WWF House Show 5/28/2000

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/28/2000
From: Edmonton, Alberta

There were four matches not recorded from the show. The results for the matches saw…
The Godfather defeating Al Snow
Test & Albert defeating Too Cool
Bradshaw defeating Bull Buchanan by disqualification
Kane defeated Big Bossman

Opening Contest: WWF Lightweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Crash Holly: Malenko dropkicks the left knee of Holly to get the early advantage and focuses his offense on the knee. Holly battles back with right hands out of the corner to drop the champion. Holly continues with a backdrop and dropkick to send Malenko to the floor. Holly tosses Dean back into the ring but Malenko drop toe holds Holly throat first across the middle rope. Malenko has Holly in the tree of woe but misses a baseball slide dropkick and crotches himself against the ring post. Holly yanks Dean’s legs to add more punishment and plays to the crowd. Malenko hits a back suplex to drive Holly down to the canvas. Malenko goes back to work on the left knee trying to get a submission but Holly doesn’t give in to the pain. Malenko uses the ropes for leverage but the referee eventually sees it and has to let go of the hold.

Holly kicks Malenko shoulder first into the corner and nearly wins with a rollup but Malenko goes back to having control of the match working on Holly’s knee. Holly battles back with a fury of rights in the corner but Malenko stops him with an eye rake. Malenko plays to the crowd as they are jeering him pretty well. Holly hits a neck breaker and both men are down. Holly has a second win hammering away on Malenko. Holly heads to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Malenko blocks a backdrop attempt and attempts a power bomb but Holly counters with a hurricanrana for a near fall. Malenko plants Holly with a double under hook power bomb and locks in the Texas Cloverleaf to win the match. (**1/2. It’s not a bad match, actually. I enjoyed the action as it had a little story to it and I thought Holly kept up with Malenko pretty well.)

Second Contest: WWF World Champion Triple H, Road Dogg & X-Pac vs. The Rock & The Dudley Boys: Bubba and D-Von waste no time going to the ring not waiting for Rock and they get beaten down by the heels for a few moments until Rock power walks to the ring and enters knocking the heels down with right hands. Dogg and Bubba legally start the match with Bubba missing a splash in the corner but boots Dogg and hits a middle rope clothesline. D-Von tags in and works over Dogg with basic strikes. D-Von hits a leaping shoulder block and a spinning back elbow to drop Dogg. Rock gets the tag and knocks Pac off the apron before letting it known he wants HHH in the ring. Dogg attacks Rock from behind to get the cheap advantage. Rock clotheslines Dogg and tags in D-Von. D-Von is held over the middle rope by Pac as Dogg jumps onto D-Von’s back and tags in Pac.

Pac works over D-Von with several kicks in the corner and taunts the crowd before hitting the Bronco Buster! HHH enters and stomps on D-Von hitting a high knee lift. Dogg tags back into the match and pummels D-Von with strikes. D-Von clotheslines both Dogg and Pac after avoiding a double clothesline and tags in Bubba who cleans house with a side slam and Bubba Bomb. Bubba scoop slams Pac and hits the What’s Up with D-Von! They do the same to Dogg as Tori distracted the referee on the apron. HHH decides they are going to leave but the good guys go to the aisle and attack them bringing them back to the ring. Tori is brought into the ring and HHH accidentally clotheslines Tori. HHH stops Bubba with a face buster and works over Bubba with right hands in the corner. Bubba is worked over in the corner by Pac but Pac misses a splash in the corner. Bubba turns around and clotheslined by HHH from the apron.

Bubba misses a clothesline and Dogg delivers several jabs before hitting a knee drop for a near fall. Bubba makes the tag but HHH distracted the referee preventing it from being awarded. HHH tags in and puts a sleeper hold on Bubba. Bubba manages to get out and plants HHH with an ace crusher! Rock and Dogg get the tags with Rock cleaning house with right hands and slingshots HHH back into the ring to hammer away on him. Rock attempts the Rock Bottom on Dogg but HHH makes the save and stomps away on Rock in the corner. Rock plants HHH with a spine buster and hits the People’s Elbow for the win. (***. It’s a good match with the crowd eating everything up. This felt like the main event to the show and it’s not. I felt like everyone involved worked very well here.) After the match, Earl Hebner shoves HHH and decks Dogg off the apron before doing crotch chops.

Third Contest: WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Perry Saturn: Guerrero scoop slams Saturn to start the match and rams Saturn into the corner. Saturn comes back with a snap power slam for a near fall. Guerrero takes Saturn down with a hurricanrana and hammers away on Saturn. Guerrero hip tosses Saturn and works on the left arm until Saturn uses his strength to slam Eddie down to the canvas with one arm. Saturn catapults Guerrero chest first into the corner and hits an overhead belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Saturn takes Eddie over with an exploder suplex for another near fall. Guerrero counters an abdominal stretch with one of his own briefly until Saturn knee lifts his way out of it and puts the same hold on.

