(SPOILERS) WWE Velocity and Smackdown Taping Results from Toronto
Submitted by Calvin Martin on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 8:56 AM EST





Report by Adam Lebow
www.TwinTowerWrestling.com

Approx Attendance: 15000+ in an arena that could hold approx 18000+ for wrestling. The entire non-camera side was in the upper bowl was blacked out, and the first few rows were empty, but the cheaper seats were filled throughout the arena. I was able to get 3 $20 tickets 10 minutes prior to the show, though.

Ticket says bell time is 7:40 but at 7:28 the WWF Desire Video plays, but has some added WWE Footage as well as new footage with Stone Cold Steve Austin in it. (Side Note: Is it just me or has Austin be on a lot of WWE TV in the last few days? Hmmmm)

At around 7:35 the night starts off.

Dark Matches

Bull Buchanan and Red Dog vs. RC Hass and Scott ?
Crowd wasn’t very happy with this match. A lot of chants such as “Go Leafs Go” during it. Crowd is what can be expected out of these wrestlers. Bull didn’t look to impressive but Hass looked ready for the big time, winning the match for his team with a modified version of a Boston Crab and El Paso Lasso.
Winner: RC Hass and Scott ?

Scott Vick (who looked a lot like Jake from Tough Enough 1) vs. Tyson Dux (of Boarder City Wrestling and the Twin Tower Wrestling Federation (Windsor and Toronto Indy’s))
Vick looked really big and performed a lot of power moves on the smaller Dux. Dux was the big face, as they said he was from Toronto. Vick hits a devastating couple of elbows on Dux. Dux didn’t get a lot of offense in, as he is a small guy and wound up losing when Vick hit the Vertabreaker (Hurricanes WCW Finisher)
Winner: Scott Vick



Shelton Benjamin vs. The Big Valbowski
Although they said from Las Vegas, Nevada, everyone knew Val was from Richmond Hill (suburb of Toronto) so he got a big pop. Shelton hits a few nice moves, and does a double arm submission which is a move I have only seen before in WWF Video Games (Mania 2k and No Mercy). Val gets a lot of his Vintage moves in from his run in the 90’s. Val goes for the Money Shot but misses, so the two go back at it. Finish comes when Val goes for his front Figure Four Submission Finisher.
Winner: The Big Valbowski, Val Venis

Around 8:00 at this point and they decide it is time for Velocity. Out come the announcers (Lyod and Cole) and off goes the Pyro…

Velocity Results

Tajiri vs. Funaki
Funaki comes out and cuts a promo on Tajiri telling him that the fans do not like him because he doesn’t smile. He tells him to be happy and smile. The contest is a mix of Japanese and Cruiser style, and is defiantly worth watching, just for this match alone, if you like that type of wrestling. Tajiri gets a lot of kicks in on Funaki but misses the Moonsault. Funaki is able to reverse the Tarantula. The finish comes when Tajiri kicks Funaki hard in the back of the head.
Winner: Tajiri

Albert vs. Scotty Cruz
Albert comes out and cuts a promo on Toronto saying the people here are fat and lazy. They should be more like him, hairy and sexy. This match was dull to say the least, and the fans were yelling at the guys to speed up and finish the match. Typical Albert style match up. Albert hits the big boot for the pin. Afterwards, he comes back down and hits the Baldo Bomb, much to the delight of the crowd, for no apparent reason.
Winner: Albert

Shannon Moore (who was announced as Shane More) vs. Crash
Very interesting before the match, the announcers left the table and went backstage. This may be a dark match but they will probably dub it back at the studios later. Again, another Cruiser style match up. What you would expect from Crash and a guy who could use a bit more seasoning in Shannon. Shannon went for a nice looking top rope moonsault in the match. Finish came when Crash rolled him up, and had his hands on the rope for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Crash


Smackdown Results

Tazz’s music hits and he comes out with Cole. They announce Cole as Birthday Boy Michael Cole.

