The Smackdown! Report (02/10/06): No Way Out hype continues...
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Friday, February 10, 2006 at 9:48 PM EST





The Smackdown! Report (02/10/06)

The show opened with a recap of last week’s events surrounding the Randy Orton-Rey Mysterio feud.


Match 1: JBL (w/ Jillian Hall) vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan
-(CMV1 note- the winner gets a US title shot against Booker T at No Way Out). Before the match began, Booker came out to ringside, still on his crutches and with Sharmell by his side. The bout got underway with Hardy vs. OJ and Benoit vs. JBL. Hardy with a quick cover on OJ following a back elbow smash, but he proceeded to get tossed out of the ring. JBL and OJ double teamed Benoit for a few sequences. Hardy got back in the ring only to get clotheslined back out by Bradshaw. OJ went out of the ring, too, leaving Benoit and JBL to execute a solid sequence involving an armdrag, a sharpshooter attempt, and a Bradshaw escape. JBL then gained control to try a powerbomb, but Benoit countered into the Crossface. OJ broke it up, but fell victim to a Hardy roll up for a near fall. Hardy and Benoit then went at it for a short time. V1 ended up on the outside and got his face slammed into the steps courtesy of JBL. Back in the ring, Benoit caught JBL with a German suplex. He then locked OJ in the Crossface, but JBL quickly broke it up. Book’s commentary is more entertaining than the match thus far. JBL with a big boot to Matt Hardy as OJ worked over Benoit. OJ and JBL proceeded to hit a double shoulder tackle on the Rabid Wolverine. Then, on the outside, Hardy and Benoit tossed JBL into the steel steps. Their teamwork didn’t last, as Benoit threw Hardy into the ring post. Back in the ring, OJ went to the top for a flying crossbody, but Benoit caught him and hit a sky high superplex. We then got a dreaded commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, Benoit got a near fall on OJ. JBL, who was out of the ring, and then got back into the fray to break up a Crossface attempt. He then went to the second rope and hit an elbow drop. Hardy took control soon after with a swinging neck breaker on JBL and a vertical suplex on Benoit. Bradshaw then gained momentum and hit a DDT on Hardy before teaming up with Jordan for a double suplex on Benoit. They hit a double team maneuver on Hardy, too, but their reunion ended soon after when OJ made the cover on Hardy after JBL did all the work by clobbering V1 with the Clothesline from Hell. Benoit stopped the heels’ fun and went on a German and vertical suplex spree. With all three other men down, Benoit went to the top for the head butt, which he connected with on OJ. 1…2…No! JBL broke up the count! Benoit maintained control and whipped JBL into the corner. Unfortunately when he tried to follow it up he got a boot to the face. Following the boot, OJ hit him with the Greatest Move Ever. OJ proceeded to toss JBL out of the ring. At that point, Hardy regained his form and hit a Side Effect on Jordan. He then tried one on Benoit, but the Crippler countered into the Crossface. The finish came when Benoit made Hardy tap and became #1 contender to the US title at 16:50. (CMV1 rating- ** ¼). (CMV1 note- slightly above average match, but damn its hard to cover everything with four guys in the ring at one time. The bout had a few nice spots, but nothing particularly interesting happened. It pretty much just stayed in first and second gear. Anyhow, I look forward to seeing Book vs. Benoit again, as it very nicely compliments what should be two very good main-events at NWO in Rey-Orton and Taker-Angle). Immediately after the match, Booker went backstage and was confronted by Teddy Long. TRL told him that he HAD to wrestle Benoit at No Way Out or he’d be forced to relinquish the title.


Backstage, JBL was quite upset that he didn’t win the previous match, and said that from Undertaker to Chris Benoit, he was capable of beating anyone. Well, Bobby Lashley essentially came up and challenged him to prove that at No Way Out. Jillian accepted before JBL really got a chance to respond, so JBL vs. Lashley is booked for Feb. 19. Layfield looked none too thrilled about his match next PPV bout.

Further backstage, Melina tempted Matt Hardy to be a part of a winning team. She said that if he scratched her back, she’d scratch his.

Even further backstage, Mark Henry said, in an interview with Josh Matthews (no relation), that he should be the one facing Angle at No Way Out, and that tonight, he’d knock Taker out of action just like he did Batista.


