Don't worry, friends. There's only one month until Big Show comes back to save SmackDown! It's time for The Great Thomas SmackDown! Report!
Jindrak vs. RVD René Duprée joins us for Guest Commentary. Tazz breaks kayfabe by saying René is from Quebec. Jindrak broke up with Long?! What happened?! Jindrak goes on the offensive early. Squashing by Jindrak. Jindrak kicks RVD off the top rope and to the outside of the ring! Backdrop by Jindrak. Jump Kick by RVD! MONKEY FLIP! ROLLING THUNDER is foiled by Jindrak! Cole says Jindrak may be better off without Theodore Long. RVD wins via SPLIT-LEGGED MOONSAULT! Duprée makes faces. My analysis: Duprée is a better commentator than either Cole or Tazz.
LAST WEEK: JBL's match against Spike, and the Steel Cage challenge by Eddie.
Backstage: Josh Matthews interviews Bradshaw. Bradshaw says that he's concerned about his match next week, since he is a man's man, and he does not deserve to defend his title in such a barbaric match. However, his intestinal fortitude will pull him through. This week, however, he will defend his title against El Gran Luchador, the Champion of Mexico. He promises El Gran Luchador that, like next week against Eddie Guerrero, tonight's match will be a massacre.
Dudley Boyz vs. Kidman/London: MISSLE DROPKICK by London! DOUBLE SUPLEX to D-Von! DOUBLE FISTDROP! Bubba pulls London out of the ring. Back in the ring, D-Von beats down on London. Tag to Bubba. Bubba and D-Von work on London's knee. Bubba does a LEGDROP to London on the outside! Inside the ring, more squashing. BODYSLAM by D-Von! FLYING HEADBUTT misses! Tag to Kidman! Kidman is a HOUSE O' FIRE! WHASSUP HEADBUTT is foiled by London! Now London and Kidman hit the WHASSUP! BIG BOOT by London! SHOOTING STAR PRESS by Kidman! 1.. 2.. 3! OMG NEW TAG CHAMPS! WHAT AN UPSET! Kidman and London celebrate with their new titles!
Backstage: All the other midcarders throw a celebration for the new champs. The Dudleys show up, and offer a handshake. London and Kidman accept!
Meanwhile: Josh Matthews interviews Kenzo Suzuki. Hiroko translates: John Cena has dishonored him. Also, Kenzo is misunderstood. He loves America! In his own words: "God bress of Amelica." (But you're in Canada, Kenzo! Oops!)
John Cena: The Champ is here, and shamelessly sucking up to the crowd! I hate you, Cena. And you too, Cole. Thankfully, Kenzo Suzuki and Hiroko interrupt him. Kenzo ATTAX! But Cena deals with him quickly. But Luther Reigns comes in and hits his finisher! I think it's called "SHUTIME", or the "SHUSTOPPER". Cena is left crying in the ring, and I smile.
JBL vs. El Gran Luchador: Bradshaw shakes hands, which I heartily approve of. El Gran Luchador does wacky walking on the way to the ring. JBL brings out the HAND SANITIZER! Awesome. More wacky walking by Luchador. JBL gets to squashing Luchador. DROPKICK by Luchador! MOONSAULT! But JBL comes back quickly. VERTICAL SUPLEX by JBL! CLOTHESLINE! And ANOTHER! Tree of Woe, and a Chokeout. SUPER BACKDROP by JBL! Luchador is kicked outside. But ANOTHER LUCHADOR appears from under the ring, and kicks JBL out of the ring, and drops a banana peel in the ring, and disappears! JBL is confused. Outside the ring, the two Luchadores switch. JBL, not knowing, goes for the POWERBOMB, but the new Luchador escapes! Luchador hits the right hands, HE FIRES UP! THREE AMIGOS! Luchador tries going for what I presume to be the FROGSPLASH, but JBL flees the ring! Luchador grabs the mike, and tells JBL that he and Eddie are real tight, and he predicts that next week, Eddie's gonna climb that cage, and hit the biggest Frogsplash ever! My analysis: I wish El Gran Luchador wrestled in WWE more often. He's like Doink, anyone can be him!
Backstage: Josh Matthews interviews Booker T. Booker says that he's gonna win the US Title. Boy, Josh Matthews has done a lot of interviews tonight!
RAW Rebound: Musical chairs. Randy wins. Edge threatens Evolution. Eugene whacks Benoit. Triple H wants the belt.
Locker Room: The Dudleys pull Spike aside. They tell him that Spike is better off with his older brothers. Spike refuses their offer again.
