The Smackdown! Report (05/26/06): Feel the Judgment Day Fallout!
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 2:20 AM EST





The Smackdown! Report (05/26/06)

The show opened with United States Champion JBL in the ring for a post-Judgment Day promo. He said that Rey Mysterio’s win was a fluke and that he wanted a rematch right then and there. World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio wasted little time in coming out to address the challenge. Rey said that while he was a fighting champion that proved his worth at JD, he was a little surprised at the lack of US title defenses that JBL had made since winning the belt at Mania. Bradshaw scoffed at the remark and said he’d face anyone at anytime for his US title. Thus, we got…


Match 1: US Champion JBL vs. Bobby Lashley
-(CMV1 note- should be interesting). In a super short match, Lashley nailed JBL with the spear to capture the US title after dodging an early Clothesline from Hell attempt. Bobby Lashley is your new United States Champion. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- step one of JBL taking time off was to have him drop the US belt, and I think it’s a nice consolation prize for Lashley to win the title given his loss in the KOTR finals).


Backstage and after a commercial break, former US Champion JBL came barging into SD General Manager Teddy Long’s office to question the validity of the previous match. Long said that it was an official match and that Lashley was the new champ, prompting Bradshaw to grab and threaten him. Eventually, JBL presented TRL with an offer he couldn’t refuse: give Layfield a championship match against Mysterio tonight…if JBL loses, he’ll quit Smackdown.

Match 2: Simon Dean vs. Tatanka
-In a short match, Tatanka defeated the fitness guru. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *). (CMV1 note- I’m just not into the Tatanka character, but I hope somebody out there is).

Backstage, TRL was chatting with Matt Hardy and lightly singing his praises about his performance on SD thus far. At that point, leader of the ECW revival Paul Heyman came into the picture and shook hands with Hardy, who proceeded to exit stage right. Heyman told Teddy that he was bringing back ECW and was here at SD to do some business. TRL warned Heyman about coming to his show to scout his talent…(CMV1 note- well, they acknowledged that ECW is making a comeback and I’m digging it. Time will tell if this new ECW thing will work, but anything that offers alternative has a chance to succeed. So, if ECW can manage to stay away from being like WWE, they ought to have a decent shot at succeeding, particularly under a system in which Heyman books the show and Vince just gives the financial backing. Oh, and as a fan of Matt Hardy, I’d love to see ole’ MHV1 be apart of the revival).

Match 3: Chris Benoit vs. Mark Henry
-(CMV1 note- another case of the WWE booking Henry against a top guy…why I’ll never understand…Three Six Mafia played Henry to the ring). At the start of the match, Benoit was the aggressor and scored first strike points with several knife edge chops. Henry managed to escape the barrage, but Benoit went right back into the chops routine. Looking to ground the World’s Strongest Man, Benoit went for the Crossface, but Henry blocked it and followed with a running body block. He proceeded to go for a gorilla press slam, but Benoit countered out of it and tried for the Crossface again. Henry dodged the attempt, but Benoit stayed on the offensive with knife edge chops and a dropkick that sent the big guy crashing to the outside. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but I guess that was to be expected. Back from the break, Henry quickly took control and worked over Benoit’s back and neck areas following a splash in the corner. Generic big man offense followed until Benoit moved out of the way of a second splash in the corner and locked in the Crippler Crossface. Henry struggled for a minimal length of time before getting to the ropes and knocking Benoit to the outside. The finish came not too long after when Henry repeatedly splashed Benoit into the ring posts, prompting the ref to call for the DQ. Benoit defeated Henry via disqualification. (CMV1 rating- * ½) (CMV1 note- not bad, but still just another Mark Henry match. He’s one of those guys that you just have to hope for the best out of his opponent and hope he doesn’t screw it up too bad. He’s mastered just getting through a “not bad” match at best, but that just doesn’t cut it).

William Regal introduced the 2006 King of the Ring, Booker T (w/ Sharmell), who came to the ring on a rolling throne. Regal praised King Booker for being the man that he is, and a quite handsome one at that. He insisted that the crowd bow down to the king…to hail and respect him. As Booker promptly donned the crown and the robe befitting the KOTR, Sharmell spoke about her husband’s crowning. Book went on to dub his wife the new Queen (of the ring), all the while bashing Bobby Lashley and putting SD on notice that he and Sharmell would rule the blue brand with an iron fist. (CMV1 note- why not put the title on Book? Rumors are swirling that the likes of Mark Henry will be winning the WHC so that Mysterio can go take care of some nagging injury woes. For the love of God, don’t do that! Book may not be kicking ass in the ring these days, but his entertainment level is at its highest peak in years).

