The Smackdown! Report (11/11/05): Survivor Series hype...
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 1:11 AM EST






The Smackdown! Report (11/11/05)

The show began with the Smackdown Superstars gathered around SD General Manager Theodore R. Long. Long fired up the troops and told them that they needed to prove that SD wasn’t the B-show. He said that tonight, the SD Survivor Series team would be determined by four qualifying matches. TRL alerted Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio that they would be facing each other in just a few moments. Also of note…World Heavyweight Champion Batista was announced as the team captain, due to his being the champ.

Match 1: Mysterio vs. Orton
-(CMV1 note- this was for a spot on the SD Survivor Series team). Rey took early control with a series of armdrag takedowns. Orton tried to gain some momentum using the seldom-seen atomic drop, but Mysterio eventually baited young Randy into a game of cat and mouse. As Orton chased him around the ring, Rey did the 619 to no one in particular, causing Randy to go flying by and through the upper two ropes and hit the floor. Mysterio then launched himself over the top rope with a corkscrew plancha that again took down the already reeling Legend Killer. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, Orton had taken control, but was allowing Rey to come back once again. After then mounted punches in the corner, Mysterio leaped off the second turnbuckle and caught Orton with a spinning DDT. Eventually Rey got prepared to attempt a springboard maneuver from the apron, but became victim to Bob Orton interference. Cowboy’s illegal tactics led to his son’s window of opportunity, as Randy tossed Mysterio into the steel ring steps, and followed it back in the ring with that high impact neckbreaker that he only uses on smaller opponents. 1…2…No! Rey kicked out and began making his big comeback. He caught Randy with a tilt-a-whirl head scissor and then knocked him into 619 position. Cowboy tried to interfere again, but Rey drop kicked his knee, sending him crashing back down to the floor. Mysterio then went for the 619, only to have Orton counter. The two proceeded to battle back and forth for a series, but then Orton found himself back in the 619 position. Rey’s second attempt connected, and he looked to put it away with the Drop of the Dime, but Cowboy decided to stick his nose in Rey’s business one last time. After Bob pulled Mysterio’s legs and prevented the high-flyer from springboarding, the ref called for the disqualification. Rey Mysterio became the second member of Team SD by defeating Randy Orton via DQ. (CMV1 rating- ** ¾). After the match, Bob and Randy gave Rey a nice little beat down before Matt Hardy eventually ran in and made the save. Orton was furious…(CMV1 note- This was a really good TV match, and you can’t really argue with the result. As one of the most popular stars in the business right now, it’s fitting that Mysterio is on the SD team…considering, also, that Raw’s team at this point lacks, outside of HBK, any real ability to carry a match of this caliber, Mysterio will be needed to help shoulder some of HBK’s considerable load. No offense, Show, Kane, Carlito, or Batista for that matter).


WWE Tag Team Champions MNM came out to the ring, and Melina wasted no time in flapping her gums about how great they are. She then introduced one of the former contestants from America’s Next Top Model (who cares? No one who wins that thing gets to do anything but go on and do other crappy reality shows, much less one of the losers). They got into a bit of a scuffle, and MNM looked poised to triple team the poor non-wrestler that no one cared about. Well, I was mistaken, as apparently the Mexicools care about her, for they came storming to the ring and cleared the ring of the tag champs. (CMV1 note- sign that match for Survivor Series right now! Finally, two TALENTED tag teams feuding over the belts…keep it up)

I don’t normally make note of advertisements placed during commercial breaks, but apparently Bret “Hitman” Hart is going to be on Byte This next week…(CMV1 note- that’s kind of a waste of time isn’t it? They are going to put him on an online show that not even some of the most diehard fans are going to watch?)