Match 2: WWE Tag Team Champions MNM vs. Paul London and Brian Kendrick
-(CMV1 note- Kendrick and London took this non-title challenge, issued by Melina just moments earlier). London and Mercury started it off by trading arm locks. The two proceeded to trade armdrag attempts, but each came up with creative counters. London scored a couple of quick near falls before tagging Kendrick, who came off the top rope and drilled Mercury with a double stomp to the arm. Nitro came in and was almost immediately caught with a sloppy hurricanrana. Kendrick maintained control with rapid fire offense before tagging London. Paul was unable to keep the momentum for his team, though, as Nitro caught him with a clothesline to the back of the head. Things really picked up from there, as London and Kendrick started taking to the air with some high risk offense. Melina eventually got involved, allowing Mercury and Nitro to isolate Kendrick and work over his back. Kendrick made his comeback with forearms and elbows galore. He then got the tag to London, but the ref didn’t see it. The finish came soon after when MNM got the victory via the Snap Shot on Kendrick at 6:12. (CMV1 rating- * ½). (CMV1 note- although a bit sloppy in the early going, it really picked up over the final three-minutes. London and Kendrick did well for themselves, here. The question now is: where do MNM go from here? They’ve pretty much dominated all the regular tag teams. Perhaps the earlier segment with Hardy is going to lead to a tag title match involving Hardy and a partner against MNM one of these days).

Highlights aired of Smackdown’s recent tour of Japan.


Backstage, Randy Orton spoke briefly about his harsh words last week concerning the late Eddie Guerrero. He looked like he was getting emotional, but you could tell he was being facetious. He proceeded to have the footage shown of him saying that Eddie was in Hell, but when it stopped rolling, the camera cut to the arena, where Randy made his entrance in a low-rider. Orton eventually talked of using Guerrero’s name to fire up Mysterio to the point that Rey would put his title shot on the line…a strategy that worked like a charm. Thus, he didn’t really care whether Eddie was in Hell or not. He said that he would beat Rey at No Way Out, and that then he didn’t care if it was Undertaker or Kurt Angle, he’d go to Wrestlemania and win back the World Heavyweight title. Why? Because that’s his destiny…and if you don’t like and it would rather see Rey go to Mania and win another one for Eddie, well that’s tough. He turned his attention back to Guerrero and mentioned that Latino Heat was no saint. With “Cheating Death, Stealing Life” in hand, Orton then began to read one of the darker chapters of Eddie’s autobiography, only to have Mysterio attack him from out of nowhere. Mysterio was literally more vicious then he’d ever been, and was tossing refs out of his way to get to the Legend Killer. The assault finally ended with a nice touch, as Mysterio dropkicked Randy’s head into the ring post. As the segment ended, Rey was being pulled away as the camera zoomed on Randy’s far-off look reminiscent of his “concussion” angle early last year. (CMV1 note- good segment that built to their match nicely. Being one of the people that aren’t bothered by the use of Eddie’s name in a storyline, I think this whole angle is working out really well. Orton may be pushing it, but he’s crossing no line as far as I’m concerned. It’s called building a main-event level heel, and to do that you need to get him over enough to where people want to see him get his ass kicked. Mick Foley is wrong, if you ask me. He said Orton doesn’t need the “cheap” heat, but Randy’s not exactly getting massive heel heat…so I disagree and will say that he does need the cheap heat. If Orton is to main-event Wrestlemania w/ Angle as has been rumored, he needs this heat he’s getting).

Match 3: Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms vs. Nunzio
-(CMV1 note- title was on the line). Helms got first strike points and eventually tossed Nunzio out of the ring. Former champion, Kid Kash, meanwhile, came to ringside as it was announced that he’d face the winner next week. Nunzio took control, but only for a short time. Helms dominated and kept his eyes locked on Kash. Guido battled back with a sloppy neckbreaker, a few forearm shots, and a tilt-a-whirl head scissor. He then scored a near fall with a swinging neck breaker and followed up with a back body drop. The finish came when Helms countered Nunzio’s attempt at the Sicilian Slice and hit the Shining Wizard for the win. Helms defeated Nunzio at 4:14. (CMV1 rating- ¾ *) (CMV1 note- sloppy, uninspired looking effort…didn’t help that the crowd didn’t make a peep).

