Smackdown results 29 Sept 2006
Submitted by Rudi Pavani on Friday, September 29, 2006 at 11:04 PM EST





G'day here from Rudi in Melbourne Australia and welcome to another week of Smackdown and week 3 for me! Congratulations to the Australian Women's Basketball Team now world champions just to start things off and I hope that you got not only to see the Barbara Walters interview with Terri Irwin but to see the Steve Irwin tribute that was held for him in the past week. Lets hope that today's Smackdown continues on with the improvements and absolutely hammers its Monday night cousin Raw which was just atrocious this week. Nice to see King Booker and his court dropping in for a bit of an ass whipping on Cena though. :) I must admit I wouldn't want to be kissing the foot of Booker. *shudder* On with the show!

The show begins with a recap of what happened on Raw on Monday where Cena complete with one hand behind his back beat Lita before being ganged upon in the ring by Finlay, Regal and King Booker. What we get next is no opening credits, just Cena coming out to a huge pop from the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Cena's left arm is bandaged heavily as he comes into the ring and salutes to the camera and goes for the mic!

Cena begins with a shot at the court of King Caractacus, I mean Booker! (Long live Rolf Harris!) and then mentions to a huge pop how nice it is to be back on Smackdown. He promotes his still being champ, he promotes his new movie being released on October 13th in the States which so happens to be a black Friday for those with a superstitious nature. He sprouts how Smackdown on a new network (not here in Australia) still has the fist, still has the fans and this looks like a push to have people get out and see his movie more than anything else. He points out Tony Chimel and then spots JBL and reminds him the last time he saw him he was whipping his ass! JBL responds in kind before Cena points out Cole and this is taking up valuable wrestling time. Cena has a gift for Cole, a set of balls. and then Cena actually starts on what he's here for and saying that they're here and that himself and his backup, Lashley and Batista. There's no kissing of feet tonight, but they're going to do some ass kicking! (Author's note - I sounded a bit critical up above of Cena's speech but he certainly knows how to play to a crowd and they just react, be it cheering or booing he gets them going and no one can ask for more than that, except well, maybe some wrestling prowess which is still to come? I would love to see figures about how many new wrestling fans Cena has coming through the doors and I'd be surprised if the attendances weren't up) Cena walks back to the stage from the ring to the huge pop from the crowd!

No opening credits to be seen. Maybe Vince doesn't do animation?

Commercial break...

Back from commercial and we see the crowd go wild to the music of Rey as he bounces up through the stage with accompanying pyro! Great entrance! Chavo and Vickie are seen backstage discussing Rey in front of a monitor so expect something to happen here! We're then shown to a flashback video of Vickie and Chavo and their battle against Rey. Back to real world and Rey is playing the crowd from all corners of the ring. The music of Sylvester Terkay hits and he comes out accompanied by his manager Elijah Burke to almost no reaction at all. Terkay steps into the ring and stands toe to toe with Rey, whose head reaches the chest of Terkay. Terkay looks Rey over and after a discussion with his manager Elijah decides that someone closer to the height of Rey, that is Elijah, should face up to him and Elijah strips down and prepares to do battle!

Match 1: Rey Mysterio vs. Sylvester Terkay changed to Elijah Burke
The bell rings and the two wrestlers walk slowly around the ring with Burke making fun of Rey before the two wrestlers lock up and Rey is rewarded with a knee to the chest before a follow up with a big right hand. An Irish whip into the ropes has Rey ducking the attempted clothesline and coming back with a twirling head scissors referred to by Cole as a forward back slam? (This wasn't too clear over the commentary sorry) and Rey puts Burke into the corner and proceeds with a 10 count of punches on Burke whilst perched on the bottom rope. Mysterio again with an attempt at an Irish whip into the opposite corner reversed by Burke who in his follow up meets the boot of Mysterio from the corner. Mysterio from the second rope leaps onto Burke in an attempted seating senton only to have Burke catch him and ram Mysterio spine first back into the corner much to the amusement of Chavo and Vickie shown backstage watching! Mysterio is caught in the corner with Burke stomping against his chest before he is whipped into the opposite corner with such a force that he staggers out right into a side slam by Burke who gets a two count.

