20 YRS AGO – WWE Live Event Results (8/8/2004): Ric Flair vs. Eugene, Batista vs. Jericho vs. Edge, plus Kane, Maven, Shelton, Tajiri, Rhyno, Val Venis, Molly, Orton

The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…

WWE house show report
August 8, 2004
Toledo, Ohio
Report by Joe Swora, PWTorch.com correspondent

Just got back from the Raw house show in Toledo. Pretty decent event all around, and a crowd (about 1500 or so) that was into it by and large. Let’s see.. we had:

(1) Shelton Benjamin pinned Chuck Palumbo. Palumbo got good heat, which amazed me, considering he’s never on TV. Glad to see Benjamin back too, and so was the rest of the crowd. Good back-and- forth action mixed with a few matholds.

Coach came out and cut a promo on Toledo calling us “out of shape” (which, considering how the majority of the crowd looked, is pretty applicable) and brought out a fitness expert named Simon Dees to get us to do exercises. Dees was Mike “Nova” Bucci…

(2) Steven Richards pinned Simon Dees. The only match of the night where the crowd really didn’t do anything. Richards got a small pop as he came out, but that was the extent of it. Mostly forgettable back-and-forth stuff; Bucci’s gimmick came off as kind of dumb and vaguely homoerotic, which may or may not have been the point.

(3) La Resistance beat Tajiri & Rhyno by pinfall. Plenty of heat for LR, and Tajiri and Rhyno thankfully didn’t let Sylvan sing too much of the Canadian national anthem. Lots of USA chants, and both teams got offense in at the start. After that, it was mainly LR beating up on Rhyno… Hebner missed a tag to Tajiri, so he was sent back to his corner, of course, where Tajiri had a great sight gag as it seemed he was trying to eat the tag rope. LR – couldn’t tell if it was Sylvan or Rob – got the pinfall with boots on the ropes.

(4) Val Venis beat Rodney Mack (w/Jazz). My lord, Rodney Mack and Jazz would create one pug-fugly kid. Anyhoo, plenty of pop for Venis, and practically no reaction to Mack, even with Jazz being shrill. Venis won with the Money Shot and cover.

Coach came back out and asked Lita to come to the ring to talk about her current issues. Lita, speaking for most wrestling fans, asked Coach if he ever shuts up. She sold the match between Hardy and Kane at SS, and was ripping into Kane when the Big Red Sperm Donor came out and menaced her. This led to…

(5) Kane demolished Maven. As Kane loomed over Lita in the corner, Maven runs out and attacks Kane. Maven got a bit of offense in before Kane destroyed him, and finished the face-in-peril with a chokeslam. I’m convinced that Maven’s contractual role dictates that he get about 2 minutes of offense in (including the standing missile dropkick, which seems to be his primary move) before his opponent murders him.

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(6) Eugene pinned Ric Flair. Although I’d heard that these two weren’t doing house shows this weekend, people were looking forward to this one. Lots of good playing to the crowd, with Eugene being mad over. So was Flair too, of course. Some funny segments about Eugene doing some of Flair’s moves, and even wearing his robe and running around outside the ring. Vintage Flair, and both had a solid match. Tragically, Eugene pulled the rear of Flair’s tights down, and they STAYED down for the final minute of the match, causing blindness in the first two rows by the time Eugene scored the three count.

(7) Molly beat Victoria by pinfall. Good if standard fare from the women. Victoria thankfully didn’t dance for us, but had a good reaction from the crowd, as did Molly, who got lots of boos. Molly did a really cool somersault splash off the top rope, and pinned Victoria while bracing her feet on the ropes.

(8) Edge beat Chris Jericho and Batista. Batista gets larger every time I see him. Huge pop for Y2J and Edge and plenty of heat for Batista, who actually decided to sell some of his opponents’ moves. More of Y2J and Edge building friction between them, and good action between all three of them. Edge pinned Jericho for three, I think.

(9) Chris Benoit beat Randy Orton by submission. Good 20 minute match at least, and if they perform like this at SS, it should be a great match. Only complaint was there were a few too many matholds, but great offense from both otherwise. Benoit got six German suplexes in, which Orton sold like he’d been shot. Flair ran out after the ref took a bump and distracted Benoit enough for Orton to connect with an RKO, but Eugene came out again to take care of Flair. Benoit finally got Orton into the Crossface, and that was it.

Notes: Good show all around. Hebner had some good shoving moments with Flair during the match with Eugene, and there was a pretty lively section of Hebner fans all around (I only heard “You screwed Bret” from about three people).

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