WWE Smackdown/ECW house show
Portland, Maine
Report by Dot Net reader Matt Mocciola of Poland Springs, Maine

1. Cryme Tyme defeated Hart Dynasty. Before the match started, Natalya grabbed the mic and talked about how Canada was superior to America, then Cryme Tyme entered the ring and talked about how the USA was the best place to live. That would be big through the match because numerous times the crowd broke into USA chants. The action started fast with Tyson Kidd and JTG but when David Hart Smith and Shad got in the ring it turned into a power vs. power match. The match ended 18 minutes in with a hot tag from JTG to Shad to get the pin on Tyson Kidd. Someone needs to teach Smith how to dance.

2. Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov beat The Hurricane and Tommy Dreamer. Honestly, what a boring match. Kozlov and Helms started. Helms and Kozlov worked for a few minutes and helms hit a cross body and got Dreamer in with a tag. When dreamer got in the ring, it was like watching Survivor Series with Kozlov vs. Triple H all over again. Very boring. Honestly I don't know what else the WWE can write for Dreamer to make him important again. The match ended 16 minutes in with Jackson pinning Dreamer.

Justin Roberts announced the Bella Twins were in the crowd. They were about five rows behind me and wow they are gorgeous up close and in person. They gave a family of four front row tickets.

3. Drew McIntyre pinned R-Truth. R-Truth's music played, and out he came to play to the crowd. Then Drew McIntyre's music played and the match began. McIntyre had a really good match. He played to the crowd well, and was very techniquely sound. He is going to be a very good wrestler for a long time to come. McIntyre pinned R-Truth in 12 minutes.

4. Melina beat Layla. This match was very good, a few near falls. A lot of people were starting to get impatient with all of the holds though, but there were a lot of very technical pins and reversals. Until this point, I had always thought of Layla as a pushover and just some Miami Heat cheerleader who was paid by the WWE for her looks because of the time that she never got on television. When given some time though she looked very much like a professional wrestler, but Melina took the win with a pin at 13 minutes.

5. John Morrison defeated Dolph Zigler to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Justin Roberts announced this match as the ECW Championship but then corrected himself. Of course there had to be some trash talking before the match. Zigler came out and grabbed the mic. After Zigler rambled about he was the greatest wrestler ever, Morrison's music cut him off. Morrison got in the ring in his usual ring attire, and a very noticeable scream from the ladies when he took his coat off, ( a very loud "thank you" from the lady behind me).

The bell rang and Morrison went right after Ziggler, who retreated to the ropes, then Morrison grabbed the mic. He talked about how Ziggler said he was the greatest and said " speaking about that, what are you wearing? Did you make a trip to San Fransisco recently?" I thought that was pretty hilarious, not sure the 2,000 12 year olds in attendance got the joke.

After a quick game of tag, the actual wrestling began. What a match it turned out to be. I contemplated the hell in a cell PPV, but I am definitely purchasing it after seeing this match. These two young guys work great together and I guarantee a Holy S--- moment at the PPV. Morrison pinned Ziggler after hitting starship pain and retains.

Intermission

6. Kane beat Finlay. The originally advertised match was Kane vs. Matt Hardy. This was a weak showing by Finlay. He used the shillelagh and still lost after being caught off the top rope and into a chokeslam. At one point in the match, there was a miss and they headbutted each other. Both men looked to be wincing the rest of the match. Kane pinned Finlay after chokeslam.

7. Christian pinned Zack Ryder to retain the ECW Championship. When Christian came out, the belt looked so big on him. You can tell the belt was made when Mark Henry was champion. Very good match. I don't see Christian dropping the belt Tuesday night in the rematch, but I think Ryder has a bright singles career ahead of him even though I loved him with Hawkins in La Familia. Christian pinned Ryder after Killswitch.

8. CM Punk defeated Matt Hardy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Thank God for Kane taking out The Great Khali last friday. The originally scheduled main event was CM Punk vs. Khali for the belt. Almost everyone figured that with Hardy not competing against Kane that this was the match. Some of us held our breath for a Batista appearance but no such luck. Punk came out to the most heat I have ever seen to one specific wrestler. It was unreal, some guy had to be escorted out of the ring because he wanted a piece of Punk.

Punk got right up to the guy and had to be held back by event security. I gained so much more respect for Punk after tonight, to go from a loved baby-faced to the most hated heel in the WWE in a mere month is unbelievable. The match itself was okay, it was pretty quick ending in about 9 minutes with Punk hitting the GTS. The closest Hardy came to winning was after hitting the side effect and got a two count.

Outside after the show
Layla and The Bellas came over to the crowd and signed autographs and took pictures before taking off in a rental car. While they were taking pictures, Ziggler and Ryder came down messed around a little bit with the crowd and then got in their rental car. They beeped the horn when one of the Bellas walked in front and took off. John Morrison and Melina took off in a car together.

Biggest Pops
Kane
Matt Hardy
John Morrison

Most Heat
By Far! CM Punk (the place was as loud as it was all night)
Dolph "Mr. Ziggles" Ziggler
The Hart Dynasty

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