WWE evening house show in Poughkeepsie, New York, 5.5.07
Written by Erik Carlson, rajah.com reader
Normally, when you think of Cinqo de Mayo, and you're going to a wrestling show, you
would think to watch lucha libre. Obviously, no such luck here, with WWE filling the
void in lucha's place. Hey, a wrestling show is a wrestling show.
So you know, I went to the show that took place in prime time. I have no idea what
happened at the matinee show. The only matinee I know anything about involved
Spiderman 3.
To start things off, Tony Chimel announced that due to an injury, the Undertaker
would not be there. No surprise on that one. He would announce that as a result,
there would be a six-man tag main event. He also said that refunds would be
available, but at this point, why take it?
William Regal & David Taylor d. Funaki & The Boogeyman
On the fly booking can make for some strange bedfellows in tag team work, that's for
sure. Minus the worms, Boogey was just his usual self... I take that back. He was
frothing quite frequently in there. I caused Taylor to start gagging at one point.
So I started chanting "Rabid Boogey!" Of course, it didn't take. Yeah, they never do
unless it's one that's been done before that the kids, the bulk of the audience like
usual, have heard. Moving on, while that was true, so was everybody else being their
usual selves. Meaning that Regal and Taylor was tearing it up on Funaki for a long
time. Boogey's involvement in the action was minimal, actually. Make your own
comment about that one. The only eventful thing with Boogey was that he busted Regal
open, I think on the lip. AND I think he hard-wayed it. (Meaning it wasn't a planned
juice job.) He was more with the extra curricular stuff. I know I mentioned that
already, but it's for emphasis, as he had Jim Korderas detained when Funaki rolled
Regal into a small package, allowing Taylor to switch the pinning combo to his
favor.
CM Punk d. Marcus Cor Von
Hmm... I would probably call this a "TV quality" match. Both of them worked well
together, and it showed. That's why I say that. I wouldn't call it a standout match.
Just a solid one. Punk would get the win with the knee strike out of the Fireman's
Carry. Barely, too; there wasn't a clear cut advantage for anyone until then. He
came out of it favoring his lower back. Likely just selling it, not a real injury.
Jimmy Wang Yang d. Mike Mizanin
This one was alright, too. I was more focused on cutting into Miz. Calling him a
rooster, crowing like one to further that exploitation, shouting that reality TV
sucks (which isn't far from my true feelings, anyway), anything I could think of. I
will hand it to him, though: he knows how to be aggressive. Yang's kicks ekpt him
alive, and I think it was a spinning heel kick that ultimately put this in the
books. After the bell, Mark Henry was there putting a hurting on both of them. Yeah,
big whoop. Never been impressed with stuff like that.
Extreme Rules: Rob Van Dam d. Elijah Burke
Ah, kids. In this environment, all they know to chant is "We want tables." If they
really wanted tables, they should have been to the Northeast Wrestling show in
Newburgh last week. The Dudleys answered the call. Here, to counter the chant, I
shouted "I WANT A CHAIR!"... In hindsight, I feel like Terry Funk. lol Burke made
the move for it first. Erik 1, area elementary school kids 0. The use of it was just
in the usual manner, nothing flashy. Between that and the floor work... let's just
say that they could have done more to show off the stip. It was like a regular match
otherwise, and a good one at that, to be honest. I say that also because they used
the chair, and how does RVD get the win? With a Northern Lights Suplex with a
bridge. (scratches my head) While I figure that one out, Burke attacked RVD after
the final bell, but RVD got the better of the exchange, emphatically at that with
the Five-Star.
Tag Team Title Match: Deuce & Domino d. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Now, I haven't watched SmackDown (or any wrestling on TV) in the last 2 weeks, so I
had no idea that the titles changed hands. That tossed aside, I went ahead with my
shoutouts. First, to London and Kendrick: "Now, I like you guys, but I miss Ashley!"
And to Deuce, Domino, and Cherry: anything related to Happy Days. "I wanna go to
Inspiration Point with Cherry!" Just before the match ended after I throw out a few
more, a guy sitting near me says, "That's John Travolta right there. From Grease."
Nah, I think of Vinnie Barbarino when I think of Travolta back in the 70s. So...
fast-forwarding to the end, with London nowhere in sight (knocked silly), Kendrick
was on his roll, when Cherry slows it down with a trip. Easy prey then.
Michelle McCool d. Jillian Hall (Special Referee: Kristal Marshall)
During Jillian's intro and posing in the ring, I shouted "Whatever you do, don't
sing!" No sooner that I said that, she was on the mic. Oh, get the hook. Seriously,
this Britney Spears on helium shit has got to stop. Thank God the future Mrs.
Carlson stopped it for all of us. (If JBL can call Michelle the future Mrs.
Leyfield, then I can call her the future Mrs. Carlson.) It was just your usual Divas
match... the usual Divas match for the trained wrestlers, I mean. I don't remember
how Michelle got the pin. I just remember that Jillian got in Kristal's face
afterwards, and she put her DOWN!
Dave Batista, Kane & Chris Benoit d. Ken Kennedy, Finlay & Montell Vontavius Porter
During Kennedy's pre-match mic work, Hornswaggle comes in behind him and plays his
shadow. lol Kennedy (to everybody): "Oh, do you think that was funny?" It was a
LITTLE funny! (No pun intended.) Once the match was on, it was the usual All-Star
sixer stuff. Although Kennedy was often times taking the low road in there and just
waited for Mr. Opportunity to come knocking. (Again, no pun intended.) Hornswaggle
would appear again later, with Benoit putting on the Sharpshooter at that time, even
if it was only for a second. Him getting the tag from Batista in the first place
would lead to a false build to a finish, and that moment lead to things settling
back down. Once back on track for the real finish, Kane was all over Finlay. Things
degenerated to brawls all around, Batista and Kennedy right in front of me, and
Benoit and Porter I'm guessing across on the other side of the floor. I didn't
really notice, I just saw Batista rush back in for everybody on his team to
assassinate Finlay, with Kane getting the final blow (chokeslam) and pin. As the
celebration begins and everybody on both sides start exchanging words, Kennedy
stands up... and is wearing Hownswaggle's hat. lol It's Cinqo de Mayo, not St.
Patrick's Day.
Well, like usual, it was a good show. Sure, only 7 matches, but it only opened
things up on a couple matches to be minus the Taker match.
It still would have been nice to have had a touch of Mexico here. But Rey ain't due
back yet, and Super Crazy had his own show to work. Hey, I'm just happy with what I
was given.
Three Stars
Third Star: CM Punk
Second Star: William Regal & David Taylor
First Star: The Six-Man Tag
E.C.
(Carlson 3:16 Wrestling: www.carlson316wrestling.net
)
