from the 411
The crowd looked to be about 2,000 or 3,000 fewer than last night's Raw taping, as there were empty seats spread around the top of the arena. I'd wager there were about 12,000 or 13,000 there tonight. I also thought it was interesting that the crowd were less rowdy than the previous night, and there appeared to be more adults and FEWER children (or that could have just been where I was sitting, although it definitely seemed that way). No shenanigans with fans dressed up in the crowd or fans invading the ring tonight.
They used the same set as the previous night, with the only difference being a black London Hackney cab (taxi vehicle) was parked in the ring entrance as part of the set. Both JBL and Eddie Guerrero came to the ring during the show in their normal vehicles.
VELOCITY
(1) Spike Dudley pinned Scotty Too Hotty, with his feet on the ropes.
(2) Orlando Jordan defeated Funaki.
Torrie Wilson came out for her first (and last) 30 second appearance of the evening, thanking us all for coming to the show.
(3) Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Rico. Mainly lots of comedy with Rico touching up both the ref and Bubba.
There was no Josh Matthews or Bill Demott at ringside, although Matthews did conduct several backstage interviews during Smackdown.
SMACKDOWN
The show began with Teddy Long meeting with virtually the entire roster (heels and faces together) backstage. They all seemed concerned (or at least interested) in the condition of John Cena. Long confirmed that following last week's Smackdown, Cena had been involved in an altercation at a nightclub, and had been hospitalized after received several puncture wounds. Long announced that there was a danger that Cena could lose one of his kidneys. But then he said "The show must go on ."
(Sorry to editorialize, but there was a time when a guy getting his ass kicked in a nightclub fight would be looked upon as a disgrace to the business and not as a way of explaining a storyline absence due to filming a movie in Australia. Quick question: which makes Cena seem like the bigger star, being announced as making his first movie, or getting his ass kicked in a nightclub fight? Somewhere in a trailer in Tennessee, Kid Kash is fuming about Cena's lack of fighting ability).
Long announced that there would be an open invitation Battle Royal tonight, to declare the number one contender to the WWE U.S. title. Everyone left and Carlito told Long that this wasn't cool.
(1) Rob Van Dam defeated Rene Dupree clean. Kenzo Suzuki and Hiroko were sent to the back, but not before Kenzo sang Living in America'.
They really played up the John Cena story (shocking hometown defeat and then the supposed real life injury) as they kept airing a graphic of a young kid (Cena fan) crying from last week, after Cena had lost the title to Carlito.
A furious Teddy Long met with a humble Paul Heyman backstage. Long reprimanded Heyman for Heidenreich's attack on some fans last week, and said that the fans in question are suing WWE, and that the Board of Directors aren't happy with Long. He said that if he's fired, he's taking Heyman down with him. He ordered Heyman to go to the ring with Heidenreich and issue a formal apology. Heyman meekly agreed.
(2) Billy Kidman defeated Charlie Haas with the shooting star press. Haas came to the ring limping noticeably and his knee was bandaged up. It looked like they were using his real life injury and turning it into a worked injury, part of the storyline. After the match, Kidman went to the top in order to attempt another SSP, but Jackie ran out and made the save for Haas. Haas refused a stretcher and was assisted to the back by two trainers.
Luther Reigns hit on The Sun's Page 3 girls backstage (same girls from Raw). He asked them to party with him after the show, but they announced that they had already agreed to party with Eddie Guerrero instead, much to Reign's chagrin.
JBL was interviewed by Josh Matthews backstage. He was mad about facing Hardcore Holly in a Hardcore match tonight. He hilariously said he wasn't a brawler, he was really "a fine technical wrestler like Bret Hart and Jack Brisco." He then insulted England, feigning ignorance of where he was, made fun of England having a Queen, and saying that if he were to give England an enema, he'd stick the hose right here in Manchester.
A recap video aired on Carlito Cool's title win last week.
(3) Rey Mysterio won a Battle Royal to become the new no. 1 contender to Carlito's U.S. Title. Other participants in the Battle Royal were Angle, Jindrak, Reigns, Jordan, Scotty Too Hotty, RVD, Bubba, D-Von and Spike Dudley, Kidman, Funaki, Dupree, and Suzuki, Rico, Nunzio and Stamboli and Eddie Guerrero.
