Smackdown Report 22 Sept 2006
Submitted by Rudi Pavani on Friday, September 22, 2006 at 10:41 PM EST
G'day everyone and welcome to another week, my 2nd week of reporting Smackdown! Let's hope I get my act together this week. :) Thanks to those who sent me mails regarding the column and thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming, it's much obliged. Just on a tangent, any Melbournians in Australia that have Unforgiven taped I'd love a copy. My cable company forgot to put it through. *sigh* Now, onto the show!!!
We start straight off with Teddy on the phone to someone talking Smackdown's first night on CW and interrupted by King Booker and Sharmell. Both Booker and Sharmell proceed to tell Teddy how the King should not have to face Vito. Booker compares Vito's attire to Sharmell's and her perfection in a dress. Yep, she wears a dress better than Vito, but the point is? We're in luck according to Teddy because Vito has willingly stepped aside from tonight's main event and the King has a new opponent, none other than the Undertaker! *shock, horror, gasp from both Booker and Sharmell* They're mightily unimpressed by this turn of events! (Author's note - Good opening vignette and the King and Sharmell are really playing the royalty gimmick so well that I can't see WWE taking it away at the moment).
We're now treated to the opening of Smackdown overhauled for the new season and new network and containing illustrated images of some of the bigger stars on the show. New and different it is and hopefully it's a sign of good things to come.
This week's show hails from Montreal in Quebec Canada and we're straight into things with Batista walking out for the first match up! The crowd is really over for him and Batista plays to the crod before his pyros go off! He's closely followed by Lashley whose pyros pale a little in comparison. They're opponents tonight are Finlay and Regal who come out to not much of a reaction at all. We're then treated to a flashback from two weeks ago where Finlay took to Batista with his shillelagh busting him wide open.
Match 1: Batista and Lashley vs. Finlay and Sir William Regal
The match begins when Batista who is eyeing off starting against Finlay is blindsided by Regal with a hit to the head and into a corner with knees to the gut. Batista reverses the position quickly and comes back at Regal with a shoulder to the gut, a number of elbows to the head followed by more shoulders to the gut. An Irish whip into the opposite corner has Regal staggering out to be met by a huge body drop by the animal who follows it up with a nice power slam and taunts Finlay with the thumbs down. As Batista prepares for a sit down powerbomb Finlay comes into the ring distracting Batista who chases him out of the ring and back into the ring allowing Regal to gain his breath and come at Batista only to be met by a spinebuster and a two count which is broken up by Finlay! A tag to Lashley and both he and Batista plant a huge suplex on Regal. A whip into the corner is followed up with a huge shoulder by Lashley and a snap suplex and into a two count. Lashley whips Regal into the corner and meets the corner himself as a charge in gives time for Regal to move aside at the last moment. Regal makes the tag and we have Finaly coming into the ring only to be met by a belly to belly suplex and a clotheslines by Lashley. A big hit to the head of Finlay has the crowd cheering for Lashley who plays to the crowd!
Lashley puts Finlay across his shoulders and drops to his knees, then goes for the cover only to have it broken up the big boot of Regal who bails out the ring with Lashley making sure of his exit. As Lashley turns around, Finlay takes Lashley by the waist tossng him out through the ropes and hard onto the floor. With the referee's attention turned onto Finlay, Lashley is met by a Regal clothesline and then throws him back into the ring. Lashley is now on the receiving end of some Finlay punishment including a clothesline and a nice elbow to the chest followed up by a chinlock. Lashley attempts a comeback with some hits to Finlay only to be met by another clothesline as he comes off the ropes. A tag to Regal allows him to come in with a knee to the back of the head and a two count on Lashley. It's followed up by knees to the head and another 2 count and Lashley has taken most of the beating in this match. A tag to Finlay allows him to come in and put a running shoulder into the guts of Lashley in the corner and we get another two count. As Lashley then crawls towards Batista he's taunted by Finlay who stops the momentum with a kick to the chest of Lashley before taunting Batista to come into the ring allowing Regal in for the cheap shot whilst the ref's back is turned.
