The Smackdown Report (11/25/04): Booker T/Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL/Orlando Jordan
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Thursday, November 25, 2004 at 10:10 PM EST





The Smackdown Report (11/25/04)

Happy Thanksgiving to all...

The show opened with a video wishing all the WWE fans a Happy Thanksgiving, particularly the ones that are over in Iraq.

Match 1: Rey Mysterio vs. Rene Dupree (w/ Fifi)
-(CMV1 note- Torrie Wilson was the guest ring announcer and she looked very, very good. Also of note was that Cole and Tazz blamed Rene’s banged up eye on Fifi, the dog, and announced that Rey and RVD would face Rene and Kenzo for the tag titles at Armageddon). Rey got things going early when he grabbed Dupree’s hand, hopped up to the top rope and came flying off into an arm drag. Dupree countered that impressive maneuver with a standing dropkick to Mysterio’s mid-section as the high-flyer was in mid-air. The French Phenom tried to follow with a top rope leg drop, but Mysterio moved out of the way. Rey proceeded to drill Dupree with a wheelbarrow DDT, and then set him up for the 619. However, Rey’s attempted finisher missed its mark, allowing Dupree to regain control. At that point, we did get to see the French Tickler, but it did not matter, as Rey sent Dupree crashing down on the second rope before drilling him with the 619. The finish saw Mysterio defeat the French Phenom via pinfall following the Drop of the Dime at 4:06. (CMV1 rating- * ¼ ) (CMV1 note- thanks to Hardcore Holly’s brutal assault on Dupree over the weekend, Rene looked pretty banged up, but he performed well in this short match).

Meanwhile, the other half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, Kenzo Suzuki was watching Torrie Wilson on a monitor backstage, while his wife Hiroko told him about Thanksgiving. She asked him what part of the turkey he wanted, and he responded (with his eyes still on Torrie) that he wanted the breasts.

A recap aired of the stupid Tough Enough segment from last week.

Al Snow and the Tough Enough contestants came down to the ring for the boys’ next mission. On tap for this week was an arm-wrestling tournament, since that is definitely a good indicator of how their wrestling training is coming along (rolls eyes). (CMV1 note- I guess the WWE remembered the success of the Scott Steiner-Triple H arm-wrestling contest from 2003 and decided that was the kind of thing that fans wanted to see. Right…). However, before the contest began, Dan Rodimer got cut, leaving just four contestants left. In round one of the competition, Dan Puder beat the Miz (but Snow made sure to point out that Mike was left-handed, yet competing right-handed) and Ryan Reeves beat Justice Smith. Then in the final, Puder beat Reeves. (CMV1 note- I won’t rant again, but I’ll reiterate that I don’t think this stuff has done anything, but take away from the show).

Backstage, Eddie Guerrero and Booker T talked about how they each had histories and unfinished business with JBL. Amy Weber then came in and introduced herself. She said she could do a lot for them as their image consultants. Book and Eddie then argued over who would walk out with the title at Armageddon. Guerrero said that the Bookerman had his chance and blew it. Book said that Eddie had his chance at a re-match in a steel cage, but blew it. Eddie reminded Book that Angle cost him that re-match, and then urged him not to forget that while being a 5-time WCW champion was great and all, he had never won the big one in the WWE. The Bookerman took one last shot at Latino Heat, saying that he would never blame his loss on having family problems, before Amy stepped in and reminded them both that the Undertaker was in the match at Armageddon too. (CMV1 note- I thought that segment was well done and a nice way to hype what seems at this point to be the only real selling point for the December 12 PPV).

Joy Giovanni was shown setting up a table for the Big Show’s Thanksgiving feast, which was coming up later.

Cole and Tazz talked about Jesus’ attack on John Cena last week following the Doctor of Thuganomics defeat of Carlito to win back the US title. They showed a recap of the events they just spoke of before Cole interviewed former US champion Carlito Caribbean Cool, who was standing by backstage with his associate Jesus. CCC talked about how he was cheated last week when Cena had attacked him before the match had begun and specifically focused on his injured shoulder to the point that when the match got underway, there was nothing he could do to stop Cena from taking his title. However, Carlito said that he was impressed by the beating that Jesus gave Cena after the match. With that in mind, Carlito gave Cena’s chain to Jesus as a token of his appreciation. Jesus then spoke his first words since coming to SD a few weeks ago, saying that he was just as much a thug as Cena was, so he knew how to play by street rules. He eventually issued a challenge to Cena that if he could ever recover from his kidney injury, he wanted to fight him anywhere, whether it be a parking lot, a wrestling ring, or wherever.

Match 2: Rob Van Dam vs. Kenzo Suzuki (w/ Hiroko)
-(CMV1 note- before the match, Rey and RVD talked backstage about their tag title match at Armageddon and Rob’s match against Kenzo. Torrie was back to announce this match, too). Kenzo controlled early with his very basic offense, but eventually picked things up with a nice flying knee drop. RVD battled back, though, with several of his unorthodox kicks. He then hit Rolling Thunder and headed up top for the Five Star Frog Splash. The finish came when the Bronze Warrior used Hiroko’s scarf to choke Van Dam, causing Mr. Thursday Night to pick up the victory via DQ at 3:56. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- not a very good effort, and short at that). After the match, Hiroko slapped Torrie, which prompted Kenzo to separate the two. He then did a little dance for the former Playboy cover girl, but when RVD regained consciousness, he took out the man from the rising sun and celebrated in the ring.

It was then time for the Big Show’s Thanksgiving. Josh Matthews (no relation) introduced Joy, who apparently made all the food in the ring (and there was a lot of food), and then the host of this Thanksgiving party, the man formerly known as the Giant. Show then made his way to the ring, where he cut a promo about his favorite holiday being Thanksgiving. He said that when he was a kid he used to eat his family out of house and home. In honor of the holiday, he invited Michael Cole, Tazz, Tony Chimel, and even a random camera guy to have a feast with him right there in the ring. However, Luther Reigns crashed the party before it began. He said that he never had a real Thanksgiving, so he hates the holiday and dislikes the Big Show for assuming everyone feels the way he does. Rather than spend his holiday at home, he spent them on the run, or fighting, or in jail. So Luther doesn’t give thanks by eating some food on a holiday, he thanks himself for staying alive. Reigns then entered the ring, grabbed a pie, and slammed it in Joy’s face, triggering a giant-sized food fight. After Show took out Luther, Joy pied the Big Show in face. (CMV1 note- an amusing segment despite the food fight that got Show some air-time, gave thanks to a special holiday, and cleared up who the 7 foot, 500-pound monster may face at the PPV in 3 weeks).

Match 3: Kurt Angle vs. Cody Steele
-(CMV1 note- Angle came out to the ring with two cops, one carrying a small case containing Kurt’s gold medal. Angle said he was thankful for this holiday and that the people were thankful for the Kurt Angle Invitational). Angle did the kid a favor and started off in the bottom position like it was an amateur wrestling match. Kurt toyed with the kid and then hit the Angle Slam. The finish came when Angle defeated Steele via submission with the ankle lock at 1:34. (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- couldn’t they give Angle something more meaningful to do? This better be going somewhere because I just don’t see the point of this).

The Tough Enough contestants came out one more time and told us what they were thankful for.

Cole and Tazz showed footage of Heidenrich snapping last week. Josh Matthews (no relation) interviewed Heidenrich’s manager, Paul Heyman about the situation. Heyman said that his client was under round-the-clock medical supervision. You see, his client is very sensitive, so Heyman thinks we should all have a little bit of compassion for John Heidenrich.

Match 4: Pilgrim vs. Indian Match- Dawn Marie vs. Miss Jackie (w/ Charlie Haas)
-(CMV1 note- Jackie and SD’s new personal trainer, Michelle McCool, were shown backstage stretching and talking about Dawn Marie’s allegations that she and Charlie Haas were having an affair. Michelle said there was some truth to every rumor, just as Haas walked in. McCool left Haas to make sure Jackie was ready for her upcoming match and to assure her that the rumors were totally false. Then they made out). The finish came when Dawn and Jackie fought to a no-contest at 0:33. (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- waste of time…). The two continued to brawl after the match, but Haas separated them.

The WWE is heading back to Iraq for the holidays this year.

Match 5: JBL and Orlando Jordan vs. Booker T and Eddie Guerrero
-Eddie and JBL started things off and Guerrero quickly gained control using his quickness. He then tagged in Booker T, who went to work on both the champ and OJ. Soon after, though, JBL interfered and allowed his Chief of Staff to gain momentum with a clothesline. OJ then took Booker down with a Lou Thesz press. Book battled back with a one-armed flapjack on Jordan before getting the hot tag to Guerrero, who went wild on JBL with a running head scissor. Latino Heat then hit the Three Amigo vertical suplexes. Meanwhile, Book came in and thwarted OJ’s interference with spinebuster. The champion showed his resilience, though, hitting a powerbomb on Guerrero and big boot on Booker T. At one point, Danny Basham came in from the crowd and took out Booker T, who was beating down OJ on the outside. Eddie Guerrero had managed to regain control over JBL and was headed to the top rope for the Frog Splash, but Doug Basham came in through the crowd, as well and pushed him off, allowing JBL to pick up the victory via pinfall at 6:41. (CMV1 rating- * ¼ ). As JBL celebrated in the ring, the lights went out. When they came back on, Taker was in the ring with OJ in goozle position. The Deadman drilled Jordan with a chokeslam and then tombstoned Layfield. When the show faded to black, Taker stood with the WWE title in hand, staring at Book and Eddie. (CMV1 note- well that was a short main-event. It was entertaining as hell while it lasted, but it was too short. I do like the way this whole four-way feud has played out, thus far though).

All in all…I give this show a 5.5/10 for having three short matches. The entire show was just bland and insignificant, as while a few feuds were furthered, they did so in ridiculous ways. It seems that the centerpiece for the tag title match is now Torrie Wilson. The Luther Reigns-Big Show one-on-one feud kicked off with pie and turkey fights, which while entertaining, did nothing to really get me excited about a match between those two. Kurt Angle is not in a major feud anymore. Tough Enough is wasting a lot of time. The only things that were particularly enjoyable revolved around the WWE title Fatal Four-way participants, as not only did three of four of them put on an entertaining main-event (while it lasted anyway), but Book and Eddie also had a nice backstage segment. Smackdown ratings may be going up, but I have no idea why…the last few shows have put me to sleep. I gave tonight’s show a bonus point since it is a holiday…






This week in Smackdown history… Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo) put their tag team titles on the line against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit on the November 28 edition of SD in 2002. In what was truly a Thanksgiving treat, these four men, who had been on fire throughout the late summer and fall, put on a fantastic tag team match during what was the best couple of months of tag team wrestling since the TLC days in the year to two years prior to it. Chavo and Eddie retained the titles when Chavo Jr. drilled Benoit with one of the title belts, allowing Uncle Eddie to pick up the win.



If you have any feedback for me, please send it to MagicIrish10@hotmail.com











*NEW GALLERY* AMAZING Up Close BACK Shots of WWE's Maryse! WOW!

• Quick Links -
  [Back to LOP] [News Archives] [Results] [Columns] [Forums]