By: Yarrik, rajah.com. reader
Begining of the show, the lights went dim, and focused on the ring, with
Tony Chimmel coming out to the SD! Music. He shilled RAW and SmackDown! TV,
and the Mania 21 PPV, thanked the crowd for coming, and then announced the
first match.
US Championship: John Cena © vs Orlando Jordan
First up was John Cena vs Orlando Jordan for the US title. This Curtain
Jerker was actually entertaining, with Cena coming out to a HUGE pop, with a
MASSIVE 'Cena' chant, before cutting a promo that was above his usual
average, before OJ came out to a lot of heat. OJ seemed to be throwing a
hand signal that's supposed to equate to the Cabinet's sign. It's not a DX
Sign, but he got decent heat for it. Cena then grabbed the mic again and got
the crowd to chant 'You Suck' at OJ, which I went along with just for the
hell of it. I might as well enjoy a moment of Markdom, which I hadn't really
felt in a long time.
There was a bit of in match entertainment at the begining, with OJ flinching
from Cena to avoid getting hit, to which Cena began mocking. The match
overall was pretty solid. Much better than any of Cena's TV matches against
OJ, which makes me wonder why their TV matches weren't that good. The match
ended via pin after an F-U, followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle, which WWE
seems trying to get over as a Legit Finisher, and it worked for the live
crowd at least.
John Cena beat Orlando Jordan via pinfall.
Booker T vs Heidenreich
I sat through Heidenreich's entrance (Annoyed Heat), because I could not
bear to miss out on Booker's intro (Good Pop). I then ran to the gift stand
to see if I could by a Disposeable Camera for a low price. I couldn't. So I
headed back down to my seat. Now while I can't say I'm a good judge of
Workrate, I can say that I wanted the match to end quickly. It didn't.
The match (and the pain) eventually ended right when Heidenreich tugged the
ref into the path of a Book Kick to the face. There was confusion amongst
the crowd, which I'm sure was supposed to be there, as everyone thought for
a minute that Booker got DQed, before Chimmel announced that he had won.
Heidey proceeded to attack Book, but got hit by the Scissors Kick, which
Booker followed up with a Spinneroonie.
I really felt sorry for Booker. He went through the paces, trying to pull a
good match out of the pile of flesh and bone in front of him. It wasn't all
that pretty, but Booker was as over as usual.
Booker T beat Heidenreich via DQ
Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas vs Joey Mathews and Johnny f'n NITRO w/Mileena
That's right folks, Johnny Nitro was IN THE HOUSE. Mathews and Nitro were
wearing matching attire and had similar hair coloration, and jackets that
remind me of Edge's jacket, which leads me to think that they'll be showing
up on SmackDown! to spice up the Tag Division at some point. Oh, and
Mileena's damn hot. Their
entrance didn't get much of a reaction because nobody seemed to know who the
hell they were. That would change later, because they had a heel vibe going.
Next came Charlie and Holly to Holly's music, which made me sad because I
wanted to hear some WGTT Theme Music. Something that made me more sad was
the fact that Holly was more over in Columbus than Charlie was. I tried to
get some 'Charlie' chants going, but to no avail. I'm just not good at
starting chants it seems. Pre-Match antics included Mileena giving Nitro and
Mathews some kisses, and Holly seemed to be complaining about it, so she
goes over to him, only to recieve The Finger from the guy. I was hoping she
would try for Charlie next.
The match was pretty solid, with Haas and Holly being dominant for a while
at the start, before Haas was tripped up, and moentum switched around. Haas
was pretty much the sacrificial lamb in this match, with Nitro and Mathews
getting over well as heels. Haas eventually got the Hot Tag in, and Holly
pretty much took over from there, ending the match with a pin after the
Alabama Slam. Why Holly is more over than Haas, God only knows.