Finlay drops some knees to the face of Lashley and an elbow to the chest before another tag to Regal who enters with an elbow to the face. An attempted choke against the ropes is broken by the count and a comeback from Lashley who puts a few hits into the gut area of Regal who comes back with a nice throw and a two count. A resthold follows and Lashley attempts to make the tag only to have Regal distract Batista and when the ref has his back turned to the action in the ring Lashley is met by a hit to the head from Finlay. Regal goes to punch Batista off ring apron but is met by a Batista hit and we have all four men in the ring! Finlay comes at Batista with his shillelagh which is countered by Batista who throws Finlay out of the ring and follows him out where the two go toe to toe with Batista getting the upper hand and kicking Finlay over the guard rail into the crowd with a very nice kick to the jaw! In the ring Regal has picked up the shillelagh with the intent of whacking Lashley with it only to have it ripped from his hands by the animal. Regal's attention is towards Batista and as he turns his attention back to the ring is met by a Lashley spear and a three count and the match is done! Batista and Lashley defeated Finlay and Sir William Regal in close on 7 minutes. (Rudi's rating - * 1/2). After the match Batista and Lashley hug in the ring and then play to the crowd. (Author's note - A good match to start Smackdown tonight superstar wise. The crowd were into the match from the start and setup more to the fued of Batista and Finlay who I daresay will meet at No Mercy. There was no sign tonight of the 'lil bastard' sadly. Maybe Leprechauns are on a watchlist in Quebec?)
Commercial break
Back from commercial the 2006 Diva winner Layla makes her way to the ring where we're shown a highlight reel of some of some of her feats in the contest, a welcome to CW speech and dances for the audience. *rolling eyes* It's interrupted by Krystal coming to the ring and discussing the finer points of being the hottest Diva on Smackdown before slapping Layla and the obligatory cat fight. It's interrupted by Jillian who joins in the catfight and rips the top off of Krystal. She then proceeds to rip the top of Layla before removing her own top. (Author's note - Unforgiven in the past week and the match between Trish & Lita showed that there was still a lot of worth left in the Women's division if only they would work on it rather than having 9 out of 10 segments turn into a tits and ass show! This segment had no value behind it at all)
We're treated to a recap of the Rey and Chavo feud from start to finish building up the match between these two tonight.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial to Gregory Helms coming out to the ring to not much reaction from the crowd followed by Matt Hardy who comes out to a big pop and he's looking very intense for this match up!
Match 2: Gregory Helms vs. Matt Hardy (Non-Title match)
We begin this matchup with Hardy on the offensive with a kick to the gut of Helms and a head into the tunbuckle and a number of right arms in the corner! An Irish whip into the corner is followed by a clothesline and another Irish whip off the ropes only to receive a kick in the guts from Helms putting Hardy done on his haunches near the ropes. As Helms charges in at Hardy he's lifted up and dumped over the top rope and hard onto the floor! Hardy then launches himself over the top rope onto Helms driving him into the floor again, before picking him up and throwing him back into the ring. A head into the turnbuckle by Hardy is then met by an elbow from Helms and a kick to the chest of Hardy as he tries to come in again. Helms exits the rings and tries to climb to the top rope but is met halfway by Hardy who knocks him down and then proceeds to climb the ropes himself only for Helms to fight back with a thumb to the eyeand drop off the apron onto the floor ramming the neck of Hardy into the top rope! Helms is on the offensive now back in the ring with a spinning neck breaker and a two count followed by some stiff shots to the head broken up by the referee.
