WWE House Show Results: Knoxville, TN

A report from the Smackdown house show in Knoxville, TN last night. Thanks to 411 reader Brian Henegar for sending this in!

I just got back a few hours ago from the SmackDown! brand house show in Knoxville, and I thought I would share the results with you

First I will say that the Knoxville Civic Coliseum is a smaller arena than many are used to. it seats about 5,000 or so, and it seemed to be at around 70% capacity. But, the crowd was HOT and the audience was really into everything. And if you recall the KCC was the home base of Smoky Mountain Wrestling during its heyday.

Show started with Jack Swagger coming out with the belt, cutting a brief heel promo about how good he is, and that he truly is Great. He was cut short by Randy Orton who sprinted down to the ring, and attempted an RKO, but Swagger blocked it and turned tail.

Opening Bout:
John Morrison def. Dolph Ziggler.
Good, solid opener. Both got a fair amount of offense in, but Morrison showed his speed, winning with the Starship Pain. After the match, Ziggles did a nice little comic spot. As he was leaving, he very loudly banged his (injured) ankle against the ring steps. It looked funnier than it sounded.

2nd match:
The Hart Dynasty def. Caylen Croft and Trent Baretta to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles.
Before the match started, Tiffany came out, and picked a little kid out of the audience to be the “guest bell ringer” for the match…nice. Pretty decent match, but Baretta seemed to be sandbagging it a bit tonight. He looked more like he was going through the motions than actually wrestling The Dynasty showed great teamwork throughout, and Smith won after putting Croft in the Sharpshooter.

3rd Match:
JTG def. Shad Gaspard
Gaspard came out next, saying that Cryme Tyme was done for, and it was now his time. He then issued an open challenge to anyone in the back to challenge him in a match…big mistake. Out comes JTG, and the two get it on. Short match, won by JTG with the Shoutout.

4th Match
Beth Phoenix def. Layla to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.
This was actually a fairly good match, mostly because Layla was able to work some genuinely funny comedy spots into the match. My highlight was when Layla decided that she had had enough, and bailed. Beth followed her, and as Layla stopped half-way put the aisle to catch her breath, Beth politely tapped her on the shoulder. Layla turned around, saw Beth, screamed and ran back into the ring, with Beth in hot pursuit. Beth won the match with a very nice Glam Slam.

5th Match
Goldust def. Tyler Reks
Short, but decent match which saw Goldust (who I honestly forgot was still WITH the WWE) winning with a spinning neckbreaker,

6th Match
Smackdown vs. Raw challenge
Kane def. Chris Jericho.
Jericho was out first, and he EASILY got the biggest heat of the night so far. He came out, grabbed the mic, and was about to start talking, but the boos and catcalls were so loud, he just threw the mic back to the ring announcer who introduced Kane. Jericho grabbed the mic AGAIN and did his “parasites and tapeworms” routine to great effect, before remarking that Kane lived in “a small cave out on the outskirts of Knoxville, TN.” and that he would defeat Kane because he is the best in the world at what he does. Kane, as you might imagine, had other ideas, and the two managed to have a very decent match, helped out by the fans cheering on the hometown boy. Jericho, to be blunt, carried the match for the most part, with Kane botching the Codebreaker. Kane eventually got the win with a chokeslam. (A little trivia, this was Jericho’s first match in the KCC in 16 years, since the infamous match at SMW’s “Night of the Legends”, where Jericho wrestled with a broken arm and did that ungodly bladejob he did.)

After a short intermission the show continued.

7th match
Drew Mcintyre def. R-Truth to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Drew came out, and cut a short heel promo, but was cut off by R-Truth’s entrance music. This match was alright, but it seemed rushed, and was way too short. McIntyre won with the Future Shock.

8th Match
Rey Mysterio def. CM Punk (w/ the S.E.S.)
Okay, you know what I said about Jericho having the most heat that night? Well he was beaten out by Punk who had the crowd in K-Town eating out of the palm of his hand (myself included.) He cut a nice heel promo about the dangers of “fetal alcohol syndrome” and about how Knoxville, TN was full of people who looked the end result of it. He then played off a “6-1-9” chant by saying “listen, I know that obesity is a huge problem here in Knoxville, but please stop chanting your average weight!” Great stuff. The match delivered as Punk and Mysterio put on a VERY hot contest, with Mysterio teasing the 619 several times. Punk played classic heel wrestler here, doing all the heel tactics, the Zbyszko stalling, the test of strength traps, everything. Mysterio was able to overcome those obstacles, and win the the 619.

MAIN EVENT
Randy Orton def. Jack Swagger by DQ (Swagger retains the WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
Well, after the great Punk/Mysterio match, this was a bit of a letdown. The two had a good match, both got their offense in, but in the end, it too, seemed a bit rushed. The match ended when Swagger grabbed his belt outside the ring, As Orton went off in hot pursuit, Swagger turned around and clocked Orton in the head with the belt, getting the DQ, but retaining the belt. Swagger rolled Orton back in the ring, and looked to give Randy his gut-wrench powerbomb, but Orton was able to reverse out, and nailed Swagger with the RKO to send the crowd home happy.

All in all, this was a very good show. The crowd was hot, the matched were (for the most part) fun and enjoyable, and the Civic Coliseum was a PERFECT venue for a WWE house show.