IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 2004
Date: August 15, 2004
Location: Air Canada Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,640
Announcers: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Tazz

Once again another year has passed since Summerslam. Isn’t it odd how that’s always the case? Either way, things are indeed different now, as Chris Benoit finally broke through the glass ceiling and won the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 20. Tonight he faces Randy Orton who is 22 years old and has all the potential in the world. When he won a battle royal for the #1 contender spot, no one knew what to think other than oh craphe might win it.

Other than that we have JBL vs. Taker for the Smackdown Title, which means little as JBL was already sucking badly, although for a different reason. In this case, JBL just had no resume as the character was brand new and two months after debuting he won the world title. Why should we buy into this character? That question was never actually answered so for the most part we didn’t.

Oh and there’s some guy named Cena who was on the roster last year but couldn’t manage to get on the show. He’s wrestling Booker T tonight in the first of a best of 5 series for the US Title. That series wouldn’t end for two months, which in itself is just stupid. Let’s get to this, as the card looks….interesting I guess you’d say.

The entrance video is set to Rush’s Summertime Blues, so that’s a bit of a perk. The idea is that this is the culmination of the summer, and because of that we get a humorous video of WWE guys in Olympic events. Oddly enough Angle isn’t shown in that. For some reason, the Smackdown Title is listed last, and I mean completely last.

It’s billed after everything, which isn’t saying much for it. Oh also I forgot to mention, the third big match is Angle vs. Guerrero in a Wrestlemania rematch which should be good. The arena looks very cool with the screen shaped in a half circle over the entrance to the arena so it looks kind of like the sun setting.

Dudleys vs. Rey Mysterio/Billy Kidman/Paul London

Here we have Spike as the new boss of the Dudleys. He’s the Cruiserweight champion and is heel now as well. He’s apparently been “calling the shots” for some time now, although no one has ever figured out what moron green lighted this angle. No one took Spike seriously, ever, so it’s stupid to think that they would here either. Anyway, Spike took the title from Rey so Rey got two of his jobber tag team friends to help him out and this is what you get.

For some reason that I have no idea of, I remember this match being booked and thought it would steal the show. I have no idea what I was on but I’d love to have some more of it. Cole calls something vintage Spike. And so it begins. Two of them in less than two minutes. Did we never notice this before somehow? London and Kidman are the Smackdown tag champions at this time by the way, so yeah, screw that whole defending belts on PPV idea.

That just can’t be done obviously. Rey and Spike finally get together and apparently this is the reason this match is happening. Of course this is the better way to go instead of, oh I don’t know, DEFENDING A TITLE ON PAY PER VIEW? Rey is beating up all three of them by himself. You have to love the super powers that star power gives you. It’s a mess now of course and Rey and Kidman actually use the Hart Attack with Kidman being the powerhouse of the team.

619 leads to a shooting star press but D-Von makes the save. Kidman tries to fight off the two Dudleys that weigh more than 18lbs but eventually gets caught in the 3D and Spike gets the pin. Cole has come to a conclusion: Spike is now the boss of the Dudleys. Thank you for telling us again what you said at the beginning of it.

Rating: B-. I really liked this match. 6 man tags are a good way to open a show as they’re usually fast paced and offer a variety of combinations so if one matchup is bad the rest can balance it out nicely. This was fine here as it was two title feuds combined into one so that’s all good. However, there’s a point to having PPVs. They’re places where big matches are supposed to happen. When I say big matches, I mean matches where titles are on the line.

Lawler in a suit just doesn’t look right.

It’s recap time as our subject right here is Matt Hardy vs. Kane. Here’s the deal: Matt and Lita were engaged, but for some reason Kane hated Matt. Lita slept with Kane to keep him at bay, and now she’s pregnant with his baby. Insert your own soap opera related title joke here. The winner of this match gets to marry her. Yeah I know just go with it.

Matt Hardy vs. Kane

I’ve always loved Lita’s theme at this time. Matt’s is pretty sweet too actually. Kane is finally in his traditional attire so we’re starting to look modern here. Amazingly enough, this isn’t the stupidest stipulation in the history of Summerslam. Matt at this point had more or less no track record to speak of. He was a low level guy and this was probably his biggest feud to date, so he’s the epitome of the underdog here. He starts off fast though.

This was also when he still wasn’t fat and was at least trying very hard out there, which is all you can ask for a lot of the time. Matt more or less throws everything he’s got at Kane inside the first three minutes, including a Twist of Fate on the floor which gets a 9 from the referee (it had a good beat but I couldn’t dance to it do I give it a 65). Anyway, Matt fights with everything he’s got, but it’s just not enough.

This match is just hard to comment on as it’s barely over 6 minutes with a minute of that being the outside sequence. Lita slides the bell in to Matt, and her shouting of MATT doesn’t clue the referee in on the fact that they’re cheating, nor does the bell sound when he hits Kane with it. Screw the company sending the old guys to rehab. Send the referees to an optometrist. Anyway, Kane finally gets going but he’s on offense all of 40 seconds, which somehow is enough.

He goes up top for the clothesline but Matt crotches him. He tries a DDT from the top but gets chokeslamed instead. Matt’s landing of almost trying to sit up and just falling backwards is just great. Lita is of course stunned. The wedding would be tomorrow night and of course, it went bad.

Rating: B. Call me crazy, but I really liked this. It was way to short to be considered great, but in the time they had, it was certainly intense. You could feel Matt and Lita’s nervousness and it paid off. The chokeslam was great too, and Lita’s face at the end was both beautiful and destroyed at the same time. Short but very sweet.

Randy Orton is in the back, being asked by Todd Grisham about his match tonight. Orton is talking about how he’s going to win tonight when Cena comes in. He’s a rapper at this point and completely annoying. The showdown between these two does look cool though, considering what was coming. Cena asks the fans who will win and they say Benoit. This was nothing special, but it still looked cool just for the future aspect.

Booker T vs. John Cena

This is the first match in a best of 5 series for the title, which I think I kind of like. However, this took TWO MONTHS to get through. How is that possible? PPV, Smackdown, House Show, Smackdown, PPV. There, one month, 5 matches. This feud wouldn’t end until October though, so what’s the point? Cena is still a rapper at this point, and is rocking the Blue Jays old school jersey which is awesome.

Again, THIS IS SHORT. I don’t get the point in having all these 6-7 minute matches. Either way, the problem here is simple: the fans don’t care because they know there’s at least two more matches with these guys, so why should they care about this one? Nothing is going to happen at the end of it, so why should they care? I certainly don’t and I can’t imagine they did when it was actually happening either.

Cena was really starting to find his audience here and in the coming months would be launched into the main event of Smackdown, although he would have perhaps the worst world title change in the history of Wrestlemania as that show was all about Batista and HHH.

Either way, this is just not that interesting of a match as they can’t waste their best stuff with four matches to go and the fans aren’t that interested. That being said, maybe it’s good that this match is about six and a half minutes. Booker spins up and Cena calmly picks him up and FUs him for the win. This could be a textbook definition of a quick and uninteresting finish.

Rating: D. Like I said, they couldn’t use much of their best stuff, no one was interested, and it was way too short. Either way, this was just a bad match and it showed really bad. They would go on to improve huge, but this was a very bad way to start.

Teddy Long, still the Smackdown GM, is joined by Bischoff who would be fired in about a year. They lay the groundwork for Raw vs. Smackdown at Survivor Series and talk about Eugene.

Diva Dodge ball later tonight. Oh this isn’t going to go well.

IC Title: Batista vs. Jericho vs. Edge

Edge is champion here, having returned from injury and declared war on Evolution, although I don’t remember him ever getting to HHH. At the time, Batista was the hottest thing in wrestling to say the least. He was getting great face pops every time he came out, while Jericho was a face at this point. Edge of course was awesome, but he still didn’t have that spark he had pre injury.

His style has completely changed here as you can tell he’s tentative about going too hard, but at this point it was finally starting to wear off. Batista is also rocking a near mullet here with much longer hair than you’re used to. Batista had been using this big running clothesline to knock people out lately, similar to Luger’s forearm. Jericho as the home country boy gets a big pop. Edge still has his old music, but gets a bigger pop as Toronto’s own, according to Lillian.

We already are getting the Batista shoulders in the corner which still have that little stomp before them. The red boots aren’t working for him either. Edge stops Batista from hitting the Bomb on Jericho, which makes no sense as it would have made it a one on one match, but what do I know? Lawler says that Edge is opportunistic, so maybe Lawler is smarter than we all gave him credit for.

JR says that he’s complex. Didn’t that aspect of his character get thrown out a long time ago? Edge just towers over Jericho which is very funny looking to me. Batista is down on the floor so it’s Canadian on Canadian violence. Surprisingly the crowd is behind Jericho. I mean they’re REALLY behind Jericho. Edge is actually getting no reaction at all while you’d think Bret Hart was the guy he was fighting.

Batista gets back in and Edge goes for a spear on him, but Jericho knocks Edge out of the way. WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? It would wipe Batista out and then it would be one on one again, and since Batista had to make a save to end the Walls of Jericho just a second ago, you’d think that Jericho would want it one on one with Edge.

Anyway, Batista, who for a guy that is supposed to be a killer is on the floor a lot, is on the floor again as Jericho and Edge go at it one more time. This time, Jericho knocks Batista BACK to the floor, allowing Edge to hit the spear to keep the belt to no reaction. I mean the place is silent. It’s very weird indeed.

Rating: C. This was kind of a bunch of revolving one on one matches and while it didn’t fail, it didn’t really work either. Batista needed more seasoning, but screw that I guess because he was put into the main event just a few months later as he won the Rumble and headlined Mania in about 8 months. Either way, this was more about Edge vs. Jericho and while that’s fine, it was supposed to be a triple threat and from that standpoint it was just ok.

Ad for the Benoit DVD.

Recap of Angle and Eddie. They fought at Mania with Eddie loosening his boot so Kurt couldn’t grip it for the ankle lock, leading to a roll up for the pin. Angle then was chokeslammed from a balcony, breaking his leg. He was upset that he had a real injury and Eddie faked one, and says that Eddie has to cheat to beat him.

Angle, the GM of Smackdown at the time, screwed Eddie out of the title in a cage match, so Eddie was ticked. That leads us here, and it really doesn’t sound that good when I think about it.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle

Luther Reigns, who did nothing at all, is with Kurt here. Eddie comes out in the lowrider, which I’ve always hated. What’s the point of it anyway? Oh look I have a car that can bounce. Yeah that’s really cool. Cole calls Angle a former Grand Slam Winner. For one thing, does that sounds like he won an eating competition at a Denny’s? Either way, how can he be a former winner of it? If he’s won it once, he’s always won it right?

They do a nice technical sequence to start with neither guy being able to hold an advantage for that long. Eddie even goes for the ankle in a nice touch. Angle gets a key lock on Eddie, which Tazz corrects Cole for calling an armbar. As Eddie is getting up, Tazz calls it an armbar. You have to love the thought process sometimes of Tazz, or his lack thereof. Angle finally ends this friendly natured competition with a German, but Eddie gets a full ankle lock on which just looks weird.

Angle counters and hits the slam, then his own ankle lock. In a cool looking spot, Eddie grabs his ankle and for a few seconds, both have ankle locks on the other. Eddie’s is broken though as he apparently has a titanium leg, because being in the hold for about a minute won’t make him tap. There’s having heart, and then there’s just being stupid. This is the latter.

Oh the straps were pulled down inside of 5 minutes. This has been like an Angle match in fast forward. They go to the mat…again. This is like a bad MMA fight where they’re just laying on each other the whole time and no one really does anything. The fans are just completely dead for it as even I’m getting drowsy. Seriously, they’ve been wrestling for about ten minutes and at least 7 of that has been submission holds.

Eddie has a spot whispered to him by Angle, who for no apparent reason has unlaced Eddie’s boot, which in theory would help his ankle by letting it loosen up a bit, but what do I know? Eddie hits a belly to back suplex to get out of another chinlock, but because he’s facing Angle, it’s called an Angle slam. I can’t stand that. Why is it that when anyone else does it it’s an average move, but when Angle does it it’s devastating?

The same holds true for a lot of people. JBL used a hard clothesline which the Steiners did for years, Jericho has a Boston Crab which is a bad example because it never beats anyone, and Lawler uses a fist. Why are these moves so devastating? It’s not like you’re going to get better at them with a lot of practice or strength like the chokeslam or a power bomb.

Anyway, Eddie comes back with punches and the third one is just after his stupid dance, so naturally the power behind it triples. Benoit is ripped off even more by the snap suplexes followed by Eddie going up for the splash. Angle does the run up the ropes belly to belly which is just flat out cool. Luther is shown and my theory that he’s completely pointless is confirmed as he hit Eddie once about 10 minutes ago and this is the first we’ve seen of him since.

After Angle hits a thumb to the eye, which Cole would make you think was a .45 caliber bullet to the face, Angle gets the boot completely off to expose the sock covered ankle. He gets the ankle lock on for about the 12th time after getting up from a frog splash to get Eddie to tap out. Seriously, Reigns was completely worthless here.

Rating: C-. This was just flat out boring for the first 8-10 minutes as it was nothing, and I mean nothing but submission holds. Now that’s fine in theory, but DANG it just got boring after awhile. It was nothing but chinlocks, headlocks and ankle locks. Now once they stopped doing that it got miles better but prior to that it was just flat out horrid.

