WWE Houseshow Results 7.29.07: Perth, Western Australia

Thanks to 411 reader Jonathan Brodala for sending these results along!

Here’s what went down at the Burswood Dome.

There was a decent crowd in, despite the nightmare parking and driving rain, was still sure to be within the 8000-10000 range rabid for Ric Flair before the opening bell.

Opening match

Ric Flair d Chris Masters via Submission

They had to be listening backstage to get Flair out there first and I feel rightfully so. 16 time World Champions should get the crowd at it’s hottest. There were lots of people in the crowd shouting ‘Wooooo’ at every break in the pre-show music and even more so when he came out to a massive reaction. Masters played his part well and worked the back with a bearhug but as soon as his Masterlock attempt was thwarted Flair worked over the knee to gain a popular victory with the Figure Four to goading chants of ‘TAP’ from the partisan crowd. Minor victory for me at this point as my contribution for the night was the arena wide ‘You Tapped Out’ chant started with help from the section of the crowd around me.

Tag Team Title Match
Deuce and Domino (with Cherry) d The Major Brothers via Pinfall (Deuce pinned… let’s say … Brian with a kick to the back of the head.

The Majors worked in their double team moves with some precision timing needed, most notably on their double leapfrog into a double hiptoss combination, but the heels took over with a clotheline on the top rope. Working the hot tag to perfection they eventually won over the crowd and got some believable near falls before the distraction from Cherry opened the door for a successful title defense.

Divas Match (Nice pop for the announcement.)

Victoria d Michelle McCool via roll up.

‘The future Mrs Layfield’ was switched on here. Carrying ALL of the action despite Victoria’s experience advantage, McCool dazzled the crowd with some choice reversals and counters before nailing Victoria with a dropkick. What followed was a minor annoyance. Victoria appeared to need medical assistance for her knee after taking an innocuous fall attempting a counter out of the corner and they went to incredible lengths to sell it to the crowd moving the house doctor and every referee out there, even twice using the ‘X’ signal for the ‘smarts’.(Note to the WWE: Save the insider stuff for the real injuries, insulting the intelligence of the minor portion of the crowd that ‘get it’ just isn’t worth it when, say, The Great Khali drops Matt Hardy on his head and you end up with egg on your face.) The kids weren’t fooled, nor probably understood what that even meant and started a chant of ‘Pussy’ of all things. 5 Minutes later, as McCool held open the ropes for her fallen adversary Victoria made a miraculous recovery and booted her clean out of the ring, of course with the ‘injured’ leg. McCool received a nice ovation however once the nonsense ended on her way out.

Elijah Burke d Stevie Richards

The wind out of the sails of the crowd after that last effort these two did their best to get the crowd back into things. Trying every cheap heat trick in the book, a staple in the ECW matches this evening, (picking on Tony Chimel and threatening a walkout), Elijah Burke eventually got the victory.

Kane d Finlay via Chokeslam

Speaking of cheap heat, which wasn’t warranted after Kane’s entrance pop, Finlay channeled the stalling powers of Larry Zybysko early on to which Kane showed great patience for an alleged psychopath, standing there motionless. After assembling an entertaining bout in which Finlay worked over the arm incorporating the stairs and the ringpost, the real fun came when Hornswaggle entered the ring and had a standoff with Kane. What followed was some good humour as Hornswaggle, apparently taking exception to Kane dissing him, rolled up his sleeves, removed his hat and placed it on a co-operative Kane’s head but before we could see his version of the chokeslam, Finlay ran back in and took one of his own to gather the three count. Extra points for that hat staying on Kane’s head for the duration of that sequence to which Finlay took us intermission with some further fun with Hornswaggle over the possession of the hat.

Aaaaaaand they’re off! Intermission and the crowd flew from the seats and into the concessions. Not making it back before…

ECW World Title Match
Johnny Nitro vs Tommy Dreamer

Drawing the death slot but putting on the second best match of the night, Johnny made sure to inform us all of his identity crisis and while I’m at it…

ECW World Title Match
John MORRISON vs Tommy Dreamer

First offensive move of the match… Texas Cloverleaf! Something I’m sure wrestling fans don’t see everyday! Tommy looks out of place with that Billy Joel hairstyle in 2007 but his effort here tonight is worthy of one last run at the ECW Title on TV. Morrison looked like a superstar and worked the crowd to perfection. Dreamer got a close 2-count from his DDT but his TKO attempt fell short and the snapshot, to which Tommy sold like death, ensured a successful title defense. Good continuity with the Morrison angle as his new theme music played after the bell. One lucky ringsider was invited by Tommy, still selling the beating, after the match to jump the rail to accept his ring-worn shirt as a souvenir. Tommy Dreamer = class act.

Chavo Guererro vs Rey Mysterio

Call me ignorant but I wasn’t expecting Rey to make his comeback anywhere but on American soil. Excellent match highlighted by Chavo’s instant heat at being the mega-over Mysterio’s opponent. They couldn’t lock up early on given the booming chants of ‘619′ and ‘Eddie’. Rey then took the mic after a particularly long ‘619′ chant and worked in the ‘why don’t we have a chant for you Chavo?’ to which the crowd followed with a hearty ‘Chavo Sucks’ chant. The match was easily the best of the night showcasing Mysterio’s apparent full recovery as he ran through his usual reversal sequences with relative ease. Once in control Chavo worked the knee and gained a close two count from the Gory Bomb. Working the crowd masterfully these two teased the ‘619′ on three separate occasions. An appropriate West Coast Pop was greeted with another ‘West Coast Pop’ from the crowd as Chavo found himself in the ropes for the roof raising ‘619′ and top rope splash gained Rey the victory.

At this point it should be noted that there were two separate ring invasions before the main event. One was handled expertly by a Mickey Jay spear tackle and the other… ill advised… in front of Batista. Those familiar with how those end should know what happened next. I’m sure the security on hand dealt with the intruders in a kind and gentle manner.

World Title Match
Batista v The Great Khali

Monster pop for Batista here and one of those ‘my god he’s huge’ silences from the crowd on Khali’s entrance made for an interesting spectacle once they stood toe to toe in the ring. Khali’s overuse of the clawhold drew the first ‘boring’ chant of the night… damn smarks… but Batista would recover with a rather amazing spinebuster but before we could see the world’s most improbable Batista Bomb, Finlay ran in drawing the DQ with Kane in hot pursuit. Once announced, Batista’s victory drew a massive reaction…

Aaaaaaaaand they’re off! Impatient parents whisked their children out of the nearest exits in hope of beating the traffic as those wise to the situation noticed the house lights weren’t on and stayed and once Batista had goaded Finlay and Khali into a tag team match the action was back on…

Batista and Kane vs Finlay and The Great Khali

Batista’s early exchanges with Finlay were highly energetic and bought the crowd back through the exits. Khali, as if to say ‘ask Kane if this feels boring’ whacked on another clawhold and with the encouragement of Finlay turned it into a head vice. High point of the match was Khali falling back into the ropes, trapping himself not unlike Andre the Giant, after a double clothesline to which Hornswaggle again took exception to and was promptly used as a battering ram much to the delight of those who had stayed. After dispatching Khali to the outside the fans were treated to the ‘other’ move, according to the multitude of signs in the crowd that they came to see and one Batista Bomb later, Finlay was inspecting the pressurized roof of the Burswood Dome for a second time.

Biggest Pops

Rey Mysterio after the 619
Ric Flair applying the Figure four
Batista’s Bomb
Hornswaggle retrieving his hat after low blowing Finlay

Biggest Heat

John Morrison’s Identity crisis
Khali’s third attempt at the clawhold
Chavo’s mere existence
Elijah Burke’s walkout

Biggest Laughs

The Flair Flop
Hornswaggle v Kane on his knees
Dreamer’s attempt at imitating Morrison’s hip gyrations
Finlay v Hornswaggle in the aisle over possession of his hat

Sign of the Night

Deuce’s reaction to seeing a sign reading ‘Hey Deuce I’m checking out your chick’

Given the draft and recent injuries, a lot of people probably left disappointed perhaps expecting the likes of The Undertaker, Edge, Matt Hardy, MVP, Mark Henry and CM Punk to appear but as a lifelong wrestling fan I feel Perth was lucky to have the WWE make a one shot stop to a wrestling starved country and the wrestlers I feel gave their all. A full house and a hot crowd will probably go a long way to ensuring that we won’t have long to wait to see them again.