The normal videos show accompanied by a highlight reel of the US title situation between Booker T and Chris Benoit. Here's a big question: why the hell was JBL in that match for a shot at the title? He held the WWE title for almost a year and now he's begging for a US shot? Like him or not, that's just some bad booking. Simon Dean and Ken Kennedy could have been slid very easily into JBL's slot, and I guarantee you that it would have made a ton of more sense as well as probably making the match better. Anyway, the announcers hype up the main event and the debut of Hardy and we got right into the United States bout.
WWE United States Championship
Chris Benoit (c) Vs. Booker T
This match had all the hype going into it, and it deserved it and so much more. Everything was clicking tonight and this was the kind of match we should have gotten at No Mercy. Nothing either man did in the ring the whole fifteen-seventeen minutes was wasted energy or movement. Everything made sense, everything flowed, and in the end, everything was amazing. Before I forget, the first commercial break came during this match, but I am just so flabbergasted by the match that I got nothing witty to say about it. This is probably one of the best SmackDown! matches of the year. I didn't get a chance to see Eddie-Orton, but I am fairly confident that this one was better by far. The only match this whole year I can think of that may beat this one would be Eddie-Rey from June, but that's actually my match of the year, so what could beat that? Benoit's suicide dive on the outside was just brutal and I know Benoit is not going to be confident until he is confined to a wheelchair like his idol. Look at all the bumps Benoit takes: the Wrestlemania ladder bump, those weird ones with Orton last year, all the high risk stuff he did when his neck was broken, et cetera. Benoit is legitimately nuts, people. Booker T was probably his best all year in this match too. He stayed on top of Benoit's neck/back following that spot and kept working it and had an answer for everything Benoit did. This match reminded me so much of their WCW days, it was scary. I pray to God this isn't even close to the end of this feud as they are going to deliver some damn fine matches. Finish finally came when Sharmell gave Benoit a low blow on the apron. Benoit sold it by bending over allowing Booker T to hit the Scissors Kick, in probably the only instance in WWE history where that move was placed well and didn't expose the buisness.
Winner: Booker T
Star Wrestler: Chris Benoit
God, what a match. The only thing that's bothering me right now is how quickly Benoit lost the belt. The way they built him up led me to believe a long title reign was coming, but it didn't happen. I would have loved to see WWE do a more gradual turn of Booker with maybe Booker losing some more and maybe even tagging with Benoit regularly until it boils down like this. There is literally no complaint about the match though; however, as commendable as Booker T's workrate was, Benoit was that much better. The selling, the insane bump, the offense, and the flow he used were all amazing. The attention to detail he gave was amazing too as for a two minute span; he tried falling on his side to lessen the blow to his back. This is the Benoit everyone knows; not the one who phones it in from time to time on TV and crappy PPV matches. This match was pure excitement and a true story told in the ring with action alone and I applaud both men, but Benoit just a little bit more.
They then hype up the main event as well as a Rey-JBL rematch and we go to a break so I can calm myself down a bit.
Commercial break times two equals a match requiring me to put on some new pants.
They show a brief Taker highlight reel hyping up his death at No Mercy. Definitely overkill at this point, but what are you going to do? Booker T and Sharmell are then celebrating with the belt and some champagne. Benoit shows up and gets in his face and the two argue over Sharmell. Eventually, Booker turns on him and they storm off. Good segment to follow the great match and they are selling the "woman getting between two friends storyline" real well.
Long is then walking with security which is in case of Raw and they find the Ortons in the trainer's office as Bob is complaining about his trick back. Maybe that's why Bob Orton can't work like he used to anymore! Randy says he needs one week, but Teddy tells him he can either go at against Batista and Eddie alone or with a replacement partner. Josh Matthews then keeps the backstage segments going and going and going and he is with JBL and Jillian, and they talk about what happened on Raw. JBL claims he wasn't the one who did it in his own long-winded manner. He puts over his mini-feud with Rey later over tonight and then challenges Edge then and there. They then pump up the return of Matt Hardy and we go to another break.
Commercial break times three equals a trifecta of segments ranging from good to mediocre to just plain bad.
We then see a highlight reel of Matt Hardy and his feud with Edge and we go right into his debut which gets a huge pop. Why wasn't he on the Peep Show? Isn't that what they pumped up last week? Continuity is definitely not a luxury you can afford not to have. Of course, Simon cuts a promo before the match; when does he not? Dean makes a joke that if he was in better shape, Lita wouldn't have left him. Great line! Hardy then lays out Dean and we go into it.
