There
was a figure four with a reversal, but Michaels got
the win after some SCM. I got some great shots from
that match. At one point in the match, HBK was trying
for a roll up pin by using trunks and Flair was trying
to get away at the same time. Well HBK ended up
pulling down the trunks, almost to the point that
"Space Mountain" would have been open for viewing. I
am glad that didn't happen. It was bad enough to see
Flair in person with his 50-something pectorals
looking like a dog after it had just fed a littre of
puppies. Man that was ugly.
Big Pops for both men and also some Boos for Flair.
I think this is where they brought out Christie and
Maria to shoot out some shirts and do their usual
sponsor stuff. BORING, except for the girls. I
forgot to mention that while getting autographs in the
back, the Divas were taking a picture with a little
boy about 4 or 5. Both girls leaned over the table
and I almost came unglued. Christie was wearing a
dress with the middle part showing cleavage. Anyway,
while she was bent forward taking the picture, she
came about a half a second from having a wardrobe
malfunction and showing puppies. I was about to take
a picture until they sat back down. WOW!!!
Angle and Cena came out usual except Cena didn't rap.
I Had my "Alaska Chain Gang" sign primed and ready.
This was a decent match. Angle locked in the ankle
lock at one point and also hit the Angle Slam. I was
disappointed to have not seen the three suplex's. Cena
hit his usual stuff. Three knuckle shuffle, did the
You can't see me wave and hit the FU. After the match
both men were dazed. Angle left and Cena started to
get up the display the belt(which I don't think is all
that)on the turn buckle, but played the hurt ankle
card from having just received the ankle lock. So he
grabbed the mic and walked around the ring looking at
signs and calling out the Chain Gang. HE said he
needed help and brought in a little boy, about 5 or 6
who had a sign that said "Cena's Frozen Chain Gang".
He told the boy to get up on the ropes and help him
hold up the belt. I was impressed to see that. BIG
BIG Pops. IT was sooooo fun chanting out "You Suck"
when Angle entered. Lots of Boos for him.
Intermission, I think!!
Rumble next with Torrie and BOTY Stacie doing the
intros for their respective brands. I didn't count
but think there were 30 men. Big Show came back out
for it. What was cool about the Rumble was that they
did it old school. All entrants in at the same time.
There was just about everybody else from the locker
room that hadn't wrestled, with the exception of Show
and Orlando. They pulled double duty. What I liked
about this match was that when Hardcore Holly came
out, he was jumping into the ring and I yelled at him
to give me a knife edge chop. He smiled and shook his
head as if to say Yes. I had a basic sign that had a
bull's eye in the middle with the phrase, "How about a
paten'd knife edge chop?" At one point during the
Rumble Holly and Benoit were trading chops on Hassan,
just like they did with Puder at last week's Rumble.
During the chops, I yelled at Holly again and showed
him my poster. He smiled again. Big show them joined
in with the chops and they soon eliminated Hassan.
Hassan's little stooge grabbed the mic and started
yelling at him in Arabic, what I assume was something
about getting eliminated. Who cares. It was fun to
see Hassan get ganged up on.......Again. Soon Chavo
was trading blows with Funaki in the corner near me
and I yelled at him because I made him a sign also. I
had been wanting to make this sign for a long time.
It said, "LOse your ride Chavo?" with a picture of a
stick horse in the middle and the words "Look(arrows
pointing at the horse) I found him. Very classic for
those of you who remember Chavo running a litte loco
during his WCW days. HE stopped for a second to read
it and then responded, "Yeah and I want him Back".
Totally Aewsome. He actually did a double take before
fully reading the sign. I was happy. Soon there
were only five guys from each brand left and it
eventually got down the SHow and the Crippler. HMMM
can we say the 2004 Rumble. It ended the EXACT SAME
WAY. Show tried to hoist up Benoit and toss his, but
Benoit hung on and pulled Show out to gain the win.
Benoit got a half crossface on Show at one point when
those two and Y2J were the only ones left. I had
assumed that Y2J would put on the Walls at the same
time, but didn't. Benoit even hit his Top Rope Diving
Headbutt. Got a great shot of that. After Benoit
won. Show got up and Benoit cautiously watched as
Show reentered the ring. At this point I already know
what was going to happen so I started to clap for both
guys. Show was very respectable and held out his
hand. Benoit shook it and then they both hugged. I
was very close to having a remotely qued tear in my
eye. Show then held up Benoit's hand and everuone
went balistic. Quite an impressive match. Big Pops
for both men at the end.
