[Credit: Cliff and Gwen, PWInsider.com]
SMACKDOWN SPOILERS FROM PHOENIX ARIZONA
I just got home from the SMACKDOWN show in Phoenix, Arizona. It was my first live wrestling experience. Here’s the report:
Even though the show was supposed to start at 6:30 PM, no one was let into the building until an hour later. I can’t beleive how small everything is in comparison to TV. The ring especially is tiny! The Desire video played, (Hogan’s footage got a HUGE pop) then the ring announcer (No Chim) welcomed us, set the ground rules, and the show began.
DARK MATCH: CARLITO CARIBBEAN COOL vs. SHANNON MOORE
Carlito was booed heavily, but totally played up the crowd, and convinced then to boo him some more. When Shannon came out, he got a decent pop, and some people behind me started a “SHANNON” chant. Moore hit all his usual cruiserweight spots, and was awesome to watch. He carried most of the match. Carlito could use some more work. He put his feet on the ropes and pinned Moore, and the crowd hated that. I tried to yell some encouragement to Moore, but no one would back me up. Good match.
WINNER: CARLITO CARRIBEAN COOL
VELOCITY
Josh Mathews and Bill DeMott in a funky hairdo came out to good reaction, and shook hands with the fans.
NUNZIO with Johnny the “Bull” vs. AKIO
Nunzio got a nice reaction, while everybody booed the wonderfully talented Akio. Great cruiserweight action with both men flying all over the place. Akio hit some great flips and flying kicks everywhere, and Nunzio pulled off a nice tilt-a-whirl head-scissors (Which I don’t usually see from him) Akio tried cheating, but Johnny stopped him, and Nunzio hit the springboard arm-bar to finish him off. (I can’t say “good bye” in Italian.) Nice.
WINNER: NUNZIO
NEXT MATCH: RICO with Miss Jackie and CHARLIE HAAS vs. THE BASHAM BROTHERS
All three faces got great crowd reaction. Rico actually seemed to be getting more of a pop than Jackie (!) The Bashams came out, and were booed. Charlie and Doug started off. Charlie hit his great technical moves. He later tagged in Rico who started cleaning house, and naturally molesting Doug. He tagged in Danny who wouldn’t have any of it, and slapped Rico. Rico wasn’t joking around anymore, and hit some nice kicks. Eventually both Bashams tried the switcheroo to win, but it didn’t work. Both teams then hit the ring and started chaos. Charlie hit his cool looking springboard spinning axe-handle on Danny, while Rico got on top of the turnbuckle, and right after I yelled out “Moonsault!” he did it, and and it was great. He pinned Doug, and the crowd was happy. Very good.
WINNERS: RICO and CHARLIE HAAS
The crowd started a big “Rico” chant. There was also a funny spot where Jackie grabbed Charlie’s behind, and he got mad because he though Rico did it.
NEXT MATCH: RENE DUPREE with Kenzo Suzuki and Hiroko vs. HARDCORE HOLLY
Rene and Kenzo were booed coming in. When Holly came in, he got a bigger than deserved pop while my friends and I kept yelling at how much of a jerk he is. The match lasted much longer than it should of. Holly came off looking very weak which was strange since he does such a good job of beating up Matt Capotelli. He was slow on offense, while Rene hit his usual spots. He finished the match with his Michinoku Driver. My buds and I popped for this. Glad the match was over.
WINNER: Rene Dupree
NEXT MATCH: (No sure if this will air) A local guy named TONY vs. JOHNNY “THE BULL” STAMBOLI
Some guys started a “Who are you chant” for Tony. He was allowed a bit of offense, but Johnny didn’t sell into a lot of it. People then started a “Let’s go purple trunks” chant. Then when Johnny climbed to the top of the turnbuckle, Tony performed an awesome flying wheel kick to Johnny’s head, and the crowd was surprised. I popped for it. But Johnny recovered, hit his finisher, and won.
WINNER: JOHNNY “THE BULL” STAMBOLI
SMACKDOWN!:
Tazz and Michael Cole came out to cheers.
FIRST MATCH: PAUL LONDON vs. BILLY KIDMAN (Later, BOOKER T)
Kidman was booed a lot. He looked really lame. Not too many people popped for Paul, but I tried my best since he’s so awesome. The bell rang, but Kidman left and got counted out. Crowd HATED this. They chanted “quiter.” But then, Booker T came out. Paul didn’t want to leave without a fight, so he and Booker went at it beginning a new match. Booker pounded on London a bit, but then London came back hitting a spinning heel kick, his dropsault, and enzuguri all in a row. But Booker still kicked out. London looked great. The crown started a “Cena” chant while I tried a “London” chant. Booker then rolled up London and put his feet on the ropes for the win. I yelled that Booker cheated, but I guess that wouldn’t work. Great opener for the show though.