They then cut to the back where there is an in house promo by D-Von and Ron Simmons. They put down Toronto and say they want to go out there, kick some ass and then get as fast as they can back to America.

The WWE Intro goes, and we get a recap video of the Lesnar / Taker feud from last week.

Pyro goes off and Smackdown begins.

Tag Team Tournament Semi-Final Match
Edge and Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Ron Simmons and D-Von
Edge got a real big pop being a hometown hero (although he was really from Orangeville). (As a side note, some people around me were saying that Christian may be his partner because he arrived with Edge to the show (according to them), being that they are both from the area, which was obviously wrong). Good match for Edge and Misterio, and a GREAT Match for Simmons and D-Von. Some key spots occurred when Rey went early for the 619 but D-Von ducked and he went right into a Spinebuster. Rey hit a nice plancha dropkick during the contest. The finish was hot, as there was first a visionary when Edge speared D-Von in the corner and Rey hit the West Coast Pop for a 2 count. Edge speared D-Von out and hits the Edge-O-Cution for the 3 on Simmons. After the match, the Guerrero’s came out and beat up Rey and Edge. Eddie hit the Frog Splash, and they went to the back.
Winner, and advancing to No Mercy Finals: Edge and Rey Misterio Jr.

We cut to the back and Funaki is interviewing Tajiri who is wearing an referee outfit. (Note: This got fans mad because the two just had a match). Nidia came over and said she was going to come out on top tonight, just like she does in bed. Noble comes over and they get into each others faces.

The Ultimate Warriors theme song starts and we see a video of him for the upcoming WWE CD (Note: I cant wait to get my hands on this, it is going to have over 80 WWF/WWE songs on it, from the 80’s to Today)

A Special Boyfriend vs. Girlfriend Match (That is what they called it)
Jamie Noble (c) vs. Nidia
This was a real bad match. Nidia did show some Tough Enough talent, but it was the typical Boy vs. Girl match. Noble roles up Nidia for the pin. Nidia gets mad that she lost and attacks Tajiri. Tajiri then goes to attack Nidia but Noble saves her, and the two double team him. They do the gimmick where they aren’t sure if they should get together or not, and then we have a big make out session in the ring.
Winner: Jamie Noble

They show a clip of the Taker in the back getting ready for an interview. After a small break, we cut to the back and we have a Taker interview, where he says that girl we saw last week was his girlfriend 7 years ago before Sara (wasn’t he from the dead back then, with Paul Bearer?). Anyways, he then goes on to say he is going to win Hell in a Cell on Sunday.

We see a Hell in a Cell promo which has been aired on TV for the last few weeks…

The WWE has some trouble and is able to air 10 seconds of a promo that John Cena cut on Kidman. We got the good part though where he says that Kidman better get used to loosing, cause he tapped out last week and he will once again this week.

Kidman vs. John Cena
This match was decent but the crowd wasn’t into it. I think the surprising turn of Cena for no reason made the fans sit on their hands. That and word was making round in the arena that the Leafs were losing, which prompted a Go Leafs Go chant to start up during the match. We do get some good Cruiser stuff, and the finish comes when Cena roles up Kidman and uses the ropes for leverage.
Winner: John Cena

Heyman and company come into Stephs Office. They demand that Taker has to have his cast removed before the PPV because Lesnar is the future of Smackdown. Lesnar has been champion for 4 months, will continue to be champion for 4 months, and will still be champion 4 months after that. He also says that Matt Hardy version 1 is the future as Taker is someone holding on, to a once shinning star.

Chuck Palumbo vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
This match was all Lesnar, so Toronto fans chanted Goldberg. Chuck did get two Superkicks in that stunned the big man, but Lesnar hit a back breaker, held on and then made it into a F5 to retain the title. Taker comes out and beats up on Lesnar with the cast. Lesnar begins to blade. Security come out and try to stop Taker but they get decked. He goes back to Lesnar and beats him some more. Then out come all the Indy guys from the beginning of the night and they get laid out as well. Taker finally leaves, after Heyman is able to grab Lesnar out of the ring during the brawl.
Winner: Brock Lesnar

The crowd realizes that Toronto Raptor player The Junk Yard Dog is at ringside and pops for the home town player.

