House Show Results from Knoxville, TN, 5/25/97
Derrik Snider attended a house show in Knoxville, TN on May 25. Here are the results:

• Alex Wright over Billy Kidman
  • This was one of the better matches on the card. Kidman was alowed to work some and did a good mocking of Alax's effeminate dancing (more on that later) during the match.
  • Alex is much more entertaining as a heel than as a face. He got the biggest boos of the night and had the crowd chanting "Faggot" at him. At least it's better than putting the crowd to sleep like he used to do.
  • My friend compared Alex's dancing to Rick Rude's but "Much gayer"
• Jeff Jarrett over Meng by countout when Meng put the Goozle on JJ while he was standing on the ring apron (outside of the ropes) and JJ was inside the ring
  • I was ticked off at this match because It was advertised as a falls count anywhere match between Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit (my friend and I spent the time before the match trying to figure out which bathroom they would be going to). I missed most of the match because I decided to go on a beer run and when I got back to my seat the match was ending and the audience was chanting "Boring" very loudly. [Editor's Note: It has been widely reported that Kevin Sullivan is taking two months off from his wrestling and booking duties due to burnout.]
  • JJ got a pretty resounding boo when his music started and he came out. I think most of the crowd was expecting Benoit.
• Steiners over Public Enemy by DQ after a missed table dive by Rocco
  • Dull match with no highlights
  • Public Enemy were big time heels in this match. They flipped off the crowd a few times and kept on calling the crowd inbreds.
  • The Steiners set a new record for belly to belly suplexes. I counted six and did not start counting till halfway through the match. The only other move that they used were clotheslines and a few slams.
  • I was amazed that Public Enemy's table even made it to ringside. It looked like it was going to fall apart on the way down to the ring.
• Intermission where they told us all to go to Nashville and see Nitro
• Marcus "Buff" Bagwell over Scotty Riggs
  • I don't remember much of the match because it was time to pay the beer deposit
  • Riggs should team with Wright and call themselves the International Males. They both have the same dancing skills.
• Dean Malenko and Rey Misterio, Jr. ended in a double pinfall when Dean did a belly to back suplex to a bridge and the ref counted both men's shoulders on the mat.
  • No real high flying stuff from Rey but surprisingly good mat work from him. A good match but too short.
• "Diamond" Dallas Page over Mortis.
  • Mortis is not too bad in the ring. He did a good job selling DDP's moves but this match was way too long. DDP hit Mortis with a Diamond Cutter from a fireman's carry.
• The Giant over Hall/Nash by DQ when Buff interfered in the match.
  • Lex was not cleared by his Doctor to get in the ring, so the Giant was to go it alone (how much do you want to bet he will be cleared tonight on Nitro, I guess one more day of rest is very important)
  • Not a long match, it took longer for Hall to stop hiding from the Giant than it took for Buffy to cause the DQ.
  • After the DQ, the nWo proceeded to do the mud stomp on the Giant. This included a massive jackknife by Nash on the Giant (I was worried about the ring breaking). I bet a beer with my friend that Lex would run down and save the day. Almost on cue he comes running down and opens a can of whup-ass on everyone.
• Overall, the show was not extremely good, but it was entertaining.

Since posting this, I got an e-mail from James Burunoff letting me know that the Louisville, KY house show on the previous evening was the same except that Malenko won his match against Misterio and Malenko took Billy Kidman's place against Alex Wright and won that match as well.

Chan and Charlie were also at the show in Knoxville. Here is Chan's report.

We are sorry to report that we only attended the Knoxville house show on May 25th. We had planned to go to Nashville (May 26th) and Chattanooga (May 27th), but Charlie has contracted a bad case of DWL (delayed wrestling laringitis). Here is our take on the house show:

• Prior to the card, we were offered front row tickets to the following night's Nitro, but we opted to refuse because we are poor. The only wrestler we encountered prior to the card was Marcus "Pretty Boy Red Neck" Bagwell. We also saw Luger, but did not really talk to him. Charlie also brushed by Randy "Pee Wee" Anderson prior to the card. Randy has gained weight since his medical ordeal last year. We also saw Knoxville, Tennessee's own Big Bill Needham, who is an announcer for Tennessee Mountain Wrestling and also one of the world's stupidest commentators ever.
• Alex Wright defeated Billy Kidman. Alex received one of the biggest ovations of the night. Unfortunately, it was all bad for him, although this fits his new heel persona. The faithful were quite convinced of Alex's homosexuality as the repeatedly chanted "Faggot" and "You suck." Fortunately, we do not feel any of them knew first hand. In our opinion, he wrestled one of the best matches on the card. This should tell you something about the quality of this particular event. Wright was very good hitting an impressive snap DDT as well as a nice version of the powerbomb, which was the move of choice on this night. Wright also demonstrated several traditional heel attributes such as getting on the house mic and berating the "rednecks", taunting the fans and pointing to his head to show just how intelligent a wrestler he is. The match was high in quality, but lasted too long. Kidman, in our humble opinion, was not ready for anything but a squash yet. The match was good, but no one particularly cared as these two are glorified jobbers.
• Jeff Jarrett defeated Meng as Meng was counted out while applying his new submission hold. Jarrett was not well recieved by his fellow Tennesseeans and was one of the few faces who was not supported by the markish Knoxville fans.
• The Steiner Brothers defeated Public Enemy with the predictable ending of Johnny Grunge putting Scott on the table and missing and being pinned by Scott. This was far and away the worst match of the night. Both groups seemed more intent on speaking on the house microphone than anything else. Scott Steiner is almost too muscular to wrestle. We estimate that he spends more money than he makes on steroids. This was very disappointing, but the Knoxville fans seemed content to scream dog barks in honor of Rick Steiner.
• After an intermission, Marcus Bagwell defated Scotty Riggs in a match that has been done one too many times. Bagwell got under the fans' skin early by berating the town on the house mic. Two spots got the attention of the crowd more than others. One was when Scotty Riggs pulled Bagwell's tights down for what seemed to be an eternity. The other was when referee Mark Curtis cornered Bagwell and had him to his knees in the corner of the ring. Riggs only offense was a nice powerbomb, but it received llittle to no response from the crowd. Bagwell dominated the match and won. Like most of the other matches, this went a tad too long.
• Speaking of matches that have been done one too many times, Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Dean Malenko ended in a draw when each pinned the other's shoulders after Malenko's belly-to-back suplex. We both agreed this match was very good despite seeing it numerous times. It was the most accurate we had ever seen Mysterio's somersault dive to the outside of the ring. Overall, it was a good match. The two reluctantly shook hands after the match was over.
• The next match saw Diamond Dallas Page defeat Mortis. DDP received the largest pop of the night as the new DDP shirts filled the arena and the fans flashed the Diamond Cutter sign throughout the night. Mortis wrestled a good match and prevented the Diamond Cutter several times before finally losing on the best finisher in wrestling today. The two high points of the match saw cameras flash quite a bit when DDP hit a flying clothesline from the top rope and also when he finally nailed the Diamond Cutter. DDP was the only face all night that put a heel over as the other heels got on the house mic repeatedly to stir things up. DDP needed no help in strirring up the fans. Surprisingly, there were no "We want Glacier" chants.
• The main event saw the Giant defeat Hall and Nash by disqualification. Prior to the match, Nash said he would allow Giant to wrestle one of the two Outsiders for the belts. He also did the spot Hall did the following night by saying that Knoxville was "nWo country." The Giant responded by saying that the people payed good money to see him kick both of their asses so he would wrestle a handicap match. Luger was originally booked to be his partner but it was claimed he was too injured to wrestle. The match was horriible as Buff Bagwell interfered repeatedly and the Giant was double and triple teamed. Hall received great responses to his standard routine of pumping his fists and stomping as well as sitting on the turnbuckle nonchalantly before the match. Hall and Nash ended up getting disqualified. The highlight of the night came after the match when Nash powerbombed the Giant. He noticeably grimaced afterwards. There was a great echo throughout the arena when the Giant's body hit the mat. After a triple team effort, Luger finally came to the Giant's rescue. Having seem him earlier, we were not surprised. Even if we had not seen him, the ending was too predictable.
  We found it interesting that Hall and Nash came to the ring to the nWo "B" Team music instead of their traditional nWo theme.
• Overall, this card was fairly good, considering who was there and who was scheduled to be there. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Harlem Heat, Kimberly, Randy Savage, Syxx, Arn Anderson, Chris Benoit, Kevin Greene, Eddy Guerrero, Chris Jericho, and TV champ Steven Regal did not attend. The original lineup looked like this: Hall/Nash vs. Giant/Luger, Benoit vs. Sullivan, JJ vs.Meng, Steiners vs. PE, Buff vs, Riggs, Malenko vs. Syxx, Mysterio vs. Psychosis and DDP vs. Mortis. It is sad when Jeff Jarrett is the best (and only) Horseman on the card.
• Afterward, the gang went to the Hyatt Regency to meet the rasslers. The only one we encountered was Johnny Grunge and a guy we think was Mortis. Charlie was too busy moving on his girlfriend to notice anything. The rest of us were too tired to do anything and those of us in the real world had work the next morning so we left early so Charlie and his woman so they could be alone.

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