Live Smackdown Report

[spman 0]

I just came back from the Casino from what was a pretty good Smackdown taping tonight. Unfortunatly I missed the opening Lonely Road of Fate video due to rediculously long lines at the souveneir stands due to incompetant employees.

 

Opening match had Paul London wrestling a pretty bland match against Chris Cage. Lots of rest holds, and a few long headlocks left the crowd bored by the end.

 

Velocity taping begin with Hardcore Holly beating jobber John Walters in what was pretty much a squash.

 

Renee Dupree came out with his poodle to a pretty decent amount of heat. He wrestled a decent match against Nunzio, eventually pinning him after a slam. Bizarre moment during this match came when the crowd started a USA chant.

 

Booker T defeated Spike Dudley in what was again pretty much a squash. Booker hit his usual spots including the Spinaroonie and finished Spike off with a Scissors kick.

 

Final Match had Orlando Jordan defeating Chavo Guerrero in a good back anbd forth match.

 

Smackdown began with Eddie Guerrero driving the Lowrider out onto the set, and doing his usual stuff with the car. Rey made his entrance by launching up through a ramp off to the side of the entrance ramp. Great high flying match that had a number of great spots and reversals. Finish came with Eddie accidently knocked out the ref, and grabbed the belt to fool the ref into thinking Rey knocked him out. Before the ref sees this, Rey grabs the belt and puts it on Eddie making it looks like Eddie hit him. After a brief comedy spot which saw Eddie trying to hide the belt, both guys started arguing which led to Rey reversing a rollup for the pin.

 

No pop at all for Paul Heymans return in a viginette where Heidenreich talks about being afraid of Caskets, and Heyman promising to have the match changed.

 

Carlito Carriben Cool makes his entrance right before Funaki vs Akio come out for their match. The Cruiserweight match goes on without enaything of note, and served mainly as a distraction for Carlitos antics with some petition he was having people sign. Funaki eventually won the match, and after it was over Carlito spit apple at some Diva who was doing time keeping or something at ringside

 

Heyman and Heidenreich confront Teddy Long and request that the stipulation be changed. Long tels the two of them that if they can defeat Undertaker is a handicap match tonight, they can change the stipulation of the match

 

Angle is seen backstage taling to Jindrak and Reigns when Amy Webber comes into the locker rom and asks to meet with Angle later in private.

 

Angle comes out for his matgch and gets on the mic. He says that tonight he's having a special Kurt Angle Invitational where if he can't beat his opponent in less then 3 minutes, he'll hand his gold medal over to his opponent. His opponent is some local indy guy whose name I forget, but Angle destroys him in about 25 seconds.

 

Another pointless backstage segment sees Daniel Puder get all rude with Miss Jackie and some other diva backstage

 

Battlerap Segment with John Cena and Kenzo Suzuki comes next. Kenzo comes out dressed as Uncle Sam. Kenzo begins on the mic, and it was really difficult to comprehend what he was saying, but most of it was talking about how he likes America. Cenas turn is next and he goes on about Kenzo being gay and stuff. Then for reasons I do not understand he brings out three MORE women, who Kenzo begins hitting on. Segmetn ends with Hiroko getting mad at one of the women Kenzo is hitting on and attacking her. Cena puls her off and fights with Kenzo. This segment was really long and dragged quite a bit. The crowd was really into Cena though.

 

Next match has RVD fighting Doug Basham. Doug Basham came out with Danny and Orlando Jordan. RVD comes out with Rey. Rey gets ejected to the back towards the beginning of the match for interfering. Match ends with the Bashams doing the old Demolition Switcheroo gimmick and Doug hitting a DDT on RVD to win.

 

Angle shows up in Amys dressing room and walks up to the shower, which has someone in it. He strips down to his underwear, and it turns out it's not the right woman in the shower, it's some other faceless bimbo. The woman screams and runs and goes to Big Show for protection. Big Show and Angle brawl to the ring, where Jidrak and Reigns come out to help out. Big Show ends up beating up all 3 guys.

 

Backstage segment shows JBL praising Amy for setting up Kurt, this is the only time JBL is seen on the TV portion of the show.

 

One last segment is shown with Heidenreich getting ready to fight Undertaker.

 

Heidenreich makes his entrance with Paul Heyman. Undertaker coems out. Match goes on with the usual Undertaker crap, and after about 4 minutes, music starts playing, and the druids wheel out a couple of caskets. Heidenreich goes apeshit, tags in Heyman, and runs to the back. Heyman gets the tombstone, and shoved into the casket. End of show.

 

After the cameras rolled, JBL and Orlando come out and challange Undertaker to a two on one No DQ Casket match. This end up being a back and forth, not-bad, match which ends with Undertaker tombstoning JBL and shoving both guys into the second casket.

 

Overall it really wasn't a bad show. I had great seats for only 20 bucks, and could see everything that was going on. One thing though that WWE needs to put a stop to is all these nameless, faceless women that have been appearing on TV lately. They server no purpose at all, no one cares about them, and they are a waste. I must have seen at least 8 different women on the show tonight, and recognized about 3 of them.

[genius33 0]

so heyman is getting the bob holly punishment??? wwe are so retarded...

 

at least he's not gone though

[CanadianChick 0]

Doug hitting a DDT on RVD to win.

 

Only RVD can lose to a DDT. A maybe Akio.

 

Looking forward to the Rey/Eddie match.

[Taker666 0]

sounds like a damn good show to me.

[BorneAgain 0]

Next match has Booker T fighting Doug Basham. Doug Basham came out with Danny and Orlando Jordan. RVD comes out with Rey. Rey gets ejected to the back towards the beginning of the match for interfering. Match ends with the Bashams doing the old Demolition Switcheroo gimmick and Doug hitting a DDT on RVD to win.

 

Wait a minute, is Doug fighting RVD or Booker?

 

Angle shows up in Amys dressing room and walks up to the shower, which has someone in it. He strips down to his underwear, and it turns out it's not the right woman in the shower, it's some other faceless bimbo. The woman screams and runs and goes to Big Show for protection. Big Show and Angle brawl to the ring, where Jidrak and Reigns come out to help out. Big Show ends up beating up all 3 guys.

 

*Slaps forehead*

 

Other than the Rey-Eddie match, this show brings a new meaning to the term pointless.

[spman 0]

Oh, and I know this will probobly end up getting me banned for here for life, but this is the shirt I bought

 

 

 

 

Wait a minute, is Doug fighting RVD or Booker?

 

RVD, I fixed the mistake

[strummer 0]

that sounds like a hell of a lot of stuff to be on a 2 hour show. Something is getting edited off, probably RVD/Doug Basham or they might clip Eddy/Rey

 

Obviously Heyman is being written off the show.

 

Wouldn't suprise me if Kenzo wins the belt next week, Vince seems to really like him.

 

For one day I wish AS was unbanned to see his reaction to the Angle stuff.

 

Nice to see them copy the Austin/Jericho angle from 03' with Carlito/Long

[The Dames 0]

Angle shows up in Amys dressing room and walks up to the shower, which has someone in it. He strips down to his underwear, and it turns out it's not the right woman in the shower, it's some other faceless bimbo. The woman screams and runs and goes to Big Show for protection. Big Show and Angle brawl to the ring, where Jidrak and Reigns come out to help out. Big Show ends up beating up all 3 guys.

 

*Slaps forehead*

 

Other than the Rey-Eddie match, this show brings a new meaning to the term pointless.

I was at the show as well, (2nd row!) and the segment wasn't pointless as it was revealed later on that it was a plot by JBL to have his two challengers at the Rumble to be at each others throats.

 

The Diva that was spit on by Carlito was Joy, which is why she was in the shower when Angle went in there looking for Weber.