We go backstage to see Torrie Wilson wearing some good looking attire. She sees her dad walking backstage with flowers. He says he wanted to see her baby wrestle, and gives her flowers. She tells him that she should stay away from Dawn Marie, because he is on the rebound from getting divorced from his wife.

Dawn Marie and Matt Hardy version 1 vs. Rikishi and Torrie Wilson
Dawn came out first followed by Matt Hardy, who now has a count down like entrance, similar to Jericho’s. (It is at WWE.com and it says Wrestler: Matt Hardy Keyword: Version 1 and then shows a status bar loading up, then his music hits.) This match was very funny and at one point, when Rikishi went for the double stink face, Hardy put Dawns face in front of his. As the ref went to escort out Rikishi, Torrie rolled up Dawn, but Hardy rolled Marie on top for the three. After the match, Rikishi beats up on Hardy and goes for the stink face. Wilson says she wants to do it, and Hardy gets ready for the time of his life. After closing his eyes, she puts Rikishi’s as instead of hers.
Winner: Dawn Marie and Matt Hardy version 1

We go to the back where Lesnar is with EMT’s. He tells Heyman to go tell Steph that Taker has to lose the cast.

We then go to a Benoit and Guerrero’s promo, which is very funny. First, Eddie says he didn’t do it, and then starts talking his way into a whole. Since Chris wont say anything to him, Eddie starts to break down and cry, and Chavo says Chris should feel bad for what he did to his friend. Must see promo

Heyman goes to Stephs office and she says she will decide later tonight.

Cole and Tazz rundown the PPV lineup. Only addition is Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie.

We then get a promo between Angle and Benoit where Angle says he didn’t attack Benoit. He says they better be on the same page tonight, because he doesn’t want to lose a year of his career. He also goes on saying he doesn’t need a year to train for the Olympics because he is Kurt Angle.

Another promo between Torrie Wilson. She goes to get her dads flowers from someone backstage, but the lady says the card is for Dawn and not her. She starts looking for her dad, and enters the Heel Woman’s Locker Room. She sees her fathers clothes, and goes into the shower. The curtain is closed and see fears the worse. When she opens it, we see a naked Dawn Marie (back to the camera) and Wilson’s father, wearing clothes, making out in the shower. Torrie runs off, breaking down. We go back to the shower, and her father doesn’t know what to do, but Dawn has a smirk on her face.

Tag Team Tournament Semi-Final Match
Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs. The Guerrero Family (Eddie and Chavo)
As the Chavo and Eddie come down, they get attacked by Edge and Rey. Angle and Benoit attack Edge and Rey once the two disposed of Eddie and Chavo and both are hit with the twos signature moves. At this point they will probably go to a commercial break. From this point on, we see the match of the year (non-gimmicked tag team match category). Way to many spots but the match goes over 20+ minutes. The crowd was on the edge of their seat throughout and were really happy with this match. The finish came with a ref bumb that took out Chris and Chavo. Angle but Eddie in the Angle Lock, and then Chavo brought in a chair. He goes to use it, but Benoit stops him. He says he will hit Angle, but then hits Chavo. Angle then hits the Angle slam for the three. If you don’t normally watch Smackdown, make a point of watching this match somehow. It was really good live, cant wait to see how it came out on TV.
Winner: Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit

At this point, the fans began to leave, thinking the show was over. After a quick 30 second break, we see Steph backstage so people sit back down. She says that she made a decision about the cast on the Taker, but she will say it out in the ring.

They aired a Trish Stratus Desire Video, but it wasn’t the complete product and it looked like a work in progress.