Key moments were Dupree eliminating Suzuki, then doing his French tickler dance to taunt him. Rico later kissed Dupree, who eliminated himself in disgust. Final two were Angle and Mysterio and they had a really good match for about five minutes. Finish came when Mysterio executed a reverse 6-1-9, where he swung around from the outside of the ring, kicked Angle (who was on the ring apron) on the back, who then bounced off the ropes and fell to the floor.
Rey Mysterio was interviewed by Josh Matthews backstage. Carlito interrupted. He said it was cool that he won the Battle Royal, and said why don't they face each other later tonight for the title? Rey accepted, then Carlito attacked him, took a bite out of his apple and spat on him.
(4) JBL defeated Hardcore Holly to retain the WWE Title in a Hardcore Rules match. The match was fought under Falls-Count-Anywhere rules and was surprisingly decent. They were ultra stiff with each other, using trash cans and chairshots. Novelty items nearly used were a Cricket bat and a British policeman's helmet. Holly was about to nail JBL with the ring steps in the ring, when JBL levelled him with a major chairshot for the pinfall victory.
The shot of the Cena fan crying aired again. Promos from several English fans aired, putting over the taping.
Paul Heyman and John Heidenreich came to the ring. Heyman apologized unreservedly for the incident. Heidenreich then apologized (eventually, after much stalling amidst fans booing). He then went crazy, saying he wasn't sorry for nearly killing Undertaker at No Mercy. He called out the Undertaker, then lost it completely and began circling the ringside area, saying he was going to pick a fan to fight. Eventually he ended up back in the ring, teased attacking Heyman, then broke down in the ring and laid down, like he was having a nervous breakdown or something.
This was weird, as an Eddie Guerrero-Luther Reigns recap from the No Mercy PPV aired here, whilst Heyman and Heidenreich were still in the ring. After the video, the familiar gongs started and Undertaker came out.
(5) The Undertaker squashed Heidenreich in less than five minutes. I really couldn't understand this, unless this was a dark match for the fans in the arena. Undertaker chokeslammed Heyman early on. After some brief brawling with Heidenreich, he chokeslammed him and Tombstoned him for the clean pinfall. After Taker had departed, Heidenreich attempted to carry the unconscious Heyman to the back on his shoulder. Crowd were laughing, seeing this as comedy. Sure enough, Heidenreich dropped him near the entrance, insinuating he was too heavy. He then proceeded to drag Heyman by the feet backstage.
(6) Carlito Caribbean Cool defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE U.S. Title. Decent match. Carlito has surprisingly good charisma, entertaining entrance music and Titantron video, and was already catching on with the crowds. As with Cena though, his one major downfall is that his in-ring ability isn't quite where it should be yet. Carlito picked up the win here by a roll up, grabbing hold of the middle rope for leverage.
Chavo Guerrero returns next week. Ads for Taboo Tuesday and Tough Enough aired.
(7) Eddie Guerrero defeated Luther Reigns via DQ. Eddie came to the ring in an open top low rider, with all six of The Sun's Page three girls in the back with him. Very quick main event, virtually nothing to it. Jindrak ran down to interfere and caused the DQ. After a period of double teaming, Angle came down to ringside with clippers and they teased cutting Eddie's hair. Big Show ran out for the big save and cleaned house.
After the show went off the air, Jindrak and Reigns came back in for some more punishment, with Big Show chokeslamming Reigns and Eddie frogsplashing him. End of show.
Notes: All in all, a very entertaining Smackdown. I'd put this at least on a par with the previous night's Raw taping and in some ways (maybe due to there being more storyline advancement) it was better. Undertaker appearance was a nice surprise. I realize he was on the tour anyway, but with the current storyline, I thought he'd be away from TV (presuming this airs, I have my doubts) until nearer the Survivor Series. With Taker appearing, it also lessened the blow of Cena not appearing live (by far the most popular t-shirt sold was the John Cena camouflage shirts).