Backstage, Kristal interviewed Network Representative Palmer Cannon. Apparently Cannon just wanted to talk about the Juniors division so I quickly lost interest. I was sucked back in, though, when Ken Kennedy made his appearance and made fun of the little guys. Paul Burchill then jumped through a wall dressed as a pirate and scared the little guys away. He was totally dressed for the part and just walked around saying “Hello.” Kennedy and Cannon watched on in confusion as Burchill walked away. (CMV1 note- A pirate, huh? Well, I guess they are going to try and cash in on the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. Burchill seems really talented, so I’m not going to pass judgment on what could be a dead-end gimmick just yet. In advance…yes I know that I passed judgment on the Boogeyman. The difference is that one guy can wrestle, and the other can’t).


Match 4: Juniors Match
-Like I said, until its booked to be more than a joke…I’ll just laugh and move on (or not laugh and move on since I don’t think it’s amusing). (CMV1 rating- no rating) (CMV1 note- you know a friend of mine went to see “Juniors” wrestling in Wisconsin a week or so ago, and she said it was unreal what they were doing to each other. They were stapling each other and really putting on a show. See there, WWE, smaller people don’t have to be made to look stupid. They can actually be entertaining in a serious way if you give them the chance). After the match, Finlay came down and beat everyone up. He then explained that he takes everything that goes on in the ring very seriously, no matter how big or how small. (CMV1 note- damn if he didn’t just repeat my thoughts).

In the parking lot, Booker T opened his trunk and found it filled with worms. (CMV1 note- C’mon! This is ridiculous! “The trunk is filled with worms…Dur hur hur hur” This isn’t funny…it’s stupid!)


Match 5: Mark Henry (w/ Davairi) vs. Undertaker
-Tonight’s main-event got underway with Taker trying to take down the World’s Most Incorrectly Labeled Strongest Man with a shoulder block. Henry didn’t move a muscle and proceeded to hit a shoulder tackle that sent the Deadman crashing to the mat. The man once known as Sexual Chocolate dominated for a few sequences thereafter and had Taker positioned throat first across the second rope. Henry came lumbering toward him looking for a Jericho/Austin style rope guillotine, but Taker moved and sent Henry through the top and middle ropes to the floor. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but I guess that was to be expected. Back from the break, Taker had taken control and tossed Henry into the steel steps. The Deadman did some of his trademark moves soon after, but Henry would eventually comeback and dominate for the next several sequences. With Henry in control, the already bored crowd pretty much died. The finish came when Taker connected with a chokeslam, but was unable to make the cover due to MNM’s interference. Thus, Taker defeated Henry via DQ at 13:24. (CMV1 rating- *). After the match, MNM and Henry beat down the Deadman for a minute before World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle made the save. Taker picked up the World title belt, looked it at, and then gave it back to Kurt. At that point, TRL came out to the top of the ramp and announced that next week’s main-event would be Angle and Taker vs. MNM and Henry. (CMV1 note- not too bad, believe it or not, but c’mon…we saw Henry have a few solid TV matches before the Royal Rumble, and he proceeded to go out and have one of the worst PPV main-event matches in recent memory. This guy is useless and all further attempts to milk any money out of him need to be ceased. It’s over, WWE…this is the final year of his contract, so just sit on it and stop trying to make a mountain out of mole hill!)





All in all … It was a night of solid hype for the upcoming PPV, but not much in the way of good wrestling. Sure, the opener and the tag match were solid, but nothing stood out. I like the Lashley-JBL feud…it’s simple and effective. The NWO card looks pretty damn good if you ask me, and after next Sunday I imagine it’ll be sitting atop the list of current PPV of the year, thanks to two lackluster efforts thus far in the Rumble and NYR. Angle-Taker didn’t get much hype tonight, but I’m sure the mindset is that Angle vs. Undertaker will sell itself…Benoit-Book continues to be a solid secondary feud, while Rey vs. Orton is the go-to storyline right now, and is in my opinion working quite effectively…As for grading tonight’s show, the hype was worth a solid six-and-a-half, the wrestling was around a four-and-a-half, so I’ll average that out to a 5.5/10 and call it an evening…



This week in Smackdown history… Eddie Guerrero cut (what I consider to be) the promo of his life on the February 12th edition of Smackdown in 2004. The promo was to hype his match for the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar at No Way Out that Sunday, and for all intents and purposes, it was one of the those moments that made you realize that Eddie Guerrero was about to truly arrive in the main-event scene. Of course, he went on to beat Lesnar and the rest is history, but the 02/12/04 promo sticks out in my mind as the greatest interview he ever did.



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