The Smackdown! Special Report (11/29/05): Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 10:06 PM EST





The Smackdown! Special (11/29/05)

The show kicked off with Michael Cole and Tazz welcoming us to TV that, for one night only, was changing Tuesday nights. Tazz then presented the “Tale of the Tape” for the Rey Mysterio-Big Show match set to take place later on tonight.


Match 2 in the Best-of-Seven Series for the US Championship: Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs. Chris Benoit
-(CMV1 note- Booker leads the series 1-0 after Survivor Series…before the bout, highlights of the controversial finish to last Friday’s match aired). Benoit attacked before the bell and caught Book with an early flurry of knees, forearms, and clotheslines. He then caught him with a snap suplex, and countered out of Book’s attempt at a short-arm clothesline and hit a German suplex. The two proceeded to trade chops before Benoit got the best of him and regained control with a back suplex for the first near fall of the match. More chops from the Crippler followed, as did two high angle scoop slams. However, Book was able to get some momentum going by hanging Benoit’s neck over the top rope. He tried to continue his offense with a series of kicks, but he missed a roundhouse kick allowing Benoit to gain control with a knife-edge chop and a running knee lift. Benoit then hit a backbreaker and a Northern Lights Suplex pinning combo for a near fall. After taking several more chops, Booker did his creative leap frog into a pinning combo out of the corner for just a one count. The Rabid Wolverine didn’t waste any time in coming back, but after knocking Book out of the ring and to the floor, he went for a Suicide Dive…and unfortunately for him, he missed. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, the Bookerman had Benoit in a surfboard stretch. Benoit battled out, but Book caught him with a spinning wheel kick for a near fall. The 5-time WCW Champ then caught him with a sidewalk slam and several blows to the face before locking in a rear chinlock. Benoit again battled back and hit several knife edge chops, in between which Book attempted both a spinning roundhouse kick and the axe kick. He then hit three belly-to-belly suplexes for a near fall, but Booker came back with the Bookend for a near fall of his own. Booker tried to maintain momentum with an axe kick, but Benoit countered and hit a German suplex. After thwarting off some interference from Sharmell, Benoit hit another German suplex and headed to the top rope. His high risk paid off this time, as he connected with the Diving Headbutt for a very near fall. Book eventually came back, but the two found themselves on the apron fighting for position. Benoit tried to German suplex Book off the apron to the floor, but it looked as if he slipped and went flying head-first to the floor himself. The finish came when Book capitalized on the potentially botched spot and scored the win with the scissor’s kick. Booker defeated Benoit at 16:04 to take a 2-0 lead in the series (CMV1 rating- ** ¾) (CMV1 note- I don’t know if that was supposed to be the finish or not, but it looked a little shaky and hurt the final rating a little. Either way, I first of all hope that Benoit is okay, but secondly will tell you that this match was comparable to their SD match from last week and better than their Survivor Series bout. It had better pacing with Benoit being aggressive throughout, and Booker looked more crisp than he did when he was controlling the pace two nights ago).


Cole and Tazz hyped the Show-Mysterio match and said that Rey was dedicating the match to his late friend Eddie Guerrero. A special video package aired that essentially reminded the fans that they had not forgotten about Guerrero, but were merely trying to move on as he’d have wanted them to.


Mysterio was shown backstage praying for a win tonight, as well as for Eddie Guerrero to be sent down as his guardian angel to protect him.

A video package was then shown to hype the Big Show-Rey Mysterio match. One half of it focused on Mysterio, while the other half focused on Show. The part of particular interest was the portion that highlighted their feud from 2003.

Cole and Tazz hyped a Tag Team Battle Royal for SD this Friday night.


