WWE Smackdown Report for 4/29/04: Eddie Guerrero vs. Bubba Ray Dudley
Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 10:06 PM EST



WWE Smackdown
Airdate: April 29th, 2004

Kurt Angle heads out to the ring, being pushed in a wheelchair by his bodyguard (WWE developmental wrestler Horshu), to start the show off. Kurt starts tearing up, saying that because of what the Big Show did to him, he can never wrestle again. He blames the fans as the reason for his current condition, despite the fact that it would make more sense to blame the Big Show, seeing how he actually was the one that chokeslammed Kurt off the balcony. Angle calls Torrie out to the ring and goes into mental rage mode, saying that she's also to blame for Kurt's condition cause she was laughing at the Big Show after his match, which set the entire thing in motion. Angle mentions that he can't have sex with his wife anymore, not that we wanted to actually KNOW that, and decides that he wants Torrie to suffer too. Angle adds a no-DQ stipulation to Torrie's match with Rene Dupree tonight, which is next. Kurt reminded me of Vince McMahon back in 1998 when he was pushed around in a wheelchair for months after the Undertaker & Kane "shattered" his ankle with the steel ring steps.

Match 1: No-DQ Intergender Match: Torrie Wilson vs. Rene Dupree (with Fifi)

Does Rene have a stockpile of different Fifi's to bring out each week? This wasn't even really a match, as Rene just toyed around with her to stay, taking her down and then standing over her while doing the crazy French dance. Torrie actually tried a sunset flip, but Rene just sat down on her for two. Torrie did manage to pull him over for a quick two count, and then started slapping away, but Dupree put a stop to that with a bodyslam. Before Rene could do any more damage, John Cena ran in for the save, and the two brawled until Dupree threw Torrie into Cena and ran away. Ok, I'm all for pushing the Cena/Dupree feud, but do we really need Torrie Wilson involved in it too?

Winner: No Contest

After the break, Rene Dupree is in Angle's office complaining about John Cena. Kurt decides that rap music has helped lead to the violence in America, which means that Cena is ALSO to blame for his condition. Man, what's next? "That vendor over there sold me a hotdog one time, and hotdogs are the devil's food, so he must be to blame for Big Show chokeslamming me off a balcony!" Kurt decides to punish Cena by giving Dupree a United States Championship shot at Judgment Day.

Match 2: World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship: Chavo Guerrero (Champion, with Chavo Guerrero Sr.) vs. Nunzio

Nunzio gets a bit freaked out before the match as the Undertaker's music and smoke effects started up. Of course, Taker didn't come out and fans got pissed when the only person to come out through the curtain after that was Chavo. Guerrero quickly attacks Nunzio to start the match off, but Nunzio comes back with a dropkick and it's enough for Chavo to leave the ring to collect his thoughts. Nunzio sends Chavo back into the ring, but Chavo takes him down with a baseball slide. Guerrero continues the punishment and goes for a tilt-a-whirl, but Nunzio is able to counter it into a clothesline for two. Nunzio gets a two count off of a missile dropkick, and then another off a rollup. Chavo Guerrero Sr. picks this time to interfere, getting a quick cheapshot on Nunzio, which is enough to allow Chavo to get Nunzio in position to deliver the Gory Bomb. Chavo covers and gets the win to retain the title. After the match, he challenges anyone from around the world that he hasn't beaten before next week because he just doesn't have any competition on SD right now. Decent match, but way to short for Nunzio's title shot. Those two could have a great match, but the fact that they are both heels works against them.

Winner: Chavo Guerrero (Still WWE Cruiserweight Champion)

Meanwhile, Rob Van Dam heads to the ring and calls out the Dudley Boyz. After the break, Paul Heyman comes out and announces that he has special "VIP" status this week. He introduces the Dudleys, but they do the old "let's play out music, and then try to attack from the crowd". They must have been watching Chris Jericho do the exact same thing on Raw this week. Bubba & D-Von kick the shit out of RVD, but before D-Von can connect with a foot to the nuts again, Eddie Guerrero appears to make the save. I'm actually digging the fact that Paul Heyman seems to be the Dudleys new manager. Bubba & D-Von have gotten so stale lately, and with Heyman by their side, they might finally start to act like the Dudleys I remember back in ECW.

Elsewhere, Josh Mathews is interviewing Booker T, and he makes the mistake of bringing up the fact that Booker might be scared of the Undertaker. Booker lets everyone know that if Taker gets in his face, he'll slap the dead off him.

We get another promo video for Mordecai. I'm going to hold off my opinions on this until I see him in the ring, but he seems to have a Gangrel/Undertaker gimmick thing going for him which could work. Either that, or it will totally suck ass and he'll be facing Orlando Jordan within two weeks of his debut on Velocity.

