Monday, August 22nd, 2005. WWE SmackDown! presented a live event in my very own hometown of Richmond, Virginia, while, I might add, the Raw crew was off in Hampton putting on a live show. Now, I have been to many wrestling events live. More than I can count to be honest, but this was the first WWE event I had ever had the opportunity to go to. WWE comes to Virginia very sparingly because of our wrestling regulations (damn you, board!) so it's a big thing. Every time they come though, I either have no money or have some other obligation like a family event or school or something. This time, however, I had the money, I had the means, and I had the motive. I would get to see my favorite superstar of all time, Undertaker, go live one-on-one against Randy Orton. I would also get to see three of my other favorite wrestlers live in Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, and Eddie Guerrero. As soon as I heard of them coming to Richmond, I had my girlfriend Laura buy the tickets the morning they went on sale with my credit card (I had to work that morning) and we had our seats: 5th row back on the floor from the ring.
Being pumped the day of the 22nd was an understatement. Laura and I ate an early dinner at our favorite restaurant and then high-tailed it over to the event. It started at 7, but we got there some time around 5. In one of the lulls of the night, they didn't let people in until around 6:30, so we stood in the line to get in for about an hour as my girlfriend got seriously dehydrated. When the doors finally opened, we walked in and found our seats which were excellent, but, the set was not.
No Titan Tron, no entrance way, no nothing except for the ring and cheap metal barriers. This was an immediate turn off for the night, but I tried not to let it ruin the night. Laura and I went over to the mass riot of a merchandise stand and she bought a Rey Mysterio shirt while I bought a program (hoping I could get some autographs afterwards). Of course, everything was over priced, but what do you expect? That's the same with any sport in any arena. Anyway, we bought our stuff and took our seats next to an alcoholic father and the night began!
Booker T Vs. Ken Kennedy
Before the match, Kennedy got on the mike and did basically what we all saw him do Thursday night. I dig Kennedy. I think he's going to fit in nicely. This was a typical match, nothing special, but it did help Kennedy grow a lot. Sharmell is starting to look very bland to me. Overall, the match was all right, but from someone like Booker, I expected more. Finish came when Booker hit the Scissors Kick and it was a wonderful way to pump up my hometown as they popped like monkeys for bananas.
Winner: Booker T
Star Wrestler: Ken Kennedy
I really enjoyed Kennedy. The way he swaggered in the match was cool and his rapport with the fans was cool too.
After the match, Teddy Long came out in all his playa glory. He talked about how he traded two divas (wouldn't say who) for Stacy and Christy and they will compete tonight in a tag team bikini match with Jillian Hall and Melina. Great. Just what I paid ninety bucks for (combined price of Laura's and my tickets). He then announced that we would see Taker take on Orton. Well, duh, I already knew that! Finally, he said we would see Benoit go against Christian and Orlando Jordan in a Triple Threat. Hell, yes! That's what I wanted to hear. Long goes back and then we go to the next match.
William Regal Vs. Hardcore Holly
Regal came out to boos all around. I think I was the only one around marking for him though. Holly then came out and the crowd went ape shit. Why? Who knows? I hate Holly. Such a generic face with nothing going for him except a stiff chop. The guy has no respect for the business and just loves being a veteran because it means beating sense into rookies who already have it. This match was great. Holly kept chopping Regal till Regal's chest was nice and purple, and after each chop, Regal would swagger around looking like he just pissed himself. It was great and I'm so glad Regal is heel again. Anyway, this match was loads of fun and I just loved Regal. It was great seeing him live and the best part of the match saw the crowd begging Holly for one more chop and Regal trying his best to quiet them down. It was off the wall hilarious. Finish came when Holly went for the Alabama Slam and Paul Burchill came out and distracted the ref and Holly. Regal snagged the knux and laid out Holly for the win.
Winner: William Regal
Star Wrestler: William Regal
Seeing Regal swagger was well worth the price of admission. His heel work here was some of the best post-2000 work he's done.
Mexicools Vs. Stevie Richards & Scotty 2 Hotty
I would love to see a Hotty-Mexicool (or perhaps Juvi) feud. It looks like WWE might go there too. Even if it's just a small played TV feud. Anyway, it's weird to see Stevie with Scotty 2 Hotty. It was just plain Stevie Richards, not Big Stevie Cool or anything. The match was nothing special. I'm really not that impressed with Super Crazy and Psicosis in the WWE. It's obvious that WWE has a slower paced style than lucha libre promotions, but I don't think it's ever been as obvious as watching the Mexicools. Some high points of the match were all comedy: it was a comedic night. Super Crazy wanted to shake hands with Scotty 2 Hotty and he wouldn't go for it. Super Crazy swore he wasn't going to do anything and even shook hands with Psicosis to prove it. That part with Psicosis was probably one of the highlights of the night. Just pure hilarity. Stevie Richards convinced Scotty to tag him in and he did. Stevie then went right up and shook his hand and then Super Crazy beat him down. Pure comedy moment. The match continued in no special fashion until Scotty went for the worm. Stevie tagged himself in and went for the pin, but didn't get it. Scotty then did the worm onto Stevie! Super Crazy then did his springboard Moonsault and picked up the win.
Winners: Mexicools
Star Wrestler: Stevie Richards
Like Regal, his comedy sold the match. It was great stuff and I love him in the ring. His tantrum after the match and his lonely walk up the ramp was great too. It was a mediocre match made better thanks to the pink tight wearing tweener.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Fatal Four-Way
Nunzio (c) Vs. Funaki Vs. Juventud Guerrera Vs. Spanky
You read it right! Two days after his appearance in ROH, Spanky made his return to WWE on my very first event! I was marking out so much, let me tell you. This match was good but I have to ask: why Funaki and not Paul London? It seemed so random! Juvi played face in this match (although he may have done it for the pop he received) and from the get-go, it was 3 on 1 against Nunzio. Big Vito played a good role in this match too. The match was good, but for a four way and who was in the match, I expected way better. My expectations with each match were not met. Kind of sad, but shit happens. The 3 on 1 was the best part of the match including a spot where everyone went to the outside, and when Nunzio did, everyone moved out of the way and didn't bother catching him. Finish saw Vito distracting everyone and Nunzio hitting a top rope move onto Funaki.
Winner: Nunzio
Star Wrestler: Spanky
No one stood out as amazing in this match, but Spanky is back! Yay!
Undertaker Vs. Randy Orton
I'm surprised this match came so quick; it was advertised as the main event. Anyway, this match was amazing. It was like their Summerslam match except they didn't have to deal with the time constraints. Taker worked Orton's arm masterfully and Orton worked Taker's leg miles better than he did the night before. One of the coolest parts was when Orton got into Last Ride position and when he was lifted, he just jumped out of the way. Nice cowardly spot. This match was simply great and Taker and Orton both played to the crowd immensely. Finish saw Bob Orton come out and try and distract Taker. Taker then chokeslammed him and Orton and pinned Orton for the win.
Winner: Undertaker
Star Wrestler: Undertaker
It feels like Orton did everything he did the night before in this match, and Taker was the one who really turned it up a notch. He played to the crowd excellently and sold Orton's offense better than anyone has since Benoit last August. Giving Taker this accolade may just be because he's my favorite of all time and this was the first time I saw him live, but the guy really made this match amazing.
They then announced a short intermission and Laura and I high-tailed it out of our seats to get some food, yet the lines were ridiculous. Definitely standard procedure though. We come back as two of the divas are coming out and we go right into the bikini match.
Bikini Contest
Jillian Hall Vs. Melina Vs. Stacy Keibler Vs. Christy Hemme
It was a bikini contest. Need I say more? They advertised a tag match, but it was simply one on one on one on one. Melina refused to show her body and Jillian tried her best to cover the blemish. It was your standard bikini contest that saw Stacy come out on top.
Winner: Stacy Keibler
Star Wrestler: I'll tell you who when you tell me which one of them is a wrestler.
After the match, the heels beat down the faces, but the faces come out on top. As Christy & Stacy stand tall, MNM come out to make the save. Before they can do anything, the new Road Warriors make their way out and we get a match!
WWE Tag Team Championship
MNM Vs. New Road Warriors
This was a fun match, I thought. Animal and Heidenreich were massively over, and everything - I mean everything - MNM did pissed the crowd off. Like in their other matches, Heidenreich played the face in peril while Nitro and Matthews picked up the blunt work. It was a fun match though, probably best WWE tag team match I have seen in a while. Finish came when they hit the Doomsday Device onto Nitro.
Winners: New Road Warriors
Star Wrestler: Heidenreich
I never thought he'd be getting one of these in "Squared Circle Reviews," but the weird guy himself was great in this match. He had the crowd behind him massively, his comeback offense made sense and was in the right places, and he sold amazingly. Heidenreich has now become a great fixture in WWE and I for one am happy for him. I was skeptical like all last year, and now he has come into his own with Animal. The only thing I am scared about is what happens when Animals leaves WWE?
