Smackdown 1st December 2006
Submitted by Rudi Pavani on Friday, December 1, 2006 at 8:51 PM EST





G'day everyone to some bad news regarding my usual report. Due to some updates from my cable provider in regards to a new channel starting today it somehow screwed with my recording of Smackdown where I got 1 minute of the show, one minute of the help channel and so on and so forth so sadly I can't give you a report as thorough as I would generally give. Thanks to the internet though and bits of pieces I've had to give y'all a more compressed version. Let me know what you think anyway on rudip1@pacific.net.au and hopefully by next week all will be normal again.

I don't know what those who watched Survivor Series thought but it was a bit of a disappointment in that it really didn't excite the senses as what some have done in the past. I think they played it safe through most of it. Most memorable moments? Hmmmm Kennedy taking a chair shot from Undertaker. That looked pretty awesome! The only other moment was Shawn Michaels taking out Mike Knox from ECW and then asking the rest of the team who he was. That was priceless but anyway, lets get to this review of the show and see where we go.

There was also talk about Michelle McCool being in hospital this week. It's been a bad run with the Divas for a couple of weeks with Ashley being hurt a few weeks ago but I'm sure that the readers of this report as well as myself wish Michelle a speedy recovery and see her back on Smackdown before the end of the year!

Quick recap from last week
MVP defeated Kane in a steel cage match. Kane was not happy!
Gregory Helms defeated Jimmy Wang Yang
Vickie Guerrero pays out on Chris Benoit telling her to stay out of the family business
Mr. Kennedy promised us a Thanksgiving speech
King Booker wants Teddy Long & Batista to sign a contract making this Batista's last title attempt
Mr. Kennedy makes his speech about his First Blood Match with Undertaker
Undertaker appears in the ring and the paint, I mean blood falls from the ceiling all over Kennedy
Finlay beats Chris Benoit in a non title matchup
Chavo Guerrero introduces Benoit to a chair post match
The Miz bails out of a worm frothing Boogeyman who worms the referee instead
King Booker has Batista and Long sign a contract then with the help of the royal sceptre lays out Batista!

The start of the show from Buffalo, New York has Teddy Long in the ring announcing a couple of matches for Armageddon, MVP vs. Kane in an Inferno match and Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy in a Last Ride match. Both of these matches don't sound that exciting but it's a continuance of the feud between these 4 wrestlers and continuity is something WWE has been lacking a bit of lately.

Batista was introduced to the ring and congratulated for regaining his title. King Booker interfered and demanded his rematch tonight. They looked as it they were getting ready to fight when Finlay interrupted and declared that he should be a part of the title hunt because Booker has never beaten him. Finally, Teddy Long announced a Triple Threat Match for later in the show.Rudi's rant - ummmm, Finlay over the past weeks leading up to Survivor Series was made to look quite weak against Batista. All of a sudden he's vying for the Championship Title? It shows just how thin the roster is at Smackdown these days. This segment seemed to go for over 10 minutes. A slowish start to the show.

Match 1: MnM (with Melina) vs. Paul London and Brian Kendrick (with Ashley)
The match had some good tag teaming by London and Kendrick against Nitro to begin with. Not many high flying moves but good solid action. There was then some double teaming by London and Kendrick where they dropkick Mercury and Nitro out of the ring and launch themselves over the top rope onto them. MnM gained control not so long after and Kendrick was forced to play the face in peril for a while until the hot tag was made to London. London was in control until being tossed out of the ring where he was then taken down by a high knee from Regal who had come to the ring with Dave Taylor. They tossed him back into the ring where he was then given the Snapshot from MnM and the win was theirs! MnM (with Melina) defeated London and Kendrick in 6 minutes. (Rudi's rating ** 1/2) (Rudi's rant - Firstly what was MnM doing on the show at all if wasn't to just help beef up the fact that they are facing the Hardyz at the ECW PPV. The match wasn't promoted at all so it was confusing to see it all unfold. Thankfully London and Kendrick, though they lost weren't made to seem too weak because of the interference from William Regal and Dave Taylor. This actually helps build up their feud with London/Kendrick nicely and I look forward to seeing some matches between them. MnM looked fairly rough in just their second match together again after so many months but boy would it be nice if they stayed on Smackdown)

Mr. Kennedy after the commercial break was shown backstage sitting before he got up and came face to face with MVP. They argued about Survivor Series and what happened with MVP's interference. MVP says he's not scared about his match against Undertaker tonight and his match at Armageddon against Kane and Kennedy calls him stupid but MVP seems to think they can still help each other with dealing with Undertaker/Kane and walks off leaving Kennedy in thought.

Another commercial break and back from that and we get Booker coming out for match followed by Finlay and then Batista who got his second load of pyros for the night!

