Hey everyone. Due to Flash / Tafe Projects, I missed half of the episode of Velocity shown here in Australia and the fact that only certain continents can get the webcast version, I’m going to buff it up this week by adding the match recaps from the SmackDown recaps. Sorry but you know how class projects can get, and those that do Flash, know how complicated it can be at times.
We start off halfway through with the Booker T / Sharmell promo in which we have the James Brown impression and the Bobby Lashley attack. The one problem with this segment is that it pretty much told us that Booker T and Bobby Lashley would clash at Judgment Day, and as it almost certainly looks now, for the King Of The Ring position. However every other single part about this promo was pure gold.
Commercials
Run over of the basic brackets, with no one placed in the Semi-Finals, leads us into …
King Of The Ring Tournament Opening Round: Kurt Angle verses Randy Orton
Orton doesn’t pose on the ropes and, instead, poses right in front of Angle. Nice touch. Angle tries to get Orton in the corner, but the referee forces Angle off, and the same happens in the other corner but this time Angle throws the referee to the side only to get punched down by Orton. Orton goes to capitalise but Angle gets some clotheslines in. Angle sends Orton into the corner where Orton gets an elbow to Angle, although runs right into a Belly to Belly by Angle. Angle clotheslines Orton over the top rope, and quickly rolls him back in the ring and locks on the AnkleLock! Orton eventually rolls and sends Angle shoulder first into the steel pole. Orton takes advantage and works Angle’s arm, incorporating the top turnbuckle with it. Orton kicks away at Angle, before using the ropes in a hammerlock. Orton works the arm in the middle of the ring, before Angle nails a arm drag. Orton gets a sunset flip, which Angle rolls through and locks on the AnkleLock! Orton tries to roll through, but Angle keeps the hold on this time, and Orton is forced to kick Angle off of him, before quickly getting a dropkick for two. Orton nails a kneedrop on the arm, before going back to working the arm, before getting on a Sleeper hold and then turning it into a Rear Choke Hold (there is a difference, but it’s only slight). Angle suddenly gets another wind and begins to elbow out of it, before punching Orton off of him and bouncing off the ropes and into an elbow by Orton. Orton picks him up, grabs the arm, and falls back, getting a two count before locking in a nice variation of a hammerlock. Angle gets to his feet and escapes the hammerlock, and is stupid enough to nail Orton with a uppercut with the injured arm (though he sells it, so I can forgive that). Orton gets whipped into the ropes but holds onto them and flips Angle over the top ropes onto the mat below, and Angle lands perfectly safe (unless he sells the knee) and yet collapses. He’d better sell the leg because the replay made the leg look a bit weird. On the apron Orton goes to suplex Angle back into the ring, but Angle reverses it and Orton falls onto the floor and looks like his legs fell out from under him as he landed. Back in the ring, Angle is quick to nail the Triple Germans and the straps are now off people! AngleSlam reversed into Orton’s backbreaker for a two count! Orton begins to get ready for the RKO! Orton and Angle up, Orton hooks the arm but Angle throws him down and Orton’s leg is raised and locked into the AngleLock! Angle locks his legs around the thigh of Orton and Orton taps!
Winner And Advancing Into Semi-Finals: Kurt Angle
Commercials
King Of The Ring Opening Round Match: Booker T with Sharmell verses Matt Hardy
Lock up and Hardy takes Booker to the corner only to be forced away by the referee, and a Hardy chant starts up. Booker gets a lock from behind and takes Hardy down with a reverse bearhug, back up and Booker T elbows Hardy who got behind with a hammerlock. Backhand chops by Booker with a right hand taking Hardy down. In the corner, Hardy nails a few punches and sends him into the opposite turnbuckle, Hardy with a clothesline off the ropes for a two count. Takedown headlock by Hardy and the headlock is kept locked on the canvas, but Booker gets to his feet and nails a back drop. In the corner Booker clubs away at Hardy with punches to the gut, some knees follow. Booker sends Hardy into the corner and Hardy gets the feet up into Booker’s face and nails a clothesline. Kick to the gut and swinging neckbreaker gets Hardy another two count. Hardy goes up top, but Booker sends him down onto the top turnbuckle (you know where falling down first) and looks to go for a back body drop from the turnbuckles by Hardy elbows Booker off and gets to the top, jumps off with a Moonsault but Booker rolls out of the way, Booker gets a two count. High heel kick to the neck of Hardy gets Booker a two count. Booker nails some kicks to Hardy, who is laying on the canvas, before picking Hardy up and nailing a side slam for two. Snapmare by Booker is followed by a rear choke hold, and Hardy fan favorites to his feet and nails a jawbreaker. Hardy on the second turnbuckle and nails Booker with an elbow to the back of the neck, and signals for the Twist of Fate! Kick to the gut, Sharmell’s on the apron, Hardy goes to drop Booker but Booker pushes him to the ropes and Sharmell holds the top rope down and Hardy goes outside! She got off that apron quick enough for the referee not to see her either too. We’re back to Booker stomping on Hardy. Hardy begins to punch back but Booker gets control back with a knee to the gut. Suplex by Booker, another Suplex by Booker for a two count. Booker chokes Hardy using the second rope, takes the referee to the side and allows Sharmell to rake Hardy’s eyes. Superkick right to the jaw gets Booker another two count. Booker gets a few mounted punches to Hardy before going up top, and Hardy punches Booker right in the face when he gets to the top rope, Superplex by Hardy for a two count. Hardy gets a run up on Booker, but Booker drops him throat first on the top rope. Booker sends Hardy off of the ropes and into an elbow for a two count. Rear choke hold applied by Booker T, and Hardy begins to fan favorite out of it with elbows, Hardy goes to run but Booker grabs the hair and slams Hardy into the mat before relocking the rear choke hold. Hardy begins to punch out of it, but Booker T nails a series of knees to the gut of Hardy, and Booker goes for another suplex, but Hardy falls behind with a reverse DDT! The two exchange punches, and Hardy gets the better and begins nailing some elbows. Clothesline to Booker, and Hardy sends Booker into the corner for a clothesline into bulldog for a two count. Punches to Booker in the corner and Hardy sends Booker back into the opposite corner, Booker nails an elbow to Hardy and follows it up with a crescent kick for a two! Booker reverses a whip attempt with a Book End, spinaroonie! Kick to Hardy’s gut, off the ropes, Booker misses the Scissors Kick, Side Effect for a two! Sharmell rolls into the ring and distracts the referee, Twist Of Fate is reversed by Booker T nailing the groin of Hardy, Scissors Kick! One, Two, Three!
Winner: Booker T
This week on SmackDown, we’ve got Bobby Lashley taking on Mark Henry in the opening round of King Of The Ring, and we’ve also got Kurt Angle cashing in his rematch for the World Heavy Weight Championship. Should be interesting at least, as Steve Romero and Josh Matthews bid us goodbye.
