Happy Halloween everyone, we are 17 days out from Survivor Series and Smackdown is on a hot streak in terms of in ring brilliance. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit has been a pleasure to watch and we also have WWE Champion Brock Lesnar facing a new threat, the 500 pound Big Show. Benoit and Angle on their own are draws but they're the tag champs with Los Guerreros gunning for them. Unfortunately we still have the dumb Al Wilson story but we're about to get the debut of a company altering gimmick, but I won't spoil what it is here in the intro. Let's get to the event.
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 31, 2002
Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz
We open the show with a costume party in catering. Faarooq is dressed as a pimp with Eddie Guerrero as Zorro and Chavo Guerrero Jr in a poncho & sombrero holding dynamite....not that any of this is racist or anything. Eddie says he's going to take out Kurt Angle tonight and they leave. Tajiri is dressed as a 70's disco dancer with Shannon Moore as Satan. Rey Mysterio Jr is dressed in normal gear as Stephanie McMahon walks in dressed as a witch....thought she was supposed to be in a costume? Anyway, she says tonight's main event will be a non-title match between Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey celebrates with everyone in the room as we head to ringside. Tazz says tonight there will be a Trick Or Treat match between Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson in a pool of chocolate milk. Divas era everyone.....but in better news, we also got Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero, that's more like it. Let's get to our first match.
Match 1
Edge vs Chris Benoit
Tazz holds up the latest edition of WWE Magazine with Edge on the cover as Edge makes his entrance. Benoit is half of the tag champs and Edge needs a big win to set himself up as a contender to Lesnar. Bell's gone and they circle to start. They lock up with various takedowns with Edge taking over with an arm-bar. Cole asks how Edge can outwrestle Benoit and Tazz answers to stay ahead of him. Benoit goes to down with knees and stomps in the corner then applies a headlock takeover. Edge sends Benoit off but eats a shoulderblock but drops Benoit with a knee to the ribs. Edge delivers a stomachbreaker then puts the boots to Chris. Edge shoulderblocks Chris in the corner but Benoit chops him. Edge continues to work over Chris but Benoit takes over in the other corner as Cole mentions Big Show will take on Rikishi as well. Edge sends Benoit sternum first into the corner but the cover only gets a deuce. Edge throws Benoit through the ropes to the outside then follows him. Edge drops Chris chest first onto the barricade then throws him back in. Edge covers for a deuce then goes to the chinlock. Cole brings up Scott Steiner is coming to WWE and there's a bidding war between Raw and Smackdown. Sidenote, not to get ahead of anything, but there could have been an Evolution style stable on Smackdown with Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas and Scott Steiner. All four of them were great collegiate wrestlers with Steiner representing the past, Angle the present and Haas & Benjamin as the future. Back to live action, Edge slingshot suplexes Benoit on the top rope to the outside but Chris blocks a baseball slide and starts attacking the left shoulder. Benoit dropkicks Edge into the ring steps before tossing him inside. Benoit covers for a one count with Edge grabbing the bottom rope and Chris continues to work over the left arm. Edge powers out of it but Chris floors Edge with a running elbow. Chris sends Edge shoulder first into the ringpost and executes a back suplex. A cover gets two and Chris stomps away on him. Benoit sends Edge off who runs into a drop-toe hold. Benoit dropkicks the shoulder and does a snap suplex. The cover gets one as Chris stalks Edge in the corner, kicking away. Chris sends Edge into the corner who falls down, Chris dropping a leg on Edge for good measure. Corner chops from Benoit has the crowd gooing wooo but a charge eats elbow. Edge hops on the second rope but Chris stops him with right hands. Benoit goes for a superplex but Edge blocks it and does Edge-O-Matic off the second rope (!!!). We cut to commercial and when we come back Edge goes upstairs but misses a dropkick. Benoit goes for the crossface but Edge makes it to the ropes. They show during the commercial break Edge hit a spear to knock Benoit to the floor. Benoit does three straight German suplexes then gives the sign for the diving headbutt. Benoit goes up to the top but Edge rolls out of the way at the last second. Benoit goes back to the chops but Edge throws him off the turnbuckle and hits Edge-O-Matic for 1....2..nope, Chris kicked out. Edge counters a headlock with a facebuster but the cover only gets two. Edge chops Chris then drops Benoit face first onto the mat. Edge calls for the spear but Benoit counters it into the Crippler Crossface. Edge rolls through but Benoit hangs on and has Edge in the center of the ring. Edge somehow grabs referee Brian Hebner and all of a sudden Kurt Angle runs to ringside. Benoit abandons the hold and yells at him on the floor. Edge does a baseball slide that sends Benoit into Angle on the floor. Edge goes upstairs and does a flying clothesline that takes out Angle. Benoit throws Edge inside but runs right into the SPEAR! The cover gets 1....2.....3 and that's it. Great opener to start the night. Even though it took an Angle run in to get it done, Edge still gets a victory over Benoit to give Edge some shine while highlighting the ongoing feud between Angle & Benoit. Angle walks off smiling at the irate Benoit as we cut here.
