Nobody's posted this yet. Courtesy of PWTorch.com:
"VELOCITY
(1) John Heidenrech (w/Paul Heyman) beat Shannon Moore.
(2) Johnny Stambolli (w/Nunzio) beat Danny Basham (w/Doug Basham)
(3) Hardcore Holly beat Akio.
(4) Rob Van Dam beat Rene Dupree.
SMACKDOWN
Kurt Angle began from his wheelchair, saying he put himself at risk last week in order to protect the World Title. He fired referee Tony Chimmel over last week. Angle said Eddie Guerrero would be begging for his job later.
(1) Spike Dudley beat Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Jamie Noble in a Cruiserweight No. 1 Contender's match.
The Dudleys cut a dark promo ripping on Philadelphia fans and saying ECW sucked.
(2) Bubba Ray Dudley (w/D-Von Dudley) beat Kidman (w/Paul London).
Angle told Booker T he would U.S. Champion next week. He handed him the belt early. Angle then fired Funaki.
(3) JBL won a squash.
Undertaker came out and chokeslammed JBL, then said: "You, me, Summerslam."
(4) Torrie vs. Sable vs. Dawn Marie vs. Miss Jackie. The match was interrupted by Kurt Angle who fired all four.
(5) Rey Mysterio beat D-Von Dudley with help from Kid man.
(6) John Cena beat Luther Reigns when Booker T's attempted interference backfired.
Angle called out Eddie Guerrero. He promised to fire him or make him beg for his job later. Vince McMahon came out instead. He said Angle seemed to be enjoying himself, firing everyone. McMahon said he went too far and fired Angle, then reinstated him as an active wrestler and booked him against Eddie Guerrero at Summerslam. McMahon then made Angle apologize to everyone he had fired and to Vince himself. Angle was about to apologize to Vince, but then gave him a low blow as the show ended. Nothing happened after the taping ended."
I like what I see here. I expect it should be above average in terms of what WWE's capable of putting out there. That's my opinion anyway - I know there's a lot of Smackdown haters on the board and that's cool.
The only match I'm not interested in is Cena/Reigns, although I'm impressed with Reigns so far. I'm not sure why some people are down on him already, but to each their own.
Interesting to note that there's no Charlie Haas on the show. I'm really interested in seeing where the Spike & Dudley Boys angle goes.
You know Smackdown sucks when the Summerslam main event fore the WWE title is John Bradshaw Layfield vs. The Undertaker. Anyone remember when Undertaker was about to say he was going to retire almost 2 years ago in an interview? I wish he got to finish it before cutting cut off by the Big Show.
"Don't compare my arm to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
1. JBL vs Undertaker serves two simple purposes: i) Have a solid main eventer put over JBL - cuz if that doesn't work, maybe not a lot else will. It doesn't hurt trying & now is the time to find out. As unpopular as he may be, I think JBL isn't as bad a wrestler as a lot of IWC fans make him out to be. He brings good heat, and not the X-Pac kind. It's sorta nice to see an old-school heel character again. (Be glad that it's still far better than anything the likes of HHH/Nash or HHH/Steiner! :P) ii) Undertaker has no one else to wrestle in the meantime. BONUS: This kills two birds with one stone, as I find both to have equally boring matches.
2. Angle/Cena is a more longterm angle. i) Angle/Eddy should last a bit and probably include Cena, but Cena/Angle is also more likely to be on next year's Wrestlemania than Eddie/Angle. ii) Angle/Eddie at Summerslam will be good either way. Kurt's shown that even when hurt, he'll put his health on the line more than he needs to, in order to put on a great match. Not that I'm condoning him doing that, but it'll be a good match once again.
3. Cena's not losing any heat by hovering around the US Title right now. He elevated the title's importance, and seeing one of Smackdown's four biggest stars carry the belt reminded me a little of the old NWA/WCW when the US Champion was a big name guy and the belt meant something. The current "vacated" status of the belt won't hurt it too much in the meantime.
I'm not really glad about it because Undertaker/JBL for the fricking WWE title is on the level with HHH/Nash and HHH/Steiner. Or even Hardcore Holly competing for the WWE title on PPV, which was a total joke I might add.
