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Post by aew1992 on May 29, 2023 15:30:07 GMT 1
WWE Friday Night Smackdown 18 August, 2006
- Smackdown was taped at the MCI Centre in Washington, D.C.
- It’s a cold open to Smackdown, and no — no one is murdered before the title sequence. Instead, John Bradshaw Layfield is stood in the ring for The Stock Exchange. Orlando Jordan is dressed as a talk show security guard. Ooh, threatening. Layfield says it is a big episode of The Stock Exchange this week as he has all four World Heavyweight title contenders joining him in the ring. He introduces Batista, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and then the champion, King Booker. They have a stool each. It’s moments like this that you realise Batista and Rey are not the world’s most natural talkers. Booker and Orton carry them, to an extent, Booker going on a long spiel about how he’s worked for so long to be a world champion in WWE and he’s not going to be stopped by a monster and some midget. Orton talks about going back exactly two years, to the moment he ascended the mountain in WWE and won this very belt at Summerslam. He points out that fans might cheer Batista now but he had a part to play in his then-friends screwing him over to win it back. And Orton would like nothing more than to pin him at Summerslam to take back the belt. Mysterio does his usual spiel about being the smallest dog in the fight but having the biggest bark, while Batista says it doesn’t matter who it is, when they face his Batista Bomb they will be down and out in the ring. Orton asks how he will get a Batista Bomb in when he’ll already be down from an RKO. Rey says it’s hard to hit an RKO after a 6-1-9. Booker says he’ll take great pleasure in hitting everyone with a Scissor Kick. And then he adds, as Batista stares at him, especially that meathead over there. JBL asks Batista if he’ll take that. Well, that’s where everything breaks down, Batista charging for Booker, Orton hitting Rey with an RKO, Booker ducking and running from the ring but Batista cleaning Orton out with a clothesline when he gets up, JBL scarpering, and Batista ending the segment holding the World Heavyweight title aloft - 82%.
- No matter how many times you hear it, that Right To Censor symbol is really jarring. Here I was, sipping a coke, when it basically made me leap out of my seat and spill my drink all over myself. Anyway, while I was mopping it up, Sean Morley made his singles debut on Smackdown by taking on Sabu. As I was throwing ice cubes in the sink, Morley was taking a beating from the former ECW man. But while I was ringing out a blanket — look, sometimes it’s nice to be cosy on your couch — Steven Richards distracted the referee, allowing Morley to hit a low blow and roll Sabu up for a win while putting his feet on the ropes. Sean Morley (w/Steven Richards) beats Sabu - 74%.
- After the bell, Steven Richards walks into the ring with a microphone. He pats Morley on the back and as he does, he tells Sabu he hopes he can hear him. Richards boots him in the head and tells him to wake up. Richards says Right To Censor’s moral crusade is not over. But they are not just here to cause destruction. They are here to convert people over to their side. And what would be better than bringing a hardcore legend, an animal, into the fold? Richards wants Sabu to join them. He boots Sabu in the head again, and then tells Sabu to think about it, before lifting him up for the Steven T. As he does, Chavo Guerrero runs out, Right To Censor run away, and Sabu gets looked after.
- Matt Hardy gives us a fairly solid reminder that he got all of the ability to speak in the Hardy family as he talks about his time as WWE United States champion. He says he felt immense pride representing the country on a weekly basis and defending his belt. And he says William Regal has shown through his actions as champion that he does not deserve to be the holder of such a prestigious title. Hardy says all he has wanted over the last few weeks is a fair chance to win back his belt. Tonight, he feels he will get it with no one from the King’s Court able to interfere. He walks off - 78%.
- You can tell by the reaction Paul London and Brian Kendrick get from the crowd in Washington DC that they are quite the big deal these days on Smackdown. People just love watching them work. As do I. And this match against The Gymini is a good opportunity for them to show off a little bit. Simon Dean is doing his usual funny work on the outside, feeding off the in ring action while Mark Henry stands fairly stoicly beside him. Dean sells every London and Kendrick move as though it’s Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania III. He pops up and down at a double dropkick, goes wild when they dive on The Gymini on the outside and positively loses his shit when they hit stereo double leg drops from the top rope. But this is not a squash — The Gymini fight back after a Henry and Dean double distraction. And Jake Gymini looks to get it won when he hits a big powerslam on London. That, though, is the point at which Lashley runs down the ramp and takes out Henry. It’s fair to say that distracts both Jesse and Jake, which gives Kendrick the opportunity to throw Jake over the top. Jesse realises what is happening and misses a clothesline on London, before bouncing into a superkick from Kendrick! London goes up top, hits a 450 Splash on the downed Jesse before covering for the win. Paul London and Brian Kendrick beat The Gymini (w/Simon Dean and Mark Henry) - 72%.
- While Lashley is driving Mark Henry into the barricade, Paul London and Brian Kendrick celebrate. But not for long, Cole. There’s the thud of steel chairs to the back of the head as Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury sneak into the ring and take down London and Kendrick. Lashley and Henry go brawling around the arena with Simon Dean in hot pursuit. The two tag teams fighting draws out the champions Kid Kash and Jamie Noble, who run down the ramp carrying a table like it’s a tandem bicycle. They slide it into the ring and follow, Nitro and Mercury lift up their chairs to protect themselves, when “Stop it, stop it right now!” is heard over the speakers. Eric Bischoff strolls out and adds, “This does not go a single step further”. Kash and Noble drop the table, Nitro and Mercury put the chairs down, London and Kendrick slowly get back up. Even Lashley and Henry are temporarily stopped from brawling. Bischoff tells us that first and foremost, he’s adding a match between Lashley and Mark Henry to WWE Summerslam. It’s fair to say that does not get the world’s biggest reaction. Then Bischoff says he’s got another match up his sleeve. He says this three-way feud between Kash, Noble, London, Kendrick, Nitro and Mercury has got completely out of hand. Bischoff points out it got bad when Kash and Noble started putting everyone through tables, stepped up a level when Nitro and Mercury cracked out the chairs, and then London and Kendrick resorted to using ladders. So there’s only one solution as far as he’s concerned for Summerslam. It’ll be Kash and Noble defending their WWE Tag Team titles against Mercury and Nitro and London and Kendrick in a match… a tables… ladders… and chairs match! God, could this one be as good as the original one? I live in hope - 78%.
- Gregory Helms is walking around backstage and Michael Cole recaps his actions in recent weeks. Just in case you have forgotten about him trying to break a couple of wrestler’s ankles, that is. Anyway, he runs into Rey Mysterio, the man who sparked his recent actions with his conversation about masks. Mysterio asks Helms what the hell he has been thinking recently. Helms says he was cast aside as a cruiserweight, and now wants to show he can be so much more than just the champion of that division — or a quote-unquote superhero. Mysterio says whatever Helms used to be hiding behind his mask, it would have been better if he had kept it that way — the new guy is much worse than the Hurricane. Helms says a hurricane is soft compared to the force of nature he wants to become on Smackdown. Mysterio tells him to put the mask back on — maybe then he can go back to being a person Rey respects. Helms huffs and walks off - 79%.
- I don’t think you need to be told loads about the next one, except for the fact that Doug Basham is stood in the ring, he faces Jeff Hardy, Hardy stays on top for most of the match and wins this with a Swanton Bomb in about three minutes. He raises a hand to celebrate, people seem to be getting into the whole “Jeff Hardy thing”, we move on with our lives. Jeff Hardy beats Doug Basham - 72%.
- Kristal Marshall gets a minute with King Booker backstage, flanked by Sharmell, Paul Burchill and the soon to compete William Regal. He says the title belt was disrespected by being held up by someone who was not a champion tonight. Booker says he was disrespected last week when Rey Mysterio spoke as if the champion was not even the champion. And he says he was disrespected tonight when Randy Orton and Batista acted as though he was barely there. But he promises he will have everyone’s respect come Sunday. And he assures us there’s a reason why there are two champions in the King’s Court — and why there will still be come the end of tonight. Booker tells Regal to go prove that everyone should respect his court and Regal’s king. Regal nods, says “As you wish, my liege”, and we go to a break - 87%.
- William Regal and Matt Hardy can really work, and they have really added a lot to the WWE United States title in recent weeks by making so much of how much they want the belt. And they prove it by the way they absolutely beat each other from pillar to post in this match, brawling around the ring. The absence of the rest of the King’s Court does not seem to be an issue for Regal initially, as he fights back and forth with Hardy, slamming his head into the top turnbuckle and knocking him around ringside. But Hardy comes back, turning an attempted backdrop on the outside into a high knee and winning control. The brawling continues with a big ten punches in the corner from Hardy. Hardy stays in control for a few more minutes but misses a leg drop from the top and then an eye rake from a rising Regal gives the champion control of the contest. He then takes Hardy down into a series of stretches, and even lays punches onto the chest of Hardy as he pulls his head back while sat behind him. Regal then extends Hardy’s arms and keeps the hold in for half a minute, until the crowd starts clapping as Hardy slams his foot on the mat. Hardy starts powering up and rises, breaking free of the hold. When he does, he lays some punches into Regal’s head. Regal staggers into the corner and is clearly missing his usual backup. Hardy raises his hand and then charges, laying a big knee in on Regal in the corner. Regal staggers, straight into the set up for a Twist Of Fate. But Regal pushes Hardy away and straight into referee Charles Robinson. Robinson goes down briefly. Hardy then charges but Regal ducks the clothesline and then uppercuts Hardy to take him down. When he does, he reaches into his trunks and removes the brass knuckles! Regal waits for Hardy to rise, then goes for the punch… but Hardy clocks it and ducks. He then kicks Regal in the stomach and sets him up for the Twist Of Fate… again! Regal though is wise to it again and when Hardy twists, he pushes him into the ropes, before dropping to his knees behind him and hitting a big low blow! Regal picks Hardy up and clocks him with the brass knuckles, which are still on his fist. He then throws them away and covers just as Robinson gets back up to count the three and give Regal the win! William Regal beats Matt Hardy to retain the WWE United States title - 88%.
