Loss Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Might as well tackle this too. What are your favorite matches to air on this ultimate WWE B-show? Keep in mind that they ran most of the matches so many times that mentioning it without a date doesn't help much, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Essa Rios vs. Low-Ki comes to mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerpride Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 That was Jakked. Akio v. London had a famous match, I think in 2004. Edit: This is the match: http://www.wwe.com/classics/10-best-wwe-ve...matches/page-10 There was also a tremendous Noble v. London match. No idea of dates. Velocity was great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I'm pretty sure the amazing Rey vs Noble match was 1st May 2004. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not but wwe.com have a list up at the moment of the Top 10 Velocity matches http://www.wwe.com/classics/10-best-wwe-velocity-matches I suppose the Cena vs Danielson match should be included for historical significance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chess Knight Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I'm pretty sure the amazing Rey vs Noble match was 1st May 2004. Yeah, this is probably my junior MOTD, Japan included. One of my favourite matches of all time, never mind Velocity. I was ready to roll out some recs before realizing the yearbooks are stopping at 04. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 How I used to enjoy watching Smackdown and Velocity back to back in 2002-2003, probably the height of my serious interest in US wrestling. I went back and reviewed a lot of the stuff for Smarkschoice in 2005 or so, but since that has disappeared into the internet abyss I can only throw a few things out there, mostly without dates: Shannon Moore/Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio/Brian Kendrick Ultimo Dragon/Billy Kidman vs Akio/Sakoda Ultimo Dragon/Paul London/Billy Kidman vs Akio/Sakoda/Tajiri Paul London v Akio x 3 And of course: Chris Benoit vs William Regal (7/16/05 WWE Velocity) Chris Benoit vs William Regal (10/1/05 WWE Velocity) Chris Benoit vs William Regal (5/13/06 WWE Velocity) But I assume they are in consideration anyway since my versions are off that six disc Finlay/Benoit/Regal comp that was going around. Some of those matches on the WWE.com list ring a bell as well, they must be worth including especially as they will be so short. The Cruiserweight Title should be brought back actually, added some much needed variety to the shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwebb Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 How I used to enjoy watching Smackdown and Velocity back to back in 2002-2003, probably the height of my serious interest in US wrestling. I went back and reviewed a lot of the stuff for Smarkschoice in 2005 or so, but since that has disappeared into the internet abyss I can only throw a few things out there, mostly without dates: I just checked here. Not all the columns are archived. Some are though, not sure how many though only checked a few. http://web.archive.org/web/20050206203820/...ce.com/main.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I just checked here. Not all the columns are archived. Some are though, not sure how many though only checked a few. http://web.archive.org/web/20050206203820/...ce.com/main.php Bit too far back, mine would be mostly from 2005, and a lot of it was just posted on the board itself before efforts were made to revitalize the main site. I did have a cursory look for it once but most has gone for good I fear. Crazy to think Smarkschoice has been gone for nearly seven years - it was only active for about four in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 The 2 things I always remember most fondly about Velocity are the really awesome underrated FBI vs Basham Bros tag series and POKERFACE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomk Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Syndicated TV is where WWF puts stuff they don't care about (cruiserweights, tag matches, Benoit's world heavyweight title reign, Orlando Jordan's Us title reign, midcard matches built around work) . I like a lot of the stuff they don't care about (cruiserweights, tag matches, secondary heavyweight title matches, US style heavyweight wrestling) and was a religious watcher of Velocity since I tend to enjoy a lot of the stuff they dodn'[t care about more than the stuff that they are deeply invested in and overwork. That said, is there a place with full Velocity match lists so I can pull out the high end OJ v Jindrak, Jindrak v Basham, Tatanka v Big Vito from the shitty A-Train v B Squared? For the life of me can't remember who the third guy was on the Guerrero's team opposite the FBI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Crackers Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/velocity04.htm http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/velocity05.htm I can't find anybody with a complete list of Velocity results at the moment but there are these lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Full Velocity match lists: May 25, 2002 Billy Kidman vs Tajiri Hardcore Holly vs Val Venis Stacy Keibler vs Trish Stratus (Bra & Panties Match) June 1, 2002 Mark Henry vs The Godfather Albert vs Hugh Morrus Reverend D-Von vs Val Venis June 8, 2002 Randy Orton vs Test Chavo Guerrero vs Funaki Hugh Morrus vs The Godfather Ivory vs Linda Miles June 15, 2002 Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo vs Mark Henry & Randy Orton Albert vs Rikishi Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Funaki Kurt Angle vs Hardcore Holly June 22, 2002 Randy Orton vs Rob Conway Albert vs Chavo Guerrero Reverend D-Von (w/ Deacon Batista) vs Faarooq June 29, 2002 Albert vs Tajiri Christian vs The Hurricane Billy Kidman vs Funaki Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Chavo Guerrero July 6, 2002 Billy Kidman vs Tajiri Chavo Guerrero vs Hardcore Holly Christian vs Mark Henry Albert vs Rob Conway Jamie Noble vs The Hurricane July 13, 2002 Albert vs Randy Orton Test vs Val Venis Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero Tajiri vs Shannon Moore July 20, 2002 Shannon Moore vs Hugh Morrus Albert vs Nick Dinsmore Jamie Noble vs Funaki July 27, 2002 Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo vs The Hurricane & Shannon Moore Mike Awesome vs Tajiri Hardcore Holly vs Rico Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Billy Kidman August 3, 2002 Albert vs Hardcore Holly Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo vs The Hurricane & Shannon Moore Faarooq vs Mike Awesome Billy Kidman vs Funaki August 10, 2002 Rico vs Funaki Albert vs Hardcore Holly Chavo Guerrero vs Tajiri Bull Buchanan vs Mike Awesome August 17, 2002 Hardcore Holly vs Rico Albert vs Bull Buchanan Reverend D-Von vs John Cena Jamie Noble & Tajiri vs Funaki & Billy Kidman August 24, 2002 Mark Henry vs Mike Awesome Tajiri vs Funaki Chuck Palumbo vs Hardcore Holly Billy Gunn vs Randy Orton August 31, 2002 Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo vs Hardcore Holly & Randy Orton Jamie Noble vs Funaki Albert vs Mark Henry Chavo Guerrero vs The Hurricane September 7, 2002 Albert vs Billy Kidman Funaki vs Mike Awesome Chavo Guerrero vs John Cena September 14, 2002 Reverend D-Von vs Shannon Moore Albert vs Funaki Billy Kidman vs Randy Orton Jamie Noble & Tajiri vs The Hurricane & Crash Holly September 21, 2002 The Hurricane vs Crash Holly Albert vs Funaki Randy Orton vs Shannon Moore Tajiri vs Billy Kidman September 28, 2002 Billy Kidman vs Crash Holly Shannon Moore vs Doug Basham Reverend D-Von vs John Cena October 5, 2002 Albert vs John Cena Tajiri vs Shannon Moore Billy Kidman vs Doug Basham October 12, 2002 Chuck Palumbo vs Ron Simmons Chavo Guerrero vs Crash Holly Albert vs Funaki October 19, 2002 Tajiri vs Funaki Albert vs Scotty Cruz Shannon Moore vs Crash Holly October 26, 2002 Funaki vs Crash Holly Albert vs Chuck Palumbo Reverend D-Von & Ron Simmons vs Chase Stevens & Big Bully Douglas Torrie Wilson vs Nidia (Lingerie Match) November 2, 2002 Chuck Palumbo vs Reverend D-Von Chavo Guerrero vs Tyson Dux Albert vs Mark Bartolucci Funaki & Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble & Crash Holly (w/ Nidia) November 9, 2002 Funaki & Chuck Palumbo vs Reverend D-Von & Ron Simmons Albert vs Vince Vicallo Tajiri vs Crash Holly November 16, 2002 Chuck Palumbo vs Crash Holly Reverend D-Von vs Funaki Shannon Moore vs Albert November 23, 2002 Albert vs Crash Holly Chuck Palumbo vs Danny Giovanni Bill DeMott vs Danny Doring Matt Hardy vs Funaki November 30, 2002 Albert & Bill DeMott vs Chuck Coates & Pat Kusick Rikishi vs Redd Dogg John Cena (w/ B2) vs Danny DeNucci Crash Holly vs Funaki December 7, 2002 Crash Holly vs Shannon Moore Rikishi vs Mike Foxx John Cena vs Paul London Matt Hardy vs Chuck Palumbo December 14, 2002 Matt Hardy vs Shawn Evans Chuck Palumbo vs Johnny Slaughter Funaki vs C.G. Afi (Tony Mamaluke) Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero December 21, 2002 Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore Rikishi vs Andy Anderson Bill DeMott vs Michael Shane Funaki vs Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) December 28, 2002 Matt Hardy vs Brandon Groom Funaki vs A-Train Jamie Noble & Nunzio (w/ Nidia) vs Vinnie Valentino & Gabe Roach John Cena (w/ B2) vs Chuck Palumbo January 4, 2003 Jamie Noble & Nunzio vs Jeff Michaels & Jim Lucas A-Train vs Derek Selsvold Funaki vs Charles Schipporeit Chavo Guerrero vs Tajiri January 11, 2003 Bill DeMott vs Mike Wellington Funaki vs The Diamondback (Brian Kendrick) Chuck Palumbo vs Keiji Sakoda Nunzio vs Crash Holly January 18, 2003 Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Bryan Danielson Chuck Palumbo vs Xavier Shannon Moore vs The Jet (Kendrick) January 25, 2003 Chavo Guerrero vs Funaki Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Jeff Starr Chuck Palumbo vs River Rat (Kendrick) Billy Kidman vs Matt Hardy February 1, 2003 Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Mike Bucci Nunzio vs Chuck Palumbo Chavo Guerrero vs Redd Dogg Torrie Wilson vs Dawn Marie February 8, 2003 John Cena vs Bryan Danielson Nunzio vs Funaki Bill DeMott vs Phil Brown Edge vs A-Train February 15, 2003 Bill DeMott vs Funaki Shannon Moore vs Mike Knox Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) February 22, 2003 Billy Kidman vs Shannon Moore Bill DeMott vs Funaki Chuck Palumbo & Nunzio (w/ Johnny Stamboli) vs Nova & Johnny Jeter Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero vs Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin March 1, 2003 Bill DeMott vs Billy Kidman Chavo Guerrero vs Johnny Stamboli Rey Mysterio vs Shannon Moore March 8, 2003 Funaki vs Nunzio (w/ Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli) Nidia (w/ Jamie Noble) vs Dawn Marie Bill DeMott vs Xavier Billy Kidman vs Shannon Moore March 15, 2003 Johnny Stamboli (w/ Nunzio & Chuck Palumbo) vs Funaki Shannon Moore vs Matt Stryker Bill DeMott vs BJ Payne Tajiri vs Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) March 22, 2003 Nunzio (w/ Palumbo & Stamboli) vs Tajiri Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Nova Funaki vs A-Train (w/ Big Show) March 29, 2003 Funaki vs Jamie Noble Bill DeMott vs Apollo Kahn Johnny Stamboli (w/ Nunzio) vs Tajiri April 5, 2003 Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Funaki Chavo Guerrero vs Shannon Moore Tajiri vs Buddy Wayne Johnny Stamboli & Chuck Palumbo vs Tony Gordina & Jay Holdenback April 12, 2003 A-Train vs Chad Collyer Tajiri vs Shannon Moore Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, & Funaki vs Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, & Johnny Stamboli April 19, 2003 Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Los Chihuahuas Bill DeMott vs Pat Cusick Crash Holly (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Funaki Rhyno vs Kanyon April 26, 2003 Shannon Moore (w/ Crash Holly) vs Brian Kendrick Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore & Crash Holly) vs Funaki Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Sean Evans Eddie Guerrero vs Charlie Haas May 3, 2003 Rikishi vs Arch Kincaid Crash Holly vs Jamie Noble Tajiri vs Jason Pacaro A-Train vs Bill DeMott May 10, 2003 Chavo Guerrero vs Crash Holly Sean O'Haire vs Funaki Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli vs Mike Hughes & Mike Barlucci May 17, 2003 Crash Holly vs Brian Kendrick Rhyno vs Bill DeMott A-Train vs Kanyon May 24, 2003 Rikishi vs Phil Brown Kanyon vs Funaki Bill DeMott vs Brad Hunter A-Train vs Rhyno May 31, 2003 Bill DeMott vs Shannon Moore (w/ Crash Holly) Jamie Noble vs Orlando Jordan A-Train vs Joey Matthews Matt Hardy vs Funaki June 7, 2003 Sean O'Haire vs Brian Kendrick Crash Holly (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Orlando Jordan A-Train vs Funaki A-Train vs Bill DeMott June 14, 2003 Shannon Moore vs Orlando Jordan Rikishi vs Crash Holly Brian Kendrick vs Chad Collyer Bill DeMott vs Kanyon June 21, 2003 A-Train vs Orlando Jordan John Cena vs Funaki Matt Hardy vs Paul London Shannon Moore & Crash Holly vs The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) June 28, 2003 Billy Gunn (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs Kanyon A-Train vs Kevin Night Brian Kendrick vs Xavier Chris Benoit & Rhyno vs The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) July 5, 2003 Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Brian Kendrick Sean O'Haire vs Funaki Kanyon vs Mike Bell Matt Hardy vs Shannon Moore July 12, 2003 Sean O'Haire vs Bobby Roode Kanyon vs Orlando Jordan A-Train vs Funaki Nunzio vs Brian Kendrick July 19, 2003 Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli (w/ Nunzio) vs Funaki & Brian Kendrick The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) vs Johnny Jeter & Matt Cappotelli A-Train vs Orlando Jordan Nidia vs Dawn Marie July 26, 2003 Kanyon vs Keiji Sakoda Orlando Jordan vs Nunzio The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) vs Brian Kendrick & Funaki August 2, 2003 Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Brian Kendrick Nunzio vs Ultimo Dragon Sean O'Haire & The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) vs Funaki & The APA August 9, 2003 Orlando Jordan vs Andy Anderson The APA vs Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli Shannon Moore vs Ultimo Dragon Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Brian Kendrick & Funaki August 16, 2003 Nunzio vs Funaki Sean O'Haire vs Ken Anderson Johnny Stamboli & Chuck Palumbo vs Steve Fender & Slater Vain Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Orlando Jordan August 23, 2003 Billy Kidman vs Shannon Moore Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli vs Bobby Roode & Eric Young Sean O'Haire vs Funaki Shelton Benjamin vs Bradshaw August 30, 2003 Billy Gunn (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs Doug Basham (w/ Shaniqua & Danny Basham) Shannon Moore vs WT Gates Tajiri vs Billy Kidman Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas vs The APA September 6, 2003 Billy Kidman vs Nunzio Matt Hardy & Shannon Moore vs Funaki & Ultimo Dragon Sean O'Haire vs Orlando Jordan Billy Gunn & Jamie Noble vs Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli September 13, 2003 Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Kanyon The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) vs Poker Face & Scott Fantastic Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Funaki & Ultimo Dragon September 20, 2003 The Big Show vs Murray Happer & Pat Cusick Matt Hardy vs Joey Matthews Billy Kidman vs Shannon Moore Chuck Palumbo vs Orlando Jordan September 27, 2003 Billy Kidman vs Nunzio Sean O'Haire vs Devon Storm Funaki & Ultimo Dragon vs Joey Matthews & Jason Porcaro Rhyno vs Orlando Jordan October 4, 2003 Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Shannon Moore Sean O'Haire vs Kevin Kruger Rhyno vs Funaki Rey Mysterio vs Nunzio October 11, 2003 Rey Mysterio vs Kanyon Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Tyson Dux Billy Kidman vs Bobby Roode Charlie Haas vs Funaki October 18, 2003 A-Train vs Orlando Jordan Ultimo Dragon vs Joey Matthews Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) vs Funaki The APA vs Nunzio & Chuck Palumbo October 25, 2003 Orlando Jordan vs Shannon Moore Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Rob Begley & Mike Taylor Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, & Johnny Stamboli vs Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio, & Ultimo Dragon November 1, 2003 Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Murray Happer & Pat Cusick Tajiri (w/ Akio & Sakoda) vs Shannon Moore Orlando Jordan vs Kanyon Rhyno vs Billy Kidman November 8, 2003 Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Billy Kidman & Funaki Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Shannon Moore & Kanyon Sean O'Haire vs Eric Young Rikishi (w/ Scotty 2 Hotty) vs Chuck Palumbo (w/ Johnny Stamboli) November 15, 2003 Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Ultimo Dragon & Funaki Rhyno vs Kanyon Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Bryan Danielson & John Walters Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, & Johnny Stamboli vs Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, & Orlando Jordan November 22, 2003 Nunzio (w/ Johnny Stamboli) vs Paul London (w/ Brian Kendrick) Sean O'Haire vs Ultimo Dragon Chuck Palumbo vs Funaki Rhyno vs Scotty 2 Hotty (w/ Rikishi) November 29, 2003 Funaki vs Nunzio Sean O'Haire vs Gary Schippreit Orlando Jordan vs Kanyon Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London December 6, 2003 Akio (w/ Tajiri) vs Funaki Orlando Jordan vs Greg Goroothius Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Kanyon & Chad Collyer Bradshaw vs Rhyno December 13, 2003 Chuck Palumbo & Nunzio vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London Ultimo Dragon vs Tony Salantri Orlando Jordan vs Kanyon Tajiri (w/ Akio & Sakoda) vs Billy Kidman December 20, 2003 Tajiri vs Paul London Matt Morgan vs Funaki Johnny Stamboli vs Brian Kendrick Billy Kidman & Ultimo Dragon vs Akio & Sakoda January 3, 2004 A-Train vs Funaki The Basham Brothers vs The Maximos Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) vs Brandon Groom Orlando Jordan & Shannon Moore vs Akio & Sakoda January 10, 2004 Billy Kidman vs Sakoda Matt Morgan vs Shannon Moore Rhyno vs Funaki Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London January 17, 2004 Shannon Moore vs Ultimo Dragon Matt Morgan vs Orlando Jordan Billy Kidman vs Arch Kincaid Bradshaw vs A-Train January 24, 2004 Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua) vs Funaki & Ultmio Dragon Orlando Jordan vs Matt Wolftime January 31, 2004 Funaki vs Akio Shannon Moore vs Ultimo Dragon Sakoda vs Scotty 2 Hotty February 7, 2004 Rhyno & A-Train vs Bobby Roode & John Murray Nunzio vs Paul London Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Ultimo Dragon & Funaki Bradshaw vs Johnny Stamboli February 14, 2004 Shannon Moore vs Ultimo Dragon Paul London & Billy Kidman vs Johnny Stamboli & Nunzio Billy Gunn vs A-Train Chuck Palumbo vs Orlando Jordan February 21, 2004 Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble & Nunzio Rhyno vs Shannon Moore Paul London vs Sakoda Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty vs Johnny Stamboli & Chuck Palumbo February 28, 2004 Tajiri vs Paul London A-Train vs Shannon Moore Hardcore Holly & Orlando Jordan vs Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli March 6, 2004 Jamie Noble vs Paul London Orlando Jordan vs Nunzio Rhyno vs Billy Gunn March 13, 2004 Shannon Moore vs Paul London Chuck Palumbo vs Orlando Jordan A-Train vs Hardcore Holly March 20, 2004 Billy Kidman & Paul London vs Tajiri & Akio Chuck Palumbo (w/ Nunzio) vs Hardcore Holly Chavo Guerrero (w/ Chavo Classic) vs Ultimo Dragon March 27, 2004 Billy Gunn & Hardcore Holly vs Akio & Sakoda Mark Jindrak vs Tyson Dux Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty vs Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli April 3, 2004 Mark Jindrak vs Shannon Moore Jamie Noble vs Rico (w/ Miss Jackie) Orlando Jordan vs Brent Albright Billy Gunn vs Danny Basham (w/ Doug Basham) April 10, 2004 Doug Basham vs Paul London Rey Mysterio vs Nunzio vs Billy Kidman vs Akio Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs Eddie Craven & Russell Simpson April 17, 2004 Nunzio vs Ultimo Dragon Hardcore Holly (w/ Billy Gunn) vs Akio (w/ Sakoda) Orlando Jordan vs Johnny Stamboli D-Von Dudley (w/ Bubba Ray Dudley) vs Doug Basham (w/ Danny Basham) April 24, 2004 Jamie Noble vs Spike Dudley Nunzio vs Funaki Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Orlando Jordan Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs The Basham Brothers May 1, 2004 John Cena vs Akio (w/ Sakoda) Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Shannon Moore Rey Mysterio vs Jamie Noble John Bradshaw Layfield vs Funaki May 8, 2004 Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Scotty 2 Hotty Orlando Jordan vs Akio (w/ Sakoda) Jamie Noble vs Spike Dudley Billy Kidman & Paul London vs Charlie Haas & Rico (w/ Miss Jackie) May 15, 2004 Scotty 2 Hotty vs Akio (w/ Sakoda) Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Spike Dudley Billy Kidman & Paul London vs The Basham