(edited by The Vile1 on 20.7.04 2317)
"Don't compare my arm to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
I dont see what all the griping is about. YOu basically have JBL, who, since getting the strap, has been a fairly entertaining gimmick, and has put on two good PPV matches in a row, going up against UT, who, when motivated, can bring an old school match out and make it worth while.
PLUS, you get Kurt v Eddie, which is about as good a matchup for Kurt as one could get with the current SMACKDOWN roster.
I have lost all interest in John Cena, and its a shame, becaus he had really, REALLY grown on me leading up to WMXX this last year.
If I could find a tv with cable, I'd be watching this. I figured that Kurt's days as GM were over as soon as he interfered last week. Its good to see them get rid of one evil GM, hopefully they won't make the same mistake of putting another heel GM in his place. Early contenders should be Shane, Foley, Austin or Vince.
At least Smackdown as SummerSlam booked, I can't say that about Raw since they are doing the matches that you would think be their card this week and next week. Raw's booking hasn't been as bad as Smackdown, but its hard to say what is worse turning Eugene heel or Bradshaw as champ, hopefully both of those mistakes will be rectified at SummerSlam. I'm sorry, but I love this Undertaker and if he does get the belt, I'm down with it.
Doesn't look as good as the last 2 weeks, IMO (at least on paper).
I'm not digging this Spike Dudley push, either. And I'm *certainly* not going to be up for a Spike Dudley cruiser champ run. On the bright side, it appears that Knoble's back injury wasn't serious.
Velocity looks pretty "blah", too. Stamboli winning is nice, and I hope Shannon makes it out of that Heidenreich match uninjured.
And where's Haas? Or Jindrak? I'd take either of those guys over the coming Heidenreich push. Jindrak was getting over and getting better, and there's no excuse for not using Haas.
Originally posted by A FanIf I could find a tv with cable, I'd be watching this. I figured that Kurt's days as GM were over as soon as he interfered last week. Its good to see them get rid of one evil GM, hopefully they won't make the same mistake of putting another heel GM in his place. Early contenders should be Shane....
Possible, but personally I think his face act would get hella stale inside a couple of months of exposure as GM.
Foley....
Not a full time employee so I don't see it. In any case they appear to be laying the foundations for a Foley/Flair feud for his next stint on RAW.
Austin...
No, no, NO!!
Austin was abysmal in his co-GM role on RAW. I'm not one to moan about X holding down Y and what have you, but Austin stunnering every heel, face, man, woman and child in the arena each week did hee-haw for the careers of active wrestlers. RAW's been much the better overall for his absence, and even if they were to alter his character slightly I don't think he'd be worth the investment they'd have to make to get him back.
or Vince.
There's no way I see Vince playing a face, or even tweener GM role. He can do the odd face cameo but thats about it.
If you're going to bother with having a prominent GM they almost have to be heelish, otherwise the odds become stacked against the heel wrestlers which would make little sense. If they were to move away from it though then I could live with Steph if she played a minimal role as 'The Voice of Reason', a la the first couple of months of her last run as SD GM.
Heel GM-wise I'd like to see Teddy Long who has been conspicuous by his absence of late, but I fancy we might just get another Heyman run which wouldn't be so bad.
As for the rest of the show, it sounds worth watching. Angle/Eddie should be fun, and Cena/Reigns could be decent filler until they go with an Angle/Cena blow off. Hopefully JBL will get a (probably tainted) win over Taker to solidify him as a main event heel. In spite of the hatred for him round these parts I think he's done a really good job since being given his chance with strong promos and matches garnering him decent heat. SD needs top heels even with Angles return, and JBL's shown he can make a pretty darned good fist of being just that.
No Vinny Mac. No Shane O' Fat. AND NOOOO BIG STEPH!!!
Didn't Vince say that his McMental kids were actually shy and preferred to be off camera? Look McMental Dweebs, you've been off my t.v. Now, STAY OFF MY T.V.!!!
Originally posted by Mayhem last weekIt'll be interesting to see if Vince shows up next week since Smackdown (storyline-wise) seems to be somewhat in a state of disarray.