Haas & Holly beat Matthews & Nitro vs Pinfall
Best Body Contest: Miss Jackie vs Dawn Marie, w/MC Scotty 2 Hotty
I officially have reason to believe that Scotty's has been misused for a
long, long time. He's not just a guilty pleasure wrestler for me. He's over,
and everyone knows it because he came out to a big pop. He just needs a
better finisher, which doesn't mean he can't keep the Worm. He proceeded to
introduce Miss Jackie first, who came out in a black robe, and was wearing
white stockings. She was looking hot. Then Dawn Marie was introed, and I
must say that she was looking HOTTER, in a silvery robe and black stockings.
Jackie started off the contest, by disrobing and revealing white Bra and
Panties comboed with a red sheer nightie thing which she had Scotty pull off
of her. She did her rope flippie poses, and looked hot while doing so. Got a
very good pop. However, she is massively outdone by Dawn Marie, who takes
off her robe at her turn, to reveal a tiny silvery bra, and a TINY thong,
and I believe it could be described by someone on the Tory, who said, and I
quote 'You could lick the lint from that ass'.
While I believe Dawn had it won, because she was MUCH MUCH hotter than
Jackie in this case, WWE decided to let the Face win as usual. A catfight
ensued, which resulted in Jackie hitting Dawn with a bulldog, and getting
Scotty doing the W-O-R-M to SLAP Dawn's ass. Regardless of what we'd
normally say about T&A segments, the fans were TRULY the winners here.
Winner: Miss Jackie
Tag Team Championship: Eddie Guerrero © & Rey Mysterio © vs The Basham Bros.
Bashams come out first to great heat, doing their S.O.D. pointing. I do have
reason to believe that there's an underlying message to that, but I won't
discuss it at this time. Rey's music then hits, going on for the first
several seconds up to the point where Rey would leaps out of the Ramp, at
which point Eddie's music splices in, and gets a MASSIVE pop as Eddie and
Rey ride in on a SWEET blue Low-Rider. They didn't to much in the Hydrolics
department, but that doesn't matter, as they were soon in the ring, posing
at the corners. Huge 'Eddie' chants, followed by '619' when prompted by
Eddie.
Very good match. Rey was the sacrificial lamb of the match, constantly
getting beat down by the Bashams while trying to reach Eddie for a tag.
There was a bit of fun Eddie antics with Eddie moving the tag rop to the
middle of the ring, but the ref caught it of course, delaying the hot tag,
which came in the form of Rey rolling over, under and arond the Bashams
before tagging Eddie. He then cleaned house, and grabbed a Basham to do the
Triple Verticals, and then gets caught up by the ref, allowing the Bashams
do a switch on Eddie, and roll him up and get a 2.999 before Eddie got his
legs on the ropes. The Basham's think they have it won, trying to get the
ref to raise their hands, only for Hebner to tug his hands down and tell
them that match is still on. While they're distracted, Eddie tossed Rey, who
does a double dropkick to the Bashams, setting them both for the 619, which
is followed by a Frog Splash from Eddie for the pin.
Eddie & Rey beat the Bashams via Pinfall
Chimmel then introduces Teddy Long, who pretty much got the crowd cheering
for him about how he's still GM of SmackDown, and thanking the fans for
their support. The promo got followed by the T-Shirt gun-man, and some
Chimmel antics because he's trying to steal a shirt. This is followed by
intermission.
WWE Championship: John Bradshaw Layfield © vs The Big Show
JBL is awesome on the mic. He really is. It's much better live than on TV.
He came out in the Limo, which is awesome, was accompanied by OJ to the
ring, which helped the promo out a bit during the begining. They both got so
much heat that it wasn't funny.
"I'm so glad to be here in Clevela-" Cut off by OJ, who tells him he's in
Columbus, "Columbus? Am I supposed to be here tonight? Does my contract say
that I have to be here tonight? NOBODY wants to be in Columbus. Maurice
Clarette doesn't even want to be here!" This is pretty much the begining of
the promo, and the Clarette comment is something I consider a massive BURN,
even as I sat there in my Michigan sweatshirt. His promo pretty much
insulted the Columbus Football team, then he went on to talk about being the
longest reigning champ in the last Decade, longer than Steve Austin, The
Rock, The Undertaker, Triple H, and so on. Proclaimed himself to be a
wrestling god. Then started saying how he was gonna beat the Big Show
tonight, and then Cena at Mania.
