We get a recap of Lita vs John Cena from RAW. I havn’t watched RAW yet, and I don’t remember if it sounded to be a good episode. If I’m awake tomorrow then I suppose I’ll watch it, but after we get the clip of RAW John Cena’s music hits the PA system. Cena comes out to mostly cheers. Cena says it’s good to be back on SmackDown .. really good. Cena talks about the title, the Marine, before he goes on to say that we’ve still got the fist on SmackDown and a larger Tony Chimmell, and JBL – who, the last time he saw him, he was whopping his ass, and of course his favorite .. his Whitney to his Bobby Brown. Michael Cole. Cena says he’s come with a gift for Cole, and offers Cole a pair of balls. Lame. Cena says that Regal is here, Finlay is here, and that King Booker is here, and says that it was noble of his court to make Cena kiss Booker’s feet. But tonight Cena’s brought some friggin’ back up; Bobby Lashley and Batista. Cena says tonight there’ll be no kissed feet, because they’re kicking ass .. well, it was a way to open SmackDown at least. Maybe not the best, but a way to open the show none the less.
Up next: Rey Mysterio vs Sylvester Turkay!
Commercials.
Still to come: Mr Kennedy’s Tribute To The UnderTaker.
We get a video clip on Vickie Guerrero as the business manager of Chavo. Vickie’s growing on me as a manager, actually, so long as she doesn’t enter the diva’s division.
Opening Contest: Rey Mysterio vs Elijah Burke w/ Sylvester Turkay
Lock up and Burke gets a knee to the gut of Mysterio, elbow to the face and sends Mysterio off the ropes but Mysterio bounces off the ropes with a headscissors. Ten count in the corner by Mysterio to Burke. Burke reverses an irish whip which sends Mysterio into the opposite corner but Mysterio gets a boot up into Burke’s face and follows up with a hurricanrana attempt off the second rope but Burke reverses it and powerbombs Mysterio into the corner. We see the Guerreros backstage. Burke whips Mysterio into the corner and he comes back into a sideslam for two. Burke gets a full nelson on Mysterio but Mysterio looks to escape, but Burke gets a scoop slam. Burke goes up top and comes off with an elbow drop which misses! Mysterio gets a springboard crossbody for a two. Burke off the ropes with a sunset flip which Mysterio rolls through and kicks Burke over the head, getting Mysterio a two. Mysterio sets Burke up in the middle of the ring and comes off the ropes only to get tripped by Turkay, and Mysterio stumbles into a crucifix bomb attempt but Mysterio lands on his feet, ducks the clothesline and baseball slides Turkay! Mysterio sets Burke up on the second rope and nails the 619! Springboard leg drop for the three count!
Winner: Rey Mysterio
I really would have liked to have seen Turkay against Mysterio, even if I’m still a bit shaky when it comes to Turkay’s style of matches, especially since a defeat over Mysterio is the exact sort of defeat I’ve been saying he should be having instead of random jobber fodder. Post match Turkay attacks Mysterio and totally destroys him. Fun and enjoyable opening match, suffered because it was basically “let’s get to the gist of the match” but it was still good. Six out of Ten.
We’ve also got a Falls Count Anywhere match between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero at No Mercy.
Commercials.
Backstage, Ashley Massaro welcomes us back to SmackDown. She’s here to show us her boys (excuse me girl?!), and puts them over before we get a music clip for them.
Second Contest: Number One Contendership For No Mercy: K.C. James and Idol Stevens w/ Michelle McCool vs The Pitbulls
Stevens and Noble start. Lock up and Stevens gets a headlock on Noble which leads to our usual off the ropes with a shoulder bit. Noble gets a dropkick on Stevens and stomps away before he tags out to Kash, and they nail Stevens with a double elbow. Knees to the head of Stevens by Kash, before he nails a chop and begins to club away until Stevens fights Kash off and tags out to James. James in with some punches to Kash, Kash ducks a clothesline and gets a kick to the ribs, snapmare, kick to the back for a two count. Tag out to Noble and a double headbutt and chop combo to James, before Noble gets a high leg for a two count. Leg drop by Noble for a two count. James with some punches to the gut and picks up Noble, who tags out to Kash before James nails Noble with an atomic drop and Stevens sends Noble into the corner. Kash in with something that misses James, before he knocks him down and goes for a pinfall which Stevens breaks up before being sent outside by Noble who held down the top rope. Noble gets a suicide dive to Stevens on the outside. Kash comes off the top rope with a moonsault to James for a two count, close to a three. Kash goes for the dead level but James gets a DDT, one count follows which is broken by Noble. Stevens and Noble slug away, with Stevens getting the upper hand while Kash gets a small package on James, but Mc rolls in and flips it over and James gets the three count!
