Greetings all. I just got back from the Smackdown! taping in Buffalo New York, and I wanted to drop off some thoughts and results.
The show was originally scheduled to start at 7, then the time was changed to 7:30. They started letting us in about 7 or so. There was not a lot of merchandise on sale.
Dark Matches:
Orlando Jordan d. Bobby Rude
Orlando came out to a decent pop in the beginning, but there wasn’t much crowd reaction during the match. Bobby Rude received a “we don’t know you” chant. Jordan won with his finisher, which I don’t know the name of.
Rhyno and Horshu d. Tyson Dux and Jason ???
Rhyno came out to a pop as well, and there were plenty of “Gore!” chants. Horshu is a solid big man, and showed off his strength. Tyson Dux is a hell of a dancer. Match ended when Rhyno gored Tyson.
Velocity:
TWGTT d. Billy Kidman and Funaki
Kidman landed a sweet drop kick, and the crowd cheered for Funaki, but TWGTT got the win after Shelton landed the super kick on Funaki, rolling Haas on top for the pin.
Shawn O’Haire d. Showtime Eric Young
Not great but not awful either. I was just happy to see O’Haire in the ring.
Spanky and Paul London d. Moore and Kanyon
Spanky had Kanyon in what looked like a face first Russian leg sweep position when London hit the enziguiri on Kanyon. I’m not doing the move justice, but it was nice! Other than that, it was 3 cruiserweights and Kanyon, all being effectively wasted…
Rikishi, with Scotty 2 Hotty, d. Chuck Palumbo, with Johnny the Bull
End comes after a Banzai drop from Rikishi. Scotty does the worm after the match. Thankfully no Stinkface.
Smackdown!
Rue comes out to sing America the Beautiful, and that girl has pipes.
John Cena d. Rey Mysterio.
John comes down to the ring to a great pop and was cheered throughout the match. During his rap he calls Rey the “Mexican Gary Coleman”. He then got down to start the match on his knees. Funny stuff. At one point Cena had Rey up in a long hanging vertical suplex. Rey hit a 619 later in the match, but when he went for the West Coast Pop Cena crotched him in mid air, and hit the FU for the win.
After the match, Paul Heyman and Team Lesnar came down to the ring, and Heyman tells Cena he has been appointed to Team Lesnar. Cena not quite politely declines, stating he wouldn’t fit in on a team of sasquatches. A-Train attacks him from behind, then the rest of Team Lesnar hits the ring for the beatdown on Cena. Brock tags Cena in the dome with a steal chair and lays him out. Cena would be helped to the back by 2 refs.
A Train backstage is added to Team Lesnar.
Eddie and Chavo are talking backstage. Chavo tells Eddie that he has to win this match for the familia, for the raza, for himself, and most importantly, for Chavo. He throws some guilt Eddie’s way, reminding him that he’s the one who was pinned in the match, and the Chavo was the only one who stood by him while he was wrestling his personal demons.
Big Show d. Bradshaw
Show wins with the chokeslam. Some boring chants, not much to say about this match.
Paul with Torrie Wilson backstage, tells her she has 3 minutes to get something done.
Plug for SCSA’s book.
Kurt Angle is on the phone in the locker room when Chris Benoit comes in. Ron Simmons’s doctor has just told Kurt that he will not be competing at Survivor Series. Benoit is trying to calm him down when Torrie comes in to deliver a message from Paul Heyman: Benoit and Angle will face Team Lesnar (minus the Big Show) in the main event.
Next was an Undertaker video interview where he states that the time has come for VKM to atone for his sins, invoking the name of Bret Hart, among others.
Eddie Guerrero d. The Basham Brothers, with Shaniqua
Eddie got great chants all night long and the crowd was solidly behind him. One of the Bashams did get in a nice pumphandle facebuster on Eddie. The end was a bit complicated, but funny. Eddie gets one of the Bashams down and goes up for the frog splash. Shaniqua jumps up on the apron, and tries to interfere with Eddie, who thumbs her in the eye. While the ref is distracted, the Bashams switch places. Eddie looks like he’s going for the splash when he seems to notice the switch. He jumps down and snatches the cat o’nine tails from Shaniqua who is still arguing with the ref. After smacking the Basham with it, he then spanks the ref, and tosses it to the Basham boy who is just getting to his feet. While the Basham is trying to explain that he did not spank the ref, Eddie rolls him up for the pin. Latino Heat’s facial expressions are priceless.
VKM came out for a promo that was much shorter than I feared it would be. Then again, I was expecting a 20-minute monologue.
Ultimo Dragon and Jamie Noble d. Tajiri and Nunzio
Not a bad match, but I dream about what these guys could do in the X-division over at TNA. Noble got the pin on Tajiri, and a Survivor Series title match is born.
Main Event
Benoit and Angle d. Team Lesnar by DQ
Angle and Nathan Jones started out in the ring. Brock joined Cole and Tazz on commentary. Benoit took a lot of damage before making the hot tag to Angle. This included a long bear hug from A-Train, which prompted my boyfriend to say that A-Train obviously just wanted to cuddle. Benoit made the hot tag to Angle, who cleaned house. This is when Show came down to interfere. Bradshaw hit the ring after Show. The crowd was chanting for Cena, and he ran down to the ring for the chair. Carnage ensued, and not in a good way. Cena tagged Jones and Morgan with the chair before Show punched it back in to his face. Lesnar worked all three faces over with the chair before Team Lesnar departed, hands in the air, posing for the crowd.
Pops – these are in no particular order
Eddie Guerrero
John Cena
Kurt Angle
Chris Benoit
A sign that said “Fire Gregg Williams” ( He’s the Buffalo Bills head coach)
Heat – once again, no particular order
VKM
Team Lesnar
The T shirt guy, when he ran out of shirts. (That is a thankless task)
Seeing the show live was great, and the wrestlers really busted their butts. The only thing that kept me form total enjoyment was the guy in line ahead of us who was complaining (Loudly!) about the lady in the wheel chair getting to go in first, and the man a few rows behind me who kept the racial slurs rolling all night long. And people can’t figure out why every one thinks Buffalo is a cesspool.
Anyhoo, it was worth it to see Guerrero, Angle and Benoit live, not to mention Ultimo Dragon.
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