Big Show comes out to a big pop, and JBL flees for a bit, and heads over to
Chimmel, and who asks the crowd to be quiet, on behalf of JBL, in order for
JBL to disrobe. Massive heat, followed by myself joking that my eyes were
melting. There was much in ring comedy on JBL's part for the begining of the
match, with Show pretty much owning him until the Bashams and OJ causing the
match to end in a DQ, and Orlando recieving a chokeslam for his trouble.
Cena then came out, and chased JBL back into the ring, who gets
Chokeslammed, then F-Ued, followed by a Five Knuckle Shuffle while Cena's
wearing Bradshaw's hat. Fun stuff all around, but it's not a workrate
classic.
Big Show beat JBL via DQ
Cruiserweight Championship 4-Way Elimination match: Funaki vs Paul London vs
Spike Dudley vs Chavo Guerrero ©
This was a great match which went on for about 15-20 minutes. Funaki came
out first to a decent pop, followed by Paul London with less of a pop, then
Spike Dudley to good heat, and finally Chavito who seems to have stolen the
pop that London should have had. Funaki and London pretty much team up
against Spike and Chavo for the most part, until Spike eliminated Funaki
(which seems to be a growing pattern).
Spike and Chavo double team on London, until London managed to pin Spike,
leaving it one on one for the last 10 minutes between Chavo and London. I
can't even begin to describe the greatness of Chavo and London together,
because it was too good. Chavo did undo the padding on the top turnbuckle on
one of the corners, but wasn't able to use it for a few minutes, when he
managed to smash London's face against it, and got the pin after that.
I love me Cruiserweight some goodness, and Chavo vs London at Mania seems to
be a LOCK. Despite the lack of reaction for London's entrance, he did get a
good reaction as the match went on, espescially when it came down to himself
and Chavo.
Chavo Guerrero eliminated London last, via pinfall
Mark Jindrak vs René Duprée
There's only one reason this match was booked, and that's because WWE wants
to turn Jindrak into a Face. Duprée came out to his usual 'I'm a French Man,
Boo Me!' Reaction, which pretty much allowed Mark Jindrak to come out to a
Face reaction by default. It should be said thar Mark does indeed have his
own music, which wasn't too bad.
The match started as a match normally would, with 'USA' chants directed at
René and Tweener indifference directed at Jindrak. It was going fine, with
moves and counter-moves, until all of the sudden Luther Reigns runs out and
attacks Jindrak, pretty much an extension of their team Breakup, and also
pushing Jindrak into the realms of Facedom. A chair was about to be brought
in for use, until Teddy Long's music hits, by which point, I knew EXACTLY
what was going to happen next before Teddy said a word. The match was about
to be turned into a tag match, and there was only one man who would
logically be Jindrak's tag partner...
Luther Reigns & René Duprée vs Mark Jindrak & The Undertaker
To be fair, I completely understand why Taker gets that HUGE reaction of
his, seeing as the last time I saw this man live was a good 7 years ago.
That doesn't (however) justify the fact that his entrance took a good two
minutes before he was actually in the ring and not wearing his coat and hat.
As annoyed as I was though, he actually added to the match, which is
different from what's usually seen on TV.
Psychologically speaking, the match was good, since Taker would dominate
whenever he was in the ring, Dupree and Reigns pretty much waited until they
could get Jindrak isolated, and thus tear him apart. After a while of
pounding on him, the Heels targeted Jindrak's arm (which he had hurt at some
point), locking him in armbars constantly. It got to a point that the crowd
was itching to have Taker in the ring, especially after so many near-tags.
