WWE Smackdown/ECW house show
Greensboro, N.C.
Report by Dot Net reader Lucas Prichard

1. Hurricane beat Zack Ryder (w/Rosa Mendes) with the shining wizard. Hurricane got a great pop, as expected. A solid opener.

2. Hart Dynasty beat Slam Master J and Jimmy Wang Yang. Kidd pinned J with an elevated neckbreaker. J can really work. He needs a lot more exposure, as does Yang.

3. R-Truth beat Dolph Ziggler with The Lie Detector. Pre-match, Ziggler cut a promo about him being our Christmas gift. He said there was only one premiere superstar in WWE when Truth's music cut him off. Truth put on Ziggler's vest and danced causing Ziggler to throw a tantrum and say the fine people of Raleigh only came to see him. Ziggler played cowardly heel for a long time. Good match. Kids are really into the "What's Up?" thing.

4. Mickie James, Maria, and Savannah beat Michelle McCool, Layla, and Beth Pheonix in a Santa's Little Helper match. James pinned McCool with her kick finisher. Maria played face in peril. Savannah needs a little polish, but could be very good in the future. Very quick match, very little action.

5. Kane beat Mike Knox with a chokeslam. Seeing Knox hit his crossbody and dropkick in person is SICK. Good big man match. Kane got a great reaction.

6. Matt Hardy beat CM Punk (w/Luke Gallows) with the Twist of Fate. Pre-match, Punk cut a promo on being straight edge. He began to talk in a southern drawl and asked the fans if they understood him better like this. He began to talk about retiring Jeff Hardy. He claimed to be the Hardy killer and that Matt was next. On his way out, his song actually ended before he got to the ring because he was talking so much trash to the fans. Punk is a master of wrestling psychology. Hardy finally came out to a MASSIVE pop, again, as expected. The match of the night, easily.

The Fink brought two kids in the ring to plug merchandise and throw t-shirts to the crowd. Kids should be quarterbacks. Hell of a thrower.

Intermission.

7. Drew McIntyre beat John Morrison by holding the ropes for leverage to retain the Intercontinental Title. McIntyre cut a promo on being Scottish, and on all of us being fools for believing in John Morrison. He said he was the best IC champ and he would prove it. McIntyre is quite tall in person and really does look like Brian Kendrick.
Morriosn hit a great slingshot huracanrana early on. McIntyre responded with a great series of big boots and corner clotheslines of his own. Very physical match throughout. Morrison pulled out Shawn Michaels' early 90's roll-up for a close two count later on. Solid action from both guys. Can't wait to see more.

8. Christian beat Ezekiel Jackson with the springboard sunset flip to retain the ECW Title. The match was almost entirely Jackson on offense. Zeke is better in person than most people give him credit for. Post match, Zeke attacked Christian only to have Vladimir Kozlov make the save.

9. The Undertaker defeated Batista with the Tombstone to retain the World Hvt. Championship. HUGE pop for Batista, many many more cheers than boos. Undertaker got the pop of the night by a long shot, which was sustained throughout his entire entrance. It's honestly sad to see one of my childhood heroes noticeably limping around the ring so badly. My friend kept commenting on how old and tired he looked. Taker might wanna take some more time off.

Other notes: The arena was 95 percent full. We were told later attendance was
close to 9,300, which is hard for me to believe, but it was packed. The crowd was hot for everyone all night long. The kids in front of me kept cheering for the heels, which had my friends and I half amused, half irritated. Howard Finkel was our ring announcer, which just made the experience that much better. Also, this is the first time I've noticed an entrance set for the house shows. It's very small, but to me it's a nice touch.

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