WWE Smackdown/Raw house show ("Tour of Defiance")
October 13, 2002
Calgary, Alb. at Pengrowth Saddledome
Report by T.J. Madigan, PWTorch.com correspondent

(1) Tajiri pinned Funaki after locking in the Tarantula followed by a crescent kick to the head. Funaki wasn't given any mic time, kinda strange considering his promos are the best part of his gimmick. Run-of-the-mill opener, went about 5 minutes.

(2) Stampede Wrestling's Harry Smith beat Teddy Hart after delivering a powerslam. Both were way over with the crowd - don't know how, considering Stampede's weekly attendance is 150, but great to see anyway. Smith (British Bulldog's son) was the clear babyface, while Hart played the heel to perfection. No obvious missed spots or green mistakes, great psychology for such young workers.

(3) Val Venis beat Bull Buchanan by submission in a match that ran about three minutes too long (Where's Bischoff when you need him?). Venis got the first huge pop of the night though. Crowd gradually lost interest throughout.

(4) Shannon Moore & Billy Kidman beat John Cena & Shelton Benjamin. Cena is a natural heel, totally turned the crowd against him without resorting to a anti-Calgary promo or anything obvious.  Benjamin played the 'loose cannon' role, flipping out when he was pinned by Moore. Decent match, though the spots were being called a little too audibly.

(5) Lance Storm beat D-Von Dudley. The Reverend got a lot of heat with a pre-match promo dissing the Flames (the city's hockey team), the Hart family and Calgary itself. Lance Storm came out and responded saying that if he could be serious for a minute, D-Von was about to get bitch-slapped. Yes, he actually used the words 'bitch-slapped'. Storm (unbelievably over, even by hometown standards) beat D-Von with the sharpshooter, an obvious tribute to you-know-who, which the crowd popped huge for.

(6) Brock Lesnar beat Chris Jericho. Just like in Edmonton last night, Brock Lesnar interrupted the intermission announcement and roughed up the ring announcer, insisting on an immediate match so he could get out of Calgary. A lot of pussyfooting around in his match with Jericho (Y2J got a lot more offense than I thought he would) but Brock went over clean with the F-5. There was a Matt Hardy run-in near the end, but it served no purpose. After the match, Jericho broke character, talking about how he felt about Calgary and how anxious he was to perform at the show. Very classy.

Intermission

(7) Jamie Noble pinned Rey Mysterio with his feet on the ropes. Mysterio (first match in Calgary, so he got props from the crowd) hit the 619 on both Noble and Nidia after the match. A lot more mat-work and rest-holds than expected. Mysterio posed with the Cruiserweight strap after the final bell.

I know Benoit makes anyone look good, but Hardy deserves credit for carrying his end. Great match, great psychology, great heat (Matt really turned the crowd against him in the early going), great finish.

(9) Torrie Wilson beat Dawn Marie in a bra and panties match. Served its purpose, crowd was really into it. Funny spot where the ref got tangled up when the girls were rolling around, and he dropped on top of them and rolled with them a few times. He then leapt up onto he turnbuckle and proudly raised his hand while the crowd applauded him. Hilarious stuff.

(10) Edge & Christian beat Los Guerreros with a double-spear and double-pin. Match went about 12 minutes. Teased dissension between E&C throughout. Eddie appeared to get hardway cut when he was dropkicked and butted heads with Chavo. He lay still while Edge stood over him waiting for the next spot, before powdering out of the ring for a few minutes. Lot of blood, seemed to be from above his right eye.  Made it back in the ring for the finish and even teased taking the the con-chair-to, but never delivered. E&C celebrated after the match to a DJ-style mix of both entrance musics. They congratulated each other, admitted they still "reeked of awesomeness" and even did the 5-second pose.

Biggest pops were for Jericho, Edge, Torrie, Benoit and Lance Storm. D-Von and Lesnar got most heel heat, with Teddy Hart and Matt Hardy coming close behind.

Saddledome was maybe one-third full (Christian claimed a 6,000-strong crowd, I think it might be a bit lower), with all the upper tiers completely empty. No return-date announced.

Funniest crowd chants:

"We want Hebner!" (directed at Mike Chioda)
"You have no neck!" (directed at Lesnar)
"We want another ref!" (directed at Chioda again).
"The ref's wearing granny panties!" (directed at Chioda - and yes, the panty-lines were visible)
"Mullets rule!" (directed at Eddie).
"We don't like Ricky Martin here!" (directed at Chavo)
"403, 403, 403" (Calgary's area code, chanted during Storm match)
"Eddie, is Chavo your new Mamacita?" (Eddie responded with "I'll make you my Mamacita, bitch!")
"Border Jumper" (directed at Guerreros)

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