Helms with a choke hold against the ropes and then rams the neck of Hardy again into the top rope and Helms is on the offensive again with a kick to the gut of Hardy before drawing huge heat from the crowd with a "Lets go Hardy" chant. An arm drag is next with an elbow to the chest and another two count and a chin lock on Hardy. Hardy attempts a comeback with some hits to the stomach of Helms and a headbutt but Helms retaliates with a modified dropkick whilst hanging onto Hardy and we get another two count. An Irish whip into the ropes and we get an attempted sleeper hold from Helms which is broken firstly by jamming the chin of Helms by dropping onto the floor and then ramming him back first into the ropes. Helms comes back by trying to jump from the second rope only to be met by a punch to the chest and then a side effect and a two count by Hardy onto Helms! Hardy follows up with a moonsault onto a groggy Helms and we have another two count. Hardy prepares for a twist of fate and Helms cleverly hangs onto the ropes as Hardy attempts the move having him hit head first onto the canvas and follows up with the shining wizard for a two and 1/2 count. Helms in disbelief heads into the corner and attempts to pull the top rope turnbuckle apart. The ref gets between Helms and the turnbuckle pushing him away and trying to fix it and whilst his back is turned Hardy comes up behind Helms and delivers a low blow kick to Helms rendering him helpless and giving Hardy the three count! Revenge from last week! Matt Hardy defeated Gregory Helms in close on 6 minutes (Rudi's rating * 1/2) After the match an elated Matt Hardy walks up the rampway leaving a pained Helms in the ring. (Author's note - Another good match between these two building up their feud and hopefully allowing for a much longer match between these two at No Mercy).
Backstage we have an energetic promo from The Miz promoting his match coming up next
Commercial break
Back from commercial and backstage again we see Jimmy Wang Yang with another promo in which he announces that his Smackdown debut won't be north of the border where they speak funny but next week in front of a crowd in Tulsa Oklahoma. (Author's note - I sure hope Jimmy wrestles better than he acts in this new gimmick!) (By the way, Georgia Yellow Jackets 24/7 over the Virginian College team - Way to go guys!)
Back to business and we have The Miz coming to the ring followed by Smackdown's No 1 commentator, Funaki who we haven't seen in the ring for a little while.
Match 3: The Miz vs. Funaki
The match begins with a lock up and an armbar from The Miz (hereafter called Miz) and a headlock which is reversed by Funaki into an arm bar which is reversed by Miz who follows up with an arm drag and strut around the ring bringing out a chorus of boos from this crowd and then mocks Funaki who in the next lock up puts an arm bar on Miz and sweeps his legs out from under him and goes for the count which Miz kicks out of at 1. Miz attempts to pin Funaki to be kicked away and Funaki comes at Miz with an attempt to body slam him only to have it blocked and be slammed instead. Miz again plays up to the crowd and them mocks Funaki again with an attempt to portray scenes from the Karate Kid only for Funake to dropkick him and follow up with some right hits to the jaw of Miz. Funaki with an Irish whip off the ropes and an attempted dropkick which backfires when Miz cleverly hangs onto the ropes. Miz now has the ascendency with some kicks to the chest of Funaki whilst he's on the canvas and a number of choke holds. A suplex from Miz onto Funaki and Miz follows up with his 'Mizard of Oz' move for the win!The Miz defeated Funaki in just on two minutes (Rudi's rating *) After the match Miz plays to the crowd again as he walks up the rampway (Author's note - This match makes The Miz 4 and 0 and WWE seem to be building up his character quite well. I'm still wanting to see how The Miz goes competing in a feud with one of the better credentialed wrestlers before having a real opinion of him but he plays the goofy heel role quite well at the moment).
Backstage Rey cuts a promo for his match which is next against Chavo Guerrero and this is a good promo for Rey. Short and intense and certainly to the point. Tonight is the first day of the rest of his life!
Commercial break
Back from commercial with Vickie and Chavo Guerrero making their way down to the ring to not much of a crowd reaction. Next we hear the music to Rey and forgive me if I'm wrong but is it a new music theme for Rey? We also get pyro and Rey bouncing up through the pyro on the walkway and not through backstage! Awesome! and the crowd loves Rey big time!