- That gives Paul Burchill the opportunity to run out and celebrate with his mentor William Regal. When he lifts Regal up, Regal tells him to help him over to Matt Hardy. Regal then hocks a huge glob of spit towards Hardy, and starts laying the boots into his downed opponent. Burchill joins in… when Jeff Hardy’s music hits and he runs out. Jeff slides into the ring as Regal and Burchill escape, and helps his brother up.
- Following a commercial break, Kristal Marshall tells us a match has been added to Summerslam between William Regal and Paul Burchill… and for the first time in four years, The Hardy Boyz. She then introduces her guest, Kurt Angle. Angle says he’s excited to get one over both John Bradshaw Layfield tonight on Smackdown. But, he says, he has not had an opportunity to discuss strategy with his tag team partner The Undertaker. That’s when the lights go out backstage and then come back on to reveal The Undertaker stood behind Angle, with the emotionless Daivari and the urn next to him. Angle turns, then looks scared, then moves out of the way. The Undertaker says there is no need for a strategy when you’re a Deadman… and an Olympic Gold medallist. He tells us that Layfield and Kennedy will rest… in… peace. He walks off, and Angle, confused, follows - 80%.
- And after all of that, as Mr Kennedy and John Bradshaw Layfield come to the ring individually, as Kurt Angle comes out and then as the gong strikes, they sell that they’re fairly scared. With good reason too — as much offence as Kennedy is given on Angle to start the match, when Undertaker is tagged in he immediately cleans house and even throws Layfield around. They really want to make the Dead Man look strong after a bit of a lull in his booking recently, and in fact he’s clearly on top and building up to a Tombstone — we get Snake Eyes, Old School and he hits a Last Ride on Kennedy — on Layfield when this match breaks down. As Undertaker goozles up Layfield, Orlando Jordan dashes in and takes him out. Referee Nick Patrick rings the bell to signal a disqualification, but Undertaker is not fussed. He sits back up and gets a chokeslam in on Jordan. Which leads to Kennedy coming in with a chair and whacking Undertaker across the back. That draws in Angle, who hits an Angle Slam on Kennedy. Angle helps Undertaker up, but he’s angry and he instinctively puts his hand around Angle’s neck. We hear “Woah, woah, woah” over the speakers, and the Titantron lights up with Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long sat in their shared office. Bischoff tells us that for once, the pair of them are in complete agreement. They want to add a blockbuster match to Summerslam, and they have one waiting for them in the ring. Mr Kennedy will face John Bradshaw Layfield, Kurt Angle… — Long takes over — and The Undertaker, with the No 1 contendership for WWE No Mercy in October on the line. Undertaker pauses… then chokeslams Angle and poses with Daivari holding the urn as Smackdown ends. The Undertaker and Kurt Angle beat John Bradshaw Layfield and Mr Kennedy by disqualification - 80%.
- Is it just me or is Summerslam a bit… too stacked? That’s 12 matches by my count. Are they actually going to be able to fit that inside three hours? Or is the show going to run a bit long?
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WWE Summerslam card (subject to change)
WWE Heavyweight title - Rob Van Dam © vs John Cena vs Edge WWE World Heavyweight title - Booker T © vs Rey Mysterio vs Batista vs Randy Orton WWE World Tag Team titles - D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) © vs The McMahons WWE Tag Team titles - Kid Kash and Jamie Noble © vs Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) WWE Intercontinental title - Rene Dupree © vs Ric Flair WWE Women's title - Trish Stratus © vs Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James No 1 contendership for the World Heavyweight title for No Mercy - Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy vs John Bradshaw Layfield Hulk Hogan vs Umaga Buried Alive match - The Punk vs Kane Dusty Rhodes vs Goldust The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) vs William Regal and Paul Burchill Lashley vs Mark Henry |
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Post by aew1992 on May 30, 2023 11:53:02 GMT 1
WWE Heat 19 August, 2006
- Heat was taped at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- In case you were wondering, or have not been following our site’s blow-by-blow updates on Viscera’s future, this will probably be his last involvement in a WWE ring before his contract runs out. And as trailed last week, he answers the Masterlock Challenge after a challenge from Chris Masters. And loses. So that’s that, goodbye Viscera, we’ll always have… the King Of The Ring in 1995. Chris Masters beats Viscera - 57%.
- There’s an opportunity for Test and Sean O’Haire to get back some heat after their loss to D-Generation X when they take on Tatanka and Snitsky. And they do, powering through their fairly powerful opponents. This ends when Snitsky gets the advantage over Test for a second, ducking a Big Boot and then cleaning him out with a clothesline. But he is completely unaware of the fact Test wasn’t the legal man, with O’Haire having tagged in on the sly before that exchange. O’Haire then hits the Cruel Intentions for the pinfall win. Sean O’Haire and Test beat Tatanka and Snitsky - 68%.
- After his return at the end of Monday Night RAW, Kenny Dykstra takes on Road Warrior. It might just be me, I might just be cynical, but I’m starting to wonder the long-term value of having your Road Warriors, your Tatankas, your Norman Smileys knocking about on the roster of RAW. It’s not like losing them would hurt anything. Anyway, Kenny beats Road Warrior with a solid leg drop from the top rope. I wonder if the whiff of Spirit Squad is off him enough for him to be legitimised in the coming weeks. Kenny Dykstra beats Road Warrior - 64%.
- It’s weird that Shelton Benjamin is simultaneously becoming one of RAW’s more over superstars and yet back in the same position he was a few years ago — teaming with Charlie Haas. Then again, Haas is benefitting from it, so maybe it’s a worthwhile trade-off. Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade also fell victim to D-Generation X on RAW, and fair play to them for pulling double duty here — but it’s not enough to stop them losing for, technically, the second time on the same night. It’s a Benjamin T-Bone suplex that does for Murdoch. I do wonder what the long-term plan for him is, he’s too talented to be in a midcard purgatory. And maybe they can make something of Haas too. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas beat Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade - 72%.
WWE Velocity 19 August, 2006 - Velocity was taped at the MCI Centre in Washington, D.C.
- We start with a match that follows on from last week’s shenanigans involving Nunzio and Hardcore Holly. This time, the latter takes on Vito. If Holly needed a little bit of heat back after being beaten by probably the smallest man on the roster, then this is as good an opportunity as any to give it to him. Which the folks in charge sort of do, letting him have control of the match, but also don’t do, because Nunzio clocks him with the timekeeper’s bell while the referee is distracted and he loses this one courtesy of a pinfall. Why are the Full Blooded Italians winning matches all of a sudden? Vito (w/Nunzio) beats Hardcore Holly - 67%.
- OK, look, I have to be honest with you — if you are not watching Velocity (and why would you, it’s the B show for the B brand, you’d have to be mad to dedicate half an hour of your life to this, I regularly question my own sanity) then you need to go seek this match out. And, in fact, if they keep giving us this on Velocity then there needs to be a major reassessment of what people should be prioritising when they watch WWE in the near future. Austin Healy and Super Crazy put together one of the best eight-minute matches you are likely to see, which is so impressive that by the end the match the crowd are on their feet. And there’s purpose behind it too — Healy was laughing at Super Crazy basically being put at risk of serious injury only a week ago. Healy kicks out of a brainbuster and a Crazy Bomb and manages an incredible reversal, catching Crazy before he can hit the third of his three moonsaults and turning it into his Heal To Head submission to get the tapout win. Healy raises his arm in celebration but from the way he looks at Super Crazy, this one isn’t over. Thank god! Austin Healy beats Super Crazy - 85%.
- Poor Ultimo Dragon and Simon Dean. How, exactly, do you follow that one up? This should have been a wet dream for fans back in 2003, when everyone loved Nova, but Dean must be working through a spot of ring rust because he is primarily on the outside looking in these days. That is put over by Michael Cole and Tazz too, who clock the number of times he misses moves or Dragon is able to reverse them. Anyway, The Gymini try to get involved but end up getting in Dean’s way and Dragon gets an Asai DDT for the win after about six minutes. Ultimo Dragon (c) beats Simon Dean to retain WWE Cruiserweight title - 74%
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WWE Summerslam prediction contest WWE Heavyweight title - Rob Van Dam © vs John Cena vs Edge WWE World Heavyweight title - Booker T © vs Rey Mysterio vs Batista vs Randy Orton WWE World Tag Team titles - D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) © vs The McMahons WWE Tag Team titles - Kid Kash and Jamie Noble © vs Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) WWE Intercontinental title - Rene Dupree © vs Ric Flair WWE Women's title - Trish Stratus © vs Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James No 1 contendership for the World Heavyweight title for No Mercy - Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy vs John Bradshaw Layfield Hulk Hogan vs Umaga Buried Alive match - The Punk vs Kane Dusty Rhodes vs Goldust The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) vs William Regal and Paul Burchill Lashley vs Mark Henry Tie-breaker: Which match starts the show and which one ends the show?
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WWE 2006
May 30, 2023 16:11:06 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by anthonymm13 on May 30, 2023 16:11:06 GMT 1
Rob Van Dam
Batista
D-Generation
Kid Kash and Jamie Noble
Rene Dupree
Beth Phoenix
Kurt Angle
Umaga
Kane
Dusty Rhodes
The Hardy Boyz
Lashley
Tie-breaker: starts: WWE tag titles. Ends: World heavyweight championship
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Post by Asaemon on May 30, 2023 19:22:08 GMT 1
WWE Heavyweight title - Rob Van Dam © vs John Cena vs Edge
WWE World Heavyweight title - Booker T © vs Rey Mysterio vs Batista vs Randy Orton
WWE World Tag Team titles - D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) © vs The McMahons
WWE Tag Team titles - Kid Kash and Jamie Noble © vs Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury)
WWE Intercontinental title - Rene Dupree © vs Ric Flair
WWE Women's title - Trish Stratus © vs Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James
No 1 contendership for the World Heavyweight title for No Mercy - Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy vs John Bradshaw Layfield
Hulk Hogan vs Umaga
Buried Alive match - The Punk vs Kane
Dusty Rhodes vs Goldust
The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) vs William Regal and Paul Burchill
Lashley vs Mark Henry
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Post by MoonchildRoddy on May 31, 2023 3:35:10 GMT 1
RVD
Randy Orton
DX
MNM
Rene Dupree
Beth Phoenix
Mr. Kennedy
Umaga
Kane
Goldust
Hardy Boyz
Lashley
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Post by aew1992 on May 31, 2023 14:14:37 GMT 1
WWE Summerslam August 20, 2006 - Summerslam is live from the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Gahden. The Gahden!!
- I’m going to warn you in advance, this bad boy overran by quite a while. Hopefully, it is not the case that three and a half to four hours or so has to become the standard for cross-brand pay-per-views. That’s a long time for anyone to sit in one place.
- Just as Jim Ross’s head stops exploding in excitement over the biggest party of the summer, Also Sprach Zarathustra plays and Ric Flair came out to a huge ovation. And Rene Dupree is massively jeered on his way out. People seem to dislike him, which makes sense given he’s been a cocky bastard who has kept winning wrestling matches over the last few months. This is a lovely opener, with a hot crowd, and whoever worked on this backstage came up with a great idea — long and short, who can cheat the most without referee Chad Patton spotting it and disqualifying them. Dupree eyerakes, so Flair eyerakes back. Flair backs off and hits a low blow, so Dupree does one when Flair tries an early Figure Four. And when Dupree removes the bottom turnbuckle cover, you just know Flair is going to drop toe hold him into it, which he does. But that is not enough to finish off Dupree, with the French-Canadian kicking out of a pinfall after a strut and a knee drop from Flair in the middle of the ring. Flair keeps working through his routine and the crowd loves it when he breaks out the chops and a big woo. Dupree, though, responds after going down twice with a big chop of his own. The two exchange those back and forth for a minute until both have red chests. Flair hits one last big one, goes to whip Dupree into the ropes, but Dupree reverses, and then drop toe holds Flair into the corner! Flair gets colour after lying there for 30 seconds, which gets very bad very quickly. Even so, when Dupree goes for a Dupree Bomb, Flair drops out and trips him up for a Figure Four. Dupree, though, kicks Flair off against the ropes, springs up and then hits a huge Lariat. A cover gets two. Dupree is shocked. After a bit more offence, Dupree tries to punch Flair, but Flair blocks. He hits a big uppercut on the champion but a second is caught, turned and twisted into a lift for a Dupree Bomb! Dupree covers and gets the three. Rene Dupree © beats Ric Flair to retain the WWE Intercontinental title (12:04) - 79%.
- Rene Dupree demands the belt from Chad Patton and raises it in the corner before leaving the ring. A bloody Ric Flair is visibly emotional, i.e. crying, and that’s not a great look to have a man of his age in that position, so they cut to a video where they remind everyone not to try this at home.
- This is slightly different. Beth Phoenix! (Looking angry, threatening and able to snap anyone who gets in here way like a twig!) Mickie James! (Looking excitable, happy to challenge for the WWE Women’s title, slightly crazy!) Trish Stratus! (Redacted!). This is a bit of a step down from that match, but you can see why they put it second on the card — barring Phoenix, who everyone is not particularly fussed about at this point, the crowd is hot for this match. The way this goes is basically the two smaller women trying to team up on Phoenix and knock her down, but struggling. They really, really are selling Phoenix as the strongest woman, by far, in the women’s division. The end, though, comes with James outside the ring. Phoenix is beating on Stratus but takes too long posing after a big kick to the stomach and misses the subsequent clothesline, giving Stratus the opportunity to try the Stratusfaction. Yeah, right. Phoenix basically carries her and then hurls her across the ring in response. She then picks Stratus up and hits a Phoenix Bomb (have you noticed how many finishing moves are called “[Surname] Bomb” right now?), which Jim Ross now calls the Phoenix Fall (oh!)... which is when she gets taken out with a steel chair by James! Ross reminds us triple threat matches are inherently No DQ, because you can’t disqualify one person and award the win, Phoenix is knocked off her feet, James covers Stratus and Jack Doan counts the three to give us a new WWE Women’s Champion. Mickie James beats Trish Stratus © and Beth Phoenix to win the WWE Women’s title (6:44) - 61%.
- Oh here it goes. So Umaga has been working his way through the RAW roster since April, including wins over Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and countless others. But it’s all been building to this folks, the night when Hulk Hogan makes one of his biannual appearances at a major pay-per-view, knocks his way through a rising superstar and then rides off into the sunset. You can’t blame WWE, just listen to the ovation when Hogan makes his way out to the ring. He basically just has to stare Umaga off for a minute after the bell rings to wait for the crowd to calm down. It just feels ridiculous that we know which way this is going, when Umaga throws him around the outside of the ring, onto the barricade and into the steel steps. After all, there’ll be a solid couple of minutes of this beatdown, making Umaga look strong. But that will only be the build-up to the main bit of the match. And you know it’s coming, even as Umaga throws Hogan from corner to corner, splashing him once, twice, three times, and then a fourth. And then it comes, seven minutes in. Umaga throws one too many punches after a failed attempted pin, Hogan goes and hulks up as the crowd go wild. He whips Umaga into the ropes, big boot, leg drop, 1… 2… KICK OUT! What! Umaga kicks out of a Hogan leg drop. Hogan looks flabbergasted and when he tries to lay punches into Umaga, Umaga no sells them. Hogan throws one, he gets caught by Umaga and dropped into a huge Samoan Drop. Umaga then drags him over to the corner, goes up onto the second rope and hits a big Samoan Splash. Umaga waits for Hogan to rise, and with Armando Alejandro Estrada roaring him on, hits a Samoan Spike. He picks Hogan up again as Jim Ross says it might be foolish to wait around for the pinfall. Nope — another Samoan Spike gets the pin and gets the win. Jesus, they made him look like a monster there. Umaga (w/Armando Alejandro Estrada) beats Hulk Hogan (10:12) - 70%.
- We get a video reminding us of what the Hardy Boyz achieved in the WWE and what caused them to reunite tonight.
- It’s a shame, really, that William Regal is doing such excellent work as a singles worker on Smackdown because Paul Burchill and him work really well as a tag team. And that the tag team division is so stacked too, because these two pairings would be a fine addition. The Hardy Boyz play up the fact that they have not teamed together for a few years, acting out a bit of rustiness. Regal and Burchill take advantage initially, isolating Jeff Hardy. Jeff, of course, bumps with the best of them, making Burchill in particular look like a million smackaroos by selling everything as though he has been hit with a sledgehammer. Wrong guy, Jeff. After a few minutes of Jeff being isolated in the corner and Regal and Burchill tagging in and out to keep up the offence, he does manage to reverse a Burchill sleeperhold. The crowd wills him on, he crawls to the corner… but Regal tags himself in and drags Hardy back. The beatdown continues, with more tags back and forth — but Regal trusting himself more this time after Jeff’s escape. He manages to get out of a stretch, though, this time, and finally makes it over to Matt for a hot tag. Matt comes in and cleans house, before hitting a big Side Effect on the oncoming Burchill. Hardy then climbs up to the top for a leg drop, but Regal is hot to it and pushes him off the top. Jeff slaps his brother’s back though and charges in. As Regal stumbles up, Jeff uses his brother’s Twist Of Fate! Regal, though, rolls out onto the apron as Burchill charges in. It’s too fast though, as he’s not checking as the rising Matt clocks him and takes him down with a Twist Of Fate! Regal hangs Matt on the top rope, but Jeff hits him with a dropkick that sends him off the apron before climbing up top for the Swanton Bomb on Burchill and the win. Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy beat William Regal and Paul Burchill (9:01) - 85%.
- Michael Cole speculates that the Hardy Boyz must be in the mix for the WWE United States title now, but Tazz points out Matt is not allowed to challenge for the belt while William Regal remains champion.
- What you need to know is that the build-up to this one is great. They really do hype up just how much Goldust has betrayed his dad Dusty Rhodes. The assault on Cody, his brother, also plays a big part. The match itself is… fairly short and sweet. Dusty charges in like a house on fire after an extensive entrance from his son and does knock Goldust around a fair amount, but Goldust eventually gouges his eye and slows the whole thing down a lot. They keep cutting to Cody Rhodes at ringside, still beaten up from RAW the week before. And before you know it, he ducks a big elbow from his dad, turns it into a Curtain Call and then pins him for the three. Goldust, at Stacy Keibler’s behest, hits a Shattered Dreams in the corner on him too. Goldust beats Dusty Rhodes (4:05) - 72%.
- God, blimey, jesus, well, heck. The less said about this one the better. It’s a complete mess, the crowd don’t care about it, they need a serious rethink about what they’re doing with both Lashley and Mark Henry — or they don’t, because maybe this is just the big hoss quotient for WWE right now. Anyway, this is all built around whether or not Lashley can get Mark Henry up for a Dominator. He can’t, but he does hit a big Superplex from the top rope and that’s enough to win this. Lashley beats Mark Henry (w/The Gymini and Simon Dean) (5:17) - 58%.
- The Gymini and Simon Dean pour in and attack Lashley after. Oh no, this is continuing?!
