WWF House Show
Posted: 05/11/02
No Movers and Shakers this week for 2 reasons: 1) I'm really pressed for
time, and 2) it was a very slooooow week. So here's a report on a house show I
went to a week ago.
WWF House Show
When: 5/5/02
Where: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA
I'm just going to say WWF here, because that's what the show was. The tickets
said "Federation" the announcers said "Federation" all
night, and the ring apron still had the WWF logo on it. I guess you could
consider this the final WWF show ever.
The last WWF show I went to was also a house show at the Centrum back on 9/1/01.
And boy, doesn't that feel like a lifetime ago?
I went with a co-worker, who's an ardent Hulkamaniac. We were trading quips all
night long (When we passed by the medical station, we saw someone getting a
wheelchair ready. "That's so Hogan can get to the ring," I state.)
Real small crowd tonight. The guy who sent in the Torch report said about 2,000,
but it looked more like around 3,500 to me (I am, for the record, a terrible
estimator). Either way, that's not good.
We started off with some local DJ's arm wrestling. You likely care less than I
did.
1. Tajiri [c] vs. Billy Kidman (WWF Cruiserweight Title): No
Torrie with Tajiri tonight. I guess you can only work one segment at a house
show (more on that in a bit). This was a good little match-I think I liked it
more than the Backlash one. Tajiri spends most of the match working over the
arm, which Kidman sells quite nicely. Tajiri did the Silver King "stand on
the apron and jump to the perpendicular second rope" moonsault, which I
don't remember him ever doing. Tajiri tries a powerbomb, but of course, you
cannot powerbomb Billy Kidman. Kidman goes for the Shooting Star Press (I'm
assuming), but gets knocked off the top. Tajiri eventually hits the Big Kick for
the win. I wish Tajiri's working the arm came into play for the finish, but hey,
it's a house show.
2. Hardcore Holly vs. Randy Orton: Holly gets a pretty good pop, I
guess because of Tough Enough 2. Orton got a sizable reaction too, although the
crowd was quiet for most of the contest. Match was mostly Holly beating the Pop
Tarts outta young Orton, before the youngster manages to reverse a suplex into a
small package for the surprising win. Match wasn't great, but the crowd popped
big for the upset.
3. Lance Storm/Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Hurricane/Funaki: Funaki
came out with Hurricane facepaint, so it looks like he may be playing Cato to
the Hurricane's Green Hornet. With Taka gone he needs something to do, and with
so few tag teams in the WWE, why not? This was a darn fine match, as you'd
expect. End sees a big pier six break out. Funaki goes for a tornado DDT but
Storm escapes it and hits a superkick for the win.
4. D-Von vs. Tazz: D-Von gets on the mic and calls us all sinners
and losers. It was like that time in ECW where he called the crowd "inbred
pieces of shit" only without the dirty words. Hey, would this count as
going to church? It was a Sunday, after all. D-Von got the "What"
treatment. I joined in-I'm so ashamed. Anyway, D-Von rags on the Celtics (who
lost a playoff game earlier in the day) for some cheap heat. I wonder if he was
watching the game that day and hoping the C's would lose so he'd have something
to talk about. I dunno. Anyway, Tazz comes out and they have a match. Tazz hits
some nice suplexes and gets the Tazmission for the tapout in a mercifully short
match.
5. Albert/Godfather vs. Mark Henry/Hugh Morrus: UGH. My co-worker
hadn't actually seen Albert's new look yet and was suitably horrified. Henry was
actually somewhat over, at least compared to the other three. I remember very
little about this match-it was your basic "big guys run into each
other" encounter. When Albert and Henry were tagged in, they had a big
staredown, like it was some clash of the titans. I don't think anyone really
bought it. Anyway, Henry hits a standing powerslam on Albert for the pin. Seemed
like a weird finish, since Albert's been getting something of a mini-push and
the Godfather was right there. Oh well. Henry looked like he needed an Oxygen
tank afterwards.
A few rows down some kid in a Kane mask starts fake fighting a kid in a
Hulkamania shirt. The kid in the Kane mask threw better punches than anyone in
the preceding match.