Mysterio/Spike/Scotty vs. Chavo/Akio/Noble: WEIRD SUBMISSION by Mysterio! Cruiserweight moves galore! DDT by Mysterio! Chavo is tossed outside! TOP-ROPE STOMP by Spike! HEADSCISSORS! DUDLEY DOG to Noble! BACKBREAKER by Chavo! Scotyy hits the WORM! SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA by Akio! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT by Mysterio! Jamie Noble wins via TIGERDRIVER! What a match!
Backstage: Josh Matthews interviews Paul Heyman! Damn, Josh, are you trying to win some kind of WWE Journalism Award? Heyman has problems with the Undertaker, and he's gonna talk to him in the ring now!
LAST WEEK: Psycho music.
Paul Heyman: He made a huge mistake. But it was Bubba and D-Von's idea to abduct Paul Bearer (heh). Heyman's going to return Taker's urn to him. He wants Taker to let this whole situation slide. He cries for Undertaker to have pity on him.
SummerSlam: Regal and Eugene light the Olympic Torch. And Regal's arm as well.
Booker T vs. Cena: Mr. Angle is wheeled out by Luther. Booker gets the early advantage. But Cena makes a comeback, as expected. Where's Undertaker when you need him? FIVE KNUCKLE SHUFFLE by Cena! He pumps up the shoes! F-U is foiled! Booker tosses Cena out of the ring! Mr. Angle hobbles towards Cena... and breaks the cane over Cena's back! Let's go to bathroom break!
Booker T vs. Cena (cont.): I went to grab a Pepsi and some Skittles, so hopefully, I didn't miss any highspots. SPINEBUSTER by Booker T! LEG LARIAT! Mr. Angle cheers Booker on. "You're in control, baby!" Cena comes back with a DDT! Both men are knocked out of the ring. Cena counters Booker's attack, clotheslines Angle, and whacks Luther with the cane! Back in the ring, Cena hits the F-U, but Luther gets Booker DQ'd by attacking Cena. Angle grabs the mike, and tells Cena that he is stripping him of the US Title by order of the Board of Directors! YEEESSSSS! Angle wheels away with the Title. And.. we're out.
That's all for this week. Until then, Good Night, take care of yourselves, and now I'm off to bed. Meanwhile, Florida continues to suffer from wildfires. The smoke's actually worse than usual.
Personally, I thought tonight's show was the best SmackDown in several weeks (although, that's not saying much).
Are they building towards Dupree v. Van Dam, Dupree v. Jindrak, or Jindrak & Dupree teaming up.When I read the spoilers, I thought they'd be building towards RVD v. Dupree out of this match. However, the way they did it, it seemed more like they are going to start a team of Dupree & Jindrak. That's why they got rid of Teddy Long. This frees up Jindrak to go with Dupree. I could be wrong, but that's how I saw it.
I feel dirty saying it, but I've been LOVING Bradshaw lately. He's still got a LOOOOOOONG way to go in the ring. But his interviews and character development are tremendous. Shaking hands, then using hand sanitizer? CLASSIC! I still don't think he deserves to have been given the WWE Title, but I don't feel as bad about it as I did at first (I know, I can't believe I said it, either).
Is El Gran Luchador's title just the Women's belt with a sticker on it? Just wondering.
LOVED Kidman & London winning the Tag Titles. Great to see something good finally go Paul's way. I just hope it isn't a one or two week fluke reign, because that would accomplish nothing.
Kidman needs to retire the SSP. Give it to London. London's looks way nicer, and Kidman seems to have lost control of the move in recent years. I'm afraid he's going to end up seriously hurting someone, ala the Alan Funk/Sonny Siaki incident.
ENOUGH with the Sazuki push! Are the people in charge BLIND?!?! The man has ZERO talent. You saw through Nathan Jones. You saw through Jon Heidenreich. Why are you having such a difficult time seeing through Kenzo Sazuki?
HELL of a six-man cruiserweight match! Are they actually doing some type of storyline with Spike Dudley? Man, I don't think Spike's had an angle since 2001.
Nice long main-event. Wasn't too thrilled about Cena just getting stripped of the title. They might not want to job Cena out, but it would mean so much more to the title if the guy lost it in the middle of the ring. So is this heading towards a US Title tournament?
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
I haven't watched it yet(since I can't see it till Saturday) but didn't the Smackdown US Title Tourny conclude at Summerslam or something? I kind of get the feeling that this may become annual thing(ala, every summer slam is a tourny for the title)
El Gran Luchadore's dance can only herald the return of La Parka
That cruiser match was the best thing.....well, it was the best match I can actively remember on Smackdown since the Angle/Brock Ironman. Really nice show
Pretty good show. Cruiserweight match was a lot of fun, and they seem to be mixing things up. And BOY is that needed on Smackdown.