Brothers May 22, 2004 Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Paul London Jamie Noble vs Shannon Moore Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs The Basham Brothers May 29, 2004 Billy Kidman & Paul London vs Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Shannon Moore Billy Gunn vs Sakoda June 5, 2004 Spike Dudley vs Shannon Moore Billy Gunn & Hardcore Holly vs Johnny Stamboli & Nunzio Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Billy Kidman Charlie Haas & Rico (w/ Miss Jackie) vs Akio & Sakoda June 12, 2004 Mark Jindrak vs Billy Kidman Billy Gunn & Hardcore Holly vs Jason Pacaro & Ken Phoenix Spike Dudley vs Akio Jamie Noble vs Rico June 19, 2004 Jamie Noble vs Paul London Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli vs Akio & Sakoda Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Hardcore Holly June 26, 2004 Charlie Haas (w/ Miss Jackie) vs Sakoda Johnny Stamboli vs Scoot Andrews Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) vs Hardcore Holly July 3, 2004 Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli vs The Basham Brothers Charlie Haas (w/ Miss Jackie) vs Mark Jindrak (w/ Teddy Long) The Dudley Boyz vs Billy Kidman & Paul London July 10, 2004 Nunzio vs Rene Dupree Funaki vs Sakoda Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs The Basham Brothers July 17, 2004 Rob Van Dam vs Akio Nunzio (w/ Johnny Stamboli) vs Doug Basham (w/ Danny Basham) Hardcore Holly vs John Walters Mark Jindrak vs Billy Gunn July 24, 2004 Hardcore Holly vs Akio Johnny Stamboli (w/ Nunzio) vs Danny Basham (w/ Doug Basham) Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree July 31, 2004 Mark Jindrak vs Scotty 2 Hotty Chavo Guerrero vs Funaki Johnny Stamboli & Nunzio vs The Basham Brothers John Bradshaw Layfield vs Shannon Moore August 7, 2004 Kenzo Suzuki vs Shannon Moore Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli vs Jamie Noble & Chavo Guerrero Booker T vs Billy Gunn August 14, 2004 Bubba Ray Dudley vs Scotty 2 Hotty Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs The Basham Brothers Jamie Noble vs Shannon Moore August 21, 2004 Charlie Haas (w/ Miss Jackie) vs Akio Mark Jindrak vs Wavell Starr Billy Gunn vs Doug Basham (w/ Danny Basham) Booker T vs Shannon Moore August 28, 2004 Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli vs The Basham Brothers Rene Dupree vs Charlie Haas (w/ Miss Jackie) Mark Jindrak vs Funaki Bubba Ray Dudley (w/ D-Von & Spike) vs Hardcore Holly September 4, 2004 Jamie Noble vs Scotty 2 Hotty Luther Reigns vs Mike Kurkhart Mark Jindrak vs Shannon Moore Spike Dudley vs Funaki September 11, 2004 Booker T vs Brandon Groom Mark Jindrak vs Scotty 2 Hotty Nunzio & Johnny Stamboli vs The Basham Brothers September 18, 2004 Paul London vs Akio Mark Jindrak vs Shannon Moore Luther Reigns vs Eddie Watts Orlando Jordan vs Scotty 2 Hotty September 25, 2004 Nunzio (w/ Johnny Stamboli) vs Akio Charlie Haas & Rico (w/ Miss Jackie) vs The Basham Brothers Hardcore Holly vs Rene Dupree (w/ Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroko) October 2, 2004 Johnny Stamboli vs Akio The Basham Brothers vs Wild Wade & Dangerous Derek Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki (w/ Hiroko) vs Shannon Moore & Funaki October 9, 2004 Luther Reigns vs Ricky Vega Rob Van Dam vs Doug Basham The Dudleyz vs Johnny Stamboli & Nunzio October 16, 2004 Spike Dudley vs Scotty 2 Hotty Orlando Jordan vs Funaki Bubba Ray Dudley vs Rico October 23, 2004 The Dudleyz & Spike Dudley vs Nunzio, Johnny Stamboli, & Funaki The Big Show vs Akio Kurt Angle vs Hardcore Holly October 30, 2004 Carlito vs Shannon Moore Luther Reigns vs Mike Mondo Hardcore Holly vs Doug Basham Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree November 6, 2004 Chavo Guerrero vs Spike Dudley Billy Kidman vs Rico Eddie Guerrero vs Danny Basham November 13, 2004 Hardcore Holly vs Kenzo Suzuki The Basham Brothers vs Slam Shady & Russell Simpson Booker T vs Rene Dupree November 20, 2004 Hardcore Holly vs Spike Dudley The Big Show vs Steven Lee & Chad Miller Shannon Moore vs Akio Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs Nunzio & Funaki November 27, 2004 The Basham Brothers vs Paul London & Funaki Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs Robbie McAllister & A1 Shannon Moore, Chavo Guerrero, & Nunzio vs Billy Kidman, Akio, & Spike Dudley December 4, 2004 Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs Nunzio & Funaki Paul London vs Akio Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero December 11, 2004 Billy Kidman vs Paul London Spike Dudley vs CW Anderson Hardcore Holly vs Luther Reigns December 18, 2004 Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas vs Nick Sinn & Tony Cilantro Paul London vs Shannon Moore January 1, 2005 Kenzo Suzuki vs Paul London Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly January 8, 2005 Orlando Jordan vs Chavo Guerrero Hardcore Holly vs John Walters Rene Dupree vs Nunzio Booker T vs Spike Dudley January 15, 2005 Hardcore Holly vs Spike Dudley Scotty 2 Hotty vs Chet Jablonski Paul London vs Akio Charlie Haas vs Rene Dupree January 22, 2005 Paul London & Funaki vs Nunzio & Shannon Moore Hardcore Hollie vs Robbie McAllister Kenzo Suzuki vs Charlie Haas January 29, 2005 Chavo Guerrero vs Scotty 2 Hotty Rene Dupree vs Biohazard Nunzio vs Akio The Basham Brothers vs Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly February 12, 2005 Hardcore Holly vs Rene Dupree Charlie Haas vs Spike Dudley Paul London vs Akio February 19, 2005 Charlie Haas vs Rene Dupree Heidenreich vs Mike Mondo Hardcore Holly vs Kenzo Suzuki (w/ Hiroko) February 26, 2005 Paul London vs Spike Dudley Rene Dupree vs Scotty 2 Hotty Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs Fred Sampson & Mike Kruel Booker T vs Kenzo Suzuki (w/ Hiroko) March 5, 2005 Paul London & Funaki vs Akio & Chavo Guerrero Nunzio vs Spike Dudley The Basham Brothers vs Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly March 12, 2005 The Basham Brothers vs Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly Spike Dudley vs Scotty 2 Hotty Paul London vs Akio March 19, 2005 Shannon Moore vs Akio Mark Jindrak vs Spike Dudley Heidenreich vs Sean Evans Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty March 26, 2005 Paul London vs Spike Dudley Mark Jindrak vs Doug Basham (w/ Danny Basham) Heidenreich vs Robert Adams Billy Kidman & Akio vs Funaki & Nunzio April 2, 2005 Akio vs Nunzio Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs Jared Steele & Russell Simpson Luther Reigns vs John Blitzen Mark Jindrak vs Billy Kidman April 9, 2005 Booker T vs Spike Dudley Akio vs Funaki Heidenreich vs Sean Evans Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs The Basham Brothers April 16, 2005 Chavo Guerrero vs Shannon Moore Scotty 2 Hotty vs Nunzio Luther Reigns vs Funaki Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs Akio & Spike Dudley April 23, 2005 Recap show featured closing moments of the WrestleMania Preshow Battle Royal April 30, 2005 The Basham Brothers vs Scotty 2 Hotty & Shannon Moore Funaki & Nunzio vs Billy Kidman & Akio Charlie Haas vs Orlando Jordan May 7, 2005 Paul London