Match 4: Chavo (with Vicky Guerrero) vs. Rey Mysterio
An intense looking Rey barely makes it into the ring before Chavo jumps him and the two of them trade punches before Chavo gets the upper hand on Rey. Rey comes back with the a kick to the gut and some right hands before Chavo comes back and regains control and then Rey again! The action is intense in this match! Rey follows up with a huge head scissors swinging Chavo onto the stadium floor. Rey from the apron follows up with a seating senton which puts both he and Chavo over the barricades and into the crowd! Good stuff this! Rey follows up with a kick to the back and some right hands and the two of them trade blows again with Rey taking the upper hand! The Ref is out in the crowd with them and talking to Rey and has totally no control in this match at all! Chavo comes back and gains control with some heavy hits on Rey up against the barricades but Rey comes back and slams the head of Chavo into some of the patron's chairs. Chavo again with some hits but Rey comes back with some kicks and then another seating senton off the barricades. Rey pounds on Chavo as he's on the floor and the Ref tries to drag him away but Rey breaks free and slams Chavo against the barricades again. Another slam by Rey of Chavo into the barricades and the match according to Cole is over but there has been no ringing of the bell or disqualification called from what I can see! Rey bangs Chavo into the chair again and follows up with a number of hits as Chavo tries to get away from him but is tossed over the barricades by Rey and is outside the ring now.
Vickie Guerrero tries to help Chavo but is warned off by Rey who continues his assault and Vickie is looking scared at this point of time. Chavo finally attempts a comeback by placing some kicks on Rey as he enters the ring and Vickie is at ringside holding a chair which she throws in for Chavo to grab. As Chavo lines up to use the chair Rey springs to the top ropes and launches a dropkick into the head of Chavo sending the chair flying! And the crowd is wild! Chavo is trying to crawl out the ring and Rey grabs him by the leg to drag him back in and is interrupted by Vickie who has entered the ring and tries to pull him away. Rey confronts her and she yells at Rey and then attempts to slap him. Rey grabs her arm and shakes a finger saying no to Vickie when Chavo out of nowhere blindsides Rey and knocks him to the canvas and proceeds to sink the boots in. Chavo takes the advantage with a number of kicks in the corner until Rey makes a fightback and the toe wrestle each other again on the canvas until they're pulled apart by a number of referees and taken to opposite corners. Chavo and Rey Mysterio fought to a non contest in 5 minutes (Rudi's rating ***) Rey breaks free from his corner and pounces again on Chavo before being pulled away again by the referees. (Author's note - This was great and though the match was fought to a no contest I loved the intensity shown by Rey and though I have been against the use of the idea behind this feud I do hope that we get a couple of good matches before they both move on).
Commercial break
Back from commercial and backstage we're met by Marie who welcomes us in French and then English to the season premiere of Smackdown on the CW network. How quaint.
Back to business and we have London & Kendrick racing towards the ring for their triple threat match without Ashley this week. They're followed not far behind by the Pitbulls who enter the ring and are straightaway into the action with all four wrestlers at each other and the match hasn't even started as yet! London is thrown over the top rope by Noble and the Pitbulls double team Kendrick with a double shoulder block from the ropes as James and Stevens with Michelle McCool in tow come down to join the party and are met by the Pitbulls.
Match 5: Triple Threat match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: London/Kendrick vs. The Pitbulls vs. James/Stevens
The bell to start is finally rung and James has Noble are in the corner beating on each other whilst Kendrick is still coming to his feet. James Irish whips Noble who is taken out by a body drop by Kendrick who then puts a forearm to James and follows up with another forearm to Noble and another to James. Kendrick comes back with a drop kick on Noble and turns straight into a clothesline from James! A tag is made and and Stevens and James beat Kendrick down before an attempted two count on Kendrick by Stevens. Kendrick is a bit stunned still and Noble comes back and both he and Stevens beat up on each other with Noble taking a brief advantage as he then knocks London off the ring apron onto the floor and turns into a kick to the gut by Stevens who then beats up on Kendrick allowing Noble to take advantage of him and hit the tag to Kash. A double team by the Pitbulls on Stevens with a double headbutt and a double chop to the neck. Kash stomps away on Stevens and in the background we see Kendrick being choked on the ring apron by McCool with her school stick!
