The Smackdown! Report (11/18/04): CCC vs. Cena for the US title
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 10:03 PM EST





The Smackdown Report (11/18/04)

The show opened without the opening SD video, but instead with former US champion and the star of the upcoming WWE produced movie (“The Marine”) John Cena making his way to the ring. He cut a promo about how he would beat Carlito Caribbean Cool and win back his title tonight. Cena did address the nightclub incident, but rather than go into details, he rapped about Carlito being the “Pillsbury fro’ boy” and looking like a Chia pet. (CMV1 note- Cena managed to remain intense for the most part, so it came across pretty well since he is supposed to be really pissed off).

Al Snow and the Tough Enough guys were shown backstage preparing for the next cut. Chris Nawrocki ended up getting the least votes, so he’s gone. The rest of them proceeded to come out for what was hopefully going to be a more meaningful segment than last week’s unbelievably ridiculous sex-test nonsense. Unfortunately, it was not. This week, the boys had to stand at one corner of the ring, and then try to get by the Basham Brothers to reach the other corner. What a load of crap, huh? Dan Puder almost made it, as did Daniel Rodimer. In the end, nobody made it…(CMV1 note- does anyone think this is worth the time it’s given? Seriously, I would love to know who decided that these guys should partake in these types of missions instead of maybe…well, I don’t know…showing off some of the wrestling training they’ve been getting in between Thursdays? I don’t care anymore…I mean this is honestly worse than the diva search because, quite frankly, this is just a bunch of guys standing around doing stupid stuff. At least RAW had gorgeous women doing those things).

Backstage, RVD and Rey Mysterio were preparing for their non-title match against the tag champs when Van Dam introduced Michelle McCool, the good ole’ country gal formerly of RAW’s Diva Search contest. Apparently, Mr. Thursday Night decided that he needed a personal trainer. They all did some stretches and talked about how they should be the new tag team champs.

(CMV1 conversation with Rob Van Dam: Chad- so Rob, I see you hired that RAW Diva Search girl…that crap was boring, but she’s hot.
RVD- totally.
Chad- hell, I don’t blame you for hiring that one. She’s the kind I’d take home to Mom. What do you think?
RVD- dude, she’s my trainer, but yeah…totally. I mean I can do the frog splash.
Chad- I hope this girl can talk…b/c you sure can’t
RVD- righteous).

Cole and Tazz hyped a victory speech that JBL will give us later tonight, plus the US title match between CCC and Cena.

A video aired hyping the Cena-Carlito match for later. Basically, it retold the history of the feud, specifically the part about Carlito challenging Cena for US title in his debut. United States Champion Carlito Caribbean Cool and his associate Jesus (I really need to learn to put accents on that name…I keep wanting to read it like the other one, as in the Jewish Carpenter) walked into Smackdown General Manager Theodore R. Long’s office to show him some x-rays of CCC’s shoulder injury. Apparently, there’s some serious damage and the champ has a note, signed by an MD, which says he should not risk wrestling. TRL thwarts Carlito’s attempt at getting out of the match, though, saying that if CCC does not face Cena tonight, he’ll be stripped of the title.

Yet another segment (that wasn’t a match…where’s the wrestling!?) aired, this time backstage with Heyman and Heidenrich. Heyman said that he had never seen the Undertaker look the way he did after beating Heidenrich on Sunday. He said that he should consider it a moral victory that he was able to invoke a look from the Deadman that neither Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, nor Hulk Hogan was able to inspire. Heidenrich interrupted, saying that he just wanted to go out to the ring and get his match with Charlie Haas over with.

The Wrestlemania Recall aired, highlighting the interview segment where Andre the Giant choked Bob Euker.

Match 1: Charlie Haas (w/ Miss Jackie) vs. Heidenrich (w/ Paul Heyman)
-Shortly after the match began, Heidenrich got out of the ring and just walked around, subsequently giving Haas the victory via count-out at 1:25. (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- well, other than the cool should-breaker that Heidenrich did at the beginning, this was a big waste of time, but hey…Charlie Haas beat the big idiot). Big John hopped over the guardrail, screamed that Sunday’s match was his big chance, and then just lay there like a baby. Heyman brought him his straight jacket, which Heidenrich held like a security blanket before several officials and Sgt. Slaughter got him to the backstage area.

