The Smackdown! Report (03/31/06): Angle vs. Mysterio
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Friday, March 31, 2006 at 9:52 PM EST





The Smackdown! Report (03/31/06)

The show opened with Rey Mysterio coming out to the ring for a promo. He called out Randy Orton, at which point Kurt Angle came to the ring. Angle called out Orton, too. At that point, the Legend Killer came out and suggested that Angle and Mysterio face him in a handicap match. Upon second thought, though, Orton decided it might be a better idea if Angle and Mysterio faced each other. Apparently, SD General Manager Teddy Long liked that idea enough to schedule Kurt vs. Rey for the WHC as tonight’s main-event and have Orton thrown out of the building to ensure there would be no interference. (CMV1 note- should be a good match, but I’m not a big fan of risking two of the three stars in Sunday’s main-event with a match that doesn’t need to happen).


Match 1: Chris Benoit vs. Road Warrior Animal
-Animal was outclassed almost from the beginning, with Benoit taking control and hitting multiple German suplexes. The Road Warrior eventually tried using brass knuckles to gain an advantage, but again…he got outclassed. The finish came when Benoit defeated Animal w/ the Crossface. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- go away, Animal).

Backstage, JBL approached US Champion Benoit about their match at Wrestlemania, saying that he defeated the great Eddie Guerrero to win the WWE title, and would defeat another great wrestler (Benoit) to win the US title this Sunday.


Match 2: JBL vs. Derrick Cross
-In a quick squash match, JBL defeated the jobber w/ the Clothesline From Hell. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *). (CMV1 note- considering JBL has been booked to looked fairly weak in 2006, he may actually have needed this squash).


Match 3: Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs. Pirate Burchill
-In another short match, Burchill basically dominated until the Boogeyman showed up and kidnapped Sharmell. Booker went after her, and thus Burchill defeated him via count-out. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *). (CMV1 note- it was effective in hyping the Book-Boogey match and it didn’t hurt Burchill to get a win over a major talent…but I still can’t say I enjoyed it).


Match 4: Tatanka, Lashley, and Matt Hardy vs. MNM and Finlay
-In the early going, Lashley dominated and tossed both Mercury and Nitro to the floor. He proceeded to taunt Finlay, goading him into coming in the ring. Finlay obliged, but stalled long enough for the tag champs to jump Bobby from behind and gain control. MNM eventually tried to continue their momentum with a double vertical suplex, but Lashley reversed and caught them with a Show-like double vertical of his own. Lashley then made the tag to Tatanka, but it was only a matter of time before the heels again took over and regained control. After a basic comeback, Tatanka tagged Hardy, who cleaned house. Hardy eventually caught MNM w/ a clothesline-bulldog combo. The finish came when Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Mercury for the win, while Lashley kept Finlay at bay. Hardy, Lashley and Tatanka beat the heels. (CMV1 rating- * ¾) (CMV1 note- good match, but I would’ve liked to have seen Hardy and Lashley at least show some tension since they’ll be facing each other in MITB II).

Mark Henry came to the ring wearing a black suit. The ring was surrounded by black wreaths and featured a black podium in the center of the squared-circle. Henry showed footage of all the other opponents that Taker has faced at Wrestlemania over the years, mentioning how each of them failed to do what he promises to do. He said he’ll beat the Undertaker and finally end the infamous streak.

Match 5: Mexicools vs. Jamie Noble and Kid Kash
-A rather sloppy and disjointed little match that fortunately had a great finish. Kid Kash was on the top rope, but Super Crazy raced up there and caught him with Paul Burchill’s C4 off the top rope (or at least a move quite similar to it). Wow! Mexicools defeated Kash and Noble (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- like I said, it was a little sloppy at times, but a match w/ a few nice spots and a satisfying, very un-WWE like cruiserweight finish)

Backstage, Booker found Sharmell sitting in a room covered in worms.


Match 6: WHC Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
-(CMV1 note- non-title match). Angle got first strike points when he used amateur wrestling holds to take Mysterio to the mat. Rey took to the air soon after and caught Angle w/ a springboard into an armdrag…which led to a standoff. Mysterio kept control and eventually took Angle down to the second rope for the 619, but Angle managed to get out of the way before Rey could connect…which led to another standoff. Rey still kept control once they returned to action, catching Angle w/ a tilt-a-whirl head scissor that sent the champion to the outside. Mysterio tried to follow with a baseball slide, but he missed, allowing Angle to toss him into the ringside covering. We then got a dreaded commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, Angle was in control and preparing for a suplex on his challenger for Sunday. Angle caught him with a belly-to-belly suplex and did a little bit of taunting. He followed with a snap vertical suplex for a quick near fall. After a lengthy series of wear-down holds, Angle fell victim to a wheelbarrow bulldog as Rey began to make his comeback. Mysterio followed with a springboard crossbody block for a near fall. Later on, Rey connected on a springboard Seated Senton for another near fall…but then it was time for Angle’s comeback. One vicious German suplex (that folded Rey up like an accordion) later and suddenly Angle was poised to finish the match w/ his finisher. However, Rey countered the Angle Slam and tried to roll through for a pinning combo. Unfortunately for Rey, that didn’t work as Angle went for the ankle lock. Rey countered, though, and sent Angle back onto the second rope for another attempt at the 619. Again, Angle managed to counter, this time grabbing hold of Rey’s ankle and synching in his vicious submission hold. The finish came when Mysterio tapped surprisingly quickly, giving Angle the win. (CMV1 rating- ** ½). After the match, Randy Orton snuck up and drilled Mysterio with the RKO. Orton then got on the mic and taunted Angle, prompting the Olympic Gold Medallist to come back to the ring and give Randy the Angle Slam (after a short scuffle). Angle then synched in the ankle lock and eventually made Orton tap. (CMV1 note- solid match b/t Angle and Rey, but I’ve seen them wrestle so many times that it’s hard to really live up to my expectations. That’s a good thing in this case, though, because I don’t want to see them get hurt before Mania. I’m surprised they had Rey tap so quick…and I’m surprised they had Orton tap, too. Basically, I figure Angle is losing…the question is: to whom?).


All in all…The second half of the show was much better than the first, which featured only a few minutes of wrestling despite there being multiple matches. I did enjoy the opening segment and the backstage JBL promo from the first hour, though. Things obviously picked up after that and this ended up being right on par with Raw in terms of hyping Wrestlemania (I thought both shows did a good job). Thus, I’ll give this a 6/10 and call it a night …





Become a part of the United Wrestling Front:

United Wrestling Front Forums

Email me for details…



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









*NEW GALLERY* Very HOT and Revealing Gail Kim Photos! WOW!!!

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