The Smackdown! Report (10/21/05): Benoit vs. Booker T for the US title
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Friday, October 21, 2005 at 9:25 PM EST






The Smackdown! Report (10/21/05)

The show opened with a video recap of Benoit winning the US title at Summerslam, and then Sharmell tripping up Rey Mysterio during last week’s four-way #1 contender match, leading us to the Booker T vs. Chris Benoit match for the United States title tonight.

Match 1: United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. Booker T (w/ Sharmell)
-(CMV1 note- don’t forget, the title was on the line). The two started with a lock-up into a standoff, but try number two yielded a quick series of chain wrestling moves. Book then scored with a shoulder tackle, but Benoit quickly retaliated with an armdrag. Soon after, the two traded chops in the corner. Benoit took control with more powerful chops, though. The Bookerman tried to retaliate with a jumping leg lariat, but Benoit moved out of the way and caused Book to crotch himself on the top rope. As Booker tried to recover on the outside, Benoit took a big time risk and came flying through the top and middle ropes with a Suicide Dive. It was the “holy shit” moment of the match, as Benoit connected with Book, but also got turned around and crashed into the edge of the announce table back-first. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, Book had Benoit in a rear-chin lock. Benoit battled out with some knife-edge chops, but Book caught him with a back elbow smash and a vertical suplex to maintain momentum. Book then with a hard Irish whip into the turnbuckle for a near fall, followed by another rear chinlock. The champion eventually battled back again, ducked another jumping leg lariat, and connected with a clothesline. Benoit then hit a snap suplex and three consecutive German suplexes to set up the diving Headbutt. Benoit went to the top and came flying off, connecting with his patented dive from the top rope. 1…2…NO! Book kicked out and connected with a pressing kick. The 5-time WCW champion headed up top for a high risk maneuver, but Benoit crotched him and brought him crashing back to the mat with a superplex. While both men were down, Sharmell tried to throw a chair into the ring, but Benoit recovered and saw what she was trying to do. The distraction proved costly, as Book proceeded to hit a flurry of quick offense that caused the champion to get caught up in the ropes. With the referee trying to keep Booker off of Benoit, Sharmell showed her opportunistic side and gave the champion a low blow. The finish came soon after when Booker T defeated Benoit with the axe kick at 15:33 to become the new United States Champion. (CMV1 rating- ***). (CMV1 note- oh, man, there’s going to be some heat from the net fans for taking the title off Benoit so soon. However, I personally don’t think it is a bad move…and it’s necessary to keep this storyline with Sharmell and Booker going. I’m not sure why the net has hated on this angle so much…it’s been well booked and it’s actually using Booker in a productive manner. I look forward to a series of rematches between these two, since they just proved that they can still put on a really good match with each other. Benoit said he wanted to feud with Book again from what I hear).

A video package aired, highlighting both the post-Casket match happenings from No Mercy and clips of the Undertaker’s career.

Backstage, the elated new US Champ, Booker T, was celebrating with his wife when the Rabid Wolverine came in and protested the way in which he lost the title. He furiously pointed out that it was Sharmell’s interference that led to Booker’s victory…Booker, of course, is still in the dark about all this, so he fired back that Benoit was just being a sore loser.

Further backstage, Cowboy Bob Orton took himself out of the tag match main-event, citing a back injury. Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long then let Randy Orton know that he could pick a new partner or simply wrestle alone.

Even further backstage, Josh Matthews (no relation) interviewed JBL about the incident on RAW last Monday when Layfield’s entrance music played during the Edge vs. Big Show match, causing Mr. Money in the Bank to be distracted and lose his chance to participate in the Taboo Tuesday main-event. Bradshaw denied having anything to do with what happened on RAW, but said he would welcome Edge’s invasion of SD because he’d love to screw up his pretty little face.

