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Arena Reports
5/30 WWE Smackdown in Chattanooga: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy, Jericho vs. Morrison, Umaga vs. Punk, Kidd vs. Bourne May 30, 2009 - 10:05:31 PM
WWE Smackdown house show
May 30, 2009
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Report by Derik Zooashkiyani, PWTorch correspondent
Good crowd tonight, about 85 percent full.
(1) The Great Khali vs Dolph Ziggler. The advertised match was Khali vs Jericho, so I'm hoping Jericho is still gonna be here. Khali came out to a great pop. Ziggler had good heel heat. Dolph spent five minutes staling to really good heat. But then Khali hit the two handed choke and it was over. Chattanooga loves the Punjabi Playboy, much to my surprise. Tiffany came out and asked a family in the nosebleeds what next Sundays PPV was named, and then gave them ringside seats.
(2) Drew McIntyre vs Jimmy Wang Yang. Drew got on the mic and cut a promo talking about how lucky we are to see the greatest unknown prodigy. Yang got a nice pop. Good back and forth matchup. Yang threw Drew in the corner for the ten punches, but stopped at six. I think he thought that was as high as we could count Haha. Mcintyre crotched Yang while he went for the moonsault, hit a neckbreaker, and won.
(3) Tyson Kidd vs Evan Bourne. This match wasn't advertised, but God I'm glad it's happening. The Hart Dynasty walked out to a good little pop. No Hart Dynasty music though. Natayla cut the same promo she did on ECW, telling who they are. Bourne came out to a great pop. David Hart Smith attacked Bourne before the match,throwing him shoulder first into the ringpost, prompting Tiffany to ban Nattie and Smith for ringside. Tyson is just awesome to watch and listen to with his intensity. I hope he becomes a big player soon. Major focus of the match was Kidd working on the arm. Bourne came back with some amazing moves. Bourne hits the shooting star to win. Post match Smith comes back out and throws Bourne into the ringpost again. Tyson and Smith leave to HUGE heat. Man, that was just a fun match.
(4) Umaga vs. C.M. Punk. Chattanooga loves Punk too. He went all around the ring and shook hands with people before the match. Punk teased the GTS but couldn't do it. Umaga whips him into the turn buckle, went for the splash, Punk moved got the roll up and won.
(5) Jack Swagger & Mark Henry vs. Tommy Dreamer & Christian. Chattanooga is now officially known as Peepanooga. The people love Captain Charisma. Before the match Christian tried to throw his shirt out in the crowd but Henry and Swagger took it and ripped it up and rubbed each other with it. Have fun trying to sleep now readers. Christian then pointed to himself and Swagger for the Yay/Boo effect.
Christian with some early offense before getting double teamed by the heels. Hot tag to Dreamer who hits Swagger with the tree of woe ECW dropkick. Then Dreamer gets stopped and beat on. Swagger is great with his interaction with the crowd. While Henry's in the ring, Swagger is up on the buckles working the fans up. Just little things like that will make him a Wrestlemania headliner. Another hot tag to Christian, a great double clothesline on Swagger. Christian hit the top rope headbut on Henry for the win. Post match Dreamer and Christian brought a kid in with a sign that said It's My Birthday. Dreamer gave him his T Shirt. Cool little moment.
Intermission.
(6) Alicia Fox & Natalya vs. Melina & Gail Kim. The ladies went back and forth posing on the turnbuckles for the Yay/Boo thing again. Natalya and Fox worked Gail over for a while until she got tagged Melina. Melina hits her modified Canadian Destroyer for the win. Funny thing Gail and Natalya rolled out of the ring, some of Nattie's pink hair fell out.
(7) Chris Jericho vs John Morrison Jericho came out to MONSTER heat! He cut a promo on everyone calling us failures and how we've never lived up to our hopes and dreams. Morrison came out to a nice pop. People are definitely getting behind him. Jericho stalled for another few minutes again to MONSTER heat. Insane stuff. Big You Suck chant starts and Jericho gets the mic again and starts pointing at people saying, "you're a loser and you're a loser" funny stuff. Great match. Of course it was advertised Khali and Jericho, so I was very happy. Haha. So much great action. Sorry I didn't take better notes, I just got caught up in the match. Plus I had to fight to buy my girlfriend an Edge Teddy Bear. Morrison got caught in the Walls of Jericho but then reversed in into a great cradle for a near fall. Jericho whipped Morrison into the buckle and charged but Morrison moved and Jericho went shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Morrison hit the Starship Pain for the win. Just a great match. That Starship Pain is amazing to see in person. A privilege to see two of my favorites put on a great match.
(8) Main Event for the World Heavyweight Title Edge vs Jeff Hardy. Well, forget Peepanooga, might as well change it to Hardyville. I've seen Raw, ECW, and now Smackdown all this year and seen every major face in the WWE except the Undertaker, and I can say without hesitation Jeff Hardy got the loudest pop I've heard in a long time. I hope he decides to stay. Edge got great heat, but also got a pretty good face reaction too. Before the match started Edge got on the mic and asked Jeff to reconsider having this match after all the brutal matches they've had as of late. Jeff responded with a kick to the gut and the match was on. Typical fantastic Edge Hardy Match. Edge wins with the spear. After the match, Edge went to hit Jeff with the belt but hardy kicked him in the gut, hit the Twist of Fate and Swanton and celebrated with the fans.
NOTES: Overall it was a fantastic show. It's sad that this house show was better than the Raw TV show I saw in Nashville. Just some great matches. And the crowd was awesome.
Biggest Pops
1 Jeff Hardy
2 Christian
3 C M Punk.
Biggest Heat
1 Chris Jericho
2 Edge
3 Jack Swagger.
Derik Zooashkiyani
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