Burke works on the back of Mysterio with a submission hold until Rey finds his feet, back headbutts Burke a couple of times and a back kick to the knee of Burke forcing him to break his hold As Mysterio tries to get on the offensive Burke responds with a body slam and then plays to the crowd before climbing to the top rope and trying to drop an elbow onto Mysterio who by now has moved out the way and could've had a three course meal the amount of time Burke took to try to press his advantage. The ref starts a double count up to 4 before Mysterio takes the advantage by kicking into the hamstring of Burke before bouncing off the ropes, avoiding a clothesline from Burke and then coming off the middle ropes with a flying cross body for a two count! As both wrestlers get to their feet, Burke gets Mysterio with a double chop to the stomach of Rey doubling him over allowing Burke to come off the ropes and rolls over the top of Rey going for the pin which Rey slides through and plants a kick to the side of the head of Burke! An almost 3 count by Mysterio on Burke. Rey then puts Burke on his knees and goes into the ropes for some momentum and is tripped up by Terkay staggering him into an attempted power bomb by Burke which Mysterio slips out the back of and then ducks an attempted clothesline from Burke and proceeds to plant a drop kick whilst hanging onto the ropes into Terkay bouncing him into the barricades. Rey from the ring apron trips up Burke coming at him dropping him into a position for a 619 which he succeeds in doing and drops the dime with a springboard off the top rope for the three count much to the chagrin of Chavo & Vickie in the back! Rey Mysterio defeated Elijah Burke in 5 minutes (Rudi's rating *) As Rey celebrates with arms raised in the ring Terkay comes in and nails Mysterio with a clothesline to the back of the neck dropping Rey like a bag of potatoes. Terkay then picks up Rey and delivers the (TerkThai? sp?) a suplex of sorts after holding him over his head for a very long moment! Chavo and Vickie are much happier at this turn of events from their vantage point backstage in front of the monitor. Terkay rolls out of the ring and walks away with Burke. (Author's note - I was interested to see how Rey would face up against Terkay and was a little disappointed at the change in plans. Rey against Burke was patchy with not much in the way of moves shown by Burke at all. I'd like to see another match up between Terkay and Mysterio after the feud with Chavo sizzles out, just to see what would come of it).

Commercial break...

Back from commercial to backstage where the cameras are focused in on the skirt area of Ashley as she walks in to cut a promo on her tag team of Kendrick and London who she promotes as the most exhilarating tag team on tv today. (Author's note - On WWE their isn't much of a tag team division so what is she trying to say?) We then cut to a video promo of the team highlighting lots of high flying moves by the two. (Author's note - Good little video package and a good quick promo by Ashley. She talks better than she wrestles!)

Back to the show and we have the announcement for the next match, the winners of which go up against Kendrick and London for the Tag Team Titles at No Mercy. Out to the ring accompanied by Michelle McCool are K C James and Idol Stevens in quite a good intro in my humble opinion followed by The Pitbulls who rush in and mouth off at Idol & Stevens whilst kept at bay by the referee.

Match 2: The Pitbulls (Noble & Kash) vs. K C James & Idol Stevens (with Michelle McCool) for Tag Team Title shot at No Mercy
The match begins with a lock up by Noble against Stevens which ends up in a headlock by Stevens onto Noble who backs him up against the rope before whipping him across the ring only to be bounced onto the canvas by a shoulder block from Stevens! Stevens taunts Noble whilst down on his knees which leads to him getting a drop kick to the face for his trouble and then some stomps to the back of the head before he is dragged into the corner where the tag is made bringing Kash into the ring. The Pitbulls whip Stevens against the ropes and meet him with a double shoulder block and we're left with Kash stomping into the shoulder and neck area of Stevens followed by a chop against the chest. Stevens comes back with some toe to toe blows against Kash before poking him in the eyes and making the tag to James. James comes in with two big right hands to Kash and then whips him against the ropes only to have Kash duck the attempted clothesline and retaliate with a kick to the side which doubles up James. A snapmare by Kash onto James which he follows up with a kick to the back of James followed up by a two count. A handful of hair by Kash and James is dragged into the corner where the tag to Noble is made and the Pitbulls deliver a double headbutt and a double chop to the chest of James much to the anguish of McCool at ringside! Noble whips James against the ropes and follows up with a high heel to the face and a two count which James breaks out of only to have Noble drop and elbow to the face of James and a legdrop and another two count ensues.

