WWE Smackdown/ECW House Show
Waco, Tex. at Heart O’ Texas Coliseum
Report by Dot Net reader Roger Gatchet

This was my third time attending a WWE house show. There were a ton of kids in attendance and mobbing the merchandise table, no surprise there. While I was waiting in line for the restroom before the show a young kid in front of me told me it was his first time at a WWE show. He asked me, "Who do you think is going to win?" Pretty cute. The Coliseum seemed to be approximately 75 percent full. The view was great from the balcony seats where we were, if you don’t count the large group of drunk fraternity brothers standing on their seats and acting like asses in the row in front of us. Savannah was the ring announcer for the evening.

1. Kane defeated Mike Knox. Great opening match from these big men. Kane came out to a huge pop. Good back and forth action, with Knox hitting his massive cross body on Kane. Damn that is an impressive move to see live, even from the balcony. Knox went for a big splash on Kane, who brought up his knees and hit a choke slam for the 1-2-3. A fun match that got the show off to a great start.

C.M. Punk came out next (along with Luke Gallows) to a ton of heat. Gallows set up a chair in the ring and they brought out some kid to be the newest member of the Straight Edge Society. Standard stuff we’ve been seeing for the past few weeks on TV, only Gallows hit the kid with a surprise clothesline out of nowhere. Rey Mysterio ran out to make the save and drove the heels out of the ring.

2. Goldust and Vladimir Kozlov defeated William Regal and Tyler Reks. This seemed like a couple of really odd pairings, even for a house show. I can’t even remember the last time I saw Reks on TV. Goldust came out to a small pop and Kozlov received some boos out of principal from the devout Texans in attendance. Before the bell Regal talked smack about Waco, and argued with a fan who had a "Stop Wasting Talent" sign. Funny stuff. Goldust and Regal started the match off. An enthusiastic Kozlov got tagged in and Regal went down on his knees begging for mercy. His heel character is so much fun to see in person. Some decent back and forth action from all four men before Kozlov hit his finisher on Regal for the win.

3. Mickie James defeated Michelle McCool (w/special guest referee Beth Phoenix) in a Women’s Championship match. An okay divas match that seemed to go longer than it needed to. McCool spent a lot of time escaping to the outside and insulting the crowd. James set up for her finisher, but Phoenix hit her with a surprise clothesline. McCool went for the pin but Savannah pulled Phoenix off from the outside just as she was about to finish the three count. She’s gonna get it now. The Glamazon got pissed and ran at her, but Savannah dodged and Phoenix hit the ring pole. James recovered, hit a mule kick on McCool, and Savannah slid in to count the pin.

4. Cryme Tyme and Maria defeated the Hart Dynasty. JTG and Kidd started the 6-man mixed tag match. Natalya eventually tagged in and slapped JTG, who tagged in Maria. Maria got a few good kicks in, but Natalya eventually slammed her skinny ass to the canvas. Later in the match Natalya body slammed JTG on the outside, which was pretty cool. Shad eventually got the hot tag and hit his finisher on Smith for the pin. An okay match.

5. Matt Hardy defeated Finlay. Hardy got a huge pop when he came out. Same for Finlay when his music first hit, but only because all the kiddies thought it was Hornswoggle. The match started slow, and Finlay appeared to injure his knee early on. He kept falling to the canvas, tried to get back up, then fell back down. Boos from the crowd. He fell down again, and the referee made the "X" sign and a bunch of officials ran to the ring and tended to Finlay for several minutes.

Someone shouted "hit him while he’s down!" Nice. Everyone around me, including myself, thought it was a legitimate injury. The doctors helped Finlay limp towards the ropes as Hardy stood watching, and out of nowhere Finlay nailed him with a big boot. Fun stuff. I really wasn’t expecting it since the ref made the "X" sign, which I thought was only for legit injuries. Finlay drew a ton of heat but Hardy was able to surprise him with the Twist of Fate for the pin.

6. Drew McIntyre defeated John Morrison and R-Truth in a Triple Threat match for the Intercontinental Championship. McIntyre was the first to come out and cut a heel promo. He said "I’m 6’5", I’m jacked, and I was personally selected by Vince McMahon to become the Intercontinental Champion. You’re all jealous of me!" Boos.

Morrison’s music hit just as he started to say he was going to talk all night long and that we wouldn’t see his opponents. R-Truth did his "What’s Up" gimmick and the crowd ate it up. Morrison and Truth worked together on McIntyre, who got knocked outside the ring early on. They traded dance moves for a bit before locking up. McIntyre eventually hit his finisher on Truth after tossing Morrison outside. An okay match, although I was hoping to see more from these three men.

7. Christian defeated Ezekiel Jackson in an ECW Championship match. This will probably be one of the last times we see this title getting defended. Christian was over and did the cheer/boo routine by pointing to himself and Jackson for the first minute or two. Christian hit all his top rope moves during the match, and nailed Jackson with a DDT before hitting the Killswitch for the win. It’s always good to see Christian live, and he worked hard to put on a fun title match.

8. Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (w/ Luke Gallows) in the main event. I was hoping Undertaker would show up. He was advertised on the original card, and the dude lives less than two hours away. Oh well. Gallows ripped up a few signs on his way down to the ring, and even wiped his ass with one of them. Funny stuff.

The crowd was fired up and chanted "619." Punk grabbed a microphone and promised there would be no 619 tonight, which means there definitely would be. Punk spent a lot of time taunting the crowd, and even kicked the steel steps and pretended to hurt his foot, which drew some laughs. Decent back and forth action with several 619 teases and Gallows getting in some cheap shots when the ref was distracted. Rey almost hit a 619, Punk went for the GTS but Mysterio countered and finally hit the 619 for a huge pop.

Overall impressions: This was a decent house show but nothing to write home about. It lasted three solid hours, so we did get our money’s worth. I felt the Raw/Smackdown house show they held here last year was stronger, which may have been because there were more big names on the card (HHH, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Big Show). Believe it or not my favorite match was the opening bout between Knox and Kane. Knox is damn impressive in person, and it’s a wonder to me that he isn’t holding a belt right now.

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