WWE Raw-Brand House Show Results from London, Ontario, Canada 7-8-06
Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Sunday, July 9, 2006 at 12:40 PM EST
- Thanks to Carlo Orlando for sending in the following live report:
Before the first match, Howard "The Fink" Finkel made an all too rare appearance. He jogged to the ring and was considerably out of breath by the time he made his opening remarks. Great to see the Fink live! (Throughout the night he had a HUGE smile on his face and appeared VERY happy to be in London)
Match 1: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch vs Highlanders
Highlanders were HUGE over in London. These guys reminded me of the Bushwhackers of 2006. They emitted an energy that is desperately needed on Raw. Back and forth action with the Highlanders slapping each other's face to make tags. Cade and Murdoch countered with a high/low leg trip/clothesline and various double team maneuvers. Finish came when the Highlanders isolated Murdoch in the ring and hit the old "Dicks" (Tolands) Double Drop Finisher. Highlanders Win!
Match 2: Snitsky vs Rob Conway
Billed as Harry Smith vs Rob Conway, Snitsky came in as a replacement and still carried the energy of the crowd with him. Snitsky hit strong tackles and power moves but nothing super special. End came with a Snitsky big boot on Conway for the 1-2-3. Snitsky Wins and leaves with a great pop.
Match 3: Charlie Haas vs Shelton Benjamin
The World's Greatest Tag Team Explodes right here in London. Right off the bat I will say that this is going to be regarded as either the worst of second worst match of the night and it is SOLELY the fault of the fans in attendance. The wrestlers obviously wanted to slow the match down and create a methodical atmosphere of former friends fighting each other. The fans would have none of it. So after chants of Fight Fight Fight and Boring the wrestlers gave them very little. Opening move was a collar-and-elbow that spilled to the floor and back in the ring before it was broken. The little spark that was in the match was beatiful to watch as both wrestlers clearly had the potential to work a solid aerial match but refused to do so for these ignorant fans. Match came when Benjamin reversed Haas' rollup. Benjamin Wins! (He received a louder pop than Charlie Haas...naturally!)
Next Was The Classroom Session w/ My Teacher Matt Striker
Right off the bat I love this guy. When he was a face I loved him and as a heel I love him. He reminds me of when Chris Benoit was a heel way back when. Anyways. Talks about how he got a call to try out with the London Knights (local Ontario Hockey League hockey team) and that he opted for Peterborough instead (Us being from Windsor LOVED it. Boo's all around. Said that he made the right decision as Peterborough swept London last season. Boo's all around. Out comes HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN. HOOOO's all around. Carries the Canada flag and leads us in a Can-A-Da chant. Striker calls a woman in the crowd a Hooooo and Duggan suckerpunches him. Leaves with a nice reaction.
Intergender Match: Nitro and Melina vs Carlito and Trish.
Melina does the splits from the canvas and Carlito and Trish come out to Huge pops. Back and forth action with Carlito holding Melina and Trish slapping her in the butt. Finish come when Carlito dumps Nitro to the floor and Trish gives Melina the Stratusfaction for the win! Post-Match: Mickie James attacks Trish while Carlito is about to leaves. Mickie backs into Carlito after the attack. He holds her for Trish to exact her revenge. Trish spits apple on the fallen Mickie James.
Intermission
Harry Smith vs Randy Orton
Battle of the second generation superstars. Randy got the better reaction. Finish came when Harry used his dad's old running powerslam from the corner, but Randy countered it and hit the RKO for the pin. Randy Orton Wins! Harry Smith took a bow post-match.
5-on-1 Match: Spirit Squad vs Triple H
Spirit Squad got loudest heat of the night (a fan was dressed exactly like them) and out came HHH. He said that HBK couldn't make it, but he found a replacement to make it a little fairer. So for one night only, live in London Ontario we have the newest member of D-X........
WOOOOOO!
5-on-2 Match: Spirit Squad vs Triple H and Ric Flair
Flair comes out to DX Music and wears the shirt. Struts and Crotch Chops throughout the match. Comedy match at its best with Triple H wanting A G and and A and A Y to spell Spirit Squad. Triple H clothelines 3 Squad members in the corner and they fall one by one. One flat on their back, the other face down in his crotch and the third on top of the second in a homosexual position. Triple H gets on the mike and says "I told You". Funny sppot #2 Flair put the cone/megaphone thing on Mikey and pulls down his pants before chopping the hell out of the remaining four. Finish comes when Flair and HHH dump 3 members of SS over the top before Flair locks Nicky in the Figure Four while HHH pedigrees/pins Mikey. DX Wins!!!
Main Event: Non-Title Street Fight
John Cena vs Edge
Edge came out first with the gold. Significant heat with a few sporadic cheers for being the hometown boy. John Cena came out to a Massive Pop with only a few boos. Cena was definately over in London, so I guess its a Chain Gang Safe Zone. Back and Forth match filled with all the usual spots and some crowd brawling. Ref takes a bump while Cena has the STFU locked in. Lita hold Cena while Edge sets up the spear. Edge hits Lita and turns around into the FU for the 3 count. Cena wins the Streetfight.
All and all it was a great show. Can't wait for the Smackdown/ECW Supershow July 25 in Detroit.