Matt Hardy Vs. Simon Dean
This was a fun match as normal with Dean, and Hardy's great brawling he's picked up since returning to WWE made it more enjoyable than your typical Dean Machine bout. Hardy's new survivor gimmick suits him really well as the way he sells everything as well as the brawling comebacks and offense he does matches perfectly. Without Jeff, the daredevil gimmick was just stale, and the Mattitude gimmick was funny in theory, but didn't really play out that well in the ring unlike this one. This is a gimmick that suits Hardy to a "T." I love Dean's cast too; the way they play with it in every match just adds more flavor to Dean's offense as well as drawing reference back to Lashley which will do good in the end as to get that guy over. I'd like to see Dean use it a bit more, but the way this whole match flowed was just a fun match and an excellent way of debuting Matt Hardy. For the finish, Hardy hit the Side Effect followed by the Twist of Fate for the win.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Star Wrestler: Matt Hardy
The only complaint I have about Dean is that by this point, his controlling spots are literally the same each and every time. The cast is mixing it up a bit here and there, but not much. I'm still marking for the guy, but in another month or two, he's going to have me and probably a lot of others yawning. Hardy on the other hand is amazing to watch as his brawling is so great and fits him so well at this stage in his career. The best part about Hardy is that I love how he is able to stay in control of a guy without any holds whatsoever. It's incredible and a great way for Hardy to go in WWE.
Steve Romero is then in the parking lot and he puts over the security in case Raw shows up. Is it really that big of a deal if they show up? They've done this before and I've never seen them bust out the security? Did we see the security at No Mercy when Bischoff himself said he would be there? Nope. They then hype up the Rey-JBL match and another break comes.
Commercial break times four equals a great Hardy debut and a dumb Raw-SD precaution.
They show the Raw Rebound which is the amazing Austin segment from Monday. It was just pure comedy from Austin with the crowd pissing their pants a la 1999. It's just sad that Raw itself couldn't back up that segment with anything good in the ring. Rey's music hits and we go into the next match. Gee, I wonder if Edge will show up!
Rey Mysterio Vs. John Bradshaw Layfield
This match surprised me for a number of reasons. One, I thought it would go for less than three minutes as Edge would just come out and lay out people. Two, it was so phenomenally better than their No Mercy bout. Every problem they had in the No Mercy bout was fixed here. The brawling on Rey's part was diminished, Rey kept it more fast paced, JBL picked a body part and worked it way better, and even the trademarks on Rey's part were in the exact right place with the right flow. Everything was clicking here and I was just so impressed by everything in the match. Even Jillian Hall was great in this match by interacting with the fans and distracting Rey with the clipboard so JBL could take control. Let me tell you something: this is the best damn episode of SmackDown! I have seen in a long time thus far. Three good matches, two of them literally great, and some good storyline action going on. As amazed as I was with the opening bout, I am more amazed here as I expected that one to be great and this one to be either a throw-away or just simply mediocre. Great job by both men here and I really have nothing to complain about in the whole match. They made everything formulate perfect sense and ended the feud perfectly, or so I think it did. Finish came when Rey hit the 619 and Edge's music hit. Edge then came through the crowd and gave Rey one of the best spears he's ever given. Rey is such a great guy at putting over moves. With his selling ability and his pure size, he should the yard stick to sell power moves like that.
Winner: No Contest
Star Wrestler: Rey Mysterio
This was a definitive carry job by Mysterio for JBL and it showed, but was still a fantastic match. Without Rey's selling and quick offense (even when he drew it out), it would have been a generic JBL match by far. Rey is a great worker right now and probably in the top five for WWE. He was able to cut a lot of the fat out of their match from No Mercy and make everything seem more believable and real. Great job here by both men, but in the end, Rey was the true star.
Afterwards, JBL ran after Edge through the crowd. Chris Masters came in and put the Masterlock onto Rey. Again, this was the best version of that move by Masters I've ever seen; Rey is just on the ball tonight. Masters was throwing him around and Rey literally looked limper than Vince at the Playboy mansion. Cruisers then ran out and Masters laid them all out viciously, especially London and Spanky. I think Masters would have done so much better if he had been on SmackDown! Look at all the small competitors he would have had to toss around like empty backpacks. Eventually, Hardcore Holly came out and Masters went running like a scolded dog. I know it's the wrong brand, but I miss JR.
Commercial break times five equals another damn fine match followed by an excellent feud builder between Raw and SmackDown!
Coming back, they show a recap of it and then a locker room of pissed off superstars yelling at each other over it. Finally, Teddy comes in and Rey swears he wants Edge with the whole locker room supporting him. Despite the excessive security, they are building this feud up very well.
Bobby Lashley Vs. Vito
Another fun little squash match with Lashley. It started off a bit sloppy, but it got better and better, and Lashley has finally got into an aggressive power man gimmick as opposed to just a generic big man with an impressive offense. The way he kept going after Vito and the Nunzio spots just added more and more to the great job WWE is doing at building up the black version of Lesnar. His match at No Mercy was all kinds of bad, but matches like these are so much better as they give a chance for good big men like Vito to get the upper hand, but Lashley makes a great comeback putting over his power and aggression. It's not even to the point of Lashley no-selling it either as Vito was working him for a good minute or so (which is more than it looks like). In the end, Lashley aggressively hit the Dominator after taking out Nunzio.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Star Wrestler: Bobby Lashley
This is one of those matches where you didn't get to see much from Vito. He was in control of Lashley pretty well, but you couldn't see the selling so much due to the fast paced nature. So by default, Lashley wins this one, but he probably would have won it anyway. The aggressive gimmick he's going after now suits his offense so much better and the way he's locking them in and hitting them, it's adding for an overall better package. At this point, all Lashley needs is a mouthpiece to get people to start caring about him. Once he gets that, the sky is the limit.
The main event and confusion over Orton's partner is then hyped up. I'm going to bet Christian fills the slot as there is really no one else on SmackDown! to fill in as we've already seen most of the heels. Kennedy could work, but I doubt WWE would put him in that slot and give him the exposure so quick. Then again, I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again.
Commercial break times six equals a great new direction for Lashley. Please get Heyman for him, WWE. Please!
In perhaps the best segment of the night and perhaps SmackDown! all year, Palmer Cannon breaks the news about the midget division to Teddy Long. The midgets then make their way in running rampart on Long's office as well as Super Porky just eating his pork right in front of them. Long's face was priceless and the way the midgets were jumping everywhere like little kids and with Porky eating his heart out, it was pure gold. "What's that smell, Teddy? That's the smell of ratings!" As much as I hate to admit, this midget division could work wonders for SmackDown! Did you hear the crowd's reaction to them? Amazing. Long then needed some air and tried to leave, but the Boogeyman popped up with a fireball scaring the shit out Long. Boogeyman then cut a very indistinct promo followed by his trademark punch line which the midgets sold astonishingly. I don't have that much bad to say about the Boogeyman in theory, but the guy needs to be clearer in his promos if he wants to get over. I didn't understand a word of what he said and that's not menacing to me, that's idiotic. Long and Porky then seal the deal on this segment as Long sits down and Porky offers him some meat as Long looks like he is about to die. Someone give Long a damn Oscar. This is the best I've ever seen him perform and definitely a great segment that has me wanting some bacon for some odd reason. Ah, midgets; nature's punch line.
Cole and Tazz put over the past segment and then Steve Romero is with Sylvan who wants to get his opinion on the Raw invasion, but Sylvan says he only cares for three people, "Me, myself, and I." How cute. Sylvan definitely needs a new gimmick; this one is ridiculous. Actually, just cut the asshole. Without La Resistance, the guy serves no purpose and is really quite bad by himself in the ring. Holly then shows up and yells at his lack of loyalty for SmackDown! Apparently, they have a hardcore match coming up and Holly has two surprises. One, the ref. Two, the bell! He then rams the bell into Sylvan and we go right into it. Less than a week after I asked for a more hardcore Hardcore Holly, here we go! Hardcore Holly really has been a roll in WWE lately and as much as I hate the guy personally, I got to give credit where credit is due.
Hardcore Match
Hardcore Holly Vs. Sylvan
Man, this was a damn fine hardcore match and a sight for sore eyes. They definitely over killed it in the early part of this decade, but since the hardcore title was phased out, they have shunned this style completely (bar the ECW shit earlier this year). It's nice to see some just plain hardcore action out of the blue. This was great. They went all through the arena. The women's locker room, the elevator before commercial break numero seven, the concessions table, et cetera. Hardcore Holly even added some comedy to it by slathering some ketchup onto Sylvan and chopping him for good measure. Sylvan took a lot of bumps and hard shots in this match especially with the stick when they got to the ring. Holly pulled out a stick, broke it on Sylvan's back, and then started wailing on him with the broken pieces. This was just great nostalgic WWE hardcore matches and another good match for SmackDown! The crowd was eating it all up, I was eating it all up, and I'm very glad to see Holly finally living up to his gimmick. Finish came after a lot of good action when Holly caught a surprised Sylvan and put him through a table Sylvan set up with the Alabama Slam.
Winner: Hardcore Holly
Star Wrestler: Sylvan
You may be thinking, "Oh, this idiot hates Holly so even the less talented worker will get the nod." Well, you're right that Sylvan is less talented, but in this match, Sylvan was great. His selling, his bump taking, and the way he played the out-of-place heel was great. Sylvan did an amazing job at acting out-of-place, which in turn put over Holly immeasurably. He may or may not have been acting, but the guy still deserves props. Plus, anyone who will take that kind of abuse deserves this anyway. I have to wonder though: who did Sylvan piss off enough to garner a feud with Holly?
