WWE Raw house show report
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Madison, Wis. at the Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center
Report by Erik Ernst of Sun Prairie, Wisc., PWTorch.com reader

(1) Super Crazy pinned Charlie Hass. After a bit of back and forth, Hass was thrown from the ring and disappeared under the ring. When he returned, his black trunks were replaced with a bright blue sequined outfit and a blue luchadore mask. A few minutes of offense later, Super Crazy pulled off the mask to reveal a skeleton mask. Once that one was pulled off, Super Crazy distracted Hass with it and took him down for the win.

(2) Val Venis beat D.H. Smith. This seemed like a continued training match with Venis calling the shots and leading Smith to work over his knee for an extended period of time. Venis seemed to want the kid to do well, while still playing the face to Smith' cocky heel role. After a crowd-led comeback, Venis won with the Money Shot.

(3) Mr. Kennedy pinned William Regal. Regal came out and played the classic heel for the live crowd – first forgetting what town he was in, before insulting the Wisconsin fans for being so dumb to live in such a cold climate. Soon, Kennedy arrived after the ring announcer reminded the crowd that he hailed from Green Bay. In a funny spot, he stood mid-ring and looked up for the microphone to come from the ceiling. When it didn't arrive, he looked confused until a stage hand brought the wired mic from ringside and dropped it in his hand from above his head. After verbally winning over the fans by telling Regal off, the match began with the usual back and forth. Regal dominated the match offensively after an early attempt to sell a back injury. In the end, Kennedy came back from behind for a win with the Mic Check.

(4) Triple H & Shawn Michaels defeated Cade & Murdoch. Triple H and HBK came out to the DX gimmick and ran through their catch phrases. After Cade and Murdoch came out, Michaels delayed the match's start by taking pictures with fans at ringside. He took one fan's cell phone to the ring to take a photo of Triple H. Once the match began, both sides traded offense until the classic spot that found Triple H and HBK holding Murdoch's and Cade's trunks as they tried to get away, baring their bottoms for the roaring crowd. In the end, after a hot tag, HBK cleared the ring with two Sweet Chin Musics and Triple H got the win with a Pedigree on Murdoch. After the match, Triple H and HBK posed in the ring and then spent at least ten minutes shaking hands with hundreds of fans surrounding the ring.

INTERMISSION

(5) Beth Phoenix defeated Mickey James to retain the Women's Championship. Mickey played the face to the crowd's delight, but after 10 minutes of back and forth and a number of acrobatic spots, Phoenix won.

(6) Umaga defeated Hardcore Holly. Despite Holly flipping Umaga the bird prior to this match, the crowd didn't know who to cheer in this match, with both wrestlers playing a tweener role. Umaga held the upper hand throughout and won handily.

(7) Randy Orton defeated Chris Jericho to retain the World Hvt. Championship. Earlier in the night, the ring announcer had asked fans to text their choice for main event stipulations. The choices were Best of Three Falls, No Disqualification and Street Fight. Apparently Street Fight won with 80% of the vote. The match started traditionally, but soon, Jericho tossed Orton out of the ring and over the crowd barrier. They battled up the stairs of the arena, with Y2J tossing Orton to the ground and grabbing a fan's camera to take a picture of the fallen heel. After they made their way back to the ring, Orton went under the mat to pull out a trash can. After Y2J was bashed into the can propped in the corner, he bashed Orton with it, busting him open. Then, Orton pulled out some chairs, a cookie sheet and a table. He also brought out the ringside microphone and choked Jericho with the cord. After a reversal, Jericho choked Orton. Orton powered out of the Walls of Jericho and pounded him in the head with the cookie sheet. Then, he tossed Jericho through the table in the corner with a thud. After an RKO, Orton retained the belt. But, after the match, Orton tried to continue beating Jericho with a chair, only to have Jericho block the shot and bash him in the face with the chair. Jericho took the mic and thanked the crowd for coming out and supporting the WWE.

Notes: Overall, this was one of the better house shows I've been to. The crowd was hot throughout, getting into all of the matches, even when they weren't big current storylines. And, the wrestlers seemed to respond favorably to the attention. Triple H and HBK seemed to be having the most fun of everyone and were genuinely gracious after they match, attempting to shake hands or take photos with everyone that ran to ringside – a good showing of camaraderie between the biggest stars in the company and one of their smaller TV markets.

BIGGEST POPS
1. Triple H and HBK
2. Jericho
3. Kennedy

MOST HEEL HEAT
1. Orton
2. William Regal
3. Cade and Murdoch

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