Someone give this man a cookie. Good job.
Smackdown! has gotten about 50% better each week for the past three weeks and has actually made me want to watch it.
The SD! SummerSlam matches look great to me. Angle-Eddie will be a helluva blowoff match to their long feud that has continued even with Angle being inactive.
Wow. For the first time in a long time I'm excited about Smackdown!
I dunno what the hell they're thinking by not using Hass ... I'd like to see him Angle convince him to turn heel, telling him that he was the strongest link in the WGTT and Shelton was holding him back. There you have a nice little stable of Angle, Haas, Reigns & Miss Jackie (who is confused about who to side with when Rico comes back). This can lead to a Haas/Rico feud, where Rico has a new found friend in Jamie Noble ... now that's truly the Odd Couple tag team.
Face Vince? Yeah, that'll last. Seriously, I'm glad to see Angle on the roster again and all, but what's up with firing the divas two weeks in a row? He did that last week, I recall. That was the last straw for Vince to come back. Not the injury thing, but the divas, because we know that Big Mac needs his oats sowed somewhere.
I can't buy Vince as a face at all at this point. Same guy who unashamedly whooped his daughter's ass on a freakin' PPV for god's sake. Same guy who allowed a GM to force himself on his own wife. I'm thinking in storyline terms, remember that. Sorry, I know I officially left the demographic ages ago, but I NEVER cheer people like that, and never will.
But from the sounds of things, it looks like we'll hit the yearly McMahon quota again.
Originally posted by chillHe fired referee Tony Chimmel over last week.
Um, I know I haven't been paying too much attention to Smackdown! lately, but isn't Chimmel the ring announcer and not a referee?
YOUR CONTINUED HERESY AGAINST THE WRESTLING GODS HAS DOOMED YOU TO SPEND ETERNITY WATCHING A MORDECAI VS. KENZO SUZUKI IRON-MAN MATCH (and Hiroko isn't at ringside for you to oogle).
Originally posted by RingmistressFace Vince? Yeah, that'll last. Seriously, I'm glad to see Angle on the roster again and all, but what's up with firing the divas two weeks in a row? He did that last week, I recall.
I think that never made it to TV last week. Certainly *I* don't remeber seeing it but I was rather woozy at the time and caffeine was yet to kick in, so it could have just as easily been there and passed me by I suppose.
Originally posted by RingmistressFace Vince? Yeah, that'll last. Seriously, I'm glad to see Angle on the roster again and all, but what's up with firing the divas two weeks in a row? He did that last week, I recall. That was the last straw for Vince to come back. Not the injury thing, but the divas, because we know that Big Mac needs his oats sowed somewhere.
I can't buy Vince as a face at all at this point. Same guy who unashamedly whooped his daughter's ass on a freakin' PPV for god's sake. Same guy who allowed a GM to force himself on his own wife. I'm thinking in storyline terms, remember that. Sorry, I know I officially left the demographic ages ago, but I NEVER cheer people like that, and never will.
But from the sounds of things, it looks like we'll hit the yearly McMahon quota again.
Er, didn't Hunter set out to repeatedly Pedigree his estranged wife during their divorce proceedings (who he at first appeared to marry by getting her drunk and taking her to a drive-thru chapel), and try to cripple his best friend with a sledgehammer?
Vince works as a face only when he is seen as a Deus Ex Machina device. Even then, you're not really cheering him. You're cheering because he's setting something up. It was the same when he showed up on Raw prior to Wrestlemania to set up the assorted matches there. But if he sticks around for more than two weeks, then there's just a natural tendency to boo the guy.
Vince can be an effective long (ish)-term. Example: in 2001 when he was 'the familiar face of WWF'. He was MAJOR over if my memory serves me correctly, possibly moreso than he has been since Austin/McMahon ended. In fact, he was one of the stars of that angle, with the gravity he treated the situation with telling you that MAYBE WWF mightn't survive after all. Sure his seedy heel character might have more zing to it, but he could definitely do fine as a face interim GM until he finds someone suitable not named McMahon to fill the void.