Something wrong occurred, and the man who does ring side production began to scurry around, and got Tazz to come in the ring and do a survey to kill some time.

Stephanie comes out and says asks for Lesnar to come out. She says on one hand, Lesnar broke Takers hand. On the other, Taker is using the Cast as a weapon. But in all of this, Hell in a Cell has no rules. So she says he is aloud to have the cast. Lesnar puts Steph in the corner and scares her, almost kissing her, but not doing so. Taker comes out and Lesnar attacks. Lesnar and Heyman double team Taker, but Lesnar leaves and Heyman doesn’t. Taker begins to destroy Heyman for a good 15 minutes, some of to be seen on TV, some of it not to be. After Lesnar left, Taker choke slammed Heyman. Heyman then sold for a good 10 more minutes, which was really funny, cause he was badly blading. The ref put the mic to Heymans mouth and he said he hates coming to Canada. He continues to run his mouth and he crawls up the ramp. Near the top of the ramp, the fans chant Asshole and Heyman says that anyone from New York isn’t an Asshole.

End of show

Approx time: 3 hrs and 15 mins

Some Notes in Brief: Overall a good show. The only problem was they had commercial breaks. Cant they just add them later. The show could have been done in 2 hrs and it would have made the flow a lot better as well. The story line progression was ok and the matches were good. It seemed that the cheap areas were sold out, but the expensive seats were not. Also, they rose merchandise prices to 30.00 Cdn, which got me mad. The exchange was 50%!!!.

From Toronto, Canada, the home of Mania X8
Adam Lebow
www.TwinTowerWrestling.com



---



Report by Pete Elkerbout via WrestlingObserver.com

Dark Matches:

1. I came in late and missed a dark tag match.

2. Scott Vick (I wonder if he's related to Katie Vick? ;-) ) over some local guy with "Text Book" written on his tights.

3. Big Valbowski (he's really from around here even if his "hometown" is
listed as Vegas) d. Shelton Benjamin at 6:10 via an arm submission move. Ok
match with Val getting most of the offense in this one.

Velocity tapings:

1. Tajiri beat Funaki at 3:55 with the superkick. Decent match with lots of
reversals, but like all cruiser matches, it was too damn short. These guys
seem to really work well together.

2. Albert cut a heel promo on the crowd about how sexy he is. Lots of shave
your back chants. He beat another local whipping boy (Tommy Cruise? I asked
the people I was with and we couldn't even agree on what the frst name
sounded like) at 4:41 with a big boot. Post match saw Albert deliver the
Baldo Bomb for good measure.

3. Crash defeated Shannon Moore at 5:31 with a sort of sunset flip move in
the corner. Crash had his feet on the ropes for the pin. Crowd was dead for
this match, and the match kind of sucked because Crash really doesn't
wrestle the cruiserweight style. He's just a really small guy that wrestles
a regular style - how does he keep getting the cruiser matches while Noble
has defended the belt maybe once in the past 4 or 5 weeks? (And why are
there two women's matches on the next PPV but no cruiser matches??)

End of Velocity.

Before Smackdown officially starts, a clip is shown of D'Von and Ron Simmons
cutting a heel promo on Toronto. They do the usual complaining about the
local city and then mention how they can't wait to return home for some good
beer. Cheap heat, but at least it gets the crowd going for Smackdown.

Tazz and Cole arrive, the announce that Tazz is the birthday boy tonight!

Smackdown starts, the pyro goes off and everyone's ready to go.

1. Edge (home town boy!) & Rey Mysterio d. D'Von & Ron Simmons at 4:35 when
Edge hit the Edge-cution (can't remember on who). Decent match with a good
crowd reaction. Great start to the show. Post match saw the Guerrero's run
in for a beat down on the faces. Eddie is nursing a nasty looking black eye
complete with stitches. Don't know where he picked that up.

- Clip shown of Funaki, Tajiri, Nidia & Noble backstage. Nidia says she's
gonna fight Noble because of their argument last week, Tajiri will be
special ref. Funaki was being the nuber one announcer.

