FBI defeated Bashams - Stamboli held Danny in a backbreaker while Nuzio came off the top with a legdrop.
Charlie Haas def. Mark Jindrak - decent match, due to Haas. Won with a German bridge.
Kidman/London beat Dudleys by DQ - Kidman hit D-Von with the shooting star, but Bubba pulled the ref out for the DQ. Afterwards they laid them out. Not a bad match.
Smackdown:
Angle gloated about doing the right thing at GAB and justice being served
Show starts...
Layfield came in to celebrate his title victory. Ring was laid out with red, white, and blue decorations on the ropes and the canvas was red. Name drops Ronald Reagan, saying it's "Morning in America" again and how he'll be a great champion to everyone. Says Angle allowed him to fight anyone who was at the Bash last night, except Eddie Guerrero.
Booker vs. RVD vs. Dupree - winner will be the #1 contender for the U.S. Title. Pretty good spots, with the crowd popping for the Spinaroonie and RVD's first frog splash and Rolling Thunder. Heat was given for the Dupree Shuffle. Finish was RVD hitting his second splash on Dupree (Booker caught one first), but Booker pulled him out the ring and covered Dupree for the win. Kind of a lame finish.
Bradshaw goes into the locker room, and says he picks "a Dudley". Of course, it turns out to be Spike. Cena, Rey, Dudleys (no Spike), and Booker were in the skit.
Luther Raines talks with Charles Robinson and reviews the Sable/Tori match on a television...complains about some kind of controversy. Says if there is any problems with the rematch, there will be trouble.
Tori beats Sable with a DDT. Terrible match, as you could have expected. Sable didn't wait 3 seconds to sell the DDT or anything. No controversy though. Afterwards, Angle comes on the Titan and says although there were no problems, he couldn't let Raines get away with last night, so he sends Raines to fight him in a match. Raines catches him and starts pounding him until Haas comes out for the save. The funny thing about this is that they did this spot twice. I guess whoever was booking didn't like the first one, so he made them do it over again just before the main event.
Heyman comes out, and gloats about getting the Undertaker to finish off Bearer. Says he is due for a thank you by the Undertaker and he will get that "with interest". Pyro explodes and Undertaker comes up on the Titan and tells Heyman if he's willing to do that to Bearer, the only person he cared about, imagine what he's going to do to him. Heyman acts like a scared rabbit.
Mysterio beats Mordecai - Disappointing, with Mysterio of course on defense most of the time. He did get in the 619, but the crowd didn't pop for it until right after he did it. Finish was Mordecai going for that Razor's Edge/crucifix bomb, but Rey was able to turn it into the hurricanrana for the win. Is that his first loss?
The Dudleys talk to Spike. They accuse Spike of doing something to get the shot. They say they have his back, because they are family, and they "know" if he wins the title he's going to give one of them the first title shot. Spike says he'd rather do it on his own.
Kenzo Suzuki comes out, yells some jibberish in Japanese with the crowd saying "what" after every pause, then Cena comes out. He clowns him and his valet for a while, then has production replay the promo bit by bit and attempts to translate. Mostly gutter humor, talking about constipation and how Kenzo likes going to gay nude beaches. Funny spot on the valet, translating one statement as Kenzo taking her to see "White Girls" (clowning her because of all the white makeup on her face). Crowd loved it, but I doubt if it goes over on tv that well.
Main event...of course Bradshaw squashed Spike. Spike got in some offense, with the stomps in the corner and the Dudley Dog, which got a 2 count the crowd popped over, but Bradshaw gave him two short clotheslines (ala Jake Roberts) and a powerbomb.
As soon as the bell rang, Eddie's music came up and he came to the ring. They fought, and Bradshaw bailed. Before he got back into his car, Eddie told him to hold on, and informed him that he had a clause in his contract when he won the WWE title saying he gets a rematch of a match of HIS choosing, and it will be a cage match in two weeks. Bradshaw ranting as the show ends.
After the show, Eddie left and Bradshaw came back out, called Eddie a "stupid Hispanic punk" or something like that, and clowned the crowd for a while for trailer parks and confederate flags. Typical stuff.
