SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE Smackdown! House Show
December 14, 2003
Indianapolis, Ind. at Conseco Fieldhouse
Report by Stephen J. Fullhart of Bloomington, Ind., PWTorch.com Reader
(1) Tajiri defeated Billy Kidman to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Tajiri took control early, but Kidman made the typical face comeback. Finish came when Kidman went up for the shooting star press. Tajiri woke up, jumped up and green-misted Billy, then gave him the buzzsaw kick. Good match to start things off… both guys got big reactions from the crowd.x
Paul Heyman came out and addressed the crowd. My friends and I started an “E-C-W” chant… he slyly looked over at us with a grin. Paul E. said that before he played the bad guy general manager, he said it was great that the U.S. troops had captured Saddam Hussein. As a “U-S-A” chant broke out, Paul returned to heel mode and said that no one in Indianapolis lazily sitting on their couch had anything to do with it. John Cena interrupted and cut a rap promo on Paul. Brock Lesnar ran in to attack Cena as he was about to go after Heyman. Then Hardcore Holly ran in and pounded on Lesnar, prompting Big Show and Matt Morgan to run (slowly) out and take down the faces. Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit sprinted (much quicker) and cleared the ring of the big guys. Heyman got on the stick and said Holly’s suspension would be lifted, and he would face an opponent of his choosing. The other half-dozen guys would be involved in a six-man tag.
(2) Chuck Palumbo defeated Horshu. Chucky won with a superkick. Worst match of the afternoon… nothing of note, except that Palumbo is on Velocity for a reason.
(3) World’s Greatest Tag Team defeated Spanky & Paul London. WGTT won with the Haas atomic drop into a Benjamin superkick into a Haas bridge (it needs a name). Excellent match that begs the question of why in the blue hell these guys aren’t regulars on Smackdown! Great interaction between the two with a great pace.
(4) Orlando Jordan defeated Johnny Stamboli. Orlando rolled up The Bull for the win. A better match than I was expecting. Jordan with a gimmick could make a little bit of money.
(5) Rikishi & Scotty II Hotty defeated Akio & Sakoda. ‘Kish delivered the Driver to Akio for the win. This one furthered my theory that Mr. Phatu and “Skinny,” as the Phat Man calls him, are much more over in person than on TV. All the standard spots got the crowd going. Akio is pretty darn good.
(6) Hardcore Holly defeated Rhyno. An Alabama Slam after a missed gore did Rhyno in. Holly was WAY over with the crowd. It took me a while to remember who Rhyno was, which is sad… he needs to be back on Thursday nights.
After the match, Heyman and security came down, telling Holly that he was officially suspended again, and Holly was reluctantly escorted out of the arena.
(7) Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) defeated Los Guerreros to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships. Eddie got rolled up by a Basham of you, the reader’s choosing. Once again, a quality gimmick besides being obsessed with a dominatrix would truly benefit Doug and Danny. Awesome work by both teams. Eddie and Chavo were, of course, over big time.
(8) Torrie Wilson defeated Dawn Marie and Nidia in a Tiny Teddy Contest. Sable came out and said that she would take EVERYTHING off for Indianapolis if she went last in the contest. Dawn Marie was hot… Torrie was in a special Santa suit, and was hot… Nidia was blind, and subsequently, not as hot. No Noble, but with help from the ring announcer, she made it to the center of the ring to disrobe. As she did her goofy Nidia dance, Sable kicked the cane out from under her, sending Nidia face-first into the mat. Sable left to a chorus of boos… not for her dastardly act, but because she didn’t get naked. Torrie was voted the winner by the fans, and then Dawn Marie attacked Torrie. They rolled around, people cheered, a good time was had by all.
(9) John Cena & Chris Benoit & Rey Mysterio defeated Big Show & Brock Lesnar & Matt Morgan. Finish came when Cena delivered what looked to be an excruciating F-U on Show. At the same time, Benoit had Lesnar locked in the Crossface. As the ref was counting the 1-2-3, Lesnar was tapping, but Cena and Show were legal. Great work by all involved. Morgan saw limited action, maybe to hide his greenness, but when he was in, he wasn’t bad by any means. Rey was awesome, as usual… he worked great with the big guys. Show played to the crowd, rubbing his rump as the fans made weight comments. Seeing Chris Benoit start a “6-1-9” chant was quite amusing… his ring work was quite amazing. Cena exudes passion in his matches.
After the match, Cena got on the stick and said that usually he would rap, but he was going to change up things. He said he was going to let his tag team partners freestyle. Rey got on and proved he knew how to rhyme words in some semblance of a lyrical pattern (Master P must have taught him a thing or two back in 2000). Benoit proved he is better as the silent, intense character, rhyming “toothless aggression” with “obsession” before ending his rap with “over and out.” Hilarious stuff! Cena showed the two how it was done, freestyling for a couple minutes before thanking the crowd. The three slapped hands with the fans as they walked out.
My friends and I were in the third row, and enjoyed every minute of it. I encourage everyone to drop some cash and go to a house show. Conseco Fieldhouse had the entire top section tarped off, and only one-third of the remaining seats were filled. I’m sure part of the low attendance was because the Colts were playing Michael Vick at the RCA Dome, but it was still disheartening. But I’d say everyone in attendance was very satisfied with the show. I’ll definitely go back to another WWE house show when it’s in town.
BIGGEST POPS:
1) John Cena
2) Paul Heyman when mentioning Saddam’s capture
3) Los Guerreros
4) Hardcore Holly
5) Chris Benoit rapping
MOST HEAT:
1) Brock Lesnar
2) Paul Heyman after his Saddam remarks
3) Big Show
4) Tajiri
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: McGuire’s Mondays: Five things that dominated the year in pro wrestling
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