Match 2: Orlando Jordan vs. Bobby Lashley
-(CMV1 note- the winner goes on to be on the Survivor Series team). Lashley got the win to become the 3rd member of team SD. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- I think it’s a good idea to put Lashley on this team. It’s about time he will get to do something more than just squash nothings. I guarantee a huge pop for when he does one of his power moves to Kane or Big Show. Oh, and by the way, nice to see OJ back in his place as a sorry ass jobber to people with potential and talent)

Backstage, Edge and Lita showed up and approached Teddy Long about canceling the street fight main-event for this evening. Long said that he was down with that as long as Batista was…


Match 3: Eddie Guerrero vs. Ken Kennedy
-(CMV1 note- MMMIS-TERRRRRR Kenn-edy…Kennedy!). Kennedy got first strike points using a sneaky little trick that one might say was very reminiscent of Eddie…he stuck out his hand for the handshake, but then ended up slapping Guerrero instead. That turned out to be a mistake, though, for it ignited that side of Guerrero’s wrestling persona. Eddie first of all followed Ken’s slap with a poke to the eye, and then took him to the corner and choked him with the tag rope. Kennedy regained control with a big kick to the head. We then settled into a nice back and forth for the remainder of the middle portion of the bout. Eddie eventually went for the Three Amigo vertical suplexes, and managed to reel off two of them. Kennedy countered the third one, but Latino Heat ended up throwing him into the referee “by accident.” Guerrero proceeded to grab a chair from ringside and size up Mr. Ken for a shot heard round the world. However, the referee started to come around before Eddie could get in his chair shot. So, what does Eddie do when he gets in a bind? He cheats…he threw the chair to Ken and pretended to be knocked cold. The finish came when Eddie’s little trick finally paid off, as Latino Heat got the win via DQ at to become the 4th member of team SD. (CMV1 rating- **) (CMV1 note- I like Eddie’s placement on the SD team for the same reason I dig Mysterio’s…but, what happened to the Eddie vs. Batista title match? I guess now that Dave’s injured it doesn’t matter…Oh, and Eddie should be given the title, for there’s no doubt about it, he’s the most over guy on the show. Hell, given Cena’s recent mixed reactions, it might be safe to say he’s the most over man in the entire business). After the match, Kennedy, who was undoubtedly pissed about his very first loss, went ballistic and laid out Guerrero with the chair.

Backstage, Guerrero was getting checked out by a trainer. The guy said that Eddie might have a concussion, at which point Batista came in to make sure Guerrero was alright.


Match 4: A Junior Division match
-(CMV1 note- I’m not going to treat it as anything serious until they do). Little guy A pinned Little guy B with a top rope elbow drop. (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- no comment).

Backstage, Edge and Lita were hanging out, but when Edge decided to go off and find Batista so that he could ask him about canceling their match, the Boogeyman showed up and scared the make-up off of Lita.

An Undertaker return hype video aired…it said November 27th, the day of Survivor Series, would be the beginning of the end.

Further backstage, Edge found Batista and started talking to him about how similar they were. He said that neither of them should be pawns in Bischoff and Long’s little game…Batista agreed, but told Edge the match was still on…

Even further backstage, Backstage, Steve Romero interviewed Chad and Tank Dick (CMV1 note- I never got a chance to say how stupid I think it was to not just call them the Tolands like they were known as in OVW). The Dicks made a lot of references to, obviously, the male reproductive organ in regards to LOD 2005. Apparently, those two teams will go head-to-head next week.



