House shows

[Jimmy Redman]

SmackDown/ECW show from 2008. It was in Australia and most of the people were calling Egde a wanker. He got on the mic and said "I don't know what a wanker is but I am NOT A WANKER." Then ran around the outside of the ring yelling "YOU'RE A WANKER, YOU'RE A WANKER, YOU'RE A WANKER, YOU'RE A WANKER." He took forever to get in the ring (defending WHC v Batista) and Dave got on the mic and called him a "world class bona fide chickenshit."

 

Card itself was ok, but the general experience was way more fun.

I was at that show, and yeah it was pretty damn fun.

 

The only other thing of note I remember from it was the striking comparison between Kozlov, who was God awful in his squash of Kofi, and Mark Henry, who was so awesome in his squash of Noble that he basically turned the crowd by the end of it. Jesus Christ Kozlov was awful in 2008.

[Statfreak101]

I dragged my parents to a WWF House show in Minneapolis, MN at the Target Center for my 12th birthday. Here was the card:

 

WWF @ Minneapolis, MN - Target Center - June 6, 1998 (7,324)

Scorpio defeated D-Lo Brown

Jeff Jarrett defeated Steve Blackman

Bradshaw defeated Kama

Farooq defeated Mark Henry via disqualification

The Headbangers defeated Too Much

Dustin Runnels & Terry Funk defeated Savio Vega & Jose Estrada Jr.

Ken Shamrock defeated Owen Hart

WWF European Champion Triple H defeated Vader

WWF Tag Team Champions the Road Dogg & Billy Gunn defeated the Legion of Doom

WWF World Champion Steve Austin & The Undertaker defeated Mankind & Kane in a no holds barred match

 

I am pretty sure I have some photos floating around somewhere - but looking back on it, that is a pretty solid card for a house show.

[Statfreak101]

WWF @ Anaheim, CA - Arrowhead Pond - March 12, 1995 (7,000) (Source history of the WWE)

Kwang v Gary Key

Hakushi v the 1-2-3 Kid

WWF Women's Champion Bull Nakano v Alundra Blayze

Bob Backlund v Bob HollyWWF World Champion Diesel & Razor Ramon v Shawn Michaels & WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett

Jacob & Eli Blu v the New Headshrinkers

The Undertaker v Bam Bam Bigelow

Bret Hart v Owen Hart (NHB Match)

 

This wasn't my first card but probably one of my favorites, I was a huge Hakushi fan & was pumped to see the Harts in a NHB match.

You need to tell us more about what it was like to see Kwang live.

[peachchaos]

My first exposure to wrasslin' was the 1992 Royal Rumble on TV at my friend's birthday party. The moment I saw Ric Flair I was a fan for life. All the other kids hated him and wanted Hogan to win, so I just sat back and watched this amazing performance and quietly cheered as Flair schooled the entire roster. So good.

 

And then Mania happened, Savage won the title and somehow I ended up a huge Macho Man fan in the process. The Warrior's return at the end of the show being the coolest thing to ever happen in life up to that point, I begged my Pops to take me to a show, Mom pressed him into it, and the rest is history.

 

I probably went to 10 live events at Rupp during the 90's.

 

Here's the first:

 

WWF @ Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena - May 19, 1992

WWF IC Champion Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels

The Ultimate Warrior pinned Papa Shango at 5:29 with a flying shoulderblock and splash (The Ultimate Warrior)

WWF World Champion Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair

This was a Superstars/Prime Time taping, but the highlights were these dark matches. The night dragged and dragged, but luckily these all happened within the first few hours, so I didn't mind leaving early. You can only expect your dad to watch so many Nailz squashes.

 

Michaels/Hart and Savage/Flair were both top notch. I was a total mark for the Warrior, even bringing a sign. THE CURSE was in full effect and this was sort of the only taped match between Warrior and Shango. I was just as into that bullshit as I was the workrate~! warriors.

 

Wouldn't go back until '96 or so, but once I started going on the reg, the shows kept getting better and better. In '97, we were treated to Lawler (God/babyface) against Bret (Canadian crybaby/heel) at the height of the Canada/USA dynamic at Rupp where Lawler worked every week in the 80's. Off the chain.

