WWE Raw house show report
June 17, 2007
Raleigh, N.C. at the RBC Center
Report by Scott Lynn of Cary, N.C., PWTorch VIP Member

I just got back from a Raw brand house show at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. The last WWE show here was No Mercy back in October of last year. That crowd was fairly large at around 9,000 people and pretty hot through the night. Tonight's house show had maybe 4,000 people or so. Kind of strange to see in an 18,000 seat venue. I'd say just over 1/3 of the 100 level seating was full and the floor was also full. Anyways, on to the results...

Match #1 - Cryme Tyme vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team

First people out of the curtain cheers for Cryme Tyme along with decent heat for TWGTT. Cryme Tyme picks up the surprising win after Shad isolates Charlie Haas and hits a Snakeeyes followed by a bulldog for the win.

Match #2 - Chuck Palumbo vs. Carlito

Chuck Palumbo is doing the biker gimmick now, as he actually rode a motorcycle out to the ring, too bad he's still Chuck Palumbo and most people didn't recognize him (oh what short memories wrestling fans have). My question of the night is how much in the doghouse must Carlito really be? Palumbo won this match with some sort of move that started in powerbomb position but ended kind of like an RKO?

Match #3 - Women's Championship - Melina vs. Mickie James

Val Venis came out as the special referee first off, he's looking very slim these days. Typical cat calls for both ladies, who of course came out looking great as usual. Both seemed to be in a very good, fun mood too (surprising since Melina and Nitro are now going to be split up), as they were both laughing and kind of playful with one another before the match. As expected from these two, it was a very good match, better then some of the others we had to witness tonight. Melina gets the win with a rollup in the corner while holding the rope to retain her title.

Match #4 - Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley

Umaga got a fair amount of heat while Lashley got a huge pop, much larger then at No Mercy. Familiar match from these two, but it was pretty good for what it was. Lashley hits the spear out of nowhere for the win.

Intermission + Maria firing t shirts into the crowd. Maria had the shortest shorts I've ever seen in my life, which was fine with most of the males in attendance. She called out Eugene to help her shoot shirts into the crowd for a few minutes. After finishing with the shirt gun, she said she had one more shirt to give out, hers. After teasing each side of the ring for a moment, she stripped off her shirt and threw it. While this happened, Ron Simmons came out to the ring. Maria turned to find him and basically gave him what amounted to a standing lap dance for quick second. This prompted the obligatory DAMN!

Match #5 - Intercontinental Title - Santino Marella vs. Snitsky

First of all, half the crowd wasn't back to their seats yet, second of all, they didn't care when they did get back. And with good reason. This match was terrible, Marella is very green still and Snitsky isn't exactly a technician either. Mercifully it ended quickly when Marella caught Snitsky with a rollup from behind for the pin. Snitsky gets the last laugh with a big boot to the face. Let's all pray this feud doesn't make it to TV.

Match #6 - World Tag Team Titles - Cade & Murdoch vs. The Hardys

Good heat for the champs and a huge pop for the (almost) hometown Hardys. Lots of pre-match back and forth between the teams and the crowd with Cade and Murdoch playing their roles very well. Another familiar match between these two teams for the most part. Finish came by DQ when the champs wouldn't break up a double team on Matt in the corner while Jeff was down and out. Hardys clear the ring and then celebrate with their fans. Matt then gets on the mic and says since it's a holiday they have somebody special in the house. Sitting in the front row, 4 rows directly ahead of me was Matt and Jeff's father, Gil, who made the short trip up from Cameron, N.C. They had him come into the ring and say a few words while the crowd cheered enthusiastically. Nice moment for the boys as their father seemed genuinely touched.

Match #7 and 8 - WWE Championship - John Cena vs. Daniel Rodimer(?) and John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Randy Orton came out first to a very split crowd, followed by what was by far the hugest pop of the night for John Cena. Orton then got on the mic and said he wasn't medically cleared to wrestle and made sure everybody saw the splint on his middle and ring fingers on one hand. He said he had a replacement however. Out comes a mystery man much to the crowd's dismay. This guy is best described as much larger, jacked up Kenny Dykstra. Actually, several people around me at first thought it was Test. The name, which I didn't hear if announced, on his trunks was Rodman. I have to say, the guy actually looked a lot better then anything we saw out of Marella, Snitsky, or Palumbo. Real basic back and forth match ending with Cena hitting the FU after Orton's interference backfires. Orton then hits the ring and demands the referee ring the bell and that it be a title match. Orton proceeds to pull off the aforementioned sling and attack Cena. This at least made the crowd happier in terms of getting to see the expected Main Event. Good match between the two which saw Orton escape the STFU by rope break. The end came when Orton hit a quick RKO but was still recovering from the dreaded 5 knuckle shuffle and both men went down. At 6, both got up and Cena quickly hit the FU to get the win and send the kids home happy.

All in all a fun house show, the first non-televised event I've been to in 9 years and the first time I've had floor seats. Crowd was hot for as small as it was, but this is N.C. and wrestling is still pretty big here.

MOST HEEL HEAT:
1. Cade & Murdoch
2. Umaga
3. World's Greatest Tag Team

BIGGEST POPS:
1. Cena
2. Hardys with a close second from the home crowd
3. Bobby Lashley

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