Next was the cross promotional tag team match between
Heidenrich/Snitsky and Taker/Kane. Totally Cool
watching both Taker and Kane enter to their norm.
Funny though, Snitsky was waiting for John to get to
the ring, John came up and said "my friend Gene".
They got their Boos. Too hillarious!!! Kane then
take came in to the BIGGEST Pops of the night. This
match impress me alos because each time one of them
was thrown into the corner, the ring shook and you
could feel it. It was a usual match. Taker did try
for Old School after a minute, but was yanked off the
turnbuckle. He eventuall hit it along with all of his
normal moves, the flying clothesline and yadda yadda
yadda. At the end of the match the heels had both
faces slammed on the ground and turned their backs on
them. Simutaneously, they did their sit ups. Was
cool. Taker and Kane beat up some more on them to
eventually hit choke slams and then tombstone pile
drivers for the win. I think they even double pinned
them. Kane and Taker then did the brotherly hug and
then Kane did the little kneel toward Taker as he was
standing in the corner. Kane left and Taker did his
kneel with the lights dimming to purple and blue. I
love Taker's lighting. He then left and stopped, like
he always does. He did the look over the shoulder and
turned back to raise him arm. I wish I had been
closer for that shot, but I fired off a picture
anyway. BIG BIG Pops.
Last, but not least was HHH Vs Orton Street Fight.
Can't remember a whole lot of this match, but the both
had their normal entrances, Pops and Boos. If I had
been statding ten feet back from where I was, I would
have caught HHH's water bottle. I Was right there for
his Whale Blow, as I call it. LOL!!! I do have to
say that the title belt looks just like the replicas
that we fan's can purchase through the magazines.
So this is a street fight match. They started off
normal, but soon came over the barrier(which I thought
was about 5 feet too close to the ring) and were in
the crowd, adjacent corner from me so everyone was
standing up and I didn't see what was happening out
there. Orton must have had the advantage because he
threw HHH back in the ring. More normal moves with
HHH hitting his Harley Race high knee, Arn Anderson
spinebuster and his jawbreaker. He even had an
attempted Pedigree, but Orton countered. They did get
back outside the ring where HHH went looking for you
know what, but only found a trash can lid. My buddise
were sitting about thirty rows behind me and said that
the hits sounded like the lid was a turkey pan and not
a trash can lid. Anywas HHH only hit Orton once and
Orton got him three times with it. HHH Also had
trouble tossing the top steps into the ring. He
missed and Orton got him with a shot from it which
busted HHH open. I Was trying to watch and see when
HHH was cutting himself, but didn't catch it.
Eventually this match ended with a Pedigree and Orton
playing the concussion card again. HHH bloodied, left
with the belt and barely able to walk. Orton stayed
in the ring as if he were unconsious. Finally Lilian
and a couple officials came to help Orton. Lilian
bent down and planted a kiss on Orton and he popped up
with his eyes wide open. Lilian said "See, that's all
it took"(or something close to that). Orton then got
up with his music playing, walked around the ring
counter clockwise and giving high fives. This is
where it got good. I had a friend of mine there that
had bought tickets from me. Her seats weren't on the
floor, but she stayed with me almost the whole time.
Well anyway, I was picking up my signs and autographed
porgrams and such. When Orton got over to the railing
near us, my friend was standing right up front. When
Orton got to her, she whispered to him and then he
planted a 15-20 second tonsil hockey lip lock on her.
That didn't surprise me, but I wasn't really expecting
it. Turns out that she had met him about two or three
months ago(I can't remember) in Seattle and got to
drink a beer with him and Batista. She said she also
got a kiss from Orton then.
Well, that's it for me. It was a three and one half
hour show that lasted all day for me. If I had came
home and went directly to bed, I would have been out
the minute I hit the pillow. I was physiclaay drained
of amm my testosterone energy. I have been here
typing for almost two hours so I am going to call it a
night, or day or week or something.
Keep on Keeping on Rajah,
AlaskaCowboy
