WWE Raw house show
Flint, Mich. at the Perani Arena and Event Center
Report by Dot Net reader Nathan Cole

WWE has been doing more shows in this part of the country in the past few years than I ever remember then doing back in the '90s. I believe its been about five years since they were last here in Flint. I was worried that the show wouldn't draw well given the shape of the economy here and the UFC PPV for tonight, but the place which seats just over 5,000 was packed. The arena staff had a very hard time getting everybody inside in an orderly fashion. A lot more kids in attendance than WWE events I have attended in the past.

I'm not sure who the ring announcer was tonight, but she was a hottie, and hopefully she will be the regular announcer for Raw when Lilian is gone.

1. Evan Bourne defeated Chavo Guerrero. Bourne got a great reception from the crowd and Chavo drew ALOT of heat. I was impressed by how much the crowd was giving it too him. Great action with the signature offense from Bourne to start the match, Chavo gained control and went mainly to mat wrestling. Toward the end of the match Hornswoggle appeared from under the ring and distracted Chavo, which Bourne took advantage to get back on top and hit Air Bourne for the win. After the match Evan and Hornswoggle played to the crown and Horny carried Bourne around on his shoulders.

2. Primo Colon beat Alex Riley. Alex Riley hit the ring first and though I don't think anybody in the crowd had ever seen him before (myself included) he actually got a fairly decent response from the crowd, as did Primo. The match went really well. The crowd stayed with them move for move and responded well with all the spots. Primo landed a sweet dropkick maneuver to score the win.

3. Chris Masters over Santino Marella. Masters hit the ring first and got good heat from the crowd. Santino went over very well with the fans and at the start of the match he got the mic and told Chris Masters that he was tired of him beating him up, and tonight he was going to show him that he was the "Stronger-er" wrestler, because he used to date Beth Phoenix, and she taught him how to lift weights. It was nice to see Santino actually do some legit wrestling for a change. The match had very good pacing and again the crowd was eating it up. Santino applied the Masterlock to Masters, but Masters broke out of it and then applied the Masterlock to Santino, and the ref called for the bell. After Santino recovered he asked the ring announce to let the crowd know that he was okay.

3. Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Kelly Kelly defeated Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes, and Alicia Fox. Based off how the live crowds have been responding on Monday nights, I was curious as to how the women's match would go tonight. Both teams got great responses from the crowd, and the match itself was very entertaining. Alicia and Mickie started the match off, Mickie pretty much dominated the offense, but Alicia looked very good in-ring, very much improved since joining the Raw roster.

Even Kelly Kelly looked more natural in ring the few minutes she got in. Beth and Gail worked the majority of the match, and I think there was only one blown move when Gail reversed a torture rack and it appeared she lost a handle on Beth on the way down, but Beth covered it up and just flipped over, like the momentum was enough to take her down. In the end Mickie hit Rosa Mendes with a heel kick to score the win.

4. Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz, Jack Swagger, and Carlito Colon in a Fatal 4 Way match to retain the U.S. Title. A ton of heat for the Miz, less for Carlito and Swagger. The crowd popped huge for Kofi. Miz took the mic to start the match and told everybody how he was going to win the U.S. title so we may as well start calling him the champ now. I'm surprised he didn't rip the city or state, that should have been easy. After his comments the other three men unloaded on him and dumped him outside the ring.

Swagger was then put outside by Kofi and Carlito. They worked in ring for a while until Kofi knocked Carlito out. Then Swagger got in, worked Kofi a while, went for a pinfall, Miz came in and broke it up, sent Swagger back out, and he worked Kofi. The match pretty much went on like that until the end, when Swagger came in and hit his powerbomb on Carlito. Miz followed that up wit the Skull Crushing Finale on Swagger, followed by Kofi hitting Trouble in Paradise on Miz and then scoring the win.

5. Big Show beat Mark Henry. This match was surprising, because WWE advertised Big Show vs. Triple H in a street fight as the main event. Some people wondered if Triple H was going to be on the card after Henry came out. Show actually got a lot of cheers on his way to the ring, Henry got a louder ovation however. Show got on the mic and tried to draw heat. He asically said he was better than everybody and we were all poorer than him and he should call and get people evicted from their homes.

Mark Henry took the mic and told Show he had some nerve, and even if he had more money than the fans, they still paid their hard earned money to come see him get his ass whipped. The match was probably the least exciting one on the card. Two big powerhouses, so it was kind of slow. Midway through the match Show removed the turnbuckle, then later Henry went to Irish whip show into the turnbuckle-less corner, show reversed it and sent Henry into the steel, and then hit the knock out punch to defeat Henry. As Show was making his way to the back some fan threw something at him and security held the show up for a couple of minutes to escort the moron out of the building.

6. John Cena and Triple H defeated Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase). Rhodes and DiBiase hit the ring first, and they got a lot of heat, but not as much as Chavo did earlier in the night. John Cena's music hit and the place became unglued. Not a single boo in the building, the crowd went nuts. Triple H hit and he got an even louder ovation. Triple H and Ted started the match. Hunter pretty much dominated the offense, and tagged in Cena who came in and did the same. Eventually Legacy got one over on Cena and they worked him over for a few minutes until he got the hot tag to Triple H.

Triple H came in, did his routine to set up the Pedigree but DiBiase stopped it. Then Triple H got worked over by Legacy for quite a while, until he was able to get the hot tag to Cena, who came in with the 5/6 moves of Doom, got to the Attitude Adjustment, but it was broken up, he cleared DiBiase out of the ring and put the STF on Rhodes, who started to tap, but DiBiase got back in and broke it up. They set Cena up for the double clothesline, but on the rebound Triple H climbed in the ring and caught DiBiase, Cena grabbed Rhodes and they simultaneously hit their finishers, and Cena scored the pinfall. After the match, Cena and Triple H played to the crowd for a few minutes, and Triple H pretty much went around the entire arena slapping hands with the fans.

Very good show, the crowd was very responsive to every match. Here's hoping that we can get another live event soon.

Biggest Pops.
1. Triple H (by a hair)
2. John Cena (the place went absolutely nuts when he came out)
3. Kofi Kingston

Most Heat.
1. Chavo
2. Big Show ( I list him here only because he got cheered when he came out, other wise he matched Chavo's heat)
3.The Miz

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