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Arena Reports
12/27 WWE in Trenton, N.J.: John Cena vs. Chris Jericho, Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels, Jack Swagger real deal Dec 29, 2008 - 1:14:45 AM
WWE Raw house show Report
December 27, 2008
Trenton, N.J. at the Sovereign Bank Arena
Report by Bob Anderson of Turnersville, N.J., PWTorch reader
(1) Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) beat Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas). Good opening match; slow-paced, with Henry dominating for the first several minutes. Atlas enters ring, and is flattened by Finlay, followed by a Hornswoggle splash from the top rope. Ref gets distracted, Finlay hits Henry with the shillelagh, then a three count on Henry. Post-match celebration with Finlay, Hornswoggle, and five kids from the audience. Very fan-friendly match.
(2) Kane beat Kofi Kingston. Kofi is relatively ineffective against the much-larger Kane. Kofi gets some decent spots in, but Kane wins with the chokeslam for the pin.
(3) Women's champion Beth Phoenix (w/Santino Marella) beat Melina. Good action and match, with Beth winning with a pinfall. Disappointingly, Santino was not allowed mic time.
(4) World tag team champions Miz & John Morrison beat Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspar & JTG). Predictable, athletic match with both teams hitting signature moves. M&M gets the pinfall win.
(5) ECW champion Matt Hardy beat Jack Swagger in an excellent 20-minute match with Matt winning with the Twist of Fate. Swagger looks like the real deal.
(6) Intercontinental champion William Regal beat C.M. Punk. Regal, moving really well, picks up the pinfall win over Punk in a 15-minute match.
(7) Randy Orton (w/Manu and Cody Rhodes) beat Shawn Michaels. Great action and match with Orton getting superb heel heat. After 15 minutes of nip and tuck action, HBK blocks the RKO and gets the pin after Sweet Chin Music flattens Orton. Fantastic match.
(8) WWE champion John Cena beat Chris Jericho. Jericho guarantees victory before the match, says that if he could, he would take on everyone in the arena for being lying hypocrites, etc. Hysterical. He's the best talker in the business right now. Another great match with several nearfalls. Cena wins in the end with the STFU.
All in all, a fantastic house show with a great, hot crowd that was into every match. WWE really delivered this time. Estimated attendance: 10,000 (sell-out).
BEST FACE HEAT
1. Cena
2. HBK
3. Matt Hardy
BEST HEEL HEAT
1. Jericho
2. Orton
3. Henry
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