Photos from the Event (More coming soon)
Results from the August 7, 2005 WWE RAW House Show in Youngstown Ohio
The event was scheduled at 7, and around ten till, they kicked on "My Sacrifice" over the loudspeakers. After that concluded, the recording of the guy telling us that we can't do certain stuff. Then "Lonely Road of Faith" kicks on. When that ends, the RAW theme comes on and Justin Roberts (the ring announcer) comes down the aisle. He asked us all if we were ready for WWE RAW action. Everyone of course said yes. We stood for the National Anthem and once that concluded, Justin told us the first match would be for the WWE Tag Team Titles.
The Heart Throbs vs. Hurricane and Rosey w/ Stacy (c)
Stacy was looking as hot as ever in this one. This match went back and forth for a little bit, then the Heart Throbs took over. A few Hurricane chants popped up when the Hurricane was down. After a distraction by Stacy, the Hurricane and Rosey pick up the win. Pretty good start to the night. But the Hurricane was very slow getting out of the ring. He was holding his back and Rosey and Stacy looked genuinely concerned.
WINNERS: The Hurricane and Rosey
RATING: 6/10. Decent start to the night.
Justin then comes back into the ring and says "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcom.....ah never mind, the Coach." The Coach saunters down to the ring. He grabs the mic and tells Justin if he ever introduces the Coach like that again, he will make sure Justin never works for the WWE again. He goes on about about Eric Bischoff and himself decided to "throw us a bone". The 2 main events are named. Kurt Angle vs. Eugene and Shawn Michaels vs. Edge. It was advertised as Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle, but I guess 2 Main Events are better than one. The Coach then goes on about how wherever he goes, there are always Divas around. I thought "OH NO! DIVA SEARCH GOES ON THE ROAD!" Luckily, he was just going to be the special ring announcer for the upcoming Diva match.
Christy Hemme vs. Victoria
Victoria came out to a mixed reaction. Christy got a fairly large pop. Another pretty decent match, some nicely executed moves from both parties. At one point, Christy screamed like a banshee and attacked Victoria. This match briefly spilled to the outside early on. In the end, it was Christy pulling off what I would consider the upset of the night with what can only be described as a split-leg drop. Basically the split she always does, but as a leg drop.
WINNER: Christy Hemme
RATING: 6/10. Pretty decent Divas match
After the match, Victoria went to the outside and attacked Christy. Victoria brought Christy back into the ring and gave her the Widows Peak. The Coach said something along the lines of "See what you get when you go out and slap the peoples hands?" He kind of stood there stoically and everyone chanted "You Suck". He told Christy everyone was chanting it at her. It was at that time that Viscera came down to the ring. The Coach and Big Vis had a stare down almost, until Victoria pushed Coach into Big Vis. Big Vis gave Coach a couple slaps, then took him down with a Samoan Drop. Big Vis then gave Coach a big splash and the dry hump thing he does. Pretty big pop. Big Vis ends up kissing Christy after raising her hand.
Lance Cade and Jobber vs. 2 Local Jobbers
The only name I can remember is Lance Cade, only because he is a spitting image of Garrison Cade. And of course the names are the same. I must be honest, I didn't pay all that much attention to this one. I was looking at the pics I had taken from the previous matches. The parts that I did watch, there were some nice moves, but nothing spectacular. This one would have been better served as the opener.
WINNER: Lance Cade and Jobber
RATING: 5/10. Gotta give it the benefit of the doubt since I didn't pay much attention.
Val Venis vs. Kerwin White
Val came down first and took his towel off and everyhthing and spent a couple minutes trying to figure out who to give it to. Then "The Way You Look Tonight" began playing. No one quite knew what to expect, until the ring announcer said "Kerwin White". He came down in the orange polo shirt, the green sweater, khaki shorts, white knee pads and boots, holding a hanger. The match took awhile to get started, because Val got everyone to chant "Chavo" but then Kerwin got on the mic and said that we had him confused with someone else. Chavo is Mexican. Then Kerwin wanted to shake Val's hand but Val didn't trust him because Kerwin had the hanger in the other hand. Match starts off with a short clothesline from Val. Another fairly decent match, nothing spectacular, although this was the first match a house show I've seen where a wrestler was thrown into the steps. Even though his name has changed, the man remains the same. Kerwin tried cheating on several occasions, including choking Val with Kerwin's polo shirt, and choking him in the ropes. Kerwin also removed the turnbuckle cover, but oddly enough, it wasn't used. The match ended with a questionable pinfall.
WINNER: Kerwin White. Remember when Val was the Intercontinental Champion? I think that may be the last time he won a match.
RATING: 5.5/10. Good match, but can't put it above the first 2.
