Smackdown – August 11, 2005: That’s Important Too
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: August 11, 2005
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re less than two weeks away from Summerslam and the card seems to be set on both sides. This time around we need to build more towards the lower half of the card as Randy Orton vs. Undertaker and the World Title match are mostly set. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for tonight though so let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Booker T. vs. Joey Mercury
Fallout from last week where Mercury stole a pin on Booker in a tag match. Sharmell is here with Booker while Melina, Nitro and Jillian Hall are here with Mercury. An early Jillian distraction lets Nitro get in a cheap shot so that’s an early double ejection of both Nitro and Hall. Booker hammers away to start and hits an elbow and kick to the jaw.
Mercury is back with a knee to the ribs and a clothesline to set up the chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry as Booker strikes away even more, setting up a side slam for two. The flapjack into the Spinarooni into the Book End looks to finish but we need a catfight on the floor. Mercury’s rollup gets two so it’s the ax kick to give Booker the pin.
Rating: D+. Just a match here with Booker not exactly breaking a sweat against Mercury. That being said, it’s not like Mercury is supposed to be much on his own, hence the whole team aspect. Booker is a much bigger star and we might see a Tag Team Title match at some point, assuming Booker and Benoit are still partners.
It’s time for the Peep Show with a rather awesome set, including an inflatable flame chair. Christian wastes no time in bringing out Batista as this week’s guest and the fans are rather pleased. Christian can’t believe that he, the biggest Draft pick, isn’t on Summerslam. Batista certainly is though and we hear about the match with JBL.
That’s not cool with Christian, so he’s going to be beating Batista tonight. Batista: “Are you talking to me?” Christian freaks out so Batista takes the mic and says Christian needs an attitude adjustment. The fans seem interested though and the match is made. Better than more of Batista trying to make me interested in another match against JBL.
Heidenreich/Animal vs. Scotty Sabre/Jason Static
Non-title. Heidenreich and Animal jump them before the bell and the beatdown is on in a hurry. A Boss Man Slam hits Sabre so it’s off to Static, who gets his head knocked off by Animal’s clothesline. The powerslam into the Doomsday Device finishes in a hurry.
The Mysterios arrived earlier.
We recap last week’s announcement of Eddie Guerrero wanting custody of Rey Mysterio’s son Dominic.
Randy Orton is returning to the ring tonight and demands to know his opponent. Theodore Long says Orton can find out in the ring. All Orton can know is that it’s a legendary opponent of the Undertaker.
Randy Orton vs. ???
Rating: D. Yeah what else were you expecting here? Kamala was 55 at this point and wasn’t exactly someone you expected to win a big match at this best. It was fine as a way to get to the post match stuff and it worked out just fine. The match itself was nothing of course and the setup with Undertaker was all that mattered.
Post match the blue lights come on and the ring fills with smoke. Nothing is said, but it’s a cool visual.
A woman from child protective services is here to observe Eddie and Dominic to decide what is best for tonight. Eddie says he’ll she her what is going on.
Here are Eddie and the social worker, who looks rather intimidated to be in a big arena. After getting the social worker’s name wrong, Eddie talks about wanting to bring Dominic into a home full of….compassion and…..honesty and truth, all of which aren’t the easiest things for him to say. The Mysterios come out and Eddie drops to his knees as Dominic looks confused (as usual).
Eddie blames the Mysterios as the social worker takes notes. With Dominic not coming to him, Eddie gets in Rey’s face and says no one beats him. Rey doesn’t quite agree but Dominic hasn’t spoken a word since Eddie’s story last week. Eddie has beaten everything, including addiction, but he can’t beat Rey. Even when Eddie gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, his plaque will say he couldn’t beat Rey Mysterio.
So the solution is clear: they need to have a match for the custody of Dominic at Summerslam. Eddie doesn’t think so, but Rey calling him a chicken****. Eddie finally agrees and says Dominic comes home with him tonight. Social worker: “Are you kidding me? You people are a bunch of crazies!” Until Summerslam, Dominic is going into foster care. Rey tells him it’s going to be ok and Eddie promises Dominic that the nightmare ends at Summerslam. This went over twenty minutes but the social’s worker’s response was funny and it gave us one of the most infamous match stipulations ever so I can live with it.
Mexicools vs. William Regal/Scotty 2 Hotty
Earlier today, Regal was disturbed by the idea of Scotty’s Worm. Scotty and Crazy start things off with Scotty running him over. A cheap shot from the floor lets Juvy (not in the match) get in some cheap shots though and it’s Crazy hitting a running dropkick. Psicosis comes in with a legdrop for a delayed cover, though he already made a tag for a rather confusing choice of actions. Scotty fights up but Regal drops to the floor instead of accepting a tag, meaning it’s handicap time. Crazy knocks Scotty down and Psicosis’ guillotine legdrop is good for the pin.
Rating: D. Another match designed to be about the angle instead of the match and….do they think I’m going to be interested in Regal turning on Scotty in a match with the Mexicools? I know you have to have some lower level stories but coming up with some more interesting people shouldn’t be that difficult.
Rey and his wife Angie are in tears.
Jillian Hall challenges Booker and Sharmell to a mixed tag against Mercury and Melina. And don’t look at her blemish.
Here’s John Cena’s new music video.
Chris Benoit vs. Simon Dean
Dean calls Benoit a flabby wolverine and the beating is on in a hurry. A few forearms to the back and a clothesline get Dean out of trouble. The front facelock goes on with Dean firing off some knees to the face so Benoit rolls the German suplexes. Three in a row set up the Crossface for the fast tap. Just a step above a squash.
Christian vs. Batista
Non-title. The trash talk is on in a hurry so Batista tells him to bring it on. Christian tries to shove him away from a lockup and is launched into the ropes for his efforts. Some rams into the corner have Christian’s face in some pain and his sunset flip attempt just annoys Batista. A backdrop puts Christian on the floor and a right hand drops him again. Back in and Batista gets sent shoulder first into the post, meaning it’s time for the armbar. Batista powers out of that as well and hits a super backdrop, setting up the shoulders in the corner. There’s the spinebuster but JBL comes in for the DQ.
Rating: C-. This was too short to mean anything but there could have been a nice match in there if they had some more time. What we got was watchable enough though as Batista is getting into the groove of being the top dog. It’s very good that he’s gotten away from HHH for a change though as that was only going to let him get so far. Christian continues to look like a star in the making and at least he didn’t get pinned when he didn’t have to.
Post match Christian offers a distraction and JBL gets in a chair shot to the head. A bunch of chair shots to the back keep Batista down to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. As was mentioned more than once, this wasn’t a show built around adding anything major to Summerslam. The show is set and all we needed was some finalizing of details (you knew Eddie vs. Rey was coming and this just made it official). The build was mostly good, though that Eddie vs. Rey promo could have been cut down by a good bit. The problem is that while it did some good things, it wasn’t in the most interesting way and that brought it down a lot. Not a very good show, but at least it got some things done in a bit of a different way.
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