Winners And Number One Contenders: K.C. James and Idol Stevens
Maybe next time these four wrestle we’ll see a better match .. what? Oh. Three out of Ten. Wasn’t all that bad, especially for a heels vs heels match.
Commercials.
Matt Hardy vs Gregory Helms is set for No Mercy, so says Michael Cole.
Third Contest: Matt Hardy vs Chavo Guerrero w/ Vickie Guerrero
Lock up and Hardy gets a headlock on Guerrero which leads to a shoulder off the ropes. Another lock up and Guerrero goes behind Hardy, Hardy goes behind Guerrero, and Hardy eventually gets Guerrero in a headlock. Guerrero sends Hardy into the ropes but fails a drop toe hold, and Hardy gets a right hand. Hardy slams Guerrero into the corner and goes to irish whip him into the opposite corner but Hardy reverses it and Guerrero runs into a high elbow by Hardy, who goes up to the second turnbuckle but Guerrero trips him back into the ring and stomps away. Guerrero with an uppercut and snapmare before he hooks the arms of Hardy as a “Hardy” chant starts up. Hardy gets a clothesline on Guerrero and nails a few punches before he comes off the ropes with a clothesline. Guerrero gets sent into the ropes and back into a shoulder body toss by Hardy; Hardy sends Guerrero into the corner for a clotheslime bulldog combo for a two count. Guerrero gets a uppercut on Hardy and clubs away at Hardy, but Hardy gets a side effect! One, two, no! Scoop slam by Hardy, who goes up top but Vickie distracts the referee! Hardy gets the top rope leg drop, but Helms is on the apron! Hardy knocks Helms off of the apron and signals for the Twist Of Fate but Vickie low blows Hardy! DDT by Chavo, who goes up top and comes off with a Frogsplash! One, Two, Three!
Winner: Chavo Guerrero
Afterwards Helms nails Hardy with a shining wizard. I liked this match. Seven out of Ten.
Up next: Mr Kennedy’s Tribute To The UnderTaker.
Commercials.
We’re back and Mr Kennedy is making his introduction. Kennedy has to take a while to talk and talks about what he saw last week, commentating Taker’s match, and has decided to pay tribute to the Undertaker. Kennedy runs down the bigger names that Taker has defeated before he runs a montage for Taker. Kennedy says he’s defeated everyone etc and that Taker has nothing to prove, and as much as he looks forward to taking on and defeating Taker at No Mercy, but he says that he thinks it would be rude to intrude on Taker’s legacy. He doesn’t want to be the guy who destroys Taker and that everyone hates because of it, and that the possibility of Kennedy defeating Taker at WrestleMania would be wrong because it would be wrong to put a black mark on his awesome record. Kennedy says that he cannot wrestle the Undertaker at No Mercy! The bells ring and Taker makes his way out! Taker takes the microphone from Kennedy and says that there’s something important that he thinks he should know .. He shows no mercy and Kennedy will rest in peace. Taker begins to walk away and Kennedy goes to throw the microphone at Taker, but it electrocutes him! Kennedy rolls out of the ring and Taker poses in the ring. Well that segment was a hell of a lot more interesting than I thought it would be .. nice to see them taking a different approach to Kennedy.
The Royal Hierarchy are backstage, with Regal talking about Cena. Finlay tells Regal to calm down and says they all knew Cena would come tonight and all three of their opponents have felt the shillelagh across their head and will again tonight. Booker says that the way he sees it, their three opponents will be made to bow down before King Booker and say (all together now!) .. All Hail King Booker!
Still to come: John Cena, Batista, and Bobby Lashley against Finlay, Sir William Regal, and King Booker!
Commercials.
Michael Cole talks about the JBL / Eric Bischoff interview. If you have not read the Inside Pulse news report on it, go and do so, if you have and have not seen the interview itself, go and do so now.
Mizanin gets on the microphone during his introduction and says something about .. McSexy. And talks about how he’s soon to be Five and Zero. The most annoying we’ve seen him so far, and he was only on the microphone for about thirty seconds or so.
