SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published 20 years ago this month on PWTorch.com…
WWE “Up Close and Uncensored” house show report
August 2, 2003
Calgary, Alberta, at the Pengrowth Saddledome
Report by Cory Lanoway, PWTorch.com correspondent
Attendance Notes: Floor was pretty much a sellout, lower bowl was 70% sold out, although it was hard to tell because people kept moving up to the bowl from the floor to get a better view.
(1) Ultimo Dragon pinned Spanky. Decent match with all the requisite high spots. Ultimo Dragon’s finisher is gold. Crowd really cheered for Ultimo at the start. After the match UD helped up Spanky and the crowd cheered.
(2) Eddie Guerrero pinned Lance Storm to retain U.S. Title. Lance is from Raw but no one cared because he was way over with the hometown crowd. Good long match, Eddie was totally selling as a heel so the cheers turned to boos soon enough. Lance got a few boring chants, but crowd was mostly behind him. Couple near pinfalls then Eddie used the ropes as leverage to pin Lance, much to the chagrin of the crowd.
(3) Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas beat The Bashams to retain the titles in a four way tag match also featuring APA and Hardy & Shannon Moore. Good tag match. Lotsa stuff going on and the crowd liked it. APA was wayyy over with crowd. Funniest moment of the night when one section in the bowl started chanting, “Faarooq, Faarooq, Faarooq is on fire!”, ala the Bloodhound Gang. I had never heard that before and the APA was all over it and totally postured for that section. After the match APA went to shake hands with Charlie and Shelton but gave them the finger instead. Crowd ate it up. Too little of Matt Hardy in this match though. Still can’t get over how popular APA was.
(4) Sable won a bikini contest against Nidia and Dawn Marie. Ahh, Dawn… that made my night. Pretty humdrum although Nidia was funny. They had some local guy announcing and he didn’t know how to talk into the mike properly. Funaki was there too pretended his pants were a little too tight (if you know what I mean) as he returned to the back.
(5) Rey Mysterio pinned Jamie Noble to retain Cruiserweight Title. Another decent match, Noble didn’t a good pop at the start, but was heavily booed at the end (in a good way). Rey was popular, hit all the required spots.
Intermission.
Edge come out after intermission to a huge ovation, was pretty choked up as he talked and thanked Calgary. Said he’d be back soon and did a 5 second pose. Good Stuff.
(6) John Cena pinned Billy Gunn. I know you all hate Billy Gunn on the internet but he was over with the crowd. John came out first and totally trashed Calgary and Canada. Cena got the biggest heel reaction by far, no contest on this one. Crowd really hated him. Billy on the other hand got a very good cheer. These two were pros in the ring and although it wasn’t the main event, the crowd was totally into this one once it got past a slow start. Billy did some cool power moves and took the gnarliest looking shoulder whip into the ring post on the outside. After the match Billy undid the string on his shorts and mooned the ladies, who loved it and cheered. Pretty funny because the ref was trying to stop him but Billy did it anyway.
Brother Love introduced Vince McMahon to a standing ovation but the crowd settled into the usual “what’s” and “asshole” chants soon enough. Zach came out and Vince and Brother Love played monkey in the middle with his leg. Zach moonsaulted BL and Vince to get it back. I don’t care what people say about Vince, he can work the crowd like no one else, especially tonight when he was free to speak without the confines of a script. Made some comments about how Calgary had the ugliest shirts the world and he was wearing one that he bought in town to prove it, too funny. Zach got a very good and genuine cheer, people in Calgary really respected him. He took some pictures with some cancer kids at the end on his way to the back. Good stuff.
(7) Chris Benoit made Rhino tap in a submission only match. Good stuff. Benoit is a lot thicker in person than he looks on TV. Not much to say really. Everybody hated Rhino and he gave out a lot of middle fingers to the crowd, Austin Style. Was booed heavily again on the way out of the ring after.
(8) Kurt Angle pinned Brock Lesnar to retain the title. Good ovations for both men, Brock was slightly more a favored than Angle. Lots of cheering although you could sense the crowd was a little confused over who to really cheer for, seeing as how they are both still of faces. Brock kicked out of the Angle slam. Then F5’d Kurt, who’s leg knocked out the ref similar to what happened on Smackdown two weeks ago. Kurt then dished out another Angle slam for the final pin. Brock was cheered after Angle left. In a very “un-Brock like” moment after the match he just kinda shrugged his shoulders at the crowd as if to say, “oh well, can’t win’ em all”. Then posed on the ropes for more pictures.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Good show, although it was boiling in the Saddledome tonight. Cena and Vince got the best heel reactions. It’s hard to pick a face reaction because it was so close. All the faces were well received. Still best reaction for Brock, Kurt, and Edge I’d say. Honorables to Billy, APA and Lance. Crowd really liked the old school talent tonight. Anyway, I wouldn’t get floor seats again unless they were in the front five, better view from the bowl, and lots of people moved to get better seats. I enjoyed this more than the live Smackdown! because it was better paced without all the breaks and the performers were really free to enjoy themselves without all the pressure of performing for TV. Good crowd, if only a little small.
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