The dozen ankle locks didn’t help either as it just got stupid after awhile. It made the hold look very weak as Eddie held on for probably three minutes total in it without ever giving up. It just didn’t work at all for me and while others would think it was great, this wasn’t good for me.

We recap HHH vs. Eugene. This is why this era from the WWE is looked down on so much. We have probably the best stable since the NWO and their leader is fighting a guy that’s slow. Anyway, this was actually a pretty creative storyline in my eyes.

Eugene was a guy that was a wrestling savant, meaning that while he had no actual training or anything of the sort, he had learned from watching wrestling for many years, and then got trained (on camera) by Regal, making him into a complete wrestler. In reality, Eugene was played by Nick Dinsmore who was a very talented technical wrestler. He’s the undisputed god of OVW, having won the heavyweight title 9 times and the tag titles 10 times or something like that.

Think of Lawler in Memphis kind of. Anyway, Eugene was saved by the Rock when people were making fun of him and he said that HHH was his favorite wrestler. Instead of HHH getting someone competent to help him though, he enlists Eugene as an honorary member of Evolution on a night where Eugene was guest GM.

Eugene booked Benoit vs. HHH for Vengeance for the WHC, which Eugene accidentally cost HHH. He then beat up Regal, who was Eugene’s mentor. That leads us here. The problem here is simple though: at the end of the day, while that storyline at least sounds good, IT’S STILL HHH VS. EUGENE. Doesn’t that just sound silly?

HHH vs. Eugene

I now remember why I hate Eugene: you can never get his song out of your head once you hear it. It’s freaking addictive. Why does the annoying character have to be from Kentucky? Oh yeah and Eugene is freakishly strong. In case you don’t remember don’t worry, the announcers will tell you every 38 seconds. HHH shoves Lillian down so Eugene helps her up but gets beaten on for his trouble.

HHH fakes a knee injury, prompting the referee to throw up the fake X. It’s pretty good I think though, as it is pretty good as a way to fool the marks in the audience. HHH jumps Eugene and immediately the crowd starts cheering him, which Lawler and Ross try to pass off as just due to the Canadian fans being bizarre. The thing that I forgot to mention was that the fans absolutely hated Eugene.

The problem was simple: he was used WAY too much. When he debuted he was a character that a lot of people actually liked. It was something that hadn’t been done this well before and the fact that he was actually a very good worker helped things a lot as well. The problem was that they screwed it up the same way they screwed up Santino.

He’s fine in small doses, maybe once a week, but there was a Raw where Eugene was in 6 separate segments and the fans just got sick of the sight of him. His character was never meant to be involved in serious storylines but they did it anyway. The WWE formula has long since been if a little bit of something works, then a lot of it will work a lot better, which simply isn’t the case and hardly ever is.

It certainly wasn’t here, and it never clicked in the WWE’s eyes. They blamed Eugene for not being able to get over, since the booking of WWE can never be wrong can it? Either way, it bombed bad after this, even to the point of them trying to turn him heel, which also failed completely. You can tell HHH is younger here. He’s only an eight time world champion. Eugene does other people’s moves, such as the Rock Bottom.

He goes for the People’s Elbow, but HHH has had enough of this bull of stealing moves, and he lets Eugene know about it by nailing him with a AA spinebuster. Lawler gets in a good line about Eugene: he wasn’t even his mother’s favorite and he’s an only child. I forgot to mention: Eugene is Bischoff’s nephew which is why he’s around at all. Eugene actually Hulks Up before flipping HHH off and stunning him as the fans are cheering for some guy named boo.

Flair comes out as Eugene kicks HHH in the face and drops a leg on him. This is stupider than words can describe. He even gets a pedigree but Flair saves him. The referee throws Flair out and Regal nails him with knuckles. HHH takes the time to hit the pedigree and end this finally.

Rating: D. Again, it comes down to this: HHH IS BEATING UP EUGENE. The fans hated him, the match was too long, it’s not believable, and the feud was just bad. It was complete overkill for the character and after this, aside from a tag title run that ended in injury, he never did anything else in WWE. This was just a waste of 15 minutes and I can’t believe this was all they could come up with for HHH.

Diva Dodge Ball

Yes, it’s the girls from the Diva Search, most of whom got hired, against the established divas in a game of dodge ball at the Raptors’ practice facility. Oh and look they’re all wearing bras and shorts.

Here are the rosters if you’re interested: Amy Weber, Joy Giovanni, Tracie Wright (never hired), Maria (hot as a dirty blonde), Christy and Michelle (pre plastic surgery) vs. Victoria, Gail Kim, Jazz, Stacy, Molly and Nidia. That right there shows how stupid the Diva Search was. All but one of the 6 finalists got jobs anyway. Apparently Trish is the captain. The Diva Search girls win.

Rating: F-. This was a waste of time and was for 12 year olds. I hate stuff like this. They actually wasted 5 minutes on this, and yet we get no recap for the Smackdown title match.

Smackdown World Title: JBL vs. Undertaker

We get literally no backstory here as they say these two are having a match and then the lights go out. Yeah that’s great guys. Basically, Taker just said he wanted a title shot and got one. This was just after JBL had won the belt so I think this was his first feud as champion. No one, and I mean no one, bought him as champion because literally this is how it went: Eddie wins title, JBL debuts as the rich guy, challenges, challenges again, wins title.

There was no buildup to his character at all. He had been Bradshaw for years now and all of a sudden he’s a self made millionaire and apparently has been for many years? Yeah, we’re just going to believe that I guess. It was just completely from left field and no one wanted to see him as top heel and it followed him for years as a stigma about him, which I think was unfair and should be blamed more on the bookers.

Until this, his career highlight was 6 days or so as European Champion, and now he’s challenging for the world title as a DiBiase rip off? Starting to see why this didn’t work for about two years? Taker’s entrance as always is awesome as he more or less walks through a tunnel of fire. Apparently JBL attacked Taker on Smackdown a few days ago. Thanks for that great story Cole. Taker is back to the Dead Man now.

JBL still has the big white limp with the horns. He’s accompanied by Orlando Jordan, somehow even more of a waste of space. I think I hate Nick Patrick. He’s just annoying as a referee. JBL is wearing orange/red tights that are just a complete and utter failure. Tazz says he’s not sure how to beat the Undertaker. I thought a pin would work fine but maybe there are separate rules for him. JBL actually goes up top and hits a flying shoulder block that looked pretty good.

Old School connects, which actually is vintage, and Cole reminds us of that. Jordan gets kicked in the head but JBL gets a shot into the knee to end any offense that Taker was on. The fans start doing the wave. I don’t know if that’s a cultural thing, but I’ve always found it rude. It’s not like the match is terrible or anything. If I’m one of the guys in the ring, then I don’t like the fact that the fans are apparently not interested in my match but are interested in throwing their hands up for no apparent reason.

JBL hits the clothesline and of course Taker kicks out of it since that move just completely sucks. Since this is a Taker match, the referee gets bumped and since it’s Nick Patrick, he stays down for about two days. In between we have all kinds of interference and finishers, including a standard clothesline that is called the finisher, which stuns Cole that Taker more or less pops up from it. Well DUH.

Taker does the power bomb out of the corner spot that he beat HHH with at Mania 17, but as he goes for the tombstone, Jordan tries to hit him with the belt. Taker does it instead and the referee wakes up just in time to DQ him. Post match, we get the best spot of the show as Taker beats JBL onto the limo then chokeslams him through the roof.

The spot is ok, but it’s great because it led to one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen that I wish I could find a picture of. JBL is in a halo and more or less has his hat tied to his head. It’s funnier than it sounds.

Rating: B-. This was ok I guess, although I think everyone knew Taker wouldn’t get the title off of JBL immediately. There was a rematch two months later at No Mercy that was ok I suppose. This feud was just filler until Cena was truly ready to go, so nothing of note happened here. It was fine though.

Wrestlemania 21 is in LA.

Raw World Title-Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit

At the time, Orton was doing the thing where he was like look at me and bow to my greatness. He won a battle royal to get this shot, but that’s not important enough to be told. Fink has mic issues, which Jerry plays off by saying that even Fink is choked up. Ok so they do cover the battle royal thing, but dang did they take long enough? Benoit of course gets a huge pop. I think Lawler has a crush on Orton.

He says that Orton could be a model for statues. Dang Jerry just go blow him already. Test of strength is more or less a tossup. The first good part of this match is these two using all kinds of wrestling holds. It’s very interesting to see Orton working very well on the mat as that’s certainly not something you see from him very often. Granted it may be Benoit making him look good, but at least Randy is capitalizing on it.

Benoit hooks the Sharpshooter and you’d think everyone had been given money, food and sex. Good lord they blew up over it. It’s countered and Benoit’s shoulder is hurt, so the VIPER strikes on it. Did you know Orton is a viper now? Not sure if that caught on, but Orton is a viper! This is a good back and forth match so far. Benoit hits the suicide dive to the floor but Orton moves.

Benoit slams into the wall in an absolutely sick looking spot. I don’t know if that was planned or not but if not then goodness. Actually if yes then goodness as well. It’s time to chinlock it up as every Orton match comes complete with one. It’s like the toy in a Happy Meal, just not as entertaining. They do a double cross body, which looks awesome too. These two can work really well together actually. They go back and forth even longer and another Sharpshooter is put on.

Oddly enough there’s been limited Crossface attempts. However, I think that’s the best way to go as it wouldn’t make sense for Benoit to try it. Why should he? He’s worked the back and knees all match so why would he, a thinking wrestler, go for the neck and shoulder? He doesn’t and to me that’s a sign of a great wrestler. Finishing moves are fine, but they should make sense.

That’s one thing Ric Flair was always great at. Watch his matches and his offense, or at least 90% of it is either basic offense or working on the legs. That makes such perfect sense and it fits that he uses it like that. He never focused on the neck or back or anything like that, and he shouldn’t have. Benoit goes up and tries the headbutt, but Orton I think tries to roll out of the way.

Either way, the top of his head rams into Benoit’s head and it just looked painful. Just as soon as I type that big long rant about how smart Benoit is, we get the crossface, which I guess I see why that is done in this case because nothing else has worked, so he puts it on him and cranks for all he’s got as a last ditch effort.

Anyway, Orton gets the ropes and in one of my favorite finishes ever, Benoit tries for the Crossface again but Orton gets behind him and nails the RKO for the quick pin and the title. If it tells you anything about the match, the fans give them a standing ovation. The look on Orton’s face is just perfect as he’s completely stunned and it looks like he’s saying did I really just do that? Lawler’s orgasm could stop a drought.

Orton celebrates with the title as Benoit comes back in. He sticks out his hand and shouts for Orton to be a man. Orton shakes his hand as Benoit’s music plays us out. To be fair, he leaves and lets Orton be alone in the ring as he should be. The problem here though is the next night they had another great match for free on Raw. That match still haunts us today though, as it officially kicked off HHH vs. Randy Orton.

Yes, that was the night where Orton was kicked out of Evolution. Note: THAT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO, and they’re still feuding. The whole cool moment was wasted too, as Orton had the title a mere four weeks, losing his first title defense to, who else, HHH at Unforgiven.

HHH would hold it until Mania where he would drop it to Batista. I hate that as it’s more of HHH dominating the belt while another young guy has a short feud after being built up as the young phenom so well, but that’s Raw booking in 04 for you.

Rating: A. This was a great match. They were back and forth the whole time and while I don’t think anyone expected Orton to win, I think it fit really well as Benoit just couldn’t beat him no matter how hard he tried. It made Orton look like the better man and that’s how it should have been done. This is a very good match that you should check out if you haven’t seen it before.

Overall Rating: C+. This show is really up and down all night between decent stuff and flat out boring stuff. The main event is by far the best match of the show, but that’s not really a surprise. Eddie and Angle is something I definitely could see going either way but it just didn’t do it in my case.

JBL and Taker I thought was good but not great. The opening two matches were good enough, but HHH and Eugene along with the divas thing were just horrid to say the least. I’ll recommend it, but have a remote ready to fast forward some stuff.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: March 3, 2006
Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Attendance: 11,700
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s a big one tonight as we have the No Way Out rematch between Undertaker and Kurt Angle for the Smackdown World Title. That alone should be enough to carry this show as it feels like one of those main events where they are going to give it some extra attention. Certainly works for me. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a video about Angle vs. Undertaker. If you insist.

Opening sequence.

Booker T. vs. Tatanka

What a clash of generations. Sharmell is on commentary. Tatanka works on the arm to start and Booker bails to the rope as Sharmell is already done listening to Cole. Booker loses a chop off so he goes to the eye and elbows him in the face. The hooking kick to the head misses though and Tatanka chops away even more. There’s a suplex but Booker pops up and strikes away in the corner.

A hot shot puts Tatanka down again and it’s a superkick for two. The chinlock goes on and naturally fuels the comeback, allowing Tatanka to chop him down again. Tatanka’s belly to back suplex sets up the top rope chop but Booker kicks him out of the air. The ax kick gives Booker….nothing as here’s the Boogeyman behind Sharmell. That’s enough for Tatanka to grab a rollup for the big upset.