WWE United States Championship
Triple Threat Elimination
Chris Benoit (c) Vs. Christian Vs. Orlando Jordan
Jordan was the brunt of "You tapped out!" chants the whole match and he played to it well. Jordan is a good undercard heel, I feel. He's not heelish enough to carry the title though and that was one of WWE's biggest blunders this year. Benoit was massively over, and him carrying that title was a definite sight for sore eyes. The match could have been miles better for an elimination stipulation (my favorite for triples and four-ways). One of the high points saw Benoit going for the diving headbutt to Christian & Jordan, yet they both moved out of the way at the same point. I don't think I've ever seen that before so it was pretty cool. Christian was eliminated first with a quick roll-up, and then it was Jordan-Benoit which went on mediocre. For the match these two had at the Bash, I expected miles better. Finish for this fall saw JBL coming out to interfere causing Benoit to win by DQ. Lackluster to say the least. A good match that could have been miles better.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Star Wrestler: Chris Benoit
They were all phoning in this performance, but Benoit was at least trying to play to the crowd so he gets the nod.
After the match, JBL and Jordan beat down Benoit until Rey Mysterio come out to make the save. After a minute of face in charge action, Eddie Guerrero ran down to attack his rival and the heels started to come off. To the biggest pop of the night, Batista's music hit the arena and ran out to make the save. As the heels started to retreat, the playa Long came out and announced they would have a six man now. Richmond literally pissed their pants at this news.
Batista, Rey Mysterio, & Chris Benoit Vs. John Bradshaw Layfield, Eddie Guerrero, & Orlando Jordan
Now, I enjoyed this six man match, but probably more than I should have. There wasn't much about it besides seeing a nice culmination of three feuds. The match on SmackDown! was miles less than this one in all aspects as well. JBL and Eddie played some nice heel work making Jordan start the match and stay in there and I loved the reluctant heel work all three of them did. The only bad thing about this match that really stood out (other than rest holds galore) was the fact that the crowd kept losing interest over and over and over again. For a hot crowd like Richmond, that shouldn't have happened. I swear, every 30 seconds either Rey or Batista was trying to will the crowd into Benoit. It's not like a regular tag when they do that once and then the face makes the comeback because of the enormous response. They would get the fans chanting and then the fans would stop. It was kind of pathetic and I actually felt bad for Batista and Rey. I don't know what it was. I guess it was just the fact that match went way too long. The finish was great though. Rey hit the West Coast Pop onto Eddie, Batista hit the bomb on JBL, and Benoit locked in the Crossface. Rey and Batista covered their rivals and as the ref counted three, Jordan tapped out to Benoit.
Winners: Batista, Rey Mysterio, & Chris Benoit
Star Wrestler: Eddie Guerrero
The crowd would have been completely dead had it not been for Eddie shouting at them and just being the great worker he was. In the land of mediocrity that was this match, Eddie was god. Again, it may be me just overrating another of my favorites but I love Rey and Benoit too and you don't see me tooting their horn. In fact, Benoit was definitely phoning in his performance shy the Germans and Crossface.
After the event, Laura and I walked around outside for a long time, I mean really long time, looking for the superstars to get some signatures or something. We were so dumb though. We saw this huge crowd circled around a ramp way but shrugged it off as some urban collection or party or some shit like that. As we walked back after what felt like an eternity circling the arena, we saw the ramp and guess what: the ramp was the exit and entrance for the arena staff and stars. Meaning, we had missed all of the wrestlers who had driven out. Great! However, we waited a bit and got to see Eddie Guerrero and Batista drive away. Eddie Guerrero didn't really do anything for the crowd, but then again, the crowd didn't care for him. My thinking here was he was a heel and the crowd knew that. They didn't care for him so why should he stop and say something? Batista, however, that was an interesting case. The people marked so much for the champion and he simply put his window down an eighth of an inch so they could see his hair before speeding off. What a freaking dick. Seriously. There were kids seriously screaming their lungs out for him and he just sped off like he had better things to do then give thanks to the people who pay his bills. That pissed me off. Even more, it's the mentality I have that Batista got all of his success because of the crowd's change of heart in late 2004. Without that change of heart, Batista would be lucky to be IC champion.
The whole event was a good experience. The wrestling of the night itself was mediocre, but for the pure aura of the event, seeing Spanky return, and seeing four of my favorites of all time in the ring, it was well worth it. Of course, I wished some things were better, but I really can't complain about it that much. It was an overwhelming experience and I can't wait for WWE to come back, which the way things go, will be in another two years.
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