vs Akio The Big Show vs The Maximos The Basham Brothers vs. Funaki & Nunzio Mark Jindrak vs Spike Dudley May 14, 2005 Mark Jindrak & Nunzio vs Billy Kidman & Akio Rene Dupree vs Shannon Moore The Basham Brothers vs The Maximos Orlando Jordan vs Scotty 2 Hotty May 21, 2005 MNM vs Jason Bates & Steven Lee Funaki & Nunzio vs Akio & Spike Dudley Chavo Guerrero vs Shannon Moore May 28, 2005 The Basham Brothers vs Funaki & Nunzio Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs Quinson Valentino Billy Kidman vs Shannon Moore Orlando Jordan vs Mark Jindrak June 4, 2005 The Basham Brothers vs JD Michaels & Teddy Hart Orlando Jordan vs Shannon Moore Paul London vs Akio vs Chavo Guerrero June 11, 2005 Orlando Jordan vs Hardcore Holly Danny Basham (w/ Doug Basham) vs Nunzio Chavo Guerrero vs Funaki MNM vs Scotty 2 Hotty & Shannon Moore June 18, 2005 MNM vs Kevin Matthews & Nick Berk Juventud Guerrera vs Funaki Rene Dupree vs Mark Jindrak Psicosis & Super Crazy vs Akio & Billy Kidman June 25, 2005 Booker T vs Billy Kidman Rene Dupree vs Patrick Leizer Chris Benoit vs Steve Greyeyes Orlando Jordan vs Nunzio July 16, 2005 Nunzio vs Frankie Kazarian Simon Dean vs Mike Kruel Chris Benoit vs William Regal July 23, 2005 Christian vs Funaki The Blue World Order vs Jason Static, Nick Berk, & Scott Fowler Scotty 2 Hotty vs Frankie Kazarian MNM vs Danny Doring & Roadkill July 30, 2005 Paul London vs Nunzio Funaki vs Frankie Kazarian MNM vs Scotty Sabre & Steven Lee Hardcore Holly vs Simon Dean August 6, 2005 Paul London vs Nunzio (w/ Vito) Simon Dean vs Mo Sexton Orlando Jordan vs Hardcore Holly August 13, 2005 Paul London vs Frankie Kazarian Nunzio (w/ Vito) vs Jimmy Jacobs Funaki vs Ken Kennedy Hardcore Holly vs Stevie Richards August 20, 2005 Vito (w/ Nunzio) vs Chance Thompson Ken Kennedy vs George Terzis Hardcore Holly vs Stevie Richards August 27, 2005 Simon Dean vs Russell Simpson Doug Basham vs Caprice Coleman Vito (w/ Nunzio) vs Brad Taylor William Regal vs Scotty 2 Hotty September 3, 2005 Paul London vs Brian Kendrick Hardcore Holly vs Steve Madison Doug Basham vs Michael Patrick Super Crazy (w/Juventud & Psicosis) vs Nunzio (w/ Vito) September 10, 2005 Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs Stevie Richards Sylvan vs Mack Johnson Psicosis & Super Crazy (w/ Juventud) vs Nunzio & Vito September 24, 2005 (Last episode on TV) Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty vs William Regal & Paul Burchill Brian Kendrick vs Russell Simpson Psicosis & Super Crazy (w/ Juventud) vs Nunzio & Vito October 1, 2005 (Started airing on WWE.com) Nunzio & Vito vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London Simon Dean vs Robbie Dawber Chris Benoit vs William Regal October 8, 2005 MNM vs Jared Steele & Jaykus Plisken Ken Kennedy vs Russell Simpson Cruiserweight Battle Royal including Brian Kendrick, Funaki, Juventud, Paul London, Psicosis, Scotty 2 Hotty, & Super Crazy October 15, 2005 Paul London vs Simon Dean Kid Kash vs Funaki Hardcore Holly vs Sylvan October 22, 2005 Paul London vs Juventud Guerrera Christian vs Brian Kendrick Heidenreich & Road Warrior Animal vs William Regal & Paul Burchill October 29, 2005 Paul London vs Kid Kash Bobby Lashley vs Jason Partain Sylvan vs Funaki Jillian Hall vs Stacy Keibler November 6, 2005 Kid Kash vs Brian Kendrick Sylvan vs Joey Ryan The Dicks vs James Prentice & Kevin Antonio Psicosis & Super Crazy (w/ Juventud) vs William Regal & Paul Burchill November 12, 2005 Heidenreich & Road Warrior Animal vs Nunzio & Vito Hardcore Holly vs Simon Dean Kid Kash vs Scotty 2 Hotty Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs William Regal & Paul Burchill November 26, 2005 MNM vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London Sylvan vs Funaki Simon Dean vs Taylor Phoenix December 3, 2005 Orlando Jordan vs TJ Dalton December 10, 2005 The Dicks vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty Simon Dean vs Caprice Coleman Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Nunzio & Vito Matt Hardy vs Sylvan December 17, 2005 William Regal (w/ Paul Burchill) vs Scotty 2 Hotty Jamie Noble vs Tomasso Whitney Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Arch Kincaid & Scotty Charisma Doug Basham vs Todd Hanson Orlando Jordan (w/ Jillian Hall) vs Funaki December 31, 2005 Simon Dean vs Brian Kendrick Paul Burchill (w/ William Regal) vs Xavier Paul London vs Jamie Noble Heidenreich & Road Warrior Animal vs Nunzio & Vito January 7, 2006 The Dicks vs Fred Sampson & Scotty Charisma Jamie Noble vs Scotty 2 Hotty Bobby Lashley vs Havoc Psicosis & Super Crazy vs Nunzio & Vito January 14, 2006 Jamie Noble vs Scotty 2 Hotty The Gymini (w/ Simon Dean) vs Billy Baxter & John Trouski Paul Burchill (w/ William Regal) vs Nick Berk Psicosis & Super Crazy vs The Dicks January 21, 2006 MNM vs Jon Moxley & Brad Taylor Psicosis & Super Crazy vs Nunzio & Vito Jamie Noble vs Caprice Coleman Sylvan vs Scotty 2 Hotty January 28, 2006 The Gymini (w/ Simon Dean) vs Dinn T. Moore & Jason Jones Bobby Lashley vs Brad Attitude Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick February 11, 2006 Kid Kash vs Psicosis Tatanka vs Jaykus Plisken The Gymini (w/ Simon Dean) vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty Bobby Lashley vs James Dick (w/ Chad Dick) February 18, 2006 Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs The Dicks Tatanka vs Scott Matthews Mascarita Sagrada vs Octagoncito Super Crazy (w/ Psicosis) vs Nunzio (w/ Vito) February 25, 2006 Simon Dean & The Gymini vs Brian Kendrick, Paul London, & Funaki Mascarita Sagrada vs Tzuki Sylvan vs Shawn Patrick Super Crazy vs Vito March 11, 2006 Super Crazy vs Simon Dean Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty Tatanka vs Frankie Ciatso MNM vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick March 18, 2006 The Gymini (w/ Simon Dean) vs Psicosis & Super Crazy Tatanka vs Vito (w/ Nunzio) Paul London vs Brian Kendrick vs Jamie Noble vs Kid Kash April 1, 2006 The Gymini vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick Orlando Jordan vs Ace Steele Funaki vs Vito April 8, 2006 Matt Hardy vs Colt Cabana Finlay vs Psicosis Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty Bobby Lashley vs Vito April 15, 2006 Orlando Jordan vs Adrian Lynch Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty Vito (w/ Nunzio) vs Chris Guy (Cabana) Simon Dean vs Gunner Scott April 29, 2006 Chris Benoit vs Vito Matt Hardy vs Andy Simmons Paul Burchill vs Nunzio Orlando Jordan vs Scotty 2 Hotty May 6, 2006 Road Warrior Animal vs Paul Burchill (w/ Shelly Martinez) Bobby Lashley vs TJ Dalton Gregory Helms vs Mike Altieri Matt Hardy vs Orlando Jordan May 13, 2006 Matt Hardy vs Simon Dean Chris Benoit vs William Regal Orlando Jordan vs Gunner Scott May 20, 2006 Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Chris Wellman & Russell Simpson Paul Burchill vs Simon Dean Gregory Helms vs Psicosis Nunzio & Vito vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty May 27, 2006 Gunner Scott vs Lawrence Tyler Gregory Helms vs Shawn Osbourne Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty June 3, 2006 Tatanka vs John Williams Gunner Scott vs Simon