WWE Smackdown (11/14/02)

WWE Smackdown

Nationwide Arena

Columbus, Ohio

November 14, 2002

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz

Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel

We're three days away from Survivor Series and pretty much the Smackdown portion of Survivor Series is set. We got Brock Lesnar defending the WWE strap against Big Show, we got a triple threat tag team title match with Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr taking on both Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and Los Guerreros, and finally Billy Kidman gets a shot at Jamie Noble for the Cruiserweight title. What could possibly happen tonight just days out from the ppv? Let's find out.....after the obligatory dark matches.

Dark Match 1

Chris Kanyon vs Renee Dupree

Kanyon was rehabbing his shoulder injury and he's up against the 18 year old son of Canadian wrestling promoter Emile Dupree. Kanyon takes it with a flatliner.

Winner: Kanyon by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Val Venis and Nova vs Shelton Benjamin and Lance Cade

Wow, where the hell did they dig up Nova? Well if you're gonna have the OVW guys like Benjamin and Cade, may as well have experienced vets in Venis and Nova as opposition. Benjamin pinned Nova to win the match.

Winners: Benjamin and Cade by pinfall

Now let's start the show.....with the montage of "You can't beat the Big Show". Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd catches up with Paul Heyman and asks how Brock Lesnar is doing. Heyman says ask about the Undertaker, he hasn't been seen since Big Show threw him off stage. Lesnar has a broken rib and he's been coughing up blood all week. The difference between Lesnar and everyone else is Brock will defend the title anyway. What he WON'T do is show up tonight on Smackdown based on doctor's orders and his own. Big Show walks up behind Heyman and says if Brock shows up, he's calling him out. Cole and Tazz welcome us and say Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit is tonight's main event. Let's get to the first match.

Match 1

Edge vs Chavo Guerrero Jr

Eddie Guerrero won the triple threat match at Super Tuesday but Edge gets Chavo one on one tonight. Because of Chavo's interference to help Eddie win, both Eddie and Rey Mysterio Jr are barred from ringside. Edge starts with an armbar before Chavo runs into a back elbow. Chavo gets hiptossed, taken down and arm-barred. Cole babbles on about Brock Lesnar but Edge runs into a dropkick. Chavo clotheslines Edge over the top rope to the floor. Edge shoulderblocks Chavo on the apron and flips over the suplex attempt. Edge sends Chavo off the buckle into a flapjack. Edge covers for a deuce as wee see Rey watching from the back. Edge gets backdropped on the apron but gets crotched on the second rope by Chavo. Tazz picks Angle and Benoit to win this Sunday. Chavo clotheslines Edge and covers for a deuce as Cole says also tonight, Eddie takes on Mysterio. Chavo gets in a wristlock but Edge powers out of it. Chavo counters Edge-O-Matic with a back suplex then goes up to the top rope. Chavo flies right into a dropkick by Edge. Edge backdrops Chavo and rallies with a clothesline. Edge hits a forearm and Edge-O-Matic for a two count, Edge slaps and chops Chavo in the corner then punches him down. Edge goes for the spear but misses, eating the second buckle. Chavo hits a spear of his own and covers for 1...2....nope. Chavo boots Edge in the ribs and goes for a sunset flip. Edge counters with a slingshot onto the second rope. Edge blocks the tornado DDT and hits the Edgecution. Edge covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good effort by both guys with counters and precision. Edge fires the first salvo tonight in the tag title war by beating Chavo.

Time of match: 6:04

Winner: Edge by pinfall

In the back, Dorkus Malorkus asks Rey how he's going to do against Eddie. Rey says he's glad that Edge beat Chavo and he knows Eddie better than anyone. He then stops the interview as Brock Lesnar is coming. Rey asks how his ribs are and Lesnar says he's fine. Malorkus asks how he's doing and Lesnar says to get the hell out of his face. We go to commercial with the fact that Lesnar IS here tonight.

Back from break Al Wilson is reading a bridal magazine when Dawn Marie walks up and kisses him. Dawn says she's a lucky girl and will be Mrs. Al Wilson on their wedding day. She wants Al to invite Torrie to the wedding and she should be one of the first to invite. Al doesn't know if he should but Dawn convinces him to go talk to her.

Cut to Brock Lesnar and Heyman. Heyman is irate that he's even here and Big Show is going to maul him. Heyman says without him, Brock beat Eddie Guerrero but got demolished by Show. They're supposed to be a team but he can't protect him if he doesn't listen to him. Heyman says he hasn't been listening since Hell in A Cell and Brock says yeah, Show did throw him off the apron but Heyman wasn't there. Heyman says Show is too big and too bad and not to engage him. "He's going to rip you limb from limb and there's nothing we can do about it, we're three days away from Survivor Series. Heyman pleads with him to listen to his idea. Naturally we fade to black before we find out what the idea was. Once again, they're trying to set up Hogan/Andre and it would have worked if Show wasn't booked like a jobber for a year. Back from break its on to the next match.

Match 2

John Cena and Matt Hardy vs Rikishi and Tajiri

This week's Mattitude fun fact is Matt was the Fear Factor champion. He also loves guacamole. Cena is still coming out to the generic theme with prototype trunks. Tajiri starts with Hardy and he drops V1 with arm drags but gets shoved down by Matt. Tajiri hits a hurracarana but Matt gets a thumb to the eye. Cena tags in and drops Tajiri with an elbow before covering for a deuce. Hardy tags in and they double team Tajiri in the corner. Cena and Hardy hit a double suplex and Cena covers for two, but Tajiri hits a rolling neckbreaker to make the tag to Rikishi. Rikishi hits a samoan drop on Cena and elbows Matt in the corner. Rikishi whips Hardy into Cena in the corner and Rikishi avalanches them both. Hardy falls out of the ring and Tajiri buzz kicks Cena, knocking him down in the corner. Rikishi goes for the stink face but runs right into side effect. Cena covers for 1...2...nope. Cole starts babbling about Big Show as Hardy beats down Rikishi in the corner. Hardy chokes Rikishi on the second rope then locks in a front headlock. Rikishi backdrops him and Tajiri tags in. Tajiri and Hardy drop each other with a double face plant but Matt's arm is on top of Tajiri for 1...2...3 to win the match. Interesting way to end the match. Matt grabs Cena and celebrates as Cena puts him on his shoulders, hahahaha. Matt gets one over on Rikishi and Tajiri.

Time of match: 3:18

Winners: Cena and Hardy by pinfall

In the back Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit are bickering again. Angle says its all Benoit's fault they lost the titles. Benoit says Angle got pinned twice and wants to know how that happened. Angle says he hates Benoit's guts but loves being a champion. He says he's going to take his aggressions out on Benoit and Chris mocks him for that. Benoit says the last two times they fought, Benoit won. Kurt "You watch your mouth, young man!" (Kurt is actually a year younger than him) Kurt says he's the team captain and Benoit says he apologizes and says he beat the team captain twice. Kurt "Yeah....well I have more teeth than you." Chris "Well I have more hair than you." Benoit says he's 11 times better than him and Kurt says he's an Olympic gold medalist. Chris has no counter for that and says he's going to beat him tonight. Kurt does the finger up to the nose trick and walks off. That was pretty funny.

Back from commercial we get a Scott Steiner is coming vignette and Paul Heyman walking in to Big Show's room. Heyman wants Show not to call out Lesnar because he's too young to understand. Heyman says he himself says he knows he's beaten The Rock, Undertaker and Hulk Hogan in his prime. Heyman says Show broke Brock's rib and asks a professional courtesy to lay off Brock until Survivor Series. Show says that Lesnar has one good thing going for him, Paul. Show says he might not call him out....but maybe he will. Heyman leaves. Again, I like how they're making Show a monster but its a year too late.

Los Guerreros walk up to Edge and Rey Mysterio. Eddie calls them flying squirrels. Eddie says after tonight, they're going to win at Survivor Series. Eddie and Rey insult each other in Spanish and Eddie mocks hiding behind Chavo. Edge says let's go right here, right now. Edge insults Eddie in Spanish as well and we cut here. Back from break its on to the next match.