James fights back with a couple of hits to the midsection of Noble and then as he is attempting an atomic drop moves too closely to the corner of the Pitbulls where the tag unseen by James is made to Kash. Noble manages to unsettle James with hits to the head but still connects with the atomic drop and Stevens rushes into the ring and rams Noble front first into the corner. As this is happening Kash comes into the ring and takes down James and goes for the count which is broken up by Stevens! Stevens then tries to charge Noble who drops down to the canvas holding the top rope which puts Stevens out over the top rope and onto the ringside floor. Noble then bounces off the ropes and through the middle ropes splashing Stevens to the ground! In the ring James is giving right hands on Kash who retaliates with a kick to the stomach and attempts a moonsault from the corner for a two count on James! James blocks an attempted suplex by Kash and pays back the compliment with a DDT somersaulting Kash! Nice move! Stevens goes for the count only to have it broken up by Noble back in the ring who is then taken to by Stevens and the two of them trade punches with Stevens putting Noble into the corner. On the other side of the ring Kash attempts a small package on James only to have it reversed by McCool who isn't spotted by the referee and we have a three count on Kash! James & Stevens defeated The Pitbulls in 4 minutes (Rudi's rating **) James and Stevens celebrate with McCool up the rampway leaving The Pitbulls in the ring ruing missed chances. (Author's note - A good brawling kind of match between these two teams who work a different style to the champions Kendrick and London. I was saddened to read in LOP that Kash was released by WWE though at the time of writing up this review he was still on the WWE superstars page. Tag teams are few and far between and just as they look like building up some decent teams one of them is already gone). :(

Commercial break...

Back from commercial we have Matt Hardy coming to the ring for his match up. Hardy continues to get great pops from the crowd as he acknowledges the support of the crowd. The music changes and we have Hardy's opponent Chavo Guerrero led to the ring by Vickie Guerrero to some good heat from the crowd.

Match 3: Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero
The match begins with the obligatory lock up with Hardy getting Chavo in a headlock broken with a push into the ropes by Chavo who is met with a shoulder block by Hardy. Chavo goes for the safety of the ropes. Another lock up and Chavo with arms around the waist of Hardy who reverses into and then is given an arm drag and the two wrestles grapple on the floor with hard taking advantage with another headlock. Chavo whips Hardy against the ropes and attempts to trip him up but Hardy hangs onto the ropes and comes at Chavo with a right hand to the head and then a head to the turnbuckle and a couple more right hands. He then tries to whip Chavo into the corner and has it reversed and Chavo follows him in to be met with an elbow to the face and Hardy hops onto the middle rope for a high risk maneuver only to have Chavo take Hardy by the leg and swing Hardy who hits head first back onto the canvas from a height! Chavo takes the advantage of a fallen Hardy with some kicks to the chest, the head, the gut of Hardy before coming up with an upper body cut and Hardy is dazed as Chavo proceeds to lock in a sitting down abdominal stretch. Hardy with a chant of his name from the crowd works his way to his feet and tries to break the hold with some left hands to the rib cage of Chavo only for Chavo to deliver a knee to the gut and a forearm to the back of Hardy bringing him back down on his knees.