Dean Psicosis & Super Crazy vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick Gregory Helms vs Wavell Starr June 10, 2006 Tatanka vs Seth James Gunner Scott vs Colt Cabana Jamie Noble & Kid Kash vs Jon Bolen & Sterling Keenan Matt Hardy vs Simon Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomk Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Awesome. Thanks. I'm going to try to concentrate more on heavyweight matches than the cruisers which I think are more obviously worth looking at. 2002--This looks like you mostly want to look at the cruiser matches from this year. Venis v Holly is interesting but I think Venis was better on Heat than Velocity for whatever reason. I liked the team of Palumbo/Gunn and my memory is that the series with Moore/Hurricane is worth looking at as is the Palumbo v Holly match that sets up the Palumbo/Gunn v Holly/Orton 2002 Christian vs Mark Henry and Matt Hardy v Palumbo are interesting on paper but no memory of either I also think 2002 was pretty much the year that Crash Holly was desperately looking for comedy spot, trying to strike Scotty 2 Hotty "Worm" gold, and so would workshop a new one everymonth or so which was entertaining in a "watch this guys desperation" way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomk Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Before start looking at 2003, should point out that Phil Rippa did a bunch of Velocity reviews at CRZ board in 2004, Cubsfan did a best of Velocity write up in 2004 as well, and Phil Schneider did VEloceat/Heatlocity workrate reports on the DVDVR in 05. I probably disagree with all three of them but useful resources. When Velocity was being canceled to be replaced by ECW, me and phil did a series of velocity memorial match of the day posts: Velcoity memorial match 1 by Phil Mark Jindrak v. Doug Basham 3/26/05 This really was one of the signature Velocity matches, two basically ignored guys being given five minutes and putting on a real gem. Jindrak is a guy who really was a Velocity specialist. He never really had anything worthwhile during any of his main show pushes, but he is a guy who was consistently very entertaining on the syndies. Both in his tag run with Lance Cade on Heat and his singles stuff on Velocity. This has the feel of a match laid out by Fit Finlay, as it is based around Jindrak tweaking his knee accidentally when he bounds to the floor to drop Bashams throat on the ropes. He comes up limp and Basham goes right after the knee with some really nifty stuff, including bodyslamming Jindrak into the ropes, and doing a standing kneebar (which Jindrak counters with a beautiful Santo style headspin head scissors). Jindrak looks really great selling a blown out knee as he hits all of his offense either on one leg or with the knee buckling. All of Jindrak's offense is counter stuff at this point, although we do get a classic mile high Doug Basham eat of a backdrop. The finish is great too, as Jindrak had been working a Hands of Stone gimmick at this point, and he delivers a real desperation KO left hand, out of nowhere. It really set up Jindrak as the kind of guy who always has a punchers chance, someone who can erase the scorecards with one shot. It would have been a neat thing for them to build on with him in the future, but instead they gave the useless Chris Masters his gimmick, and now Jindrak is putting on MOTYC's in EMLL. This was also a real showcase for Doug Basham, he is another totally wasted guy, he is the kind of solid big bumping heel, who can be put in any roll and perform, no reason for him to be languishing with nothing to do. Velocity memorial match 2 by Phil: Ace Steel v. Orlando Jordan 4/1/06 O.J much like Mark Jindrak was a Velocity mainstay. Early in his career he had a long series against Kanyon which was always a fun match up, and during his US title run he had a really good series against Bob Holly. Jordan was a guy I thought had a bunch of potential, but unfortunately the allure of sweet boy flesh has derailed his career. If you are going to Hawk, leave the Chicken at home. Josh Matthews had a good call in this match early, he mentioned Jordan's boxing background, and remarked how it not only shows itself in his punching ability, but also noted how quick his feet were. Nice bit of analysis, which is the kind of thing he does fairly frequently. Here O.J. is matched up with Midwest ROH’s own Ace Steel in a pretty fun five minute competitive squash. Jordan spent most of the match working the midsection with knees, stomach breakers and a couple of nice body shots. Ace Steel is really good, and his run of jobber offense was very good looking, including a great dropkick in the corner. You had your standard squash match storyline, of jobber gets overconfident and makes a mistake. It was a storyline which both Romero and Josh Matthews kept calling minutes before it happened “Steel shouldn’t have turned his back” with Steel actually staying on offense after he turned his back. Steel would make a significantly better ex-NOAH gaijin fake Benoit then Gunner Scott. Match3 by Phil: Paul Burchill v. John Xavier 12/31/05 Burchill is one of those WWE internet darlings (along with Ken Kennedy, Gunner Scott and Shawn Michaels) I just don't get. People will talk about him like he is really good, should be pushed, ect., but he is guy who in actuality really stinks. Here Burchill is in with his Indy opposite Xavier, a guy who a lot of internet boobs shit on, even though he is very good. There were sections in this where Burchill actually looked good, there were a couple of really U.S. Indy fast exchanges where he moved nicely, including finishing off one with a pretty powerslam. You got the sense you could stick Burchil in a 2003 ROH scramble match and he would do fine. When he slowed down, you saw how bad his slow stuff looked, punches, stomps, knees, all really bad looking. The match was also kind of formless, on offense he seemed to be just killing time until Xavier got his comebacks. Xavier looked pretty good, although he seemed to be pulling his Thai knees, which is a spot that looks really bad when pulled. Burchill did break out his ridiculous backflip uranage, but used it as a set up for a nasty looking diving knee, which he really should have kept as his finisher. It was way nastier and way more impressive then his flip crap. Amusing match, although nothing you would want to go out of your way to see. Match 4 by me: Gregory Helms v. Mike Alteri 5/6/06 Ahh WWE syndis…where WWE put stuff they don’t care about: tag wrestling, cruiserweight wrestling, Orlando Jordan’s US title defenses, Chris Benoit’s world title defenses, etc. So at some point back in October someone in WWE corporate read a New York Times article about lucha and decided that the WWE needed to make another attempt at restarting the cruiserweight division. But this time they “ were going to do it right”. The term “Cruiserweight” had already been degraded and their fans were uninterested…so it was time for a new branding…and this was the beginning of the “Juniors” division where they talked about hiring Mistico and other wrestlers too small to be cruiserweights. And