Time of match: 12:21
Winner: Edge by pinfall
We go back to the costume party with John Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice freestyle rapping.....and yes, THIS is where it started. The story goes Cena was floundering as a generic heel and Stephanie herself caught Cena rapping on the bus in London while they were there for Rebellion. She suggested he do it on TV and here we are. Billy Kidman dressed as the Phantom of The Opera is not impressed but Chuck Palumbo dressed as a native american loves it. Torrie Wilson dressed as Xena walks by Tajiri who freaks out and walks away....haha. Tajiri spots someone dressed as Marilyn Monroe and its Mae Young. Fabulous Moolah is dressed as Wilma Flinstone and they grab Tajiri, whisking him away. Al Wilson walks in dressed as a 50's greaser (which the actor may have been back then) with Dawn Marie as a slutty cop. Tazz and Cole laugh at Wilson and Dawn as folks in the arena crowd are dressed as various wrestlers. We got to a replay after commercial of Angle costing Benoit his match. Back to the party, Torrie is confronting Al and Dawn when an irate Benoit storms in looking for Kurt Angle. He storms past a guy in a Ghostface outfit from Scream who doesn't know where Kurt is and Funaki dressed as Superman. After Benoit leaves, the Scream guy unmasks to be Kurt himself.
Camera cuts to Brock Lesnar walking down the hall as someone dressed as a caveman asks who he's supposed to be. Lesnar says "The WWE champion, that's who I'm supposed to be." That shows you a face turn is coming because heel Brock would smash the guy against the wall. He walks into the dressing room where Paul Heyman is waiting. Heyman gives him a speech about how Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali were never the same after Thrilla In Manilla and he's afraid Lesnar and Undertaker aren't the same after Hell In A Cell. Heyman is terrified Lesnar can't beat Big Show in his current state. Heyman says Brock won't like hearing it but that's why he's his manager. They're definitely setting up Big Show as a threat, thank god. Onto the next match.
Match 2
Big Show vs Rikishi
This match stems from the previous week where Big Show made his Smackdown brand debut wiping out Rikishi and Matt Hardy. Big Show is dressed in black dress pants and a black t-shirt which would essentially be his new look moving forward. Rikishi attacks at the bell and superkicks him twice, the second sends Show through the ropes to the outside. Rikishi gets thrown into the ring post outside and chops his chest. Show throws Rikishi in the ring and drops a series of elbows. Show headbutts Rikishi and he actually sells it, THATS respect. Show turns Rikishi inside out with a clothesline and covers for 1...2...nope. Show rips off the middle and top rope turnbuckle pads then Rikishi into the exposed steel before avalanching him. Show picks up Rikishi like a feather and does a Bulldog powerslam. Cole asks if Show can manhandle Lesnar like this but also asks how Lesnar can beat him. Show hits the big chokeslam and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Cole says Show made a statement by squashing Rikishi and hard to argue that. This is how Show should have been booked for years. Rikishi is no pushover and Show smashed him.
Time of match: 2:28
Winner: Big Show by pinfall
Show grabs the mic after the match and says what he did to Rikishi is only a taste of what's in store for Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. Show calls out Lesnar and say face him right here, right now. Lesnar goes to confront Show but Heyman tells him not to go out there. We cut to commercial and when we come back, Show is holding Smackdown hostage until Lesnar comes out. Show has a replay of Taker getting wiped out last week put on the titantron. He then goes on a rant that Lesnar can't beat him, everyone knows it including his manager. Hm.....how would he know that? Show says his own real name and Lesnar can't beat him. Finally Lesnar hits the ring as Cole asks why he's coming out. Lesnar looks up at Big Show and Show really towers over him. Lesnar snatches the mic and calls him a giant piece of shit (bleeped out of course). Show smiles at Brock, grabs the mic, exits the ring and says he's been advised not to fight him. Hmmm, wonder who could have advised him? Show says he's done something to The Undertaker that's never been done before and he says he's going to do the same for Lesnar later tonight. Show leaves as we cut right to Torrie Wilson bent over in a Xena outfir=t right in view of the camera, just like Stacy Keibler on Raw. Guess the milk pool match is next....ugh.