Match 2: Finlay vs. King Booker vs. Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) in a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
The crowd was fully behind Batista in this match and I'm sad to not have seen it in full. Batista was in early charge of the match against both Batista and Finlay. There was another new offensive move by Batista! They seem to be introducing a new one every week trying to make him look more versatile. Booker took control of Batista for a while and both Finlay and Booker teamed up briefly before Batista knocked both of them out of the ring much to the crowd's delight before we went to a commercial break. Back from commercial and Booker was in charge of Batista with Finlay outside the ring. Booker almost got a three count but it was broken by Finlay who then worked on both Booker and Batista. Finlay introduced the head of Booker to the steel steps before playing to the crowd. There were huge Batista chants at various stages through the match. Batista tried to fight back but was given a DDT by Finlay who almost got the pin! Booker during this time spent time out of the ring looking very sore and sorry. Batista finally gained control over Finlay until Booker with a scissor kick to Batista who was leaning over the top rope almost got the pin.

Finlay made it back into the ring where he and Booker mouthed off face to face before Finlay gave Booker a soccer kiss. Booker regained control though very quickly and worked on Finlay outside of the ring smashing him against the steel steps before going back to work on Batista who had been attacked by Sharmell and choked. Booker almost gained another pin before Batista once again was worked on out of the ring. Finlay tossed him back in and both he and Booker decided to double team Batista again. Booker was taken out again by Batista almost got a pin on Finlay with a Samoan Drop and then an attempted pin. Finlay then managed to gain control over Batista for a while and then he and Booker double teamed Batista again before he regained control! Lil' Bastard made an appearance giving Finlay a shillelagh and then distracting Booker and Batista in the ring before running off allowing Finlay to take out the leg of Batista and ram the shillelagh into the midsection of Booker! Finlay just missed out on a pin on Batista and continued to work on the leg of Batista.

Booker finally made a reappearance taking out Finlay with a scissor kick before working on Batista. Batista took him out with a spinebuster and then he and Finlay tussled before Batista took him down with a spear, then unloaded with a Batista Bomb and made the cover!Batista defeated Finlay to retain his World Heavyweight Championship in 20 minutes. (Rudi's rating *** 1/2)(Rudi's rant - This looked a much better match than what I thought it could be. Finlay was once again made to look fairly strong and each of the wrestlers had their high and low moments. The crowd were way into it and that in itself made it a better match than the Batista/Booker Survivor Series match. This was certainly a match of higher standards and how Batista should be used.)

After a commercial break we were shown Booker and Finlay complaining to Teddy Long in his office. Teddy Long said they both failed to win the title before Finlay and Booker faced off again yelling at each other before Teddy Long made a match for Armageddon with Finlay and Booker teaming up against Batista and a partner of his choice.

We saw another backstage segment with Vickie Guerrero in a neck brace and Chavo mouthing off at the camera addressing Benoit. They both blamed Benoit for what happened to Vickie though it was an accident. Chavo said he'd show Benoit what kind of man he was as opposed to the kind of man Benoit was for putting his hands on a woman and hurting her.Rudi's rant - A bad segment. Vickie still can't act, and Chavo at the end of the segment was left for a long moment trying to look mean. It just didn't work!

Back from another commercial and we were shown Benoit coming to the ring for his match against Chavo to a big pop from the crowd before Chavo made his way out to the ring slowly with Vickie looking in pain. Benoit kept shaking his head as Chavo mouthed off at Benoit all the way down to the ring.

Match 3: Chris Benoit (United States Champion) vs. Chavo Guerrero in a non title match
Chavo jumped Benoit before the match and had the early control before Benoit took control and worked on Chavo whilst JBL criticised Benoit constantly on commentary. Chavo took back control before Benoit looking quite intense worked on Chavo again with a number of moves including his patented three German suplexes. Chavo used Vickie as a shield after that as he had rolled out of the ring and we went to a commercial break. Back from commercial and Benoit was in control in the ring again before Chavo in the corner pulled Benoit by the tights ramming his shoulder into the ring post before dominating Benoit. Chavo had an attempted near fall before working on Benoit with an abdominal stretch for a while before Benoit managed to break out of the hold but allowing Chavo to take control again. Benoit managed to gain control again with a face slam on Chavo before unloading with chops. Benoit gave Chavo a superplex from the top rope but leaving both wrestlers winded and a double count by the referee. Benoit managed to take control with an attempted Sharpshooter and Crippler Crossface before attempting the Three Amigos. Vickie made it onto the apron and during the attempted third Amigo Chavo managed to push Benoit off and he almost collided with Vickie but stopped himself at the last moment. This gave Chavo a chance to roll him up and with a handful of tights got the pin!Chavo Guerrero defeated Benoit in 13 minutes. (Rudi's rating ***)(Rudi's rant - This match went longer than their one at Survivor Series and here we have it on the regular weekly show! Go figure! Both wrestlers showed great intensity and it just once again allows the feud to progress leading up to Armageddon.)