 

I really thought seeing Austin-Mankind in May 1998 was going to be the highlight of my fandom, but I actually missed the match on purpose as they announced tickets were going on sale for RAW in November. Totally worth it to skip that match, since my brothers and I had ringside seats for Rock-Austin for the title on RAW after Survivor Series, with one of the loudest and most jacked crowds you can imagine.

[Big Rob]

I was at a WWE house show a year ago (main was Punk vs Ryback in a lumberjack match to prep for their Cell disaster)

Given that Ryback was Ryback, how on Earth could the Cell match be considered a disaster?

 

Anyway, I've been to a few house shows in the UK but my favourite was probably when I was traveling round a part of the US. As luck would have it, the day after I arrived in New York City there was both a Ring of Honor show in the afternoon and a WWE show at MSG in the evening. Seriously, didn't even plan it that way so I lucked out here (and a bunch of other times on my trip) big time. The card was...

 

WWE Championship

The Miz © vs Randy Orton

 

Guest Referee - Sunny

Kelly Kelly and someone (Eve, maybe?) vs The Bella Twins

 

Evan Bourne, Santino Marella, & Vladimir Kozlov vs Zack Ryder, Primo Colon, & Tyson Kidd

 

If Alex Riley wins, he gets re-instated on to the Raw Roster

Alex Riley vs The Great Khali

 

John Morrison vs Dolph Ziggler

 

Daniel Bryan vs Ted DiBiase

 

Street Fight

Triple H vs Sheamus

 

Main Event

John Cena & Randy Orton vs The Miz and CM Punk

 

All the matches were good, even the women's tag was surprisingly good given that it probably went 8-10 minutes. Six man tag was so much fun live as well, all house shows could do with a match like that - just some nice light-hearted comedy but with some cool moves thrown in and typically great selling by Evan. Funny thing from the show was that the opener was the WWE Championship match which ended up in a DQ. The crowd could vote for either Orton to get his rematch in the main event, or for a tag match with Cena and Punk added. Suffice it to say, Orton had to wait for his rematch.

[bradhindsight]

^ Disaster was probably too dramatic but given that CM Punk is CM Punk (look at the matches Daniel Bryan has had with Ryback), I don't think it's off to think we would have gotten a better main event than what we did.

[Big Rob]

I actually think that the Cell match was way better than anything we could have hoped for at the time. Back then, Ryback was solely squashing people on TV in a minute or so, and that was pretty much it. I imagine he got more time on house shows, but he was still young in to his main roster run. His matches with Bryan were better (especially considering it didn't have the Cell to use as a prop), but that's likely because Ryback was used to working longer, main event style matches with good wrestlers by that point. Plus, I'd rate Bryan above Punk - but that element is subjective.

[Strummer]

Attended the show tonight in Albany. Decent crowd.

 

1. Great Khali b Jinder Mihal.

 

Khali wins with the chop.

 

Heyman and Axel promo hyping the handicap main event. Poll choices are 2/3

falls and no DQ.

 

2. Kaitlyn and Natalya b AJ Lee and Tamina

 

AJ tapped to the sharpshooter.

 

3. Justin Gabriel b Damien Sandow.

 

Pre match promo from Sandow saying he is the uncrowned champion. Gabriel wins

with a moonsault from the middle rope. Sandow cuts a post match promo once

again promising to be champion.

 

Wyatt promo. Usual creepy stuff.

 

4. Los Matadores b Heather Slater and Drew McIntrye

 

Mascot was way over. Matadores win with their torture rack drop type finisher.

 

5. RVD b Del Rio via DQ

 

Del Rio hits a low blow for the DQ. Post match RVD lays out Del Rio with chair

and hits five star splash. Sandow tries to cash in the briefcase but Van Dam

knocks him out and splashes him also.

 

6. Ryback b Zach Ryder

 

Pre match promo from Ryback doing the bully stuff with Josh Mathews and Ryder.

Ryback wins with the Shellshock. Heyman greets Ryback at the top of the ramp

after the match.

 

7 Rowan and Harper b Usos

 

Spinning clothesline for the win. Postmatch Bray Wyatt hits his finisher on one

of the Usos

 

8. Punk b Axel & Paul Heyman

 

no DQ stip won the poll. Bunch of Kendo sticks shots. Punk gets out of the

double team and hits the GTS on Axel for the win.

 

fun show if nothing special. Lots of kids and young adults.

