(SPOILERS) Velocity & Smackdown Taping Results from Indianapolis
Submitted by Calvin Martin on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 at 2:32 AM EST



Report by Duane Gates

--The crowd was far from dead…the crowd was pretty much jacked all night. A little quite during Mysterio’s bout, which seemed to be drug down a little bit by Chavo – not Rey’s fault, their styles just didn’t mesh well. But the crowd wasn’t even close to being dead, and there was sure as hell not a 20 minute delay between matches. 7-8 minutes TOPS, and that was the only major delay – every other delay was just like a normal commercial break.

--RVD’s intro was simply a compilation video of some highlights from Van Dam (not his Titantron video), set to Marvelous Marc Mero’s old WCW music. The people that I was around didn’t make a big deal about it, because it was obvious that it wasn’t meant to imply that Van Dam was going to be there.

VELOCITY:

Sean O’Haire d. Sho Funaki

Victoria/Torrie Wilson d. Molly Holly/Dawn Marie

Chuck/Billy (w/ Rico) d. The Hurricane/Shannon Moore (Moore was very impressive in this one)

Tajiri d. Mike Awesome

Hardcore Holly d. Rico Constantino – Billy and Chuck made a 3-1 attack on Holly, but The Big Valbowski made the save

WWE Cruiserweight Title: Jamie Noble (champ, w/ Nidia) d. Billy Kidman


SMACKDOWN:

The show started with a montage from Stephanie McMahon, previewing the first-ever Smackdown under her control…she hyped the debut of Rey Jr., Rock and Hogan facing Lance Storm & Christian for the tag titles, Edge getting his anticipated singles match with Chris Jericho in a steel cage, “and much more”.

Angle came out before the Smackdown pyro even had a chance to go off, to face Mark Henry. Pretty slow match, until Brock Lesnar ran down and gave an IMPRESSIVE F5 on Henry.

Backstage, Angle confronted Lesnar about interfering, and Lesnar basically said he did it because he can, and because he’s the new star of Smackdown. Angle left, very angry.

Stacy entered Stephanie’s office, and offered her services to Stephanie – someone delivered flowers to Stephanie, signed, “I’ll see you tonight, Love, Eric” – Steph sent Stacy to find Bischoff

Rikishi d. Albert in a very boring match

Stacy confronted security backstage and had them stop Edge – Stephanie confronted Edge about joining RAW, and Edge said he was Smackdown all the way – he then took Stephanie to the production truck, and had her put up a hacked version of Jericho’s countdown – a countdown until Edge “destroys Chris Jericho inside that steel cage”

Reverend D-Von (w/ Deacon Batista) d. The Big Valbowski (w/ Hardcore Holly)

Marc Lloyd caught up with an angry Angle, leaving the arena and talking on his cell phone. Lloyd tried to interview Angle, but Angle blew him off, and referred to the person on the phone as “Eric”. Lloyd told an irate Stephanie, who called Kurt’s cell phone and left a distressed voice mail.

Christian & Lance Storm cut an anti-American promo backstage.

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Hollywood Hogan & The Rock d. Lance Storm & Christian by DQ after Brock Lesnar ran down to give Hogan the F5. The crowd was absolutely jacked for this ENTIRE match. Nice to see Hogan back again.

John Cena cut a backstage promo making fun of Test’s anti-American views, and cracking on his teeth, calling him “woodchuck”. Test came over and delivered a HARD slap to Cena.

Quick video shown of Rey Jr. from behind putting his mask on, and heading out.

Rey Mysterio d. Chavo Guerrero with a springboard hurricanrana. Rey looked really good at times, but Chavo just out and out refused to work a cruiserweight style, making it a more physical match and taking away from some of the hype they could’ve given Rey, in my opinion. Good debut nonetheless, to a new rap theme.

Stephanie left another desperate voice mail on Kurt Angle’s cell phone, asking that no matter what his decision was, to at least have the decency to show up at the arena tonight to tell her his decision.

Test bumped into Rey Jr. backstage, and threw him into the wall in the back.

John Cena d. Test with a rollup. Afterwards, Test delivered a powerful big boot to Cena.

Stephanie confronted Jericho backstage, who plugged his band Fozzy’s new CD, which comes out Tuesday, July 30. He said he was listening to music to pump him up for the match, and that she has no reason to worry about him joining RAW.

Edge d. Chris Jericho in the steel cage match after exiting over the top rope. Edge got busted open in a really good steel cage match. Afterwards, Storm/Test/Christian all attacked Edge inside the cage. John Cena ran out to help, followed by Rey Mysterio, who climbed the cage quickly and did an AMAZING plancha off the top of the CAGE onto Christian & Storm. Test went to powerbomb Rey, and he reversed that one into a spinning hurricanrana…Rey was HUGELY over after these events. The faces cleared the ring, and posed throughout the final segment of the show and afterwards.

Outside, Eric Bischoff sped away in a limo, saying “I’ve got him, and we’ll see you Monday night on RAW!” Stephanie, frustrated, was shocked when Kurt Angle came beside her and stated that he hated Bischoff. Stephanie, in pleasant disbelief, said she thought he was with Bischoff, and explained what she’d overheard – Angle said he hated Bischoff, and that the “Eric” he was talking to was actually his brother, Eric Angle! As the show went off the air, Stephanie speculated on the fact that if Angle wasn’t in the limousine with Bischoff heading to RAW…who was?



---



Report by Ryan Niemiller

I just got back from the Smackdown & Velocity tapings in Indy. The building
was pretty packed, I'd say ranging around 9/10 full. The crowd was also hot
all night, despite the sometimes long lay-offs between matches (and the
crowd was dead after Hogan/Rock came out, as you would expect). Here's what
I remember.

DARK MATCHES & VELOCITY TAPINGS (The order could be off a bit)

Sean O'Haire defeated Funaki with the reverse Death Valley Driver

Good pop for both men based on it being the opening match. Pretty standard
power vs. speed match. O'Haire wins with his DVD finisher.

Torrie Wilson/Victoria beat Dawn Marie/Molly Holly

Torrie gets the pin on Molly with a swinging neckbreaker. Decent enough
match, all things considering. Big pops for all.

Billy/Chuck beat Hurricane/Shannon Moore

Good reaction for The Hurricane as, well, he rules. Lots of heat for Billy
& Chuck. Hurricane hits the Choke Slam on Billy late, but Rico distracts
the ref. Chuck nails the Jungle Kick giving them the victory. Hurricane &
Moore pose afterwards to a good reaction.

Tajiri beat Mike Awesome with a Buzzsaw Kick

Awesome looked decent enough after returning from his ACL surgery. Didn't
do anything too dangerous. Tajiri did the Tarantula which got a good pop.
Tajiri kicks Awesome in the head for the win.

Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) retained the Cruiserweight Title over Billy Kidman

Good pop for Kidman and Nidia. A pretty good match, but I don't understand
why these guys have to wrestle on the mat so much. Very few high spots.
End comes when Kidman goes for a slam of some kind, but Nidia trips him and
holds his feet down allowing Noble to retain.

Hardcore Holly beat Rico with the Alabama Slam

Billy & Chuck get sent to the back right away by the ref. Crowd hates
Rico... like a lot. Holly takes the win with the Alabama Slam. After the
match, Billy & Chuck attack Holly only for Val Venis to make the save.

SMACKDOWN! TAPING

Mark Henry beats Kurt Angle by disqualification when Brock Lesnar destroys
Henry with the F5.

Big reaction for Angle's music to start because everyone knew they'd get to
chant "YOU SUCK!" Henry comes out to a decent enough pop, I guess. Nothing
special, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Henry hits his standard power
offense. Right before Angle was to go for the Angle Lock, Lesnar comes down
and crushes Henry, hitting an awesome looking F5. Lesnar & Heyman leave,
Angle chases after them.

