WWE Raw-Brand House Show Results from Reading, PA - 7/17/04
Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Monday, July 19, 2004 at 11:24 AM EST







• Mark Pisco sent in the following report:
  
  I recently attended a great WWE House Show event at the Sovereign Center with three diehard wrestling fans, and we all came away impressed with the whole experience. Even though the attendance was a bit sparse(I would say around 1,000 people were present) the crowd was hot for most of the matches, especially the main event between Chris Benoit and HHH. Of course, who could go wrong from sitting in the second elevated row from the floor with a great view of the wrestlers in the ring itself?
  
  To get the fans pumped up, up the legendary Howard Finkel came out and gave his usual speech which the fans simply ate up. The man could have read from the local telephone book, and the fans would have hung on every word that the "Fink" said.
  
  Anyway, onto the matches:
  
  1) The first match of the night was between Val Venis and Rodney Mack (w/Jazz). Val dominated a good majority of the match, and won with his patented finishing move the "Money Shot."
  
  2) Stevie "Sunday Night Heat" Richards def. Mike Bucci. One of my friends kept flubbing up Bucci's name during the match which was quite funny.
  
  3) The third event of the night was the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles between La Resistance and the team of Rhyno and Tajiri. This was a sound technical match, and if given time, Rhyno and Tajiri could be a good tag team (all they would need is a catchy name). The title stays on the waists of La Resistance.
  
  4) William Regal def. Chuck Palumbo. It seems that Chuck is searching for a new identity, and his ring attire appeared to be something straight out of a biker bar.
  
  5) Tyson Tomko def. Maven. Tyson appears to be getting a little better in the ring, but still is a bit green.
  
  Coach came out and said he got off the phone with Eric Bischoff and said that the final couple of matches would be changed a bit. Instead of a triple threat I-C match, it would be a match between Edge and Batista, a match was set between Y2J and Kane, and the stipulation with Evolution
  being banned from ringside for the title match was lifted. Stacy Keibler came out and eventually the Coach trashed her, leading to a low blow by Stacy which drew big cheers from the crowd.
  
  6) After the intermission, Chris Jericho took Kane and was able to pull out the win.
  
  7) We had a women's match next, and Victoria def. Molly Holly. I think she should lose the wig routine (it has run its course). A good solid short match.
  
  8) The I-C belt was up for grabs between Edge and Batista. I had purchased Edge's new T-shirt earlier in the night, and when he was in the ring he looked over my way and pointed in my direction when he saw the shirt. I am a big Edgehead fan and it is good to see him back in the WWE (it doesn't matter whether he stays face or turns heel).
  
  9) By far, the best event of the night was between Chris Benoit and HHH. Ric Flair accompanied HHH down to ring side, and HHH and Ric Flair drew a lot of heel heat before the match even started. Ric Flair and a man with a long flowing beard yelled back and forth for awhile before the match started, and the Nature Boy even had a verbal spat with a female fan which was quite amusing. She would flash Ric, and the funny thing is he kept encouraging her to do it over and over again. The match went back and forth and these two work well with each other. At one point in the match, it seemed that HHH had won the World Heavyweight
  Title with a three count from the referee (you never see these things happen at house shows), but Benoit had either kicked out or had his shoulder up (I didn't see that part as I was watching the ref's count and not Benoit or HHH) before his hand touched the mat for the third time. A few minutes later, HHH taps out to the Crippler Crossface and
  the fans go crazy for Chris Benoit's win.
  
  All in all a good solid show. Next year if the WWE Raw brand returns to Reading, my friends plan on coming back.
  

  
  

  
  
  

  *NEW GALLERY* Hot Shots of WWE's Other Milena, Milena Roucka! WOW!

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