Thanks to Jamie Patton for sending this in:
We had an excellent house show in Charleston, WV tonight. There were only a few empty seats in the corner sections. The crowd was juiced all night.
Historically we get a mixed bag of talent but tonight we got almost the whole roster. Let me hit you with a few notes:
The Fink came out and announced that Layla was in the crowd somewhere. She gave tickets to a family of four after then correctly guessed the location for Wrestlemania 24. Later in the night she gave a young fan named Joe (I think) a chance to be a manager for the night. I believe the young man was between 8-10 years old. Her final act of the night was allowing a young female fan (couldn’t see her) to be the guest bell ringer for the Women’s Championship match.
The Fink then announced that the fans could choose the stipulation for the main event between CM Punk and Batista. The choices were Falls Count Anywhere, 2/3 Falls, and No DQ.
Jamie Noble vs. Charlie Hass was first. Jamie is a hometown boy and got a huge pop. Standard match, Jamie wins by jumping off the top rope and kneeing Charlie in the side of the head.
Santino Marella was out next to huge heat (even though my buddy and I cheered loudly for him.) Santino said he came to Charleston looking for the Mountain Mama (from John Denver’s Country Roads) but couldn’t find her anywhere. He made a few other comedic comments as well. His opponent was D-Lo Brown (again my buddy and I went nuts). At first the crowd didn’t realize who he was, but then everyone caught on and he got a decent response. D-Lo wins with the Frog Splash. I was disappointed that he didn’t do the Sky High. D-Lo looked phenomenal.
Kofi Kingston (with his manager for the night) beat Paul Burchill with that spinning kick. Katie Lea tried to interfere and Paul ran into her setting him up for the kick. Kofi seemed to really enjoy having the small fan with him. The fan carried his Intercontinental Championship to the ring and held it during the entire match.
Next up was the stinker of the night, Chuck Palumbo vs. Paul London. As soon as the match started about 25% of the arena left to go to the bathroom. Palumbo wins with a boot to the face. London seemed to be legitimately injured and had to be helped from the ring after trainers ran down from the back.
Mickie James defeats Beth Phoenix in the Women’s Championship match. Standard women’s match, both women looked great in the ring.
Intermission followed by Kelly Kelly coming out to tell remind us to text our votes.
Lance Cade comes out and says that Shawn Michaels hasn’t done a thing for him since he came to the WWE even though Michaels trained him. Sexy Boy hits and the crowd goes INSANE (me especially)! Cade works the injured eye, Shawn hits the elbow, Cade hits his finisher twice and HBK kicks out both times. HBK wins with Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere.
Next was the World Championship Match. Both guys got huge responses and the crowd supported both guys at first. Fink announces that it is Falls Count Anywhere. Later on in the match the crowd gets behind Batista and boos Punk (to which I responded, “Why are you booing, he’s not Cena). Punk wins when Batista attempts a spear and runs into the chair Punk was holding. The were only out of the ring for 3-5 minutes.
Finally the Fink announces that the main event is a 6-Man Tag Match. It is CTC (Cryme Time w/John Cena) vs. Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase, and Kane. Rhodes and Dibiase did a funny skit at the beginning in which they acted like they were scared to team with Kane. Standard 6-Man match with everyone in the arena but me behind Cena (I liked the other 5 guys). Kane turns on his partners at the end, Cena clotheslines him over the rope, and he walks off. Cena FU’d Rhodes for the win.
(Note: Cena used only 4 of his 6 moves, they were the suplex, You Can’t See Me, the shoulder block, and the FU. The STFU and whatever that move us where he jumps off the top rope and legdrops the guy while he’s bent over were not used. Nevertheless he got the biggest pop of the night.)
Finally, the meaning of CTC: Cena takes the mic after the match and says that he got Cryme Tyme to back him up because he knew they could handle themselves. He makes comments about the JBL is Poopie signs in the crowd and says that shows that we’re watching Raw closely. He then says they have formed a faction called CTC. Then he reveals that CTC stands for Cryme Tyme – Cena Nation. He calls Cryme Tyme back into the ring and says that they have taught him and he has taught them, and tonight he is going to teach them a little about country living in West Virginia. Then he leads the arena in singing Country Roads by John Denver.
The show was GREAT! We never get this much action and the crowd was alive even when Palumbo and Hass were in the ring. Seems like the WWE is doing a little extra to make the House Show experience worthwhile. Now if they’d just bring back the t-shirt cannon…
Biggest Pops:
1: Cena (biggest heat from me)
2: HBK
3: Batista
4: CM Punk
5: Jamie Noble
Biggest Heat:
1: Santino
2: Cade
3: Rhodes and Dibiase
4: Palumbo
5: Hass
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