Rating: D+. So to recap, you have all of the people available to WWE (from developmental alone) and you pick Tatanka? He isn’t the worst in the world or anything, but who looks back at Tatanka and thinks that’s the big idea? The match was nothing but a way to set up the angle at the end, as we continue towards Booker vs. Boogeyman because reasons.

Post match Boogeyman, with the worms, chases Booker off.

We recap Rey Mysterio being all depressed over losing his Wrestlemania title shot. Don’t worry though because Teddy Long made a tag match between Rey Mysterio and feeling happy by making a triple threat match at Wrestlemania.

Randy Orton vs. Super Crazy

Orton now has This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engage for theme music. Crazy gets stomped down in the corner to start and we’re in the chinlock in a hurry. Some forearms to the chest give Orton two and the chinlock goes on again. Crazy crawls over to the ropes and gets his feet to safety but Orton pulls him back for more chinlocking anyway.

Back up and Crazy throws him over for the break and hits a triangle dropkick to put Orton outside. The dive off the top hits Orton and they head back inside for two. A tornado DDT sends Orton throat first across the top but the moonsault only hits mat. Orton tries to go up but gets kicked in the head, only to shove Crazy back down. The RKO is good for the fast pin.

Rating: C-. This is the kind of match that can almost always work: take a talented guy who doesn’t get to do much against bigger names and let him have a five minute match. Orton was never in danger but they got to do a little something out there and it isn’t like Crazy loses anything in defeat. Do more stuff like this and save some of the bigger matches for important spots.

Video on Chris Benoit. I’m surprised that made the Network.

We look back at JBL’s hand being crushed last week, forcing him to undergo hand surgery this week.

At Wrestlemania: Benoit vs. JBL for the US Title.

MNM vs. Matt Hardy/Animal

Non-title. Matt rolls Mercury up for two to start and is quickly forearmed in the face for his efforts. Mercury misses a dropkick and gets rolled up for two, meaning it’s off to Animal for a hard whip into the corner. They head outside with Mercury being sent into the apron, allowing Melina to dive off the apron for a distraction. This one actually works as Nitro scores with a superkick to take over. Back in and a double legdrop gets two on Animal. The referees try to break things up so Melina adds a headscissor choke over the rope, with the fans not exactly complaining.

Animal fights up without much trouble and brings in Matt for the house cleaning. The middle rope elbow to the back of Mercury’s neck looks to set up the Twist of Fate but Matt has to go with a double DDT instead. Now the Twist of Fate gets two on Mercury with Nitro making the save. Everything breaks down and Animal goes up for the Doomsday Device, only to have Nitro chop block Hardy. Animal crashes, leaving Matt to take the Snapshot for the pin.

Rating: D+. Pretty formula based stuff but I don’t really need to see Animal again. It worked with Hawk but that isn’t going to happen again. The act was pretty tired in 1999 and we are a long way off from that. MNM needs a good team to face and I don’t know if I can imagine that happening anytime soon.

Post match Animal snaps on Hardy and rams Hardy’s injured knee in the post.

Big Time Wrestlemania Moment: Undertaker b. Sid at Wrestlemania XIII. You have that whole show and you pick that match? In a year where Bret Hart is going into the Hall of Fame?

Gene Okerlund Hall of Fame video.

Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay

Fallout from last week’s tag match. Lashley powers him up against the ropes to start and hits an atomic drop. Finlay gets run over with straight power but comes back with a clothesline and a knee to the back of the head. A suplex gives Lashley two and they head outside where Finlay throws in a bunch of chairs. The chair duel is good for the quick DQ.

Post match the brawl stays on with referees having to come down and break it up. This worked pretty well and I could go for another one.

We see Kristal attempting to disrobe last week when Jillian Hall interrupted. Clothes were removed and they fight next week. Can they please not?

William Regal comes up to Paul Burchill again and says Paul is embarrassing him again. Just come be a tag team again. Burchill says no because he has his first match next week and can’t wait to dress like this. Regal: “ARE YOU BLOODY MAD???”

Video on Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker.

Smackdown World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Angle is defending in a rematch from No Way Out. Angle slugs away in the corner to start and has to dodge Undertaker’s big shots. Undertaker gets taken down into a Fujiwara armbar but reverses into one of his own. A flying armbar has Angle in more trouble and Undertaker cranks on the arm in the corner. Old School is broken up though and Angle stomps him down some more. That just earns him another armbar but Angle breaks up Old School again.

The ten right hands in the corner are countered into a Last Ride but Undertaker has to drop him onto the ropes instead. A boot puts Angle on the floor and we take a break. Back with Angle sending him face first into the steps but Undertaker pops back up with a heck of a clothesline. Undertaker hits the apron legdrop to the back of the bad neck as he has another target.

Back in and Undertaker bends the neck around the rope but Angle snaps off a belly to belly for a delayed two. Now it’s Angle pounding him down for two and we hit the bodyscissors. That’s broken up as well but Undertaker’s running big boot misses in the corner. For some reason Undertaker goes up top, earning himself a top rope superplex for two.

We take another break and come back again with Angle holding a chinlock with a knee in the back. A clothesline puts Undertaker on the floor and Angle whips him knees first into the steps. Back in and Undertaker wins a slugout but misses another big boot. The release German suplex sends Undertaker flying but NOW the big boot connects for two. The chokeslam is countered into the ankle lock until Undertaker kicks him off. Neither can hit a Tombstone so Angle grabs the Angle Slam for two more.

Another ankle lock is countered into the chokeslam but the cover takes too long, allowing Angle to pull him into the ankle lock. That’s countered into the triangle choke, which is good for two arm drops. Angle grabs the rope for the break and counters a legdrop into the ankle lock. This time Undertaker reverses and hits a DDT for two but it’s Angle up first. The moonsault misses and there’s the sit up. Undertaker hits the Tombstone but here’s Mark Henry for the DQ.

Rating: A-. Yeah that worked and I don’t know why you would have expected anything else. This was a pair of great wrestlers going back and forth while trying to have a classic and they pretty much did. I’m not wild on the ending but we have already seen a clean finish between the two so it isn’t that big of a problem. There was no way this wasn’t going to work and it worked very well, as you had to expect.

Post match Henry beats Undertaker up even more, setting up a splash through the announcers’ table to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was like the In Your House of Smackdowns as the main event carried the show as far as it needed to go but the rest left you wondering why this was taking place. There are a lot of people who pretty clearly are just going through the motions with little to nothing to do for Wrestlemania and that can make for some rough time. Then you have Undertaker vs. Angle for about half an hour though and those problems don’t mean as much.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: February 24, 2006
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re finally done with No Way Out, which wound up being a heck of a show. Now that we’re past the last stop, Wrestlemania is the last stop and that means things should start picking up in a hurry. The big stories are Kurt Angle surviving against Undertaker and Rey Mysterio losing his World Title shot to Randy Orton. Let’s get to it.

Here is No Way Out if you need a recap.

Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. With the big smile, Orton says that he isn’t the kind of guy to say he told you so, but he told you so. He’s competing for the World Title at Wrestlemania and Rey Mysterio is not. It’s time to claim his destiny and that means beating Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania.

Orton’s grandfather was the greatest wrestler of his generation, his father was the greatest wrestler of his generation and he is going to prove that he is the greatest wrestler of his generation. That puts him ahead of Undertaker, Kurt Angle and even Eddie Guerrero. Cue Chavo Guerrero to beat Orton down, including Three Amigos and a frog splash. Security carries a screaming Chavo out.

Tag Team Titles: Matt Hardy/Tatanka vs. MNM

MNM is defending, because Matt Hardy and Tatanka aren’t going to be Tag Team Champions on any show that matters. Matt and Mercury start things off with Matt getting two off a running forearm. Nitro comes in and Matt beats up both champs without much effort. It’s off to Tatanka to crotch Nitro on top and a right hand puts Mercury down on the floor. Melina offers a distraction though and Tatanka gets low bridged outside. Back in and Tatanka can’t fight out of the corner and it’s a double back elbow for two.

Tatanka fails at fighting out of the corner again but Mercury’s distraction means the referee misses a small package on Nitro. A double clothesline gets Tatanka out of trouble and there’s the hot tag to Hardy. House is cleaned in a hurry as Melina isn’t handling this well. Nitro gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Mercury grabs a northern lights suplex for two. Tatanka breaks up the Snapshot as everything breaks down. Melina grabs Hardy’s leg to block the Twist of Fate and Nitro rolls up Hardy with tights for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. It was a pretty standard formula tag match but come on with Hardy and Tatanka being believable challengers. That would have been a stretch at a small house show and we’re supposed to believe it on a TV show on the way to Wrestlemania? I like MNM but man alive are they alone out there as far as good tag teams go.

An annoyed William Regal comes in to see Paul Burchill and has a letter. A fan in England begs Regal to stop Burchill from embarrassing the country like this….so Burchill hands him a BOMB (as in the black ball with a long wick kind) and lights it on fire. Burchill is nice enough to cut it off, though Regal’s panicking is funny as always.

Eddie Guerrero Hall of Fame video.

Dicks vs. Boogeyman

Booker T. and Sharmell are on commentary and aren’t happy when this is turned from a tag match into a handicap match. Booker: “WHO SIGNED THIS GUY???” The forearms to the back don’t work and the ones to the face don’t do much better. James is sent to the floor and then onto the announcers’ table, leaving Chad to get chokebombed for the fast pin.

Post match, Chad gets wormed and Boogeyman goes after Booker and Sharmell. The two of them run so Boogeyman covers the announcers’ table with worms as well.

Raw Rebound.

Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: Jeff Hardy’s huge Swanton through the table to Bubba Ray Dudley in 2000.

Cole and Tazz are freaked out over the worms.

Here’s Rey Mysterio to address his loss at No Way Out. Rey wastes no time in talking about Eddie Guerrero, who was smiling down on him at the Royal Rumble. But then Randy Orton got in his head and Rey lost, which let everyone down. Rey is sorry to everyone from his family to the Guerreros to everyone here to Eddie himself. Before he can leave, cue Teddy Long to say everyone feels their pain.

We see a clip of Orton grabbing the rope to pin Mysterio. Now the referee’s decision is final and Orton is going to Wrestlemania, but Long can add to the match. Mysterio is back in as it is now a triple threat. There was no way they were letting that stand after all of the Guerrero hype and that’s fine, assuming you can handle all of the Guerrero worship.

Here’s Kristal to promote the annual Divas magazine. Before she can disrobe for a preview, here’s Jillian Hall to interrupt. These fans want to see JBL in the main event but Kristal rips off Jillian’s jacket instead, sending her running to the back. Kristal takes off her robe.

We look at Batista’s surprise appearance at No Way Out.

Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms vs. Psicosis

Psicosis is challenging and takes him down with ease to start. Some right hands in the corner have Psicosis in trouble but he comes out with an anklescissors. Helms sends him hard out to the floor though and Psicosis may have hurt his back. Before he can get back in, Helms catches him on the apron with forearms to the chest and we hit the chinlock. Psicosis fights up with a hurricanrana but Helms clotheslines him back down.

The chinlock with a knee in the back has Psicosis in more trouble but he gets to his feet again. A spinwheel kick gets two so Helms grabs the TKO onto the knee. Psicosis gets in a shot to the face and heads up top but gets crotches down. Helms grabs a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. This was another lifeless cruiserweight match, which tends to be the case for them every single time. There isn’t anything that you need to see in these matches and while Helms makes sense in the role, it is a little hard to care about another guy in trunks when he used to be something as charismatic as Hurricane.

Highlights of Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker on Sunday.

Teddy Long comes out to announce Angle vs. Undertaker II for next week.

Chris Benoit/Bobby Lashley/Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay/John Bradshaw Layfield/Randy Orton

Before the match, Orton complains to Long about the triple threat match. Long’s advice: get to stepping. Orton hammers Mysterio down to start but has to bail from the threat of a 619. Finlay comes in and gets to face Lashley so they forearm it out. Lashley nails a spear on Finlay and everything breaks down. Back from a break with Benoit Sharpshootering JBL, who is right next to the rope.

Lashley’s overhead belly to belly sends JBL flying and the spear connects again. Finlay makes a save and Orton comes back in, meaning Rey is right in there as well. Orton gets Rey into the corner though and it’s Finlay grabbing the chinlock. JBL follows it up with a kick to the face but Rey snaps off a headscissors. That doesn’t work for Finlay, who ties Rey in the ring skirt and hammers away some more. JBL slaps on a bearhug to stay on the back and then cuts him off with a hard shoulder for two.

Finlay comes in without a tag and gets sent out, so JBL tags in Orton instead. Naturally that means another chinlock but Rey headscissors him shoulder first into the post. The hot tag brings in Benoit to clean house and it’s a series of release German suplexes. The Clothesline From JBL is countered into a Crossface attempt with Finlay making the save. JBL is sent outside and his hand is crushed between the steps and post. Rey throws JBL back inside for a 619 and a springboard splash for the pin.

Rating: C. Pretty basic main event tag here and that’s not the best thing to see a lot of the time. They didn’t exactly do anything out of the ordinary and then Rey won because we need to bring up Eddie again. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch, but it also isn’t something that did very much other than give Rey a win back, which he didn’t need as much after being put back in the Wrestlemania title match.

Rey gets a far too big celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Well that wasn’t great. This show was basically hitting the rewind button on Orton’s victory over Mysterio, as Rey is right back where he was before No Way Out. So yes, we will be hearing more about Eddie every chance they can find to squeeze it in. The wrestling wasn’t nothing memorable and other than announcing Undertaker vs. Angle II and Rey being put back in the title match, this was a completely skippable show.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

No Way Out 2006
Date: February 19, 2006
Location: 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 11,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

For the first time in a long time, we have a pay per view that has my interest. Smackdown has gotten a lot better in a hurry, but they need the big spectacular to make it work. With Wrestlemania coming up, this could be a great way to get the momentum going, and hopefully that’s what happens here. I’m sure Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton and Booker T. vs. Chris Benoit can help with that. Let’s get to it.

The opening video focuses on how everything leads to Wrestlemania and the World Title. Undertaker has chosen the right path (by destroying the ring) and Randy Orton has chosen the evil path (by issuing a challenge, which was accepted), but there is no way out. Other than winning the match I guess.

Cruiserweight Title: Cruiserweight Open

Gregory Helms, Brian Kendrick, Funaki, Kid Kash, Nunzio, Paul London, Psicosis, Scotty 2 Hotty, Super Crazy

Helms is defending and it’s one fall to a finish with no tags. The champ bails to the floor to start and everyone else brawls inside. London and Kendrick dropkick Scotty down and a mini tag match breaks out between the two of them and the Mexicools. The four of them head outside and it’s Kash slamming Funaki down. The moonsault misses though, allowing Helms to come in and stomp away.

That earns him a big group beatdown for a bit before everyone starts fighting everyone else. They start pairing off again with Helms hitting a TKO knee to the face for one on Scotty. Helms is sent outside and Psicosis misses him off a missed charge. Kash hits a slingshot hurricanrana to put Psicosis down on the floor, leaving London and Kendrick alone in the ring. That means a double dive so Helms comes back in for a missed Shining Wizard to Crazy.

Kendrick dives onto Helms for two with Crazy making the save, followed by London and Scotty doing the same thing. Scotty superkicks London to the floor and hits the Worm on Helms. Psicosis makes the save this time but gets hit with Kash’s Dead Level. Crazy breaks it up with a moonsault but Helms steals the pin on Psicosis to retain.

Rating: C. I’m never sure what to say about something like this as it’s more or less a battle royal with pins. They did have a story in there with everyone being against Helms and him managing to steal the pin to retain was a good way of going about things. It was a good choice for an opener, but it seems to be a way to hide the fact that the division has so little development.

Booker T. and Sharmell literally get on their knees to beg Teddy Long to let him out of the match with Chris Benoit. Long’s offer: have the match or forfeit the title.

Finlay wants a fight tonight and since he doesn’t have one, he kidnaps Krystal and brings her to the ring. Cue Bobby Lashley for the brawl with a low blow putting Lashley down. That brings out JBL and it’s time for the scheduled match.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Bobby Lashley

Jillian Hall is here with JBL. Lashley is back up with a suplex to Finlay and stares JBL down, giving us a good shocked face from Layfield. Finlay is taken to the back and Lashley isn’t having any of this being sent into the buckle. A running shoulder works a bit better for JBL but Lashley strikes away and hits a backdrop. They head outside with Lashley sending him into the steps, shrugging off a clipboard to the back from Jillian, and hits an overhead belly to belly.

Back in and Lashley gets shoved right back to the floor, with JBL sending him into the apron. A top rope elbow of all things gives JBL two and a swinging neckbreaker puts Lashley down again. The rapid fire elbows set up a sleeper to keep Lashley in trouble for a good while. JBL goes up top for the shoulder but dives into a powerslam to start the comeback.

Four overhead belly to belly suplexes in a row have JBL busted open (How do you do that off a suplex?) and a t-bone suplex gets two. Cue Finlay to jump Tony Chimmel though, with the distraction letting Finlay hit Lashley with the Shillelagh. The Clothesline From JBL is good for the pin.

Rating: C-. This worked well enough, got JBL some heat back, and gave us a new feud with Finlay and Lashley. They’re getting something going with the midcard and if Booker could actually wrestle for a change, we might be in for some good stories. This was a perfectly fine midcard match and they even protected Lashley in the loss.

Here’s Batista for a surprise appearance. He talks about how special it is to come through that curtain every time. He’s here for the Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle, and because he misses this so much. Finally though, he’s here because his torn tricep isn’t torn any longer. Sooner rather than later, he’ll be back and coming for the World Title.

Randy Orton comes up to Kurt Angle in the back because he didn’t like Angle saying he’d love to face Rey at Wrestlemania. Angle is focused on Undertaker though.

MNM vs. Matt Hardy/???

Non-title and the mystery partner is…..Tatanka, in one of the best “HUH?” moments of the era. The completely apathetic reaction to Tatanka tells you everything you need to know here. Matt and Mercury start things off with a Melina distraction letting Mercury take over. Hardy is right back with a wristlock into a legdrop on the arm. Tatanka comes in to play Jeff in a Spin Cycle but Mercury snaps Matt’s throat across the top. Melina gets in a slap to the face, which annoys Matt enough to hit a double neckbreaker.

The hot tag brings in Tatanka to clean house but another Melina distraction lets Nitro dive off the apron to take him down. Back in and Nitro hammers away on Tatanka in the corner and a double back elbow gets two. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Mercury grabs a neckbreaker for two instead. Tatanka clotheslines his way out of trouble and it’s Matt coming back in for the house cleaning. The middle rope elbow hits Mercury and the Side Effect drops Nitro. Everything breaks down and the Papoose To Go finishes Nitro.

Rating: D+. I know I complain a lot about the Tag Team Titles meaning nothing but after losing on Friday, the champs lose again here to Matt Hardy and Tatanka. Is this going to lead to a title change? Not likely, meaning that assuming we get the title match, it puts the champs at 1-2 in their three matches. How does that benefit anyone involved?

We recap Booker T. vs. Chris Benoit for the US Title. Booker/Randy Orton combined to beat Benoit in a Best of Seven series for the title but now Booker has to either face Benoit one on one or forfeit the title.

US Title: Booker T. vs. Chris Benoit

Booker is defending and has Sharmell with him. Hold on though as Booker says that there won’t be a match tonight because he’s forfeiting the title. Benoit calls him a coward so Sharmell slaps him in the face, with Booker jumping Benoit from behind to start things off in a hurry. Booker pounds him down in the corner as Cole thinks that this was a plan. Benoit gets in a suplex for a breather and chops away in the corner, followed by a baseball slide to the floor.

They head outside with Booker being sent into the steps, which is a perfect excuse for some goldbricking. It’s Benoit going into the steps again, setting up a kick to the face for two back inside. Booker goes amateur in a surprise and rides Benoit into a full nelson for a change of pace. A hammerlock is countered into a German suplex and they’re both down for a bit. Benoit can’t get the Crossface so Booker is back with a spinwheel kick for the delayed two.

The sleeper keeps Benoit in trouble until he suplexes his way to freedom. Booker is back with some suplexes of his own and a boot to the face cuts off Benoit’s comeback. Three Amigos give Benoit two but Booker is back with a side kick for two. A superplex gives Benoit two more, only to have Booker grab the Book End.

The Houston Hangover misses though and they’re both down. Sharmell’s distraction breaks up the Swan Dive attempt and now the scissors kick can connect for the big near fall. Benoit sweeps the legs though and tries the Sharpshooter but Booker kicks him away, knocking Sharmell off the apron in the process. The second Sharpshooter attempt doesn’t work so it’s the Crossface to make Booker tap.

Rating: B. These two always work well together and that is something that can always fit on a show like this, or any one for that matter. Benoit getting the title after everything that he has been through makes for a good story, and that’s the right idea with something like this. Now just keep the two of them apart for a good while, as we’ve seen this match enough lately.

Post match various people congratulate Benoit on his win, including Chavo and Vickie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio twice. Benoit wants Rey to beat Orton FOR EDDIE.

We recap Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton. Mysterio won the Royal Rumble and dedicated it to Eddie Guerrero, so Orton disrespected Eddie’s memory and got Rey to put up the title shot as a result. This involved more references to Eddie than at any point during Eddie’s World Title reign, making it one of the more sickening stories in years.

Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio

The winner gets the Wrestlemania World Title shot. Orton powers him into the corner to start and then gets a takedown as Rey can’t get around the size early on. Rey gets in a hurricanrana to stagger Orton but a clothesline puts him down in a hurry. A knee drop hits Rey and a hard whip into the corner gets two more. Orton mocks the Eddie dance so Rey kicks him in the face and headscissors him to the floor.

A hurricanrana off the apron is caught though and Orton swings Rey arm first into the post for a nasty crash. Back in and Orton cranks on the arm, which looks a little weird on Mysterio. The powerbomb into a neckbreaker gives Orton two more and it’s back to the armbar. Rey is up with another hurricanrana but the arm gives out again. Orton takes him outside again to stomp the arm on the steps, allowing Cole to praise HHH for teaching Orton to be evil.

Back in and Rey manages an armdrag to the floor, followed by a drop toehold to send Orton into the middle buckle. Rey goes up top but has to sunset bomb his way out of an electric chair. A spinwheel kick sets up the Eddie dance and a springboard seated senton connects. Orton is busted open as Rey tries a springboard tornado DDT but the arm gives out.

Not that it matters as Orton takes it anyway for a weird visual. Rey goes up top but gets dropkicked out of the air, with one of the feet hitting the arm. The RKO is countered with a dropkick but the 619 misses and Orton grabs a rollup with rope for the pin and the title shot, destroying Rey’s soul in the process.

Rating: B-. It’s a bad sign when I’m glad that Orton won, but that’s how sick they’ve made me of hearing about Eddie. They’ve driven the idea so far into the ground and it has long since passed the point of interesting or heartwarming. I’m sure we’ll hear about it every chance WWE can manage to get it in, but the Eddie stuff was making me roll my eyes every time. The match itself was quite good though with the arm slowing Rey down and Orton feeling like he was just trying to reel him in the entire time.

Post match Orton says he’s going to the main event of Wrestlemania. Where is Rey going? Rey is crushed as he slowly walks to the back.

The announcers don’t know what to do.

Rey fights back tears as he apologizes to Chavo and Vickie. They’re Eddie’s family you see. No one else knows what to say to Rey as he walks to the locker room.

We recap Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker. Angle jumped from Raw to win the vacant title and then defeated Mark Henry at the Royal Rumble. Undertaker appeared at the end of the show to challenge for the title and we’ve got a dream match. It feels like one too and that’s an important trick to pull off. Undertaker is Undertaker and Angle is in Wrestling Machine mode. What more could you ask for?

Smackdown World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Undertaker is challenging and comes out last, including a pretty awesome shot where the camera cuts to behind him and we get the shot of the coat and hat. Throw in the classic silhouette and it’s one of the better, more intimidating entrances he has had in a good while. Undertaker charges at him but misses the big boot. Angle can’t get a German suplex and bails to the floor for an early breather. Back in and Undertaker grabs a headlock before getting one off a shoulder.

Angle fires off right hands in the corner but gets caught by the arm, setting up Old School. Snake Eyes looks to set up the big boot but Angle grabs a suplex for two instead. Another big boot misses though and Angle knocks him off the apron and into the barricade. Undertaker picks him up for the drive into the post and the apron legdrop gets two. Angle kicks his way out of the chokeslam and takes the leg out. Said leg is wrapped around the post and we go old school with the Hartbreaker.

Back in and Angle stays on the leg but Undertaker sends him outside again. The boot to the head rocks Angle again but the apron legdrop is countered into the ankle lock. Angle holds until seven, slides back in to break the count, then grabs the hold again. Back in and Angle twists the ankle but gets pulled into the triangle. That sends Angle to the rope for the break, followed by a crash outside as he’s messed up from the hold. Undertaker sends him into the timekeeper’s area but walks into the Angle Slam through the announcers’ table.

The referee gets to nine but Angle says don’t do it because he wants to win it in the ring. That’s fine with Undertaker, who sends Angle into the steps for a crash. Back in and Undertaker gets crotched on top, setting up the super belly to belly for two more. A big boot gives Undertaker his own two but the chokeslam is countered into the ankle lock. That’s reversed into the triangle choke, with is reversed right back into the ankle lock.

Undertaker fights up and grabs the chokeslam for a delayed two as we get extra serious. The Last Ride is countered into the ankle lock but Undertaker kicks him away. There’s the Angle Slam for two and Angle’s shocked face is as great as ever. They fight over the Tombstone until Angle grabs the ankle again, this time with the grapevine. Undertaker turns it over and breaks the grip but gets caught in the Angle Slam. The cover is pulled into the triangle choke for two arm drops but Angle flips over into a cradle to retain, half a second before passing out in the hold for a nice callback to their 2002 match.

Rating: A-. I can’t get over how nice it was to keep waiting on the interference/screwy ending and nothing ever happening. This would have been a place for Mark Henry to interfered but instead we got a great match that went nearly half an hour. This was an amazing match with both guys looking outstanding throughout. What made it work so well was how well they played off of each other and teased the submissions, while also going for the pins off big moves. This was always going to work and it was great throughout.