Chavo who looks to gain momentum on coming off the ropes is met by a Hardy clothesline. An attempted hit by Chavo is blocked and Hardy delivers some very big right hands knocking Chavo to the canvas. Hardy off the rope delivers a clothesline and then whips Chavo into the ropes and delivers a big back body drop! Hardy whips Chavo into the corner, comes in with a clothesline and comes out with a bulldog and to a two count! As Hardy drags Chavo to his feet, Chavo comes back with a big uppercut on Hardy and pounds into him with rights and uppercuts. Chavo attempts an Irish whip which is reversed by Hardy, Chavo misses the clothesline and Hardy connects with a two count! Hardy slams Chavo and with the crowd going wild as he points to the corner starts to climb up the ropes to drop the splash on Chavo prone in the ring. It is here that Vickie gets up on the apron and tries to distract the referee as Hardy comes off the middle ropes with a leg drop onto Chavo! As he builds himself up in the ring for the twist of fate Helms appears out of nowhere onto the ring apron and Hardy is forced to knock him from the ring onto the floor! With the referee distracted by the appearance of Helms and his attention elsewhere, Hardy who is looking at another Twist of Fate is dealt a low blow by Vickie who crawls into the ring. Chavo delivers a DDT onto Hardy and from the top rope delivers the frog splash and covers Hardy for the win! Chavo Guerrero defeated Matt Hardy in 4 minutes (Rudi's ratings *1/2) Chavo and Vickie Guerrero celebrate with Hardy left in the ring holding onto the family jewels which leaves him open for Gregory Helms to slide into the ring and deliver a Shining Wizard onto Hardy laying him cold! Helms to a bigger chorus of boos than what Chavo got smiles an evil grin and poses to the crowd before jumping out of the ring and back into the crowd where he came from. (Author's note - Two points here. Firstly Hardy should think about protective gear for certain areas of his body. Secondly, another twist in the feud between Hardy and Helms and I'm still positive these two can hopefully bring something to No Mercy in regards to a highly entertaining match. Vickie Guerrero continues to draw heat from the crowd which in turn gets heaped upon Chavo as well giving him his first decent crowd involvement since his tag team days with Eddie!).

Commercial break...

Back from commercial to Kennedy dressed in black shirt and white tie coming down to the ring decked out with memorial wreaths. Kennedy cuts a promo at first disrupted by heat from the crowd announcing how he watched Undertaker last week and is in awe of him which is why he is paying him this tribute. He rattles off the conquests by the Undertaker and introduces a video feed showing off the wins by the Undertaker. Kennedy falters as he says the Undertaker has nothing to prove and that he doesn’t want to intrude on the Undertaker's legacy of ppv wins which is why he doesn't want to face him at No Mercy. All of a sudden we hear the gong and to the shocked look on the face of Kennedy Undertaker comes out to by far the hugest pop of the night so far. Undertaker makes his way down to the ring in the only way the Undertaker knows how. Undertaker in the ring takes the mic gripping his hand in he process and says that there will be no mercy shown at No Mercy on Kennedy and that Kennedy will rest in peace! He turns to leave the ring and Kennedy in his fury is about o launch the microphone at Undertaker when it sparks up in his hand and Kennedy is out of the ring and on the floor in fear almost at what has happened in the ring. Undertaker poses and gets down on one knee and poses to the crowd. (Authors' note - A good promo with Kennedy playing the crowd nicely in the heat he received only to have them turn full circle when Undertaker came out. I can't see Kennedy winning clearly at No Mercy and hopeful his career won't stagnate whilst waiting for when Undertaker takes his next vacation.

Backstage we see the King Booker together with Queen Sharmell, Finlay and Regal who is concerned at the appearance of Cena on Smackdown. Finlay interjects and says of course Cena would be here, he has no brains and that Lashley, Batista and Cena have each felt the wrath of his shillelagh and will beat them all. Booker says that tonight all of them will feel his wrath and all will "Hail King Booker!"

Commercial break...

Back from commercial we have Cole talking to JBL about an interview he conducted with Bischoff which is on the website. As they are talking we here the call from Tatanka and the crowd give him a huge pop as he runs down to the ring and conducts his war dance and poses to the crowd. The music of the Miz hits and Miz comes out cutting a promo as he makes his way to the ring!