Match 2: Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree (w/ Hiroko)
-(CMV1 note- keep in mind, this was a non-title match). RVD and Kenzo traded kicks to start things off, but Mr. Thursday Night and Rey Mysterio quickly took control with a unique double leg-drop, which ended up busting up Kenzo’s nose. After some awkward exchanges between Suzuki and the former CW champ, Dupree tripped up a running Rey Rey, sending him crashing face-first to the mat. Van Dam came to the rescue and sent Dupree sailing into the ring post with a slingshot. Meanwhile, Rey hit a springboard dropkick on Kenzo. We then got a dreaded commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, the champs worked over Rey for quite awhile. Mysterio tried to fight back with a flying hurricarana off the top rope on Dupree, but Rene came back with a one-armed flapjack. After a jumping knee drop from Kenzo, things looked to be going very smoothly for the tag champs, but Rey turned the tide soon after with a wheelbarrow bulldog on the Bronze Warrior. Mysterio then got the hot tag to RVD, who cleaned house. He went for the Five Star, but Rene hopped up on the apron to interfere. That did not bother Van Dam, though, as he leisurely hit a flying sidekick to send the French Phenom back to the floor. RVD and Rey proceeded to hit two impressive tag team maneuvers on Kenzo. The first saw RVD go for a sunset flip, as Rey hit a Sitting Senton to finish it off (that scored them a near fall). They then got another near fall following the second of their nice tag spots, in which RVD basically threw Rey into a body splash, and then came right behind him with Rolling Thunder. The finish came when Rey hit the 619 on Kenzo, allowing RVD to get the pin on Suzuki following a Five Star Frog Splash at 11:38. (CMV1 rating- ** ¾ ) (CMV1 note- a good TV tag team match, with a good ending that should set-up an even better match at Armageddon).

Another recap of the Carlito-John Cena feud aired, this time highlighting Carlito’s win over the Doctor of Thuganomics to capture the US title.

The WWE is going back to the Middle East for Christmas.

Kurt Angle made his way to the ring to tell us all about his new way of giving back to the WWE fans: the Kurt Angle Invitational. Apparently, Angle’s idea is to go from town to town, facing the hometown hero of each place. He wants to prove that he is the greatest wrestler of all-time and if the hometown hero can beat him, then they can have his Olympic Gold medals. Which led to…

Match 3: Kurt Angle vs. Dean Visk
-(CMV1 note- Angle let the guy introduce himself). Angle toyed with the kid, then punched him a lot, then hit a belly-to-belly suplex, then Angle Slammed him, and then finally locked in the ankle lock. Naturally, Angle defeated the kid via submission at 2:20. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- hey, it was Angle wrestling and being his old entertaining heel self).

Backstage, WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield introduced his Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan to his new image consultant, former RAW Diva Search contestant and clone of Janice from Friends, Amy Weber. (CMV1- ha, no thanks, go away, Amy).

Another recap of the Cena-CCC situation aired, this time highlighting Carlito’s involvement in Cena’s stabbing.

JBL then made his way to the ring, where he talked about it being morning again in America. He said that Ohio might have been a swing state in the Presidential election, but that everyone in this state unquestionably loved JBL and chanted his name. Layfield went on to relate his success to that of Michael Jordan in that, like his Airness, who will be the most remembered out of all the players in his era despite the likes of Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, and Magic Johnson…so too will JBL be the most remembered superstar of his era, despite the contributions of those he has beaten during his reign as champion (Book, Eddie, and the Undertaker). He said that he was the man all the fans came to the show for and that it was he who they go home to tell their families that they got to see. There’s one reason he’s been able to beat everyone, though, and that’s because he is a symbol of America. Since he’s been champ, the economy is up, jobs are up, unemployment is down, and there have been no terrorist attacks on the US. He then talked about beating Booker T at Survivor Series just like he guaranteed he would. Before he could go on, though, every guy that JBL has screwed out of the title on PPV for the last 6-7 months came out to demand that they get a fair shot at the title. (CMV1 note- quick history lesson: JBL has yet to actually get a clean win over any of these guys since becoming champ. He beat Eddie after Angle screwed him out of a decision, then beat Taker with Heidenrich’s help, and then beat Book with loads of interference and a belt shot). First, the Bookerman came out to demand his re-match. He said that he could not believe that JBL would compare himself to MJ, especially considering that his Airness would never have had his “houseboy” help him win a game (like JBL did at Survivor Series). Soon after, Eddie Guerrero came out to make his case. He said that he had not forgotten their history and that he thought it was about time that the WWE Championship was back around the waist of Latino Heat. Guerrero and Book were then about to get into it (w/ JBL’s full encouragement), but the lights went out and the Undertaker showed up and did not say a damn thing. He just signaled that he wanted the championship. Understanding the situation at hand that honestly, all these men deserved (at least storyline wise) another shot at the title, TRL came out to announce that at Armageddon, JBL would defend the title in a Fatal Four-way Match. JBL looked frightened…(CMV1 note- excellent segment and one hell of an announcement for a PPV that I figured no one would order. JBL vs. Undertaker vs. Eddie vs. Booker T…that should be a very good match. Seriously, that was some of JBL’s best work. He did a great job on the mic, and then did some great facial expressions to sell the 4-way match announcement. I like that they are bringing together all the guys who JBL has managed to cheat out of the title into one match. There is so much storyline and plot behind it that it should tell a great story come December 12).

The Tough Enough guys got to say their peace before voting began for the next cut.

Match 4: United States Champion Carlito Caribbean Cool (w/ Jesus) vs. John Cena
-(CMV1 note- prior to the match, CCC was shown backstage with his new massage therapist, former Diva Search contestant Joy Giovanni. Also, the most recent parts of the Cena-CCC feud aired in one final hype video before the match). Cena took out Jesus early to avoid any further interference from Carlito’s associate. He then went wild on CCC, viciously attacking the champ’s heavily taped shoulder. At one point, Cena drilled the shoulder with a chair. Back in the ring, Cena defeated CCC via FU at 2:02 (CMV1 rating- no rating). After the match, Jesus drilled Cena in the kidney area with a chair and the padlock chain. (CMV1 note- well, that was not very entertaining and a rather boring way to end the show. I have a hard time caring about this feud when neither has the time or health to actually partake in it). As the show went off the air, Cena was being carted off on a stretcher.


All in all…I’ll give the show a very generous 5/10 on the ratings scale simply because of the excellent segment surrounding JBL, Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, and the Undertaker. That was basically a show-saving segment because without it, this show was pretty bad. There were two other bright spots: 1) the tag team match between the champs and RVD/Mysterio, who are a very good tag team and should get a title-match on PPV next month and 2) the Angle Invitational segment, which I thought was fun for what it was. Let’s be honest, though, where was the Big Show? What was the deal with emphasizing a match that was only going to last 2 minutes and be virtually pointless considering one actually has an injured shoulder and the other is going back to Australia to continue filming his soon-to-be straight-to-video movie? Basically, there was only one match…and while that was good, the other three matches totaled to about 5 minutes of action, which is pathetic for a wrestling show. SD needs to take some emphasis off Tough Enough and feuds that do not have healthy and capable participants and start using the talent that never gets on the show. Once again, great segment from the Fatal-Fourway participants, though






This week in Smackdown history… The Big Show went one-on-one with John Cena just shy of one year ago on the November 20 edition of SD in 2003. Of course, Cena was fresh off a face-turn and a Smackdown Elimination match-clinching pinfall over the Big Show at Survivor Series just four days before, so the big, nasty bastard (who also held the US title at the time, but was not putting it up for grabs on this night) was out for revenge. Cena got the better of Show on this night, but not without a little help from the steel ring steps and his signature padlock chain. The two continued their feud on through Wrestlemania XX, where Cena captured the US title from Show in the show opener. One must point out that this was back when John Cena was still considered by many to be the future of the company. My, how the mighty have fallen…





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