15 YRS AGO – WWE in Syracuse, N.Y. (11/23/02): Spanky, Crash, Albert, Benjamin, Nidia, Kidman, Edge, Angle, Benoit

WWE house show results
November 23, 2002
Syracuse, N.Y. at the War Memorial
Report by Dave Missert, PWTorch correspondent

(1) Albert & Bull Buchanon & Red Dogg beat Shawn O’Haire & Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin. There was not a lot going on in this match, and it was pretty boring. I was sitting ringside and continually yelled at Albert to shave his back. In a matchup of guys not even good enough for Velocity, Albert hit his extremely boring Baldo Bomb on O’Haire for the win. O’Haire looked good save for the crappy finish. The match was pretty boring and the crowd was definitely not into it.

(2) Spanky & Shannon Moore beat Little Guido & Crash Holly. Spanky was wearing horrible pink tights and matching pink boots. I heckled him something awful as his outfit was terrible. Guido and Crash started off with a little exchange at the beginning where they were about to fight each other, but it ended in a handshake and a hug. Crash did his “crazy” routine and climbed the ropes like they were steps. The match ended when Shannon Moore hit a moonsault for the win. This was another match that didn’t get much heat from the crowd and was actually relatively boring.

(3) Chuck & Funaki beat John Cena & Doug Basham. This one started out with a very funny promo, where Funaki told Cena that his Boston t-shirt was out of line, because Syracuse was the home of the Orangemen, making the crowd go crazy! �He then concluded by saying several times that he was Smackdown Number One Announcer. He’s a pretty funny guy. There was major heat for Cena the whole match, and repeatedly I called him a douchebag. At one point he looked at me all nasty. It ruled. Chuck locked a finisher on Cena that resembled a reverse Boston Crab as Cena tapped out. This was a pretty funny match all in all. I tell you what, Cena is going to make a great bad guy down the line.

Now the announcer pushes Hogan’s book.

(4) Rikishi beat Matt Hardy in a Kiss My Ass Match. This match was very funny, as it seemed both guys were having a good time. The match started out with Rikishi taking his skirt thing off. As soon as he did it, Matt Hardy begged him to put it back on. I must say that I agreed with him as Rikishi looks pretty nasty up close with his huge ass and all. Rikishi hit a superkick for the pin and the win, and Matt Hardy shook his hand and ran out of the ring after the match. The referee told him to get back in the ring to kiss Rikishi’s ass or he would be suspended from Smackdown indefinitely for not agreeing to the stipulations of the match. The post match scene ended with Rikishi giving Hardy a Stink Face. After that happened, Rikishi grabbed the announcer and the ref and made them dance with him. It was hysterical, as neither the ref nor the announcer had any rhythm.

(5) Eddie & Chavo Guerrero beat Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit I tell you what, in person, Eddie and Chavo are even funnier than they are on TV. Just their actions and body language can crack me up. There as a lot of great action in this one, and the match ended with Chavo nailing Angle in the head with the belt while Benoit had Eddie locked in a Crossface. Following the match, the Guerreros left the ring and Angle and Benoit squared off. They exchanged submission holds and Benoit hit Angle with a flying head butt. Angle nailed his Angle Slam and Benoit left the ring. They exchange pleasantries and Benoit went backstage. Angle then laid out the ref like he did at the last show I was at, as the show went to intermission.

At intermission I’ll review what we’ve seen so far. The first two matches were basically blowoff matches that aren’t fit for Velocity. The Rikishi match was good in that it added a ton of humor to the night. That was just a funny match, and Rikishi can really work a crowd. As usual the Guerreros and Angle and Benoit put on a very solid match, and the crowd was really into it. Oh yeah, during the intermission Matt from Tough Enough was taking pictures and signing autographs. He’s getting his 15 minutes.

(6) Dawn Marie beat Nidia in a Bra and Panties Match. Okay, we all know the way the rules in this one work, first skank to get stripped down to her bra and panties wins. Dawn Marie entered the ring first, and I tell you what, TV doesn’t do justice to how hot her body really is. Her nose just really turns me off. Here comes Nidia, and you know what? She’s not that bad looking either in person. Both girls get stripped down to their bras early on, and they are far from sexy bras. They’re like cotton with a horrible flower pattern. They roll around on the mat for a little while, and get the ref involved as all three of them are rolling around. They then unbuckled his pants and revealed his disgusting pasty white legs and green tighties. It was horrible. The match back underway, they rolled around for a little while longer until Dawn Marie pulled off Nidia’s jean shorts to reveal her panties for the win. Your basic filler match at a house show, but fun nonetheless

(7) Kidman won a Fatal Four Way Cruiser Match over Jamie Noble, Tajiri, and Rey Mysterio. All signs point to this being a great match, as all of these guys are a lot of fun to watch. Rey Mysterio is a lot of fun to watch live. He’s barely taller than the ropes! Cruisers are very fast, they almost seem faster live than they do on TV. There were a lot of great highflying moves in this one, including several Huracanranas, and a sick 619. I rode Noble hard during this match, calling him a bitch and telling him to get his ass back in the ring. He gave me a nasty look as well. I was pretty disappointed that there was no Shooting Star Press by Kidman and no West Coast Pop by Rey, but this match was still good. I turned my head quick to look at something, and Kidman had pinned Noble for the win, and there was no finisher! Still not a bad match though

(8) Big Show beat Edge. This match was originally supposed to be Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar, and Edge was supposed to team with Rey against the Guerreros and Angle and Benoit, but with Brock’s injury, the card changed around a little bit. And here comes the Big Show. Wow, that dude is big in person. Heyman cuts a promo before Edge is introduced, introducing Big Show and ripping on the city of Syracuse. Now usually I would say this is cheap heel heat, but the way that Heyman does it really shows he’s a genius. Like KVG said last week, he can make anyone into a bad guy. And here comes Edge to one of the coolest intros in sports and entertainment. The match starts off as a basic squash with Edge basically getting tossed around like a doll. You know how Big Show yells during his matches, well with all that yelling also comes a lot of spitting, it’s actually pretty nasty. Heyman is on the side screaming as he usually does. I tell you what, he doesn’t turn the intensity off just because the cameras are off either. Now Edge is getting some offense in, and is actually looking pretty good. The crowd is really behind Edge as usual. He hits Show with like three Spears in a row, and goes for the cover. The ref gets to a two count when Heyman pulls the ref off the top of him. Heyman then punches the ref. Why didn’t Show get DQ’d because of that? Anyways, the ref gets knocked out so there are a couple of near chair shots that don’t happen. Edge gets some good offense in, turns around and walks right into a Show chokeslam for a Big Show pin and win. Following the match, Show left the area and Edge sold being hurt, taking several minutes to get to his feet. Once he did, his music hit (Rob Zombie rules!) and he posed for the crowd. When he was facing our section, a handicapped boy about 11 years old, was standing to my right with a hand written sign that said “Edge Number One, By Matt” Edge saw the boy holding the sign and gave him a nod of the head and the thumbs up. He really made that kid’s night, in what I thought was an awesome move. Edge really is a class act.

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS FLASHBACK: 5 YRS AGO – KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT (11/23/12): Cena says life has turned into TMZ story of tawdry tabloid tales, Cesaro jobs to Truth, Punk, Bryan & Kane

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