Eventually Jindrak managed to hit Dupree with a High Risk move which
signalled the impending Hot Tag, and the crowd blew off the roof when he
finally tagged Taker in. Taker then cleaned house, which led to a point
where Jindrak sent Reigns out of the ring, and Taker hit the Tombstone
Piledriver for the pin.
There was a bit of an after match celebration with Taker and Jindrak, with
Jindrak doing his gyration pose, while selling the pain from his arm. The
Taker's character seems to be turning human again as well. It was a Solid
match all around.
Undertaker & Jindrak beat Reigns and Dupree via pinfall.
As it turns out, this was the main event, so I left the builing and got to
the back of the Nationwide Arena, to see if I could spot wrestlers leaving,
but I gave up after a while. I was tempted to follow them to the airport,
but decided against it.
The show gets an 8 from me, pretty much because it was an all wrestling
show.
Biggest Pops:
1. John Cena
2. The Undertaker
3. Eddie & Rey
4. The Big Show
5. Booker T/Scotty 2 Hotty (tie)
Most Heat:
1. JBL
2. Luther Reigns
3. Orlando Jordan
4. Basham Bros
5. Chavo Guerrero/Rene Dupree (tie)
House Show Results - February 27, 2005 - Columbus, Ohio - Nationwide Arena
By: Brandon Tolle, rajah.com reader
The draw was nice. the entire lower level was sold besides a couple spots in the corners. My seats were 4th row off the floor which were nice seats.
Tony Chimel came out and got the crowd warmed up and we were off..
1. United States Title Match: John Cena vs Orlando Jordan: This was a great match. good job by both men. John Cena wins and retains with the FU. he than says some words about JBL and WrestleMania 21.
2. Booker T vs Heidenreich: I think Heidenreich is crazy. This match was much better than the one at No Way Out. as i was at both events. Booket T wins via DQ when he put the referee in front of him to stop him from beig scissored kicked by Booker.
3. Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly vs Joey Matthews and Johnny Nitro w/Melina: I was very impressed by Matthews, Nitro and Melina. They have been working hard and they are good together. In the beginning Melina tries to persuade Holly and he flipps Melina off !!!! Hardcore Holly and Charlie Hass pick up the victory when Holly uses the Alabama Slam on Johnny Nitro
4. Smackdown Best Diva Contest - Miss Jackie vs Dawn Marie - this was the eye candy portion of the show for al the men in the audience. Scotty 2 Hotty was the MC. Jackie was wearing a nice white lace bran/panties/garter set and she had scotty help her remove some fo her clothes. Dawn Marie then takes her robe off and she was wearing a very thin thong and bra. She then procedes to tell Tony Chimel to lay down on the mat, and she does a dance righ over him.. WOW.. Tony just laid there for a minute or so.. It was awesome. Jackie wins and then they get into a small catfight with Dawn slapping Scotty and then getting the worm from Scotty.
5. WWE Tag Team Championship Match - Rey/Eddie vs Basham Brothers: This Match was good. eddie doing his usual cheat with the tag rope and such. One thing that wasnt supposed to happen was during the match, Doug was trying to take off Rey's mask and his mask actually came off. they had to do a small shmoz for a minute or two for Rey to try and get his mask back on. The crowd was in shock as not many people took pictures.. i didnt either. It was a big fluke that shoyuld have NEVER happened. Rey and Eddie Retain off of the Double 619 and the Frog Splash.
6. Theordore Long comes out to talk a little and the T-Shirt guy come out and shoots off t-shirts.
INTERMISSION'
7. WWE Championship - JBL: vs Big Show: I was suprised that this came right after intermission. JBL comes out in a limosine and talks trash about Ohio State Football and how hes gonna jump all over Big Show until pizza come flying out of his lizard mouth like Mt. St. Helens!!! Big Show them comes out and we being. Good Match. Big Show wins by DQ interfearance by the Bashams, then Cena come out and cleans house. He then takes JBL's white stetson hat, puts it on and procedes to do a 5 Nuckle Shuffle on JBL after he got chokeslammed by Big Show. Cena is getting hotter by the day leading into WrestleMania
8. 4- Way Elimaination Match for Cruiserweight Title - Funaki/Spike/Chavo/London: I was very diappointed in this match. First off funaki was eliminated, then Spike and then just like at No Way Out. London and Chavo did there thing. London is going for a Ultimate Warrior rip-off I think. chavo wins with a handful of tights. I hope London gets the strap @ WrestleMana. he is looking good.
