5/8 WWE Raw in Erie, Pa.: John Cena and Batista vs. Randy Orton and Big Show, MVP vs. William Regal for the U.S. Title, Festus vs. The Miz, Matt Hardy vs. Goldust, WWE developmental wrestler appears on the show

WWE Raw house show
Erie, Pa.
Report by Dot Net reader Andrew Huzar

The arena was about 3/4 full, lots of kids. Most have either Cena or Mysterio shirts on. Howard Finkel came out and got a pretty good pop from the crowd.

1. Kofi Kingston pinned Chavo Guerro. Kofi came out to a huge pop. Chavo got decent heat. During the match Chavo did the usual heel moves to get some pretty good heat. Crowd would chant along with Kofi and was cheering extremely loud for him to come back. Crowd popped huge for Kofi's signature spots and the Trouble in Paradise for the win. The match started slow but got up to speed later on.

Kelly Kelly was announced as the special guest announcer in the crowd for a big pop. She asked a fan a question then moved them to ringside.

2. Sheamus O'Shaunessy pinned Jamie Noble. No reaction for either guy. Crowd didn't care about Noble and didn't know who Sheamus was. Slow and dull match with lots of rest holds. Sheamus hit an axe kick for the pin.

3. The Miz pinned Festus. Festus got a small pop. Miz got insane heat. He cut a promo saying he was better than everyone and that hed beat up Cena. He then mocked Festus which was pretty funny. Festus started singing Home on the Range and inserted Erie, Pa into the song for a big pop. Miz won with his finisher, Miz was red hot.

4. Matt Hardy pinned Goldust. Matt got a pretty big pop from the crowd instead of heat. He cut the same whiny promo he's been cutting. Goldust comes out to a small pop. Matt ran around the ring and avoided Goldust like his past two matches on Raw. Goldust got some pretty good offense in before Matt hit him with the cast for the win.

5. MVP pinned William Regal to retain the United States Championship. William Regal got a little heat. MVP got a pretty big pop. The kids loved him and chanted with him. Adults didn't care. Another pretty slow match for the first 3/4 of it. One guy started chanting Man Bear Pig during the match which was pretty funny. MVP got the win the Playmaker and all the kids popped for him.

15 minute intermission. Note: disappointing show at this point. They usually give Erie and pretty good show but all the matches so far have been slow for the first 3/4 of the match.

6. The Colons beat Priceless by disqualification. Priceless got some decent heat and The Colons got an alright pop. Primo hit a really nice huracarana early on. Great tag team match although the crowd was pretty dead by this point due to the first matches. Priceless got disqualified when when Ted pulled Carlito off the apron. Terrible end to a great tag match. Priceless beat down the Colons after the match for great heat.

7. Maryse pinned Mickie James to retain the Divas Championship. Mickie James got a giant pop. Biggest of the night so far. No reaction for Maryse. It was kinda weird because some pushed Maryse through the curtain and she ran back in before finally making her entrance. Maryse won with her DDT. Very good Divas match.

8. John Cena and Batista beat Randy Orton and Big Show by pinfall. The advertised matches were John Cena vs Big Show and Triple H vs Orton for the title. No Triple H, though. John Cena out first to a deafeningly loud pop. I never heard such a reaction for anyone. Batista out next to a slightly less loud pop but still extremely loud.

Big Show came out to decent heat and Orton got more of a pop than heat at first. As the match went on Orton gained more heat. Cena hit Show with the first punch and the roof nearly blew up just for that. When Cena reversed an RKO the place exploded. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Big Show for a gigantic pop. The crowd went nuts for Cena and Batista's win.

Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. Batista
3. Randy Orton (his entrance)
4. Mickie James
5. Kofi Kingston

Most Heat
1. The Miz
2. Randy Orton (during the match)
3. The Bigshow
4. Priceless
5. Chavo Guerro

Notes: For some reason some of the superstars took forever to come through the curtain. Matt Hardy waited like five minutes before coming out. Everyone thought he wasn't showing up. The first half was pretty bad but the second half was very good. I'd give it 3/5 stars.