Submitted by Mr. Tito on Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 1:58 AM EST
2 nights in a row of WWE Smackdown roster action! -DARK MATCHES-Kanyon vs. Rene Dupre Very solid opener here. Kanyon came out to a big opening pop, while Dupre received plenty of boos. Dupre was sporting a robe much like Ric Flair's, and he was reminding me of Buddy Rogers from the old tapes I've seen of him. Dupre played a great arrogant heel and he wrestled well too. Some good back and forth action between the two, and Kanyon kept doing these cool headlocks on Dupre, like doing a takedown and into a headlock or jumping in midhair and grabbing Dupre for the headlock. Dupre hit a nice Fame-asser off the top rope on Kanyon. That wasn't enough, as Dupre was eventually Flatlined for the loss. Good match, and if Dupre is pushed like this as a heel, he's going to make the company some money someday. Winner: Kanyon Val Venis and an Nova who looked like Shannon Moore vs. Shelton Benjamin and Lance Cade(?) Tony Chimel is hard to hear sometimes. Good pop for Val Venis again, but no pop for the rest of the wrestlers. Benjamin has his own theme, and guess what it is? It has something to do with Benjamins or $100 bills. Oh, so original. Somewhat of a sloppy tag match, and Benjamin got the win for his team by putting his foot on the ropes when pinning Nova. Benjamin was Venis's tag partner in Wheeling on Monday night, and now he's the opposing heel last night. Winner: Shelton Benjamin and Lance Cade -VELOCITY-Chimel told us to cheer when the pyro went off. Chuck Palumbo vs. Crash Holly Chuck had some face pops, while Crash had a nice mixture of boos and cheers. Crash did the fall over the ropes again before the match. The part where they were in the corner and Chuck held up Crash's legs was a funny sequence. Also, Crash Holly tried an IRON CLAW on Palumbo's stomach. Crazy... The match had a slow pace other than some comedy, and Chuck Palumbo won the match with a chokeslam. Winner: Chuck Palumbo Jamie Noble and Nidia came out and they ripped on the Columbus crowd. Noble would then talk about Billy Kidman, the man he's going to face at Survivor Series this Sunday. That's all... D'Von Dudley vs. Funaki D'Von had some heel heat, not like he had at the houseshow, and Funaki came out to a decent pop, as he's recognizeable in his role as #1 Smackdown Announcer. The crowd was dead for this one, as many fans opted for a bathroom break or to get some refreshments. Funaki hits a pretty nice flying body press in this match. D'Von won with his finishing move.Winner: D'Von Albert vs. Shannon Moore Albert came out to no pop whatsoever, while Shannon Moore had some. The match was nothing more than Albert dominating the Cruiserweight. More "shave your back" chants from the crowd. Albert would win with a sequence of 2 bicycle kicks and his Baldo Bomb. And that was your Velocity main event. Winner: Albert -SMACKDOWN-The intro will have Brock Lesnar moments, like Heyman shouting that he can't beat the Big Show, and then a few confrontations, such as the chokeslam through the table and Lesnar getting tossed off the side of the stage. Then, we go to the backstage area and we see Paul Heyman getting interviewed. He said that Lesnar won't be here tonight because he's recovering from cracked ribs that make him spit blood all week. The Big Show would then interrupt and say that he'll call on Brock Lesnar, tonight, anyway whether he's hurt or not. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!!! Smackdown theme hits, and very loud pyro erupts! Edge vs. Chavo Guerrero Pretty good opener here. Both wrestlers were well received by the crowd, especially Edge, who gets piercing screams by women fans. It's good to be the Edge. Edge hit a nice dropkick on Chavo as Chavo was going off the top rope. Another cool part of the match was when Edge missed the spear and was speared by Chavo. Edge would win this match by haulting the tornado DDT off the top rope and then hitting the Impaler DDT for the win. Winner: Edge Rey Mysterio is backstage, talking about his later match with Eddie Guerrero. Brock Lesnar just so happens to walk by, thus proving Heyman wrong that Lesnar wasn't here tonight. SLAM of the WEEK: Al Wilson proposing to Dawn Marie from last week's Smackdown. Al Wilson was with Dawn Marie backstage. Dawn Marie thinks it would be a great idea to invite Torrie to their wedding, but Al is unsure of that. Dawn Marie said that the wedding could be what "mends the fences" between the 3. Al then said he'll talk to Torrie now. Paul Heyman is backstage with Brock Lesnar. Heyman questions why Lesnar is here tonight, and points out that Lesnar gets hurt when he doesn't have Heyman with him. Heyman and Lesnar work as a team, remember. Heyman begs Lesnar to turn down the Big Show's calling for tonight, and Heyman says he has an idea on