Val Venis beat Reverend D-Von with his Blue Thunder power bomb

Leviathan (I hate the name Deacon Baustita) was with D-Von and Hardcore
Holly was with Val. Late Leviathan tries to interfere but Hardcore attacks
him at ringside. During the confusion, Val hits a Blue Thunder to get the
pin.

Rikiski beats Albert with the Banzai Drop

Both men are freakin' huge. Big pop for Rikishi, not much heat for Albert.
About what you'd expect from these two. Rikishi gives the Stinkface, then
shortly after a Banzai Drop. After the match, Rikishi dances to the delight
of the crowd. Ewww.

Hulk Hogan/The Rock beat Lance Storm/Christian (w/ Test) by DQ when Lesnar
came out and F5'ed Hogan.

Crowd was really, really into this match. Hogan & Rock got mammoth
reactions, good heat for Team Canada. I got to mark out for Lance Storm
like crazy, so thus, I was happy. Hogan hits the big boot/Big Leg Drop on
Christian but before the 3, Lesnar comes out and pounds Hogan much to my
delight, but to the rest of the crowd's dismay. Storm/Christian keep the
titles.

Rey Misterio Jr. beat Chavo Guerrero Jr. (why they don't introduce them as
"Jr." is beyond me) with the Top-Rope Frankensteiner

Loud pop for Misterio, decent heat for Chavo. Misterio looked very good on
his TV debut with WWE. Misterio hit a nice twisting plancha to the floor.
He also hit Chavo with his swing through the rope move, but instead of
faking a baseball slide to the outside, he kicked Chavo (who was on the
apron) in the face. Really cool looking spot. Rey hits the Top-Rope
Frankensteiner for the win. On a side note, Misterio's music is really cool.

John Cena beat Test with a roll-up, which is how he beats everyone
apparently.

In a backstage skit before the match, Cena made fun of Test's horse face.
Test got in Cena's face, and hit him with an awesome slap. Good match, Cena
looked impressive. Test goes for a power bomb, but Cena reverses it with a
roll-up for the 3 count. After the match, Test levels Cena with the Big
Boot.

In the main event, Edge beat Chris Jericho in a steel cage match by escaping
the cage.

Match of the night, IMO. Edge was really over, as was Jericho. Nothing too
special for a cage match, but that doesn't mean it was bad. Edge bladed
early on in the match. Edge wins by climbing out before Jericho could get
to the door. After the match, Team Canada hits the ring and assaults Edge
for a 4-on-1 attack. John Cena comes to make the save, but he's quickly
overcome as well. Rey Misterio Jr. then coms to save, as he climbs to the
top of the cage and hits a simply awesome flying crossbody on Lance Storm &
Christian. The faces get the advantage and clear the ring to end the show.

Not much happened after the show went off the air. I didn't mention most of
the backstage skits as I couldn't remember the order.

BIGGEST POPS
1) Rock/Hogan
2) Edge
3) Rey Misterio Jr's (plus his dive at the end)
4) Rikishi's stupid dancing
5) Cena/Hurricane

MOST HEAT
1) Jericho
2) Team Canada
3) Rico
4) Billy/Chuck

All in all, a good show. I got to meet Eric Bischoff at Hooters after the
show. He was really nice and signed autographs for me and my friends. The
crowd may have seem dead later in the show, but that's because Hogan/Rock
came out at the end of hour one, and the crowd was exhausted after the
match.



---



Report by Jason Thees

Just got back from the SmackDown taping in
Indianapolis, IN. The final few matches were killer,
and Rey Mysterio's debut was awesome.

Nothing eventful happened after the show, just some
posing by those involved in the main event. No retakes
tonight.

Kurt Angle lost to Mark Henry, by DQ from interference
by Brock Lesner attacking Henry.

Rikishi d. Albert

John Cena d. Test via roll up.

Rey Mysterio Jr. d. Chavo Guerrero

Hogan/Rock defeated Christan/Storm via a DQ when Brock
Lesner interfered attacking Hogan.

Cage Match - Edge d. Y2J by exiting the cage. Team Canada then
interfered, and John Cena and Rey Rey made the save,
with Rey making a SPECTACULAR dive off the top of the
cage.








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