Fourth Contest: Tatanka vs Mike Mizanin
Tatanka starts off with punches to Mizanin before he whips him into the corner, hard. Mizanin jumps over Tatanka and gets in a headlock and gets in a NICE springboard headlock takedown (imagine the Stratusfaction Bulldog, but as a headlock takedown, yeah?), Tatanka flips Mizanin before and flips Mizanin to the apron. Mizanin slides back into the ring and makes fun of the war dance and Tatanka misses a chop, only to punch him in the back and chop him down. Tatatnka gets sent into the corner and reverses a hip toss with a backslide, but Mizanin is under the bottom rope so the referee refuses to count and Mizanin attacks from behind. Mizanin sends him off the rope, punches him in the gut, russian leg sweep for a quick pinfall attempt. Mizanin with punches and kicks to Tatanka, goes for the chop but Tatanka stops and the two begin exchanging punches, with Tatanka getting the upperhand. Tatanka with a russian leg sweep for a one count. Tatanka with a shoulder body toss and clotheslines before he gets the chop to the forehead of Mizanin. Tatanka sends Mizanin off the ropes, Mizanin falls behind and gets Tatanka into a roll up for the three count!
Winner: Mike Mizanin
Another good match tonight. Weird. Six out of Ten.
Theodore Long is backstage and announces that SmackDown’s debut last week on CW was the second highest rated show among adults. Before he decides to announce that next week on SmackDown, we will play ‘Pick Your Poison’. Bobby Lashley and King Booker will pick each other’s opponents for next week’s episode, and they will be revealed this weekend on WWE.com
Jimmy Wang Yang is backstage and says some stuff and says that unlike his opponent, Sylvan, he isn’t a foreigner. His debut is next. Aw, crap.
Commercials.
We get video footage of Sylvan on SmackDown last week, and how the crowd went ape for him.
Fifth Contest: Sylvan vs Jimmy Wang Yang
Lock up and Sylvan forces Yang into the corner before he bitch slaps him, and Yang slaps him back. Sylvan takes Yang down and pummels away on him, Yang off the ropes and gets a headscissors takedown followed by a dropkick. Chop by Yang but Sylvan gets a knee into the gut of Yang and whips Yang into the corner, but Sylvan misses a clothesline. Yang flips off Sylvan’s back and gets a high kick to the back of Sylvan’s head, sending him outside. Yang misses a vaulting body press and Sylvan takes it back inside for a knee and two elbow drops. Sylvan sends Yang into the corner a few times before he nails a nice spinebuster, but Yang kicks out of the pinfall attempt. Sylvan locks on a nice cross between a headlock and cobra clutch before he turns it into a sleeper hold, and Yang nails a jawbreaker. Yang with punches to Sylvan and clotheslines him down! Yang off the top rope with a nice spinning crossbody for a two count. Yang sends Sylvan off the ropes and gets a nice spinning heel kick, before he sends Sylvan into the corner – but Sylvan trips Yang and puts his feet on the ropes .. for the victory?!
Winner: Sylvan
Hrm, odd. Another – ANOTHER – good match. As far as I’m concerned, at least. Six out of Ten.
Vito is backstage and says that it’s not the dress that makes the man, but it’s the man that makes the dress. It sure is, our transvestite friend, it sure is.
Up next: Cena, Lashley, and Batista against The Royal Hierarchy!
Commercials.
Michael Cole announces that MVP has finally signed with SmackDown .. yay. We get a video of the contract signing which is done up like a press conference.
No Mercy Card:
Debut: MVP Debuts at No Mercy
The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy
Batista vs Finlay
Matt Hardy vs Gregory Helms
Falls Count Anywhere: Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero w/ Vickie Guerrero
Tag Team Championship: Brian Kendrick and Paul London w/ Ashley Massaro vs K.C. James and Idol Stevens w/ Michelle McCool
World Heavy Weight Championship: King Booker w/ Queen Sharmell vs Bobby Lashley
Speaking of Bobby Lashley ..
Main Event: Bobby Lashley, Batista, and John Cena vs Sir William Regal, Finlay, and King Booker w/ Queen Sharmell
Cena attacks Regal while they’re at the entrance way to start the match, Finlay and Booker try to attack Cena but Lashley and Batista get involved to boot. We’ve got Cena/Regal, Batista/Finlay, and Lashley/Booker fighting before we head to a commercial.
Commercials.
We’re back and Batista is hitting Regal with spears in the corner before he follows up with some elbows and sends Regal back into the corner. Batista runs at Regal and Regal raises a boot, Batista catches it and continues with his spears. Batista whips Regal into the opposite corner and Regal comes back into a shoulder body toss and spinebuster, he goes for the cover but Finlay steps into the ring and Batista stares him down. Finlay quickly leaves the ring as Regal tags out to Booker. Lock up and Booker forces Batista into the corner for knees and chops and stuff. Batista off the ropes and Booker fails a hip toss and Batista clotheslines him down and nails a suplex, before Batista even gets a one count Finlay is in and breaks up the pinfall. Tag out to Lashley.