- As Kurt Angle comes out, we are reminded that The Undertaker chokeslammed him last week despite being his tag team partner. Not that, after Mr Kennedy and John Bradshaw Layfield make their own ways down to the ring, that stops the Dead Man from being the most popular man in this match. People just love GONGs! This is a fun old match that does not run particularly long, with each possible pairing getting two or three minutes — although the opening is punctuated by a big plancha to the outside from Taker onto all three. The best of the lot is probably Angle and Taker working back and forth, Angle charging in and attacking Taker for his assault on Smackdown, Taker fighting back and sitting up after a set of three German Suplexes — much to Angle’s surprise. When Undertaker tries to hit a chokeslam on the Olympian, though, Kennedy and JBL team up to take him out of the ring. Angle is the victim for the two heels as they team up to try and take him out. It’s quite the fragile alliance though, and when Kennedy hits a Green Bay Plunge before picking him up for a Clothesline From Hell from Layfield, they both argue over who gets to have the pinfall. So, inevitably, they end up trading punches. Kennedy falls to Layfield’s power but pulls the top rope down when he charges for a clothesline, sending him over the top. That, though, just gives Undertaker the chance to climb back into the ring and grab him for a chokeslam. Kennedy punches his arm away and then tries to lift Undertaker up for a suplex. Undertaker slides out and down Kennedy’s back before lifting him up and into a Tombstone for the win. The Undertaker beats Mr Kennedy, Kurt Angle and John Bradshaw Layfield (w/Orlando Jordan) (11:12) - 75%.
- Hoo baby, up next is the tables, ladders and chairs match between Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM and Kid Kash and Jamie Noble. If any match is guaranteed to be the match of the night, it’s this one. If the champions are anything but ready for war, then their entrance says otherwise, as they carry a table down to the ring with them. Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury try to blindside London and Kendrick and throw them over the top through it, but Kendrick kicks Mercury away and then the former tag team champions lift up and throw Nitro over the top rope and through the table. This is off and running! Of course, that does not take the champions out, but they grab chairs and come in a-swinging, Kash taking London out with one and Noble out with the other. They then pause and finally hand their belts over to referee Charles Robinson, who hooks them up to be lifted to above the ring. As they are, they bob out of the ring and grab a ladder, sliding it in, setting it up and going to win this quickly. But Mercury comes in and drags Kash down before climbing up himself. He and Noble exchange big punches at the top before Mercury flips over his opponent and tries a sunset bomb. But Noble holds on and Mercury ends up dangling. That gives London enough time to recover. He climbs to the top rope, leaps across to the ladder and then picks Noble’s fingers off one-by-one to allow Mercury to finally hit the powerbomb to send Noble crashing down from the top. Not that Mercury is allowed to rest on his laurels. Kendrick grabs hold of him and hits the Sliced Bread #2 before standing up and looking around to survey the damage after just six minutes of this contest. Everyone is down apart from London and Kendrick, and Kendrick starts screaming at London to grab the belts. They are his to take. But London is looking down at Mercury, who is flat on the mat. London looks around at the crowd, who rise as one and spur him on. He lifts his arms out… and then flies off the top with a 630 Splash! But just as he lands, Mercury rolls out of the way. London crashes down hard, and before Kendrick can react to Mercury, Nitro rises from the dead and springboards up, taking him down with a big dropkick. That leaves Mercury to roll out of the ring and grab a ladder. He sets one up next to the other, Nitro climbing one side and him the other. Both slowly, it must be said. And as they do, Noble brings a table in from outside. Kash climbs up underneath Mercury and electric chairs him off the ladder. Noble sets the table up and goes to exchange punches with Nitro on the ladder. Noble is facing the table and tries to lift Nitro up into a suplex position before throwing him down through it. Not happening. Instead, Nitro deadweights down to his feet, before dragging Noble across the top of the ladder. Nitro then balances himself on either side of the ladder, slapping Noble across the chest to a big “Woo!” every time. As he does, Kash is occupied below by Mercury, who has recovered from his fall. Nitro runs out of slaps and Noble kicks him in the head. He then slides onto the side of the ladder, dragging Nitro’s head with him, before locking in a Dragon Sleeper. After 20 seconds in the hold, Nitro is tapping wildly but as Cole points out, that’s no way to save himself. Noble then lets go before a stiff blow to the chest leaves Nitro stumbling and falling down off the ladder… straight into the arms of Kendrick, who catches him and hits a standing side slam. We’re about 13 minutes in and Kendrick is now back in the game, with Mercury battling Kash in the corner and Noble just about holding onto the ladder. So Kendrick, obviously, climbs the ladder and starts fighting back and forth with Noble. He clocks Noble in the head, with Noble teetering. London then slides in and climbs up the other ladder, just as Kash dispenses with Mercury and throws him over the top. Kash joins London on his ladder. Kash goes for London, while Noble battles with Kendrick. At first, it looks like the faces are winning. But when Kash starts wobbling, Noble leans across and uses his knee to wind London. As he does that, Kash elbows Kendrick and sends him flying down off the other ladder. Noble then hooks London up and drags him, diving off the ladder with a huge Side Effect-style move straight down — and through the table set up earlier in the match! Kash looks around, like London only 10 minutes earlier and sees everyone down. The crowd rises as one and starts applauding all six men. I stand up from my couch, dropping popcorn crumbs to the floor and start joining in the applause. Kash reaches and unhooks both belts before taking them down to a big roar. Kid Kash and Jamie Noble © beat Paul London and Brian Kendrick and MNM to retain the WWE Tag Team titles (16:32) - 92%.
- Kid Kash and Jamie Noble do a big hug to celebrate with the belts as we cut to Michael Cole and Tazz, who hype up the WWE World Heavyweight title match.
- Look, I’m not going to lie to you — the crowd was completely done in by the tables, ladders and chairs match and I wasn’t exactly ready to stop thinking about some of the moments in that match when King Booker defended his title against Rey Mysterio, Batista and Randy Orton. Luckily, the great booking team in the sky seemingly realised that would be the case and did not even try to follow that up with a long contest. Instead, Orton and Batista’s long-running antipathy basically meant they brawled around ringside and through the crowd rather than seriously trying to win the title. Rey and Booker essentially had a one-on-one match, which Booker initially controlled with a series of holds. Rey then responded, hitting a big hurricanrana and taking charge. Booker tried to respond but struggled to deal with the sheer speed of the Mexican. As that all went on, Batista and Orton brawled up into the second tier of fans. No count outs, of course. Orton seemingly recovered from Batista’s power, hitting a low blow to send him staggering away and giving Orton a minute to breathe. But as he did, leaning up against a barricade, Batista charged, spearing him through it and sending them both flying into a pile of electrical equipment and not a specially placed mat with some electrical equipment near it. And even when Sharmell interfered by climbing up onto the apron, Rey had the better of the champion. He walked towards Sharmell but jumped out of the way when Booker charged, meaning Smackdown’s King took out its Queen. Booker looked aghast and stumbled backwards into a drop toe hold and a 6-1-9! Rey covered for what was surely going to be a rapid title change, Nick Patrick counted for the one… the two… and then Rey got clocked from behind by a steel chair. Again, No DQs in this one — as the camera panned up to show what I can assume, based on physique, looks and stature is Gregory Helms. But not your usual Gregory Helms — Gregory Helms in a red Hurricane suit and a evil-looking black and red face mask. Helms then backed away, threw his chair down and hit Rey with a Shining Wizard, before exiting the ring. Michael Cole shouted “What the hell?”. Tazz pointed out the recent beef between the two, Booker did not bother to delve into the backstory and rolled on top, getting the pinfall to retain his title. King Booker © retains the WWE World Heavyweight title by beating Rey Mysterio, Batista, Randy Orton (9:22) - 78%.
- There’s a video recap of the whole Kane/Kaneanites feud, from the May 19th stuff to the revelation of the group haunting him and why. If you don’t remember, it’s because they grew up near him and know the real story, that he burned down the house of his family and then every foster family who looked after him after that. They’re all waifs and strays and worshipped Kane from afar. Now they want to bring the monster back.
- If this show needed a cool entrance to bolster it a little bit, then we get one as The Kaneanites emerge from three different entrances within the crowd, all on the hard camera side, with the camera swinging wildly back and forth between the three as their music plays. Kane, on the other hand, just looks angry and ready to snap someone in half. He could always do that in this one, as Buried Alive matches don’t come with a disqualification. The grave, by the way, is set up next to the ramp. And if bringing the monster back is the idea with this one, they’ve done the right thing. He throws The Punk around the ring for the first minute or so, then launches himself off the top rope with a big flying clothesline on The Student and The Brute. Obviously that just gives The Punk the chance to perform a plancha of his own to the outside. But Kane catches him and sends him swinging into the barricade, before throwing him back into the ring. The beating continues for a couple of minutes, involving big punches, a big boot and Kane trying to one-up The Punk from Vengeance with repeated head slams into the corner. FYI, Kane, he’s wearing a mask so that’s a little bit less painful for him. Eventually, though, that earlier attack just becomes an excuse for The Brute and The Student to charge into the ring and get involved. Jim Ross points out how unfair it is as they double team Kane around the ring. And it becomes a triple team after about six minutes as they hit the triple chokeslam and then pose in celebration. The trio work together to drag Kane out of the ring. As they slide him up the ramp — which takes around two solid minutes — The Punk lays boots into him and shouts, “We’re still here to worship you, bring out the monster!” The three then launch Kane into the casket once they’ve got him up the ramp, and The Punk leans in. He pulls his own mask off, revealing the worst kept secret in professional wrestling, as it is former independent worker CM Punk under it. Punk sticks his tongue out wildly and opens his eyes wide as Jim Ross declares, “My god, look at that face — that’s the face of a madman!”. As The Brute and The Student turn around to grab spades for shovelling, The Punk then fits the mask on Kane’s head in the casket… only for Kane to sit up and grab him around the neck. Kane stands up, The Student reacts first and Kane kicks him in the stomach. The Brute then does the same and Kane elbows him out of the way with his free arm, before hitting The Punk with a big chokeslam! It’s only a temporary reprieve though, as The Brute and The Student swarm and take Kane down again, with The Brute hitting a big powerbomb on him onto the pile of mud. They lift The Punk up and help him to his feet. The trio then hit another of their triple chokeslams on the masked Kane, straight into the casket, close the lid and start piling the mud on top. After thirty seconds of piling and The Punk posing at the head of the grave, referee Mike Chioda rings the bell and declares this a win for The Punk. The Punk (w/The Student and The Brute) beats Kane (14:54) - 83%.
