From InsidePulse reader Dan Beefe:
I was also at the Smackdown taping and wanted to add a couple of extra facts.
Firstly, the crowd was notably disinterested during many matches. There was next to no heat for JBL vs Hardy. If I had sneezed, the entire arena could have shouted “Bless You” as it would have been the loudest sound during most of the match.
In what must have been one of the most embarrassing “gimmick malfunctions” since The Shocker, it was obvious that things did not go as planned for Mark Henry breaking into the cage. Apparently Mark Henry was supposed to break the chain, enter the cage and interfere to cost Batists and Rey Mysterio the match. Unfortunately, the cage and/or chain would not give way. Instead Mark Henry did everything possible including hanging from the chain with dead weight for at least 5 minutes before it finally broke. Meanwhile MNM tried to sell their injuries by laying on the mat the entire time. It looked like they had actually gone to sleep and were taking a nap at this point. Apparently, Batista was not allowed to improvise in this situation so he essentially stood in one place for the entire time watching Mark Henry struggle with the chain. I was half expecting him to hand him a set of bolt cutters just to end the agony or light up a cigarette and take a seat while he watched Henry struggle.
When Henry finally did find a way in the cage he “ripped” the cage door off it’s hinges and tried to bring it into the ring. I guess it didn’t occur to him to tip it perpendicular to the mat so it would slide in. Instead he tried to push it through laying flat and it got stuck. Meanwhile, Batista (who probably wanted to swallow cyanide at this point) once again stood and watched as the weapon which would be used to defeat his team was slooooooowly pushed in the ring.
It was unintentionally (I have to assume) the most comical moment of the night and Im sure it will be severely edited for television as Mark Henry came across quite badly. Incidentally his facial expressions during interviews were reminiscent of a 400+ lb Clubber Lang. I was waiting for him to say “I dont hate Batista, I pity the fool”.
Dan
