The taping opened with Kurt Angle was in the ring, in his wheelchair. He demanded that Booker T and John Cena apologize for what happened to him last week when the two men knocked him out of his chair during their fisticuffs. Booker apologized to Angle, but Cena refused to. So, Angle told Cena that he had to wrestle Rob Van Dam, Rene Dupree and Booker T tonight. The first one to beat him tonight will get a US Title match against Cena at the Great American Bash.
Next was the debut of Kenzo Suzuki, who was carried out to the ring in "King Mabel" style and was with his wife. He beat Scotty Too Hotty in a pretty bad match.
Backstage, they did a bit where Angle it was stated that Cena's three challengers would draw straws to see who wrestled him when.
They did a vignette where Bradshaw was shown getting a manicure.
Rey Mysterio beat Chavo Guerrero Jr. after Chavo Classic's interference backfired.
A vignette aired that showed Paul Heyman with the Dudleys at an "unknown location" where they were keeping Paul Bearer. Heyman told the Dudleys that they didn't realize what kind of anger they had unleashed in the Undertaker. Heyman said he was going to go to Nassau Coliseum to talk to the Undertaker.
John Cena's three man challenge was next.
Booker T went first, and he and Cena battled to a five minute draw.
Rob Van Dam was out next, and RVD hit the frog splash as time was running out. He didn't make the cover in time, so that match ended in a five minute draw as well.
Cena then faced Rene Dupree but that match ended in a five minute draw as well.
Kurt Angle ordered an additional five minutes, and Cena pinned Dupree with the FU. Angle said that the pin didn't count, and then ordered that Cena defend the U.S. Title against Rene Dupree, Booker T and Rob Van Dam at the Great American Bash in a four way match. Booker and Dupree then attacked Cena, but RVD made the save. After Booker and Dupree were run off, RVD made a gesture to Cena that he wanted the belt. RVD ended up laying out Cena with a kick before leaving.
Bradshaw's limo arrived at the building. Bradshaw got out, then said he didn't need to wrestle tonight, so he was going to head back to New York City. He got back into the limo, and we saw that Eddie Guerrero was now driving the limo as it took off into the night.
Mordecai defeated Paul London.
The limo returned to the building, with Eddie crashing it into things. Eddie drove it to ringside, and we saw that Bradshaw, unconscious and covered in garbage, was still in the limo. Eddie got out and had the crowd scream to wake up Bradshaw. As Bradshaw stumbled out of the limo in shambles, Guerrero said that at the Great American Bash, Bradshaw would be as banged up as his limo was. Bradshaw was trying to put broken pieces back on his limo, and was very upset over what Eddie had done to his limo.
Paul Heyman came to the ring, and announced that tonight would "change the course of wrestling" as either the Undertaker would join him, or the Undertaker would destroy him. Undertaker came out, and it appeared that he was going to go after Heyman, but Heyman pulled out the urn, and Undertaker dropped to one knee in his classic "worshipping the urn" pose. That ended the TV taping.
After the taping ended, they did a brief Bradshaw-Undertaker confrontation for the live audience.
credit: PWInsider.com
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Tied for 9th: St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators Tied for 5th:Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche Tied for 3rd:San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers Second:Calgary Flames The Champion:Tampa Bay Lightning
The one thing I REALLY dislike about SmackDown now is that the writers seem to not care one bit about the undercard. I mean, what do we have for Great American Bash?
Eddie Guerrero v. John 'Bradshaw' Layfield Undertaker v. Dudley Boyz John Cena v. Booker T v. Rob Van Dam v. Rene Dupree
But, other than that, can anyone think of ANYTHING that could be thrown on that card? Mysterio v. Chavo v. Chavo in a three way, maybe? But what else. There are NO storylines going on outside of the main-eventers. Sure, Vince has always been known as a guy who focused on the main-events, and treated the undercard as an afterthought. But, this is ridiculous. On Raw, you have Hunter v. Shawn, Benoit v. Edge, Benoit/Edge v. La Rez, Benoit v. Kane (somewhat), Kane v. Matt/Lita, Shelton v. Evolution, Jericho v. Tomko/Christian/Trish, ALL the women feuding, Eugene/Regal v. Coach/Bischoff, and probably more if I could think about it. SmackDown has three programs going on, and that's IT! They need to start putting more focus on the undercard guys and try to round-out the show.
Oh, and, uh, the show looks alright this week. Rey v. Chavo and the US Title stuff looks good. But, Mordecai AND Suzuki?