[anchor]

Hi. I'm a longtime lurker here. This was my first live card:

 

10/22/1984 WWF - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden [iV] (20,000; TV)

David Schultz (4:02) Salvatore Bellomo

Afa (20min limit draw) Dick Murdoch

Mad Dog Vachon (7:24) Rick McGraw

David Sammartino (12:23) Moondog Spot

Greg Valentine (5:52 DQ) Tito Santana

Ken Patera (13:08) Rocky Johnson

Sika (9:29 DQ) Adrian Adonis

Nikolai Volkoff (15:40 COR) Sgt. Slaughter

Brutus Beefcake (5:20) Tony Garea

Hulk Hogan (7:38) Big John Studd

 

I was 9 years old. My father brought me to the matches. He was not a fan, but he was a good sport for taking me. He was a bit hung up on how fake it all looked. I was a true believer and didn't want to hear it. I don't remember that much about the card except that I was a big fan of Hogan, Slaughter, Santana and (inexplicably) David Sammartino. I had a ball and my lifelong fandom was cemented that night.

[jackwebb]

Cool thread. First show I went to was in 1986. Must have been a birthday gift looking at the date. Had great seats that were floor level around 7th row. It sucked when the main event happened and everyone stood up. Couldn't see anything. Should have just stood on my chair. Thankfully I was able to find it on youtube a couple years ago and finally got to the see the match.

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - December 13, 1986 (14,132)

Televised on the PRISM Network - included Gorilla Monsoon & Dick Graham on commentary:

Steve Lombardi pinned Tony Garea (sub. for Outback Jack) at 5:42 after Garea missed a reverse crossbody from the middle turnbuckle

Butch Reed pinned Sivi Afi with a clothesline from the middle turnbuckle at 6:01

Brutus Beefcake (w/ Johnny V) pinned Mike Rotundo with his feet on the ropes at 9:25

The Honkytonk Man pinned SD Jones at 7:32 with the Shake, Rattle, & Roll

Dan Spivey pinned Greg Valentine at 6:28 after Valentine collided with an interfering Brutus Beefcake on the ring apron; Beefcake came ringside mid-way through the bout; after the match, Spivey was double teamed, with Valentine applying the figure-4, until Mike Rotundo made the save; prior to the bout, Johnny V was ordered backstage by the referee after taking a cheap shot on Spivey

Blackjack Mulligan pinned Jimmy Jack Funk at the 51-second mark with a flying back elbow

Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Pedro Morales & Tito Santana at 10:18 when Neidhart pinned Morales after Bret hit a double axehandle from the middle turnbuckle as Morales had a Boston Crab applied on Neidhart, with Bret then putting Neidhart on top behind the referee's back for the win

The Junkyard Dog fought King Harley Race (w/ Bobby Heenan) to a double count-out at 7:47 after both men began brawling on the floor; after the match, Race attacked JYD from behind as JYD attempted to get at Heenan on the ring apron

Hercules (w/ Bobby Heenan) defeated Billy Jack Haynes via disqualification at 7:23 after Haynes accidentally elbowed referee Danny Davis in the face

Jose Luis Rivera pinned Iron Mike Sharpe with a backslide at 1:43

Kamala (w/ the Wizard & Kimchee) pinned Cpl. Kirchner at 2:42 following two splashes; after the bout, Kamala hit a splash off the top followed by two regular splashes; moments later, Kirchner was taken backstage on a stretcher

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Orndorff (w/ Bobby Heenan) in a steel cage match at 8:04 by escaping over the top as Orndorff attempted to go through the door; early in the match, Heenan put a lock on the door so that noone could open it but he later removed it so that he could climb inside and try to stop the champion from going over the top; moments later, Hogan threw Heenan into the cage and crotched Orndorff on the top rope before exiting

[Johnny Sorrow]

Cool thread. First show I went to was in 1986. Must have been a birthday gift looking at the date. Had great seats that were floor level around 7th row. It sucked when the main event happened and everyone stood up. Couldn't see anything. Should have just stood on my chair. Thankfully I was able to find it on youtube a couple years ago and finally got to the see the match.