Match 4: Tatanka vs. The Miz
The match begins with the two wrestlers sizing up each other and Miz throwing out a little slap at Tatanka which only gets him pushing Miz into the corner with some huge right hands. He then whips Miz into the opposite corner so hard that Miz bounces of the corner face first into the canvas. Tatanka tries to repeat the movie but Miz hops up onto the second rope and as Tatanka goes in to charge against him he jumps over the top of Tatanka who spins around and into a headlock. Miz heads to the ropes and uses them for leverage as he shoulder drags Tatanka to the canvas still with the headlock locked on! Tatanka makes his way to his feet and casually throws Miz over his shoulder breaking the headlock. Miz comes back at Tatanka who pushes him towards the ropes. Miz hops over the top rope onto the apron and as Tatanka lunges over to grab him Miz slides back in between the legs of Tatanka and then mocks the war dance of Tatanka! Tatanka is angry and tries to clothesline Miz who ducks under it but received a chop to the back for his troubles, then another one and finished off with a nice clothesline sending Miz crashing to the canvas. Tatanka stalks Miz and tries the Irish whip which Miz reverses and tries to shoulder drag Tatanka again only to have it blocked and Tatanka spins Miz around into a backslide to which he can't complete the pin as the referee notes Miz's head is under the ropes. Tatanka argues with the ref which only gets him a hit to the back of the neck from Miz and hits some big lefts and rights on Tatanka. Miz whips Tatanka into the ropes and as bounces off the ropes Miz grabs him and applies a side Russian leg sweep for the two count. Miz follows with some big rights on Tatanka forcing him into the corner. As he goes for a chop it's blocked by Tatanka who comes back with some big hits and he and Miz are battling it out with each other. Tatanka takes advantage and whips Miz into the corner and connects with a big right hand to the gut as he staggers out.

Tatanka with his own side Russian leg sweep and only the one count on Miz! An Irish whip against the ropes and the Miz is flying through the air in a back body drop followed up by two clotheslines! Tatanka is on the warpath now and dances along the floor and connects with a other clothesline! Tatanka with another whip off the ropes and an attempted back body slam is reversed by Miz who pushes Tatanka up against the ropes face first and then brings Tatanka down with a roll through for the 3 count! The Miz defeated Tatanka in 3 minutes (Rudi's ratings *) Miz rolls out of the ring and celebrating whilst Tatanka is left in the ring yelling at Miz. (Author's note - I didn't care much for this match at all and the blame lands on Tatanka in this one. What are they trying to do with him? He competes week by week and every match he loses involves a grabbing of the tights or some method where the blame falls upon the referee. Can we see Tatanka doing a ref gimmick in the near future? Who knows but at least WWE could get someone different to job every week).

Backstage and for the first time tonight we have Teddy Long celebrating the move of Smackdown to the new network and that it was the second highest rating show last week He also announces a 'Pick your Poison' match next week between King Booker and Lashley where they each pick the opponent the other faces.

Still backstage and we're graced by Jimmy Wang Yang, proud to be in Tulsa and ready for his match after the break against a foreigner by the name of Sylvan! Jimmy's from the South y'all know? *rolling eyes*

Commercial break...

Back from commercial to Sylvan coming out to the ring to good heat by the crowd. Sylvan looks like Jean Claude Van Damme somewhat I've just realised. We're shown a clip from last week where Sylvan wrestled in front of his home crowd in Montreal Canada to thunderous applause from the crowd. We then get Jimmy Wang Yang coming out to a Confederate flag behind him on the screen and a bit of a soft shoe shuffle and not what I would call the biggest reaction from the crowd but it is his first match in a little while so credit where credit is due. He does get the crowd chanting USA though the lil bastard could get one happening if he was fighting a Canadian!

Match 5: Sylvan vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
The two wrestlers lock up and work into the corner Yang first where Sylvan looks like he breaks cleanly then delivers a bit of a slap to Yang. Yang returns one in kind, much harder shocking Sylvan who turns away then back with a right foot to the gut. Sylvan drops some right forearms into the back of Yang followed up with a punch to the face. Sylvan Irish whips Yang who ducks the clothesline, comes back and slides in between the legs of Sylvan then delivers a very nice spinning head scissors on Sylvan, springs back up gets a dropkick onto Sylvan and then gets the crowd cheering with a yee hah! Sylvan is up against the ropes and Yang delivers a chop to the chest then attempts an Irish whip only to have it reversed with a knee to the guy by Sylvan. An Irish whip to the corner follows and Yang ducks under the Sylvan charge and with him face first in the corner comes in and does a reverse somersault using his foot against the back of Sylvan for leverage. Sylvan charges out of the corner at Yang and runs into a kick to the gut and then a standing kick to the back of the head sending him flying out the middle rope and onto the floor outside the ring! Yang seeks to take the advantage by springing over the top rope to splash Sylvan only to find him not where he should and crashing to the floor! Ouch, that's gotta hurt! Sylvan helps him back into the ring and follows up with a knee to the back and elbows to the head and taunts the crowd with some tirade in French. Sylvan then rams Yang back first into the corner and again for good measure, picks up Yang and slams him down to the canvas for a one count. Sylvan has Yang in a neck lock which he breaks out of with some elbows to the head of Sylvan who just changes position with it only to have Yang drop to the canvas smacking the jaw of Sylvan against the top of his head staggering him.

