First and foremost hello all and God bless you and this country in this time
of need. The day my column was put out (Breaking The Walls Down) the tragedy
of the terrorists attacks happened. However, I wrote that column the day
before and submitted it to Calvin Tuesday early morning. So, I apologize to
those of you that may have been offended by me not paying respects in my
column. I certainly would have, had the events happened before I submitted
my column. Anyway, onto the results.

This was the first house show for Reading, Pennsylvania, and man was it
GREAT! I was actually very, very surprised at how well the wrestlers
performed, but first and foremost, the security at the stadium. There was
none. The event was held at The Sovereign Center and there was no metal
detectors, no frisking at the door, no nothing but a ton of police and
security guards. That's all fine and good, but I thought there was going to
be at least a metal detector check point.

As for the crowd in attendance, they were hot. I can't say enough about how
good the crowd was for the event. I certainly hope the WWF took notice of
this. The crowd was into every single match and you could tell the wrestlers
were feeding off of that. I was surprised to see how great the wrestlers
performed, especially considering that the PPV is the next night in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and that's a good five to six hour drive.

The Undertaker, Ivory and Faarooq could not make it to the show tonight due
to travel difficulties. The matches were adjusted and I will note them
below. The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Booker T were not
at the show, and I can only guess that Vince McMahon was saving his four
main-eventers for the PPV tomorrow night.

The only thing of note was that the sound system was distorted. It was hard
to understand sometimes what was being said.

Anyway, onto the matches.

First Match: Raven with Terri vs. Perry Saturn
This was a typical but good match between the two. The crowd was solidly
behind Saturn, although Raven got a good pop when he came to the ring. There
were several moppy chants throughout the match. Raven wins the match with
"The Raven Effect" DDT. Terri was responsible for distracting the ref. when
Saturn hit the spinning Fisherman Suplex, which lead to Raven hitting the
DDT. After the match, Saturn spanked Terri.
Winner: Raven by pinfall via The Raven Effect


Second Match: Kanyon vs. Test
This was supposed to be Test and Kanyon vs. The APA, but with Faarooq having
travel problems, Kanyon and Test wanted to be declared the winners. Test did
his stuff on the mic and then Kanyon got the mic. Kanyon kept saying that
nobody was better than Kanyon and Test eventually took exception to that.
They started pushing and slapping each other and this lead to a match.
During the match, there were two spots of Test leaving the ring because he
beat the crap out of Kanyon and just wanted to leave. The third time Test
came back in, they finished the match. Kanyon missed a huge moonsault and
Test hit the big boot for the pin. Test squashed Kanyon and I didn't
particuarly like that. After the match, Test got on the mic over Kanyon,
looked down at him and said, "The question isn't 'Who's better than Kanyon',
the question is, 'Who's better than Test'"?
Winner: Test by pinfall via The Big Boot

Third Match: Molly Holly vs. Lita
Lita was over big time. This was a good match. This was very technically
sound and both women put on a good match. LIta won this one via the Twist of
Fate.
Winner: Lita by pinfall via The Twist of Fate

Fourth Match: Justin Credible vs. Bradshaw
This match was made to fill a void I guess. Justin Credible did a good job
by getting on the crowd and by saying that Bradshaw wouldn't be interested in
wrestling him tonight because he was drinking somewhere in a bar and that he
was scared to wrestle him. That's no surprise for those of you who saw him
in ECW. I'm not a Justin Credible fan, but I certainly respect him and his
hard work ethic. He works the crowd very well. What's of note in this match
is that Arn Anderson was out scouting this match, but this wouldn't be the
only time we saw him. The match was won by Bradshaw with a VISCIOUS
Clothesline From Hell. After the match, Bradshaw got on the mic and said he
was drinking in a bar. And he said at the end God bless the USA to which the
crowd went nuts.
Winner: Bradshaw by pinfall via The Clothesline From Hell

Fifth Match: Rhyno vs. Tajiri for the WCW U.S. Title
This was absolutely without a doubt a superb match. It was truly
entertaining and great. Excellent job by both men. Tajiri won by DQ after
Rhyno hit him with the U.S. Title. After the match, Rhyno punched Tajiri for
a bit and then gored him.
Winner: Tajiri by DQ

Sixth Match: Kronik with Steven Richards vs. Kane and Albert for the WCW Tag Team Titles
Albert replaced The Undertaker who had "travel problems". Kane came out with
one tag team title, Albert didn't carry the other one in an honary fashion or
anything. Funny thing, though, weren't these two feuding over the IC Title a
few months ago? Kane was extremely over and the crowd was into everything he
did. Albert exploded on Kronik at the end of the match which had the crowd
behind him. Kane choke-slammed Brian Clark for the win.
Winner: Kane and Albert by pinfall via The Chokeslam

At this point intermission was had.

