WWE Smackdown house show
Dubuque, Iowa at Five Flags Center
Report by Dot Net Reader and PWTorch VIP member MattheWWFanatic
 
Justin Roberts came out to start the show and introduced ECW general manager Armando Estrada. Estrada ran down some of the card for the afternoon with the catch being that fans could vote via text message to decide the stipulation for the JBL vs. Finlay match later on in the show (falls count anywhere, two of three falls, street fight).
 
1. Chavo Guerrero pinned CM Punk to retain the ECW Title. Chavo started out with basic stalling to get heat. Crowd was split about 60-40 in favor of Punk once the match started. This was the best match of the afternoon in my opinion. Lots of near falls and false finishing sequences. Chavo won with a roll up while grabbing the ropes.
 
2. Jesse & Festus defeated Kevin Thorn & Chuck Palumbo. Fun comedy match with Festus slapping his head on the outside when Jesse was getting beat down to get the crowd to clap along. No one knew who Thorn was besides being a black hole of charisma. Chuck played the heel role well mocking Jesse's height. The match ended with Festus hitting his flapjack finisher on Thorn.
 
(3) Jamie Noble defeated Zach Ryder. This was definitely put in to be the popcorn match. Noble came out with his ribs taped selling his injuries from Big Show on Smackdown this week. Decent action with Ryder focusing on the ribs until Noble came back and got the win with a move from the top rope (leg drop?).
 
(4) Tommy Dreamer & Kofi Kingston defeated Shelton Benjamin & Big Daddy V (w/Matt Striker). Dreamer and Kofi came to the ring with Dreamer's music, which eemed like a mistake when they are trying to build Kofi as a future star. "Mama's boy" chants at Shelton. Striker sneakily interfered through out the match and Dreamer was surprisingly over.

The finish came when Big Daddy V accidently splashed Striker and then was knocked out of the ring; Kofi rolled up Shelton for the three count. Note: Dreamer's shirt came up some during the match and it looked as if he could give Big Daddy V a run for worst body in WWE.
 
MVP came to the ring before the match and ran down the crowd. He said Shelton told him Iowa stands for Idiots-Out-Wandering-Around which gave me a good laugh being from Wisconsin. He said he won a Money in the Bank qualifying match at a show yesterday. He bragged about being the longest reigning U.S. Champ in WWE history, beating Kane, making Taker bleed, and injuring Matt Hardy. This led to Hardy's music hitting and challenging MVP to a title match.

5. Matt Hardy defeated MVP by DQ to retain the U.S. Title. MVP kept leaving the ring and rolling back in at the count of nine. Hardy finally went after him on the outside to get the match going. Good action with Hardy getting out of the Playmaker and MVP escaping the Twist of Fate. The finish happened when MVP hit Hardy in the leg with a chair.
 
Intermission
 
6. Kelly Kelly defeated Victoria. The crowd was really not into match at all with many still not back from intermission. Victoria dominated most of the match. Kelly Kelly looked competent in the ring and actually hit her cartwheel-handspring elbow perfectly. The finish came when Victoria missed a  top rope moonsalt and Kelly covered her for the pin.
 
Teddy Long was introduced and came out and announced the results for the stipulation of the JBL-Finlay match. The street fight was the winner. He then announced JBL, who came to the ring and ran down Teddy and Dubuque. Line of the night: "Have any of you ever beat up a midget? It was the funnest thing I've done." 
 
7. Finlay defeated JBL in a street fight. The match ended up going into the crowd and all around the ringside area. A garbage can of cookie sheets were put into the ring as Finlay and JBL took turns giving each other Tommy Dreamer's favorite offensive maneuvers. The match ended with Finlay hitting JBL with the Shillelagh and covering him for the pin.
 
8. Kane & Batista defeated Big Show & Edge. Edge played the chicken shit heel constantly tagging out to Big Show. Even Big Show motioned that he was chicken. The funny part of the match happened with Show and Batista getting in the ring and Big Show striking some "body building" poses as Batista laughed along with the rest of the crowd. The finish came when Batista blocked Edge's spear with a boot to the face followed by a Batista Bomb. Batista went around ringside and signed a few autographs and shook hands before leaving.
 
Notes: Overall a very good show. WWE makes it to the area about once a year so the crowd was pretty hot the whole time. The local radio was advertising Matt Hardy vs. MVP so him being on the show was not a surprise. Five Flags Center looked to be about 80-85% full so the crowd was probably around 3,500. WWE devilered an entertaining show with a very good lineup even though half the SD-ECW roster was not on the card.
 
Biggest Pop
1. Batista
2. Matt Hardy
3. Finlay
 
Biggest Heat
1. Edge
2. JBL
3. MVP
 
MattheWWFanatic's POV: Why in the world do parents insist on making their kids leave the show during the main event to beat traffic? You are in Dubuque, Iowa for cripes sake. Looking at the crowd today it seemed like Festus had a lot of relatives in attendance, wow.

Powell's POV: Hey, that's gimmick infringement!

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