9. Luther Reigns/Rene Dupree vs Undertaker/Mark Jindrak - I guess they are seeing if Jindrak can make it as a face, because he sure acted like it. This was suppodes to be 2 singles matches and it started off as Rene vs Jindrak, but after interfearance by Luther, Teddy Long came out and said that since they worked together as a tag team, we were gonna get a tag match, he announces the undertaker and he comes out to Biggest pop of the night. It was a good long match. I am getting mroe and mroe disappointed in Luther by the day. He is looking sloppier every match and showed it tonight. Jindrak went very well over as a face.. One thing to mention, Rene had a big black eye, his right eye was swelled up nice and he had a decent shiner.. dont know what for but he had it. read into that what you want to. Taker and Jindrak win with tombstone by Taker onto Rene.
Overall a good show, good turnout, good crowd.. good all around
BEST POPS
1. Undertaker
2. Cena
3. Big Show
4. Rey/Eddie
5. Teddy Long
BEST HEAT
1. JBL - He Earned These
2. Rene/Luther
3. Bashams
4. Hiedenreich
5. Orlando Jordan
By: Eddy Cornelison, rajah.com reader
Well I got back from the house show a little while ago
so I figured I would send in a report.
The top rows were all taped off but the lower bowl was
probably 75-80% full so I would think WWE was happy
with the turnout. The crowd was pretty hot all night
except during the cruiserweight and first tag match.
Heres what happened in the matches.
Cena d. Orlando Jordan. Cena was over really big and
won with the FU.
Booker T d. Heidenreich. Heidenreich lost via DQ when
he pulled the ref in front of Booker's kick.
Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly d. Joey Matthews and
Johnny Nitro via Alabama Slam.
Scotty 2 Hotty came out to host the diva contest.
Jackie beat Dawn. Afterwards Dawn was upset so Jackie
gave her a bulldog then Scotty gave her a worm.
Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio d. The Basham Brothers
via 619 and frogsplash. Pretty good match here.
Teddy Long came out and thanked everyone for coming
out and then some guy shot out some shirts into the
crowd.
Big Show d. JBL via DQ when the Basham Brothers came
in. JBL did some mike work before the match trashing
Columbus. Match was allright but pretty short.
Afterwards Cena came out. He and Show beat up JBL and
his staff then Cena took Bradshaw's hat.
Chavo d. Funaki, Spike and Paul London. It was
elimination style and it came down to Chavo and
London. Chavo dropped London on an unexposed
turnbuckle and rolled him up with tights for 3. After
the match London put on his fur coat and chased after
Chavo.
Rene Dupree and Mark Jindrak started to have a match
but Luther Reigns came in and attacked Jindrak. Teddy
Long came out and said thats not what these people
want to see. So he made Reigns and Dupree team up to
take on Jindrak and Undertaker. Oddly enough the two
makeshift tag teams pulled off a really well worked
tag match. Jindrak nearly tagged Taker three times
until Reigns broke it up. It was a really good old
school style tag match that the fans were into from
start to finish. Undertaker hit a tombstone on Dupree
for the win.
Overall a fun show. The crowd was into most of the
show which made it really enjoyable. Hope to see them
back in Columbus soon.
Biggest pops in no order
1. Cena
2. Undertaker
3. Guerreo and Mysterio
4. Booker T
5. Big Show
Biggest heat in no order
1. JBL
2. Rene Dupree
3. Orlando Jordan
4. Basham Brothers
5. Luther Reigns