He challenged Eddie or anyone else to come from the back to face him so he'd kick his ass and the Undertaker came out with a loud pop. Once Taker got in the ring, Bradshaw played scared and tried to talk himself into fighting him, saying he was a Hardcore Champion and was a tough guy. Finally he tried to fake getting out the ring and tried to hit Taker, Taker blocked it, hit him a few times, chokeslam, and eventually the Tombstone. Taker then grabbed the title and laid it on Bradshaw and left. Bradshaw got up after Taker left, doing a little selling, clowned the fans again, and left.
Crowd was alright. They popped for Cena, Mysterio, and Taker. After a little pop during the Sable/Torrie match, they went dead. And they really weren't that interested in Bradshaw/Spike...not that you can blame them. They loved the aftershow, so I suppose everyone went home happy, which is typical Vince.
Spike Dudley in the main event? Wow, I really gotta watch this show now.
Bad enough he had to put over Holly last week. But figured that was just Holly insisting he get his heat back. But two jobs in a row for Jindrak seems surprising.
So we have Mordecai last week alluding to a feud with Guerrero, winning against Holly on PPV, then losing to Mysterio. Charlie Haas and Luther Reigns get thrown in a feud together which, while it's not surprising that they throw Haas into the singles mix considering Rico's injury, seems to come out of nowhere.
Not only that, but any interest that pops the rating from the Bearer angle at the Bash is just going to result in disappointment from viewers when they see that the WWE doesn't even attempt to explain why The Undertaker did what he did.
I'll have to watch it on Thursday, but on paper this seems like very strange booking.
(edited by Deputy Marshall on 30.6.04 0011) "Teacher says every time William Regal refers to someone as 'sunshine,' an angel gets its wings!"
The Undertaker thing was about what I expected..."I have nothing left that I care about, if I'd do that to a friend imagine what I'll do to an enemy," blah blah blah. More stalling on whether or not he's really a face or a heel. Doesn't seem too interesting after all that happened Sunday.
Of course, the good news is that Eddie's gonna beat the tar outta Bradshaw in two weeks and in all likelihood take the title back, so yay.
Once upon a time in China, some believe, around the year one double-ought three, head priest of the White Lotus Clan, Pai Mei was walking down the road, contemplating whatever it is that a man of Pai Mei's infinite power contemplates - which is another way of saying "who knows" - when a Shaolin monk appeared, traveling in the opposite direction. As the monk and the priest crossed paths, Pai Mei, in a practically unfathomable display of generosity, gave the monk the slightest of nods. The nod was not returned. Now was it the intention of the Shaolin monk to insult Pai Mei or did he just fail to see the generous social gesture? The motives of the monk remain unknown. What is known, are the consequences. The next morning Pai Mei appeared at the Shaolin Temple and demanded of the Temple's head abbot that he offer Pai Mei his neck to repay the insult. The Abbot at first tried to console Pai Mei, only to find Pai Mei was inconsolable. So began the massacre of the Shaolin Temple and all 60 of the monks inside at the fists of the White Lotus. And so began the legend of Pai Mei's five point palm exploding heart technique.
Actually, this SD looks better on paper than the last month of shows to me. I do want to see Mordecai lose (Hell, I want to see Mordecai period), and the Cena bit sounds like it could be funny.
I'll rephrase then...SD looks like an entertaining show, not a worthwhile wrestling show.
Joe Wilson (looking at Interocitor manual)- Hey, here's something my wife could use in the house... Crow T. Robot- A man? Joe Wilson- An interocitor incorporating an electron sorter. Cal Meechum- Oh, she'd probably gain 20 pounds while it did all the work for her. Tom Servo- Cal, you bitch!
Velocity looks damn good this week. I'm interested in all 3 matches.
SD, however, doesn't look that hot. Starts off strong, but then limps to the finish line. Rey over Mordecai is an interesting decision, but I fear it leads to Mordecai eventually destroying Rey.
Mostly gutter humor, talking about constipation and how Kenzo likes going to gay nude beaches. Funny spot on the valet, translating one statement as Kenzo taking her to see "White Girls" (clowning her because of all the white makeup on her face).
Face Cena is an awful character. He's lost the edge that made him a cool heel. This "humor" is just dreadful.
Whoever wrote that recap needs a better word than "clowning", cause that sounds so stupid.
