The NeelDown Friday Night SmackDown Zone

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So after official reports of RAW, SmackDown, and Saturday Night Fever, and since I will be changing from official reports to my own opinionated rant-style reports when iMPACT starts on Spike TV, this, The NeelDown, will become the name of my new reports. Note that this is a one shot, and it is very rare that I am home on a Friday night to watch SmackDown, but hey, this is the beginning of an era, Friday Night SmackDown. And what I mean by that is that The NeelDown is not a one shot, but the SmackDown thing is. This is indeed the format I will be using when my new iMPACT job rolls around. Needless to say, much thanks to everyone who has sent me feedback in the past with support, and I hope everyone likes The NeelDown. If you don’t get the pun in “NEELdown”, well, I don’t need to explain it to you.

You should have checked out the special edition Roundtable for this special show, compliments of PK for a great job as usual.

After filling in for Raven West on RAW Monday and it sucking dramatically, lets really really hope this will be a rebound.

Just a reminder, that due to Shelter from the Storm, the national concert benefiting the victums of Hurricane Katrina (gives you the feel of Live Aid & 8 don’t it?) that is airing on all the local stations, in this case UPN, this big Friday night supercard show did not air on TV until 9:00pm Eastern, the first hour was the concert, but you were able to watch it on WWE.com. Did I? No. So i’m really not going to show the first hour of results, not like it’s really significent that you know either. From what I hear the broadcast wasn’t in good quality.

– From Atlanta, Georgia
– Hosts: Tazz & Michael Cole

Teddy and Mr. Network in the skybox with Stacy and Christy.

Quick note about the following match: I am going to try to put the nonsense behind me of how long this feud has dragged out. I am not going to let doves fly away when this feud ends or anything, although it might be neccisary. I’m just going to try to forget about the crappy longevity and just look forward to a match that is MORE than capable of being worth while.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio – Steel Cage Match
Eddie goes on the attack immediately and whips Rey into the cage wall. Evil heel Eddie gets positive chants from the crowd, kind of like the SummerSlam Jericho match. Eddie catches Rey’s moonsault attempt but Mysterio counters into an arm drag and gets a monkey flip. Guerrero is set up in 619 position, but then Rey realizes that you cannot do a 619 in a cage. Smart thinking. Rey gets a powerbomb after Eddie prevented him from climbing out, and then climbs and gets to the top but Eddie gets an anke and pulls Mysterio down crotches on the top rope. Back suplex and big powerbomb by Eddie gets 2. Guerrero climbs to the top rope but Rey goes up with him to prevent any climbing out, and Eddie hooks him and nails a side russian leg sweep from the top rope. Rey with a desperate attempt to climb outside but Eddie goes up and catches him as they play the two birds sitting in top of the cage. Rey almost slips out but Guerrero reels him back in. Both of them are balances on the top rope back in now, and Mysterio springboards off with a missile dropkick, and both men are down. At the eight count they get to their knees and Guerrero wns a slugfest and nails a DDT. Guerrero tries exiting through the door but Rey clings to his leg and pulls him in by the trunks. Rey gets the CRAZY inverted bulldog. Guerrero gets Mysterio in powerbomb position on the turnbuckle, but Rey slips out of it and nearly escapes until Guerrero pulls him back onto his shoulders, where Mysterio counters it into a super-canranna. Mysterio is up top on the cage and kicks Guerrero down, but then turns around and MISSES the top rope crossbody. Guerrero has a perfect chance to exit through the door, but instead goes back in and hits the Frog Splash for the win.
Winner: Eddie Guerrero
***1/4, and it really makes you wonder how if it wasn’t for examples of say Dominick interference or dissapointing endings how these matches could have turned out in the previous forty encounters.

Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan – US Title Match
Sucker punch by Jordan gets 2 right off the get-go. Benoit gets the crossface for the win at new record time 22.5 though.
Winner and STILL Champion: Chris Benoit
– no rating-

Batista vs. JBL – World Heavyweight Championship Bull Rope Match
Remember the four corners red & green light rules here, you have to have momentum and tag the 4 turnbuckles in the corners where a light will light up, but if your momentum stops before you get to all 4, it resets. The bull rope gets attached and JBL slugs away. JBL’s momentum stops and Batista gets a clothseline. Batista chokes JBL out with it in the corner. Batista with a series of knees and big uppercut. Batista gets 3 red lights but JBL nails a big clothseline to stop it. JBL winds the rope around Batista’s neck and gets 2 red lights but a clothseline by Batista ends it. JBL gets a thumb to the eye however and big boot. JBL gets furious punches in the corner, and then nails Batista directly in the head with the bull rope bell. JBL gets 3 lights but Batista pulls him down. JBL trying to reach up and get the last one, but Batista wins the tug of war with the rope and nails JBL with the cow bell. 3 red lights on for Batista but JBL rolls outside and holds onto the ring apron for leverage holding him back from getting the third. JBL uses the rope for a low blow which is legal here. Batista now has JBL in a fireman’s carry after break and gets 2 lights, but JBL slides off and nails Batista with the cow bell once again. JBL with a short arm clothesline and then goes for the Clothseline from Hell but Batista counters it with a shoulder. Batista gives JBL a series of cowbell shots to the back and then nails the Batista Bomb as JBL is now busted open from the bell. Batista wraps the rope around JBL’s neck and carries him from behind, and while he tags the turnbuckles he doesn’t realize that right after he does it JBL is tagging them right behind them. So both men have 3 lights on, and JBL slides out of the choke and reaches for the final light, but Batista gives him a spinebuster and gets the final light.
Winner and STILL Champion: Batista
**3/4, I don’t care what anyone thinks, that match was an ideal brawl with some very creative spots involving the bull rope, especially the last part with both men getting the lights and the ending. A better match altogether than the previous ones between them.

End of show.

The Aftermath: Wow, that was quite a showcase, a really good show promoting the big Friday night debut of SmackDown. I couldn’t really of asked for anything much better, well, at least from the last hour.