He comes back to Yang who is on his knees and receives a couple of hits to the midsection then the two are on their feet and go toe to toe with each other before Yang ducks a right hand and returns with a clothesline and then another for good measure and follows up with an elbow into the face of Sylvan. Yang rams the head of Sylvan into the turnbuckle then hops up onto the ropes to deliver a twisting moonsault for a two count. An Irish whip with his head down results in Sylvan using the ropes to stop himself and deliver a kick to the gut of Yang but then walks into a spinning back kick to the jaw! Yang whips Sylvan into the corner and when he charges in is tripped up by Sylvan who goes for the pin and uses his feet on the ropes for leverage and the three count! What a shock ending! Sylvan defeated Jimmy Wang Yang in 4 minutes (Rudi's ratings * 1/2) Sylvan rolls out of the ring to celebrate his victory leaving Yang in the ring wondering about his first up loss. (Author's note - This match had potential and Akio, I mean Yang has the moves that can and do excite the crowd. This was a surprise ending for me as after the build up you'd think they'd have him win first up considering Sylvan has only been seen the past week in any match for a while. Maybe Yang was getting too many cheers? I'm not sure if his character is that of a heel or a face quite as yet with that reaction except it still has to be a bad gimmick and it plays on the North, South rivalry a bit too much for my liking. That's my personal beef though. :) I'm open to criticism on this one).

Backstage we get to see Vito cutting a promo about how in his neighbourhood it's not the dress that maketh the man but the man that maketh the dress. Ummmm, that's it and not a particularly flattering outfit either!

Commercial break...

Back from commercial to the commentary desk with Cole and JBL announcing to the viewers that MVP has finally signed up for Smackdown and JBL pipes up with it's time for MVP to now put up or shut up! (Author's note - I'll make a comment about commentary at the end of my review today). We then get a video that shows the contract signing and press conference and where MVP is given the Smackdown shirt and answers questions from the press pack. MVP debuts next week at No Mercy. (Author's note - They've built up MVP quite well and it will be interesting to see how good his wrestling ability is. I'm looking forward to it).

A vignette on the matches planned for No Mercy is shown and it leads into the introductions for the main event with Lashley coming out to his pyros and huge pop from the crowd. We get a bigger pop at Batista comes out on stage to his pyros as he makes his way to the ring. An even bigger pop now for Cena as he makes his way to the ring. These guys are way over in Tulsa! Another video recap of the events on Raw is seen again with Cena getting a beat down. Cena is stalking the ring and we get the music as the court of King Booker comes out from backstage and slowly starts to make it's way to the ring. The introduction is broken by Cena who storms up the rampway and hits into Regal and as Finlay and Booker come into beat up on Cena, Lashley and Batista run up the walkway and we have a 6 man brawl up on stage. Cena has Regal, Lashley is working on Booker and Batista and Finlay are at each other. Cena and Regal are down at ringside where Cena slams Regal into the ring post, Batista slams Finlay into the barricades and Lashley and Booker are squaring up against each other as we go to.

Commercial break...

