WWE Smackdown
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
October 17, 2002
Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz
Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel
The past week has been an unmitigated disaster for WWE. With the controversial, distasteful and god awful Katie Vick storyline plus Triple H's infamous Reign of Terror in full effect, Raw was an abomination to sit through. Last week's Smackdown wasn't much better with the Al Wilson saga ongoing and the whole Undertaker/Tracy storyline. The broken hand and Matt Hardy as a stooge for Brock Lesnar angles weren't enough apparently. Still, the silver lining is we got the semi-finals for the WWE Tag Team Championship this week. So...ya know...there's that. Before we do anything we got some dark matches.
Dark Match 1
Charlie Haas and Sylvian Grenier vs Bull Buchanan and Red Dogg
Its an OVW explosion as Haas, Grenier and Red Dogg get another tryout match. All 3 were just months away from being on TV full time. Haas and the local Canadian Grenier win it when Haas forced Dogg to submit.
Winners: Haas and Grenier by submission
Dark Match 2
Scott Vick vs Tyson Dux
The artist formerly known as Sick Boy takes on local Canadian Tyson Dux. Tyson Dux' whole gimmick was a spoof on kickboxer Frank Dux. He would come and go for tapings. Vick wins it with the vertebreaker.
Winner: Vick by pinfall
Dark Match 3
Shelton Benjamin vs Val Venis
Benjamin was completing his trial run before he was being called up. Just like the others, he was just months away from his main roster debut. Venis still wins with an arm bar submission.
Winner: Venis by submission
Now let's get started with the show. We open with a montage of the god awful Tracy storyline....ugh. Tonight we have Jamie Noble vs Nidia after they yelled at each other last week. Thankfully we got Los Guerreros vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit later. Let's get to our first match.
Match 1
Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr vs Reverend D'Von and Ron Simmons
Edge gets a monster pop in his hometown and he starts with Ron to start. Simmons backs him into the corner and kicks him in the ribs. Edge fights his way out of it but a shoulderblock goes nowhere. Ron "Is that all you got, punk?" Edge drops him with a forearm and a second rope dropkick. Ron gets a jawbreaker in and tags in D'Von. D'von runs right into a face plant and tags in Mysterio. Mysterio hits the springboard and a snapmare followed by a dropkick. Rey does a hurracarana to Simmons and a drop-toe hold onto the second rope to D'Von. Rey goes for the 619 but misses. Rey runs right into the spinebuster by Simmons and he stomps away on him. D'Von chops Rey in the chest but Rey ducks the line. D'Von overhead press slams Rey and goes up to the second rope. D'Von misses the elbow drop and Rey hits a spinning heel kick. Edge gets the tag and he hits a second rope clothelsine before taking out Simmons with a dropkick as well. Edge backdrops D'Von and a faceslam on Ron. Edge-O-Matic on D'Von and cover only gets a two. Rey springboard dropkicks Ron through the ropes to the outside and hits a plancha. D'Von gets whipped into the corner and Edge hits a shoulderblock. Edge launches Rey over his head into a hurricarana on D'Von. Edge covers but Simmons breaks it up. Edge runs into a powerslam but Rey pulls the top rope down to dump Simmons. Rey hits the 619 on D'Von but Simmons blocks the West Coast Pop with a powerbomb. Ron turns around into a spear by Edge. Edge counters Saving Grace with the Edgecution. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match and advance. Edge and Rey will be at No Mercy. Good match for crash style and they definitely were showcasing the talents of Edge and Rey in this one.
Time of match: 4:40
Winners: Edge and Mysterio by pinfall
The faces have no time to celebrate as Los Guerreros hit the ring to attack Edge and Mysterio. They double team Edge after throwing Mysterio out. Chavo hits a brainbuster on Edge and Eddie hits the frog splash on him. The Guerreros leave the faces sprawled out.....which is kind of a dumb move. They still have to face Kurt and Chris later. We cut to Funaki SMACKDOWN NUMBA WUN ANNOUNCA. He's with Tajiri and they speak in Japanese before Nidia shows up and they speak in Spanish. Have to remember the US is the only country in the world where people can barely speak English let alone multiple languages. Nidia says he wants to beat the hell out of Jamie Noble, come out on top and have him begging for mercy. Jamie himself walks in and they flirt with each other until Nidia slaps him. Funaki and Tajiri restrain them as we cut to commercial. Now we go to our next match.
Match 2
Jamie Noble vs Nidia with Tajiri as special guest referee
These two had a scrap the week before and now they're going to settle it in the ring by dragging their buddy Tajiri in as the referee. Tajiri tries to play peacemaker to start but Nidia shoves him twice. Jamie piefaces her down at the bell and she boots him in the twig and berries. Nidia pounds on his back and Jamie shoves her off. She jumps on his back and he flips her over. Jamie says that's enough and she cradles him up for a two count. Jamie takes her down and they roll around but Noble refuses to punch her. She sunset flips him for a one count then executes a drop toe hold. She dropkicks him but misses the second attempt. Jamie yells at her to stop and she rakes the eyes. She boots him in the chest, then the ribs but he blocks her ddt attempt. Nidia flips off the ropes for a sunset flip but Noble grabs the rope and holds on for 1...2....3 to win the match. Tajiri raises Noble's hands and tries to console Nidia, but she slaps him. Tajiri stalks her but then Noble starts beating him down with Nidia joining in. Noble hits a tiger driver on Noble and makes out with Nidia. Almost a pointless segment other than to garner sympathy for Tajiri for getting in the middle of this mess.
Time of match: 2:03
Winnner: Noble by pinfall
Back to Undertaker in the locker room looking serious. Guess he's going to show up later. Back from commercial Michael Cole and Tazz ask Undertaker what's up. He says he's not a liar but he did lie about knowing Tracy. He apparently banged her before he met Sara and he hadn't seen her in seven years. He doesn't know what she wants or if she's been paid off. He says the last week of his life has been a living hell thanks to Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. He says the hell he's been through is nothing compared to the hell he's going to put them through this Sunday.
We cut here to Chavo and Eddie walking down the hall with Eddie sporting a big shiner. Eddie and Chavo open the locker room door and Chris Benoit is standing there. Eddie asks what the look is for and Benoit doesn't say a word. Eddie deducts that Benoit thinks Eddie jumps him and Guerrero gets progressively angrier. Even Chavo is disgusted and Benoit still hasn't said anything yet. Eddie says they came from WCW together and went from Raw to Smackdown together. Eddie then cries and says Benoit was there for him when he went through his personal problems and cries on his shoulder with Chavo patting his head. Chris backs off and Eddie screams he's hurting his feelings. Eddie goes berserk and demands Chris hit him. Eddie continues to scream and has to be restrained by Chavo. Chavo tells him to cool off and asks how Benoit could do this to him. That was one of the funniest segments ever with Eddie going from all sorts of different emotions with Benoit not saying a single thing.
Cut to Brock Lesnar, Tracy and Paul Heyman entering the arena. Tracy calls Undertaker a liar and Brock Lesnar says to take it up with Stephanie McMahon. What the hell could SHE possibly want with them? On to the next match.