Kash attempts a count on Stevens and then goes after Kendrick chopping him against the ropes and is taken down by Stevens for a two count who makes the tag to James. Kendrick is very much the face in peril and gets kicked in the guts by Kash who also kicks into the hamstring of James and the two of them grapple into the corner where the tag is made to Stevens who comes in dropping headbutts into the spine of Kash. Stevens comes off the ropes and misses an elbow drop to Kash allowing him to made an almost botched tag to Noble. Kendrick is kicked out of the ring as Noble takes to the leg of Stevens who regains advantage with a spinning neckbreaker on Noble. (deep breath). Kendrick has crawled back into the ring and is hit by Stevens who also attempts to take London off the apron again missing this time and turning into a drop kick by Kendrick and in turn is grabbed by Noble who misses an attempted back body drop turning it into an attempted pin on Noble. Noble throws Kendrick into the ropes and crotches himself in the follow up as Kendrick moves out of the way at the last moment. Kendrick somersaults past Stevens and makes the hot tag to London!
London races in with a dropkick on Stevens followed by headscissors on Noble, a spinkick to the jaw of Kash rushing in and a huge dropkick to James as he comes into the ring knocking him out under the bottom rope! Stevens reverses an Irish whip into the corner by London only to be met by an elbow and London from the second rope jumps onto the back of Stevens bringing him to the ground! An attempted pin on Stevens is broken up by the Pitbulls who double team London ending up with a brainbuster on London by Kash whilst McCool is up on the apron arguing with the ref. Kendrick comes into the ring taking out Kash only to rush into a huge backbreaker by Stevens who then attempts the pin on London which is broken up by Noble who rams him shoulder first into the steel post! Noble and London are the only two wrestlers left in the ring with London missing with a clothesline and Noble taking him off the ropes for an attempted roll up pin with the tights with James rushing in and a clothesline on Noble which allows London to reserve the roll up for the pin! London/Kendrick defeated The Pitbulls and James/Stevens in close on 5 minutes (Rudi's rating * 1/2) London and Kendrick celebrate their win out of the ring with the Pitbulls frustrated inside. (Author's note - A fast paced match with some nice moves and Kendrick playing the face in peril this time round. There is some promise ahead for the tag team division perhaps though a couple of more teams could still be brought into Smackdown allowing a change to these three teams who seem to face off in some way every week against each other).
Backstage we see Elijah Burke cutting a promo as the manager of Terkay introducing him and running through all the things that Terkay has won over his career. Sylvester Terkay utters four words with an intense stare on his face..."I am Sylvester Terkay!" (Author's note - The WWE should look at this and think seriously about a manager for Lashley like we have here with Elijah Burke. This would allow someone like Lashley to focus on building up his mic skills and letting his ability in the ring do all the talking).
Commercial break
Back from commercial we have a video of Batista in Manila for a visit and receiving huge attention from the population. A nice little video showing the human side of Batista whose grandparents originated from the Phillipines.
Back to the show and we have Sylvan coming out to the ring and cutting a promo in French for his home town crowd. The crowd give him the biggest cheer of the night and for Sylvan I'm sure the biggest cheer he'll ever get in his career with the WWE. We then have Tatanka introduced as Sylvan's opponent for tonight.
Match 6: Sylvan vs. Tatanka
The match begins with a lock up between the two wrestlers and into the corner with Sylvan not breaking clean and gving Tatanka a knee to the gut and a number of forearms to the head with the crowd loving everything he does.Tatanka to a chorus a boos battles back with some big right hands to the head of Sylvan and a chop to the throat before an Irish whip and a huge back body drop. Tatanka follows up with a kick to the gut and a suplex and then proceeds to lay some right hands into the back of Sylvan bringing him to his knees. We get a backbreaker from Tatanka and the crowd are chanting huge for Sylvan! Tatanka has Sylvan in a reverse chin lock which he breaks after some hits to the head by Sylvan. We get Tatanka taking the advantage though quickly with a right fist to the face and he comes from the ropes into an attempted suplex by Sylvan who finds it hard to get Tatanka off the ground and turns it into a modified spinebuster instead! Sylvan punches into the head of Tatanka and gets the crowd roaring for him and then the two wrestlers fight toe to toe with Sylvan taking the advantage with an Irish whip off the ropes and a dropkick on Tatanka. With the crowd roaring Sylvan follows up with a side slam and a 2 count on Tatanka.
