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Arena Reports
7/5 WWE in Honolulu, Hawaii: Rey vs. Jericho with Steamboat as ref, Punk vs. Hardy, Dreamer vs. Swagger vs. Christian Jul 6, 2009 - 10:17:51 AM
WWE Smackdown/ECW brand house show report
July 5, 2009
Honolulu, Hawaii at Blaisdell Arena
Report by Reid S., PWTorch.com reader
-- Just got back from the WWE house show at the Blaisdell Arena and the wrestlers packed the fans in tonight. Only three areas in the upper section were roped off. Other then that, it looked like a near sellout. The WWE made no announcement regarding Edge's injury, although some fans already knew while others were unaware.
(1) John Morrison pinned Shelton Benjamin. A decent opener that was a little too methodical for my taste, but it picked up towards the end. After a nice counter into a DDT, Morrison pinned Benjamin after hitting Starship Pain.
(2) Mark Henry pinned Evan Bourne. I was excited to see Bourne for the first time. I wish it would have been against an opponent his size. Henry basically rag dolled Bourne all over the ring. Bourne managed to get in some offense towards the end before Henry pinned him following the World's Strongest Slam.
(3) Great Khali pinned Dolph Ziggler. Honolulu loves the Great Khali! The Punjabi Playboy received a huge roar from the Hawaii fans and a couple of "Khali" chants broke out during the match. Basically a comedy match with Ziggler doing a ton of stalling before Khali finished him with the two-handed chokeslam.
(4) World Hvt. champion C.M. Punk pinned Jeff Hardy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Jeff Hardy is big time over with Hawaii fans. As for Punk, he received a mixed reaction that turned to boos towards the end. Before the match, Punk took the time to pose for a picture with a fan and his sign that read, "I wish the Cubs could win a championship like C.M. Punk." Speaking as a fellow Cubs fan, isn't that the truth. Very good action in this one that saw Hardy fight out of the Go to Sleep, slide into a sunset flip attempt, only to be countered into a pin by Punk.
(5) Melina & Gail Kim defeated Women's champion Michelle McCool & Alicia Fox with Maria as Guest Referee. As soon as Maria's music hit, I saw one fan coming back from intermission suddenly sprint to his seat and heard him say, "Ooh its Maria!" Melina and Gail were very over with the crowd, unfortunately Michelle McCool cannot draw any heel heat. The match itself was very fast paced and solid with Melina playing the face in peril before making the hot tag to Kim who got the pin on Alicia Fox.
(6) ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer defeated Jack Swagger and Christian to retain the ECW Title. Decent Triple Threat match that saw Christian pretty much play the role of punching bag. Swagger is a lot bigger in person then I thought and no doubt he'll be a big time star. Fans started a "we want tables" chant but there was no was that was happening. Finish came after Swagger delivered the gutwrench powerbomb to Christian, but he walked right into a DDT by Dreamer.
(7) Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio pinned Chris Jericho with Ricky Steamboat as Guest Referee to retain the IC Title. I have to say that Chris Jericho is awesome to watch live in person. Before the match started Jericho got on the mic and tore into the fans, drawing massive heel heat. He pointed to a sign that said "Jericho is a Mahu." For those that don't know, Mahu is a local term for a man that dresses and acts like a woman. Apparently Jericho didn't know the meaning either and said if Mahu meant he were great, then he's a biggest Mahu in Hawaii. Mysterio got a huge pop from the fans, perhaps even bigger than Hardy. Steamboat also got a big pop, since he's billed as being from Hawaii.
As for the match, I don't believe its possible for Jericho and Mysterio to have a bad outing as both men put on a great 15-20 minute main event. The finish came after Jericho and Steamboat were involved in a tug of war over a steel chair, allowing Mysterio to nail Y2J with the 619 and splash for the win. After the match, Jericho beat down on Steamboat before the Dragon roared back with a few karate chops to send Jericho running.
-- Overall, I had a great time at the show, and one last thing, a big thank you to the Blaisdell Arena ticket staff and Ticketmaster. My friend forgot his tickets at home. Fortunately, my other friend who had purchased the tickets online spoke with the box office and they kindly printed out new tickets. Much mahalo to everyone that helped resolve this situation!
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