Afterwards, Angle comes on the Titan and says although there were no problems, he couldn't let Raines get away with last night, so he sends Raines to fight him in a match. Raines catches him and starts pounding him until Haas comes out for the save
Face Cena is an awful character. He's lost the edge that made him a cool heel. This "humor" is just dreadful.
The bit with Suzuki comes off better when you see it. Cena is hot on either side. Maybe not your standards of humor but the kid knows how to work to the crowd better than anyone in WWE currently.
Oh, I agree the crowds *LOVE* him. But I just don't find the "you're CONSTIPATED!" (he did the same joke to Booker) and "you're GAY!" jokes humorous. I just roll my eyes at them.
Heel Cena had a nasty edge to him that made him cool. Face Cena just comes off as juvenile. His heel act was getting pops, so he should have just kept doing pretty much the same act without having to tone it down.
Also - it seems they're turning FBI face? they worked face against Akio/Sakoda 2 weeks ago, I'm told Stamboli worked face last week, and this week they seem to be face against the Bashams. I'm a big FBI mark, so I'd dig them getting a face push in the tag ranks.
Originally posted by Shade Cena is hot on either side. Maybe not your standards of humor but the kid knows how to work to the crowd better than anyone in WWE currently.
Cena does know how to work a crowd, better than most on the Smackdown roster, but I'll still put Angle at the top of the Smackdown roster. Oh, it's true, it's damn true! Heyman never gets enough credit for his ability to work a crowd. And you don't count Eddie short, like Angle he can work a crowd just as well both as a heel as a face.
I don't fault Cena for not being as good a face as a heel. It's easier to get crowd heat as a heel than as a face, witness smiling happy Brock.
If you want to include all of the WWE, then far and away Chris Jericho works the crowd the best of anyone currently on the roster. I can't count the Rock or Foley since their appearences are sporadic at best.
Originally posted by KaneRobotThe Undertaker thing was about what I expected..."I have nothing left that I care about, if I'd do that to a friend imagine what I'll do to an enemy,"
Is he saying that while the giant SARA tattoo is visible?
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I don't fault Cena for not being as good a face as a heel. It's easier to get crowd heat as a heel than as a face, witness smiling happy Brock.
But my point was his heel act was getting face pops. He had the same "I'm gonna talk tough & kick your ass, and there's nothing you can do about it" persona that made Autin one of the biggest guys in the history of the business. His current act just seems so tame and neutered.
It's working, so you can't really fault them/him for it, but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me.
Cena probably sells more merchandise as a face. If I had to wager, I'd say he's probably one of their top 3 right now as far as sales go ... the bottom line is that it's $$$$$ ...
I may actually watch the show ... it doesn't sound horrible. Just wish the Dudleyz/Kidman & London match would be on the show. But maye *crosses fingers* it's the start of something bigger.
I maybe mistaken but I thought I read somewhere that Cena was told he had to tame things down due to all the FCC crackdowns that were going down. I could be wrong but I swear I read that in an article somewhere.
Originally posted by too-old-nowI don't fault Cena for not being as good a face as a heel. It's easier to get crowd heat as a heel than as a face, witness smiling happy Brock.
And witness how the fans just kinda stopped caring as much until he went heel again. It’s the same with Cena, it’s the same with Victoria... hell, it was the same with Nash back in the day, and I recall he cut a promo about it.
There’s a very strong reluctance in the WWE to actually allow a guy who got face pops for his heel act to actually remain heelish as a face. I honestly don’t think the writers even know how to write for a character like that.
Spike Dudley and the Nazi in the main event... no explanation of Undertaker's motivation... a setup for a John Cena/Kenzo Suzuki feud (NO! NO! NO, NO, NO!)... looks like I won't be missing much tomorrow.
I will say though that if Eddie wins the title back in two weeks and does it in convincing fashion, I will start watching again. That second part is the key.
Originally posted by Texas Kelly a setup for a John Cena/Kenzo Suzuki feud (NO! NO! NO, NO, NO!)...
I don’t think we’re looking at a full-fledged Cena/Suzuki feud here. No matter what Cena actually does, the fact is that the spoilers also have Booker as the number one contender to the title.
This is probably going to end up at about the same level as when Eddie was putzing around with the Bashams prior to GAB.