Post match Undertaker pulls him up and says he has Angle’s number to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a very top heavy show with the three matches at the end being the only things that mattered. That works out well though as those three matches combine for over and hour of ring time and the weakest of all three was a perfectly good match. This was a rather strong show and if you do anything to make the first half better, it could have been approaching a classic. As it is, Undertaker vs. Angle is the match worth seeing, with the other two being worth a watch if you have the extra time.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: February 10, 2006
Location: Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia
Attendance: 4,542
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re getting closer Eddie Guerrero to No Way Out and that means Kurt Eddie Guerrero Angle vs. Undertaker, plus Eddie Guerrero Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton over the Eddie Guerrero memory of Eddie Guerrero. That might sound like a good Eddie Guerrero top to the card but they’re going to need more Eddie Guerrero matches to make the show work in the Eddie Guerrero end. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Randy Orton insulting the memory of Eddie Guerrero to convince Rey Mysterio to put up his Wrestlemania title shot. In defense of Eddie Guerrero’s legacy of course.

Opening sequence.

Matt Hardy vs. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Orlando Jordan vs. Chris Benoit

One fall to a finish and the winner gets Booker T. (on commentary with Sharmell while Jillian Hall is at ringside) for the US Title at No Way Out. It’s a brawl to start with Matt and JBL being sent outside but coming back in so JBL can clothesline Matt back to the floor. Benoit can’t Sharpshooter JBL but he can Crossface him with Jordan coming back in for the save. Matt suplexes Jordan for two as Cole and Booker argue over how much Booker has been wrestling as of late.

JBL pulls Matt to the floor and sends him face first into the steps. Back in and Benoit snaps off a release German suplex to JBL. That doesn’t seem to have much effect as JBL is back up to boot Matt in the face, followed by Benoit DDTing Jordan. JBL gets sent into the steps by Jordan and Benoit, who send Matt into the steps as well. Back in and Benoit hits a top rope superplex to Jordan and we take a break.

We come back with JBL breaking up a Crossface on Jordan as Booker complains about sweating so much. A middle rope elbow gives JBL two on Benoit and Matt’s neckbreaker gets the same on JBL. Booker rants on Benoit being a prima donna for making the save and then complains about the refereeing over and over. JBL suplexes Benoit as Booker is losing his mind about Benoit not being pinned.

The Clothesline From JBL hits Hardy but Jordan has to be dispatched, allowing Benoit to make the save. The Three Amigos take JBL down and the rolling German suplexes drop Jordan again. There’s the Swanton for two on Jordan with JBL making a save this time. JBL is sent to the floor and Matt hits the Side Effect on Jordan. Benoit is back up though and the Crossface makes Matt tap for the title shot.

Rating: B-. They kept the action moving here and Booker’s panicked reactions made the match a little bit better. Then again there was Jordan doing his best warm body who happens to be in there performance, yet somehow not being the one to take the fall. Why do you have Jordan in there if he isn’t the one taking the loss? Can this guy please just get released already?

As Benoit celebrates, Teddy Long tells Booker and Sharmell that it’s either fight at No Way Out or forfeit.

JBL rants about how he can beat anyone when Bobby Lashley comes up. The challenge is on for No Way Out and Jillian accepts on JBL’s behalf, much to JBL’s fear.

Melina offers Matt Hardy a spot in MNM.

Daivari is sick of hearing about Kurt Angle and is looking forward to seeing Mark Henry destroy Undertaker tonight. Henry promises to take Undertaker out.

Here’s MNM for an Open Challenge.

MNM vs. Paul London/Brian Kendrick

Non-title. London wristlocks Mercury down and drops a leg on the arm but Mercury is back up with a right hand to the face. A hurricanrana gives London two more as Melina is looking rather confident on the floor. Nitro comes in and gets hurricanranaed by Kendrick, followed by a dropkick for two. A clothesline to the back of the head staggers Kendrick though and it’s back to Mercury, who gets dropkicked by London.

The threat of a kick to the face sends Mercury outside and that means another headscissors from Kendrick. London adds a big flip dive onto both of them but Kendrick gets backdropped over the top and outside for a nasty crash. Back in and Kendrick gets sent hard into the corner but he fights out of the backbreaker. The diving tag brings in London but the referee doesn’t see it, allowing MNM to hit a Snapshot, with Melina grabbing London’s leg so there’s no save.

Rating: C-. London and Kendrick could be a good addition to the tag team division. I mean, assuming there actually is a division, as there isn’t much to the whole thing aside from MNM and….do Heidenreich/Animal still count? The FBI is still around but other than that, we more or less have the champions and whomever is challenging them at the moment. In other words, business as usual.

Video on the Asian tour.

Randy Orton wants to set the record straight on his Eddie Guerrero comments last week. After seeing the “Eddie isn’t up there” comments again, here’s Orton in the arena to address said comments….and he’s in the low rider. Orton doesn’t know where Eddie is and doesn’t care. All that matters is that Orton got what he wanted: a chance to take Mysterio’s Wrestlemania title shot.

Orton is going on to Wrestlemania to become champion, but that’s at Wrestlemania. Why is he here in a low rider this week? See, Eddie Guerrero was no saint, and Orton has the proof. He pulls out a copy of Eddie’s own book to read a section but here’s Rey Mysterio to jump him. Mysterio dropkicks him head first into the post and Orton is out.

Cruiserweight Title: Nunzio vs. Gregory Helms

Helms is defending. They go to the mat to start and here’s Kid Kash, who gets the winner next week, to watch from the aisle. Nunzio grabs an armbar and hurricanranas him out to the floor but Helms is back with something like an F5 to send Nunzio throat first across the top rope. A high crossbody (to the face) drops Nunzio again and we hit the chinlock. Nunzio fights up with some clotheslines and a neckbreaker gets two. Helms is right back with a fireman’s carry spun into a knee to the face, followed by the Shining Wizard to retain.

Rating: C-. Well that happened. There isn’t much that you can do with these matches as there is little interest in them as the cruiserweights have been treated like nothing for a long time now. The action was fine enough (save for that high crossbody) but at the end of the day, it’s the Cruiserweight Title. WWE isn’t going to treat it as anything important and it’s hard to get behind it as a result.

Palmer Cannon is glad the juniors are back. Mr. Kennedy comes in and likes them, but Pirate Paul Burchill breaks through a wall, says hello, and leaves.

Octagoncito/Pequeno Valencia vs. Mascarita Sagrada/Tzuki

Valencia is nearly Rey Mysterio’s size so Sagrada picks up the pace to start and takes him down early on. The much bigger Valencia misses a running dropkick in the corner and it’s Tzuki coming in to spin around into a headscissors. Octagoncito comes in but Tzuki is too busy armdragging Valencia….but here’s Finlay to beat up Octagoncito for the DQ.

Post match Finlay beats up Tzuki for a bonus. Finlay says this is serious and he’s here to fight. I’m all for him in something like this. The juniors are all talented, but it doesn’t fit in here and having Finlay beat them up is going to get more mileage than anything they do.

Raw Rebound.

Video on Undertaker.

No Way Out rundown, which is looking pretty good.

Booker T. and Sharmell are leaving but the trunk of their car is full of worms.

Undertaker vs. Mark Henry

Daivari is here with Henry. Undertaker grabs a headlock to start, which looks rather out of place for him. A running shoulder has no effect on Henry so he grabs his own headlock. Henry’s shoulder works a bit better and he hiptosses Undertaker down with ease. Henry charges into a boot in the corner but a collision sends Undertaker into the ropes. The running charge misses though and Henry falls outside as we take a break.

Back with Henry hammering away against the barricade. Undertaker reverses a whip though and sends Henry hard into the steps. Some right hands and a big boot rock Henry and the elbow to the face sets up the apron legdrop. A glare at Daivari means it’s a delayed two on Henry, who isn’t knocked down off Old School. Henry catches a charge in the corner though and powers Undertaker into the other corner.

A headbutt to the spine gives Henry two and it’s time to crash down onto Undertaker’s lower back. Henry stands on the ribs and Daivari gets in some choking as the referee yells. They head outside again with Undertaker’s back being sent into the barricade and the apron. That’s good for one back inside but Undertaker slugs away from his knees and hits the running clotheslines in the corner. The chokeslam (and a decent one at that) connects but MNM come in for the DQ.

Rating: C+. I was into this one until the ending, but that was the right call. You don’t want either of these two losing at the moment, as Undertaker is going into a World Title shot and Henry just lost at the Rumble. MNM’s loose association with Henry is enough for them to come in here and it was the right ending to a nice power match.

Post match Undertaker shrugs off MNM and chokeslams Daivari but MNM are back up. Henry runs Undertaker over but Kurt Angle runs out for the suplexes to make the save. Henry runs through Angle, only to have Undertaker kick Henry in the face. Undertaker grabs the title, so here’s Teddy Long to make Henry/MNM vs. Angle/Undertaker in a handicap match for next week. Henry is pleased to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This is a tricky one as it wasn’t much on its own, but it was quite the show for setting up No Way Out. They’ve got a hot card for the show and Angle vs. Undertaker sounds awesome. If they can keep that up next week, we could be in for something special at the pay per view. Cut out some of the weaker stuff (Booker vs. worms, juniors and the rather lame cruiserweights) and you’ve got an excellent show. As it is, it wasn’t much here but it looked to the future, which is a good thing.

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:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: June 24, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s a week before Fyter Fest but things might be shaken up a bit as World Champion Jon Moxley is missing this week due to Coronavirus fears. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for the future but we’ll worry about that if something else develops. I’m not sure what else to expect this week but they have a good enough track record to give me hope. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus

Lumberjack match with MJF here with Wardlow and the rest of Jurassic Express with Luchasaurus. They collide to start and Wardlow heads outside for some yelling at the lumberjacks. Back in and Wardlow hits a running shoulder to the ribs to send Luchasaurus outside. After a beating from the lumberjacks, Luchasaurus is fine enough to escape a suplex and fire some kicks to the ribs.

A suplex takes him down and it’s time to rip at the mask a bit. Luchasaurus comes back with a legsweep and the standing moonsault for two before heading up top. Wardlow is right there with him for a top rope superplex for his own two. A knee to the face doesn’t do much to Wardlow, who is right back with a running hurricanrana. That just earns him a Spanish fly and they’re both down.

Wardlow rolls to the ramp and Luchasaurus follows, where he is planted with a powerslam. Jungle Boy tries to interfere and gets throws into the pile of lumberjacks. Stunt dives onto everyone for going after Boy as Wardlow and Luchasaurus fight up the ramp. Brandon Cutler tries to get involved but gets tossed off the stage. Stunt does the same and gets the same result, followed by a Tail Whip to knock Wardlow onto the pile.

Luchasaurus shooting stars onto everyone as JR wonders when someone is going to try to win the match. Back in and Luchasaurus hits a chokeslam but MJF offers a distraction. Jungle Boy spears him through the ropes to the floor, allowing Wardlow to get in a low blow. The F10 finishes Luchasaurus 9:16.

Rating: C+. The spots were entertaining enough but there was only so much you can do with the focus being on the lumberjacks for some fairly long stretches. The ending keeps Luchasaurus safe and makes Wardlow look like a monster, but this was there for the sake of two monsters doing big spots on each other. That worked well enough and it was entertaining while it lasted.

Taz breaks down how Brian Cage does the Drill Claw. Hint: it involves being really strong.

After a rundown of what is to come tonight, Britt Baker sends Tony a note, asking for a diagnosis of Luchasaurus’ green tongue. She also now has a branded Plexiglas case around her special chair.

Hikaru Shida vs. Red Velvet

Non-title and Shida gets in an argument with Penelope Ford on the way to the ring. Ford gets in a slap but the referee won’t let Shida cane her. Running knee and Falcon Arrow finish Velvet at 13 seconds.

Post match Shida goes after Ford and the brawl is on. Shida even knocks down Kip Sabian and they’re finally broken up.

Earlier today, Cody and his very, very large entourage had a press conference for his TNT Title defense against Jake Hager. Arn Anderson talks about how Jake Hager wasn’t the right opponent for Cody at the moment but he wanted to fight him anyway. Cody is going to be ready to fight the tough monster. As for Cody, he sees the TNT Title as hope and talks about how he doesn’t like cosplay wrestling. Cody talks about the title not being complete and Hager finally arrives. They pose and who I believe is Hager’s wife throws water in Cody’s face. They’re done, after the completely realistic press conference.

Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss stop at a gas station where Joey goes inside to get food. Some guys bother Kiss and try to get in a fight with him, causing Joey, with Lunchables purchased, to come out for the save. They both could get used to this.

Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela vs. Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana

Kiss snaps off an early headscissors and handsprings into a slap in the corner. Lee runs him over though and beats up Janela as well. Cabana comes in gets caught in a Hart Attack. Lee breaks up something close to a Muta Lock and the rest of the Dark Order offers a distraction. The confused Cabana adds a splash for two on Kiss and we take a break. Back with Janela getting the hot tag and Death Valley Drivering Cabana.

