WWE Smackdown House Show Results – 1/17/09
Location: Charleston, West Virginia
Jeremy Samples sent this report in:
To start off the show, it was announced that due to the unforunate circumstances on Smackdown of Jeff Hardy being in an explosion, he would not be here tonight. What shocked me was that they were offering a refund for anyone who wanted one.
Edge came out and said that he was upset that he couldn’t face Jeff Hardy here tonight. The Hurricane then came out and defended his friend, Jeff Hardy. They then began to fight with Umaga interfering on Edge’s behalf. The Great Khali then came out to help out The Hurricane. A tag-team match was made for later in the night.
WWE Tag-Team Title Match — Carlito & Primo v. The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson
Really good match. They were allowed to whatever they wanted. Ezekiel Jackson powered over Carlito & Primo and there were many comedy spots with Carlito & Primo w/ Justin Roberts and trying to decide who would take on Zeke. One spot in the match, Brian Kendrick was trying to tag in Zeke, and called him ZekE…that was pretty funny, hadn’t heard him referred to that before. Carlito & Primo eventually won as Carlito hit the backcracker.
Eve Torres then gave away ringside tickets to a family sitting in the upper portion of the lower-level. The question they had to answer was who won the 2008 Royal Rumble.
El Barrio v. Kizarny
It was interesting match between two new-comers. Neither really caught-on well with the crowd, so I’m not sure where their gimmicks will go. There were some nice spots with people in the crowd speaking Carny with Kizarny.
Winner: Kizarny
The Bella Twins v. Natalya Neidhart & Michelle McCool w/ “Kung”FuNaki as Special Guest Referee
Natalya had to basically carry the whole match. Pretty fun match, though. Bella Twins won with a roll-up.
WWE United States Championship Match — R-Truth v. Shelton Benjamin
R-Truth came down through the crowd, and it’s really surprising watching the crowd respond to his entrance live. Shelton and Ron got to do many new spots within the match, and Killings looked good when he doesn’t have to respond to television limits. Shelton won with the PayDirt.
Street Fight — Triple H v. Vladimir Kozlov
Triple H got a huge reaction during his entrance. Triple H attacked Kozlov with the microphone, a trash can, and then later with the sledgehammer. Kozlov and Trips traded many different power moves, with Kozlov countering out of the Pedigree a few times. The sledgehammer finally put Triple H over the edge and won the match.
Edge & Umaga v. The Hurricane & The Great Kahli
The Hurricane got a great reaction, as well as, The Great Kahli. To start the match, Edge used the heel stall-tactics. This went on for a few minutes. The Hurricane carried the match, as he had many priceless spots with Umaga & Edge. He even brought back the “What’s up with that?” spots. The Hurricane & The Great Kahli won.
They then took around a 7-minute intermission, as they set up the steel cage.
Steel Cage Match — Big Show v. The Undertaker
It was funny how small the cage was. Both Big Show and Undertaker had to duck when getting inside the cage, and when they stood up…they were both a head above the cage. Many times when they used the cage, it acted as if it would fall…however, it was too secure. There were many spots inspired by The Undertaker throughout the match. He hit all of his trademark moves instead of the Tombstone. Big Show almost hit the chokeslam, however, Undertaker countered with a chokeslam of his own…both countering with a double chokeslam. Really interesting spot. Undertaker eventually won after his triangle-choke submission maneuver.
This was one of the best house-shows I have seen WWE put on. I was glad to see that they put Shane back with ‘The Hurricane’ gimmick. I was also glad to see Triple H in his own spotlight in a local show, even though he wasn’t near the main event. It was a nice ending to the show with a cage match. Really showcased what WWE Smackdown has to offer.