Match 2: Matt Hardy vs. Simon Dean
-(CMV1 note- prior to the match, Simon did a little spiel about how his Simon System could’ve prevented Hardy from gaining weight, which according to Dean, was the reason Lita left him). Hardy dominated with kicks, punches, and a plancha to the outside before Dean snuck in an illegal shot with his cast. Simon proceeded to lock in a neat little step-over toe-hold/surf-board stretch combination, and followed it with another submission hold. Hardy battled back, though, hit his patented second rope leg drop and the Side Effect. The finish came when Hardy defeated Dean with the Twist of Fate at 4:06. (CMV1 rating- ¾ *) (CMV1 note- I only want to know one thing: what happened to the Peep Show? Matt Hardy was supposed to get the chance to do something important in his Smackdown debut, but instead he gets to wrestle a jobber? I was really excited to see Hardy make an impact on SD, but I suppose we’ll have to wait to see that. Well, at least they hyped his match quite a bit before it actually happened)

Backstage, a small group of security guards stood watch over the arena in case Edge arrived.

Match 3: Rey Mysterio vs. JBL (w/ Jillian Hall)
-(CMV1 note- this was described as the rubber match b/t these two…anyone else think that Rey’s new theme song really really sucks?). Rey attempted a springboard crossbody in the early going, but Bradshaw moved out of the way. Mysterio quickly recovered, though, and took JBL down several times w/ various simple maneuvers. JBL blocked Rey’s attempt at a spinning DDT off the middle rope and placed Rey on the outside apron. Rey proceeded to hang Layfield up on the top rope and attempt a springboard, but Jillian Hall provided a distraction which allowed Bradshaw to knock Rey into the guardrail. JBL then took control with several moves that included a Last Call Fallaway slam and a Torture Rack. Mysterio fought out of the rack, though, and caught the former WWE champion with a springboard bulldog. He then followed with a tilt-a-whirl head scissor and a sunset flip that earned him a near fall. Rey scored another near fall with a split legged moonsault. Eventually, Rey got Bradshaw into 619 position. The finish came when Edge’s theme song played, and soon after Edge came in through the crowd and speared an unsuspecting Mysterio. Mysterio, by the way, sold the spear better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Mysterio and JBL went to a no-contest at 6:29. (CMV1 rating- **). After the match, JBL got up to retaliate on the RAW invader, but Edge took off in a hurry with Bradshaw giving chase. Meanwhile, Chris Masters came into the ring and put Mysterio in the Masterlock. Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki, London, Spanky, and Hardcore Holly all tried to make the save, but only Sparkplug Bob had any luck. In fact, Masters made the Cruiserweights look like small children. (CMV1 note- really good action between JBL and Rey before the match went to a no-contest…nice to see those Raw invaders come in and do some damage, as this feud has the potential to be a super hot draw by Survivor Series. I will never understand why the WWE portrays most of its smaller talent as so inferior to guys like Masters, though).

Backstage, Rey Mysterio told Teddy Long that he wanted to face Edge in a match. The rest of the Smackdown Superstars were in the locker room at that same moment, and all of them claimed to want a piece of RAW.

Match 4: Bobby Lashley vs. Big Vito (w/ Nunzio)
-(CMV1 note- a lot of people call Lashley the WWE’s answer to not being able to bring back Brock Lesnar. Well, if the WWE wants to shy away from such comments, putting Lashley into all black gear, including black tights, knee pads, and boots, was probably not a good idea). Vito didn’t do much better than Nunzio did last week, as he was the latest quick squash victim of Bobby Lashley. Lashley won with the Dominator at 2:09. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- I enjoy watching Lashley show off his power, but the time is rapidly approaching where it’s going to get old seeing him win squashes each week. On that same token, the time is drawing near for him to be put in an actual feud).

Highlights of those who scored Mania tickets in Chicago were shown…I’m going to Wrestlemania 22, as well…eat your hearts out, loyal CMV1 readers…

Backstage, Palmer Cannon bragged about the network’s new initiative to bring in new talents, citing the Toland’s debut last week and Matt Hardy’s debut this week. He then brought out the ridiculous Juniors Division wrestlers, who were predictably portrayed as total idiots that just ran around and acted stupid. One in particular was Super Porky, who (staying true to his name sake) sat around and ate pork. At that point, the Boogeyman came in and cut another promo, but this one was far less entertaining.