 

Dames

[BorneAgain 0]

Odd that the Bashams are being booked like a somewhat effective tag team while Jindrak and Reigns appear ineffective and sometimes incompetent on seemingly every show.

[spman 0]

that sounds like a hell of a lot of stuff to be on a 2 hour show. Something is getting edited off, probably RVD/Doug Basham or they might clip Eddy/Rey

 

 

The Battlerap segment dragged on for over 10 minutes, so I imagine some of it will be edited. No actually scratch that, Eddie vs Rey will be clipped down to 5 minutes, and the battlrap will air in full, I forgot this is WWE we're talking about.

 

*Edit Again* Now that I think about it, there were a few off color remarks made by Cena during the segment which would probobly wouldn't fit broadcast standards, so some of the segment probobly will be edited.

[BorneAgain 0]

I was at the show as well, (2nd row!) and the segment wasn't pointless as it was revealed later on that it was a plot by JBL to have his two challengers at the Rumble to be at each others throats.

 

 

Dames

Hmm, I suppose so, though why Angle needed to be in his underwear and Luther and Jindrak needed to be beaten up again, I'll never understand.

[Vyce 0]

Cenas turn is next and he goes on about Kenzo being gay and stuff.

 

Jesus, this guy has got NOTHING.

 

I mean, despite the fact that Cena's not a terribly good worker or anything, I kind of like the guy, but he really does make it hard to be a fan of his with this lame shit.

[The Dames 0]

I was at the show as well, (2nd row!) and the segment wasn't pointless as it was revealed later on that it was a plot by JBL to have his two challengers at the Rumble to be at each others throats. 

 

 

Dames

Hmm, I suppose so, though why Angle needed to be in his underwear and Luther and Jindrak needed to be beaten up again, I'll never understand.

Angle was in his underwear because Angle always gets great reactions when put in comically embarassing situations.

 

As for why Luther & Jindrak were beaten up as well, Show already proved at the PPV that he can beat all 3 of them at the same time and they aren't the ones in the main event, so they don't need to be protected.

 

Dames

[The Dames 0]

Cenas turn is next and he goes on about Kenzo being gay and stuff.

 

Jesus, this guy has got NOTHING.

 

I mean, despite the fact that Cena's not a terribly good worker or anything, I kind of like the guy, but he really does make it hard to be a fan of his with this lame shit.

It wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. It was quite entertaining actually, but then again, it all depends on how its aired on TV. The crowd definitely was into Cena though, he got the biggest pop by far on the show, even better than Takers.

 

Dames

[Guest Trivia247]

well at least this just about kills the Rumor of Heyman's departure with the WWE.

[The Dames 0]

Not exactly...since he was put in a casket, it could be considered his last appearance on TV with no real reason to explain it after that.

 

Dames

[spman 0]

Not exactly...since he was put in a casket, it could be considered his last appearance on TV with no real reason to explain it after that.

 

Dames

The way I figure it, WWE will just rehash 1994. Undertaker vs Heidenreich at the Royal Rumble will end with JBL, Orlando, Bashams, Renee Dupree, Angle, Jindrak, and Reigns all coming out and hitting their finisher on Undertaker and putting him in the casket. Undertaker is taken off TV for a few months, then around May Paul Heyman returns and claims he is going to bring back the Undertaker. He brings in Brian Lee as his own Heel Undertaker, eventually leading to the Real Undertaker coming back to fight Paul Heymans Undertaker at Summerslam.

[Guest Trivia247]

Then we would have to wait till the next week or by PPV time if Heyman is still around.

 

People do manage to come back from Casket matches.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

People do manage to come back from Casket matches.

 

Okay, honest quesion.

 

Outside of Taker and Yoko, who ever actually *did* come back from a loss in a Casket Match?

[spman 0]

People do manage to come back from Casket matches.

 

Okay, honest quesion.

 

Outside of Taker and Yoko, who ever actually *did* come back from a loss in a Casket Match?

Depends on what you mean. Kamala and Mable both worked matches after their casket match losses to Undertaker, but they were both heading towards the end of their usefulness to the company afterwards. Mankind did the job to Undertkaer in a casket numerous times in 1996 and still went on to headline PPVs. Other then that though, most of the other Casket matches were worked against mid-carders like Adam Bomb and Jerry Lawler on House Shows and most of those guy never meant much to begin with.

[Guest Evolution]

People do manage to come back from Casket matches.

 

Okay, honest quesion.

 

Outside of Taker and Yoko, who ever actually *did* come back from a loss in a Casket Match?

Triple H lost to Kane in a non-title casket match thanks to interference from HBK.

 

And he's won the title, what...three times since then? Four?

 

Oh, and Sonny Siaki also was defeated in a casket match against D'Lo Brown. But that casket match was super terrible.

[Guest Mr. Wrestling]

People do manage to come back from Casket matches.

 

Okay, honest quesion.

 

Outside of Taker and Yoko, who ever actually *did* come back from a loss in a Casket Match?

Triple H lost to Kane in a non-title casket match thanks to interference from HBK.

 

And he's won the title, what...three times since then? Four?

 

Oh, and Sonny Siaki also was defeated in a casket match against D'Lo Brown. But that casket match was super terrible.

Didn't Rock lose one to Undertaker in 1999?

 

Which led to HHH coming down after the match, pounding the casket with a sledgehammer and then having to wrestle Rock in a "Cast match" at the orders of CEO Austin?

 

Hell, Rock has not only come back but he's made movies and won 4 WWF Titles and 1 WCW Title. Though this does look to be a way to get Paul Heyman off of TV. Makes no sense otherwise. I wish that they would stick Paul Heyman back behind the announce table. He had great chemistry with JR and could easily as the meddling third man to JR and King. If we wanted to add to the Nitro feel of RAW, that'd be a good idea. Paul Heyman could play Bobby Heenan, JR could play Tony Schiavone and Jerry Lawler could play Larry Zbysyko.

 

Paul Heyman is the greatest wrestling mind that McMahon has right now. Paul Heyman knows how to hide the negatives and bring out the positives in a worker. Heyman could easily book any worker into becoming a star. Paul Heyman as head writer and as a commentator would work in WWE's favor. Heyman playing the duel roles would add to RAW's commentary as Heyman (much like Vince used to) would know which angles to get over and what he was trying to do. Heyman could also keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for his next move. Paul Heyman's ideas helped make WWE what it is today. McMahon used Heyman's ideas to come up with the Attitude Era. It would be a completely different industry if Paul Heyman had never taken over ECW. So I ask, why is this man being put into a background role? He should be the head of the creative team. WWE has a bunch of damn Hollywood writers running their show. Look at who they have on the payroll:

 

1. Paul Heyman

2. Jim Cornette

3. Johnny Ace (Booked WCW 2001)

4. Jim Ross

5. Michael Hayes

6. Jerry Lawler

7. Ric Flair

8. Ricky Steamboat

 

Those 8 guys could make up a WWE Creative Team. Instead, we have the guy from "Jenny" as the head writer. This company is disgusting. They have some of the most knowledgeable men in wrestling today but yet, they employ no talent Hollywood writers. This is why Smackdown is such garbage and why RAW is so damn predictable. WWE's plans never work, their accidents do (See: Gene Snitsky). Sorry about the rant but seeing the quality of Smackdown as of late disgusts me. Tell me this, who hasn't JBL beaten yet? With the exception of John Cena. There's no one left as a credible threat to his championship. John Cena has to take it at WM XXI. According to rumors, JBL is about to face Big Show in a mini-feud but we all know where that's going to end up. I really respect Vince McMahon but I don't respect the way that he runs his company. Paul Heyman is being stuffed in caskets and people kicked off of the creative teams so many times that it's starting to rival J'Lo's marriage total. Paul Heyman deserves better than this. Paul Heyman should at least have a spot on the damn creative team unless it has become a requirement that you have no wrestling knowledge at all to run their shows.