Sylvan doesn't like that and tosses Tatanka through the ropes onto the floor playing up to the adoring crowd here for him. As Tatanka goes to enter the ring he is met by Sylvan but takes advantage and attempts to come over the top ropes over Sylvan with an attempted pin which backfires as Sylvan drops onto Tatanka and gets the pin with the help of hanging onto the rope. Sylvan defeated Tatanka in just over 2 minutes (Rudi's rating * 1/2) Sylvan acknowledges the crowd on this way up the rampway and Tatanka is left at ringside arguing with the ref about the pin. (Author's note - This match really only deserves 1/2 a star but I've thrown in the extra one just for the crowd reaction with Sylvan who is hardly ever seen on Smackdown and was brought here just for the home town pop. An ordinary match with not much to it and I'm not sure where the WWE is going to go with Tatanka except use him to job to the heels).
Commercial break
Backstage we have Teddy Long going over something in his head and turns into Cena who has come to thank Long for offering him the contract giving him the chance to face up to Edge in the TLC match at Unforgiven. Cena tells Long he owes him one and Long takes up on that offer with inviting Cena over to Smackdown next week for a six man tag with Cena teaming up with Batista and Lashley up against King Booker, Finlay and Regal. Cena accepts and we have a main event match for next week. Long celebrates with a victory jig.
Back to business and Mr Kennedy comes down to ringside and he is going to do guest commentary for the upcoming match.
Commercial break
Back from commercial and King Booker is almost in the ring with Sharmell. Booker is saluting to his royal subjects and we're interrupted by the gong of the Undertaker who slowly comes to the ring with a huge pop by the crowd for his usual entrace gimmick which at four minutes long is certainly the longest and also the most crowd pleasing. Awesome!
Match 7: King Booker vs. The Undertaker
The match begins with Booker prancing around the ring avoiding jabs by the Undertaker. Booker ducks under an Undertaker jab in the corner and comes back with a right hand which the Undertaker no sells at all and Booker slides out of the ring with the Undertaker close behind. We get Booker rolling back into the ring and when Undertaker slides into the ring after him is met by a kick to the back and a number of hits to the back by Booker which again the Undertaker doesn't really sell at all. Booker gives the Undertaker some upper cuts and attempts an Irish whip which is reversed by the Undertaker onto to have Booker hang onto the rope and come back with a kick to the chest of the Undertaker who no sells it again and retaliates with a clothesline over the top rope on Booker. Undertaker comes out of the ring after Booker and slams his head into the steel steps.
Commercial break
Back from commercial and both wrestlers are back in the ring with Undertaker planting a big headbutt onto Booker and follows up with an Irish whip and a boot to the face and a two count. Undertaker goes to work on the arm of Booker softening it up and into a military press and just tosses Booker to the canvas and comes in with some boots before wrapping Booker's arm in the corner around the rope and planting a back elbow into the shoulder of Booker. More work on the arm of Booker in the centre of the ring before dragging him to the ropes and as he is attempting to climb the rope do his old school walk Booker comes back with some big right hands and mounting the ropes himself looking at planting a suplex on Undertaker who retaliates with some stiff arm shots to the stomach of Booker and a headbutt knocking him back into the centre of the ring. As Undertaker climbs up the ropes to jump on Booker, Sharmells distracts the referee by climbing onto the apron allowing Booker to give Undertaker a low blow and a huge superplex from the top ropes. Booker takes the advantage kicking into Undertaker and choking him on the ropes before going to the apron and giving a scissors kick with Undertaker's neck against the top rope. Another attempted count by Booker to no avail. Undertaker on his feet attempts a fight back with a back elbow to Booker who comes back with some big rights and lefts to the body and head of Undertaker in the corner. Booker follows up with a side slam and another two count. Undertaker back on his feet against the ropes attempts a fight back only to have Booker with a right hand to the head knock him through the middel rope and onto the floor.