Seventh Match: Christian vs. Edge for the WWF IC Title
Arn Anderson was scouting this match, as well. Who can blame him for wanting
to see this match. These two put on a good match, all-around, hands-down.
It was truly an honor to see these two live. It was a great match and it was
very well timed. Absolutely awesome, everything you would expect from these
two. Crowd was very into Edge. Edge won this match with The Downward Spiral
Implant DDT.
Winner: Edge by pinfall via The Downward Spiral Implant DDT

Eighth Match: The Hurricane and Lance Storm vs. The Dudley Boys vs. The Big Show and Spike Dudley vs. The Hardy Boyz in a Four-Way Tag Team Match for The WWF Tag Team Championship
The Hardy Boyz were over big time. But, so were The Dudley Boys. However,
in a surprise to me personally (even though I read reports about this in
other house show reports) The Big Show was over BIG TIME. This was a very
entertaining and good match. There was a spot in the match where all the
wrestlers were on the outside of the ring except for Spike Dudley and The Big
Show. The Big Show guerilla-press slammed Spike Dudley onto the other
wrestlers on the outside of the ring. It was really cool to see in person.
The order of elimination was: The Big Show chokeslammed Lance Storm to
eliminate Lance Storm and The Hurricane. Matt Hardy hit The Twist of Fate on
Spike Dudley to eliminate The Big Show and Spike Dudley. It was then down to
The Dudley Boys vs. The Hardy Boyz. These four guys put on an excellent
match. In the end, Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb on D'Von Dudley and went for
the pin. However, the ref. was trying to get Matt Hardy out of the ring. At
this point, Bubba ran into the ring and nailed Jeff with one of the tag
titles. D'Von rolled over onto Jeff and got the pin.
Winner: The Dudley Boys by pinfall via smashing a tag title into Jeff Hardy's head

Ninth Match: RVD vs. Chris Jericho in a Special Challenge Match
This was what you can expect from these two. A good match. RVD blew a spot
when he went for a spring board spinning kick on Jericho as Jericho was
crotched on the ropes. RVD tried to spring board off the ropes and either
slipped or didn't get enough to bounce and sort of fell back, but he still
tried to kick Jericho, which Jericho sold nicely. Arn Anderson came out
after a bit to scout this match, too. This was a good match, with both men
attempting a finisher. Jericho got The Walls of Jericho on RVD, but RVD got
to the ropes. RVD tried for the 5 Star Frog Splash but missed. Jericho
followed this up with the Lionsault for the pin.
Winner: Chris Jericho by pinfall via The Lionsault

Greatest Pop:
1.) The Hardy Boyz
2.) Kane
3.) Chris Jericho
4.) RVD
5.) The Big Show/The Dudley Boys

Greatest Heat:
This is a tough one, as the crowd cheered almost everyone, as they were just
appreciative of seeing wrestling in the town for the first time. So, I will
try to do this.
1.) Christian
2.) Justin Credible
3.) Rhyno
4.) Steven Richards with Kronik
5.) The Dudley Boys

All in all, this was an excellent show. I would have to say it would have
been an excellent card to have on RAW. Most of these matches are scheduled
to be on the PPV Sunday night. If the wrestlers wrestle half as good as they
did tonight, we are all in for a huge treat. Again, I thank my girlfriend,
Heather, for the tickets. This was her first wrestling event and she
absolutely enjoyed it. She enjoyed the wrestling, the comedy, and the
general atmosphere portrayed by the wrestlers. A top-notch job by the
wrestlers and it was most certainly appreciated. I can only hope that the
WWF comes back to The Sovereign Center again so they can satisfy the hunger
that exists in Reading, Pennsylvania for wrestling. A huge thank you to all
the wrestlers, sound crew, etc. for the great show, as I know it's a long
drive to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and they didn't have to perform nearly as
good as they did tonight. It was trully an excellent show, the best house
show I have ever been to. A note to anyone who wants to see a show at The
Sovereign Center, there are NO bad seats. It is a smaller arena (ice hockey
arena primarilly) so RAW or Smackdown! will never be there, but if they keep
putting on house shows like they did tonight, this is one fan who won't care
if it's televised or not. I'll be there regardless.

Thanks for reading. And, as always, join me as I try to "educate people on
the realness of the fakeness of professional wrestling"©. Have a safe
and fun week everyone.

Later,
Chris Dailey