Match 6: Lashley/Batista/Cena vs. King Booker/Finlay/Regal
Back from commercial and order seems to have come back into house with Batista and Regal in the ring. Batista is dropping the shoulder into the midsection of Regal in the corner and the back elbow. He goes to Irish whip Regal then reverses it back into the same corner and charges in. Regal lifts the boot but it is caught by Batista who then delivers some more shoulders to the gut. Another Irish whip into the corner and Regal staggers out into a back body drop by the Animal! The crowd is so pumped up for this event! Batista delivers a power bomb to Regal and is alert to Finlay who tries to sneak into the ring to tackle him. This allows Regal to make the tag though to King Booker who reluctantly comes into the ring where he locks up against Batista and they grapple into the corner. Booker takes the advantage with a knee to the gut and a unleashes a combination of right and left hits and chops against Batista before dragging him out of the corner and attempting an Irish whip. He catches Batista with an attempted hip toss which Batista counters and delivers a huge clothesline in return. He picks up Booker and delivers a suplex power slam and covers Booker only to have it broken up by Finlay with a foot to the back. Batista drags Booker to the corner and tags in Lashley. Lashley spears Booker in the corner and follows up with body slam and the two count on the King. Booker. As he picks him up from the floor we get a poke to the eye from Booker who follows up with a back kick to the jaw of Lashley and tries to take advantage of him. Lashley gets Booker into a headlock and it's broken with a push into the ropes though Booker is met by a Lashley shoulder block sending him to the canvas. Lashley comes off the ropes and Booker rolls under his charge then jumps up to meet him coming from the opposite side of the ring and leaps into the arms of Lashley who in the one motion delivers a very nice power slam on the King and goes for the count only to have it broken up by Finlay again! Lashley with some blows to the head of Booker and takes him into the corner and puts the head into the turnbuckle followed by a shoulder block before unleashing with some devastating right hands and kicks knocking Booker to the canvas. Lashley is pumped! The crowd is pumped! We're yet to see Cena in the ring though.

As he picks Booker up he's met with a thumb to the eye and Booker manages to make the tag to Finlay who charges in with a right arm to the head of Lashley knocking him into the corner. Finlay attempts to whip Lashley into the opposite corner only to have it reversed and he hits the corner with a loud whack before staggering out right into a huge military press from Lashley who drops Finlay gut first onto his knee. He staggers into the corner but manages to duck out of the way of a Lashley charge that ends up with a shoulder in the ring post. Finlay tries to take advantage but Lashley manages to make the hot tag to Cena who to the huge cheer of the crowd rushes in with a clothesline to Finlay, takes out Regal who has entered the ring and delivers a back elbow to Booker on the apron! A clothesline on Finlay and a side slam on Regal and the Champ is here! The crowd is ballistic for the hot tag! Cena does his "You can't see me" on Regal and the five shoe shuffle on Regal and then trips up Finlay and applies the STFU which is broken up by Booker and Regal before he's able to get the submission. Lashley comes in and takes out King Booker and Batista from the apron works on Regal! Finlay slides out of the ring and we see the Lil Bastard pop out from under the ring handing Finlay a shillelagh! Finlay drags the injured arm of Cena out onto the apron and whacks him with the shillelagh and slips back into the ring to take the advantage as we head to a dreaded commercial break!

Commercial break...

Back from commercial and Finlay has Cena on the canvas working on the injured arm and Cena is in pain. Cena tries a come back with a couple of right hands onto Finlay only to have him twist the arm and pound into it knocking Cena to the canvas again. A tag is made to Regal who comes in and drops a leg onto the injured arm and delivers a number of kicks to the arm of Cena and they're playing it clever by working on the injury and keeping Cena in their half of the ring. Regal drops Cena and drops the knees into his arm and kneels on it rubbing it into the canvas. Regal has Cena in an arm lock and Cena struggles to his feet and tries to make a tag in his corner. Finlay comes in and distracts the referee and the tag is made though the referee doesn't see it and Lashley is forced to leave the ring. Whilst his back is turned it allows all three of the opposition to come into the ring and beatdown on Cena before the referee takes notice and we're left with Cena on the canvas with Regal standing on his wrist using the ropes for leverage and stomping the arm of Cena. The tag is made and Finlay wanders into the ring and drops a knee into the arm! Finlay disdainfully kicks away an attempted tag by Cena and then puts an arm lock onto that injured arm of Cena and he is in trouble! The crowd puts up a big Cena chant to get him back into the match and in a desperation move Cena manages to body drop Finlay but before he can make a tag is met by a clothesline and the cover for a two count. The crowd is still chanting for Cena but before he can mount any offense Regal distracts the referee which allows Booker to come into the ring and knock Cena down and though no tag is made continues to work on Cena whilst the referee berates Finlay for not making a visible tag. Booker goes for the two count on Cena! Booker lines up Cena with a huge kick to the jaw and when he goes for the cover it's broken up by Lashley. Booker works again on the arm of Cena and when Cena attempts a comeback by breaking the hold and going for momentum off the ropes he's kneed in the back by Finlay and walks into a Booker power bomb who then casually tags Finlay.