Match 3: Booker T vs. "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn

Billy starts the match off quick, getting a hiptoss, but Booker fires off a back kick and then follows through with a hotshot. Booker gets two off a neckbreaker, but Billy fights back with a clothesline and a suplex, followed by his sleeper slam for a two count. Gunn walks right into a sidekick from Booker for two, but still tries to connect with the Fameasser. Booker manages to counter all attempts, and moves out of the way when Gunn attempts a big splash in the corner. Booker connects with his scissors kick on Billy, makes the cover, and gets the win. After the match, Taker's music hits, but this time he actually does come out with Paul Bearer in tow. I do have to point out that Taker has made the switch from a cowboy hat back to his original "Deadman" hat, which I'm happy to see. I mean, with the cowboy hat, he looked like "Undertaker: Texas Ranger". Booker lets Taker know that he's just had a hard-fought match and he isn't going to get into it with him tonight. However, on his way out, he steals the urn from Bearer and clocks Taker in the head with it. Taker does the zombie situp in the mist, and Booker finally shits a brick and takes off through the crowd. Decent match between Gunn & Booker, though I think they cut it down some from what happened at the tapings. As for Taker & Booker, I'm not sure if this feud will really do anything for either man. I mean, is Booker really going to be elevated to the top spot by getting squashed by the Undertaker?

Winner: Booker T

Meanwhile, Rico & Miss Jackie have stolen Charlie Haas's tights in order to get him to wear a pair of Rico's. Ahhh, we got the WWE's answer to a gay version of the Odd Couple.

Match 4: World Wrestling Entertainment Tag Team Championship: Rico & Charlie Haas (Champions, with Miss Jackie) vs. The Basham Brothers

Rico starts the match with his normal gay antics to freak the Bashams out. Haas comes in and starts the wrestling portion of the match off, armdragging Doug a few times. However, Danny makes the blind tag and sends Charlie shoulder first into the steel ring post. Danny gets a two count off of that, and then both Bashams go to work on the arm and shoulder of Haas. Doug gets tagged in and connects with a few shoulder thrusts, but when Charlie manages to backdrop Doug, Danny cuts off Haas's comeback with an elbowdrop. Charlie finally makes the hot tag to Rico, who connects with a series of kicks before simulating a BJ. Ewwwww, I didn't need to see that. Back kick connects on Danny for two, and then when Haas tags himself back in, Rico plants a big wet one on Danny. This distracts Danny enough that Charlie is able to connect with a german suplex for the win to retain the gold. Man, I bet the Bashams wish that Shaniqua was still with them, cause at least then they weren't treated like a super jobber team. I don't know how long the whole "Odd Couple" feel of Haas & Rico can go on before the fans get tired of seeing it, but until then, let the two roll with it. It's the biggest push that Rico's seen since he managed Billy & Chuck.

Winners: Charlie Haas & Rico (Still WWE Tag Team Champions)

We get another "Paid Advertisement" from JBL, who continues to bash Spanish/Mexican people in an effort to earn him heel heat for his match against Eddie at Judgment Day. He's going to need something all right, cause he can't make the match good for his in-ring work, that's for sure.

Match 5: Non-Title Match: "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero vs. Bubba Ray Dudley (with D-Von & Paul Heyman)

Bubba attacks Eddie to start, pounding away at him in the corner. Eddie fights back with a few chops, and manages to reverse a sideslam attempt into a flying headscissors. Eddie blocks a blind charge from Bubba, and gets a two count off of a high crossbody. Bubba takes the cheap route by going to the eyes, and then hangs Eddie in the "Tree of Woe" position. Bubba tries a splash, but ends up connecting with Eddie's knees. Bubba charges again, but Eddie just sends him crashing to the floor. Eddie follows that up with a dive over the top rope that takes out both Dudleys. After the break, Bubba has regained control via a sleeper hold. He gets a quick two count on Eddie, but Guerrero fights back with several chops. Bubba stops the comeback by hitting a clothesline and working over the neck of Eddie. Bubba gets two off of a neckbreaker, and then locks in a headscissors. Guerrero fights out of it, and manages to move out of the way when Bubba goes for his senton splash. You would think Bubba would stop trying to hit that by now. Bubba fires off a few punches, but Eddie his channeling his "Latino Heat" and fires back with a few shots of his own. Eddie connects with a back elbow and then follows that up with his rolling vertical suplexes. The ref gets bumped, but Bubba gets a two count once the ref gets to his senses after hitting Eddie with the Bubba Bomb. Bubba tries to hit another Bubba Bomb, but Eddie reverses into a DDT for two. Heyman tries to distract the referee, while D-Von sneaks in and tries to go for the Doomsday Device, but Eddie ducks D-Von's flying clothesline and gets a victory roll on Bubba for the win. After the match, the Dudleys go for the two-on-one beatdown, but RVD makes the save and they lay out both Dudleys with stereo frog splashes to end the show.

Winner: Eddie Guerrero

Match of the Show: Guerrero vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

Overall: I have to say that this was a step up from the previous few weeks on Smackdown. I'm digging Paul Heyman's new role as the Dudley's mentor/manager, and hopefully it will lead them to becoming more like they were in ECW. The only JBL we had to deal with this week was in video promo form, so that's definitely a thumbs up from me. Cena/Dupree really cranked up this week, but I hope that Torrie stays out of it from now on. Chavo's open challenge next week should prove interesting, despite the fact that I still think they should have followed through with a Chavo/Spike feud. There really wasn't anything that bugged me this week, which is a vast improvement from previous shows, but I still think they a lot of work to do to get back up to a position where they can equal Raw in quality and entertainment value. Especially when you consider that most fans are more interested in the Michaels/Benoit title match on Raw next week than the upcoming Smackdown-Brand PPV.

Comments? Questions? Feedback? Send it to:

Matthew Tremley
E-mail: tremley@wrestlingheadlines.com









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