Kiss and Janela hit moonsaults off the top to take out Lee and Cabana. Back in and Cabana gets hit with a top rope splash from Janela, plus a 450 from Kiss. Lee makes the save but gets sent to the floor. Cabana reverse a Doomsday Device into a victory roll for two so Kiss dives onto the rest of the Dark Order. Lee kicks Kiss in the face but can’t quite catch Janela’s suicide dive. Back in and the discus lariat blasts Janela, allowing Cabana to get the pin at 9:11.

Rating: D+. The sloppiness was hard to ignore here with some spots clearly missing and other moments where someone was just standing there so someone could do something. Cabana having some success thanks to the Dark Order is interesting, but I’m not sure I can imagine him doing a full heel turn.

Post match the Dark Order leaves so here’s Lance Archer to jump Janela and Kiss. Jake Roberts says save it for someone more important.

We look at Shawn Spears using a loaded glove to win last night on Dark.

SCU vs. FTR

Christopher Daniels and Kazarian for SCU here and it’s Harwood working on Kazarian’s arm to start. Wheeler comes in to stay on the arm and everything breaks down in a hurry. Everyone falls out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Kazarian making the hot tag off to Daniels but Harwood cuts him off and suplexes Daniels onto Kazarian. The slingshot suplex, and a Four Horsemen pose, drop Daniels again. Kazarian grabs Daniels’ hands to block a sunset flip but Wheeler breaks it up. Wheeler keeps going by turning over a small package to give Harwood two.

Back up and Kazarian hits an Unprettier for two on Wheeler but Celebrity Rehab is countered into a catapult to send Daniels into the corner. The Veg O Matic gets two on Daniels but Kazarian is back in for the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for two on Harwood. Daniels hits a jumping knee to put Harwood on the floor but walks into the Goodnight Express for the pin at 12:33.

Rating: B-. There’s something interesting about FTR being billed as this old school tag team but mainly doing more old tag team spots here in the middle of the usual lack of tags chaos. It was still entertaining, but I’m hoping we get some more of the actual, you know, tagging involved in a tag match. Good enough match though and FTR getting another win is a good thing.

Post match FTR talks about all the teams that they want to face in AEW, with the Young Bucks at the top of the list. Cue Butcher and Blade in FTR’s truck but here are the Lucha Bros behind them. Butcher and Blade issue a challenge for an eight man tag at Fyter Fest with the Bucks joining FTR and the match is accepted. The Bros beat FTR down with the Bucks make the save. Butcher and Blade and the Bros steal the truck.

Video on Kenny Omega and Hangman Page being oddballs. The Best Friends don’t know how Page and Omega can be best friends when they don’t even drink the same. Omega and Page aren’t best friends, but they’re a great team and that’s what matters. Page: “Them boys are good. I mean, we’re gonna whip their a**, but they’re good.”

Video on Brian Cage vs. Jon Moxley.

Brian Cage vs. Joe Cruz

Tazz is on commentary as Cage throws Cruz around to start and then curls the guy in his arms. There’s an overhead belly to belly as JR makes sure to get Cruz’s name in in case his family is watching. A toss powerbomb from the ramp to the ring plants Cruz again and the Drill Claw finishes at 1:23.

Post match Taz grabs his mic and asks where Moxley is. He finds him in the camera and yells about how Moxley his hiding at home with some fake excuse. Cage is taking the title at Fyter Fest and is more dangerous than anything Moxley has. Can Moxley stop the path of Cage? Taz got a little tongue tied in there a few times but he got the point across.

Cabana and Lee are happy with their win as Lee tells him how important it is to bounce back. Lee wants one more chance to show him what it means when they face SCU at Fyter Fest. Colt isn’t sure about that but seems to go along with the idea.

We run down the Fyter Fest card.

Baker sends Schiavone a note about Big Swole putting her in a dumpster for NINE AND A HALF HOURS but Swole is still the biggest piece of trash in AEW> Swole comes in but Baker laughs her off and has an appletini. Baker tells her to go steal someone else’s star power so Swole climbs onto the truck and pours trash onto Baker.

Santana vs. Matt Hardy

Ortiz is here with Santana. Moxley and QT Marshall missing the show due to the Coronavirus has been mentioned but there is no explanation for why Santana is taking Sammy Guevara’s place. It’s Broken Matt here, complete with Neo1. Santana drives Matt into the corner to start and actually gives us a clean break. As Baker is throwing trash at commentary (much to Tony’s annoyance), Santana gets backdropped to the floor. Matt presses Santana’s head against the post and literally opens his eye before whipping him into the barricade. Back in and Santana gets in a cheap shot and we take a break.

We come back with Santana flipping out of a side Effect and planting Matt with a spinning Rock Bottom. A Lionsault gives Santana two but he misses the frog splash (which would have missed even if Matt hadn’t moved), allowing Matt to send him into all of the buckles. The Side Effect gets one on Santana, with Ortiz shouting that Matt “WANTS YOUR FOOD!”. Another Side Effect gets two but Santana is back with a running Samoan driver. Santana cradles Matt for two but he reverses into a cradle to put Santana away at 10:54.

Rating: C+. Matt is another good example of someone who is a lot better when he drops the insanity and just wrestles. He does a lot of interesting stuff but he is still more interesting when he is himself. It worked for a long time and while I get that he wants to be creative, sometimes it’s better to just be yourself.

Post match Ortiz helps Santana beat Matt down until Private Party makes the save.

Here are Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho for a showdown. Jericho asks why the chicken crossed the road. To get to the other side of course. That’s a joke that people have heard before and while it was amusing at first, it becomes more and more annoying over time. Orange Cassidy is the chicken crossing the road joke and it’s ticking Jericho off (this sounds vaguely familiar but I can’t quite place it).

Jericho has watched some of Cassidy’s stuff and yes there is a unique presentation and like Brian Pillman said, you have to be different to make it in wrestling. Then Cassidy got out of his lane and messed with Le Champion. He better be the best Orange Cassidy he can be at Fyter Fest, and if he tries those kicks to the shin, Jericho will knock him out in thirty seconds. Cassidy better reach into his pockets and pull out a man sized miracle because Jericho is knocking the juice out of him at Fyter Fest. Jericho: “Now that’s a funny joke.”

Cassidy takes the mic, thinks about saying something, and lays it down. Now we get the slow motion shin kicks and the hands in the pockets. Jericho breaks Cassidy’s sunglasses and the fight is on with the two of them heading outside. They go into the stands and slug it out until Jericho swings a camera into his face. Cassidy fights back though and Superman Punches Jericho off a railing through a table to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This wasn’t as good of a show as they’ve been doing lately but as I’ve said before: if this is their bad show, they’re going to be just fine. They were focusing on some rapid fire build towards Fyter Fest here but with the top of the cards set, going through the undercard this fast isn’t a problem. The wrestling wasn’t as good this week, though that wasn’t the point either. Not a bad show at all, and I did get a chuckle out of Jericho thinking the same way I do. I guess IAmJericho? Anyway good enough show this week.

Results

Wardlow b. Luchasaurus – F10

Hikaru Shida b. Red Velvet – Falcon Arrow

Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Discus lariat to Janela

FTR b. SCU – Goodnight Express to Daniels

Brian Cage b. Joe Cruz – Drill Claw

Matt Hardy b. Santana – Rollup

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 20, 2006
Location: Civic Center, Florence, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Things changed in a big way last week and now we get to start moving towards the new norm around here. That includes Kurt Angle as the Smackdown World Champion and seemingly gearing up to feud with Mark Henry, probably at the Royal Rumble. Speaking of the Rumble, the show is in ten days and it could use some build. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Angle winning the title in a battle royal, last eliminating Henry.

Opening sequence.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Bobby Lashley

JBL has Jillian Hall with him, now with a bandage on her face after Boogeyman bit off her growth. An exchange of shoulders hurts JBL’s arm but his right hand is good enough to hammer Lashley down in the corner. A thumb to the eye cuts Lashley off but he’s right back with a belly to bell. The charge misses in the corner and JBL runs him over….so here’s Boogeyman from underneath the ring. The distraction lets Lashley hit the Dominator for the pin.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and was just a backdrop for the Boogeyman interference. The good thing about JBL is it’s not like a loss hurts him so just have him go out there and take a beating, which isn’t going to cause him any real damage. Lashley gets a win and we move forward towards JBL vs. Boogeyman. I’m not sure why, but it’s at least something and JBL can play scared with the best of them.

Post match, JBL bails from the threat of the worms.

Rey Mysterio congratulates Angle on winning the title and promises to become #1 contender. Angle likes the idea of the challenge and walks on to accept more congratulations. He runs into Henry though, who promises to beat Rey and take the title from Angle at the Royal Rumble. Angle wishes him luck and says stay out of his face. The YOU SUCK chants are about his opponents, so don’t be his opponent, because you’ll SUCK.

Post break a scared Jillian is in Teddy Long’s office when JBL storms in. Long doesn’t want to hear the yelling and makes JBL vs. Boogeyman at the Rumble.

Here are Sharmell and Booker T. for the big US Title celebration, including the balloon drop. Booker thanks everyone for believing in him and Sharmell calls Chris Benoit a loser. After a congratulatory kiss, Booker says this is how a real winner celebrates. Cue Orlando Jordan to say Booker disrespected him when Jordan offered to help him in the series. Jordan wants a match right now and punches Booker down for saying no. Cue Teddy to make Jordan vs. Randy Orton for later tonight. So there you go Orlando Jordan enthusiasts. We get to suffer while you enjoy yourselves.

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay

This is Finlay’s debut and he hammers away to start, including taking Hardy down in a hurry. Matt kicks away and hits an atomic drop before catapulting Finlay over the top. Back in and Finlay kicks him in the head before hitting a hard slam for two. The neck crank goes on and you can feel the mean coming off of Finlay. Matt fights up for a backdrop and the Side Effect gets two. The screaming…uh, backsplash actually here, gets two more so Finlay goes outside. Matt gets tied up in the ring skirt and Finlay hammers away before taking him back inside. More forearms in the ropes are enough for the DQ.

Rating: C. This was a physical match and that’s the kind of thing that Finlay is known for. Wanting to brawl and beat on Hardy for the DQ was a logical way for him to debut, as a lot of fans aren’t going to be familiar with him after so many years away from mainstream wrestling. Not so much a good match, but an effective debut.

Post match, Finlay can’t believe that was a DQ and stomps Hardy’s head on the steps.

We look back at Daivari costing Angle a match against Shawn Michaels on Raw. Angle fired Daivari as a result.

Daivari is in Teddy’s office to rant about Angle firing him. He wants Teddy to fix it, so Long makes Daivari vs. Angle for tonight.

Batista had triceps surgery for the second time.

Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry

The winner gets the title shot at Angle at the Rumble. Melina is here with Henry. Mysterio starts sticking and moving to start but gets knocked down in a hurry. The pace picks up a bit and Rey sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. A quick dive knocks Henry up against the barricade and we take a break. Back with Henry running him over and shoving Mysterio down by the head.

Henry steps on his chest but misses a splash. Mysterio can’t do much with the delay though as he gets knocked outside, with Henry throwing him back inside with no trouble. Back in and Henry misses a charge in the corner so Rey kicks at the leg, slips out of a gorilla press, and kicks at the leg again. Some 619s to the back and ribs set up the regular version and Rey hits a heck of a frog splash. Henry rolls through like it’s nothing though and plants him with the World’s Strongest Slam for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: C. Pure formula stuff here and that’s the right way to go. Show that Henry can absorb the offense and then pop up for the win. Beating Mysterio so decisively sets up Henry for the World Title shot that he was all but guaranteed to get. Not a great match, but it did things rather well.

Mr. Kennedy comes out with some of his new shirts but if you want them, go buy them.

Gymini vs. Paul London/Brian Kendrick

Simon Dean is here with the Gymini and Kennedy is on commentary. Cole and Tazz throw on the Kennedy shirts, with Kennedy complimenting Cole’s head. London and Kendrick hit the ring in a hurry and clothesline Dean to the floor at the bell. London starts fast with a missile dropkick but a Dean distraction lets the monsters run him over. A double shoulder takes him down again as Dean starts blowing the whistle. Some missed elbows allow the hot tag to Kendrick to clean house as everything breaks down. Kendrick gets spinebustered onto London though and a double Regal Cutter finishes Kendrick in a hurry.

Rob Van Dam is back at the Royal Rumble.

Orlando Jordan vs. Randy Orton

Orton takes him over with a headlock to start and the trash talk is on. Some armdrags send Orton outside though and it’s time for a breather. Back in and another armdrag lets Jordan clothesline him to the floor but Orton avoids the slingshot dive. We come back from a break with Orton grabbing a chinlock with a bodyscissors, followed by the dropkick for two. Jordan couldn’t get his foot to the rope, so the referee says it was under the rope for the break anyway.

Jordan’s comeback is cut off in a hurry and we hit the chinlock again. The comeback works this time as Jordan starts in on the arm, including a standing armbar. That’s reversed into the backbreaker for two and Jordan’s dropkick gets the same. A swinging neckbreaker drops Orton but here is Sharmell for a distraction so Booker can come down for a crutch shot to Jordan. The RKO is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. For the love of all things good and made of poultry can we PLEASE cut it out with Jordan already? He has never been interesting, he has never been anything resembling good and he has never been anything more than a name on the roster. Let him go to Velocity and stay there already because he is as much of a groan inducing name as there is these days.

Post match Chris Benoit runs in for the save and rips up Booker’s shirt.