Match 3
Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson in a Trick or Treat Match
Bunch of cakes at poolside so you know someone's face is going in one. Tazz shills X-Box & Godzilla Destroy All Monsters and Cole shills JVC's Tower of Power as Torrie makes her entrance pool side. Tazz and Cole go ga-ga. Right on cue, Torrie throws one of the cakes in Dawn's face to start the "match". Torrie throws another one and they start wrestling each other on the table. Torrie spears Dawn into the pool and they roll around in it. Torrie pulls the referee in there as Torrie somehow suplexes Dawn in the pool. Torrie strips Dawn to her underwear with Dawn screaming. Dawn and Torrie exchange chops as they roll all over referee Mike Sparks. Torrie chops Dawn who trips and falls out of the pool. Torrie splashes her and covers for 1...2....3 to end this disaster. Torrie grabs ring announcer Tony Chimmel and throws him into the pool. Why? Ask Vince. In terms of a "match", it was just an excuse for women to take their clothes off so Vince could get off on it. We'd have about 10 years to go until this kind of thing stopped, oh joy.
Time of match: 1:51
Winner: Torrie Wilson by pinfall
Back to the party, Kidman is taking jello shots with Moolah and Mae still holding Tajiri hostage. The lights go out and come back on with Matt Hardy coming in playing his own song on a boom box. He says this place needs Mattitude and Hardy chastises Tajiri for flirting with Moolah & Mae. Hardy slaps the wig off Tajiri's head as Mae says he can't do that to her boyfriend. Tajiri "BOYFRIEND??" Matt says he'll send him back after he suffers a twist of fate. Mae then kisses Tajiri who looks disgusted. Just like with throwing Chimmel into the pool, most of the time Vince had people humiliated because he himself thought it was funny. After commercial Nidia and Jamie Noble are dressed as each other (hahaha) and they bob for apples before bumping into Stephanie. A-Train is dressed in a toga next to Eddie and Chavo who start hitting on Stephanie. Ah yes, everyone has to call Stephanie hot on camera....she was Dixie Carter before Dixie. Eddie says after he beats Angle, they want a tag title shot. Stephanie says she'll think about it, just go. Eddie and Chavo leave as Cena comes up and freestyles again to which Stephanie says to speak normally. Cena says Vince himself is waiting for Stephanie in her office. Back to ringside.
Match 4
Matt Hardy vs Tajiri
Matt comes out with "Matt always got more Halloween candy than his brother" as his graphic. Poor Jeff. Cole says Raw this Monday night will be held at the Fleet Center in Boston with Smackdown Your Vote taking place at noon at Northeastern University. Bell's gone and they tie up to start. Matt hits an armdrag and starts celebrating. They exchange go-behinds before Tajiri gets the side headlock. Hardy gets the top wristlock but Tajiri takes Hardy down twice much to Matt's chagrin. Cole says we have Eddie vs Angle still to come and Brock vs Mysterio. Hardy gets a quick two count on Tajiri and celebrates that he was this close to winning...only to eat a kick to the head. Tajiri sends Matt outside and nails him with an asai moonsault. Tajiri throws Matt inside and flips over him just to run into the side effect. Matt covers for a deuce and Matt starts beating Tajiri around. Matt chops Tajiri in the corner but Tajiri chops out of it only to get met with an eye-rake. Matt drops Tajiri throat first on the top rope then does a standing elbow slam. Hardy gets a neck lock on as Cole says you might not like Matt's attitude but you have to respect his ability. Hardy drops Tajiri with an elbow and leg drops him. Matt scoop slams Tajiri then hops on the second rope. He goes for the leg drop but misses it as Tajiri rolls out of the way. Tajiri and Matt exchange punches when Tajiri dropkicks him in the face then covers for a deuce. Tajiri hits the springboard elbow then kicks Matt in the back of the head. He covers for 1...2...nope. Tajiri counters a charge in the corner with a tarantula but Matt counters with an overhead suplex. He stacks him up for 1...2..no. Matt punches Tajiri but Tajiri counters with another tarantuula then sets up for the buzz kick. Tajiri misses but Matt kicks him, going for the Twist of Fate. Tajiri blocks the first attempt but not the second as Matt lands it. He covers for 1...2...3 and Matt wins it. Good match and its cementing Matt's V1 character as a young, top heel. Let's see if Matt can run with this.