Master Lock Challenge
Yes, even house shows can't get away from the challenge. Masters spends a good amount of time looking for someone to take the Master Lock Challenge. He is offering $5000 to anyone who can break the Master Lock. He said its enough to get out of this "lousy university" (the show was held on the campus of Youngstown State University) and go get a real education. Finally the Big Show's music hits and he comes out. Masters exits the ring. Big Show sits in the chair. Masters finally gets up enough courage to get in there and the match starts. Big Show knocks Masters down and Masters rolls out of the ring and starts heading back to the locker room. The Big Show gets on the mic and says that the womens locker room is the other way. And that Masters must either be bi-polar or bi-gender. It was pretty funny live. The ref starts counting to 10. Masters tries calling a timeout, rolls back in on 9, but then rolls right back out and sits on the apron. Big Show grabs him and tosses him into the ring, and the match REALLY begins. Big Show had the advantage for most of it. Couple hard slaps from Show that made the referee cringe. Out of nowhere, Snitsky comes in and attacks Big Show. After a chair shot by Masters, he attempts to put the Master Lock on. Masters can't even get his hands clasped, and Big Show drives him to the corner. Snitsky gets a big boot and then a chokeslam. Masters also gets a chokeslam. Big Show celebrates a bit.
WINNER: Big Show by DQ
RATING: 5.5/10. Another decent match.
The t-shirt guy comes out and shoots some t-shirts into the stands. We then go on an intermission.
They never said how long the intermission would be, so alot of people headed for the concession stand. Noramlly its a 15-minute intermission, but this one only felt like about 5 or 10. Justin then says that the next match is for the Intercontinental Championship.
Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito (c)
Shelton came out to a fairly large pop. After Carlito came out, he gave his "I Know Cool" t-shirt to the ring announcer. Shelton went out, took it from the ring announcer, and proceded to wipe his armpits with it. He then threw it into the crowd. Alot of good, technical wrestling in this one. Armbars, arm drags, you name it, this match had it. Very entertaining. Another match that spilled to the outside. Shelton was thrown against the post by Carlito. But in the end, Carlito steals one with his feet in the ropes.
WINNER: Carlito
RATING: 6.5/10.
Kurt Angle vs. Eugene
Kurt comes out to a pretty substantial pop. I looked down toward the entrance way, and every single person had their hands raised. Eugene comes out to a slightly less pop. He is not wearing Kurt Angle's gold medal. When Kurt asks Eugene where it is, Eugene tells us that his mother told him not to take it there because he might lose it. So Eugene says he gave it to his dog. Eugene then acts like a dog. Kurt Angle took the upperhand early and held on to it for a good chunk of this match. It wasn't until near the end where Eugene turned it around. Eugene hit the Rock Bottom, the Stone Cold Stunner, and the People's Elbow. For good measure, he threw in the Angle Slam and the Ankle Lock. Angle kicked out of everyone, and reversed the Ankle Lock into one of his own. Eugene then reversed that. Eugene then pulled down Kurt's trunks ala the Coppertone ads. Eugene then rolled Angle up for the win.
WINNER: Eugene
RATING: 8/10. Surprisingly a very good match.
After the match, Kurt Angle raised Eugene's hand in congratulatory fashion, then kicked him in the groin and left. After Eugene got up, he went after Angle.
Justin Roberts thanked us for being there and said that he couldn't wait to come back to Youngstown.
Shawn Michaels vs. Edge
Edge came out to mixed reactions. The girls all screamed for him, but there was also quite a few boos. He then paraded around a little bit with the briefcase. Shawn Michaels came out with easily the biggest pop of the night. He did his little pose to each of the 4 sides of the building (a little like Hogan). Only one "We Want Matt" chant started up, and it fizzled pretty quickly. Several HBK chants popped up and Shawn Michaels loved every minute of it. Very good, quick paced match. No elbow from the top rope from Michaels, but he did deliver a cross body block from the top. Michaels did nip up as well. The referee was inadvertently knocked out towards the end of the match. When Michaels went to see if the official was ok, Edge hit him with the spear. Michaels kicked out at 2. The referee was still down when Edge went to get the metal briefcase. He swung it at Michaels who ducked and hit Sweet Chin Music, pushing the briefcase back into Edge's face.
WINNER: Shawn Michaels
RATING: 9/10. Easily the best match of the night.
After the match Shawn Michaels was flexing his left knee. He went around the ring slapping everyones hands. It was funny because the ringside area looked pretty much cleared out, but most of them were up by the railing. I must admit, I went around to the other side of the building by the entrance way, and was no more than 5 feet from Michaels. He tried slapping everyones hands, but to no avail, because mine didn't get slapped. Oh well.
BIGGEST POPS
1. Shawn Michaels
2. Kurt Angle
3. The Hurricane and Rosey
4. Big Show
5. The 2 Local Jobbers
BIGGEST HEAT
1. Coach (surprisingly)
2. Kurt Angle's post match attack on Eugene
3. Edge
4. The Heart Throbs
5. Lance Cade and Jobber
POSSIBLE INJURIES
The Hurricane- Back
Val Venis- Back/Kidney Area
Eugene- Left Knee
Shawn Michaels- Left Knee
Probably nothing serious, just a tweak that only R&R will cure
Overall a damn fine show. A good way to spend my 22nd birthday!