6. Edge vs. Kurt Angle (No-DQ match): I chant "You Suck"
during Angle's theme, even though he rules. It's that mob mentality, I tells ya.
No mic work from either guy, sadly. Anyway, this was the best match of the night
with ease-not as great as the Backlash match but still quite good. It was no DQ,
but that didn't come into play until the end. Angle hits the Angle Slam but Edge
kicks out at 2. Then Kurt gets on the Ankle Lock but Edge manages to escape.
They trade near falls until Angle grabs a chair and whacks Edge with it. Another
Angle Slam seals the deal. The three times I've seen Kurt he's had the best
matches on the show (and he's 3-0, too).
Long intermission follows-like 22 minutes.
6a. Torrie vs. Stacy vs. Ivory (Smackdown Swimsuit
Challenge): I was at the concession stand getting a Hurricane T-shirt so I
missed the first part of this. Apparently Ivory got on the mic, called the crowd
perverts, and refused to take off her robe. I guess Torrie and Stacy did that
for her, and she scampered off to the back. I came back in time to see Torrie
and Stacy do their thing. Torrie gets the most applause and is declared the
winner. Stacy attacks, but Torrie soon makes a comeback and lays in a spanking.
This was what it was.
7. Billy and Chuck [c] (with Rico) vs. Al Snow &
Maven: Yoooooooooouuuu loooooook sooooooo…good to me. Man, it was great
hearing that live. Anyway, this was a surprisingly solid match. Billy and Chuck
have become, like, my fourth favorite tag team on the planet.. Al Snow played
face in peril, which was a smart move. B+C play all the old school dirty
tricks-distracting the ref before the hot tag, pulling Snow back to the middle
of the ring just as he's about to tag, those sorts of thing. Finally Al does get
the tag and Maven comes in and executes all his spots (the leg lariat, the top
rope cross body). End sees Rico trying to interfere but Maven fights him off,
only to walk into a Jungle Kick from Chuck for the pin. I get to hear B+C's
music again! Al and Maven tease a split but opt to hug. Al chases Tony Chimel
around the ring for some reason.
8. Test vs. Rikishi: My co-worker heads off to the merchandise
stand, which wasn't a bad idea, all in all. I honestly don't remember anything
about this match besides the finish. Rikishi goes for the Banzai Drop, but
Christian runs out and knocks him off the ropes. Test hits the big boot for the
win. Christian and Test celebrate like Test just won the world title until
Rikishi attacks them both. Christian takes a Stink Face while Test just takes
off. Christian throws a mini-tantrum while Rikishi dances for us all. My
co-worker comes back with two Hulkamania shirts. I shake my head.
9. Hulk Hogan [c] vs. Chris Jericho (Undisputed Title Match):
Crowd was WAY into Hogan, chanting his name before Chimel even did the intros.
Jericho comes out and does some mic work, telling the crowd he hates each and
every one of us (I'm sure he didn't mean me). Hogan goes to the front row and
tells some little kid to watch his back. And sure enough, when Jericho slides
outside the ring, the kid slaps him. I think Chris should have potatoed the kid
back, but maybe that wasn't a good idea. Anyway, I'm told this was a lot like
their Smackdown match (which I didn't watch). Lots of stalling, posing, and
taunting. It was a little sad watching Hogan, especially when he took a DDT by
landing on his knees. Anyway, the ref gets bumped and Jericho wallops Hogan with
a chair. Ref #2 comes out and counts but only gets to 2 before Hogan kicks out.
Pretty soon it's Hulk Up, 3 punches, Big Boot, Legdrop, how the hell am I seeing
this in 2002, 1-2-3. Hogan poses for 8 hours afterward.
Afterwards, I think about buying an nWo shirt, but change my mind. Good thing
too, because I'm sure they'll be marked 80% at the Shopzone soon.
Wrestlers I saw tonight for the first time live: Kidman, Tajiri, Holly, Orton,
Chavo, Mark Henry, Hugh Morrus, Billy, Chuck, Rico, Maven, and Hulk Hogan.
Anyway, this was an okay show. They seemed to lump all the crappy workers
together whenever possible. I still can't believe I saw Hogan defend the WWF
title as a babyface using the Hulk up…in 2002.
Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net