Finlay works on the arm of Cena who once again in a desperation move tries to get onto this feet and picks up Finlay in a FU position which Finlay hits his way out of and then delivers a big clothes line for a two count and tags Booker. Booker picks Cena up from the canvas and is in his face before slapping him against the ropes. He then gives Cena an Irish whip off the ropes but Cena wraps his arm around the top rope stopping the momentum and when Booker comes at him with an attempted scissor kick, Cena ducks down and Booker wraps himself up in the ropes and both wrestlers are on the canvas. Cena drags himself over and makes the hot tag on Lashley before Booker can make his tag and Lashley to a huge crowd reaction rushes the ring, takes Booker down with a clothesline and takes out both Regal and Finlay who come into the ring. Lashley unloads on all three and then whips Booker into the corner. Booker attempts to come up over Lashley who catches him and delivers a huge power slam and a two count which is broken up by Finlay and Regal. Batista now comes into the ring and takes out Regal and throws him out of the ring whilst Lashley does the same to Finlay and Batista works on Booker as Lashley goes after Finlay on the outside of the ring and is slammed up against the ring by him. Batista lays shoulders into the midsection of Booker and then tries to whip him across the ring. It's reversed by Booker and Batista as he comes off the rope is tripped up by Finlay. Batista gets to his feet and is kicked in the gut by Booker doubling him up. As King Booker comes off the ropes to drop an arm into Batista he's caught by Lashley with a spear! Lashley gets the pin! The crowd is wild! Batista/Lashley/Cena defeated King Booker/Finlay/Regal in about 16 minutes (Rudi's ratings ***) Lashley and Batista are outside of the ring taking in their victory and Cena is in the ring holding his injured arm staggering around. As he turns around he's met by a spear from Edge who is not in wrestling attire and has obviously made his way to the ring through the crowd! Edge makes his escape into the crowd as Batista and Lashley rush into the ring to save Cena. (Author's note - A great match with intensity and fire by the faces and great work on the injured arm of Cena by the heels. This was a match that has certainly made Smackdown the top wrestling show of the week and the crowd ate it all up! Edge coming into the ring for a sneak attack on Cena at the end was well planned and the stage is set not only for the No Mercy matches of Batista/Finlay and Lashley/Booker but also the main event on Raw next week where Edge takes up his rematch clause against Cena for the title. The power that Lashley has is huge and given more time and in that he stays fit he'll be a power in WWE for some time to come. His power moves eclipse those of Batista at the moment who since coming back from injury hasn't fought with that same level of intensity we know that he can display.

The show ends with Edge in the crowd taunting Cena who is in the ring showing pain from his injured arm and Lashley and Batista who are looking out for him.

I'm going to give this show a 7 1/2 out of ten made better with the big main event match at the end and the crowd getting involved in it in a big way. The Miz continues to get a strange reaction from the crowd, not all of it heat and Mysterio is wrestling better in the past couple of weeks. Jimmy Wang Yang made his debut and we'll see where WWE wants to take him but the crowd didn't mind him today though whether he'll get that reaction everywhere else I'm not sure. Sylvan is certainly looking very built and maybe is about to get a push? Tatanka continues to disappoint and if the WWE is looking at him jobbing every week perhaps they can rotate with a couple of more wrestlers like Scotty 2 Hotty and even Funaki to lose matches. Having Cena appear was certainly good I'm sure for the ratings and once again shows that love him or hate him he's certainly good for the business.

Thanks again all for reading my review. Please feel free to make comments to rudip1@pacific.net.au I'm interested in hearing what you have to say about the direction of Smackdown and what you think is in store for the upcoming weeks of the show. I'm also interested in hearing your predictions for No Mercy as well. I'll post up my predictions next week. Thanks to Bossman for giving me a mention in his column and I'm glad to be a part of LOP! Cheers! Rudi :)










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