Smackdown
Date: May 12, 2006
Location: ipayoneCenter, San Diego, California
Attendance: 11,700
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re on the way to Judgment Day and that means it’s going to be a bad night for Rey Mysterio. Last week he got destroyed by Mark Henry and tonight it’s probably going to be the Great Khali. But hey, at least he can beat JBL at the pay per view and that makes up for everything, right? Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Rey Mysterio becoming the underdog World Champion and getting destroyed by Mark Henry last week. Tonight it gets even worse with Great Khali.

Here’s John Bradshaw Layfield, who set up Mysterio’s battles with the giants, to get things going. He talks about how Rey is “a tough little Mexican fighter” and worries that Rey is going to take his innertube back to Mexico. The fans stop to chant for Eddie, who JBL agrees was great, but JBL was greater. Then he took the US Title from Chris Benoit and at Judgment Day he’s going to be the first ever double champion.

After that, he’ll offer Rey’s family a job. Dominik can shine his boots, Rey’s wife can do his dishes in a short little Latino dress, but Rey can sell drugs, get into prostitution or work a donkey show in Tijuana. Rey finally comes out to clear the ring in a hurry. JBL can say these things with some conviction, but dang the times have changed.

Super Crazy vs. Nunzio vs. Kid Kash

The winner gets Gregory Helms, on commentary, for the Cruiserweight Title at the pay per view. It’s a brawl to start with Crazy being sent outside and Nunzio being backdropped out after him. Everyone gets back in for an exchange of rollups for two each until Kash’s clothesline gets two on Nunzio. Kash kicks Nunzio off the top and hits his moonsault for two more with Crazy making the save. Crazy covers both of them for a near fall each and Nunzio makes his own save. Nunzio loads Crazy up in a Doomsday Device but Crazy victory rolls him for the pin as Kash misses the high crossbody.

Rating: C. It was fine enough action but there was no hiding how unimportant everything they were doing was here. The Cruiserweight Title hasn’t meant anything in years and you can see how far it is falling almost every week. Points for trying to do something and having an action packed match, but this was the popcorn/nacho portion of the show.

The returning Kurt Angle storms into Teddy Long’s office to demand a match with Mark Henry. Long says no because Angle isn’t cleared so Angle grabs him by the jacket. The match is on for the pay per view.

Gymini vs. Mike Wellington/Joey Ryan

The Gymini are Jesse and Jake, while Ryan (yes that Ryan) has belt loops on his trunks. Jake powers Wellington to the apron to start and hits a clothesline back inside. Ryan comes in and gets kicked in the head, followed by a double shoulder for a bonus. Some elbows to the back of the head set up a chinlock, with Jesse pulling the hair. Wellington gets slammed onto Ryan and a double toss into the air for a big crash finishes Ryan without much effort.

Rating: D+. There is something rather cathartic about seeing Joey Ryan getting beaten up. Total destruction here of course as WWE has almost always known how to push two big monsters like this. I’m not sure how far they can go from here, but they can do this match well enough, especially given how short it was.

Various wrestlers like the See No Evil premiere, with Kurt Angle having to hide behind Viscera.

We look at Finlay beating Chris Benoit to make the semifinals of the King of the Ring.

Here are Booker T. and Sharmell for a chat. Booker is upset that Kurt Angle was thrown out of the tournament because he was looking forward to the match. He doesn’t want a forfeit so Angle can come out and face him right now (Angle was escorted from the building after talking to Long). Booker even gives him a ten count, with a pause for one last beg at nine, before declaring himself the winner. The celebration is on, complete with spinning Sharmell around and a Spinarooni.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley

They fight over a lockup to start with Lashley eventually powering him into the corner. Lashley takes him down with an explosive single leg but Finlay is back up with a clothesline. The chinlock goes on for a good while before Lashley is back up with a big boot. A gorilla press gutbuster has Finlay in trouble and a running clothesline in the corner rocks him again.

Some forearms gets Finlay out of trouble though and he chokes with the ring skirt. The chinlock goes on again and a pull of the trunks takes Lashley down again. Cue Booker and Sharmell, with the former sitting on the throne to see Lashley get his knees up to stop a splash. Lashley gets caught in the ring skirt for another beating though and we take a break.

Back with Finlay working on an arm, with an elbow into the shoulder for a bonus. A running shoulder gives Finlay two but Lashley gets fired up and snap off the overhead belly to belly. The running powerslam connects but Finlay blocks the spear with a boot. Finlay throws in the chair and grabs the Shillelagh, the latter of which is taken away. The referee is dumb enough to get rid of it, allowing Finlay to get in a chair shot. Lashley shrugs it off and hits the spear for the pin.

Rating: C+. The chinlocks took something out of this but they made Lashley look like a monster and that’s the important part. Lashley is showing some different offense out there most weeks and that’s an encouraging sign for someone who could do three moves and get by on his look alone. Finlay continues to be a nice gem and they worked well together.

Post match Lashley tells Booker to get out of his chair before he gets thrown out.

Here are MNM for a chat. Johnny Nitro says they’re the hot team and the sexiest champions of the century. They don’t like Paul London and Brian Kendrick getting in their way, which is why they got three straight Snapshots last week. After we see a clip from last week, Melina talks about how those punks are just trying to get a rub from the champs. Cue Jillian Hall, who talks about beating up Melina at the makeup table. Melina says Jillian looked better with the growth on her face. The fight is almost on but here are London and Kendrick to pants the champs. Hall rips off Melina’s skirt too and the good guys run.

Mark Henry vs. Paul Burchill

We get the debut of Henry’s signature song. Henry clotheslines him down and hits a kick in the ribs as this is feeling squashish. Burchill is tossed outside in a heap (with one hand) and Henry throws him back inside for a bonus. There’s the running splash in the corner and a second one against the post has Burchill pretty much done. Back in and Henry hits two more splashes, grabs the mic to say Kurt Angle is getting the same thing. The World’s Strongest Slam is good for the pin.

Rating: D. This was little more than a way to keep Henry warm before his match with Angle. It was nothing we hadn’t seen before but there was only so much you can get out of this version of Henry. Also, so much for Burchill, but how long was a Pirates of the Caribbean tribute character going to last?

Tatanka is still becoming a Lakota warrior.

Big Vito says he and Nunzio are going out tonight. Nunzio needs to go get a shower but Orlando Jordan cuts him off, saying that he saw someone who looked a lot like Vito in drag in a club in London. Nunzio doesn’t buy it.

Judgment Day rundown.

Rey Mysterio vs. Great Khali

Rating: F. What do you even say here? This came off as more of Vince and WWE being annoyed at the fans for wanting something and punishing them for it after giving them what they asked for. They do this with so many of their titles and then wonder why it isn’t as important or why the fans are walking away. It made Mysterio, who could potentially draw some money, look like nothing and Khali isn’t likely to get a title shot anytime soon, but at least they advanced Mysterio vs. JBL, which I’m sure people will be flocking to pay for. I remember thinking this was stupid in 2006 and it is even worse now, which doesn’t surprise me.

Post match JBL gets in Rey’s face to talk about how he let everyone down. JBL has another opponent for next week. Tick tock. JBL shoves him to the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Well that happened. This was not WWE’s finest hour as they don’t seem to have a clue about what they want to do here so the solution is to squash the World Champion on back to back weeks. It was a rough sit as this show doesn’t exactly have star power and they are going out of their way to damage the star power that they do have. Bad show here, and WWE isn’t helping itself.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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We’re finally here and odds are the lineups for the matches have changed another 194 times since Tuesday. It’s another year focused on Brand Supremacy and things are changing every day for the sake of…I have no idea really. This time there are seven brand vs. brand matches and a lonesome Cruiserweight Title match (the only title match on the whole show), the latter of which you would expect to be on the Kickoff Show so the whole show could be built around one concept. You know, because that’s how you do a show like this. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Monday Raw Tag Teams vs. SmackDown Live Tag Teams

Raw: Bobby Roode/Chad Gable (captains), Revival, Lucha House Party, B-Team, Ascension

SmackDown: Usos (captains), New Day, Sanity, Good Brothers, Colons

For some reason this is on the Kickoff Show, with the likely reason of allowing the entrances to not eat up such a ridiculous amount of time. At the moment this is the only Kickoff Show match and I can’t imagine that winding up being the case. These teams were literally thrown together over the course of the week and show how low the division is at the moment. How many of these teams really stand out at all?

I’ll take the SmackDown Live teams, just due to the amount of talent they have. The Usos and New Day alone could probably take out the five red teams (you know the show shirts will be out in full force) in short order so I’m hoping that everyone at least gets a chance to have some ring time somewhere in there. This isn’t exactly a match that interests me for the most part and that seems to be the case for the company as well.

Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown Live) vs. Seth Rollins (Monday Night Raw)

Yes indeed Nakamura still is the United States Champion and on Monday will have the longest title reign in over three years. I mean, he almost never defends the thing and is lucky to show up on TV more often than not, but he’s still the champion. Rollins on the other hand is one of the top names on his show and someone who is likely going to be pushed as one of the biggest stars in the company now that Roman Reigns is gone.

This is probably the easiest pick of the night as Dean Ambrose is all but guaranteed to interfere here and cost Rollins the match, which is exactly what he should be doing. Nakamura has nothing going on at the moment and it would make sense for him to win here, if nothing else just to give him anything to do. Rollins is destined for the big fight with Ambrose and unfortunately what should be a WrestleMania match is going to be a case of sitting around waiting on interference.

AOP (Monday Night Raw) vs. The Bar (SmackDown Live)

Speaking of champions who you forget have the titles, we have the Bar. I know they’re on TV almost every week, but it’s not like this reign is any different than any of their others, which is the case with almost all of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions in recent years. Wins and losses, even for the titles, mean very little for them and I think you know where this is going.

AOP wins here as the fresh champions who shouldn’t be losing for a long time to come. They’re better, more entertaining and just flat out dominant. There’s no reason to have them lose to the Bar, who are lucky enough to win half of their matches. You need to give Monday Night Raw a win or two here and there and this is one of their best chances to get on the scoreboard.

Brock Lesnar (Monday Night Raw) vs. Daniel Bryan (SmackDown Live)

Here’s a great example of the card changing at the last minute. Allegedly Bryan won the SmackDown World Title on Tuesday so AJ Styles wouldn’t have to lose to Lesnar two years in a row. You know, because taking the title off of him makes infinitely more sense than having him lose a non-title match via countout or something like that. This is the dream match that people have been wanting to see, though I can’t imagine it actually working out the way people were expecting. Especially not after Bryan’s heel turn.

Of course Lesnar wins here, because Lesnar is allowed to destroy everyone on the show not named Reigns. Why this is the case is beyond me, but it does look like we’re coming up on Bryan losing to Lesnar a mere five days after becoming World Champion. It happened last year to Styles and it’s happening to Bryan this year. And the title will continue to mean even less for some reason and WWE will seemingly not understand why.

Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy(c) vs. Mustafa Ali

We’ll take a break just after the halfway point with a match that should be getting more attention than it’s currently receiving. Murphy won the title from Cedric Alexander in his home country of Australia back at Super Show-Down and now it’s Ali getting another chance to FINALLY win the title. Ali has been chasing the thing since WrestleMania earlier this year and has become the heart and soul of 205 Live.

I’m going with the title change here, as Murphy is fine for a champion but doesn’t need to hold it. He’s the biggest and strongest guy on the 205 Live roster and Ali has been chasing the title for far too long now. Ali deserves to win it on the big stage and Survivor Series in Los Angeles would certainly qualify as a big stage. It’s long overdue and winning it here would feel like an important moment, especially if it’s on the main card instead of the Kickoff Show for a change.

Monday Night Raw Women vs. SmackDown Live Women

Monday Night Raw: Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James, Natalya, Ruby Riott

SmackDown Live: Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville, Asuka, ???

Now we’ll get to the deeper part of this with the score at 2-2. I’m not sure what to expect here but the interesting point is the mystery partner. While I’d like for the partner to be a debuting Shayna Baszler (Paige would still have some connections down in NXT for it to make some sense), odds are it’s going to be Mandy Rose. After what Rose said last week on SmackDown Live, there’s a good chance her team will turn on her for the elimination and put them at a disadvantage.

That disadvantage should be enough for the Raw women to win here. If nothing else, who are we to question the powers of Tamina? Asuka can take a countout or DQ elimination and the rest are pretty much interchangeable. I’ll go with Jax and Tamina as the sole survivors as they need to keep Jax strong for her upcoming title match against Ronda Rousey, which is pretty much the only story in the division at the moment. Raw wins here and takes the lead for the first time all night.

Ronda Rousey (Monday Night Raw) vs. Charlotte (SmackDown Live)

And you thought WrestleMania was in April. This is another match that could be taking place on a huge stage but instead we’re getting it here because Jax doesn’t know how to throw a proper punch and knocked Lynch onto the injured list. Rousey is undefeated but Charlotte has a history of ending undefeated streaks after she beat Asuka earlier this year. Again though, there’s a reason this one should go one specific way.

That way is Lynch, who is either going to hit Rousey with a chair to cost her the match or come out onto the stage for a distraction so Charlotte can beat her. Either way, it makes sense for Rousey to lose here, both to set up an eventual Rousey vs. Lynch match (likely at WrestleMania and possibly even in the main event) and to keep the score even because….I’m not even going to bother doing it again. But yeah, Charlotte wins due to Lynch’s interference.

Monday Night Raw Men vs. SmackDown Live Men

Monday Night Raw: Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley

SmackDown Live: The Miz (captain), Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy

While I don’t think this main events the show, you can forget about what makes sense for the sake of keeping the score even. I’m not sure where to go with this one either as you have Monday Night Raw on a two year winning streak, which should mean SmackDown Live picks up a win for the sake of a surprise. However, that might mean suggesting that Monday Night Raw isn’t the most awesome thing ever and I don’t know if WWE can live with that.

As little as it makes sense given the lineups, I’ll go with the blue guys picking up the win. Baron Corbin will find a way to accidentally get rid of Strowman and you can pencil in McMahon to get at least one fluke win in there somewhere. It doesn’t make sense given who is on the shows, but SmackDown Live winning makes a lot more sense than a third straight Monday Night Raw win.

Overall Thoughts

I’ve spent more than enough time complaining about the battle for Brand Supremacy but my goodness it’s completely taken over the show this year with six of the seven main card shows focusing on it. The show could be fun with some elimination matches and as long as they keep the battling McMahons to a minimum, things should be ok. What worries me the most is some stupid booking decisions in the name of keeping the score even, but I’ve long since given up on Survivor Series being a show that is meant to help long term storytelling.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6