- After the bell, The Punk turns to The Student and tells him to go get the equipment. The Punk gets a microphone and says: “I won this battle, but the war is not over — especially not for Kane. The monster will return, I can promise you that. And now you can truly see my face, and see my eyes, you can see the truth that is contained within them. We worship Kane, but only for the monster he can become again”. The Student returns with a petrol can and starts pouring it onto the grave. The Punk continues: “Kane, as you learned early in life, fire can be very, very important. Fire can start life again”. Jim Ross shouts: “Whatever the hell you do, don’t do what I think you’re going to do”. The Punk lights a match, then as the camera zooms in on him, says: “Fire cleanses”. He drops the match, the mud goes up, Ross shouts “My god!”, The Kaneanites pose, and we cut away. Intense!
- You’ve got to feel a bit bad for Rob Van Dam, Edge and John Cena — semi-main eventing and having to follow all of that up. Without being too harsh on the trio, it feels like the feud around the WWE Heavyweight title is not as hot as some of the other stuff that is being put out right now. Anyway, they probably intentionally tried to keep this one as straight as humanly possible, given all of the shenanigans that have been taking place in other matches so far tonight. The start of this basically sees Van Dam kept to the outside by Paul Heyman, leaving Cena and Edge to go at one another. Cena has the initial advantage but Edge manages to take charge after a couple of minutes. Van Dam watches on as he locks in a sleeper hold, but Cena being Cena, the former champion powers his way out. Van Dam keeps watching on until Cena starts his five moves of doom up, rolling into the ring and laying some kicks in to interrupt the Five Knuckle Shuffle. From there, Van Dam takes control as Edge goes into the corner to recover. Van Dam seems to have it won with a Rolling Thunder, but Cena kicks out. The end, which they build to after about 10 minutes of action, comes when Edge is back in charge of the match. Van Dam is on the apron after being thrown over the top by Cena. Edge has Cena in the corner and is laying punches into him. Edge then lets Cena pop out before picking him up and hitting a big suplex. Edge then waits in the corner for Cena to rise and dashes over, going for a big Spear! But Cena dodges out of the way and Edge goes straight into the ringpost. Cena waits for Edge to stagger back, before picking him up and hitting him with a huge F-U! But just as he goes to cover, Van Dam comes charging in. He hits kick after kick and hits a snap suplex on Cena to lay him down in the corner. Van Dam climbs up top and goes for a Five Star Frog Splash… but Cena moves out of the way. Van Dam bounces and flies towards the edge of the ring, where Heyman is waiting to speak to him. Cena rises and picks Van Dam up, before putting him on his shoulders for the F-U. As he does though, Van Dam smacks him around the head with an old-school brick cellphone! Throwback! And what was that about shenanigans? Cena goes down and Van Dam kicks him out of the ring. Edge is still down, Van Dam goes to the top and flies with the Five Star Frog Splash, before rolling back and covering for the 1… 2… 3! Rob Van Dam © beats Edge and John Cena to retain the WWE Heavyweight title (12:23) - 76%.
- Paul Heyman grabs Rob Van Dam as he rolls out of the ring and gives him the title belt as we see another angle of Heyman’s conversation with Van Dam. Jerry Lawler points out the genius of Heyman as we see him hand over the cellphone. Jim Ross watches Cena get back up slowly, and says Van Dam might have retained the title again, but he has still not pinned Cena in either of his major defences so far. We then go to a video recapping the feud between The McMahons and D-Generation X.
- Look, this is pure showbusiness. It’s all about the messing around. It’s just a shame that it comes at the end of a show that is all about matches that are all about the messing around. The match needs it though, because as decent as both Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon are, they are still part-time workers. And Triple H and Shawn Michaels do a fair amount of carrying to get them through the opening exchanges. It’s Michaels playing the role of the face in peril after a hot start from D-Generation X. Shane does a lot of the work with him, tying him up in the corner, choking him out, laying punches into his stomach, carrying out quick tags with Vince and then coming back in. But Michaels hot tags out after just a few minutes and Triple H manages to hit an early Pedigree on Shane — in case you were thinking this was over, though, Test and Sean O’Haire run out from the back carrying kendo sticks. They slide into the ring and start going at Michaels and Triple H. Vince and Shane shout for them to pick Triple H up, and they do. Stephanie, who accompanied Vince and Shane to the ring, comes into the ring and slaps HHH around the face. Test and O’Haire continue that beatdown for a couple of minutes, until X-Pac makes his way out of the back. He starts knocking Test and O’Haire around and even gets a Bronco Buster on Shane. HHH and Michaels rise up and fight back against Test, O’Haire and Vince, and for a minute they look to have the advantage. But that just draws out Kenny Dykstra, who comes in and brawls with all three members of D-Generation X. We eventually have something of a standoff in the ring, Michaels down on his knees, HHH having the advantage over Dykstra in the corner, X-Pac marshalling Test and O’Haire and both Vince and Shane looking tired on the outside. That’s when, to a sound of confusion from the fans, the nWo Wolfpac music hits… and out from the back strolls Kevin Nash! There’s a cheer from the fans as he walks out. He strolls slowly down to the ring and both sides look confused as to what he’s doing there. “Which side is he on?” asks Jim Ross. Nash climbs through the ropes and stands in the middle… before doing the Kliq hand gesture and bumping hands with all three of Triple H, Michaels and X-Pac. The McMahons look shocked as Nash takes off his black vest and reveals a D-Generation X top underneath! Nash strolls over towards Test and O’Haire, who are on their feet, with Michaels and X-Pac backing him up either side. But just as Nash reaches Test and O’Haire, he turns around and takes Michaels out with a Big Boot! Test and O’Haire dash and take X-Pac out, and when Triple H runs at Nash, he is taken out with another Big Boot! “My god, they planned this all along!” shouts Jim Ross as the camera cuts to a smiling and laughing Vince. The crowd rains jeers down on Nash as he picks Triple H up, hooks him up and then hits a big Jacknife Powerbomb! Vince and Shane slide in, with Vince going for the cover… and picking up the win. Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon beat Triple H and Shawn Michaels © to win the WWE World Tag Team titles - 83%.
- Kenny Dykstra goes to grab the titles as Kevin Nash hugs both Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon. Dykstra hands one of them to Sean O’Haire, and the duo tie the belts around the waists of the McMahons. The show ends with The Corporation, newly joined by Kevin Nash, who has put his black vest back on, posing in the middle of the ring as the crowd boos.
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Post by aew1992 on Jun 1, 2023 16:33:49 GMT 1
Post-Summerslam Summary
WWE Heavyweight title - Rob Van Dam
Van Dam won the title from John Cena after cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase following a seemingly unscheduled assault from Matt Striker. Paul Heyman revealed it was all part of a strategy and unveiled Heyman Inc. Van Dam has since successfully defended his title against Cena and Edge across consecutive pay-per-views, but is yet to beat Cena cleanly.
WWE World Heavyweight title - King Booker
Booker was on a roll after being crowned as the King Of The Ring and setting up his King's Court. He then won a No 1 contendership battle royal before beating Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight title at The Great American Bash. Booker retained his title against Batista, Randy Orton and Mysterio at Summerslam, but not without a strange helping hand from a masked man.
WWE Intercontinental title - Rene Dupree
Dupree was the beneficiary of some tension between Ric Flair and Rob Van Dam when he picked up the WWE Intercontinental title back in May. He then fell out with Shelton Benjamin but overcame him at WWE Vengeance before retaining the belt again at Summerslam against Ric Flair.
WWE United States title - William Regal
Regal has in good form on Smackdown, beating Matt Hardy to win the WWE United States title and combining well with King Booker as part of the King's Court. He has been retaining against Hardy through nefarious means, but seems to have caught the eye of the returning Jeff Hardy as a result, with the Hardy Boyz beating Regal and Paul Burchill at Summerslam.
WWE World Tag Team titles - The McMahons (Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon)
The McMahon family's ongoing feud with D-Generation X might have led to the reformation of the famous pair and to the return of The Corporation, but the crescendo was really Vince and Shane winning the World Tag Team titles at Summerslam. With Kevin Nash now in their corner and the power of the company behind them, can they really be beaten?
WWE Tag Team titles - Kid Kash and Jamie Noble
Paul London and Brian Kendrick worked hard to beat MNM and capture the WWE Tag Team titles, but they were not ready for the sheer intensity of Kid Kash and Jamie Noble, who have been tearing up Smackdown. Kash has brought a new focus to Noble, and the pair even managed to retain their belts in a hellacious three-way TLC match at Summerslam.
WWE Women's title - Mickie James
Mickie James and Trish Stratus have gone back and forth over the WWE Women's title in recent months, with the two trading the belt. It was Mickie James who emerged from Summerslam as Women's champion, overcoming Trish and the monstrous newcomer Beth Phoenix to take the belt.
WWE Cruiserweight title - Ultimo Dragon
Ultimo Dragon shocked Gregory Helms and the wider WWE fanbase when he returned on Velocity and immediately captured the WWE Cruiserweight title. The focus on the belt has grown though, with the division expanding, and it's hard to look past the dangerous Austin Healy, who has been on a tear since making his debut.
Other issues
- The Undertaker is the No 1 contender for No Mercy. - The Punk, who revealed himself to be former independent worker CM Punk at Summerslam, made his debut alongside the two other Kaneanites — The Student and The Brute — on May 19th. They explained themselves as a trio of people who are part of a wider cult that worships Kane. The Punk beat Kane at Summerslam in a Buried Alive match in an attempt to bring back the monster. Kane's situation is now unknown after he was burned in a casket. - Umaga has continued his undefeated streak, even beating Hulk Hogan at Summerslam. - Goldust turned on his father Dusty Rhodes and beat up his younger brother Cody Rhodes, who is in development after signing a contract. Goldust beat Dusty at Summerslam. - Mark Henry and Lashley are in an ongoing feud after Lashley refused to join up with Simon Dean and The Gymini. - Ric Flair has been on a significant losing streak in major matches, being beaten by Rene Dupree at Summerslam and Rob Van Dam in a four-way match at Vengeance.