Match 3

Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio Jr

The big Halloween Havoc 97 rematch. Bell rings and they circle to start. Eddie and Rey chain wrestle but Eddie gets the chinlock applied. Eddie drops Rey with a shoulderblock but Rey hits a backdrop, dropkick and an armdrag. Eddie fights out of it and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He covers for two and locks in an arm-bar. Eddie works over the left arm as the crowd chants "Eddie sucks". Eddie stomps away on Rey in the corner but Rey tries to kick his way out. Rey hits a second rope hurracarana then they trade hammerlocks. Rey snap mares Eddie then monkey flips him. He calls for the 619 but Eddie moves to cause Rey to hit referee Brian Hebner instead (hahahahaha). Chavo Guerrero Jr runs down with the ref out and hits Rey with the Gory Special. Edge runs in and chases Chavo out of there. Eddie hits a powerbomb and stacks Mysterio for 1...2...nope. Edge spears Eddie and is knocked outside by Chavo. Edge sends Chavo into the barricade as Hebner tells them both to get lost. The other referees run down to get Chavo and Edge out of there. Eddie runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker of his own by Rey. Rey hits the bronco buster in the corner and goes up to the top rope. Eddie shoves him off the top to the floor and wits. Eddie hits the plancha on Rey and rolls him back inside. Eddie hits a back suplex and goes up to the top rope. Rey runs up and hits a superplex. Rey covers for 1.....2...nope. Rey hits an armdrag but Eddie clotheslines him down. Eddie locks in an arm-bar but Rey fights out of it, only for Eddie to rally with forearms. Eddie puts Rey on the top rope but Rey elbows him off. Rey hits the moonsault and covers for 1...2..no. Eddie catches a second rope moonsault attempt but Rey hits an armdrag out of it. Rey baseball slides Eddie outside and Rey hits a slingshot hilo. Cole says Rey's got a bad knee but Mysterio still hits the springboard legdrop back inside. Rey covers for 1....2...no. Eddie hits a vertical suplex on Rey and taunts the irate crowd. Eddie goes up to the top rope but flips over Rey. Rey hits a heel kick to the chin of Eddie and hits the 619. Rey calls for the West Coast Pop but Eddie stands up, forcing Rey to go to the sunset flip. Eddie rolls out of it and applies the El Paso Lasso, holding the rope for leverage. Rey taps and this one's over. Not as epic as Halloween Havoc but still a damn good match against two guys that have great chemistry.

Time of match: 6:11

Winner: Guerrero by submission

Backstage Al Wilson walks into Torrie Wilson but she blows him off. Al walks into the women's room anyway to talk about it. Torrie says Dawn Marie is using him to get to her. She calls Dawn a conniving, manipulative bitch. Al wants to invite her to the wedding but she can't do it. Torrie says she won't go because he's being played. Torrie says there's no way to say this nicely but there's no fool like an old fool. She's got a point. Back from break, its on to the next match.

Match 4

Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia)

Non-title match as Kidman gets his title shot at Survivor Series....kind of makes this match pointless. They brawl at the bell and Kidman gets backdropped on the apron. Nidia pulls him off and Noble baseball slides Billy. Noble rolls Kidman inside and covers for a near fall. Noble works the left arm in the corner and dropkicks it. Noble arm drags Kidman and locks in a keylock. Kidman punches his way out of it and flapjacks Jamie. Kidman clotheslines Noble and backdrops him. Kidman hits a dropkick and covers for 1.....2...nope. Kidman sends Noble into the corner but blocks the clothesline, kicks Kidman and hits the tiger bomb. Noble stacks him but Kidman sunset flips for 1...2...no. Noble goes up to the top but Kidman dropkicks him. Noble rolls over Kidman and goes for the Razor's Edge. Kidman rolls out of it and hits a modified Sky High. He drags Noble to the corner and goes upstairs. Nidia distracts the ref so Noble can punch Kidman. Noble hits a top rope superplex but Kidman rolls over on top for 1...2.....3 to win the match. Kidman gets Noble two weeks in a row, will the third time be a charm this Sunday? Decent crash style match and it puts over that Kidman has Noble's number right now.