Match 3
Billy Kidman vs John Cena
Apparently John Cena wasn't too happy with losing last week's match. We get a pre-match promo saying Kidman cost them the match last week and he better get used to losing. Ruh roh! Bell's gone and Cena starts with an arm-ringer before backing Billy in the corner. Kidman counters with a hiptoss and they exchange go-behinds as the announcers care so much that they babble on about The Undertaker's plight. Kidman's roll gets blocked then Cena blocks an arm drag with a single leg trip. Cena slingshots Kidman over the top rope to the floor to finally get the announcers' attention. Cena throws Kidman back in and covers for a two count. Cena puts the boots to Kidman and sends him back first into the corner. Cena looks at the crowd with disdain as its pretty obvious a heel turn is coming. Cole then babbles on about Eddie Guerrero....and this is ALL Vince here. I expect this on Velocity and Heat, but can we call the damn match in the ring on your A show? Kidman walks into a back elbow smash and Cena's near fall gets two. Cena stomps on Kidman's lower back and gets a forearm to the back. Cena hits a back suplex and covers for two and John starts to get frustrated. Kidman rallies with right hands but Cena backhands him. Cena hits a delayed vertical suplex and covers for another two count. Cena can't believe it and locks in a surfboard. The crowd starts chanting Cena Sucks 10 years before it was cool to do so. A charge by Cena eats boot and Kidman hits a flying back elbow off the second rope. Kidman gets a two count but walks right into a DDT by Cena. John covers for a deuce but Kidman sunset flips Cena for another two count. Kidman hits an enziguiri and goes for the seven year itch. Cena stops him but Kidman counters with a facebuster off the top. A cover gets 1...2....nooooo. Kidman walks into a backslide and Cena uses the ropes for 1...2....3 to win the match. Cena CHEATS to win and we got a brand new heel on the roster. Now as of right now, Cena as a heel is definitely worth trying...but in two weeks he'd get the gimmick needed to take him to the top. As for now, Cena wins a decent match.
Time of match: 5:38
Winner: Cena by pinfall
Back to Stephanie McMahon in her office here comes Tracy, Heyman and Lesnar. Tracy yells at her and says they slept together days ago. I know the actress is only playing a role, but for kayfabe reasons who the hell is some random lady to yell at the general manager? Imagine some random lady storming into Eric Bischoff's office and starts yelling at him. Jamal and Rosey would lay her out in record time. Instead Stephanie says she has no respect for anyone so she's no longer welcome on Smackdown. Looks like I spoke too soon. Stephanie throws Tracy out and Heyman says what's going to happen in the future with Lesnar as the future. Matt Hardy is a key to the future of Smackdown but Taker is in the twilight of his career. Heyman continues to say its interest of the future of Smackdown to not let Taker use the cast in Hell In A Cell. Stephanie says he'll take his request in consideration and she'll give her answer later. Stephanie says Lesnar is up next against Chuck Palumbo. With Billy Gunn out of action, Chuck is on his own so it makes sense to feed him to Lesnar. Funny how Matt Hardy did have a good run on Smackdown with Mattitude but Taker would be the future of Smackdown for almost 10 years after.
We get a graphic for a mixed tag match later with Rikishi and Torrie Wilson against Matt Hardy and Dawn Marie just before break. Back from commercial The Undertaker is in Stephanie's office. Undertaker bitches and moans that Tracy is a lying bitch and Stephanie tells him to calm down. He's mad that Stephanie is even considering him to take the cast off when Taker says Brock broke his hand to begin with. Taker says let me show you how offensive he can be and he smashes a lamp. On to the match.
Match 4
Chuck Palumbo vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman)
Cole gives the news that Billy Gunn was hurt in London, Ontario and will be out a while. This is a non-title match and Chuck bum rushes Lesnar to start. Chuck slugs away at Brock with right hands but Brock backs Chuck int he corner with shoulderblocks. Palumbo whips Lesnar off and hits a big right hand followed by a big boot. Brock is unfazed and clotheslines Chuck down. Palumbo is whipped into the corner and Brock pulls him kidney first into the ringpost. Lesnar inside stomps away at Chuck and steps on him with the boot. Brock delivers another clothesline as Heyman calls for another one. Brock levels Chuck with a second clothesline but Chuck starts rallying with right hands. A kneelift drops Chuck and Brock chokes him on the second rope with his knee. Brock executes a vertical suplex and covers for 1...2...nope. Lesnar gets two more near falls and pounds away on Chuck. Palumbo gets whipped in the corner and walks right into an overhead belly to belly suplex by Lesnar. Brock does a single leg into a waistlock and Heyman shouts to squeeze him like he did Hulk Hogan. Tazz says Heyman isn't micced up, he's just that loud. Palumbo makes it to the ropes but Brock drills Palumbo into a tree of woe. Brock charges and hits a shoulderblock but Chuck mule kicks Lesnar on the second attempt. Paul "Is that legal??" I don't know but it sure looked good. Brock charges again but eats ringpost. Palumbo rallies with shoulderblocks and right hands before delivering an overhead suplex of his own. Palumbo misses the roaring elbow but hits two superkicks to put Lesnar down. Chuck covers for 1....2....noooo, Brock grabbed the bottom rope. Chuck continues to punch away but Brock switches out of a double arm suplex to hit one of his own. Palumbo tries another kick but Lesnar clotheslines his head off. Brock does a backbreaker and throws Palumbo into F-5 position. Lesnar hits the F-5 and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Literally before the bell even rings Undertaker hits the ring and coldcocks Lesnar with the cast. Taker starts beating up security coming into the ring as Lesnar is busted wide open. Taker chases Brock away as Heyman shrieks that Lesnar is bleeding. Guess they wanted to even things a bit with Brock lacerated 3 days before No Mercy. As for the match, Brock dismantled Palumbo and it was a 6 minute squash. So much for him.
Time of match: 6:28
Winner: Lesnar by pinfall
Back from break we got to the replay of Taker bloodying Lesnar and Cole asks if this will impact Stephanie's decision. Meanwhile Torrie Wilson is stretching before her match when she spots Al Wilson a mile away. She runs all the way down the hall to say hi and its not supposed to be funny, but little things like that is worth a laugh. Al says he just couldn't miss her match and Torrie wants Al to stay away from Dawn Marie. Al hands her flowers and says she'll see him in a few minutes. She hands Jan the makeup lady the flowers and we cut to the ring.
Match 5
Dawn Marie and "V1" Matt Hardy vs Torrie Wilson and Rikishi
Its the debut of the V1 Mattitude loading screen entrance followed by Monster Magnet. Still one of the best entrances of the Ruthless Aggression era. "Matt Hardy has beaten Undertaker 2 straight times" Ha! Bell rings and we start with the girls. Matt tags in but Torrie tags out to Rikishi, causing Matt to hilariously tag out to Dawn. Dawn calls him disgusting and slaps him across the face. Dawn ducks under a big right hand but Rikishi press slams her over his head. He throws her into Matt Hardy and drops him with a right hand. Torrie tags in and starts with a swinging neckbreaker. Cole says its Torrie vs Dawn one on one at No Mercy as Wilson's charge in the corner eats boot. Dawn goes for the Flair Pin but Torrie kicks out. Dawn stomps away but she eats a boot to the head. Torrie scoop slams Dawn and tags Rikishi in. He goes for the Rikishi drop but Dawn moves out of the way and tags in Matt. Matt goes for a sunset flip but crawls away realizing what he's done. Matt runs into a clothesline but Matt counters with Side Effect. Matt misses the second rope legdrop but Rikishi blocks Twist of Fate. Rikisgi hits a chokeslam and a savate kick but Dawn jumps on his back. Rikishi with Dawn on his back avalanches the heels in the corner. Torrie hits a splash of her own and Rikishi hits another one. Dawn and Hardy fall into the corner and Rikishi does a stinkface to Dawn because Matt used her as a shield. The ref tells Rikishi to scram as Torrie does an inside cradle. Matt rolls Torrie on top for 1...2....3 to win the match. Matt grabs Torrie after the match but she low blows him. Torrie slaps Dawn and Rikishi avalanches Matt in the corner. Matt falls in the corner and Rikishi goes for the stinkface but Torrie stops him and says she wants to do it instead. Matt gets excited and Torrie hikes up her shorts. Matt closes his eyes and Torrie and Rikishi switch places, Rikishi delivering the stinkface after all. This match screams of Vince comedy filler, moving on.
Time of match: 3:59
Winners: Hardy and Marie by pinfall
Back to Lesnar getting stitched up with an irate Paul Heyman pacing around behind him. Heyman rants and raves but Lesnar says he'll be fine. He demands Paul to go tell Stephanie to get Taker's cast off at No Mercy. A graphic shows our main event of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit against Los Guerreros in the tournament semi-finals before we cut to break. Back from break, Heyman pleads his case to Stephanie and Paul does NOT get blood on his jacket. Heyman picks up the broken lamp and says that could have been Brock or Stephanie's head. Stephanie says she'll make her decision and Heyman continues to scream and shout. Stephanie tells him to get out as we cut to Cole & Tazz to run down No Mercy's card. Of the seven matches, only three are from Smackdown. Torrie vs Dawn, the tag title finals and Brock vs Taker. That means the losers of the tag title finals don't even wrestle on the card.
We cut to Benoit and Angle and now Angle is the one cutting a promo on Chris without Benoit saying anything. Kurt says Chris is jealous of his gold medals then catches himself and thinks Chris thinks he had something to do with the Guerreros attack last week. Kurt says he wouldn't do that, he'd beat him up face to face. Kurt says they face a one year suspension if things go wrong and he wouldn't know what to do with himself, he doesn't need the Olympics. Did Chris have laryngitis or something? He hasn't said a word yet.
After break we get the Don't Try This At Home commercial that would be unskippable on every single WWE DVD for the next three years. We cut to Torrie running into Jan looking for her dad. Apparently the flowers weren't for her, they were for Dawn Marie. Torrie makes a mad dash looking for her father and some random dude says he's just around the corner. She bursts into the lockerroom and finds them in the shower together. Yes, they went THAT far. Dawn is completely naked while Al is fully clothed. Torrie is disgusted and runs off as Tazz laughs that he knew it. The camera shot of Dawn naked was one of the most zoomed in segments in WWE history on the internet forums. Finally we get to our main event.
Match 6
Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Jr) vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit
Semi-final match to determine who goes to No Mercy to face Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr. Kurt jaws at Chris before the Guerreros enter and still Chris says nothing. Edge and Mysterio attack the Guerreros before they get in the ring as revenge for earlier. Rey hits a hurracarana off the apron on Chavo but Kurt Angle attacks Edge and beats him down in the ring, which makes no sense. Edge spears Angle and Rey hits the 619 on Benoit. Edge and Rey celebrate in the ring before they leave. The match hasn't even started yet! Back from commercial Eddie stomps away at Kurt in the corner. Eddie continues to lay it in on Kurt but gets dropped with a back elbow smash. Angle hiptosses an interfering Chavo and pounds on Eddie in the corner. Eddie is whipped into the corner and clotheslined by Kurt. Angle covers for a two count then suplexes Guerrero followed by another near fall. Benoit tags in who pounds on Guerrero then chops him in the corner. Benoit drops Eddie with a back elbow smash then covers for a two count. Benoit hits a backbreaker and covers for another near fall. The crowd chants Benoit Sucks before Angle tags in. Eddie drops Kurt with another back elbow then Chavo tags in. Chavo delivers a left arm clothesline and covers for a two count. Chavo punches away on Kurt but runs into an overhead suplex. Kurt taunts Eddie then tags Benoit back in. Chris kicks away on Chavo and drops him with a knee to the ribs. Chris hits a back suplex and covers for a two count. Chris does another left arm clothesline and covers for a deuce. Chavo counters another left arm clothesline attempt with a back suplex. Chavo locks in a chinlock then tags Eddie in. Eddie forearms Benoit as the crowd chants Angle loudly. Chris counters a suplex with the crossface but Chavo makes the save. Chavo tags in but Benoit chops away at him. Chavo counters with chops of his own and snapmares Chris into a chinlock. The crowd chants "We want Angle" as Benoit powers out of it with chops. Eddie gets a knee to the back to Benoit and Chavo