I actually thought that was one of Kidman's better Shooting Stars in awhile. He didn't stay up there and think about it for awhile...he just did it. But that "Wassup" spot on Bubba...THAT looked nasty.
El Gran Luchadore reminded me of a masked wrestler at the Smackdown house shows a few months back named La Conquistador. He did the Mr. Roboto amongst other things.
Teddy's no longer managing Haas? Heyman's not really managing the Dudley's? Suddenly managers are taboo again?
Whoopee, London got a title, they're doing things with him, he's worked hard for it, yadda yadda, yay and such...
Here's my problem with Kidman & London as Tag Team Champions.
The Cruiserweight Title is one thing; all the guys eligible to compete for it are small. The Tag Titles, however, are open to anybody. It's just not believable to me that two EXTREMELY small men can beat two men larger than them. Wrestling has many styles, some of which are capable of out-maneuvering larger guys. But when it comes down to the essence of wrestling (maybe I'm alone in this, but I think it's beating the crap out of another guy), larger men beat smaller men.
This is why I usually find it hard to suspend disbelief when cruiserweights are going up against other cruiserweights.
EDIT: It's hard to type when you're tired and have been (unintentionally) been inhaling paint vapors all day.
(edited by Nuclear Winter on 8.7.04 2331)
(edited by Nuclear Winter on 8.7.04 2332) Former President and First Lady Clinton honor President Reagan by catching some Z's (drudgereport.com)
While it wouldn't work all the time, in rare occasions like this, you can go with the old "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog" saying. Yes, wrestling is about one man beating the crap out of the other. But, it's also supposed to be about raw talent. That's why it has the nickname of "Human Chessgame". Just explain that Kidman & London are tough, never say die fighters who have all the skill in the world, and it makes sense that they are able to beat the Dudleyz. Besides, in this day and age, the fans don't really seem to care that much about size.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Originally posted by Nuclear WinterHere's my problem with Kidman & London as Tag Team Champions. The Cruiserweight Title is one thing; all the guys eligible to compete for it are small. The Tag Titles, however, are open to anybody. It's just not believable to me that two EXTREMELY small men can beat two men larger than them. Wrestling has many styles, some of which are capable of out-maneuvering larger guys. But when it comes down to the essence of wrestling (maybe I'm alone in this, but I think it's beating the crap out of another guy), larger men beat smaller men.
Well that's just silly. Tag team wrestling is about teamwork and chemistry. It is completely logical for two guys to beat up one guy, even if that guy is bigger than they are. Thus, a talented tag team utilizes the man advantage more than the other team, and wins. Both men rotate in and out, while one man on the other team gets worn out. Plus, if you buy most finishers, you tend to think of tag team finishers as more devastating than singles finishers. (e.g. Spike Piledriver, Hart Attack Clothesline, 3D) I am FAR MORE accepting of Kidman and London winning matches by being two excellent cruiserweights with loads of tandem offense than I am of Rikishi and Scotty being an average superheavyweight and a below-average cruiserweight with little to no tandem offense.
The Hardyz were able to believably battle with the Dudleyz, and they weren't bigger than cruiserweights...
Originally posted by shinstrifeI haven't watched it yet(since I can't see it till Saturday) but didn't the Smackdown US Title Tourny conclude at Summerslam or something? I kind of get the feeling that this may become annual thing(ala, every summer slam is a tourny for the title)
It ended at Vengeance with Eddie v. Benoit in the opening match.
Due to my town not getting UPN, I have to wait until either 11:45 or 12:45 for it to be on FOX(it changes from time to time), so I only catch Smackdown half of the time. But even my sister (who usually doesn't get into Smackdown as much, despite her favorite wrestler being on it) got into it tonight.
I missed most of the first match, due to having to switch the loads of laundry, but I still mark out for Fifi. *shrugs* I'm a dog person.
Haha, hand sanitizer...I guess I wasn't the only person who watched Cat in the Hat last night (my siblings made me do it). But still, it was a nice touch to his character. Just the utter ridiculous look of El Gran Luchador (AKA Shannon Moore) got a little laugh out of me.
HOLY CRAP! I remember thinking a couple months ago that London was next on the chopping block, but now he's got a title? Of course, I'll wait a couple of weeks to see if they retain it until I get too excited, but that's still cool.
