Eddie Tribute Show Spoilers

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Raw show:

 

 

The show started up with the crowd chanting "Eddie, Eddie." Many fans in the building have signs dedicated to Eddie Guerrero. On the stage, as a tribute to Eddie, they have his car set up. Lilian Garcia opened the show by saying this would be a special tribute show for Eddie Guerrero. There was no pyro, and no special introduction of any of the announcers.

 

(1) Mr. Ken Kennedy defeated Val Venis in about five minutes. Kennedy got major heel heat for being from Green Bay and playing that up quite a bit while in the midst of Viking Country.

 

Afterwards, all the wrestlers came out. Chris Benoit was crying from the moment he came out of the curtain, and was perhaps more emotional than anyone. Vince McMahon then said some words about Eddie: "Eddie Guerrero has passed away. Eddie was in the prime of his life, in the prime of his career. Tonight we celebrate the life of Eddie Guerrero. He loved the business. He had a passion like no one else. Whether cheered or booed, he loved to perform for the fans. Eddie Guerrero's goal every night was to steal the show. He would want the show to go on. And so we shall."

 

They had a 10-bell salute for Eddie, and the crowd was silent for it. After this, they aired a tribute video set to Johnny Cash's rendition of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt." When the video was done, Vince said, "Viva La Raza!" Pretty much everyone was out for this, including Shane McMahon, who was crying as well. The fans chanted "Thank you, Eddie!"

 

John Cena then had some words about Eddie: "Eddie was a father figure. Eddie was a man of faith, but selfishly, we'll all miss him."

 

(2) Big Show & Kane defeated MNM in about four minutes. This wasn't technically a squash match, but it was pretty close to it. The finish came on a chokeslam. Before the match, they showed the angle where Eddie sprayed Big Show with raw sewage from a past Smackdown show.

 

(3) Kurt Angle defeated Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin got a near fall with a wicked looking back suplex off the top rope. Angle was able to kick out of that and apply the anklelock for the submission victory.

 

After that, they showed a bunch of old Eddie and Chavo comedy skits from over the years. Chavo on the big screen then gave an emotional speech about how Eddie was like a big brother to him. He talked about how much he looked up to Eddie and how much teaming with Eddie meant to him.

 

It was confirmed that Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler and Jonathan Coachman are doing the commentary for the Raw show. The show is being presented in such a way that there are no angles whatsoever. It's simply matches and video segments.

 

(4) Rey Mysterio defeated Shawn Michaels in about 10 minutes. Michaels went for the sweet chin music, but Mysterio was able to avoid it. Mysterio then hit the 6-1-9 and dropped the dime to get the pinfall victory. During the pin, Michaels' legs sort of flailed about, but they still counted the pin. After the match, Mysterio and Michaels hugged. It should be noted also that during the course of the match, Mysterio paid tribute to Eddie by doing his little celebratory dance, which was a nice touch.

 

The announcers (Styles, Lawler, Coach) were shown talking, but the fans live in the arena could not hear what they were saying.

 

(5) Melina (from MNM) won a diva battle royal. All active divas on the roster, excluding Lita, participated in the battle royal. Maria was said to have done very little during the match, and spent most of her time in it avoiding physical contact.

 

(6) Eugene defeated Simon Dean. Eugene won it with the Rock Bottom.

 

They then aired a video of Chris Benoit and Eddie together. Benoit gave a speech about how close he and Eddie were. He broke down during the speech, as this was clearly a very emotional time for Benoit. He said, "Thank you for everything you've given me. I'll never forget you. I love you."

 

After this, Triple H gave a speech about Eddie. This was an inopportune time for Hunter to give his speech, following Benoit like that. It was said that a skeptic might have questioned Hunter's intentions. Hunter said Eddie was well liked by everyone in the locker room, and that no one had a bad thing to say about him.

 

(7) Ric Flair defeated William Regal. The finish came when Flair made Regal submit to the figure four leglock. Flair had an Eddie Guerrero arm band on, and played it up for the crowd and got a nice ovation for it.

 

They then aired clips of Eddie Guerrero and his relationship with Chyna, and things that went on during that time period.

 

(8) John Cena defeated Randy Orton by disqualification. The finish came when "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered on his son's behalf. The match was said to have been not very long and not very good.

 

Overall, the best match of the taping was Rey Mysterio vs. Shawn Michaels, but in general the focus was on Eddie Guerrero, and in no way would that be considered a match of the year candidate. There were no promos (other than the tribute speeches for Eddie) and no angles whatsoever. Just video packages and matches.

 

Smackdown:

 

 

After a quick set change, they moved Eddie's car to the aisle. It was confirmed that Tazz and Michael Cole were doing commentary for the show.

 

Batista came out, and said he didn't know if he should be the one to out there at this time. He said, "He'd hate to see me out here crying like a baby. There's two things I know: He loved his family and he loved this business. He found peace in this ring. My one comfort is knowing Eddie is now at peace. He is with God. I miss you, I love you, I will make sure no one ever forgets you."

 

(1) Matt Hardy defeated Carlito Cool. Hardy won the match with a Twist of Fate. After the match, Hardy hung around Eddie's car for a bit. He did not get as emotional as some of the other wrestlers on this night, though.

 

Vince McMahon then came out to say some words. He said Eddie loved to perform, and then gave one of his trademark big gulps. He said there was one thing Eddie loved more than wrestling and that was his family. Vince talked about how everyone, all the wrestlers and production people and everything, were his family. He concluded by saying, "Eddie was a good man. A damn good man."

 

(2) LOD defeated Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch. After the match, Big Show gave a speech about Eddie. He said, "My only comfort with losing a friend is knowing that all the pain is gone. He is with God. Now he is safe. I love you, bro." Show broke down during the course of his speech.

 

(3) Chavo Guerrero defeated JBL. Late in the match, Chavo threw a chair to JBL and took a ghost bump. The referee turned around to find the chair in JBL's hands, and admonished him for it. This got a huge pop from the crowd, who chanted "Eddie!" Chavo hit the three amigos suplexes and the frogsplash to get the victory.

 

After the match, Chavo thanked the fans. He said Eddie gave his life for the business, for the fans, and for the boys in the back. He said, "I know you all will miss Eddie Guerrero."

 

(4) Juvi won a cruiserweight battle royal. The competitors included Tajiri, Shane Helms, Paul London, Kid Kash, Brian Kendrick, Scotty 2 Hotty, Nunzio, Funaki, Psicosis, Super Crazy and Juvi. It came down to London and Juvi. London was on Juvi's shoulders, and then both went over the top rope. London hit the floor first, and Juvi managed to keep himself on the ring apron.

 

(5) Chris Benoit defeated Triple H in about 13 minutes. Benoit finished things off with the top rope headbutt, locked in the crossface, and then managed to leverage Hunter into a pinning combination from the crossface to get the victory. After the match, they hugged and shook hands. Dean Malenko came out, and while he did not say anything, he celebrated with Benoit and held his arm up in victory.

 

Afterward, Benoit said, "Eddie was a man who walked through every possible valley you can imagine. Eddie was a true inspiration to every life he touched. We'll always love you and miss you." The crowd didn't leave until Benoit's speech was over, as they were very interested in what he was saying.

 

I have to say it sounds like WWE handled this as best as they possibly could.

[Loss]

It'll be an emotional two nights of TV for sure. From what appears here, they did handle this the best way they could (I'm imagining that Ken Kennedy match was dark???).

[Guest Benjie]

I'll record both shows and make sure I never record over them. I do though hope the WWE make a DVD out of the two shows, but I doubt that will ever happen.

[Guest Flyboy]

Maybe I'm dumb or just haven't paid attention in forever, but when do Raw started to be taped again? Or was this a one-time thing?

[Guest Alfdogg]

They're on a European tour starting today, so both shows were taped last night. RAW is still normally done live, though.