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Historic Night


Strummer

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Meltz loved this show....

 

The pre-show is taped as opposed to a live edition of what used to be Heat. That appears to mean no live match before the show starts. If you are in Phoenix, we're looking for your thoughts as well as info on the pre-show match.

 

We're opening with MNM vs. Brian Kendrick & Paul London for the tag team titles. Packed house and a good opener. They gave them time and the crowd was into the match. Great heat post-match as Melina browbeat Mercury. Melina shoved Mercury after. Then she slapped him. Nitro just decked Mercury and the two are pounding on each other. Melina was supposed to kick Mercury in the head but kind of missed. It's really a shame that politics broke this team up. Melina kicked the ref low. Post-match was really good. Mercury came back on Nitro before they were pulled apart. Finish saw Mercury collide with Nitro and Nitro knocked down Melina. In the ring, London used a sunset flip and then cradled Mercury into a back bridge. Teddy Long came out and got knocked down in the post-match. Strong start of the show.

 

Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay is now up. This was a freaking awesome 70s style match. They went 21:00 and Finlay physically dissected Benoit, and Benoit would make his comebacks. This is a rare style that you see these days in WWE. Benoit won clean with the crossface. Benoit got a bloody mouth. Benoit also used a German suplex on the floor.

 

They just showed Superstar Graham at ringside.

 

Jillian Hall vs. Melina is up next. Hall won with a sunset flip. More of a wrestling match than you'd think. They had to follow a near classic but they did a good job. Post-match saw Kristal run down Melina as an announcer. Melina attacked Kristal, but Kristal beat up Melina as well. This certainly wasn't her night. It doesn't pay to upset the locker room.

 

JBL was doing a promo when he saw Chavo. Chavo was super over, of course, and vowed JBL would not leave with the title.

 

Helms vs. Crazy is up now. Helms won with a power bomb and feet on the ropes. Crazy was more over than you'd expect so people were into it, and of course what they did was good.

 

Melina & Nitro were complaining to Teddy Long about her treatment. Melina slapped Long. Long fired both Melina & Nitro. It doesn't pay to make enemies in the locker room. I'd presume it's a suspension.

 

They just showed Anthony Robles.

 

Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry is up. Better than their Rumble match. Henry crashed Angle into the ringpost on the floor and then won the match via count out. Angle came back and destroyed Henry with five chair shots to the back and an ankle lock on the floor. Henry tapped but it didn't count. Angle then gave him an Angle slam on a table that didn't break, and Angle cracked Henry with a hard chair shot to the head. They tried to tell the story that Angle came back from the injury too early.

 

This has been a hell of a show so far.

 

There was finally an ECW TV commercial.

 

Booker T vs. Bobby Lashley is up now. Booker is now King Booker with Queen Sharmell. Finish saw Finlay hit Lashley in the head with the shilleleigh, or however they spell that thing. Booker then won with an ax kick. Crowd was hot for this match, not great, but as an overall presentation, it was strong and a lot better than you'd think. Booker put on the crown and Lashley speared Booker right off the throne. I'm a big fan of the writing team right about now when you see how everything has come together on this show.

 

The Great Khali can't even ruin this show, but he's up next. The match worked, although Khali is horrible, pretty much immobile and he never took one bump. Undertaker did a real good job of working a one match show, and then put Khali over huge. Khali did a chop to the head, a kick and put his foot on Undertaker's chest for the pin. Nobody expected Undertaker not to kick out. Well, it was a great way to put him over and people see him as a monster.

 

JBL vs. Mysterio is in the ring. Good match. Usual series of ref bumps and Mysterio won clean after kicking a chair into JBL's face, a 619 and a frog splash. Chavo ran out after the match to congratulate him. No angle yet. Have a feeling something major is in the works on this one.

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I guess they're intent on making Khali a star. Honestly, if he has a good attitude, there are more reasons to push him than there are not to push him, no matter how bad he is in the ring. He's way too big to be jobbing in the midcard, and honestly, someone being that big sort of means they don't have to do very much to get over anyway. It's not necessarily a push I'm going to enjoy unless he suddenly improves, but it makes sense.

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Meltzer is speculating that Melina is currently suspended. I have no clue what happened, but she's in the doghouse and the MNM breakup is because of whatever happened. Too bad, they would have been a great tag team with a long term rivalry and a better tag division. Now, we're back to square one, as London and Kendrick are champs and have no opponents.

 

I don't know what's being planned between Rey and Chavo, but I'm sure there are going to be some angry people as a result of whatever they do.

 

I like Booker as KOTR a lot. Really good decision to have him go over and have Lashley as the wronged babyface. I actually think he gets more elevation out of that than he would have by winning, as Booker is great at getting heat at this stage of his career and making interesting feuds, but beating him really doesn't mean much.

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Guest Bruiser Chong

It's amazing. Undertaker not only loses clean, but gets squashed. After all these years of going over people who deserved to beat him clean, he's doing this for the second coming of Giant Gonzalez. Give me a break.

 

Hey, good for him; he jobbed cleanly. But this giant guy is beyond terrible in the ring. His offense makes me long for the days of Kamala. It was almost embarrassing to see Taker lose that way following a "chop" that looked more like it was causing a bad draft than making any contact with his head. And let's not forget the crowd. Apathy all the way. Make sense, too. Why would they hate him? Because he's a big freakish guy? Oooooo.

 

I really liked the main event. I was expecting Rey to lose, but the whole thing was channeling the GAB '92 Sting/Vader match. Real nice way to end a show I wasn't all that dazzled by. Of course, I did miss the Benoit match.

 

As an aside, one of the guys there had to be one of the biggest biggots I've ever met. He was dropping the dreaded "N" word minutes after I got there and I'd never met him in my life. As the show progressed, it was clear he's little more than a white trash bum with a race superiority complext. He seriously lashed out at every imaginable race throughout the show. Plus he said the Undertaker was the best when he was riding the motorcycle. In other words, I met the stereotypical wrestling fan tonight.

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Guest SweetMama Scaat

HOL UP

 

Bruiser Chong, Youve been watching Smackdown and saw the PPV? Where were you that youre hangin around such characters?

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Great PPV.

 

Opening tag was solid, with London/Spanky really over by the end. That's what happens when you push new guys on TV for 5 weeks strong.

 

Benoit/Finlay was tremendous.

 

Booker/Lashley was really fun and got great near the end.

 

Rey/JBL was a strong main event.

 

Best show of the year, best PPV I have seen since WrestleMania 17 and Greed.

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Guest Bruiser Chong

HOL UP

 

Bruiser Chong, Youve been watching Smackdown and saw the PPV? Where were you that youre hangin around such characters?

My friend still watches regularly and gets the PPVs. I was with another friend to watch the Pistons game and after that was over, we decided to go over to the other friend's place to watch the PPV. This guy's intelligent, but for some reason, he had a living room full of white trash.
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I'm downloading the show right now. The guys over at the LAW gave it thumbs down though.

I'd be willing to bet they only did so because Taker jobbed clean to Khali.

 

This PPV is a prime example of why WWE, or any top level wrestling company, should never cater to what smart fans want. This show had everything the typical net fan demands in their professional wrestling (Benoit and Finlay in a 20 minute match, Taker jobbing clean, women having an actual match and not T&A garbage, a team of young flippy flop guys winning the tag titles) and it still got shat on.

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Guest Dangerous A

Sek, who shat on it? Pretty much the consensus on the 'net is the show ranged from pretty good to great. I haven't seen one review where someone said it was a waste of their time/money.

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The problem with 'smart' fans is you give them what they want, and then they want something else.

 

Happened with loads of people wanting Rey to win the title, and when he won it, the same people wanting the title to be on JBL. I'm sure if JBL won it, they'd want the title on Batsista.

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Sek, who shat on it? Pretty much the consensus on the 'net is the show ranged from pretty good to great. I haven't seen one review where someone said it was a waste of their time/money.

A lot of negativity on 1wrestling.com and some on the Torch. There was some other negativity on a couple of other sites I was at too. Never saw the PPV but I'm still dissapointed at what almost seems to be passionate hate towards the Smackdown and the praising of Raw.
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Guest savagerulz

Great PPV.

 

Opening tag was solid, with London/Spanky really over by the end.  That's what happens when you push new guys on TV for 5 weeks strong.

 

Benoit/Finlay was tremendous.

 

Booker/Lashley was really fun and got great near the end.

 

Rey/JBL was a strong main event.

 

Best show of the year, best PPV I have seen since WrestleMania 17 and Greed.

As a disclaimer, I did not see the PPV.

 

However...

 

Three roll ups for victories...

 

A COUNT OUT win for Henry over Angle...

 

The King of the Ring finals ends with interference...

 

MNM splits up in the opening match...

 

...and it's the best PPV in five years? Granted, the Undertaker got demolished, and Rey won, but c'mon now.

 

Better than Wrestlemania? Was the women's match from "Judgement Day" anywhere as good as Trish/Mickey? Was there anything as striking as Edge/Foley hardcore?

 

As for the last five years, it just reeks of another example of an overstated case for effect that has the OPPOSITE effect. You say "Greatest EVER!!!!" and I read "exaggerating bullshit."

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Benoit vs. Finlay didn't do anything for me. It wasn't all that rough (compared to say, the Regal-Benoit matches), nor was it passionate or emotional. Didn't really see any story or build to anything. It was merely good, as the work was solid enough and the match was structured alright, but I didn't see anything special there at all.

 

Rey vs. JBL was quite good. Kind of what one would expect, with Rey getting the beatdown and making the big comeback. JBL is a great heel and brings a lot to the table in terms of getting over the story, and of course, Rey knows how to sell and get that story over as well. The goofiness at the end kind of brought it down, but it was still a very good match.

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Guest DylanWaco

I only saw the middle portion of the show, but what I saw was really good with nothing being bad. Finlay/Benoit was a very good match and Helms/Crazy was a fun bout also. I need to see the whole thing, but with a strong main event I could easily see it being considered for show of theyear.

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