Report by Tom Carmony Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter
DARK MATCH
(1) Tajiri pinned Psicosis (nice ovation for Psicosis’s surprise debut).
There didn’t appear to be any matches taped specifically for Velocity.
SMACKDOWN TAPINGS
– Opening promo with Cena talking about Rumble, Teddy Long comes out, praising Cena’s performance in the Rumble, sets up an 8 man “number one contender” tournament, winner get WWE shot at Mania. If Batista jumps, WWE title shot will be a triple threat match. JBL was out to complain about the tourney and having to scout so many potential opponents. The tournament starts tonight, though Long didn’t specify tonight’s match or matches. He did state that Cena would face Orlando Jordan in a first-round match next week. Segment ended with Cena taking out Jordan before laying out JBL with an FU.
(1) Kurt Angle defeated Nunzio in the Angle challenge. Nunzio, who is certainly not from San Jose, came out for the challenge, stating he was standing up to Kurt for taking his Rumble shot away from him. Angle, in his infinite wisdom, pointed out to Nunzio that he wasn’t a San Jose native. Nunzio shot back with some cheesy line along the lines of “tonight, San Jose is my town”, to which the crowd responded with a chorus of boos.
(2) Rey Mysterio beat Mark Jindrak. Nothing special, though Jindrak had a nice spot countering the 619, catching Rey’s legs just before contact, carrying him away from the ropes and slamming him. Rey wins the match with a rollup.
(3) Big Show defeated The Bashams in a handicap match. Two weeks in a row, WWE decides to job tag champs to a single big man. Ugh. If it had to be done, they did it right here, with the Bashams getting in good offense before Show took the win.
(4) Undertaker fought Rene Dupree to a double countout. This was apparently a tournament match. Taker dominated early, though Dupree did get in some offense in the later minutes. Early on, Jindrak and Luther Reigns came down to ringside, alternately distracting and trying to get shots in on Taker. End came with Dupree outside the ring and Jindrak and Reigns holding onto Taker’s leg, preventing him from getting back in the ring in time. This ending felt as awkward and cheap as the Benoit/Jericho vs. La Resistance double DQ ending earlier during Raw.
(5) Booker T defeated Eddie Guerrero. I believe this was also a first-round tournament match (though it wasn’t clearly announced by Tony Chimmel beforehand). Good match, best of the night for Smackdown as the two went back and forth. The crowd was eating up Guerrero, popping for everything he did (there were also a number of “We Want Eddie” chants throughout the Smackdown portion of the evening, during almost every break). They exploded for his entrance. Late in the match, referee Nick Patrick took a couple of horribly acted ref bumps with Eddie down and Booker getting pin opportunities. As Patrick was getting back up, Eddie pulled a fake knee injury, which led to Booker not going immediately after him. Each time, Booker turned to tend to Patrick, Eddie got up and closed in on him from behind. Booker would turn around and Eddie would drop to the mat, writhing in pain. Funny stuff, except that as Booker was addressing Patrick, he was facing the Titantron, which clearly showed Eddie playing possum. Is Booker that stupid (or that badly near-sighted)? He appeared to catch a glimpse of Eddie’s racket the third time, as he turned and after a brief exchange, rolled up Eddie for the pinfall and the win.
NOTES
The Booker T-Eddie match appeared to be the end of the taping. I had to leave, so I’m not sure if they did indeed deliver a JBL/Jordan vs. Show dark match, which I’m assuming they did. A lot of folks started leaving after Booker-Eddie.
The Smackdown portion of the show was strange in that it felt more like a house show than a taping. Other than the opening in-ring promo with Cena, JBL, and Long, there were no interviews or backstage segments shown. There were no announcements or on-screen graphics showing upcoming matches during the taping. I assume they’re editing all that stuff in post-production to save the evening from being any longer than it already was.
A good show, although the crowd was pretty burned out during the Smackdown taping. They applauded spots and performers like Taker and Eddie, but during the most of each match it was pretty quiet. HP Pavilion was nearly full. The upper level was open and there were a few empty seats hear and there, but not many. I’d say there were maybe 10,000 in attendance.
BIGGEST BABYFACE POPS
1. Eddie Guerrero
2. Batista
3. Undertaker
MOST HEEL HEAT
1. Triple H
2. JBL & Orton (lots of boos during his tag match – mixed with cheers from 12 year old girls)
3. The U.S. Army Recruiters (seriously, Lilian Garcia gave a plug to the U.S. Army recruiters in attendance and encouraged folks to check out their info on scholarships; the place really laid on the boos – interesting!)
Credit: Tom Carmony Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter