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GrappleNews.net
News and notes
WWE are definitely benefitting from a general boom in the industry. They posted a 1.79 buy rate for Summerslam and made over $5.5m from a combination of pay-per-view revenue and ticket sales. There were talks over thinning out the roster in recent weeks but a combination of more television time for Velocity and Heat and no economic pressure means that this is not even a conversation right now.
There are, though, fears that running shows as long as Summerslam are fundamentally unsustainable. WWE are planning to limit cards to a maximum of nine or 10 matches and a cap of between three and three and a half hours outside of Wrestlemania.
Rob Conway, who has been sparingly used on television over the last few months, suffered a horrific knee injury on a recent house show. He is out of action for the next year and a half.
WWE have taken to filming Heat and Velocity after RAW and Smackdown to avoid any continuity issues, especially as storylines are now carrying over to those shows. They are offering a pay-per-view standard dark match to keep fans around, though — the Smackdown taping ended with Batista and Rey Mysterio beating Randy Orton and John Bradshaw Layfield in 10 minutes.
There is real energy behind Austin Healy backstage. In recent weeks, though, people have started backing Super Crazy. Their match, which Dave Meltzer raved about in the Observer, is now regarded as what a strong cruiserweight division can bring to the WWE.
TNA have snapped up Randy Savage, Bob Sapp and La Parka on written deals. WWE are not thought to regard them as an imminent threat, but it's hard to avoid the fact that Impact has been good in recent weeks and has had a very decent viewership. Plans are in place to deal with TNA if needed.
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Post by aew1992 on Jun 4, 2023 21:48:49 GMT 1
WWE Monday Night RAW August 21, 2006
- RAW is live from the Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
- We are a 20 minute drive from Titan Towers, which probably explains why this one kicks off with No Chance In Hell and The McMahon family, nay, the entire Corporation strutting out to the ring. Although I’m not sure Kevin Nash can strut with his knees in the state they are. The McMahons are out here to crow about the fact they have won back the World Tag Team titles, titles that go back to 1971, from scumbags like D-Generation X and brought them into the loving arms of Corporate stability. They say they have arranged a big celebration for their titles, and ask someone to wheel out their cake. Someone’s face is being smashed into this, guaranteed! The cake, which is absolutely massive, incidentally, is wheeled out and Vince jokes about having someone young, supple and beautiful pop out of it. Test and Sean O’Haire roll out of the ring to go and cut out a slice for Vince and Shane… when Triple H, Shawn Michaels and X-Pac pop out. It’s Sweet Chin Music time for O’Haire, while Test gets a Pedigree. They grab microphones and Michaels says he might be beautiful and supple but he’s not very young, so he’s sorry to let Vince down. HHH points out Nash used to be one of their best friends in wrestling, and asks why he became a corporate sell-out like he did the night before. He says he always heard Nash was about the money in WCW, but he didn’t realise he was quite that bad. That angers Nash. He tries to get out of the ring to get at HHH and Michaels, but Edge and Kenny Dykstra hold him back. Vince says he is not going to let D-Generation X speak to him and his people like that, so he’s going to make a match for right here, right now. Cheers! It’s going to be Kenny Dykstra… against X-Pac. Crickets. Vince says it’ll be a lumberjack match, and it begins — now - 93%.
- Back from the break, the lumberjack match is already underway — and to be fair to both X-Pac and Kenny Dykstra, this is a decent match. They seem to be able to work fairly well together, at the least. There’s not much to report on beyond that in terms of the in-ring action, although there are obviously plenty of shenanigans at ringside. When Dykstra gets thrown over the top, D-Generation X try to beat on him. But there are fewer black and green lumberjacks than Corporation ones, which means that’s just an excuse for Kevin Nash, Test and Sean O’Haire to jump in. Dykstra gets back into the ring, and with X-Pac distracted by the brawling outside, Edge rolls into the ring and spears the D-Generation X man. Dykstra rolls on top and gets the win. Kenny Dykstra (w/Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Test, Sean O’Haire, Edge, Kevin Nash and Stephanie McMahon) beats X-Pac (w/Triple H and Shawn Michaels) - 72%.
- After the match, Vince McMahon gets on the microphone and shouts for someone to “get these D-Generation X scumbags out of here”. Test, Sean O’Haire, Kevin Nash and Kenny Dykstra duly oblige, carrying them up the ramp. Vince turns the focus to Edge, and thanks him for his help — “once again” — in ensuring The Corporation triumph over D-Generation X. So, he says, he wants to reward him. What, Vince asks, does Edge want? Edge has a microphone and says there’s only one thing he wants in WWE right now, and that’s what’s strapped to Rob Van Dam’s waist. Cue John Cena, who interrupts and points out that since Van Dam has been champion, he is the only person who has not lost one of the two pay-per-view main events to him. That draws out Shelton Benjamin, who is, quite simply, bored of being overlooked for the big one. And then there’s Rene Dupree on the stage. He beat Ric Flair last night, is a glorious WWE Intercontinental champion — a potential face of the company — and wants a shot. Vince says everyone makes a valid point, so next week, all four men will compete for the No 1 contendership at WWE Unforgiven. And tonight, he says, they will face off in a tag match in the main event — Cena and Benjamin vs Dupree and Edge - 80%.
- Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch are in the ring waiting for their opponents when a pre-taped interview with them plays. Cade says they feel like the most ignored former champions in WWE history, and are ready to start making an impact again in the tag team division. Murdoch says they’re going to bring a bit of southern grit back to their in-ring game. Carlito and Big Show are here to prove them otherwise, which they do. Show and Carlito do the whole large man, slightly smaller man thing quite well and beat Cade and Murdoch relatively cleanly with a Big Boot from Big Show on Cade into a Backstabber from Carlito for the pin. Big Show and Carlito beat Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch - 67%.
- That, though, is not the end. Trevor Murdoch charges into the ring with a chair and starts swinging, taking Carlito down and then launching a shot straight into Big Show’s stomach. That lowers him to one knee, which causes Murdoch to swing it again, this time to his head. He leaves both men laying there as he helps Lance Cade to his feet.
- Maria Kanellis grabs a minute with Goldust backstage, flanked — of course — by Stacy Keibler. He says he feels satisfied to have finally proven a point to his father and the world that he is the greater man. But he says that even a glittering display like that might not be golden, and that he wants to add a golden shine to his already golden presence. Maria asks him what, exactly, that means. Goldust pauses, then says: “You’ve seen the trailer — the feature is coming soon to a Monday Night RAW near you” - 81%.
- Chris Masters is off Heat duty! He’s in the ring and offering up an open challenge to anyone in the back, because he’s been so unbelievably dominant in recent months. Eugene appears on the TitanTron and tells us he’s got the perfect challenger for Masters. Masters smirks, because Eugene has not been unbelievably dominant. But it’s not Eugene — no, he introduces his brother, Nicky Dinsmore. And Nicky — announced as Nick — is Eugene’s spitting image, except for having slicked back hair, more professional clothing and a meaner look on his face. Masters still looks cocky, but only for about five seconds, when Dinsmore slaps his face and knocks him to the ground. Jim Ross is full of praise for Dinsmore’s technical knowhow, and to be fair — he looks great as he moves around the ring. He wins this in three minutes with a Boston Crab and poses stoicly in celebration. Nick Dinsmore beats Chris Masters - 72%.
- Umaga’s shock destruction of Hulk Hogan is recapped. Armando Alejandro Estrada then speaks about how Umaga will take advantage of it next week, when he’ll be in action again — but honestly, this was so badly done. If they’re going to job Hogan to this guy, they’re going to have to find a way to make the whole schtick more entertaining - 54%.
- We cut to a dark room where The Punk and The Kaneanites are stood with their backs turned to camera. The Punk turns around — and he’s still unmasked. He says Kane has been dealt with for now, and the cleansing fire has provided him with the chance to be reborn as the man — and monster — they know he can be. The Punk says fire has played a big part in Kane’s life already, and theirs — and Sunday night will be remembered as the most significant fire of his existence so far. The Punk, though, says their business will not wait for Kane’s rebirth. He promises The Kaneanites will carry out more of their business next week on RAW. “We worship Kane,” The Punk says, as The Student and The Brute turn around. They are now wearing half Kane masks that cover only one side of their face each, with the other half covered in straps that go around their head and beneath their eyes, under their noses and across their chin, in blue and green respectively. The Punk finishes: “But we also worship ourselves” - 80%.
- Blimey, Rob Van Dam is defending his WWE Heavyweight title against Charlie Haas. If anyone is hoping for a particularly big upset, this does not feel like it’ll be one — at least at first. Van Dam is well on top for a few minutes, until he takes way too long and takes too much applause from Paul Heyman while lining up a Five Star Frog Splash from the top rope. He misses, and then Haas takes charge, even locking in the Haas Of Pain. That leads to Heyman protesting on the apron and distracting the referee. As he does, for some reason, Goldust comes into the ring and clobbers Haas with the title belt before sliding out. Van Dam rolls over and covers, Heyman lets the referee count, and the champion retains. Rob Van Dam (c) beats Charlie Haas to retain the WWE Heavyweight title - 78%.
- Maria Kanellis is joined by Ric Flair. Flair looks a bit banged up and — well — quite sad. Maria asks Flair what he has to say after asking for time with her tonight. Flair, looking deflated, says he feels like he let everyone down again last night. So, he says, he has an announcement to make about his future next week. Maria asks for another question, but Flair says he doesn’t have the spirit for it right now. We cut to ringside, where Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler speculate as to whether this could be the end of the Nature Boy. Could it be? Legitimately? 100%.