Booker is out of ring with a chop from the apron onto the Undertaker and bounces his head off the steel steps and another big right hand before rolling him back into the ring. Undertaker groggily on his feet is given a dropkick to the jaw by Booker and another two count. Undertaker tries to fight back with some right hands to the head of Booker and whips him off the ropes right into a DDT from Booker and Undertaker is flat on his back allowing another two count! The crowd goes crazy as Undertaker sits up and both wrestlers get to their feet where they they go toe to toe with some huge right hands on each other with Undertaker taking the advantage before Booker comes back with a rake to the eyes. An Irish whip off the ropes by Booker and Undertaker ducks under a high kick and comes back from the ropes with a huge shoulder block and almost a three count on the King. Undertaker now with a whip into the corner and picks Booker up as he comes out over his shoulder and throws him head first onto the top turnbuckle then bounces off the ropes with a huge boot to the face and off the ropes again for a leg drop against the chest of Booker on the canvas and a cover for two! Undertaker stalks Booker and attempts to chokeslam him when he is back on his feet but Booker fights out with some elbows to the head and knees to the chest before coming off the ropes with a heel kick to the jaw of Undertaker! Almost a 3 count by Booker who then waits for Undertaker to stagger to his feet before a kick to gut and an attempted pile driver is reversed by Undertaker who gets Booker into position for a tombstone which Booker struggles out of over the back of Undertaker and comes back with a low blow noticed by the ref and we have the bell! The Undertaker defeated King Booker via DQ in just on 13 minutes(Rudi's rating ** 1/2) Ater the match Booker goes for the belt and takes down the Undertaker with a shot to the head and slowly with Sharmell begins to walk back first up the stage playing to the boos of the crowd. From backstage comes Lashley who takes Booker by the scruff of the neck and throws him back into the ring up against a prone Undertaker who sits up much to the horror on the face of Booker! Undertaker and Booker to their feet where a chokeslam is given to Booker and to the huge cheers of the crowd Undertaker follows up with a tombstone piledriver and Booker is gone. (Author's note - This was an entertaining match in my opinion. The crowd certainly enjoyed it and Booker and Undertaker do have a good chemistry in the ring. How long will we see the Undertaker on our screens before his next holiday I'm not sure but it was a bit of shame to see Booker taken out in the end when clearly he is the current champ and has fought off a number of contenders).
The show ends with Undertaker staring down Kennedy at ringside.
Thanks again all for reading. Tonight's show was apparantly a premiere show for the new seaon and I'm not sure all of it went off too well so I'm giving it a 5 out of 10. There were a couple of surprises for me, Miz continues to be a character who generates a lot of heat both from the crowd and JBL and it will be interesting to see when they actually give him a real fued to deal with. I didn't mind the new aggressive Rey this week either. Though the match itself was a no contest there was a lot of intensity shown by Rey and that in itself is not a bad thing as when he's on his game he does a damn good job. The Undertaker returning from his summer holiday counting his millions in the Bahamas was a good idea for the premiere show though perhaps more would have watched if there had been some promoting of that. Ratings don't matter as much here in Melbourne Australia but it is interesting to see Cena coming over to Smackdown next week for a wrestling match, obviously to help promote Smackdown on it's new channel and also as the leadup to Survivor Series begins. Prediction for the week is that Kennedy will somehow get involved in this and begin any number of crossovers.
As always, please feel free to give any feedback you would like either through LOP or to me at rudip1@pacific.net.au The review is there for the benefit of you guys and anything to make it a more interesting experience I'm all for! Have a great week y'all and see you on the flip side! Cheers - Rudi
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