My sister is a fan of Kenzo Suzuki. :\ Her: "Japanese people are COOL!". The forced smile got a good chuckle out of me though. But I must say, I'm actually enjoying Hiroko. Even if they fire or send Kenzo to OVW, I hope they keep Hiroko around as a manager (maybe for Akio and Sakoda). She could easily become my favorite woman on Smackdown, not that there's much competition (I do, however, enjoy Dawn Marie from time to time).
Throughout the match, my sister and I were trying to figure out who the Luchador was. She predicted Eddie (I kept quiet, so I wouldn't spoil it for her) while I predicted Shannon Moore (the body shape and moonsault gave it away). What the hell was the point of the banana peel?
The cruiser three way was an awesome match indeed.
While my sister and I usually have some disagreement on who's better in a match, both of us REALLY wanted Cena to lose. Cena's bored me so much lately, that I always go and do something else while he's doing some promo. Although I was happy to see the title stripped from Cena, I just have a feeling he'll win it right back.
A presidential election should be used to elect the best candidate for a country, right? Then do what I'm doing this fall and use the power of the write-in vote to vote for an apple pie. Hell, it will probably get more votes than the Green Party anyways.
Originally posted by Nuclear WinterIt's just not believable to me that two EXTREMELY small men can beat two men larger than them. Wrestling has many styles, some of which are capable of out-maneuvering larger guys. But when it comes down to the essence of wrestling (maybe I'm alone in this, but I think it's beating the crap out of another guy), larger men beat smaller men.
Not a big Rock & Roll Express or Rockers fan, huh?
“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.
"Your input has been noted. I hope you don't take it personally if I disregard it." -- Guru Zim
Originally posted by Nuclear WinterIt's just not believable to me that two EXTREMELY small men can beat two men larger than them. Wrestling has many styles, some of which are capable of out-maneuvering larger guys. But when it comes down to the essence of wrestling (maybe I'm alone in this, but I think it's beating the crap out of another guy), larger men beat smaller men.
Not a big Rock & Roll Express or Rockers fan, huh?
It was kinda funny that the vibe I got from that match was that the Rock & Roll Express was in that ring. I haven't been able to catch Velocity so I had not seen too much of Kidman/London but given a little bit more time, they could probably be the Rock & Roll Express of this generation.
Originally posted by BigTimboI haven't been able to catch Velocity so I had not seen too much of Kidman/London but given a little bit more time, they could probably be the Rock & Roll Express of this generation.
Thinking of their double-dropkick finisher got me to thinking about both Kidman and London using Shooting Star Presses. Does London still use it, and have there been tag team champs who rely on variations of the same finisher?
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Add me to the list of the people who thought this week's SD! was pretty good. Even Jindrak put on a half decent match against RVD. And JBL's promo was GOLD. I swear, if this were a mid card feud against Cena, we'd be praising the WWE for the Bradshaw reinvention.
On the minority side, I liked the Booker/Cena ending. The look on Angle's face as he was wheeled out clutching the belt was the perfect mix of desperation and defiance.
Only saw parts of the show, but wow, I can't believe the crowd pop London and Kidman got for the win. Not that I'm complaining....I don't think Jindrak/Long were clicking, so as much as I like Long, I'm glad to see this breakup....The cruiserweight six-man exhibited some athleticism you don't normally see on Smackdown, which is nice. Noble getting the pin was interesting, I thought. From what I saw, pretty good showing this week.
Only saw parts of the show, but wow, I can't believe the crowd pop London and Kidman got for the win.
Well, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but they cut a part of the match out. Right before the Dudley's lost, Bubba grabbed the mic outside the ring and yelled "Hey Kidman, you suck! You suck just like ALL THESE PEOPLE IN WINNIPEG SUCK!" as loud as he could. It seemed like kind of an indy thing to do to get the crowd to boo you (or cheer the opponent).
Just some quick opinions of my off and on watching of this weeks show.
Paul London doesn't even try bracing himself as he gets thrown to the outside, talk about splat... Don't know if this is a one time thing but Suzuki "God Bless America" kind of reminded me of the old Rougeau Brothers "We are all American boys! We love America, of course we Do. Look at our miniature flags!". That was one of my favorite old school gimmicks, but don't know if I want to see Suzuki doing it.
smark/net attack wienerville advisory is raised to YELLOW alert - Elevated (JBL is the new WWE champion, good gawd hide under the desk. But Benoit is World Champion allowing some safety in the IWC)- 6/28
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I turned it off after Mark Henry came down. They followed up a Khali-Cena squash with Mr. Henry. Yuck. And the whole thing wasn't broadcast in HD which made me want to change channels anyway.