- It’s the big main event! Shelton Benjamin — cheered out — and John Cena — cheered out also, could do with getting some wins in the old win column sometime soon — take on Rene Dupree and Edge. Cena and Benjamin have a bit of fun to start, at least enough to get the crowd on their feet, and by the time the first commercial break rolls around Benjamin has gone flying over the top rope to take out Edge and Dupree on the outside. But we come back to Dupree on top, working on Benjamin in the corner. Strange how that always happens, isn’t it? They show us the drop from Edge over the top rope while Dupree was jawing with Cena that leads to this situation. After a bit more back and forth beating from Dupree, Benjamin is locked in a sleeper hold. But rather than the standard elbows, he does a few elbows, then climbs up the ropes, over Dupree’s head and pulls him back with a big reverse DDT. Benjamin crawls, but before he gets to the corner Edge dives across the ring and drags him back and commences a footstomping. Cena wills the crowd on again and they cheer Benjamin as he slowly rises up and exchanges blows with Dupree, before both men bounce off the ropes and hit dual clotheslines to take each other out in the middle of the ring. Another crowd roar behind Benjamin, or for the idea of Cena coming into the ring, and Benjamin finally makes it to the corner as Dupree does the same. Cena comes in on the HOT TAG and takes both men out repeatedly. Just as he seems to have Edge set up for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, Dupree charges in turns him around into a Dupree Bomb! But as Dupree rises, Benjamin is there with a T-Bone Suplex, and he covers for the win. There’s very little time left so Jim Ross doesn’t even get to tell us about what happens if this happens next week — Shelton Benjamin No 1 contender and all that — and we go off the air with all four men sort of doing a bit of a staredown from different points on the arena. Shelton Benjamin and John Cena beat Rene Dupree and Edge - 77%.
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Post by aew1992 on Jun 6, 2023 13:50:50 GMT 1
WWE Friday Night Smackdown 25 August 2006
- Friday Night Smackdown was taped on Tuesday at the Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. How confusing!
- Wait a minute, Michael Cole is telling us that we are live to start off the show with The Stock Exchange. Hang on, he’s lying! This show was taped! Is this whole company built on a mountain of lies? John Bradshaw Layfield introduces his guest, King Booker — but does he? Well, Booker comes out with the rest of The King’s Court. And he’s still the World Heavyweight champion, apparently. But might he not be? He crows about that and how he won at Summerslam, which I’m not sure I’d believe if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. After a minute or two of talking about how great he is, Rey Mysterio comes out and demands a title shot after being cheated by Gregory Helms, who we are told is not yet at Smackdown tonight. But does he actually want one? It seems so, but it could all be a lie. Eric Bischoff is out next, strutting down to the ring and saying as he does that Mysterio has already had his chance — and that the contender for No Mercy is already set as The Undertaker. Teddy Long, though, comes out on stage and says he thinks Mysterio deserves a one-on-one rematch for the title — and that October is a long way away. Bischoff relents and agrees to let Mysterio have a shot… but only if runs a three-week gauntlet! Another lie, which revealed itself very quickly there. How dare Bischoff. How dare he? Is he part of this cabal? Bischoff says Mysterio has to beat three wrestlers of his choosing, and if he loses even one, he won’t get a shot in four weeks’ time, whoever beats him will. Tonight, Mysterio will take on Randy Orton. But can we be sure he will? No we can’t, that much is clear - 85%.
- My god, it’s Sylvan (formerly Grenier). What in the world is he doing in the ring? Losing to Jeff Hardy, that’s what. Jeff is accompanied out by Matt. As the match goes on, we bizarrely see Lashley and Mark Henry brawling through the crowd, laying punches on each other and throwing each other into barricades and other general arena stuff. Back to the ring, where Hardy hits a Swanton Bomb from the top rope for the win over Sylvan. I wonder if we’ll see him again any time soon. Jeff Hardy beats Sylvan - 73%.
- After Jeff Hardy gets the win, he’s joined in the ring by Matt. Matt leads the way on the microphone, saying that the Hardy Boyz proved they were still among the elite of tag team wrestling when they beat William Regal and Paul Burchill at Summerslam. But, he says, they want to show their worth as singles competitors, and for that reason they both want a shot at William Regal’s WWE United States title. That draws out Regal and Burchill. Regal, while strolling out onto the stage, reminds Matt that he is not allowed a shot at the title while he is the champion. Yeah, Matt! Forgot that stipulation, didn’t you? He walks back and forth and says that he is sure he can trust his colleague Burchill, and that Sunday night was a mistake from them as a pair. So, he says, he is willing to give Jeff a title shot — if, and only if, he manages to beat Burchill next week on Smackdown. Before Jeff can say anything, Matt lifts his microphone to his lips and says: “Bring it on!”. Regal and Burchill turn and leave as Matt turns to Jeff and makes a little belt gesture, adding quietly: “I’ll get the first shot, right?” - 78%.
- Backstage, Kristal Marshall welcomes Gregory Helms into the shot. We are shown photos of Rey Mysterio losing to King Booker at Summerslam. Kristal says Helms has seen those images backstage too, and has one question for him — “Why did you interfere in the World Heavyweight title match?”. Helms looks at her with a confused expression. He says he was backstage when Mysterio was attacked, and that it was “some weirdo in a mask” who cost Mysterio his shot at the title. Kristal shoots Helms a confused expression of her own, and starts pointing out that the assailant looked just like Helms, and everyone at home is nodding their head in agreement — it did look like Helms, it did! — until both have to dive out of the way when Lashley and Mark Henry brawl through the camera shot. Boy, what inconvenient timing! - 79%.
- I don’t really know where this whole thing is going, and what the point of it is, but at least Steven Richards and Sabu are having a fair bit of fun with their feud. And when they meet in the ring here, it’s basically all about Richards allowing Sean Morley to get on with some distraction from ringside, before beating Sabu down and telling him to join Right To Censor. But after a bit, Sabu starts to really assert himself. So when he builds up the momentum and looks to go for a springboard moonsault, it looks like he could finally be getting a win over Richards. Instead, Morley hops up on the apron again. Sabu points him out to the referee. Nick Patrick goes to remonstrate with Morley, who keeps him deep in conversation, and as he does, a pretty tall dude in a Right To Censor outfit slides into the ring, grabs Sabu, powerbombs him, and throws Richards on top. He scarpers before Patrick turns around to count the three. Steven Richards (w/Sean Morley) beats Sabu - 76%.
- The tall guy, who I am told is development talent Jack Bull, climbs back in for another powerbomb on Sabu. Sean Morley goes up top for his splash, which draws out Chavo Guerrero. It’s one man against three, though, and he is hit with a Steven T, a splash and then a big powerbomb for good measure.
- Brian Kendrick and Paul London are waiting in the general manager’s office and boy do they look battered and bruised. London is holding his ribs and Kendrick has a nasty shiner. Eventually, Eric Bischoff walks in and asks how he can help them, although I get the sense he’s going to do the opposite. And I was right! The former champions want another shot at Kid Kash and Jamie Noble, they were *this* close to beating them. Bischoff jokes that maybe they would be champions now if London had just reached up rather than dived. Kendrick takes an awkward glance at London as he points this out. The co-general manager adds that he would want more intelligence from his tag champions, so he’s not going to hand them an immediate shot. And, in fact, there are plenty of other teams deserving a shot — so London and Kendrick will have to work their way back up the Smackdown rankings, starting with The Gymini tonight - 74%.
- You know when a match is basically just designed to keep someone like Kurt Angle ticking over, fill a slot on a show and the lead to something else? And you know when it feels like an up and coming star, like Mr Kennedy, has fallen a bit by the wayside recently and doesn’t actually have that much to do? And you know how you sit there, through about eight minutes of televised wrestling (including entrances), and it’s fine, but at the end of the day you’re not going to remember the match even a month from now? Well, let me shock you — that’s what happened here. Kennedy did not look that bad, Angle did not look that good, but the former lost and the latter won. Kennedy nearly had a Green Bay Plunge in place before Angle elbowed out, jumped down and Angle Slammed him after carrying him halfway across the ring and getting the pin in. Does anyone else get the sense he’s going through the motions a bit? Kurt Angle beats Mr Kennedy - 79%.
- Mr Kennedy is angry and throws a little bit of a temper tantrum as Kurt Angle goes away and celebrates up the ramp. Once Angle is clear, Kennedy gets on the microphone. He points out how he was the unbeaten star of Smackdown until very recently, when he got mixed up with Sabu. Then he highlights the fact that just because The Great Khali disappeared, The Undertaker decided to turn his attention to him. So, Kennedy says, he’s pissed off at himself for his recent defeats — and can guarantee that will not be the case for long, as he will open up the floor to anyone to face him next week on Smackdown. Lights out, GONG, lights back on to Kennedy smiling at getting his chance to face Taker next week. It’s amazing just how much a single GONG noise can get across, isn’t it? - 72%.
- The Gymini have had way more television time in recent weeks than anyone could have really expected, and they’re fairly solid, to be fair to the pair of them. But this is just a way to get Paul London and Brian Kendrick back among the wins. Mark Henry is absent as The Gymini and Simon Dean come out, but the World’s Strongest Man and Lashley do pop up about two minutes into this match, brawling around ringside again. Which, in fact, leads to the finish. Jake Gymini is distracted, Kendrick tags London before hitting a Sliced Bread #2, and London comes off the top with a 450 Splash for the pinfall win. The cameras follow Lashley and Henry brawling to the back again. Paul London and Brian Kendrick beat The Gymini (w/Simon Dean) - 74%.
- After Simon Dean runs after his man, Kid Kash and Jamie Noble pop up on screen. The WWE Tag Team champions are sat by a pool on loungers, wearing trunks and with their belts around their waists. Noble says they’ve been given the night off after their sterling display at WWE Summerslam, but that they’re looking forward to being back next week to start defending their titles again. Kash then adds: “Not to you two bozos though — we’re looking for real opposition!”. Noble continues, and says London and Kendrick won’t be getting near them for a long time.