Time of match: 7:38
Winner: Matt Hardy by pinfall
Back to Stephanie's office, a man in a Vince McMahon mask says its good to see her. Its not Vince, its Eric Bischoff in disguise. Bischoff says he's signing Scott Steiner and removes his mask. Stephanie goes to slap him but he blocks it and forcefully kisses her. Can't say she didn't deserve it after trying to strike him for no reason. Then she gets into it, pulling him on top of her and they break it off looking at each other awkwardly. Bischoff leaves and that whole segment definitely REEKS of Vince having a laugh. This reminds me of when Kurt kissed Stephanie and nothing came of it, just like this was never mentioned again. Thankfully Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle is next.
Match 5
Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle
These two can definitely have a great match so hopefully this delivers. The implications are the Guerreros want a tag title shot and Benoit & Angle are the champs. Kurt already cost Benoit his match earlier that night so you know Chris will be making an appearance at some point. Eddie comes out in really bright green tights and the bell rings. They circle to start and Angle takes down Eddie a few times, can't outwrestle an Olympian Eddie. Crowd chants "Eddie sucks" as this is a heel program for sure. Angle starts with a headlock and he drops Eddie with a shoulderblock before hiptossing Eddie. Kurt picks up Eddie and heaves him across the ring before Eddie bails outside in a rage. Guess Angle is the defacto face in this one which works just fine. Guerrero gets mad and starts punching and kicking away at Angle. The crowd chants for Angle as Kurt rallies with a clothesline and a back elbow smash. Kurt ducks the line and nails Eddie with a flying forearm. He covers for a deuce but Eddie drop toe holds him into the corner then delivers a back suplex. Eddie chokes Kurt with his boot and goes to town with forearms while holding on to Kurt's singlet. Eddie locks in a front headlock with a "Let's go Angle" chant in the crowd. Cole hypes up Lesnar vs Mysterio as Angle powers out of the hold then gets nailed with a shoulderblock. Eddie goes back to the chinlock as Angle uses the crowd's chanting to make it to his feet. Kurt catches Eddie with a powerslam but Guerrero dropkicks Angle's knee. Eddie chokes him with his boot in the corner again with Brian Hebner yelling at him. Eddie continues to choke Angle and Kurt makes it to the outside. Eddie suplexes Kurt from the apron back inside then covers for a deuce. Eddie goes back to the chinlock then turns it into a head scissors. Eddie uses the ropes for leverage but Angle somehow slips out of it and tries for the ankle lock. Eddie rolls through and snap mares Kurt before dropkicking the back of the neck. Eddie pounds away at Kurt and taunts the crowd with Hebner yelling at him again. Eddie goes for a german suplex but Kurt slips it and hits one of his own, sending Eddie flying. Kurt and Eddie exchange right hands and Angle rallies with clotheslines and a back bodydrop. Kurt ducks the line and goes for another german but Eddie blocks it. Kurt does the overhead suplex and covers for 1...2....nope, foot on the rope. Kurt comes out of the corner and Eddie kicks him before going for a suplex. Kurt slips it and does the three German suplex combo that Benoit used earlier. Kurt covers for a deuce and pulls down the straps, uh oh! Kurt goes for the Angle Slam but Eddie counters into a cradle for 1..2....nooooo! Angle charges but eats elbow and Guerrero nails a jumping tornado ddt off the second rope then covers for 1...2....NOOOOOO, just got the shoulder up. Eddie goes for the Lasso From El Paso and Angle looks like he's about to tap but counters, slipping a roll into the ankle lock. Guerrero reaches the ropes and Kurt goes for another German suplex but Eddie grabs the ref and mule kicks Kurt in the gonads. Eddie lands a vertical suplex then goes for the frog splash. Kurt brilliantly then shoves Hebner into Guerrero who crotches himself. Tazz "He's the third man in the ring, might as well use him, what the hell?" Chavo runs down to the ring and Kurt knocks him off the apron. He runs up the ropes to nail Eddie with a superplex when Chris Benoit comes out of nowhere to nail Angle with the tag title belt. Eddie hits the frog splash and covers for 1...2....3....Eddie wins it. Wow, last week it was Angle the heel and Benoit the face and now its the other way around. Eddie goes to hug Benoit for helping him and Chris waffles him with the belt. Chris gets out of the ring and drops Chavo with the belt for good measure. Chris gets the last laugh after a damn good match between Angle and Guerrero. We go to the replay with all this mayhem and Guerrero gets the duke. The feud between Angle and Benoit is not over and the Guerreros are the ones benefiting for sure.