A lackluster segment then follows with Eddie and Batista warming up for their match. Eddie then looks like he is getting ready to break down as he can't believe he went down that road with Rey. He had it all at Wrestlemania XX with the title, and little by little, it all fell apart. Well, duh! Batista said he has a second chance now, and Eddie says it's because of Batista. He puts over the ending to No Mercy and then the segment ends. It's good acting by Eddie as always, but I preferred when Eddie was a conflicted tweener as opposed to this garbage. Eddie better turn heel at Survivor Series or WWE will have ruined the best thing they have going for them. Eddie will be a great worker no matter what, but mental Eddie was firing on all cylinders. They then hype up the main event some more and we go to another break.
Commercial break times eight equals a bit of a buzz kill, but not enough to drop the quality of the show down as this is hands down one of the best of the year.
They do the Doom crap (like with any Rock movie) and then hype up a Fatal Four Way match for the WWE Tag Titles next week as Legion of Doom goes against MNM, the British Lords, and the Mexicools. That should be good. It's great that WWE finally has a tag team division to do a match like that as well.
Orton, Guerrero, and Batista then make their way out and it's announced as a handicap match, but then Orton whispers his partner who then comes out and it's:
Batista & Eddie Guerrero Vs. Randy Orton & Ken Kennedy
I was wrong! Oh, well; it's kind of weird we didn't even see Christian this week though. Anyway, I'm getting a little bit tired of the tag team main events for SmackDown! This is like the fourth out of five weeks! This one was clearly the best of them all though and it had a lot of good points especially Kennedy versus Guerrero which meshed very well. Commercial break number nine cut apart that though so who knows what kind of workrate they gave us. Batista did the hot tag and Eddie played the face-in-peril as you would expect, but Eddie's set up was great as Orton did that knee-neckbreaker move to Eddie except using the ropes. Eddie took it awkwardly too as he just fell head first to the apron following it. Great spot and this whole night has been filled with some stiff bumps and spots. Orton and Kennedy both worked over Eddie really well after that and Kennedy added his own flavor of comedy like screaming, "What are you doing out here?" to try and convey a sense of innocence after Orton took out Eddie; classic Mr. Kennedy right there. This match was just good, though the ending looked very, very botched as Kennedy laid out Eddie and grabbed a chair. He then waited for what felt like an eternity for Orton to set up Batista for a shot as Bob came down to distract the ref. Kennedy went to the top rope to take down Batista who was covering Randy, but Eddie jumped in and tried to protect him. Kennedy then did some more comedic expressions and then laid out Eddie again. The ref DQed them and this good match came to an end. The finish was a little botched and cluttered, like I said, but it was still a solid tag match. I'm still trying to find Orton-Guerrero to download and watch and I can't wait to see a Kennedy-Guerrero match. The way those two clicked in the ring is something that should be a huge light bulb for WWE.
Winners: Batista & Eddie Guerrero
Star Wrestler: Eddie Guerrero
Let's just assume that for now on; any time there is a HBK or Eddie match, they will be the star wrestler. As far as I'm concerned, these two have done no wrong this whole year and can do no wrong. They are the epitome of the total package, and you know Luger is not meant in that. To justify my claims, Eddie's selling and his take down of Orton/Kennedy in the opening was great. Eddie was showing Orton just exactly how to throw an uppercut right. In the end, good match, but like most Eddie matches this year, the quality would have dropped horribly if anyone besides Latino Heat was in here.
After the match, the three of them deliver a sweet beat down onto Batista. I'm talking good two-on-one followed by excellent three-on-one which was topped off with an RKO. I felt like I was watching an angle from the 80s with the Freebirds taking out a VE at one point. I may be over-hyping it, but that beat down was just cool; Caribbean cool! Long then struts out and announces a six man tag for next week by just adding Bob Orton and Piper into the mix. Hopefully, they will do better than they have in the past. WWE then goes off the air until Monday and some Raw invasion fall out.
Surprisingly enough, SmackDown! this week was great! I can really only think of one bad segment and I can't think of one out of the five matches that was actually bad. The only you can formulate an argument (loose one at that) for would be the Lashley squash, but with the new found aggression he's showing, that made the match so much better. I'm struggling to think of bad things to say about SmackDown! at this point, and with the recent quality of the "B show," that's saying something. I'll even go as far as to say this is the best WWE TV show I've seen in a while, even better than Homecoming. Great job, WWE, but the real question, as always, is can you keep the ball rolling? Probably not, but like always, I'll be tuning in next week to find out.
Well, I'm still backed up, but I'm getting through them. After this, I'm down to nine that still need to be done. Velocity is next followed by three Indy shows, Impact, Bound For Glory, Raw, and a NWA Cyberspace show. I promise you I will get them done and by the end of this month, I should be all caught up. I'll even put good money down that I will despite some of my procrastination. Well, that's going to be it, guys. Thanks again for reading my ramblings. ‘Till next time, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch.
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