WINNER: BOOKER T
Booker then got on the mic and bragged about how he would do to John Cena what he did to Paul London. London was pissed though, and knocked Booker upside the head. But the refs separated the two before anything else could happen. Everyone cheered for this, and I yelled out “You got punked by a little guy!” I hope this leads to a fued.
BACKSTAGE: Kidman was leaving until Theodore Long stopped him and told Kidman that he doesn’t appreciate quitters, especially since he was scheduled in a match everyone wanted to see. He then set up a new match for NO MERCY. Paul London vs. Billy Kidman. Theo told Billy that if he walks off again, he’ll be fired. I cheered.
During the show, there were several SMACKDOWN classic moments. We got to hear from Stephanie McMahon, The Rock, Mick Foley, and Steve Austin who everyone popped for.
Billy Graham was in the audience, and got a nice pop. Great to see him.
BACKSTAGE: Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson were getting ready for their “schoolgirl” match. Meanwhile, Rey Mysterio and Spike Dudley were facing off. Spike bragged about being the cruiserweight champ while Rey told him he’s gonna stop at nothing to take it back, and he insulted Spike in Spanish. Kenzo Suzuki came out and criticized Rey for not speaking English. Rey responded by decking Kenzo with the microphone, and walking off. Cool!
NEXT MATCH: REY MYSTERIO vs. SPIKE DUDLEY for the Cruiserweight Title
Rey obviously was loved by the crowd. Both men started off with some mat based stuff. (Cruiserweights are under appreciated for their mat work) Later on, they did some flying around. Rey hit a hurricanrana off the turnbuckle on Spike. As he was getting the supper hand, Bubba Ray and Devon tried to interfere, but the ref threw them out. Rey knocked Sike out of the ring, and then tried to do an over the rope attack to the fallen Spike. The ref wouldn’t let Rey, and the crowd booed the ref. Rey then jumped over the ref while his back was turned, and hit Spike with a head scissor take-down. He then threw Spike back in the ring and set him up for the 619, but Rene and Kenzo interfered, and beat up Rey. Spike pinned Rey after he was thrown back into the ring. Crowd not happy, but good match.
WINNER: SPIKE
The heels beat on Rey until Rob Van Dam came out, and cleaned house on them with nice kicks. Crowd went nuts and chanted “RVD.” He helped up Rey and they gave each other a big hug. He then took Rey up the ramp, and had Rey do the triple thumbs to himself which got a “619” out of everyone. Rob then did it himself to get his own chant. Dream team!
The t-shirt guy came out and fired off the new shirts for Rey and Eddie. Whoever didn’t get a shirt booed the dude with the gun.
BACKSTAGE: Kenzo and Rene weren’t happy about getting kicked. Theodore Long then confronted them and told them they shouldn’t have interfered in a title match that had nothing to do witht them. Rene said it was retribution for what Rey did to Kenzo. Theo then made a new NO MERCY match. RENE DUPREE AND KENZO SUZUKI vs. REY MYSTERIO and ROB VAN DAM for the Tag-Team belts. The heels weren’t happy, but the crowd was.
Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie came out in school-girl outfits for their match. But the Theo came out and said he made changes. He said you can’t have this type of match without some “old school,” and then unfortunately, Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah came out dressed as school girls. The kissed them and danced with them, and was enjoying it. Ugh.
NEXT MATCH: TORRIE WILSON and DAWN MARIE vs. MAE YOUNG and FABULOUS MOOLAH
Horrible. The old women did nothing, yet the young women were selling for it. But this was meant to be comedic, so I wasn’t too pissed. Mae disgustingly rubbed her crotch into Torrie’s face twice. Torrie and Dawn occasionally flashed some panties at the audience. Moolah stripped Dawn of her shirt, and pinned Torrie together.
WINNERS: MAE YOUNG AND FABULOUS MOOLAH
Dawn and Torrie were mad at the ref for allowing them to lose, so they held him down, and had Mae Young rub her crotch into his face as well. Then Torrie congratulated both women in spite of them violating and embarrassing her. Dawn just left.
They recapped some Heidenreich stuff. BACKSTAGE, Heid went into Vince McMahon’s office and read him a poem about how Vine allowed Heid to see the light, and see his potential. I guess next week, Heid will get to show that potential.