Back from commercial we are shown Batista talking to someone on the phone before being brought back to the ring and Layla making her way to the ring for her match. She was followed by Kristal who made her way to the ring.

Match 4: Layla vs. Kristal
Layla and Krista traded arm holds before Kristal on the ropes forced the break. They did the same again. Krista finally forced Layla into the corner and took control before Layla managed to unload with a number of clotheslines and Krista exited the ring for a break. Back in the ring Kristal regained control again and worked over Layla. There was a lot of hair pulling and some nice moves by Kristal who was quite aggressive in the ring. Kristal with a handful of Layla's hair finally slammed her backwards on the canvas and made the cover.Kristal defeated Layla in 3 minutes (Rudi's rating * 1/2)(Rudi's rant - Kristal and Layla had a history a number of weeks ago and then nothing and all of a sudden they're in a match against each other? No continuity and not great wrestling from Layla though she is still fairly new so lets hope it improves. The one good thing for Kristal was that she didn't have to put up with Boogeyman and that is a good thing! This match was just a filler and the crowd didn't seem to be into it at all except for a nice neck snap move by Kristal which got a lot of oooohs from the crowd.)

Backstage we were shown Batista with Teddy Long and Batista announced that his partner at Armageddon against Booker and Finlay was none other than WWE Champion John Cena. JBL and Cole were shown with JBL complaining that Batista should have been forced to pick someone from Smackdown.

Back from another commercial and MVP was shown making his way to the ring with his usual swagger. We were then given the gong and Undertaker made his way to the ring with MVP in the ring looking worried but not overly scared.

Match 5: MVP vs. The Undertaker
MVP tried to gain early control with the Undertaker not selling any of his blows before he caught MVP in the corner and worked on him. He clotheslined MVP hard in the corner and beat up on him before he mounted the rope and walked the tightrope before crashing down on MVP. MVP tried to take control but was taken down by a flying clothesline from Undertaker. Undertaker removed the padding from the turnbuckle and tried to slam MVP's head against it but was blocked by MVP who then worked on Undertaker with a number of blows before being taken down by another clotheslines and given a Snake Eyes and a boot to the head! Undertaker exited the ring and grabbed a chair and brought it into the ring and tried to hit MVP who rolled out at the last moment and started backing up the rampway!

All of a sudden Mr. Kennedy ran from the back and tried to toss MVP back into the ring but it was reversed by MVP who threw Kennedy into the ring! The crowd went crazy as Kennedy was taken down with a boot to the face from the Undertaker and MVP was shown laughing as he backed up the stage before the lights went out and the pyros of Kane went off on stage as he made him way towards the ring with MVP backing away from him. The crowd were going crazy as MVP backed up against the ring and was picked up by Undertaker who threw him into the ring. Kennedy tried to attack Undertaker but was knocked down and Undertaker worked on him as Kane worked on MVP. MVP and Kennedy were taken down by boots to the head off the ropes and then just as Undertaker and Kane looked to grab them for choke slams Kennedy exited the ring, jumped over the announcers table and into the crowd whilst MVP rolled out of the ring and made his way up the rampway!There was no decision announced in this match. (Rudi's rating **)(Rudi's rant - This was done well and continues to build up the feud between these wrestlers. MVP was shown to not be too scared and actually tried some offense against Undertaker and the run ins by Kennedy and then Kane were well done and had the crowd cheering the Brothers of Destruction big time!)

With the bits and pieces I was able to glean from my Foxtel IQ (Tivo it's called in the States apparently) and then from accessing some feeds I am not impressed that I didn't get to see this show in it's glory. I would have given this show 8 out of 10 with the length of some of the matches and the actual continuation of a lot of the storylines from Survivor Series. Though MnM vs. London/Kendrick was out of nowhere it was a good match and I know this is far fetched but wouldn't it be great to see a number of tag team across all three shows involved in crossovers at various times and actually breathing some life into the tag division? I'd love to see the Hardy's vs. London/Kendrick or even Regal/Taylor vs. someone like Cade/Murdoch and a number of other matches. Crossovers in this division would just keep the fans wondering what would happen week to week on their shows and give them matches to look forward to. Once again Smackdown showed that booked right it can really show the deficiencies of RAW up. I just worry about the roster situation and hope that they can give it a bit more depth.

Once again apologies for a disjointed report due to the technical problems I had but I'll be back next week with a full report again and until then I hope you all have a great week! - Cheers! - Rudi









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