Lashley gets a spear on Booker right away in the corner; scoop slam gets Lashley a two count. Booker gets an eye poke and a hook kick to Lashley. Lashley gets Booker in a headlock, off the ropes with a shoulder etc etc, we get to the point where Booker either jumps over Lashley or ducks under him, he jumps up but Lashley catches him and nails a powerslam! Okay, so, it’s not much – but it’s something different to the same old routine. Finlay stops the pinfall attempt. Lashley takes Booker to the corner for a spear, punches, and kicks before he gets forced off by the referee. Booker tags out to Finlay. Finlay in and gets sent into the corner by Lashley and Finlay comes back into a military gutbuster, Finlay gets himself to his feet in the corner and Lashley misses the spear and goes into the steel pole! In a nice touch, the camera makes sure we know that the shillelagh is all the way back at the entrance way. Lashley tags in Cena, who comes in with a clotheslines to Finlay, Regal, and Booker! Backdrop on Regal and Cena gets the five knuckle shuffle! STFU on Finlay! Regal and Booker break it up! Regal, Booker, Lashley, and Batista all bugger off and do their own thing while the Little Bastard hands Finlay another shillelagh! Finlay hits Cena across the arm with it!
Commercials.
We’re back and Finlay has Cena in an arm bar, but Cena looks to escape with punches but Finlay elbows his arm. Tag out to Regal, who comes in with attacks to his sore arm. Regal drops a knee on Cena’s arm and forces down before he hooks Cena’s arm in a hammerlock and pulls at his face. Cena gets to his feet and gets the tag to Lashley, but the referee is busy with Finlay! The referee argues with Lashley, and the Hierarchy takes the fight to Cena before the referee tells them to get out. Regal stomps away on Cena’s arm and tags into Finlay, who comes in with a knee drop to the arm. Finlay reapplies the arm bar, but Cena flips Finlay over only to get clothesline down shortly after for a two count. Finlay continues to work Cena’s arm again and we get a “Cena” chant, Regal distracts Batista and the referee and Booker comes in and replaces Finlay. Booker kicks away at Cena’s arm before he chops him down for a two count, almost a three. Booker gets a superkick to Cena but Lashley breaks up the pinfall attempt. Cena gets the upper hand with punches but goes off the ropes, Finlay kicks him in the back, and he comes back into a spinebuster by Booker. Finlay tagged back in. Finlay continues to work the arm of Cena, obviously, but Cena picks up Finlay and looks to go for an F-U but Finlay falls down and gets a clothesline for two. Tag back out to Booker.
Booker slaps Cena and sends him off the ropes, but Cena hangs on! Booker goes for a side kick but Cena ducks and Booker gets hung up on the ropes! Cena tags out to Lashley! Lashley comes in with force! Lashley catches Booker with a running powerslam for a two, broken by Regal and Finlay! Batista and Lashley throw Regal and Finlay outside; Lashley follows Finlay as Batista takes the fight to Booker. Batista nails Booker with spears at the ropes, goes for an irish whip but Booker reverses it and Batista gets tripped by Finlay! Kick to the gut of Batista and Booker goes for the Scissors Kicks .. Lashley’s a bit too late in his entrance and Booker comes back to Batista with some punches .. but Spear by Lashley! One! Two! Three!
Winners: Bobby Lashley, Batista, and John Cena
Post match Edge attacks Cena from behind with a Spear! Edge escapes through the crowd as we fade out. Well, that match was certainly a lot better than I expected it to be, simply because for the first time in a long while the crowd were seriously behind John Cena. Cena and Finlay should meet again at Survivor Series or, hell, anything televised. A good main event. Seven out of Ten.
So this week stands at;
Rey Mysterio vs Elijah Burke: 6/10
K.C. James / Idol Stevens vs Pitbulls: 3/10
Matt Hardy vs Chavo Guerrero: 7/10
Tatanka vs Mike Mizanin: 6/10
Sylvan vs Jimmy Wang Yang: 6/10
Royal Hierarchy vs Lashley, Batista, and Cena: 7/10
SmackDown 29/09/06: 35/60
The Inside Pulse
Hey, we’re above halfway points for once! I must be in a really happy mood today (which is more than likely), in order to give out such good points, but I stand by the ratings. This was one of the better episodes of SmackDown I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ve been recapping the show for the better half of a year. I think we may have found something out with this episode: SmackDown fans are indeed VERY different from RAW fans. Maybe it’s time to bring Cena back to SmackDown? Anymore shows like this and they may just regain their exclamation mark after all.