NEXT MATCH: UNDERTAKER vs. GANGREL and VISCERA
Gangrel and Viscera were booed, but the crowd went absolutely crazy for Taker. JBL and Orlando Jordan stood by the ramp to watch. Taker hit his usual kicks and punches. He then gave Gangrel, as Sean K. Robb calls it: “suspension of disbelief” (Old School.) The heels did mostly clotheslines and punches although Viscera hit a sitdown powerbomb. But Taker tombstoned Gangrel and Chockslamed Visera followed by a pin.
WINNER: UNDERTAKER
He then crushed Viscera’s throat on a chair. Taker challenged Bradshaw to a fight. Bradshaw acted like he would fight, but changed his mind, and cowered away with Jordon. What a weakling. If he’s not wrestling, what is he doing here?
Kurt Angle did a promo where he bitched about not being interviewed for his favorite SMACKDOWN moments. What really cheesed me off is when the crowd began the dreaded WHAT chants. I tried to tell them to shut up, but it was useless. He promised to beat Eddie and Big Show tonight.
BACKSTAGE: John Cena appears, and does a rap with the words of Rock, Austin, and McMahon. He was great, but the crowd was PISSED that he wasn’t around live.
NEXT MATCH: EDDIE GUERRERO and BIG SHOW vs. KURT ANGLE and LUTHER REIGNS
Everyone chants “You Suck” at Kurt. Crowd is popping LOUD when Eddie shows up. Big Show also gets cheered. Angle and Eddie worked most of the match, they were great working together as always. When Eddie tagged in Show, Angle acted scared. That was odd since Angle has manhandled Show before. He tagged in Luther who was surprised. Luther tried clotheslinning Show, but to no avail. Show hit an arm drag, and continued to pound on Luther. Eventually, Eddie and Luther were going at it. Eddie was supposed to do a spinning head-scissors on Luther, but Reigns dropped him, and it looked bad. He needs more practice. Eventually Eddie stood on top of Show to do the Frog Splash to Kurt, but just as he was about to win, Mark Jindrak of all people interfered, and he beats up Eddie. The ref was knocked out too. Pretty good match.
WINNERS: NO CONTEST
Show tried to clean house, but Kurt pulls out a tranquilizer gun, and shoots Show. Show was hilarious at this point as he acted like a knocked out elephant. As soon as the drugs too effect, Kurt sent Mark backstage to get something. Mark came back with Barber supplies and the three heels started cutting off Show’s hair. By the time they were done, Show looked like Stevie Wonder cut his hair, and was pissed and still messed up by the dart. He left on his own strength, and mustered up enough courage to thank the crowd.
The cameras might stop rolling here.
Eddie eventually recovered, and got on the mike. He called Kurt back out to fight him like a man. Kurt did, but Eddie just gave him the three Amigos and the Frog Splash for the win. He then put Show’s hair on Kurt’s head. The crowd loved this. He waved to the crowd, and the show was over. Ring announcer thanked us for coming.
I went backstage to meet the stars, but everybody had already left, and only Rico, Paul London, and Akio were around to sign autographs. Rico signed EVERYBODY’s autograph. Paul London then invited the fans to meet him at Applebee’s, which I gladly did. At Applebee’s were Paul London, Akio, Rico, Carlito Caribbean Cool, Rene Dupree, Kenzo Suzuki, and Devon Dudley. I just let them have their drinks since I didn’t want to bother them. A crazy drunk guy was harassing a waitress, but then Rico protected her, and threatened to throw the guy out himself. He later came out of the restaurant to meet some of us, and he spent a long time talking with us about everything. He is so cool and nice. It’s unbelievable. He told us about how at 43, it’s amazing that he still does what he does. and that tonight was the first time he ever hit his moonsault. HHH and Vince encouraged him to do it. He said they know what they’re doing as far as business goes. I asked Rico if we’ll ever see him match martial arts with Jet Li or Jackie Chan. He laughed and said his martial arts isn’t as pretty as theirs, so probably not. He saves the pretty stuff for wrestling. He then told us that you have to have a big ego when you’re in the business, and it allows you to overcome so much stuff no matter how bad things are. So cool!
Rene Dupree was cool as well. He talked with us a little bit and told us he doesn’t care about being the most famous guy, he just loves being around. He also said he’s good friends with RVD, and supports him all the way. What a great bunch of guys. The show went real well with MANY great matches.
Biggest pops:
Undertaker
Eddie Guererro
Rico
John Cena
Rey Mysterio
RVD
Most heat:
Kurt Angle
Booker T
JBL
Spike Dudley
Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah