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
The early report released by the Norfolk Scope (IIRC) for the entire GAB card was:
Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
Guerrero v. Bradshaw Undertaker v. Dudley Boyz Cena v. Booker Rey v. Jindrak RVD v. Dupree Kenzo v. ? Haas & Rico v. Chavo y Chavo Torrie & Jackie v. Dawn & Sable
The Undertaker-Heyman thing does seem pretty interesting, going with the current wave of retro style storylines and characters. Im curious what the crowd reaction will be like towards Bradshaw. I guess most fans arent even aware of his Germany antics, but there will be mainstream pub about this tomorrow in several major papers. Bradshaw has potential to become the biggest heel ever since Sgt Slaughter, or Vince. I saw Mordecai debut at Judgement Day, and he's still a major let down. But I'll give him a chance, but his face doesnt go with his character; everytime I see him he has that chubby kinda kid face like Brock Lesner. Maybe his feud with the Undertaker will surprise me. Looks like the Booker T vodoo gimmick got nixed; I was actually a little curious at first, but I guess it turned out for the best. He's better off feuding with Cena. Looking back when Booker got his main event push in WCW, it's just a damn shame how his story turned out.
My main problem with Mordecai is that it's SO OBVIOUS that the only thing he's there for is a feud with Undertaker, so anything he does in the meantime just doesn't matter. And since 'Taker just started a new thing with Heyman & The Dudleys, I'm guessing we're just going to see more jobber destruction and more of those "Undertaker in white" vignettes that he's been doing to waste time.
He's supposedly "impressing management with his willingness to learn," so like it or hate it, at least it seems like they are going to stick with it and TRY to make it work.
This whole Taker/Heyman bit is intriguing, but it has me confused. So did UT turn heel and join Heyman's stable, or does he still wanna f*ck up Paul and the Dudleyz, but is paralyzed by the POWER OF THE URN?
If the above spoilers for the GAB card are correct, I guess it's the latter, but I'm still not clear on the whole thing. Oh well, perhaps the crack WWE writing staff will clarify the situations w/ further episodes.
Wait...this is the SmackDown! WWE writing staff, right? Aw, f*ck.
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
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After a quarter of a century on this planet, there's three things I know for sure... 1)Ain't nothing like a Dirty Pair marathon on New Year's Eve. 2)I'd make a fine Mrs. HHH II. 3) I'd make an acceptable Mrs. Orton. 1400 reasons to luv me!
Honestly, it could be a lot worse. It hasn't reached Thunder level yet, nor do I think it ever will. Eddie vs. Bradshaw will end up being ok in the very least. Their last outing was ok as well and Eddie can carry LBJ. The four way dance can be fun since RVD is need of a heel turn. Taker being evil is better than face, so it should be fun to see how go full darkside again. I don't mind him getting a title shot or two, because it beats LBJ or Renee seeing it.
Smackdown is on holding pattern now, so until the Bash is done if you don't like what you see turn it off and then come back the Thursday afterwards. I can defiantly see some changes soon.
The Eddie/Bradshaw angle is getting old now. Their match at Judgement Day was bad enough but now we have to suffer watching another between the two. :(
I'm guessing that Undertaker will still feud with Dudleyz. I think the end of SmackDown this week is just a "Oh my god! Undertaker TURNED!" thing, but next week will be the big swerve.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Originally posted by DWanabeLeonThe Undertaker won't turn. He's too over as a face to do so.
I don't think even Paul Heyman can get The Undertaker over as a heel.
(edited by DWanabeLeon on 9.6.04 2012)
I think it’s possible as long as the person he’s up against is a strong enough babyface, and as long as Taker himself runs with it and makes himself into a scary heel again. If booked properly, I think an Eddie vs. Heel Undertaker feud could be fantastic, especially if Heyman does most of Taker’s speaking for him. Having that as a main-event feud would go a long way towards carrying the show while they straighten out the other stuff.
But I’ll agree with the criticisms regarding the Smackdown undercard. It honestly feels like they’re just throwing stuff out at random to see if anything sticks, rather than having an actual direction. And they’re hurting themselves by making the cruiserweight division into one big group of jobbers who get fed to the few big guys on the roster for squash matches, because you effectively limit the number of guys who you can make look believably strong. If they’re made to look like chumps when they fight the bigger guys, then no one will care when they have matches against each other.
Originally posted by DWanabeLeonThe Undertaker won't turn. He's too over as a face to do so.
I don't think even Paul Heyman can get The Undertaker over as a heel.
(edited by DWanabeLeon on 9.6.04 2012)
I think it’s possible as long as the person he’s up against is a strong enough babyface, and as long as Taker himself runs with it and makes himself into a scary heel again. If booked properly, I think an Eddie vs. Heel Undertaker feud could be fantastic, especially if Heyman does most of Taker’s speaking for him. Having that as a main-event feud would go a long way towards carrying the show while they straighten out the other stuff
Ok, you've got me wanting that to happen now. Since UT is doing the old style character, having him be the silent killer heel would be pretty damn cool, especially with Heyman with him.
Regardless, I agree with above. He's too popular to turn him at the moment.
As long as they have wrestlers representing them and fighting for their respective side...First of all, the thought of Steph and Heyman going at it in the ring doesn't do anything for me...yikes. Second, Heyman (if his interview on WWE.