- Johnny Nitro, Joey Mercury and Melina are backstage watching that all unfold and boy do they not look delighted. “What the hell?” exclaims Nitro. Mercury asks Melina how she can let them fall by the wayside so much in the tag division — they don’t have a match tonight on Smackdown, they don’t have a match on Velocity, how are they going to go about proving themselves and winning THEIR tag team titles back? There’s a bit of a kerfuffle in the background. The cameras pan over and Lashley and Mark Henry are brawling again. They fight along the catering table, which Nitro and Mercury are at the end of. Lashley bounces Henry’s head off the table, and he stumbles back into Funaki, who lets his paper plate with cake on it fly — right into Melina’s face! Lashley and Henry brawl off, but Melina bawls and tells Funaki to bring Scotty 2 Hotty with him on Velocity — her boys are going to beat them both. Making matches for Velocity on Smackdown? It’ll never catch on - 71%.
- Look, I was sceptical earlier, I have to admit it. After Michael Cole made up such a colossal lie about Smackdown being live — when we all know it is taped! — it was hard to get over it and move on. But, it turns out, they were not making up the fact Rey Mysterio was going to take on Randy Orton in the first part of a three-part gauntlet. In fact, it’s the main event of the show. Orton has one eye watching out for Batista, Cole constantly points out, after their brawl at Summerslam. But this one passes off, at least initially, with very little drama. Orton takes charge to begin the match, and while Mysterio manages to build up a bit of momentum going into the commercial break, it’s the Legend Killer who is in control after the adverts have run. He’s properly working Mysterio down with a leg lock, trying to stop him from flying about the ring. He then uses the ropes to get some stomps in, and ties him up in the corner and targets the knee very directly. Mysterio though eventually drags himself up and gets a kick to Orton’s head, sending him spinning across the ring. He then gets up to the second rope and hits a cross body which gets a two count. Mysterio stays in charge, getting kicks and punches in, which after a minute, draws out King Booker and Sharmell. Booker cheers on Orton from ringside, but it has no discernable impact. And when Orton turns an attempted suplex into a sideslam, only for Mysterio to turn it into a hurricanrana, Sharmell hops onto the apron. Charles Robinson gets drawn over. Booker slides into the ring with his belt and goes to clock Mysterio with it, but he ducks and the champion takes out Orton instead! Booker scarpers, Sharmell jumps down, and Mysterio picks up an easy win. Rey Mysterio beats Randy Orton - 79%.
- As King Booker and Sharmell back up the ramp, Batista’s music hits and The Animal walks out dressed in a suit. Booker and Sharmell stop walking, staring at Batista. Eric Bischoff appears on screen again and you know where this one is going — it’s Rey Mysterio against Batista next week in the next stage of the gauntlet. Tazz tells us that’s a huge match — yes, we needed to be told that — and Michael Cole thanks us for joining and tells us to tune in as Batista, Rey and Booker all stare one another down.
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Post by aew1992 on Jun 7, 2023 13:39:15 GMT 1
WWE HEAT 26 August 2006 - HEAT was taped at the Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
- An angry Paul Heyman kicks off the show in the ring. He points out that he has one championship client in Rob Van Dam, a man whose career he took hold of and turned into the top man in the company in the space of a few weeks. But Heyman says he is not the only person who Heyman Incorporated represents. He then points to the corner, where Matt Striker is stood, suited up. He says Striker was a key part of his plan to crown Van Dam as champion, and deserves to be treated with respect. They’re interrupted by Justin Credible, who walks onto the ramp with a kendo stick. Credible swings the stick around as he talks, pointing out Heyman trusted him enough to make him the man in ECW as the company was falling to bits. That feels like a bit of an accidental dig at himself from Credible. The champion as it all came crumbling down… great? But, he points out, Heyman even bounced cheques to his champion in those days. Credible says he knows a loser when he sees one — like Heyman at the time — and Striker is a loser. And Credible says the WWE needs fewer losers and more winners, like himself. So he wants to face him in the HEAT main event. Heyman agrees. Not to labour the point, but that winners and losers chat was the talk of a loser - 75%.
- Snitsky is given something to do after he is teamed up with Norman Smiley. They’re introduced as Miles Of Smiles, which Snitsky does not look particularly happy with. Remember when he was in a feud with a load of television time two years ago? That something to do, it turns out, is losing to Test and Sean O’Haire. A Big Boot from Test on Smiley ends this one. I foresee Miles Of Defeats in their future. Test and Sean O’Haire beat Norman Smiley and Snitsky - 63%.
- Mickie James is in the ring after a bit of hype for Unforgiven, which is, blimey, just weeks away. She offers up an open challenge, which is answered by the debuting Trinity Williams. Williams is given no video and just walks out on stage. She’s basically meant to be nobody. Even so, she takes James to the limit and nearly gets the win after a superplex. Jack Doan nearly counts the three, only for James to kick out. Eventually, though, a Chick Kick gets James the win. Mickie James beats Trinity Williams in a non-title match - 57%.
- After the bell, Trish Stratus comes out on stage. She is just so much more popular than every other woman in the company isn’t she? Trish goes to talk down James, but instead she’s taken out by Beth Phoenix. Phoenix Falls follows on the ramp, and we’re treated to Phoenix breathing heavily as referees and road agents drag her away and medical staff treat Trish.
- Look, I don’t exactly know where they’re going with this. Maybe it’s just a way to keep Matt Striker ticking over while they figure out exactly what they’re going to do with him. Maybe it’s just meant to be fun. Maybe there’s something else that they’re working towards. But for some reason, despite Paul Heyman getting involved, Justin Credible gets a clean pinfall win over Striker to cap off HEAT. Justin Credible beats Matt Striker (w/Paul Heyman) - 57%.
- The show is coming to an end when Justin Credible goes after Paul Heyman with his kendo stick. Matt Striker, though, interrupts him with a chair and knocks him about with it on the outside as HEAT ends.
WWE Velocity 26 August 2006
- Velocity was filmed at the Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
- Michael Cole and Tazz are joined on commentary by Nunzio and Vito to kick off Velocity, and boy do they run through the Italian stereotypes as Jack Bull — accompanied by the rest of Right To Censor — takes on Hardcore Holly. Bull is confirmed to be named Jack Bull, by the way. Holly gets cut into pieces like spaghetti as Bull chops him, according to Nunzio. He’s then sliced like parmigianno by Bull’s big kicks. And he’s folded over like a calzone, Nunzio adds, before being powerbombed for a win for Bull. Afterwards the FBI laugh in Holly’s face — they’ve not been his biggest fan in recent weeks. Jack Bull (w/Steven Richards and Sean Morley) beats Hardcore Holly - 62%.
- Austin Healy has been on a decent run since rocking up on Velocity. Michael Cole and Tazz tell us Teddy Long has given him the chance to take Ultimo Dragon on in a non-title match. And it looks as though he is going to get the win and — presumably, because this is how this sort of thing always works — earn a title shot when he gets the Heal To Head in on Dragon after five minutes. But Dragon manages to fight his way out with a series of kicks. Healy stumbles away but runs back with a clothesline on the rising Dragon. Dragon ducks, hits a kick to the midsection of Healy. That is a set up for an Asai DDT, and the Cruiserweight champion gets the win. Ultimo Dragon beats Austin Healy in a non-title match - 73%.
- One of the quirks of this whole internet streaming thing is that they have to run through all the upcoming live shows globally to cover all bases. I wonder if they’ll come up with a way of localising video in the future.
- Back from that break, Austin Healy is licking his wounds backstage when Torrie Wilson — who has been absent for a good while — walks over. She says she’s come to Smackdown from RAW because she’s been impressed by his debut and recent performances. She wants to help him go to the next level, because it’s always hard in WWE if you don’t have backup. Torrie wants to be his manager. Healy looks her up and down, smiles and says she can do a trial run next week, when he’s going to be in action again - 77%.
- We get a recap, as MNM make their way down to the ring, of why they are taking on Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty. Quick recap? Funaki’s cake ended up on Melina’s face. This should be a cakewalk (no pun intended) for Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury but their performance is not exactly ful-filling. And in fact, there’s no icing on the cake as their performance goes on, as they are just not able to put Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty away. Relationships even get a bit frosting between the two of them as neither can get a decisive pinfall. Just as Scotty 2 Hotty seems to get the better of Mercury, though, and starts building up to the Worm, Melina jumps on the apron, distracts Jim Korderas, Nitro kicks Scotty between the legs and then spears Funaki off the apron, and Mercury gets the roll-up pinfall. Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro (w/Melina) beat Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty - 73%.
- MNM celebrate to end Velocity but they do not seem particularly happy at the nature of the victory, or how they have fallen from grace in recent weeks. Come on guys — at least you have jobs!
------------------------ GrappleNews.net News and Notes
There was a huge moment on TNA Impact this week as Scott Hall made his return to the company and was immediately installed as the No 1 contender to Jeff Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight title. He has been signed to a written deal — as has Cody Hawk. Hawk's signing has gone slightly more under the radar.
TNA are now edging towards the sort of recognition that WWE would worry about them having. There has been chatter within WWE about the idea of moving Smackdown to a Thursday night to directly compete with Impact, although that is currently not the plan. The WWE are confident they can book their way ahead of TNA if they ever get into a war.
There is also a number of TNA talents that WWE would be interested in signing up at the right moment. The issue is that most of them signed one-year written deals when TNA became a global company earlier this year.
While WWE are confident their booking strategy would take them ahead of TNA, there are a number of WWE wrestlers who are currently unhappy with their situation. Everyone is fairly aware Triple H is miserable currently, but an equally big issue surrounds Kurt Angle, who feels underused and underappreciated. WWE are trying to come up with a plan to keep him happy and keep him with the company. If he jumped ship to TNA it'd be a major acquisition.
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