Interpromotional Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show
-(CMV1 note- they did a nice job of giving this match a little extra intrigue by having Mysterio be the one to pin Show at Survivor Series). Rey Mysterio came out to Eddie Guerrero’s music and even drove a low-rider to the ring. I’m really rooting for Rey to get the unrealistic win now, as I can’t get enough of these special tributes to Eddie. RIP Latino Heat. On to the match…they played cat and mouse before Rey tried to chop Show’s legs down with several kicks. Show quickly gained control and threw Rey under the bottom rope and crashing to the floor. He then tried to give chase, but Mysterio slid back into the ring and used his quickness to connect with a dropkick to keep Show on the outside. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, Show gave Rey one of his frying pan-like chops and then walked right over his chest. More clubbing blows would follow from the giant before tossing Mysterio back to the outside. He gave him two more chops and put him back in the ring. As Show continued his total domination, Rey called out for Eddie and the fans responded with a big “Eddie” chant. Mysterio proceeded to poke Show in the eye and go wild on him with right and left hands. Unfortunately, the momentum didn’t last for SD’s superstar, as Raw’s Big Show just leveled him with a big boot and an elbow drop. He went for a cover, but pulled Rey up before the three-count. Another “Eddie” chant rang out as Mysterio crawled toward the low-rider on the outside. Show followed and slammed him into the low-rider face-first. Show proceeded to sit back and soak in the heat he was getting, thus allowing Mysterio the chance to crawl back in the ring and catch the distracted giant with a swinging double boot (using the top rope for leverage). Rey ascended to the top looking to capitalize. He leaped off the top rope trying for a Seated Senton, but Show caught him in mid-air and powerbombed him onto the low-rider. We then got a second dreaded commercial break, and that’s just unacceptable. Back from the break, there were several trainers checking on Rey’s condition as the crowd chanted “Big Show Sucks.” Interestingly enough, Show appeared to be soaking it in, and went out to snatch Rey away from the trainers. Big Show continued to play the heel and taunted both Mysterio and the crowd. Rey fought back, though, and bit him in the face! Show quickly threw him back down, but was noticeably shaken and upset from being chewed on like a piece of food. In fact, the biting incident prompted him to grab a chair from ringside. Mysterio managed to grab the chair, though, and unleash several shots to Show’s knees and head. The final chair shot sent Show into 619 position. Mysterio then hit his patented maneuver and unleashed another chair shot. Rey then headed up top and hit a Frog Splash! It looked as if Rey might win with Eddie’s finisher, but Kane’s music hit and the other half of the World Tag Team Champions showed up. Big Show and Kane gave Rey a double chokeslam. Rey Mysterio and Big Show battled to a no-contest at 19:35 . (CMV1 rating- **) After the match, the lights went out on Kane and Show, and the gong struck signaling for the Undertaker. When the lights came back, Taker was in the ring, prompting Kane to hightail it out of there. Show stood up to the Deadman, and the two traded blows. Taker got control, though, and took Show down with a flying clothesline. Kane returned to help out, but got a chokeslam for his troubles. Show tried to retaliate, but Taker big booted him over the top rope. Just when it looked as if the good had prevailed, Randy Orton showed up and gave Taker the RKO. Orton went out to the low-rider and grabbed a tire-iron, but Taker sat up and went after him. Cowboy Bob tried to help out, but got blasted in the face. The interference did prove effective, though, as it gave Randy the chance to blast the Deadman with a couple of shots with that Iron. Orton then hopped in the driver’s seat of the low-rider and backed it up straight through the SD set with Undertaker lying on the back of it. As Orton escaped the car and ran back to the ringside area, several explosions were seen near the scene of the accident. The show faded to black with the camera cutting back and forth between the medical personnel rushing to Taker’s aid and Randy Orton’s facial expressions as he watched it all unfold. (CMV1 note- the match between Rey and Show was solid and believable, but it was hurt by the no-contest ending. The post-match stuff didn’t go over well with me, though. Kane and Show should be able to go through any two-three guys in the entire business, yet one guy comes out and does away with both of them? Yes, it’s Undertaker, but that was just unnecessary. Then, Orton comes out and is able to do what two 7’0” giants couldn’t? That defies credibility, and stuff like that is why the fans have turned on John Cena…but that’s another rant for another day. Oh, and I’m not done…the WWE proceeded to give us some shock TV to end the night. What is this, 2000? I’m all for a little old school Undertaker feuding every now and then, but it has to be given in small doses. We’ve already had one “shock” moment in the Orton-Taker feud…we didn’t need this one)



All in all…I was impressed with the effort until Taker came out. I don’t like anything he did tonight…he made the most dominant tag team we’ve seen in years look like nothing, then got “killed” again by a bunch of exploding pyro. This night seemed to be about Eddie after the solid match between Benoit and Booker, but it just ended so poorly with TV that belongs in the past. I am disappointed with this…Friday night’s advancement of the Orton-Taker feud better be good, because I’m already one stupid lightning trick away from saying “Screw Armageddon.” 6.5/10 for the first 55-minutes of this so-called on hour special, but the 0.5/10 garnered by the last 5-minutes drags the overall score down to an abysmal 3.5/10.










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