so they hired a bunch of Mexican minis, a really short charismatic Mexican luchador, a bunch of US midget wrestlers, and the tiniest of US indy guys (Quiet Storm and Mikey Batts). The whole thing was a mess from the start and they eventually gave up on it. Short Sleeve Sampson and Todd Stone went back to the indies, and Tzuki, Mascarita Sagrada, Pierrothcito, Mini Violencia, Octagoncito, and Super Porky went back to Lucha Va Voom and Mexico. With Benoit out, I assume we will eventually end up watching a Finlay/Shortstack vs. Gunner Scott/Quiet Storm series. But Kidman’s gone so there is no need to pair him up with a mini in that feud. And well Batts is just too Italian-Jersey faced to pass as a leprechaun…so he’ll spend the remainder of his contract in developmental and working an occasional syndie. So here you have the Champion of the neglected Cruiserweight division vs. the future of the forgotten Juniors division. Nah no way to make this poignant. But it’s Gregory Helms against the much smaller Mike Alteri. Much smaller. And so it’s Helms working a strength based gimmick as he’s just to big for the Junior. Batts is able to get off a couple arm drags and an awful looking satellite head scissors that Helms does a nice job of covering for. Tries for another and Helms picks him up into an elaborate F5 into backbreaker deal. Helms controls most of the rest working over the back, with Batts making a couple of attempts at fiery face comebacks . Batts really doesn’t have the wind of Pierrothcito or Tzuki and Steve Romero begins to comment on Batts looking gassed “This guys winded” . For a guy working opposite a guy in lower weight class, Helms was very giving. May have given Batts more than he needed. I imagine Helms vs. Pequeno Violencia would have been better. Always the "what if"s? #5 by Phil again Octagoncito v. Mascarita Sagrada 2/18/06 This was during the extremely short lived Juniors division on Smackdown. Tom gave a nice description of what a nonsense train wreck the idea was. Most of the Smackdown matches would match a U.S. midget v. a lucha mini with neither guy having any idea how to work the other. This was a little better, as you had two lucha guys matched up, but it was still technico v. technico. Where you really need a flashy technico and a rudo base. Lucha mini’s wrestling seems pretty hard to screw up. It is the one thing that I have been able to show all of my non-wrestling friends that they have consistently enjoyed. I mean tiny men in colorful costumes moving really fast and doing crazy dives is pretty universal. Here they have a pair of guys who can do that stuff, but they book them instead to do mostly comedy spots. You almost get the sense that the hired Hati Kid as the backstage agent to lay all of these matches out. Also it seemed like Hati described U.S. midget comedy spots to them, but the language barrier caused them to screw them up. They do the old Pepper Gomez spot, where the face points to the sky and the heel looks up and gets popped. Except here the face points to the sky, the heel looks up, the face keeps pointing, the heel keeps looking, then they make the ref look. It's like they were really looking for a leak in the ceiling. You could really see when they were doing their fast exchanges, the crowd was popping, but when they did shtick with Lil Natche there were crickets. TNA should really import a set of lucha mini’s, give them 10 minutes on Impact and let them go all out, I would think it could be something that would actually draw. If you are going to run a promotion partly based on midgets doing highspots, Mascarita 2000 is a lot better then Sonjay Dutt. Match #6 by Phil Juventud v. Funaki 6/18/05 I remember when I first heard the WWE was bringing in Juvi I was pretty damn excited. One of the best wrestlers in the world, but that is totally irrelevant. Juvi is force of nature, calling Luger a roid freak on live TV, stealing Indy title belts, running over Brad Armstrong with a car as a rib, running around and Australian hotel lobby naked high on X and fighting a dozen cops, being the most coked out guy in the history XPW for the love of god. Juvi is a motherfucking rock star, the Pete Doherty of Pro-Wrestling. I didn't think he would last a week. He lasted a little longer then that, and even got to have some pretty fun matches. I always figured he was doing a Dead Soul's thing, he had moved into the McMansion and was fucking Steph, Linda, Vince and Shane all at the same time. Or maybe he was importing the hearts of murdered Juarez Ciudad teenage girls for Vince to have transplanted in his chest. I wonder what the real straw the broke the Camel's back was, my guess is that Randy Orton mistaking him for a new Diva, masturbated in his hair, and when Orton saw it was Juvi, he freaked out and in a homophobic rage, demanded he be fired. This was his pre-Mexicools debut, and was a ton of fun for a WWE crusier match. Juvi never worked WWE style, he was still doing things at a million miles an hour, and Funaki kept up and this was the best he looked in years. The opening lucha exchange was especially awesome. Juvi is working AAA right now, which is kind of a good place for him, as it is a promotion based around the coke sweats of a dessicated lunatic, although if you put it like that then the WWE was the perfect place for him too. Match #7 Paul London + Spanky v. Chad Collyer + Kanyon 12/6/03 This was during the Billocity period of Velocity where Bill DeMott and Josh Matthews were doing commentary. Really was my favorite commentary duo, as DeMott was as good in the booth as he was bad in the ring. He did a nice job explaining the physics of a hanging vertical suplex. Kanyon was a mainstay of early Velocity, and the Spanky/London team were really the MVP's of Velocity having dozens of great matches. Collyer is a guy who had a bunch of tryouts but never caught on, he looks less like Dean Malenko then Shane McMahon, and I never understood why they never did an illegitimate McMahon child gimmick with him. Spanky and London start off with some spunky face double teams, and we even got some Spanky and Collyer mat work, before Kanyon opens the ropes sending Spanky flying to the floor with a big bump. They do some double teaming before London gets the hot tag. London was still working a little too stiff for syndies as he just smashes Collyer in the back of the head with a lariat, and breaks Collyers nose with the stroke enzigiri double team. This wasn't a high end London/Spanky tag match, but was a nice look at the kind of stuff they were doing well on a week to week basis. Match #8 by me: 2/25/06 Mascarita Sagrada v. Tsuki Figure may as well write about the other “Juniors”division Velocity match. In Mascarita Sagrada vs. Octagoncito match from 2/18/06, Octagoncito worked heel while Mascarita Sagrada worked technico. In that match Octagoncito was listed as 4 ft 2 and 112 lbs to Mascarita Sagrada’s 4 ft 1 and 100 lbs. A week later and Velocity runs Tsuki vs. Mascarita Sagrada. This time Tsuki works face and Mascarita Sagrada works heel. Tsuki is announced as 3 ft7 inches and 97lbs. And Mascarita Sagrada is announced as 4 ft and 107 lbs. What the fuck? There