Biggest Pops:
1) Triple H/Flair
2) Highlanders
3) John Cena (VERY SURPRISINGLY)
4) Trish Stratus
5) Randy Orton
Biggest Heat
1) Spirit Squad
2) The Entire Haas/Benjamin Match
3) Matt Strikers Remarks
4) Cade and Murdoch
5) Rob Conway
Top 2 Matches:
1) DX vs Spirit Squad
2) Highlanders vs Murdoch and Cade
Worst 2 Matches:
1) Haas vs Benjamin
2) Snitsky vs Conway
Report sent in by Steve Clark
The John Labbatt Centre was about 1/2 full for the card with the top section
completely curtained off. That kind of suprising, considering that the WWE
hasn't been in London since the day after Summerslam 2004 for a live Raw
Show.
Match #1:
The Highlanders vs. Cade and Murdoch
- The Highlanders received a good pop when they entered, while Cade and
Murdoch were booed generously. A good back and forth match with a fairly
decent "Highlanders" chant during the match at times. The Highlanders won
with their finishing move, though they botched it and one of the Highlanders
looked to have injured himself. Cade and Murdoch are a good team, who
should have never been broken up. Cade is slowly morphing into Bradshaw
when he was an Acolyte.
Winners: The Highlanders
Match #2:
Snitsky vs. Rob Conway
Snitsky received a decent face reaction, suprising considering this was a
man who was part of a baby killing storyline. Conway did not get much of a
reaction at all. This match was pretty standard- lots of punches and kicks
with Snitsky winning after a big boot. Conway continues the WWE's longest
losing streak.
Winner: Snitsky
Match #3:
Charlie Haas vs. Shelton Benjamin
The crowd did not know how to react to this one, as both are technically
heels. At least Haas doesn't have that terrible hair cut that he had when he
was part of the World's Greatest Tag Team. This match was a
dissapointment, considering we were all looking forward to it. They did a
lot amateur wrestling moves, playing off of the background of both
wrestlers, but they did it for far too long. Benjamin won with a roll up in
the end. One cool spot did see Benjamin attempt a sunset flip over the rope
with Haas holding on for dear life.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Matt Stryker comes out to a mild reaction, shaking hands which was also
suprising considering he was a bad guy. Stryker showed that he did his
homework (no pun intended) as spent about five minutes running down London,
including making reference to the Peterborough Petes who swept London this
year in the OHL Finals. He also said that the words "higher education" and
"London" should never be used in the same sentence. This led to an
appearance by Hacksaw Jim Duggan who fashioned a Canadian flag , said
"HOOOOO!" about 20 times, whacked Stryker with the 2 x 4 a couple of times
and left to a good reaction. Stryker is really solid on the mic, and has a
chance to be a decent mid-carder.
Match #4
Nitro/Melina vs. Carlito/Trish
Melina's introduction got a great reaction while the crowd was solidly
behind Carlito and Trish, who got the hometown pop. This was a good match,
especially for Trish who showed off her signature moves, winning with the
Statusfaction. After the match Mickie James ran in and attacked Trish
before running into Carlito who pushed her back in the ring where she got
beaten up and got an apple spit in her face by Trish for her troubles.
Winners: Carlito/TRish
INTERMISSION: A chance for Howard Finkel to plug Unforgiven and the
merchandise.
Match #5
"Legend Killer" Randy Orton vs. Harry Smith
Orton got tons of heat after the crowd popped for his entrence. He got on
the mike and ran down Harry Smith, saying that Davey Boy was a legend, but
Harry did not deserve to be in the same ring. Smith looked good in this
one, but Orton reversed the famed Bulldog Powerslam into an RKO to get the
duke.
Winner: "Legend Killer" Randy Orton
Match #6
DX (HHH and Ric Flair- for one night only!) vs. The Spirit Squad
HHH and Flair got the biggest reaction of the night by far as DX is way over
in London, while the crowd also booed the heck out the Spirit Squad too.
Flair came down with a DX shirt on and then did the most pathetic crotch
chot ever. I was really looking forward to see the legendary Flair in
action and I would have much rather seen Flair come down to his music and
with his robe on. All in attendance were happy as Flair delivered his
trademark strut on two separate occasions. This was a match with a lot of
comedy spots, playing off the "Spirit Squad is gay" theme. One funny spot
was when one of the SS members was lying down in the middle of the ring, one
headbutted him in the family jewels and another member fell behind the other
one to form a rather provocative pose. DX won when HHH hit the pedigree at
the same time as Flair had another SS member in the figure four. Triple H
kept up a running dialogue throughout the match and had everybody laughing.
Winners: DX
Match #7
Edge vs. John Cena (Non-Title Street Fight)
Edge got a dissapointing reaction, considering that he is the champ and he
is Canadian. Cena received his typical mixed reaction, and this theme
continued until the end of the match when the crowd popped huge when he won.
One problem with a Street Fight at a house show is that without big
screens, you can't see what's happening when it spilled out of the ring.
After some Lita inteference two ref bumps, Cena hit the FU for the victory.
This was good solid match that the crowd was definitely into.
Winner: John Cena
Biggest Pop
1. HHH/Flair by far
2. John Cena
3. Trish Stratus
Biggest Heat
1. Spirit Squad- crowd just hated them
2. John Cena- the crowd would alternately boo and cheer him during his match
3. Edge
Overall, not a bad card. One of the friends I was with did not like the
card, but he also spent the whole evening complaining that his new favourite
Umaga did not appear, even though he was billed. Kane was also billed as
fighting Randy Orton, but he was a no show.
*NEW GALLERY* Very COOL and RARE Photos of WWE Stars and Divas OUT PARTYING!
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