I would say that the arena was about 90% full. If it weren’t for a small taped off area it would’ve been sold out. The Civic Center is small though so that probably isn’t anything special. A good portion of people bought their tickets at the arena too.
The two people that everyone wanted to see were Taker and Cena. They both got VERY loud pops upon their entrances.
Velocity:
MNM with Melina defeated Shannon Moore and Nunzio (what the hell?) with a double DDT of some sort. MNM got a good pop due to Melina doing a split and showing her a** against the ropes. Shannon and Nunzio got heavily booed.
The Bashams defeated Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas when one of the Bashams nailed Hardcore with a powerbomb pin. Hardcore and Haas got a lot of cheers with Hardcore posing and interacting with the crowd.
Paul London defeated Akio to become #1 contender for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship with Chavo Guerrero (WWE Cruiserweight Champion) announcing at ringside. Akio hit a top rope frankensteiner but London rolled him and got the pin.
Smackdown:
They had Booker T vs. Heidenreich in a No DQ match before they showed the opening video and everything so I don’t know if it’ll air or not. Booker T defeated Heidenreich with an insane chairshot and an axe kick. Typical match but the crowd loved it. It was basically their No Way Out bout but with more outside fighting.
The opening video plays and then…
WWE Champion JBL, the NEW U.S. Champion Orlando Jordan and the Bashams came out. JBL insulted Virginia (with good reason) and basically put over Orlando. JBL then dumped Cena’s belt into a garbage can and exploded it with a detonator (no, I’m not making this up). JBL then said he had something worthy of Orlando and gave him the old U.S. Championship. Awesome. JBL got major heat! Everyone hated the guy except for a few of us that tried to get a “JBL” chant going. JBL also said that he and Orlando had a shot at the WWE Tag-Team Championships tonight.
Backstage – Long tells Carlito Caribbean Cool to get Taker’s answer on the Orton/Mania situation or he’s fired.
Mark Jindrak defeated Luther Reigns… I THINK. Reigns came out first and Jindrak jumped him. I left for a second and I all I heard were “BORING” chants and people saying how much they sucked. I asked everyone who won and some guy said Jindrak. Poor him. He tries hard but for some reason people just don’t like him. It was very short though.
John Cena came out and the Civic Center erupted. He called out JBL and the Cabinet but they never appeared. Long came out and said he couldn’t let him take them out. Cena then asked Long which side he was on. Long said he’s just doing what he has to do. Cena then said that he’s either a part of the solution or the problem. Since he’s not a solution, then he’s a part of the problem. FU on Long! Cena’s music hit and he leaves.
A ladder is placed in the ring with Angle’s medals hung above it. Angle comes out and puts over HBK a little. A video package plays of HBK and Razor Ramon at Wrestlemania X. Angle says he can do all this too. The hometown kid comes out and it’s a pudgy middle-aged wrestler. The crowd laughs. Hell, is that all we could offer!?
Kurt Angle defeats Mike something in a Hometown Challenge Ladder Match. Anyway, it’s a typical hometown challenge. Submissions, punches, Angle Slam, Ankle Lock… Angle climbs the ladder and gloats. The ladder was never used as a weapon by the way. Angle said that in 1985 HBK debuted with a partner. He said that this person taught and helped HBK along the way and that the person is Marty Jannetty. Another video package. He said that next week it’s him verses Jannetty and that HBK should watch. If it’s one thing he’ll learn it’ll be how to tap to Kurt Angle.
Backstage – The Big Show / Akebono interview with Joy and Josh Matthews. Josh asks Show about the challenge and Show just reiterates what he said last week.
They showed an update of all the Wrestlemania 21 matches. The Piper Pit segment with Austin got the biggest reaction.
Carlito came out and said he’s tried of looking for Taker. He called him out (hilarious) and yep, the Deadman arrived. He grabbed Carlito and said that Orton will rest in peace like the others. Tombstone to Carlito and everyone cheered like crazy. Taker poses and leaves.
Backstage – It involved Chavo instigating again with Eddie and Rey (this may have been shown a little earlier though)
The new WWE Hall of Fame promo with Hogan was shown. The weird thing is that he got booed heavily. I don’t know if it was just my section or not but people just seemed to dislike the idea.
Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio defeated WWE Champion JBL and U.S. Champion Orlando Jordan via DQ. Very good match. Rey was going to hit the 619 on Jordan when JBL blasted him with a chair. The Bashams came out and beat the hell out of out Eddie and Rey until Cena came out. Cena cleaned house and hit the FU on Jordan. JBL went into the crowd looking scared while Cena taunted him. I think this is where Smackdown! ended.
The bonus match was JBL/Orlando vs. Cena and Show. Cena has improved a lot and I’m actually looking forward to their Wrestlemania 21 match. I’d say that the bonus with the bickering beforehand had to be at least 35+ minutes. Cena left through the crowd and he really wanted to send everyone happy. Classy guy.
Great show and the crowd was very live. Roanoke was hungry for the WWE!
All during Velocity and Smackdown! the WM 21 commercial spots were shown. Everyone loved them. The favorite was probably the Basic Instinct parody and mostly because of Christian.
Credit- CB & PWInsider.com