 

WWF @ Philadelphia, PA - Spectrum - December 13, 1986 (14,132)

Televised on the PRISM Network - included Gorilla Monsoon & Dick Graham on commentary:

Steve Lombardi pinned Tony Garea (sub. for Outback Jack) at 5:42 after Garea missed a reverse crossbody from the middle turnbuckle

Butch Reed pinned Sivi Afi with a clothesline from the middle turnbuckle at 6:01

Brutus Beefcake (w/ Johnny V) pinned Mike Rotundo with his feet on the ropes at 9:25

The Honkytonk Man pinned SD Jones at 7:32 with the Shake, Rattle, & Roll

Dan Spivey pinned Greg Valentine at 6:28 after Valentine collided with an interfering Brutus Beefcake on the ring apron; Beefcake came ringside mid-way through the bout; after the match, Spivey was double teamed, with Valentine applying the figure-4, until Mike Rotundo made the save; prior to the bout, Johnny V was ordered backstage by the referee after taking a cheap shot on Spivey

Blackjack Mulligan pinned Jimmy Jack Funk at the 51-second mark with a flying back elbow

Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Pedro Morales & Tito Santana at 10:18 when Neidhart pinned Morales after Bret hit a double axehandle from the middle turnbuckle as Morales had a Boston Crab applied on Neidhart, with Bret then putting Neidhart on top behind the referee's back for the win

The Junkyard Dog fought King Harley Race (w/ Bobby Heenan) to a double count-out at 7:47 after both men began brawling on the floor; after the match, Race attacked JYD from behind as JYD attempted to get at Heenan on the ring apron

Hercules (w/ Bobby Heenan) defeated Billy Jack Haynes via disqualification at 7:23 after Haynes accidentally elbowed referee Danny Davis in the face

Jose Luis Rivera pinned Iron Mike Sharpe with a backslide at 1:43

Kamala (w/ the Wizard & Kimchee) pinned Cpl. Kirchner at 2:42 following two splashes; after the bout, Kamala hit a splash off the top followed by two regular splashes; moments later, Kirchner was taken backstage on a stretcher

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Orndorff (w/ Bobby Heenan) in a steel cage match at 8:04 by escaping over the top as Orndorff attempted to go through the door; early in the match, Heenan put a lock on the door so that noone could open it but he later removed it so that he could climb inside and try to stop the champion from going over the top; moments later, Hogan threw Heenan into the cage and crotched Orndorff on the top rope before exiting

I was at that show! I was 16 years old, and it ruled. I remember thinking Mulligan was gonna have a heart attack. He was dressed in the bunkhouse gear under the hot lights and looked like he was about to keel over.

[Grimmas]

WWF @ Brockville, Ontario - Memorial Centre - May 26, 1993

Tatanka defeated Razor Ramon

Doink the Clown defeated Crush

Owen Hart defeated Terry Taylor

The Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzalez

WWF Tag Team Champions Ted Dibiase & IRS defeated Rick & Scott Steiner

 

This was my first live experience and I was 12 years old, so of course this was awesome. I do Remember Money Inc. vs. Steiner Brothers being pretty good though. Outside of that Taker's entrance was really good.

 

I've seen a Smackdown, a few house shows, SummerSlam 2004 and a bunch of house shows, but I think my favourite was a few weeks ago when I saw Goldust vs. Randy Orton live on Raw. That match had such a feeling and was so great to watch.

[Big Rob]

Afa (20min limit draw) Dick Murdoch

Did this get filmed at all? I know Afa wasn't the best but I could see this being quite a lot of fun, lots of Murdoch prat falling and stooging.

[NitroFan]

my first ever live show was the global warning event wwe did in melbourne, australia. hhh vs. brock vs. rock main event. it was later released on dvd. was 40 something thousand there, so i imagine in 2002 (ie. before they did every mania in a football stadium) that wouldve ranked fairly highly on the all time wwe attendance list.

 

my favourite experience would probably be summerslam 2013 followed by the post-mania raw from miami last year. i was losing my shit during the ss main event and was legit pissed when bryan got fucked. and raw was just so much damn fun, with the crowd going crazy for bryan all night despite him not even appearing until the dark match. the post summerslam raw was pretty cool as well, especially since the shield walked right past me 2 or 3 times. a lot smaller than i thought they'd be.

 

i also saw hogan vs. flair...in 2009. i think one or both of them bladed. highlight of that show was the massive hogan mark sitting in front of me who got kicked out just before hogan made his entrance. was literally crying as security dragged him away, poor guy.