Video on Mark Henry.

We run down the Rumble card.

Raw Rebound.

Daivari is scared about the main event and know it’s going to be screwed up.

Kurt Angle vs. Daivari

Non-title and here are Mark Henry and Melina to watch. Angle snaps off the belly to belly suplex to send Daivari outside, where Daivari is terrified of Henry. Back in and Daivari’s low blow doesn’t do much damage so Angle throws him at Henry. With Henry holding Daivari in the air, Angle hammers on Daivari’s back before throwing him back inside. The Angle Slam sets up the ankle lock but Melina comes in for the DQ.

Post match Angle puts Melina in the ankle lock but Henry comes in for the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry crushes Angle with the steps for a bonus. With Angle down on the floor, Daivari announces himself as Henry’s new manager to end the show. Was Daivari that great of a manager that we need to have him added like this?

Overall Rating: C-. This show was more logical than anything else and that’s fine. It might not have been exactly thrilling, but it did a good job of setting up the non-Rumble matches. The perk about the Rumble is that it doesn’t need much of a build in the first place so hopefully we get a little push next week, but it’s not like the match really needs it. Angle vs. Henry actually sounds decent though, which I never would have guessed on coming in.

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:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: June 10, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We’re still in Jacksonville and this time around we’re going to be seeing the TNT Title on the line again, as Cody defends against Marq Quen. Other than that the countdown is on until Fyter Fest with the big showdown between Jon Moxley and Brian cage for the World Title. That has gone well so far so hopefully it does again. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Chris Jericho joins commentary.

FTR vs. Butcher and the Blade

It’s FTR’s (the Revival, who drive their truck to the ring) debut and Dax Harwood (Scott Dawson) takes Blade into the corner to start. A headlock on the mat has Blade in trouble and Harwood small packages him for two. The headlock takeover puts Blade down again and it’s off to Cash Wheeler (Dash Wilder) to work on the arm. Hardwood’s northern lights suplex gets two and it’s a four way standoff.

The fans get behind FTR and we settle down to Wheeler vs. Butcher. Wheeler bangs his shoulder but it’s some goldbricking to set up a cradle for two. Butcher gets in some choking in the corner and Blade knocks him down for a bonus. After Harwood is knocked off the apron, Wheeler gets in a powerslam and the hot tag brings Harwood in. Everything breaks down and it’s a brainbuster to Blade.

A double hanging DDT plants Butcher and it’s a Power Plex for two. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard are watching from the crowd (with Shawn Spears watching Tully) as Butcher takes Harwood down. Wheeler makes a save and the Goodnight Express (Shatter Machine, though a really bad looking one) sets up the Mind Breaker (spike piledriver) for the pin on Blade at 10:20.

Rating: C+. The Shatter Machine botch (not FTR’s fault) was a problem but they made a rather nice debut. They looked as polished as you can look out there and they beat up a midcard(ish) tag team. It’s a good debut and they didn’t overstay their welcome, plus the spike piledriver can be a big time finisher when necessary. Not too bad at all.

Post match the Young Bucks come out to say FTR haven’t introduced themselves. They’re the Young Bucks and they’ve been carrying tag team wrestling for the last fifteen years. They’re the best tag team in AEW….and here are Butcher and Blade, Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc to jump the Bucks and FTR. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page (with drink) make the save.

The Natural Nightmares are getting a Tag Team Title shot next week but Brandi Rhodes isn’t happy with Allie wearing a Rhodes family jacket. Dustin Rhodes tells QT Marshall to get his head in the game because next week Allie won’t be at ringside.

Penelope Ford/Nyla Rose vs. Kris Stadtlander/Hikaru Shida

Nyla jumps Stadtlander from behind to start and the brawl is on in a hurry. Stadtlander ducks a double clothesline and sends Rose into Ford but Rose blasts her with a clothesline. Back from a break with Stadtlander fighting out of a chinlock and taking Rose down. It’s off to Shida to kick Ford in the corner, setting up a running knee for a bonus. A suplex drops Ford as JR gets in a quick tribute to Mr. Wrestling II.

Ford counters a suplex with a knee to Stadtlander’s head for two but Stadtlander kicks Rose down. Ford is back with a Stunner, so Shida drops Ford and hits her with a superplex. Stadtlander’s ax kick gets two on Rose, who is back up to drape both of them over the top. A top rope knee to both of their backs drops them but Stadtlander pulls Ford off the ropes. Shida’s running knee sends Rose to the floor and now the Falcon Arrow gets two on Ford. Kip Sabian grabs Shida’s leg though, allowing Ford to get in a belt shot. The fisherman’s suplex pins Shida at 10:00.

Rating: C. That should set up Ford as the #1 contender and that’s not a bad way for Shida to get in her first title defense. Everyone was working hard in there and some of the near falls worked rather well. The women’s division has gotten a lot better in recent months and developing people like Ford is something that is going to help them out a good bit.

Darby Allin is hanging out with Tony Hawk and tries to skateboard off of a ladder.

Britt Baker talks about her existence making her a role model. She doesn’t like Big Swole’s struggles because Baker has more struggles than anyone. Like that time where she had an unexpected biology exam and had to ace it. These things continue to be great.

Santana and Ortiz/Jake Hager vs. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy

The Inner Circle jumps them to start and Hager throws Cassidy up the ramp. Hager heads back to the ring as Trent is beaten up, leaving Cassidy to roll back to the ring. Trent snaps off a suplex to take Santana down so here’s Ortiz to hammer him down again. A quick tag brings in Chuck for Soul Food into the German suplex. Everything breaks down and Chuck gets caught in the corner, with a Vader Bomb crushing him for two. Back from a break with Trent low bridging Santana to the floor and tornado DDTing Ortiz.

Cassidy gets the hot tag for the slow motion kicks to Hager and a double hurricanrana to Santana and Ortiz. A suicide dive sends Hager over the barricade and a big tornado DDT plants Ortiz. Hager hits a powerslam to cut Cassidy off with Trent and Chuck making the save. A heck of a cannonball hits Cassidy (Jericho: “Do you know what cannonball is in Spanish Excalibur?” Excalibur: “No I don’t. What is it?” Jericho: “I don’t know.”) but the Street Sweeper is broken up. Cassidy’s crucifix finishes Santana at 10:13.

Rating: C+. Dang I could go for something a little more serious for Santana and Ortiz, who are one of the best teams in the company today. Instead we’re getting the Best Friends getting a title shot because….I’m not sure why actually. Is there a rule that Cassidy and the Best Friends have to be on every show? I don’t remember the last time they missed making an appearance on more than two shows in a row. No one gets this much TV time in the company outside of maybe Brandi.

Post match Jericho runs to the ring to hit Cassidy with the bat. The Inner Circle pulls out a bag of oranges and hits the already bloody Cassidy in the head. Jericho: “As you can see, Orange Cassidy has just been juiced.”

Maxwell Jacob Friedman knows he is the best and is a great white shark in a locker room full of minnows. Billy Gunn pops up to call him a minnow, but MJF says Gunn needs to be trying to get one of his stupid sons a job. Gunn is ready to fight but Wardlow breaks that up.

We recap Colt Cabana’s recent losing, meaning the Dark Order wants him. Cole doesn’t seem interested.

Colt Cabana vs. Sammy Guevara

Sammy flips him off to start so Cabana leapfrogs him and shows off the double middle finger. The headscissors sets up an armbar to keep Guevara down. Sammy sends him outside though and it’s a big flip dive as we take a break. Back with Cabana kicking him away and hitting the Bionic Elbow. The Flying Apple into the double jump splash gets two on Guevara, followed by the moonsault for the same. Cabana slips on the Chicago Skyline though and it’s the GTH to give Sammy the pin at 7:32.

Rating: C. Cabana continues to be good for a match against almost anyone and Sammy is still one of the brightest stars around. He feels like he could do something good with just about anyone and that is the kind of thing you don’t get very often. Couple that with how much you want to punch him in the face and AEW has a star on its hands.

Post match the Dark Order comes out in full to stare at Cabana, with Brodie Lee helping him up. Cabana looks confused but slowly follows them down the tunnel.

With Colt gone, Sammy brags about his win but here’s Matt Hardy to interrupt. Matt sees a younger version of himself in Sammy because Sammy always gets back up. To realize his potential though, he has to get away from Chris Jericho. The fans approve, but Sammy doesn’t trust someone who tried to kill him twice. Matt likes the idea of a fact and we get the Matt selection screen, with Matt saying he is an excellent driver. With that, Matt ducks his head and becomes Broken. Matt promises to delete (x10) Sammy, who backs off.

Joey Janela is drinking in a bar and doesn’t know how he went from facing Jon Moxley in the main event to fading into the darkness. He leaves the bar and gets picked up by Sonny Kiss. To be continued.

Cabana goes into Brodie Lee’s dressing room.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Billy Gunn vs. MJF and Le Sex Gods vs. the Best Friends with the Fyter Fest title shot on the line.

Jon Moxley is in the parking lot and is ready to destroy Brian Cage at Fyter Fest. Taz has been running his mouth for weeks so here’s Taz to get in Moxley’s face. Cue Cage to jump Moxley from behind and the beating is on. Moxley misses a pipe shot to hit a car window instead, allowing Cage to slam him into the back window of the same car. Taz gets Cage out of here.

Video on Cody wanting to prove that he can go week to week with the TNT Title defenses.

TNT Title: Marq Quen vs. Cody

Matt Hardy and Isaiah Cassidy come out with Quen but leave before the match. Arn Anderson is here with Cody. Quen gets in a shot to the face to start so Cody takes him down by the leg. A running shoulder into a standing moonsault gives Quen one but Cody snaps off the drop down right hand. Quen dropkicks him out of the air for two though as Anderson isn’t sure what to make of this. Cody grabs a dragon sleeper and we take a quick break.

Back with Quen favoring his leg but insisting he can keep going. Cody kicks the leg out and hits a reverse belly superplex (Though Quen might have countered. It’s not entirely clear.). Quen reverses a suplex into a spinning DDT for two though. Cody is sent outside for a suicide dive, followed by the limping flip dive. Another flip dive takes Cody down for two back inside so Quen sends him to the ramp. A 450 onto the ramp crushes Cody but Quen can’t follow up because of the leg. Back in and the shooting star misses, allowing Cody to grab the ankle lock. A leglock makes Quen tap at 11:48.

Rating: B-. Good action, told a fine story and Quen looked like a future star. Quen has looked like the better of the team and hopefully he gets to showcase himself a little bit more in the future. Right now though he needs some ring time and experience, just for the sake of learning to tighten things up a bit.

Post match respect is shown and Quen leaves. Cue Jake Hager to go after Anderson before beating Cody up as well. Private Party and Matt Hardy make the save with some chairs. The rest of the Inner Circle comes in and the brawl is on. Cody gets back in with the chair and the good guys clear the ring. Cody knows what Hager wants so he can have a TNT Title shot at Fyter Fest. The staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. More good stuff this week with everyone working well and nothing bad on the whole show. They’re getting Fyter Fest ready and it’s feeling like a big show. They have a long way to go to get there though and with a few weeks left, they still have time to fill those holes. Nothing spectacular here, but it did what it needed to.

Results

FTR b. Butcher and the Blade – Mind Breaker to Blade

Penelope Ford/Nyla Rose b. Kris Stadtlander/Hikaru Shida – Fisherman’s suplex to Shida

Best Friends/Orange Cassidy b. Santana and Ortiz/Jake Hager – Crucifix to Santana

Sammy Guevara b. Colt Cabana – GTH

Cody b. Marq Quen – Leglock

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 6, 2006
Location: Wachovia Arena, Wlkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re into the new year and the big story coming out of last week’s show is the return of Mark Henry, who seems to be Melina’s hired monster to take out Batista. I’ve heard of worse ideas and you can probably pencil in the title match for the Royal Rumble. Speaking of that show, the build starts either tonight or next week so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week with Melina announcing that she’s suing Batista, followed by Henry attacking Batista to cost he and Rey Mysterio the Tag Team Titles back to MNM.

Opening sequence.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Matt Hardy

Falls Count Anywhere. Before the match, JBL brags about all the places he could beat Hardy (and Tazz swoons over Jillian Hall’s skirt). He goes into the crowd (where a fan takes the most obvious picture of Jillian’s chest imaginable) to brag some more and here’s Matt to get things going. The brawl is on in the crowd because they can and JBL chokes with his shirt. Matt gets whipped over the barricade for a big crash and it’s time to drop him onto the announcers’ table.

The Side Effect through the table gives Matt two so JBL CRACKS him with a chair for two inside. Matt hits a dropkick through the ropes and follows with a slingshot dive onto the floor for another near fall. It’s time for a ladder to JBL’s ribs but he sends Matt into the barricade again. Matt gets in a few shots and climbs the ladder, only to have Jillian grab his leg. That’s enough for JBL to shove Matt onto the hood of the limo for the win.

Rating: C. It was short but they got in some stuff here, with Matt fighting for revenge and trying to beat JBL however he could. JBL on the other hand was able to beat Matt up well enough in a short time that you could believe the match would go this way. I’ll take the crash over another Clothesline From JBL for the pin too. Jillian continues to be a far less annoying assistant than Orlando Jordan too.