Time of match: 13:20
Winner: Guerrero by pinfall
After commercial break we're back at the party where its Kurt's turn to cause a ruckus. Kurt bitches about what happened to him then heaves Shannon Moore over a table. He spots another guy in a Ghostface mask and rips it off revealing...Brother Love?? The hell is he doing here? Love says "I loveeeeee you" and Kurt's face is priceless. Chris then attacks Kurt from behind and they brawl all over the room. Chris breaks a stool over Kurt's chest then applies the crossface. Where the hell is Stephanie? Kurt rolls through and applies the ankle lock. Chris kicks him off and grabs a beer bottle. Angle hits the angle slam to Chris through a table but not before Benoit breaks the bottle over his head. Both men are out and Cole sends us to our last break. These two are going to settle this eventually, right? On to the main event.
Match 6
Rey Mysterio Jr vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman)
This is a non-title match, which is dumb since Rey essentially has nothing to gain and Lesnar has nothing to lose. Cole hypes up Lesnar vs Show for the WWE title and wonders if he can beat the monster. The sad part is they're making Show about to be very dangerous when he was just a big goofus on Raw for about a year. Still, at least they're doing something noteworthy with Big Show for once. Lesnar hops up on the apron but Mysterio slides under the rope underneath him to start the match. Lesnar chases Rey around the ring but Rey hops up on the ropes as Lesnar slides in. Rey drops a leg but Brock barely sells it. Brock grabs Rey and heaves him into the corner but Rey moves out of the way of the charge. Brock chases Rey outside who runs around and appears to hide behind the steps. Lesnar kicks the steps but there's nobody there. Rey appears from under the ring, climbs up to the top and hits west coast pop to the floor. Brock pops up unfazed and stalks Rey as Cole wonders how Rey could do anything to him. Lesnar catches Rey in a powerbomb position and heaves him into the ring post. Lesnar throws Rey inside as Cole asks how Brock can match Big Show. Brock picks Rey up on his shoulders and slams him face first onto the mat. Brock taunts Mysterio and heaves him over his head to the other side of the ring. Tazz says Lesnar is toying with Rey and is overmatched. Lesnar shoulderblocks Rey in the corner and charges but eats ringpost. Rey rallies with a series of dropkicks that sends Lesnar into the ropes. Rey goes for the 619 but Big Show appears out of nowhere and catches Rey in mid-air causing the disqualification. Big Show then heaves Rey 10 rows deep into the crowd Spike Dudley style but Lesnar shoulderblocks Show into the ringpost. Brock tries to whip Show into the other post but Show blocks it and rams Lesnar into the post instead. Show then chokeslams Lesnar through the announce table as Cole asks if this is a preview of Survivor Series. Show smiles at his work as we go to the replay of Show heaving Rey into the crowd then laying out Lesnar. Show screams to just give him the belt as Tazz says this is Heyman's worst nightmare. The show ends with Big Show saying Lesnar's run is over. Sad part was that was a hell of a crash style, cat and mouse match between the monstrous Lesnar and diminutive Rey. Somewhere down the line Rey and Brock would meet again and pretty much Rey vs Show as well. Take away Big Show's interference and this was definitely a match that needs to be seen again.
Time of match: 4:00
Winner: Mysterio by disqualification
This entire show was basically the greatness of the "Smackdown Six" smattered around Vince McMahon's vile humor. Inside the ring you had a great Edge vs Benoit match, a great Angle vs Guerrero match, a passable Tajiri vs Matt Hardy match and what was shaping up to be a great cat and mouse match with Brock vs Rey. The downside was Dawn Marie and Torrie but that's a long winded rant about the state of women's wrestling for another time. Sad part was this show isn't even remembered for the great matches or even the Dawn/Torrie antics....no. This was famous for the birth of the doctor of thuganomics John Cena. The gimmick that would launch his career and never look back. Hard to believe that even with Smackdown as great as it was with the Guerreros, Benoit, Angle, Edge, Mysterio, Brock and Tajiri that John Cena's potential hadn't been tappped yet....until now. In terms of current events, Benoit vs Angle is still dominating the shows and Big Show is the biggest threat to Lesnar metaphorically and literally. The drama is Brock is still run down from Hell in A Cell and still has to face a motivated 7 foot giant, can he do it? We'll find out soon enough. The next show would be the November 2nd edition of Velocity so I'll see you there.
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