WWE Raw brand house show report
July 17, 2009
Aiken, S.C.
Report by: Derek Dugan, Torch reader

The USC-Aiken Convocation Center holds about 4,000 and it appeared to be full capacity.

(1) Evan Bourne beat The Brian Kendrick in 13:00. Big pop for Bourne as the opening act. Kendrick came out to equally big heat (and lots of girl screams) and worked the crowd for some big heat. Loud "You Suck" chants began as Kendrick mixed it up with many different people around ringside. Bourne began working the arm; Kendrick escaped to ringside and played the chicken-shit heel avoiding Bourne. Bourne caught up, threw TBK into the ring and was immediately caught into an arm bar by TBK, who screamed loudly "Who Sucks Now!?" Lots of mat work into a big comeback by Bourne. Bourne with some aerial moves finally into a Shooting Star Press for the pin. Review: Slow pace with flurries of action. Milked the crowd enthusiasm for an opening match. Kendrick was really good at milking the crowd.

Kelly Kelly was introduced as "Tonight's Guest Hostess" from the top row of the center. She asked a person what the name of the next pay-per-view was – they answered correctly – and were given four front row seats. Kelly Kelly, the "Guest Hostess," wasn't seen for the rest of the show.

(2) Divas champion Maryse & Alicia Fox beat Gail Kim & Mickie James in 11:00. Little to no reaction for the heels, despite a great effort by Maryse to generate heat. Gail Kim got a nice pop and a much bigger one for James. Surprisingly good action from the Divas, considering how little they are given to work with on TV. Maryse taunted Mickie and avoided her through the beginning of the match. Maryse threatened to take the count out and knocked a hat off a fan, leading to lots of jawing with the fans until Mickie threw her back in. Fox and Kim worked the majority of the match with Kim looking strong, but also some very good work out of Fox. Fox showed attention to the small things (stepping on Kim's hair when tagging to Maryse, etc). Kim was worked over for a while, hot tag to James, and all four in the match with Kim and Fox to the outside. James went to the top rope, but Fox snapped her off the rope into a DDT from Maryse and the pin. Review: Enjoyable match, Maryse worked hard to get the crowd to hate her and Fox was surprisingly good with little personality, though. James and Kim were also solid, as expected.

(3) Jack Swagger beat Primo Colon. Swagger is, as Wade Keller says, deceptively big. Primo entered first to an average pop and made a show of hitting on the ring announcer. Swagger got a good pop and then played the chicken shit heel (the third heel to do so) avoiding locking up. When they finally locked up, Swagger got the take down and celebrated around the ring and was hilarious doing so (and got a good amount of boos). Lots of mat work with Swagger getting the pin. Review: I missed part of the match, but what I saw was slow. Primo did hold his own against Swagger and it was an even match.

(4) U.S. champion Kofi Kingston beat Chavo Guerrero in 15:00. Kofi got a big pop and Chavo got a lot of "taunting" heat. Lots of back and forth to this match with Chavo getting some good offense and Kofi working hard with aerial moves. Chavo got a pop for the "three amigos." The end came when Hornswoggle came up behind Chavo and hit him in the rear and turned to a big kick from Kofi. After the match, Kofi and Hornswoggle danced around the ring imitating each other's dances. Review: Big reactions for Kofi and Hornswoggle. The match was average for excitement and both guys worked hard. Kofi had a good connection with the audience and played the babyface role very well. He was definitely over at a U.S. Title level and worked the crowd very hard before, during, and after the match.

The ring announcer (did not recognize her) threw T-shirts to the crowd with the help of two kids, one wanted to leave the ring with the shirt rather than throw it (funny stuff). The ring announcer pushed that there were "12 Rounds" DVDs signed by John Cena for sale in the lobby – then led us to intermission.

(5) Santino Marella beat Carlito in 3:00. Carlito did the first mic work of the night, explaining himself for turning on Primo and repeating the line "It's All About Me." The "what?" chant broke out during his promo and Carlito timed his comments along with it. He talked about Primo holding him back from his goal to be the WWE champ. He was strong and serious, but got no heat at all – people were still filing back in. Santino came in to a big pop, and took the mic and proceeded to taunt Carlito until he got apple spit in his face. Santino seemed to tweak a hamstring after 1 minute into the match, stretched then turned it into a dance and ran into a clothesline. Carlito went to pick him up and was pinned by a small package. Review: Awkward match. If Santino wasn't hurt, it was a cheap match. If he was, then that would explain the quick "go home" ending. Carlito took a serious approach and in my mind, did it well, but didn't get much of a reaction.

(6) Big Show beat MVP in 8:00. MVP got the biggest pop since the opening match. He had the big smile, slapped hands, took pics with kids, and worked the crowd. The problem was his opponent. Big Show grew up in Aiken, S.C. and the crowd knew it. HUGE pop when he was announced. Show tried to be serious on the way to the ring, but once on the apron, gave an "aw shucks" smile and waved to the crowd. He played the face from here on out and they gave the crowd a comedy match. Show played up his size for comedy as the match started. In one funny moment, he had MVP ready for a chop and carefully told the crowd "Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!" and gave a big chop to MVP to a huge laugh/pop from the crowd. MVP showed some offense, but Show got the chokeslam for the win and a big "welcome home" reception. Review: Fun match from the "local boy" perspective. Show's parents were ringside and he did acknowledge them, but not enough to give it away to the crowd who didn't know.

(7) Triple H & John Cena & Mark Henry beat Legacy (WWE champion Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase, Jr.). Legacy came out to decent heat, Orton to strong heat. They gave off a great impression of being devious heels in great subtle ways – even at a house show. Henry came out first to a "who is the third person?" pop since Triple H and Cena were heavily advertised. Cena came second to the loudest pop of the night by far. Lots of kids in the audience and they were all for Cena. Triple H came out for a loud pop, but nowhere near Cena's.
The match was a good one. Henry came in first with Orton avoiding contact at all costs – and playing it perfectly. He would slip in, lock up and slide out several times until making the tag. Eventually the beat down on Henry began and lasted for several minutes, teasing the hot tag as a "Triple H" chant began. After several minutes of beating on Henry by all members of Legacy, Triple H got the hot tag and got quickly beat down, stepping into Mark Henry's role. Hunter took it to the outside, chasing Orton and getting beat down (Orton had a fan thrown out at this point for touching him). Cena bounced around the apron, hopping up and down several times playing into the crowd for the tag while Triple H took a five+ minute beating by all members of Legacy again.

Finally, Cena got the hot tag to a HUGE pop. Orton and Henry fought to the back while Hunter and Cena fought DiBiase and Rhodes. Hunter fought DiBiase in the corner while Cena got the Throwback on Rhodes for the pin. Review: Gave the crowd what it wanted, Cena. The match did a great job milking the crowd for the hot tags which seemed to have many false starts. Orton (and Legacy) did the little things very well, but the crowd was young and didn't react to most of the actions. Surprised to see Triple H take the beating he did as a set-up man for Cena, meaning they knew who was the draw.

Summary: This was my first house show in 20 years (last main event for me was Hulk-Andre in Atlanta in 1987-ish). It was in a smaller market and had a small-time feel with big-name stars. Good fun show that left the crowd happy. The most notable thing was Triple H working the crowd after the main event. Hunter came back out for a curtain call, took pictures with kids, and worked the crowd much harder than any other wrestler.

Biggest Pops:
John Cena
Big Show
Evan Bourne/Triple H (tie)

Biggest Heat
The Brian Kendrick
Legacy
Jack Swagger

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