 

Smackdown and RAW are both complete jokes compared to what they once were. Hardly anyone has been elevated as of late. Dave Batista is probably the most promising of the modern crop of guys. Randy Orton is completely vanilla and an obviously attempt at the next Rock. Shelton Benjamin should be contending for the World Title after his upsets over HHH. If WWE actually put someone like Paul Heyman in charge of the booking then we'd see somebody being elevated that deserves it. Smackdown would benefit from Ric Flair becoming Smackdown General Manager. Teddy Long really doesn't work in the role. Him being put in that role came out of left field to begin with. He goes from admiring Jindrak's body to being a face GM. That was a bit random. Long's services are needed as a manager. Ric Flair doesn't need to be a subordinate to anyone.

 

John Cena was promising back when he was a heel. Now it's all "You're Gay" and "ROCKING IT FOR THE TROOPS." Who in the hell gives a crap about that? John Cena got cheered for being edgy. Of course, the fans no longer challenge him to be edgy. John Cena could come out and read from the damn phone book and still get a reaction. WWE hasn't capitalized on Cena's popularity. WWE has forgotten Steve Austin. We didn't see Steve Austin change after his face turn so why does Cena? Shoddy booking. John Cena shouldn't had changed AT ALL when he turned face. Whoever decided to book Cena like that needs to be slapped in the face.

 

Has it been proven that Stephanie McMahon is a failure as head writer? She obviously panders to her husband HHH. She took over in September of 2000 and ratings have been on a free fall since. Had it been anyone else, they'd be fired but since it's daddy's little girl, we have to be treated to this kind of crap every week. This Smackdown looks decent but this rant started with my frustration with how they use Paul Heyman and I needed to vent. Vince McMahon needs to learn that his daughter and her little Hollywood subordinates aren't the answer and he needs to look to the wrestling minds right under his nose.

[Taker666 0]

Sooo, I noticed no Charlie Haas on neither Dark match/Velocity/SmackDown!. I thought he was suppost to be a team witn Holly. hmm.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Not mentioned earlier:

 

Kama lost a casket match to The Undertaker in 1996.

 

He eventually joined THe Nation of Domination, then slowly turned into The Godfather.

[natey2k4 0]

No Charlie Haas... Paul London in a dark Match?

 

That means, no Velocity this week..

 

and I'll probably just tune into Rey vs Eddie.

[Dark Age 0]

Oh man, this sounds TERRIBLE. I'll watch Eddie/Rey but that's it. God SD! sucks.

[humongous2002 0]

Eddie and Rey will be pretty good but anything else sounds like Wrestlecrap material, RVD (who's coming out with a DVD this month)jobbing for those unover Bashams shows me why WWE is so out of touch with the fans these days.

[thuganomics 0]

Defiitely not Smackdown's best, but then again, Smackdown's best was two years ago now.

 

Oh, how I long for the days of the Smackdown Six...

[Guest LooneyTune]

Sounds watchable... but LONDON IN A DARK MATCH??! Grrr...

 

One thing I have a problem with... why is it a surprise Heyman got no cheers? HE'S A HEEL! And he's been taken off T.V. for a long and excrutiating 3 weeks (tops). By that logic, when Hogan returned, every arena in America should've blown up with cheers.

[NYU 0]

RVD (who's coming out with a DVD this month)jobbing for those unover Bashams shows me why WWE is so out of touch with the fans these days.

Speaking of which, has the Van Dam DVD been officially released yet? I know it was originally scheduled for 1/4/05, but I'm not sure if the date has been pushed back since then.

 

If not, RVD may now have the distinction of having the least hyped WWE DVD ever. Which is certainly nice....