dropkicks him. Chavo covers for 1...2...nope. Eddie tags in and hits a hilo into the sternum. Eddie waits for Chris to move and kicks away at him. Eddie cheapshots Angle off the apron as Chavo chokes Benoit on the apron. Love the way everyone in the ring read the crowd. The crowd was chanting for Kurt so the Guerreros isolated Benoit to put Kurt in position to get the hot tag. Chavo gets backed into the corner but a charge eats elbow. Chavo goes up to the top but Chris catches him and hits a superplex. Kurt get the hot tag and he unloads on both Guerreros. Kurt backdrops Eddie and hits a german suplex on Chavo. Kurt overhead suplexes Eddie and covers for 1...2..nope, Chavo saves it. Chavo dropkicks Kurt but Benoit sends him sternum first in to the corner. Chris does a german suplex but Eddie kicks Benoit. Benoit then german suplexes Eddie then goes up to the top. He hits the top rope headbutt on Eddie and Angle covers for 1...2..no, Chavo stops it again. Chavo hits a brainbuster on Kurt and clotheslines himself & Benoit over the top to the floor. Eddie covers Kurt for 1...2....nope. Eddie calls for the frogsplash but Kurt plays possum. He goes to run up the ropes but Eddie throws him off and hits the frogsplash. Eddie covers for 1...2..noooooo, Chris pulls Eddie off. Chris gets the crossface on Eddie and backdrops Chavo over the top and out. Eddie goes for an O'Connor Roll that knocks both Benoit and referee Mike Sparks out of the ring. Eddie locks in the El Paso Lasso but there's not referee. Kurt rolls through it and locks in the ankle lock in the middle of the ring. Eddie taps but there's no referee. Chavo goes to hit Angle with a chair but Benoit takes it from him. Chavo begs off but Benoit extends his hand. Chavo shakes it and tells Benoit to hit Kurt with a chair. Kurt lets go of the ankle lock and backs off only for Chris to waffle Chavo with it. Benoit cracks Eddie in the back with it and Kurt hits Eddie with the Angle Slam. Benoit throws the ref back inside and Angle covers for 1....2....3 to win the match. One of the best tag matches on Smackdown this year hands down and the tag title finals are set. Its going to be Angle & Benoit against Edge & Mysterio. Kurt celebrates in the ring as we get a replay of the last minute of the match. Chris and Kurt leave victorious and Kurt tells him good job. Good job to all four of them.
Time of match: 10:34
Winners: Angle & Benoit by pinfall
Backstage Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd is pacing back and forth outside Stephanie's office. Mark asks if she's made up her mind about the cast and she says she's made her decision....but she's doing it in the ring. Back from commercial Stephanie heads to the ring and brings out Brock with Heyman in tow. We get a highlight of Taker wiping out security and referees earlier before busting open Lesnar. Lesnar's head is taped up as Stephanie goes over the pros and cons of Taker being able to use the cast. Stephanie says Taker WILL be able to use the cast and Lesnar backs her into a corner. Lesnar gets up in her face and starts stroking her hair like a deranged lunatic. Suddenly Undertaker shows up and gets a spinebuster by Lesnar. Lesnar stomps on the cast of Taker and Heyman screams "YOU WANT HELL SUNDAY! YOU GOT HELL THIS SUNDAY!" Lesnar leaves the ring but Heyman stays behind to taunt Taker. Taker takes down Heyman and hits him with the cast then waffles Lesnar with it as well. Heyman is busted wide open and Taker beats the daylights out of him in between knocking Brock off the apron. Taker beats Heyman into a bloody mess as Lesnar retreats with the WWE title. Taker has Heyman's blood all over the cast and says Lesnar is next. We fade to black right here.
The show started as a house of fire with Edge and Mysterio then dragged with the Jamie Noble/Nidia match then picked up with Kidman/Cena. All in all it served its purpose to hype up the tag title finals, Lesnar vs Taker and Torrie vs Dawn Marie. Still, another important moment was John Cena's heel turn which wouldn't pay dividends for another few weeks....but at least its a start. We got two more pieces of business before we get to No Mercy. We got a house show Saturday night featuring the stars of Raw in Texarkana, Arkansas then this week's Velocity. I'll see you all in Arkansas for the Raw house show.
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