how to stop their eventual brawl for the evening. Matt Hardy and John Cena had a backstage interview, and a very funny one at that. Matt Hardy said Columbus lacked "Mattitude" and that he needed his new homeboy John Cena to help him explain his problem with Columbus. Cena then whips out this incredible rap that pisses off the Columbus crowd! The second he mentioned the Ohio State Buckeyes, the fans booed so loud that I couldn't make out what he said for the rest of the rap. I do remember he finished the rap with "cause Columbus sucks". The boos were so loud when he ripped the Buckeyes. Chyna's theme plays for WWE Anthology. Matt Hardy/John Cena vs. Rikishi/Tajiri After that ripping of Columbus, Hardy and Cena came out to some good heat. I can see why Rikishi keeps getting pushed now. The second he came out and throughout the whole match, the Smackdown fans in Columbus were going bonkers. Plenty of "Buckeyes" chants, and a strange chant went on against Matt saying "we want Jeff". Cena will take a Tarantula and Tajiri will hit some nice kicks throughout. Weird finish, though, which saw a strange looking double clothesline that somehow had Matt Hardy pinning Tajiri. I'd have to see the airing of Smackdown to see this again. Winners: Cena and Hardy Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle were arguing backstage. While Angle was dogging Benoit about some recent losses in tag bouts or in singles action other than against Angle, Benoit dogged Angle in saying that he couldn't beat the Crippler. Angle would then say "well, I have more teeth" and Benoit would respond by saying "I have more hair". Incredibly funny and entertaining argument here. WWE Live Events promo shown. "Half Past Dead" mini movie trailer was shown. Scott Steiner hype promo was shown. Paul Heyman would then go to the Big Show's lockerroom and plead with the Big Show not to call Lesnar on. Heyman greatly put over the Big Show with words, saying he's beat the likes of the Rock, the Undertaker, and even Hulk Hogan in his prime. Heyman begs him not to call on Lesnar, and the Big Show said he'll think about it. Lilian Garcia video was shown with clips of WWE divas included. COOL COLOR of the Night: Super Tuesday finish of the Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit match. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero Eddie was hated greatly by the crowd, while Mysterio was loved by everyone. I saw plenty of Rey merchandise floating around. Early in the match, Eddie hits a sweet looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Mysterio. Mysterio would miss accidentally hit the referee with the 619, which would cause Chavo and then Edge to run in. Chavo and Edge would actually brawl on the outside for a while, stop when Edge ran in the ring and speared Eddie after a devastating powerbomb on Rey, and then Edge would brawl with Chavo until the referees separated them and sent them to the back. Match continued. It looked like Mysterio may have slightly hurt his left knee when in the Tree of Woe, and he would later somewhat limp on it when he did a spinning backbreaker to Eddie. Rey hit a nice superplex, as well as a textbook Asai moonsault. Eddie hits this devastating clothesline near the end. Guerrero won with the Sharpshooter (although it looked like he messed up the hold from my view) and made Mysterio tap when Eddie started holding the ropes for leverage. Good match. Winner: Eddie Guerrero Al and Torrie Wilson are backstage, and Torrie at first ignores her father. But she can't resist, and then asks why she'd marry Dawn Marie, whom Torrie used plenty of adjectives in front of the word "bitch" to describe her. Torrie won't go to the wedding, and based on what could be some bad intentions on Dawn's party, Torrie used the phrase "no fool like an old fool" on her father. Anthology promo was shown. OVERDRIVE of the NIGHT: Kidman's pin on Jamie Noble from the mixed tag match on last week's Smackdown. Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman I'm assuming this was Non Title, as again, I didn't hear Chimel say it clearly. Noble was pretty hated from his comments earlier about Columbus. Billy Kidman actually got powerbombed in this match, as he was Tiger-bombed early on. The match seemed rushed and the crowd wasn't too into it. Kidman won after rolling up Jamie Noble when Noble superplexed Kidman off the top rope. Winner: Billy Kidman Hulk Hogan book promo shown. It's on sale this Tuesday. Desire video of Matt Hardy was shown with his Monster Magnet "Live for the Moment" theme playing in it. Backstage, again, as Paul Heyman tells Brock Lesnar that he personally went to the Big Show about calling out Lesnar for a fight that night. Lesnar gets mad, refusing to leaving the arena, and leaves by saying "If Big Show doesn't call me out, then I'll call him out". Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit Angle came out first to loud "You Suck" chants. Loud "what" chants were involved as he tried to talk. Angle cut some great promos on Benoit, the Guerreros, Edge, and Mysterio, which will make you laugh hard when you hear them. The Guerreros came out and responded to Angle's comments, while Edge/Rey Mysterio came out and Edge pointed out that no matter what, Angle "still sucks". Angle laughs and insists that all 4 wrestlers just want to scout him. They do, as each pulls up a steel chair at ringside to watch. Benoit comes out, and his OLP theme sounds great in a live arena. While better than most stuff on WWE television these days, it was easily the worst Benoit vs. Angle match since Benoit's return from his neck injury/surgery. Match started off slowly, and seemed to repeat things from their other matches. Benoit and Angle had several confrontations with the "scouts" outside, and when the Guerreros and Edge/Mysterio meet up on the outside, a brawl breaks out and eventually gets the match thrown out. The end saw everyone slapping on either a Crossface or an Anklelock on any opponent of their choosing. Disappointing bout, which given their previous great matches, it should have been good. BUT, it was used as a tool to hype a Pay Per View, thereby making lots of interference and shortening the time of the match. Winner: NO CONTEST After the match, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle seem to get a long now. First, it was a handshake. Then, Angle offered a hug, which Benoit didn't really like. Then the kissing and pat on the ass from Angle. Funny stuff, which I don't know if it will make Smackdown or not? Then, Edge would go for a hug from Mysterio, but Rey runs away. Eventually, Edge gives Mysterio a great big hug. That was funny. Brock Lesnar and the Big Show were shown walking to the ring. WHAT WILL PROBABLY NOT BE ON SMACKDOWN: The Big Show is seen doing a promo on the video screen about the Ohio State Buckeyes. He compared Lesnar to the Buckeyes, saying that he can't win the big game or match. It looked so bushleague that it only served to make sure the Big Show gets booed in the next segment. No Doubt "Hey Baby" promo for Divas Undressed is shown. The full Survivor Series card is shown on the screen with Saliva's "Always" playing in the background. Survivor Series promo, hyping the Elimination Chamber, is shown. Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman come out, and Lesnar says "Big Show, I know your big ass is back there", calling on the Big Show to come out for a fight. Heyman pleads with Brock to stop, but Lesnar responds by shouting "shut up" at Heyman. Lesnar says if the Big Show isn't coming out there, then he'll go to the dressing room and find the Big Show himself. However, the Big Show does come out and brawling occurs. After looking for a long time for a steel chair, Lesnar finds one off of a producer and hits the Big Show with some NASTY chair shots. I was in section C and I could clearly hear that unforgiving steel chair cracking the Big Show's skull. The Big Show was bloody and would get knocked down and nearly out when Lesnar hit the Show with the Undisputed title belt. Lesnar would walk up the rampway, and at the top, he'd hold his World Title up in the air proudly. -BIGGEST FACE POPS- 1) Rey Mysterio 2) Rikishi 3) Edge -BIGGEST HEEL POPS- 1) Cena's ripping of the Ohio State Buckeyes 2) Kurt Angle 3) The Guerreros (When using these Spoilers, please have the dignity and respect to credit Mr. Tito/Lordsofpain.net. Thanks.) Tito's Opinion: I'd say a decent show all around, but at the top, it seemed to dwindle instead of explode like the last few Smackdowns have been doing. Chavo vs. Edge and Eddie vs. Rey were both pretty good, but the rest of the matches were just there for the ride. Benoit vs. Angle seems to be a finished feud, at least from what last night's match provided. I'll give this whole night a [ B- ] (B minus). I liked the Wheeling, WV houseshow better, as its matches didn't have to be rushed like with what happened with some Smackdown matches. Still, a decent show overall. I HOPE to have a Wrath of Tito up sometime tomorrow, discussing my experiences within the past 2 days. I attended a "Meet and Greet" around 1:00 pm of Tuesday, in which I was able to meet and get autographs from Torrie Wilson and Matt Hardy (both very nice). I actually shook hands with referee Tim White outside of the Nationwide Arena before the show, too. I'll discuss more in tomorrow's column and review the Super Tuesday show. I was not able to tape RAW this week, given that my VCR was set to tape something else here in the dorms and that I attended the Wheeling houseshow on Monday. No RAW review, but a Super Tuesday review will do just fine. I need some sleep!
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