Thanks to Jordan Schemmel for sending in this report from last night’s Smackdown and Velocity tapings in Jacksonville, FL:
Just got back from the Smackdown taping at the Jax Vets Memorial Arena. The
arena was about half full – the entire top bowl was tarped off, as was about half of the hard-camera side.
DARK MATCH
The Shane Twins (announced from Jacksonville for cheap pop) over Relative Unknown Jobbers.
— Brief match, but didn’t hold the crowd’s attention for very long before fizzling.
VELOCITY
Super Crazy over Nunzio (non-title match)
— Both the Mexicools and FBI came to ringside. Couple of ECW chants during this, but nothing really got started.
Hardcore Holly over Random Jobber
— Total squash. Very stiff shots in this match, but it’s Hardcore Holly, so no shocks.
Brian Kendrick (!!!) over Paul London
— Spanky pulls out Sliced Bread #2 to pull out the win.
Big Vito over Steven Richards
— Steven Richards bumped like a mad man for Vito.
Doug “The Bash Man” Basham over Random Jobber
— Basham’s new gimmick is almost exactly like Rob Conway’s, except WITHOUT the gay shorts.
SMACKDOWN
Heidenreich over Johnny Nitro
— The New LOD is fairly over.but many wanted to see MNM’s entrance (or should I say, Melina’s entrance)
Ken Kennedy over Booker T (with interference from Christian)
— Ken Kennedy is getting over slowly but surely, but mainly because he is that arrogant on the mike. Teasing Tony Chimel always wins crowd points though. Finish came as Christian (who was doing guest commentary) started to get into an argument with Sharmell, distracting Booker T long enough for Kennedy to hit his finisher.
Chris Benoit over his bowel and the toilet in 23 seconds (the ‘Coffee Cup’ or ‘Orlando Jordan’ Challenge continues)
— This week, Chris Benoit decided to see if he could use the bathroom faster than he beat Orlando Jordan, and beats his own record by 2 seconds. He tells Josh Matthews that he’ll break his own record tonight.
Chris Benoit over Orlando Jordan in 23.4 seconds
— They put a timer on this match. Orlando Jordan tries to attack early and gets about 13 or 14 seconds of offense in before Benoit snaps in the Crossface and defeats him in 23.4 seconds. See you later Orlando, enjoy curtain jerking on Velocity now that you’ve been buried TWICE.
Divas Match – Stacy vs. Christy – No Contest due to interference from “Sylvain”
— The ‘Network Executive’ insisted that the ladies have a match tonight, and just as it gets underway, the new ‘Sylvain’ interrupts to show the Divas how to make an entrance. He’s interrupted by Hardcore Holly who beats the crap out of Grenier and sends him packing. No match here.
Batista over Simon Dean
— Total comedy match. Simon hypes Batista as a user of the Simon System. Batista comes out, tries his stuff, seems stronger, then starts beating the crap out of Simon. He wears himself down, grabs another Simonshake, downs it, and continues. Match finish sees a Batista Bomb and a commercial pose standing on top of Simon. Totally hilarious. Batista is definitely developing as a character and was WAY over.
William Regal and Paul Burchall over Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki
— Heel Regal is way better than face Regal. Short and painful. Definitely the “pee-break” match.
Randy Orton over Rey Mysterio
— Very nice match between these two. Finish involved a failed West Coast Pop where Orton CAUGHT Rey Rey on his arm (giving him a simultaneously sick looking low-blow) and then dropping him with a top rope RKO.
POST SHOW DARK MATCH
Batista over Randy Orton
— Without introduction, Batista comes out and the two get into a quick match. Batista defeats Randy Orton in a slightly sloppy but entertaining match.
No JBL, No Undertaker, No Eddie Guerrero (except in a very creepy promo). Crowd went home somewhat happy – but wanted UT to show.
Biggest Pops:
1 – Batista, 2 – Divas/Booker T, 3 – Chris Benoit, 4 – Hardcore Holly
Biggest Heat:
1 – Randy Orton, 2 – Sylvain
NEXT WEEK ON SMACKDOWN:
Batista vs. JBL in a BullRope Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan (AGAIN) for the U.S. Championship
LOD vs. MNM for the Tag Team Championship
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr in a STEEL CAGE
Undertaker expected to show up