Match 5: Hardcore Match: Bob Holly vs. Sylvain
-(CMV1 note- before the match began, Holly found Sylvain backstage and questioned why he wasn’t around when they were talking about RAW’s invasion. Sylvain said he didn’t care about RAW or anyone else but himself. The match began right after that comment was made). The finish came when Holly defeated Sylvain with an Alabama Slam through a table. (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- reminded me of an old hardcore match…I don’t think I ever liked a single one of Holly’s hardcore matches…this one did nothing to change that)

Backstage, World Heavyweight Champion Batista came into the locker room while Eddie Guerrero sat alone with a disheartened look. Eddie said that he felt bad about what happened to Rey earlier, and that seeing Mysterio get attacked had made him think about the dark place he was in earlier this year. He mentioned how everything had seemingly slipped away from him since he stood in the ring as the WWE Champion next to Chris Benoit as Wrestlemania XX went off the air. However, he was now thankful for having been given a second chance…a second chance that Batista is responsible for. Guerrero proceeded to recall how he had cried when Batista shook his hand after their match at No Mercy. Batista replied, though, that he didn’t remember Eddie crying after the match. Eddie said that he was right, and that he had lied…they laughed. Guerrero then said that he found it funny that he could never pull anything over on Dave.

Match 6: Eddie Guerrero and World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs. Randy Orton and MIS-TERRRRRR KENNN-EDY…Kenn-edy…
-Eddie and Ken started things off, and the first big highlight of the match came when Guerrero became the first superstar to block Kennedy’s attempt at the Green Bay Plunge. Eddie continued to be ridiculously over as a babyface to the point that it makes me question why they ever turned him heel. Anyhow, he and Batista had control for awhile, but a Kennedy distraction led to Eddie receiving a spike DDT from the Legend Killer. Eventually, Eddie got the hot tag to Batista, who went wild on Orton. Meanwhile, Guerrero and Kennedy battled to the outside, where Kenny shoved Latino Heat into the ring post and grabbed a chair. At that point, Cowboy Bob came down to the ring and distracted the referee. Kennedy then ascended to the second rope with chair in hand. However, before he could come off and hit Batista, Eddie ran in and covered Big Dave. Kennedy wisely said “screw it” and came off the ropes for a chair shot on Eddie. Unfortunately for Mr. Ken, though, the ref had turned around in time to see it, thus causing the disqualification. Eddie Guerrero and Batista defeated Orton and Kennedy via DQ. (CMV1 rating- ** ¼). After the match, Batista got Kennedy in position for the Batista Bomb, but Bob Orton ran in and nailed the champ with his boot. Randy and Ken then joined in on the party and beat the crap out of Batista, capped off by an RKO from the Legend Killer. The heels did a very little celebrating before TRL came out and announced a six-man tag for next week involving the Ortons/Kennedy and Batista/Guerrero/Roddy Piper. (CMV1 note- a sufficiently entertaining main-event that featured the continued build toward Eddie’s eventual turn on Batista. I like how they’ve integrated Orton into this by the way, because he’s surely going to be facing Batista in the not-too-distant future in a main-event program. All involved in this match did well and capped off another solid night for SD).




All in all…Not as good as last week’s show, but damn close to it. I thought both the opening match, the first hour main-event, and the main-event were all solid or better wrestling matches…hell, even the hardcore match was sufficiently entertaining and was probably better to most (I just don’t like Holly or Sylvain, and I had a hard time keeping in tune with that bout). SD seems to have some focus right now, and that coupled with the RAW vs. SD storyline has the blue team poised to produce good television for more than just a couple of weeks in a row. They’ve got good main storylines, they’ve got fresh and talented newcomers, and their even building a tag team division, which will be featured next week in a fatal fourway involving the Mexicools, LOD, MNM, and Birchall/Regal. I’m liking it and hope they can keep it up…



This week in Smackdown history… WWE Champion The Rock faced Kurt Angle, Triple H, and Chris Benoit in a non-title Fatal Fourway match on the October 19th edition of Smackdown in 2000. It was essentially just a way for the WWE to hype the two top matches at No Mercy (Angle vs. Rock, Benoit vs. Trips), but it was a solid main-event match that saw Angle get the win when he pinned Triple H. At No Mercy, Angle would go on to win again, this time pinning the Rock in a singles match to win the WWE Championship for the first time.


If you have any feedback for me, please email me at magicirish10@hotmail.com









• Jeff Hardy Skips Court Appearance & WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Rumored Names (think FACEPAINT)
  

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