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SmackDown/ECW House Show Results (11/29/08) - State College, Pennsylvania
Written by Nick on Nov 30, 2008 - 2:14:02 PM
WNW reader Nick sent in the following report:
I just got back from the Smackdown/ECW Live show held in State College, PA on Saturday, 11/29/08. The arena had the top two sections tarped off, leaving about 60% of the seats available. Out of the seats available, the turnout was poor to be kind, with only about 15-20% of those seats having people there. In addition, what crowd that was there was rather dead for almost the entire event, save for the R-Truth/Shelton Benjamin and tag match to end the night. I personally enjoyed the show; there just wasn’t much of a crowd presence. On a side note, I didn’t recognize any of the referees who were there.
The show kicked off with Justin Roberts coming to the ring alongside a beautiful young girl who was introduced as Tiffany; she gave the opening introductions to get the crowd into it. The Great Khali came out, and started teasing his “kiss cam” segment with her. Before the big kiss, MVP came to the ring, harping about how nobody wants to see Khali kiss anybody. MVP drew some heat, but probably not as much as he was hoping.
Opening Match: The Great Khali vs. MVP
- This was the worst match of the night, with a grand total of about seven offensive moves. MVP spent probably three minutes running from Khali, only to get beaten in 45 seconds. Once he finally got into the ring, MVP landed three straight kicks to Khali’s right leg, but got destroyed for the rest of the match. After a few Khali elbows and chops, he got the win with his vice grip. Overall a less-than-stellar match, and the crowd couldn’t have cared less.
Second Match: The Bella Twins vs. Maryse & Natalya
- This match was about as good as can be expected from a house show divas tag match. The majority of the match was one of the Bellas being worked over by both Maryse and Natalya. There were some decent spots and solid work from all four ladies. The match ended with Maryse and Natalya arguing what they felt to be a slow count on one of the Bellas, only for the other twin to switch with her sister and roll up Neidhart for the win. The crowd was more into this match than the first one for good reason, and probably should have kicked off the evening.
Third Match: Ricky Ortiz vs. Tommy Dreamer
- Ricky Ortiz came out first, boasting about how he is undefeated and demanding respect. He drew some decent heat for his announcement, before being cut off by Tommy Dreamer’s entrance. This was a decent match where Dreamer got worked over for the majority of the match. The match ended with Ortiz missing Dreamer into the turnbuckle then walking into Dreamer’s DDT. The matches have gotten progressively better, but still no single match that stole the show to that point.
Fourth Match: Finlay w/ Hornswoggle vs. The Big Show
- This was the best match so far, with action going back and forth. Every time Finlay would start to build any momentum; he’d walk into a boot or fist of The Big Show. Near the end of the match, Big Show removed one of the turnbuckle covers, and while the ref was messing with it, Big Show talked into a shillelagh shot to the head. Big Show kicked out after two, followed up with a knockout punch to get the win. After the match, The Big Show landed a big punch on Hornswoggle, drawing a ton of crowd heat. That was the first real emotion from the crowd for the night.
Fifth Match: The Miz & John Morrison vs. Primo & Carlito for the WWE Tag Team Championship
- To no surprise, this was a fast paced match with lots of action going both ways. The majority of the match was Carlito being worked over by both of the challengers using effective double teams as well as tagging often. During the match, The Miz was drawing all kinds of heat for taunting the crowd on the apron as well as in the ring. After Carlito managed a hot tag to Primo, he hit several high-impact moves on both the Miz and Morrison. This led into the conclusion, with Morrison being knocked off the apron and Primo pinning the Miz to retain after a springboard cross body from the apron off the top rope. This was good match with a lot of quick action and high flying maneuvers; The Miz did very well to keep heat on himself, both in the ring and outside.
Sixth Match: R-Truth vs. Shelton Benjamin for the United States Championship
- R-Truth came out first to a finally awakened crowd to respond to his “what’s up” calls. Shelton Benjamin drew a bit of heat on his way down the ring for haranguing a fan for a sign he had (I think it was a planted sign) that showed Shelton all beat up. Once the match got under way, it was a solid performance by both superstars. This was the first match that the crowd was into for the entire match, with a good combination of high-flying and mat work, with both hitting their offense. The crowd continually rallied behind R-Truth whenever Benjamin was in control of the match. The match concluded with Shelton avoiding R-Truth’s scissors kick and hitting his PayDirt finisher to retain the title. After the match, Benjamin brought R-Truth back into the ring to dance. After the two danced for 20 seconds or so, he sucker punched R-Truth, drawing more heat. After landing a few blows, he went for PayDirt again, only to have it countered into the scissors kick. This was the first complete match, with the fans partaking in the match as well as solid action in the ring.
Seventh Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Edge for the WWE Championship
- Jeff Hardy came out to a massive pop from the crowd first, and at least half the people who sat near me had the Jeff Hardy sleeves in support of the Cameron native. Edge was received by just as much heat from the crowd as Jeff Hardy was cheered during his entrance. This match saw tons of offense from Jeff Hardy in the first ninety seconds, with him completely dominating Edge. Shortly thereafter, Vladimir Kozlov came into the ring and attacked Jeff, causing Edge to be disqualified (thus allowing Edge to retain). After a minute or so of them working Hardy over, Triple H stormed the ring for the save. After mocking Edge for a while on the mic and laying Edge’s title in the middle of the ring, Triple H baited Edge and Kozlov into an impromptu tag team match.Eighth Match: Jeff Hardy & Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov & EdgeThis was the best match of the night, as to be expected given the workers in the match. After some trading back and forth by both teams, Hardy became isolated in the ring. Every time he’d start to make a comeback, he’d get planted again. He eventually did make the tag, and Triple H came in against Kozlov on fire, hitting three or four of his trademark moves. After Edge broke up a pin attempt, Jeff Hardy gave him a twist of fate for his trouble. Vladimir meanwhile walked into a pedigree by the game who then got out of the way for a Jeff Hardy Swanton before Hunter got the pin on Kozlov. The match could have been longer, and featured a bit more of Triple H, as the only portion of the match we saw with him was where he was destroying Vladimir Kozlov. Nonetheless, it was still a good match, and the crowd was into the big spots by all four superstars. After the match, Jeff Hardy and Triple H celebrated in the ring as well as outside the ring with the fans at ringside before the show came to a close.
Overall, I thought it was a good effort by WWE in the ring, despite a poor turnout and what meager crowd did show up being anemic for most of the night. I could have done without seeing Khali try to put on a wrestling match, because his entire time in the ring was painful to watch. The Bella Twins have definitely improved their ring work, as well as Maryse as they put on a watchable match. The show ended with a bang, as the last four matches all featured talented, high impact workers who put on good matches.
Biggest Pops:
Finlay & Hornswoggle
Jeff Hardy
Triple H
Biggest Heat:
The Big Show
The Miz
Edge
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