Post match Boogeyman pops out of the limo and gives chase, including putting the worms down Jillian’s skirt. JBL’s panicked face is rather good.

Mark Henry vs. Rob Eckos/Jon Troske/Gus Harlacher

It’s a gauntlet match for Henry and you probably know Eckos better as Robbie E./Robert Stone. Henry has Melina with him and bends Troske’s back around the post to start. A torture rack gets rid of Troske in about thirty seconds and a reverse chokeslam gets rid of Harlacher even faster. Eckos’ shots from behind have no effect so Henry hits a Banzai Drop to the back. The World’s Strongest Slam finishes Eckos with ease. That was the kind of effective squash you don’t get often enough in a situation like this.

Post match Melina fights through tears to say that she is the victim here.

Randy Orton insists he wasn’t going to tap out last week and blames Sharmell for the loss. He’ll go out there and win tonight so he can hand the US Title to Booker T. Booker taking the invisible title and putting it on his shoulder fits him rather well.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud vs. Kid Kash

Kash is defending and Mr. Kennedy is on commentary after being gone for a few weeks. Juventud starts fast with a dropkick and Kash is knocked outside, with Juventud’s top rope flip dive not making a ton of contact. Back in and Kash pulls him off the middle rope for a face first crash but a springboard moonsault misses. Juventud’s knee is banged up from the crash so the Juvy Driver doesn’t work, allowing Kash to grab a half crab. That’s broken up and the knee is good enough to catch Kash in a super hurricanrana. The 450 misses though and Kash hits the Dead Level to retain.

Rating: C. Given that Juventud was released earlier in the day, there wasn’t a ton of drama about who was winning. Juventud had backstage issues for a good while and since the 450 was banned at this point, there wasn’t a big shock when he was let go. The match was entertaining enough, but it wasn’t a great time for the division and that was very obvious.

Orlando Jordan again asks Booker T. to be his replacement against Chris Benoit but is told to get to stepping. Jordan seems to threaten retaliation.

Batista holds a press conference in the locker room and denies all of Melina’s charges, saying that while they were intimate, she never said no and he never forced anything on her. Mark Henry comes in and asks what if it was him. Batista doesn’t want to hear it and Mark leaves.

Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton

Match #6 in the best of seven series with Benoit down 3-2. Booker comes out for commentary as Benoit sends Orton face first into the buckle to start. Benoit’s snap suplex gets two so Sharmell grabs Benoit’s foot, earning himself an ejection. Orton hits a dropkick and starts hammering away, setting up a chinlock. Back up and Benoit hits a release German suplex, only to be sent outside. We come back from a break with Orton holding another chinlock. Benoit fights out again and hits Three Amigos, setting up the Sharpshooter. That’s switched into the Crossface so Orton bails straight to the ropes. The over the back backbreaker gets two but here’s Orlando Jordan to jump Booker. He’s not done yet though as a crutch shot to Benoit’s head is good for the DQ to tie the series.

Rating: C-. This was a lot of chinlocking with some interference around the rest of the match. It wasn’t as good as last week’s either, with this one not even having the action to make things better. I’m glad they’re wrapping this up too as we’ve been on the same story for a good while now without any major developments. As soon as you get to the Orlando Jordan section of a story, it’s time to go home already.

Raw Rebound.

Finlay is coming.

Here’s Simon Dean for a chat. He issues an open challenge for any two wrestlers to come out and face him. Cue Paul London and Brian Kendrick, but Dean has some different opponents for them. That brings out the Gymini, a pair of huge muscular twins, to wreck London and Kendrick in short order.

Bobby Lashley is ready for the Royal Rumble and likes the sound of facing Batista at Wrestlemania. The need for a mouthpiece is on full display here.

Video on Lashley.

Tag Team Titles: MNM vs. Batista/Rey Mysterio

In a cage with MNM, with Melina, defending. Also, no escape here with pinfall or submission only. Thankfully there are no tags either so the brawl is on in a hurry with the champs in trouble. Rey drops a leg on Mercury but MNM blocks a double ram into the cage. They’re pulled off the wall though and we take a break.

Back with MNM still not being able to climb out as Rey knocks Nitro down and bulldogs Mercury off the top. Mysterio gets sent hard into the corner though and there’s a missile dropkick to Batista. A DDT gets two on Batista and a double baseball slide sends him into the cage. Mysterio bounces face first off the cage but he knocks both champs down without much trouble.

That means a climb to the top of the cage for a high crossbody onto Mercury. Nitro makes the save but Batista is up to start wrecking people. Both champs are crotched on top (with Melina wincing), so here’s Mark Henry. After a few shakes of the cage, Henry rips the door off (which actually took several minutes live and had to be edited) and comes in side to beat up Batista. Henry hits Batista and Rey with the door so MNM can steal the pin to retain.

Rating: C. There were some good spots here in a match that should have been window dressing for the angle at the end. Henry presents a good challenge to Batista and it’s nice to see MNM wrap up the story so they can move on to something else. One good thing here was that while Batista and Rey were winning at the time Henry came out, they didn’t have the match completely won so it doesn’t look like they got completely rescued.

Overall Rating: C-. Pretty run of the mill show here but they don’t have anything to build towards until the end of the month anyway. Next week can start the big build towards the Royal Rumble and things will pick up in a hurry. As for here though, it’s just ok for the most part, with nothing bad but nothing very good either. In other words, Smackdown.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: December 30, 2005
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re finally finishing up the year with this one, as the road to the Royal Rumble begins. There are a few things to wrap up first and hopefully we go out with some of them being finished off. I’m not sure what we’ll be covering tonight, but maybe things can work out better than usual for a change. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with Chris Benoit and Booker T.’, on crutches, in Teddy Long’s office. Booker has a knee injury and can’t wrestle in match number five of the best of seven tonight. He’s already up 3-1 though so just make him champion. Long thinks it should be a forfeit, but Booker wants to find a substitute. That’s fine with Benoit, so the series is still on.

Opening sequence.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Matt Hardy

Rematch from the pay per view, with JBL saying he doesn’t have matches anymore but rather only sends messages. Jillian Hall is here with JBL as well. Matt jumps him to start so JBL nails a big boot to cut that off in a hurry. A neckbreaker sets up the elbow drops as it’s almost one sided so far. Another shot to the face sets up a choke on the ropes and a belly to belly suplex to keep Matt down.

There’s a running shoulder as well, allowing Jillian to distract the referee so JBL can take off the buckle pad. Matt uses the delay to send JBL into the buckle for two but JBL puts him on top. Cue the Boogeyman but JBL hits the super fall away slam and the Clothesline From JBL anyway. JBL heads outside to hide behind Jillian though, allowing Boogeyman to throw the worms at her. Instead of fighting, JBL runs into the crowd for the countout.

Rating: D+. JBL was squashing him until the screwy ending because Matt is still in big trouble after Survivor Series. That might be a little harsh, but it’s not like Matt had any major momentum when he came over from Raw. Nothing to the match of course, but at least someone new is getting a push. That has been the case as of late and some of them have been better than others. I’m not exactly thrilled with Boogeyman getting a chance, but maybe it can work.

Orlando Jordan wants to be Booker’s substitute but Sharmell shuts that down by asking how many times Benoit made Jordan tap. Booker tells him to get his heels to clicking. He wants Jordan to dance?

Mexicools vs. The Dicks

Psicosis works on Chad’s arm to start so it’s quickly off to James. That goes badly as well but Chad gets in a cheap shot to take over. Chad’s clothesline gives James two on Psicosis and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry and Psicosis gets over to Super Crazy to pick up the pace. Chad is knocked off the apron and into the lawnmower, so it’s a missile dropkick to James. The moonsault finishes James.

Rating: C-. Speaking of new wrestlers who are worse than others, you have the Dicks. The Mexicools may have a stupid gimmick, but at least they can back it up in the ring. The Dicks….egads man. They’re not a horrible team but what in the world are they supposed to do when their entire existence is built around a joke?

Booker talks Randy Orton into replacing him in the series by asking if taking a whipping from Undertaker is how he wants to end 2005. Orton is in.

We recap Melina’s failed attempts to talk Batista out of the Tag Team Title match and the ensuing title change.

Here’s Melina, flanked by what looks to be a lawyer, for a press conference, with reporters and photographers around one whole side of the ring. Melina can barely say anything here over the Batista chants. She calls herself a role model and says she was recently the victim of a sexual predator.

Yes she flirted with Batista but then it turned into something horrible. Batista used his power as World Champions (Does that include heat vision?) to coerce her into sexual relations and now she knows the truth about him. Melina’s body is her temple, not his for the taking. That is why she is suing him for sexual harassment. Fair enough and while I doubt this goes anywhere major, it fits well for someone like Melina.

Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit

Match #5 in the best of seven series with Booker T. up 3-1, meaning he wins the title if Orton wins here. Booker and Sharmell are on commentary, with Booker insisting that his injury is absolutely real. The early Crossface attempt is blocked and Orton rolls outside for an early break.

Back with Orton headlocking Benoit on the mat before sending him shoulder first into the buckle. Booker continues the longest sentence ever until Orton gets two off a suplex. Benoit is right back with an armbar as Sharmell rants about Booker deserving the title already. A headlock has Orton in trouble so the announcers compare the series to a football comeback.

Orton powers up and sends Benoit over the top for a crash and the brawl heads to the floor. Benoit gets belly to back suplexed onto the barricade so we can hit the chinlock back inside. That’s broken up after a decent while but Benoit still can’t get the Crossface. We take another break and come back with Benoit going shoulder first into the post so the armbar can go on.

Benoit hits an enziguri for the double knockdown and then grabs Three Amigos for the extended knockdown. The Swan Dive misses and you can hear Booker’s relief. Benoit loads up the Sharpshooter so here’s Sharmell with the crutch for the DQ. Booker: “A fan just ran into the ring!”

Rating: B-. This was picking up a lot near the end but it needed to lose about five minutes in the middle. It doesn’t help that the ending doesn’t make a ton of sense. Why would you have Sharmell come in for the DQ if there was even the slightest chance that Orton could have survived? If he taps or if Sharmell comes in, the result is the same, so why not take your chances for the title?

Post match Benoit chases off Booker and Sharmell but walks into the RKO.

Funaki brings Cruiserweight Champion Kid Kash out to the platform (which still exists) for a chat. Kash brags about being a great champion but the fans don’t like him because he beat a nothing champion. Funaki: “WHAT IS A JUVENTUD???” Apparently he looked it up and it’s a Mexican salamander. Kash wants to know why everyone around here is foreign, including sushi boy. Funaki doesn’t know what to say so Kash brainbusters him on the platform. For some reason I remember seeing this one as it aired, even though it’s nothing all that impressive.

Finlay is coming soon. Cool.

The trailer for Kane’s new movie See No Evil is out next week!

Sylvan doesn’t like being in this ugly city for the new year so he has a resolution for the people here: they need to appreciate him, because he’s handsome.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sylvan

Sylvan jumps him to start and is quickly knocked outside. Back in and Sylvan slugs away, only to get suplexed right back down. A right hand sends Sylvan to the floor and he’s done because you don’t touch his face.

Batista isn’t worried about Melina because it’s about retaining the Tag Team Titles.

We look at Melina’s announcement again.

Tag Team Titles: MNM vs. Batista/Rey Mysterio

MNM is challenging and the distressed Melina is with them. Mercury and Mysterio start things off and a Nitro distraction completely fails, allowing Rey to hit a dropkick for two. Batista comes in to double clothesline the two of them in the corner and it’s back to Rey for two off the springboard splash.

We take a break and come back with Mercury being sent face first into the corner but managing to drag Rey into the corner. That’s fine with Rey, who spins around into a headscissors on Nitro. Rey loads up a springboard but gets superkicked outside, where Mercury works on the knee.

Back in and Nitro cranks on the knee as well, setting up a double legdrop for two. We go old schoolish with the Brock Lock for all of five seconds before Mercury goes to more of a standard leglock. The knee gets wrapped around the ropes and Nitro takes some imaginary pictures. There’s another stomp to the knee but Rey manages to jump over Mercury. A DDT plants Nitro and the diving tag brings Batista back in.

House is cleaned in a hurry but Mercury breaks up the Batista Bomb. Rey hurricanranas Mercury into the corner but the referee is bumped. Cue the returning Mark Henry (out since February 2004) for the gorilla press into the yet to be named World’s Strongest Slam. Mercury comes back in to steal the pin and the titles.

Rating: C. There’s a lot to unpack here and I wouldn’t have bet on that coming in. First of all, at least the titles are back where they belong after Rey and Batista got done borrowing them for their champions vs. champions match. It wasn’t hard to see that coming and that’s not a bad thing. On the opposite end, it was very hard to see Henry coming in as Batista just stood up and then got jumped. They did that well and I like it better than watching Henry come down the aisle. Finally, it’s about time someone came after Batista alone, as he hasn’t defended the title on TV since No Mercy on October 9. Pick up the pace champ.

Overall Rating: C-. The ending helped a bit but this was a pretty lackluster match outside of that angle and Benoit vs. Orton. Then again it’s the end of the year and they don’t have anything going on until they need to get ready for the Rumble so I’ll take the one angle at the end over nothing. Not terrible, but a rather skippable show.

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