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Arena Reports
7/3 WWE Raw in Peru: Michaels vs. Jericho, Triple H vs. Cena, Hardy vs. JBL, Cade vs. London Jul 7, 2008 - 10:46:54 AM
WWE Smackdown/ECW house show
July 3, 2008
Lima, Peru
Report by Rodrigo Salazar, PWTorch.com reader
Hello to all the readers and staff at PWTorch.com, my name's Rodrigo Salazar from Lima, Peru. I like to read the Torch a lot, one of the best websites out there if you want to read reviews about wrestling tv shows and PPVs. Well, here's my recap of the Raw house show that took place in Lima.
Crowd attendance was said to be around 15,000 to 18,000, but it wasn't sold out at all. It was a good show in my opinion.
(1) Jim Duggan defeated Carlito. Originally Kennedy was supposed to face Carlito, but he got drafted to Smackdown and never came to Peru after the press conference from a month ago. Carlito got a huge ovation from the crowd when he entered the ring. He said in spanish he came despite to represent latinos despite getting drafted to Smackdown (that got booed), which got him a bigger ovation. He started to get his heel heat by dissing the crowd calling men small cowards and women ugly. He said Puerto Rico was better, which got a Peru chant in response. Carlito talked about the lack of peruvian wrestlers and that he wanted to fight against one. The "Pitbull" chants rose (Pitbull's a MMA fighter from Peru) and Jim Duggan showed up to battle Carlito. Match was dull wrestling-wise. The match ends when Carlito brings his apple to the ring, the referee tries to stop him, Duggan clothslined Carlito and got the pinfall victory.
(2) Santino Marella defeated Charlie Haas. Before the match started, Santino talked on the mic in italian and got his heel heat. Haas came to little face reaction. Match was quite lengthy, even a small "boring" chant ensued. The match ended when Haas went for a splash in the corner, Santino evades and gets a roll-up pin for the win. Haas left the arena with applauses from the crowd.
(3) Lance Cade defeated Paul London. Not a bad match. People at ringside chanted "ROH" which made London smile and even chanted "We Want Shooting". Match ended with Cade getting the victory after smashing London's head against the ringpost with his knee and later finished him off with his finishing move.
(4) Jeff Hardy defeated JBL. Finally a match that people cared about. JBL shows up. He said he didn't speak the stupid mexican spanish, which draw huge boos. Later, he had the ref saying in spanish that Bush rules the world, which draw even bigger boos. JBL later went on to sing "God Bless America", which was hilarious IMO, but nearly the entire crowd booed hard. To finish it off, he chanted "U-S-A! Champion!" a few times. Biggest heel heat of the night. Jeff showed up and they battled. Match was good. It ended when JBL failed his Clothsline From Hell and Hardy does the Twist Of Fate and the Swanton Bomb to end the match. Hardy celebrates his victory with the crowd.
(5) Triple H defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Championship. When Tony Chimel announced the match, everyone was shocked. Cena arrived to a mixed crowd reaction. Triple H got a monster pop from the crowd. A few "Fuck You Cena" and "Cena sucks" chants there in the match against Cena, as well as getting booed during the match by the anti-Cena crowd and cheered by his fans. Trips ate the steel steps early in the match. Cena called his 5-move sequence, but Trips countered the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. Cena goes for his sequence again and he went for the F-U, but Triple H countered that into a DDT. Later the WWE Champion got on the offensive and he went for the Pedigree, but Cena countered into the STFU. Triple H escaped and nailed the Pedigree for a two count. Cena hits the FU for a two count. Near the ending of the match, Triple H gets the Crossface on Cena for a big pop, but Cena lifted Triple H for the F-U, Triple H escaped and called the Pedigree and I thought it was gonna be similar to the ending at NOC 2008, but Cena dropped Triple H to the floor and catapulted him to the turnbuckle. Cena goes for the F-U one more time, but Trips escaped the move and nailed the Pedigree to end the match. Very good match that went nearly 20 minutes. Cena left the stadium quickly while Triple H posed with the crowd and celebrated his victory.
Intermission time after the WWE Title Match.
(6) Mickie James defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the Women's Title. Crowd was quiet except for some moves and the parts where Mickie James shaked her ass. Even the ref got booed a bit when he checked on Mickie, crowd. Match was really good, despite Mickie botching a spot. Mickie retained with a Tornado DDT. By the way, Beth was the only heel that left the stadium with the crowd appaluding her.
(7) Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes defeated Cryme Tyme to retain the World Tag Team Titles. Hardly any reaction for the champs until they started cheating. DiBiase Jr. isn't a bad wrestler, he's quite good. A "Money, Money, Yeah, Yeah" chant ensued. But the star of the match was JTG. CT was very succesful at pumping the crowd up. Heels worked on JTG for most of the match until Shad got the hot tag. Match ended with Shad jobbing to DiBiase Jr in the same way that Holly jobbed to DiBiase Jr. at NOC 2008. CT really earned the crowd's respect and left the arena to a big ovation.
(8) Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho. Very good match. It went 17 minutes long. Before the match began, Jericho showed up and got a nice reaction. He talked in spanish (half-assed spanish... Yo Soy Un Bueno Persono... Cobardes... Mentirousous...) and insulting the crowd as cowards and bad guys. He said Shawn Michaels wouldn't be on the stadium, which drew big boos. HBK showed up to a big reaction and attacked Jericho right away. Jericho tried getting a steel chair, but the ref didn't allowed it. Jericho tore apart a fan's sign. Then the guys worked their usual spots. Jericho even punched HBK in the eye haflway through the match. Near the ending, HBK was about to deliver Sweet Chin Music to Y2J, but Cade arrived and clothslined Michaels. The referee ejected Cade, Jericho protested with the ref and some people were laughing at how long Jericho was talking with the ref since they all knew the Sweet Chin Music was coming. Michaels connected the superkick and won. After the match ended, some old guy tossed cold water to Jericho's face. Jericho was pissed off and security chased the idiot, but he managed to escape the stadium. He wore the Peru flag to a big ovation and then shaked hands with some fans and left.
Notes: Overall, a good show. I liked it and I hope WWE comes again with Smackdown so that I can get the chance to see Edge and Undertaker (hopefully)
Biggest ovations:
1. Triple H
2. Michaels holding the Peru flag.
3. Carlito (when he entered the ring until he turned heel on the crowd).
4. Shawn Michaels
5. Jeff Hardy or John Cena (his in-ring entrance mostly)
Loudest heel heat:
1. JBL
2. Carlito
3. Chris Jericho
4. John Cena
5. Lance Cade or Santino Marella
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