I arrived at Pepsi Arena at 10:00 AM and hung around the backstage area. At around 5:30, the wrestlers finally started to pull up. The first car to come had Regal, Tajiri, and X-Pac in it. Regal was a complete asshole and when all the fans in the backstage area called his name, he didn't even acknowledge them. Tajiri looked up at the fans a few times, and X-Pac yelled "He can't speak english!" Next to arrive was Stacy Keibler. She was alone. Immediately following her arrivial, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson pulled up together and waved to everyone watching. Next was Earl Hebner and some other referres in a car and Earl is really great with the fans. Following the referres came Hugh Morris who waved to everyone. Mike Awesome and Shawn Stasiak arrived together and waved to everyone as well. Stasiak got a lot of "Meat" chants from his old days in the WWF. Next was Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire and they were also nice to the crowd. Following them, Matt Hardy arrived with Lita and Gregory Helms. Lita got a huge pop outside and smiled and waved to the crowd. Kurt Angle then arrvied alone and a huge "USA" chant broke out. He laughed and waved at everyone. Other arrivials after Angle included Edge and Christian, Kane and the Undertaker (with Sara), Raven, and more. Kane had a towel around his head so no one could see his face.
Now onto the event itself. William Regal and Tajiri came to the ring to start the night. They announced the matches and said there was an "Invasion" right here tonight in Albany, NY.
Onto the matches...
- X-Pac d. Billy Kidman
- Lita and Trish d. Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson
- APA d. Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire
- Justin Credible d. Perry Saturn
- Billy Gunn d. Raven
- The Undertaker and Kane d. DDP and Mike Awesome
- Albert d. Hugh Morris
- Chris Jericho d. Shawn Stasiak
- The Hardy Boyz d. Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz, and Lance Storm and Kanyon
- Booker T d. Kurt Angle
During the UT/Kane vs. DDP/Awesome match, DDP and Awesome were scared to enter the ring with the two brothers but finally the match got underway. Also, the Undertaker chokeslamed Mike Awesome for the win, and then chokeslammed DDP after the match. Also in the women's match, Stacy and Torrie kept walking away from Trish and Lita but they ran after them.
At the beginning of the show, the ring announcer said Austin wouldn't be in Albany tonight and if you wanted a refund, you'd have to get it before the second match.
Chris Jericho said there were 8,000 "Jerichoholics" present, but I'd say maybe 4,000 or 5,000 people were there.
Also, at the end of the Angle/Booker T match, Earl Hebner and Nick Patrick went at it for around 5 minutes! It was very funny and got a HUGE pop from the crowd.
Overall, it was a good show. The fans tomorrow in CT will probably see the same thing since the card is the same.
Biggest Pops:
- Chris Jericho
- Hardy Boyz
- Lita and Trish
- Hebner and Patrick
Biggest Heat:
- Regal and Tajiri
- DDP/Mike Awesome
- X-Pac