Match 5: Chris Benoit vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield
-(CMV1 note- this was the fourth and final qualifying match). The match began somewhat ground based before Benoit got a high spot in with three rolling German suplexes. Benoit proceeded up to the top rope for a diving Headbutt, at which point United States Champion Booker T and his wife Sharmell came out to ringside to do some guest commentary. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, and I’m starting to get annoyed. Back from the break, JBL was in control, but not for long as the Rabid Wolverine hit five consecutive rolling German suplexes, and followed it with the diving Headbutt for a long two count. Layfield tried to fight back, but ended up caught in a Northern Lights suplex pinning combo for another near fall. The two then battled back and forth until JBL mustered up enough momentum to attempt the Clothesline From Hell. Benoit countered, though, and slipped Bradshaw right into the Crippler Crossface. It looked as if JBL might tap, but he made it to the ropes. Bradshaw regained the momentum and looked to hit a powerbomb, but Benoit countered into the Sharpshooter. The finish came when Benoit released the Sharpshooter to thwart off Booker’s interference, and JBL drilled an unsuspecting Rabid Wolverine with the Clothesline From Hell for the win at. (CMV1 rating- ** ¾) (CMV1 note- another really good TV match that pretty much ties the opener for match of the night. Wow, that felt good…I actually had to choose between two matches to determine a match of the night instead of one just getting it by default…JBL was obviously going to be on the team, by the way, and Benoit will probably go on to challenge Book for the US title).


Match 6: Street Fight: World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs. Edge
-As the match was about to begin, the camera cut to the backstage area, where Raw GM Eric Bischoff showed up and tried to gain access into the arena. TRL came back there to hype their epic encounter (rolls eyes), and denied Bischoff. However, Chris Masters then came up behind Teddy and put him in the Masterlock. Eventually, four members of Team SD (JBL, Rey, Eddie, and Lashley) showed up to chase Bisch and Masters away. As the two Raw stars hopped in a limo and took off, the SD team hopped into JBL’s limo and sped away after them (CMV1 note- what exactly where they hoping to accomplish by doing that…just one of the out of the realm of possibility things that makes me laugh). Back in the arena, Kane’s pyro hit and he came down to the ringside area. Then, Big Show’s music hit and he came in through the crowd to help Edge and his tag team partner surround Batista. Batista tried to put up a fight, but he was no match for what may become the most dominant tag team ever, and Edge. The champ ended up flat on his back after a double chokeslam from the World Tag champs…SD’s third-and-fourth tier then came out to try and help out, but Kane, Edge, and Show were just too dominant. The show faded to black with the 3 Raw superstars standing victoriously over the captain of Team SD. (CMV1 note- I thought this was a really good segment, as it really makes the rivalry look more important when Raw targets SD’s World Champion. However, it seems that Batista tore one of his lats and will likely be out of action for at least a few months. That being said, SD now has two big problems: 1) they don’t have an active World Champion, and they’ll need to strip Dave of the belt and 2) they need a replacement for him on the SD Survivor Series team. My personal choice would be to put the World title on Eddie Guerrero, and just forget about turning him heel again…meanwhile, I’d put either Benoit, Booker, Hardy, or Orton on the SD team).


All in all…Tonight’s show gets a 7/10 from this guy…definitely a really solid effort that blew away anything Raw has done since Homecoming. Seriously, SD may have less talent, but they put on the better wrestling show lately. Obviously, reason number one for the quality of this show was the three solid or better matches. Reason number 2 was the focus on the Survivor Series elimination match as the major storyline heading into the last joint-brand PPV of the year. You look at Raw, and you’ve only got a few blips here and there about the Raw vs. SD feud, while the main-event is filled with repetitive tag matches and recycled storylines. That’s why its good to be Mr. Smackdown right now…that’s right JBL…the Chad is Mr. SD…not you…anyhow, if Orton vs. Hardy takes place at SS, along with the tag title match, and the US title match, that’ll be a damn good showing for the SD brand. As for the big main-event elimination match, SD equipped its team with the kind of workers in Guerrero and Mysterio to help Raw’s HBK carry the match…and that’s a very good thing.



This week in Smackdown history… The Undertaker battled Kurt Angle and then WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin in a handicap match on the November 8th edition of SD in 2001. This match was designed to hype the classic Survivor Series elimination match that would determine control of the company and settle the differences of the WWE and the WCW/ECW Alliance. Taker ended up getting the win when Austin pushed Angle right into a Deadman roll-up. WWE would obviously go on to win the Survivor Series match and regain total control of McMahon-a-mania.



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