SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE Raw house show report
February 8, 2003
Fresno, Calif.
Report by Roenn Boney, PWTorch.com correspondent
It was a packed arena littered about with empty seats every here and there in the Fresno Convention Center. I would suppose 90 percent of the place was filled which I guess comes round the 6000ish number.
Fink comes out to GNR and talks about stuff that could get you kicked out of the arena like laser pen usage and what not.
(1) Booker T defeated Christian. Lots of stalling by Christian that typically works for a nice intimate house show setting. Booker T eventually gets the pin after his axe kick. You know how Hurricane gives a kid his mask? Booker T should give a fan one of his dreads, that would be dope!
(2) Sean O’Haire defeated D-Lo Brown. D-Lo said something on the mic about being held down because of his race but it came out all garbled. O’ Haire did get the win with his version of the Outsider Edge which is kind of odd since D-Lo has yet to lose with Teddy Long in his corner but hey, Teddy was not there and house shows don’t count. O’ Haire then grabbed the mic and said something about knowing about D-Lo’s struggles and concluded with his line about not telling him stuff that he already knows. Hopefully if O’Haire does stick to Raw, he does not have to change his name like the Chief had to do.
(3) Jacquelyn defeated Molly Holly. Trish was supposed to be here, I feel robbed. Not really but I do. Anyway, Holly fakes an injury like she does at every other house show and takes a cheap shot which is not enough to gain her a victory. Jackie hits the paywindow up with her Tornado DDT and it’s official: Black people are ahead with two over the white people.
(4) Spike Dudley defeated Rico. Spike beats Rico with that Dudley Dog move after Rico misses a moonsault. I really don’t like Spike. Knowing that he beat the former American Gladiator champion means that technically, he could have won that show which in turn ruins the credibility of the Battledome before it was Battledome. I am sure Gemini rolled around in his grave after hearing such sad news.
(5) Tag Team Champions Lance Storm & William Regal defeated the Dudley Boyz. Morley came out and distracted the ref which enabled Regal to peach clobber D-Von with the brass knux for the victory. The heels set up a table to put the Dudleys through to which Spike (for his second and hopefully his last appearance of the night) runs in for the save. In the end, Morley ends up eating a 3-D through the table. Post match has Bubba hijack some little kid in the audience (who mind you was taller than Spike while being half of half of half his age) and they take a picture over the fallen Steel in the wood. Bubba then gives the kid a piece of the broken table and in all honesty, that was pretty touching.
(6) Ron Van Dam & Kane defeated 3 Minute Warning. This after intermission match ended with RVD hitting the Five Star Frog splash on one of the chunky guys in 3MW. They hit all the spots they needed to do including but not limited to the RVD rolling thunder, the Kane top rope clothesline, and that move where the two Samoan guys hold hands, jiggle their manboobs and drop their flabby elbows on their poor victim. No offense to big people everywhere but I am just pissy that neither Rosie or Jamal attempted their shooting star press. I feel robbed again.
(7) Tommy Dreamer defeated Steven Richards. It is hard to follow RVD who I suppose is from California? Practically no heat in this match but the effort was sort of there. Richards would keep doing his Hitler hand signal to no response in the crowd and just lost out of nowhere to the dreaded Dreamer DDT. Richards then got on the mic to attempt to salvage himself and said he would like to kick all of our asses but he has to go wash Victoria’s laundry or something? Nice touch but it reminds me that again, I was robbed because I did not get to hear that Tatu song. Now that’s some good stuff.
(8) Chris Jericho (w/Christian) defeated Test (w/Stacy Kiebler). Jericho got on the mic and sadly, did not call us Assclowns. Us people in Fresno got to be called Jackasses instead. He then said that he just would not talk then if us, the people in the arena, did not want him to and he actually, did not talk. Is that a face turn? Anyway, after Test hit his pump handle powerslam complete with Road Dogg Doggy style mannerisms, Jericho hit a low blow on Test followed by the Flashback Sleeperhold drop thing. Now honestly, Jericho marauders Kiebler with a chair and Test still can’t muster enough anger to beat him? The boy can’t act sad or mad but he was holding his ‘fans’ for a bit of long-term selling. I would imagine Test was doing this because of the low blow Jericho delivered and NOT because he ANALyzed him during the Pumphandle slam.
(9) Scott Steiner defeated Batista (w/Ric Flair, Triple H). Flair and Triple H come out and made fun of fat people. Triple H then said he was injured and that he could not wrestle Steiner which elicited boos. In a very classic moment, Triple H insults some of the local Latino community at ringside by saying he was going to call INS to get them brought back to their country and right after that, Steiner’s music hits. Yes, Steiner’s music! The one with the sirens and junk! Well, tons of people just start rushing the exits because I suppose either they were that scared of Steiner wrestling or they really thought Triple H did call INS. I guess it is just one of those things that you just have to be there to understand. Steiner talks, Batista shows up with an attack from behind, and they apparently have a match. Booker runs out near the end to beat down Triple H and Flair to the back. Steiner then gets a pin over Batista with a powerbomb and no, sorry folks, Batista’s tights do not go down and reveal his red panties like a certain someone a couple weeks ago. Steiner calls us freaks and we are forced to hollER if we hear him. Everyone that remained “hollered” and that ended the somewhat decent show.
Biggest Babyface Pops: (1) RVD, (2) Booker T, (3) Dudleys.
Most Heel Heat: (1) Triple H, (2) Jericho, (3) Rico.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS 15 YRS AGO FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – 2/5 Ohio Valley Wrestling TV Taping Report: Rhyno, Orlando Jordan, Matt Morgan, Basham, Dinsmore (Eugene)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.