2. Jamie Noble d. Nidia @ 1:59 with Tajiri as special guest referee. Very
quick match, nothing surprising. Post match saw Nidia and Tajiri arguing
about something, which led to Noble beating down Tajiri and Nidia and Noble
reconciling over their differences. Nidia always plays her character so
well.

Undertaker vignette - nothing of note to pass along, your standard fare from
the American Bad Ass.

Quick heel clip of Cena shown where he burns on Kidman for losing their tag
match last week, saying that Kidman should get used to losing.

3. John Cena wearing the Toronto blue and white colours (why? Isn't he
supposed to be a heel now?) d. Billy Kidman @ 6:47 with his feet on the
ropes. Good match, but the crowd was DEAD for this one. I can't figure it
out... weeks ago Kidman was getting pops like mad and now he doesn't seem to
matter.

Steph backstage vignette. She sends Heyman's girl Tracy home (the one who
claims to have had an affair with UT). Break. Undertaker vignette. I don't
know if it's this one or one of the other clips of his tonight but at sme
point he explains that he dated this girl Tracy many many years ago, even
before he met his wife.

4. Brock Lesnar d. Chuck Palumbo @ 6:25 with the F5. Chuck got in some
decent offense, this certainly wasn't the squash match I expected.
Post-match saw Undertaker come down and bust Brock open with his cast.Crowd
popped pretty big for that.

Backstage clip shown of Torrie and her dad again. He had some flowers for
her, how cute.

5. Dawn Marie & Mattitude d. Torrie Wilson & Rikishi at about 3 minutes when
Matt helped Dawn Marie pin Torrie. At one point Matt and Dawn Marie were in
the corner and Rikishi went for the stinkface. Matt let Dawn Marie take the
brunt of that one. Post match saw Torrie tease a stinkface on Matt, and when
he closed his eyes Rikishi made the switch and gave him his just desserts. I
love Matt's new gimmick and I was totally marking out for him.

Backstage clip of Lesnar and Heyman talking with Steph. They want 'Taker to
remove his cast for the HIAC match since they say it gives him an unfair
advantage.

Backstage clip of Eddie and Chavo heading into Benoit's dressing room.
Benoit is silent throughout and Eddie is hilarious when talking about the
beating last week and denying any role in it.

Another clip of Heyman, Lesnar and Steph. Steph says that she'll announce
her decision about the cast in the ring. I didn't think it was that big of a
deal but she seems to think it is. Somewhere else in there Undertaker visits
her and tells her that since Lesnar put him in the cast, he should be
allowed to use it. He gets angry and smashes a lamp. Pretty scary.

Backstage clip of Angle and Benoit. Once again Benoit is totally silent
looking tough and Angle does all the talking. He says is Benoit thinks he's
going to train for the Olympics, he's so good that he doesn't need a year
for that.

6. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle d. Eddie & Chavo Guerrero at about the 12
minute mark when Angle hit the Angle slam on Eddie shortly after a Ref bump.
Match of the night here easily, great action and a hot crowd was getting
behind Angle and Benoit. Lots of pro-Angle chants in there with the usual
anti-Angle chants.

After much delaying, Stephanie comes out to make her announcement in front
of the audience. She calls out Heyman and Lesnar and tells them that UT will
be allowed to wear the cast in their HIAC match at No Mercy. I should have
just left after the main event match because this dragged on as a waste of
time. How is someone's cast worth this much attention? They're playing it up
like it's some huge announcement but it's a minor match stipulation. Anyway,
of course UT comes out and lays the beats on Brock and Heyman. UT keeps
tossing Brock out of the ring so he can beat on Heyman. Heyman gets busted
open and eventually Lesnar leaves the ring by himself. Not sure when the
taping cut off, but after Heyman sold for many minutes, Undertaker gave him
one last chokeslam before leaving.









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