Credit mth, rajah.com reader
April 9, House Show, Grand Rapids, MI.
The matches are as close to in order as I can recall, but probably not spot on.
We had somewhat crummy seats: right by the entrance, so we were right next to the
wrestlers as they came out, but we were pretty much right behind the sound guys’
table, so our view was somewhat obstructed by their table. More on that later, too.
London & Kendrick vs. Noble & Kid Kash
Probably the best match of the night, I thought. Started off slow with a lot of
armdrags and headlock takeovers, with a classic ‘ref doesn’t see the face tag’ spot
that got the crowd hot. There were really no high-spots or high-flying, other than
London doing a pescado to one of the heels on the outside. Other than that, I don’t
even remember any trademark moves, such as the dropsault, being hit. Finish came
when Noble had one of the faces (can’t recall which) up on his shoulders in the
fireman’s carry position, but got dropkicked by the other, and crucifix pinned.
Winners: Kendrick & London.
Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Roadwarrior
Can’t comment, as we decided to leave and get some merch, as neither of us cared for
either guy much. Roadwarrior got the win, though, I heard the announcement.
Jillian vs. Krystal
Nothing overly impressive, lots of snapmares and Krystal did a headscissors.
Krystal got the win by doging a charging shoulder in the corner, and getting the
school-boy with a tights grab.
Winner: Krystal.
Orlando Jordan vs. Tatanka
The crowd was pretty into Tatanka, but to give you an idea of what it was like….the
woman three seats over slept through this match. Lots of headlocks and top-wrist
locks back and forth….OJ left the ring a couple times to stall. Tatanka came back
with the chops, a Samoan Drop, and a Hogan-esque legdrop, and ended up picking up
the win with a swinging uranagi slam.
Winner: Tatanka.
Finlay vs. Matt Hardy
Finlay stalled the match for a good 5 minutes or so, but the crowd was eating it up,
so it worked. Hardy probably got the second or third biggest pop of the night, with
the crowd chanting for him several times during the match. This was where our seats
were annoying, though, as the third sound guy came out, and sat directly in front of
me. So, my friend could see half the ring, and I could see the other. So, I could
see a good portion of the match. Finlay snapped at one point and threw a bunch of
chairs in the ring. He also got Hardy trapped
in the ring apron on a baseball slide and beat him down. Hardy hit the legdrop, I
think the Side Effect (didn’t see, just based on crowd response), and won with a
Twist of Fate, which kind of surprised me (not sure if it was a counter or what,
since I didn’t see it).
Intermission and t-shirt cannon.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Lashley vs. Booker T
Sharmeel out first to introduce her man. Booker then cut a promo about the upcoming
KOTR, and said as a warm up, he’d fight a Grand Rapids guy, Big Stevie Johnson…then
Lashley came out. Booker then told Lashley he wouldn’t want any of him, and
proceeded to list all the titles he’s held, and then reminded Lashley that he hadn’t
held any. Booker then said he’d turn his back and give Lashley 5 seconds to get his
‘black ass’ out of the ring. Lashley didn’t leave, and the match was on. Booker
also called us hicks. Relatively back and forth, with a lot of Sharmell
interference. Finish came when Book was in the corner, Lashley charged, Book went
for the Briscoe roll, but Lashley caught him over his shoulder, and hit a running
powerslam. Post match, Sharmell got in quite an argument with a female fan while
going up the ramp.
Winner: Lashley.
Super Crazy & Funaki vs. Simon Dean & Shannon Moore
When Crazy and Funaki came out, I yelled “Funaki” and double pointed, and he saw me
and waved. Funny, ‘cuz I really only did it jokingly, but it was still kinda cool.
Match was not amazing. Crowd were booing Dean a lot. Moore’s Mohawk got pulled by
the faces a few times. Crazy hit a high crossbody, and a Lionsault, as the two high
spots of the match. Funaki hit his bulldog, as well. Other than that, a lot of the
basic headlocks, armdrags, and takeovers
the rest of the time. Finish was Moore hitting a flip-over neckbreaker off the
second rope on Crazy.
Winners: Dean & Moore
Mark Henry vs. Chris Benoit
Not a bad match, really. Benoit spend a good amount of time chopping, punching, and
kicking Henry to get him down. A cool bit was where Benoit would chop away at Henry
in the corner, but then get shoved off, pop up, and do it again, get shoved down,
pop up and run to do it again and got shoulderblocked. Henry did a nice backbreaker
submission, and then turned and elbow dropped Benoit from it. Eventually, Benoit
was hitting the German suplexes on Henry, when Davairi actually got in the ring, and
got German suplexed himself. Benoit hit the diving headbutt, and was going to
capitalize,
when Davairi hangman’d him on the top rope, and he bounced back into a World’s
Strongest Slam.
Winner: Mark Henry
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
Man, Rey’s rather popular with the kids and girls. Lots of high pitched cheers and
chants for him. Match was decent enough, pretty much what you’d expect from these
two. Lots of “Eddie” chants, and a couple “619” chants, but primarily the
former….starting to get annoying to me, as they really should be chanting for
Rey….it seems like the kids just do it because they think it’s what you’re supposed
to chant for Rey. Also, there were a lot of “Angle Sucks” chants, probably from the
same people who were cheering him two weeks ago when he was still champ. Anyway, a
few good spots, like the
619 caught into an anklelock. There was a 619 followed by a seated senton, that
only got a two, but then an Angleslam was countered into a sunset flip for the 3
count. Post match, Rey went around nad shook hands and hugged almost all the fans
at ring/ramp side.
Winner: Rey Mysterio.
Tony Chimmel and the sound guys in front of us seemed to be bickering a lot, and it
seemed like Chimmel may have been upset, or they were just playing around, I’m not
sure. One of them threw a half-full water bottle at him. It sounded like he was
complaining about having to take the wrestlers’ entrance gear to the back or
something, and he dropped the f-bomb about four times.
All in all, a pretty fun and entertaining show, and the crowd were pretty hot
through out, and into just about every match.
Biggest pop was Mysterio, probably seconded by Hardy, and then maybe Lashley.
Biggest heat went to Finlay, Kash/Noble post-match (I think they were jawing with
the fans), and Henry/Davairi.