is someone in the WWE who makes sure that the midget heel is no more than two inches taller and at minimum 10 lbs heavier than the midget face??? You have to be impressed by that kind of attention to detail. Well then you remember that they switched one midget from face to heel in the course of a week with no explanation. I love that combination of attention to detail and missing of the big picture that captures so much of WWE philosophy. Mascarita Sagrada really is the Konnan of the “Juniors” division as it doesn’t matter if he’s face or heel, he’s always going over. This match had more lucha exchanges then the last match although kind of low end leg sweeps/kip up type exchanges. But still match felt like it was laid out by Lord Littlebrook as it was mostly US midget comedy For the most part the US comedy stuff was done better than the week before. Tsuki used to be Max Mini and so may have had more experience sitting on Lawler’s lap and working vs. Queasy or they just figured it out over the course of week. All the comedy spots here delivered payoffs. Here they do the Pepper Gomez spot and work it like a lucha handshake tease. Heel tells face to look up, face mimes no he won’t, heel promises that he is an honest man, face turns to the audience to elicit “don’t do it” chants, face eventually turns to heel and tells heel to look up…and you get your payoff. Mascarita Sagrada was also working more of a US style stooge heel than lucha rudo and he has a really fun Terry Funk drunken sell. Still using lucha minis for ass-biting comedy spots seems like a real waste. Match #9 by Phil: Paul London/Brian Kendrick v. The Dicks 2/18/06 I am going to end up reviewing a lot of Kendrick/London tags, as they were really the signature Velocity performers. Totally forgotten, and totally excellent. Here they go against the Dicks, who were a pair of short guys on tons of roids who had a cup of coffee with the WWE at the begginning of the year. You knew they were dead in the water though. They came in right around wellness time, and you could see them changing from short guys on tons of roids into short guys. Nothing is deadlier in the WWE then being a standard short guy, especially after they killed the juniors division, and they couldn’t even work tags against Short Sleave Sampson and Octagoncito. Also they were saddled with an awful one note gimmick, Dick jokes really have a shelf life of about a month. I am sad we never got to see the Gymini v. The Dicks with the Gymini playing the Road Warriors role in the Road Warriors v. Demolition feud. “WE ORIGINATED THE PAIR OF 5’2 GUYS ON UNHEALTH AMOUNTS OF WINISTROL WORKING A MALE GENTAILIA BASED PUN GIMMICK, YOU ARE JUST IMITATORS” The Dicks were a fun tag team though, they worked a basic punch-kick offense, but they had really nice punches and kicks. James had some really nice looking stomps and knees too. This was a nice basic tag formula match. Face team gets some flashy double teams, heels isolate a face for a while, missed initial hot tag, second hot tag gets a big pop. They had a really nice end run after that too. Everyone mistiming double teams, before London hits one crazier dives in WWE history, and Kendrick hits the Sliced Bread #2 for the win. Back a second to London’s dive, one Dick is on his hands and knees, and London springs on his back into a shooting star press on the floor. Total balls out crazy, and worth DL’ing this match just to see. Match 10 by me: Big Vito v. Tatanka 3/18/06 Hey it’s Big Vito and Tatanka working a heavyweight sprint match. This is the kind of match that if it aired on RAW would be pimped as a must see. It isn’t really must see but still fun use of both guys. Schneider wrote of the Kendrik/London tag team in the last Velocity of the Day as being signature Velocity performers: “forgotten and excellent”. Big Vito and Tatanka are another type of Velocity mainstay. They are neither forgotten nor excellent. They bring very specific talents and limitations to the plate. Big Vito is a guy I remember absolutely hating in WWC. As he’s a guy who absolutely can’t work as a Mid Atlantic heel. Can’t put that kind of match together. He is on the other hand a heavyweight with a bunch of nice spots who can work a fun heavyweight sprint match. He’s got a nice second rope Vader splash. Has a nice top rope Vader splash where he springboards from the bottom rope to the top (Best Vader Spalsh Ever?) gets completely horizontal and a bunch of height before crashing down. He has a really nice looking top rope elbow drop where he kind of comes down from top rope and only juts out the elbow at the last minute creating a kind of stabbing look to the elbow. He also has a fine lil superkick. It’s kind of a shame that the WWE’s attempt at Christian booking was such a box office failure. I think with his supekick, elbowdrop and Angel Manfredi back tattoo he would be kind of effective as evil Papist vs. babyface Evangelical. Tatanka of course is Tatanka. You don’t need more stiff chops, a tomahok chop and a good war dance to work an effective Native American gimmick. It would be nice if you had a good elbow drop. Tatanka instead has a leg drop, a neat roll up and will take a huge bump. Not sure if that makes up for lack of elbow drop, but whatever. These two work a fun heavyweight spot based sprint. I liked this a lot more than Vito’s match with SuperCrazy. There Vito and Crazy worked a similar type of sprint and it was kind of formless as both guys hit their stuff and it went back and forth without any sense that Vito was a heavyweight and Crazy was a junior. With Tatanka you get the message hit home that Tatanka is powerhouse and that Vito is using all his offense to cut off the powerhouse face. Tatanka hits a nasty legdrop goes up top and gets cut off with the superkick. It’s about stopping the powerhouse and taking back control. They do a chinlock section in this which really is annoying feature of WWF heavyweight sprint matches. I mean Vito has a fine cranking chinlock and Tatanka war dancing out of a chinlock is kind of a signature spot. But it still fucks with the match pacing. Its something that WWF/E often does. You can watch Golddust vs. Ahmed Johnson or Batista vs. JBL and you have these matches where they’re working effective face/heel heavyweight sprint matches that are getting good responses. Then for some reason the fed thinks you need to work a face powers up out of a chinlock spot. It’s a spot that normally gets crowd response and I love clapping as much as the next guy…But in this type of match it’s a spot that instead of eliciting that response can instead kill the crowd. Why is the heel trying to slow down the face with a chinlock in a match where the heel is paced as being faster than the face? If face powers out of chilock and match goes right back to sprint…it just feels like time filler. This is a short enough match that it doesn’t really effect it much. But even here you can see the WWE’s insistence on formula interfering with the natural flow of this type of match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Wait, when did WWE sign Quiet Storm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.