This was my first house show at the Ocean City Convention Center, and it was a very nice little arena that held about 4-5,000. Before the show, security was very funny about approaching the talent when they got out of their cars. They even yelled at the talent to come right into the arena. However, some of the talents were really cool about taking pictures like Tommy Dreamer, The Great Khali, Layla, Kane, Yoshi Tatsu, and Tyler Reks. Out of all, Layla was the best because she was probably outside about 20 minutes before the show, and maybe another 20 after just posing for pictures, talking, and signing autographs. Road agents there were Mike Rotundo and Dean Malenko.

Anyway, here are the results:

1. Cryme Tyme defeated The Hart Dynasty. Cryme Tyme made their entrance through the crowd which received a good pop. Natalya played well to all the ringside fans. She even super-plexed JTG outside of the ring with the referee’s back turned. Very good opening match to get the crowd hot.

2. Mike Knox defeated Jimmy Wang Yang. It was good to see Yang as he is hardly ever on television anymore. The match itself was average. Knox picks up the win with a big boot.

3. Sheamus defeated Tyler Reks. Both guys tried hard to get the crowd into it, but it just did not work. The crowd was dead the entire match. Lots of rest holds. It finally picked up in the last minute or two when the action got a little quicker. Sheamus wins with his slam into backbreaker finisher.

4. Melina defeated Layla. This match finally woke the crowd back up after two matches of dead silence. The action was constantly quick with plenty of near falls. Melina got the win with her leg split finisher.

5. John Morrison defeated Dolph Ziggler. Dolph was over huge as a big time heel. The whole arena was chanting “You suck.” Dolph played the cowardly heel scared to get in the ring for the first 2-3 minutes of the match, which received a lot of heat. The match itself was good. I feel like the more they work together, the better their matches will be. Morrison wins with Starship Pain.

INTERMISSION TIME: Two little ones threw t-shirts in the crowd for the fans. Justin Roberts announced that a limited number of personally autographed Rey Mysterio 8 x 10’s were available at the souvenir stands so we knew Rey was definitely at the show.

6. William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, and Ezekiel Jackson defeated Tommy Dreamer, Yoshi Tatsu, and The Hurricane. Honestly, the match was only good when Regal was in the ring with one of his opponents. Kozlov and Jackson just looked very green. Regal gets the win for his team with the running knee to the face on Yoshi.

7. The Great Khali defeated Kane by DQ. Very slow match, but always good to see the presence of Khali in person. Kane grabbed a Singapore cane under the ring to cause the DQ.

8. CM Punk defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. This was match of the night. Punk got instant heat from his entrance by getting into it with fans at ringside and even ripping someone’s Mysterio sign and throwing it in their face. A very good back and forth match with Punk winning clean with GTS. Afterwards, Rey dropkicked Punk and hit the 619 to send the crowd home happy.

Overall, it was a very good show for such a small venue. Live events are just so much fun compared to televised events because the talent are just so much more comfortable and make the show feel less rushed and more fun. Hope you enjoyed the report!