Backstage, Nunzio told Big Vito that the two of them would be facing the new WWE Tag Team Champions, London and Kendrick, in a non-title match in a few minutes. Nunzio addressed the rumors going around about Vito when his big bodyguard didn’t seem to excited about their match.


Match 4: WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs. Vito and Nunzio
-(CMV1 note- sorry, I didn’t catch this match, as right now basketball playoffs rank 1 on my entertainment list). London and Kendrick got the win. (CMV1 rating- n/a) (CMV1 note- n/a)

A video hype promo aired for the return of MIS-TER KEN-NEDY…KENNEDY!!! (CMV1 note- can’t wait to see him come back).

Backstage, Chavo Guerrero made sure Rey was ready for his title defense. He asked him if he was physically OK to go out there after having taken such a beating over the last month. Rey said he’d be fine and wouldn’t make any excuses.

Further backstage, Paul Heyman chatted it up with Kurt Angle.


Match 5: Finlay vs. Pirate Burchill
-In a disappointing squash, Finlay dominated and defeated Burchill Finlay’s little midget wrestler that will be known as his “leprechaun” from my understanding, made his debut tonight, basically just acting as Finlay’s human weapon (as in, picking him up and whacking people with him). (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- sad to see Burchill not being given the chance to shine anymore).


Match 6: World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio (w/ Chavo Guerrero) vs. JBL
-JBL wasted no time in attacking Rey and it seemed as if we were in for our second, extremely short title match of the night, as Bradshaw hit the Clothesline from Hell and pinned Rey just after the match began. Unfortunately for JBL, Rey managed to get his foot on the rope and when the referee saw the mistake on the replay, he decided to immediately restart the match. Amidst all the confusion, we got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but given the circumstances that was probably for the best. Back from the break, Layfield had re-established his dominance and was in the process of hitting a nice Last Call Fallaway Slam from the second rope. 1…2…No! Rey just barely got the shoulder up! JBL continued his brawler-style offense until Rey managed an attempted comeback that saw the champion try for a wheelbarrow bulldog. However, JBL countered and tossed Rey chest first across the top rope before knocking him over the top and to the outside. Layfield proceeded to toss Rey into the steel steps before taking the action back inside the squared circle. Eventually, Rey made a legitimate comeback as he countered a Last Call attempt into a nice DDT (ala Eddie Guerrero). Mysterio then set-up and connected with the 619 and looked to finish the match with a Seated Senton. Rey went up, but came crashing down hard when JBL countered the springboard maneuver into a powerbomb. 1…2…No! Again, Rey barely got the shoulder up! Then, in his own way of addressing the multiple “Eddie” chants that had rung out during the match, Bradshaw hit Rey with the Three Amigo Rolling Vertical Suplexes. He went on to toss Rey into the ref in an attempt to play Eddie’s old game of knock the ref down and then go cheat your way to victory. However, Mysterio didn’t allow the game to get started right away, as he managed to get Bradshaw into 619 position. Rey was unable to capitalize, though, as JBL placed the ref in front of him so that the champ would have to strike both of them if he wanted to connect with his signature move. The distraction gave JBL the chance to low blow Mysterio and go outside to receive the chair he needed to complete his mockery of Eddie Guerrero. Again, JBL ran into some problems, as this time it was Chavo who stood in his way. Chavo was quickly disposed of, allowing Layfield to enter the ring with steel chair in hand. He wound up and swung at Rey, but Mysterio ducked and hit a low blow of his own. The chair dropped to the canvas, as Rey positioned himself on the top rope with JBL in a front face lock. Mysterio leapt off the top and connected with a tornado DDT onto the chair. The finish came soon after when Rey hit the Drop of the Dime for the win. Mysterio retained, causing JBL to lose his job. (CMV1 rating- ***). After the match, JBL walked to the back in shock as the crowd sang, “Nah Nah Nah Nah…Nah Nah Nah Nah…Hey Hey Hey…Goodbye!” (CMV1 note- Really good match with some great storytelling from the two. I loved the way JBL was trying to work a “Guerrero”-style match, as it added a nice touch to the bout. Believe it or not, I’m quite sad to see JBL go)


All in all…A solid night from the blue brand, in special thanks to JBL, Rey Mysterio, and Booker T. Those three guys really carried the show, with JBL and Rey having a strong opening and a damn good main-event title match, and Book keeping things interesting with his continued high level of entertainment value. The rest of show didn’t do anything for me, but seeing Paul Heyman talk about ECW boosted my interest level just enough to keep me entertained for most of the two hour show. That being said, I’m giving tonight’s SD a solid 6.5/10 and calling it a night…





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