Guerrero battles back with a spinning heel kick and works over Saturn in the corner. Eddie takes Saturn over with a snap suplex for a two count. Saturn stops Guerrero with a quick power bomb for a near fall. Guerrero hits a tornado DDT for a near fall. Guerrero heads to the top but misses the frog splash. Saturn hits the Death Valley Driver for a two count. Eddie stops Saturn with a jaw breaker but Saturn backdrops Guerrero over the top to the floor. Saturn sends Guerrero into the referee as Chyna has entered the ring. Chyna low blows Saturn on the middle rope. Guerrero gains footing on the top and hits a hurricanrana for the win. (**. It felt like it was a crash course match with nothing really making a huge impression. They’ve worked with each other previously so they know each other well. It was enjoyable for what it was.)

Fourth Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boys: Matt and Christian start the title match with Matt knocking Christian off his feet with a shoulder block. Christian comes back with a dropkick and they trade strikes in the corner with Matt getting the better of the exchange. Jeff tags in and leg drops the lower midsection of Christian but Christian gets control in the corner briefly. Edge tried to lat on the top turnbuckle to help his brother but Jeff sends Christian to another corner and Edge is kicked by Matt. Poetry in Motion on Christian in the corner and a double suplex for Edge as the challengers have control. Jeff is double teamed by the champs and Matt can only look on from the apron.

Edge distracts the referee so he doesn’t see Matt get the tag and Jeff is worked over some more by the champions. Jeff and Edge collide hitting clotheslines but Christian enters to attack Jeff. Jeff goes for the cover but only gets a near fall on Edge. Jeff spin kicks Edge and tags in Matt to enter and clean house with right hands. Matt drops Edge with sleeper hold slam. Edge rolls into the ring with the championship but misses and Matt rolls Edge up for a near fall. Jeff enters and kicks the belt into edge’s face for a near fall. Jeff tosses Christian over the top to the floor. Matt hits the Twist of Fate and Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb but the referee is distracted. Christian hits Matt with the belt and Edge gets the win. (**1/2. This was a rather standard match between these two teams with a cheap finish to protect the challengers and keep the titles on the heels. It’s an enjoyable match but it’s not a hidden gem or anything on the house show circuit.)

Fifth Contest: Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi: Rikishi knocks Angle down with a right hand and uses a towel to wipe his ass before putting the towel in Angle’s face. Rikishi splashes Angle in the corner and Angle drops down in the corner. Rikishi delivers the Stink Face. Too Cool enter the ring for some reason as Rikishi hits the Rikishi Driver and pins Angle in under two minutes. I’m not sure why they squashed Angle like that, but okay.

At this in his career, Chris Jericho was a really over babyface but prior to the main event he cut a heel promo to play the heel for the match while Benoit would play the face since they are in his hometown.

Main Event: WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho: Looks like this one is getting nearly twenty minutes of time and I’m not about to complain about that. They trade chops in the middle of the ring with Benoit getting the better of the exchange. Jericho dropkicks Benoit from behind sending him to the floor. Benoit clotheslines Jericho from the apron to avoid a springboard. Benoit baseball slides Jericho while he was ripping on the fans. Benoit knocks Jericho over the railing into the crowd where Benoit continues to chop Jericho before they head back to ringside where Jericho sends Benoit back first into the ring steps. Jericho slams Benoit face first into the ring steps. Jericho brings Benoit back into the ring from the apron with a suplex for a near fall. Jericho controls Benoit wrenching on Benoit’s arms with his knee against his back for a few moments and switches to a sleeper hold to keep Benoit on the canvas.

Jericho hits a bulldog for a near fall. Jericho keeps control and chokes Benoit across the middle rope. Benoit avoids a splash over the middle rope and Jericho crotches himself. Jericho attempts a springboard but is stopped and Benoit hits a back suplex. Jericho chops Benoit several times in the corner and attempts another bulldog but is instead met with a clothesline. Benoit locks in the Crossface but Jericho doesn’t give in. Jericho takes Benoit down to the canvas and locks in the Walls of Jericho but Benoit doesn’t give in, either. Benoit reaches the ropes but Jericho thought he won the match. Benoit goes for a tombstone but Jericho counters only for another counter and Benoit spikes Jericho with a tombstone. Benoit heads to the top rope hitting a diving headbutt and gets the win. (***1/4. It’s a really good main event and the best match on the show, for sure. They didn’t go nearly twenty minutes but just over ten. These two are incapable of having a bad match, I think. I’m glad they went on last.)

Final Thoughts:
For what was recorded, I thought it was an entertaining house show with a red hot crowd eating everything up on the program. It felt fresh and fast pace which lacks in the current product (2015). The time came in under two hours and it was an easy watch for me. If you can find the show, give it a watch sometime and enjoy the action.

Thanks for reading.