Time of match: 3:17

Winner: Kidman by pinfall

 

Back to Dawn Marie who walks up to Al Wilson. Al is distraught about his "little angel" and she doesn't want to go to the wedding. Dawn comes on to him an says they're going to be just fine. They hug and she grins evily. They gave this crap THREE segments. We cut to Heyman and Lesnar and Paul says everything is going to be ok. Heyman says he looked the neanderthal right in the eye and not to call him out. Paul says Show was smart enough to listen to him and was intimidated by Paul's intelligence. Paul says to pack his bag and leave because they're all set. Brock says he's not leaving and he asks if Paul convinced Show not to call him out. Lesnar says he'll call HIM out. Heyman goes nuts as we go back to ringside for Tazz to shill the new video game Smackdown Shut Your Mouth. One of my favorite games as a teenager. 

On to the main event....and Angle grabs a mic before the match. He apologizes to his fans for being too predictable. He says he's beaten Edge, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio and the Guerreros so many times its become a blur. He says he's better in the ring than everyone, better athlete than Benoit, better looking than Edge, can speak English unlike the Guerreros and been through puberty unlike Rey Mysterio. He says he doesn't need Benoit, he can win the belts all alone. Los Guerreros then walk out with a mic to mock him. Eddie says Kurt is full of it and Eddie pinned Angle 1-2-3. Suddenly Edge and Rey Mysterio walk out with mics too. Edge says Kurt has lost his hair and mind because Edge beat Kurt for the belts. Rey "Hi Kurt!" Edge says the only predictable thing about Kurt is that he sucks. Kurt says he's got more talent in his little finger than all four of them combined. He knows why they're out there, they want to scout him and learn from him. Kurt says to have a seat because he's going to win the next match. He calls out Benoit as the others back away from the ramp.

Match 5

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit

Angle and Benoit blame each other for dropping the tag belts so they're going to take their frustrations out on each other with the other two teams watching. Bell rings and Chris gets a headlock to start.Kurt gets a doubleleg takedown but Chris rolls out of it. Chris drops Kurt with a shoulderblock but Angle ducks the line to hit a german suplex. He taunts the Guerreros but Chris uses the distraction to punch away at Kurt. Kurt still hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and once again taunts Eddie. Benoit punches Kurt and drops him with a back elbow smash. Chris covers for a deuce, hits a sidebackbreaker and covers for another two count. Chris sends Kurt into the corner then rams his head into the buckle. Chris and Kurt slug it out before Chris whips Kurt into the corner. Chris drops him with a clothesline to the back of the head and Benoit gets out of the ring to talk trash to Edge and Rey. Kurt jumps off the apron but Benoit gets a punch to the ribs. Benoit sends Angle into Rey and Edge, cleaning them out. Chris throws Benoit in and rolls back in himself. Edge wants in the ring but Rey holds him back. Benoit hits two german suplexes but Kurt blocks the third. Kurt three of his own and covers for 1...2..nooo. Kurt again taunts the Guerreros and pulls his singlet straps down. Angle goes for the Angle Slam but Chris rolls out of it and hits the crossface. Kurt grabs the legs and reverses it into the ankle lock. They roll to the corner but Benoit kicks Kurt off. Angle hits the Angle Slam and taunts the Guerreros one more time. Kurt actually locks in the El Paso Lasso to mock them and says this hold sucks. Eddie runs in and is immediately thrown over the top rope into Edge and Rey outside. Edge, Rey and the Guerreros brawl on the floor as Benoit hits a german suplex that sends Kurt flying. Then the four outside brawl into the ring and referee Mike Chioda calls for the bell. Edge sends Eddie over the top rope then Rey locks the ankle lock on Kurt with Edge joining him. Edge cuts off Benoit and puts the crossface on him but the Guerreros attack. Eddie and Chavo dump Edge and Rey but Eddie runs into the ankle lock. Benoit locks in the crossface on Edge and the refs get in the ring to break it up. This one's over....and its too bad because the match was good.

Time of match: 6:30

Winner: No one (no contest)

After the match Angle and Benoit go nose to nose and Kurt says enough. Kurt extends his hand and Chris shakes it. Kurt wants a hug and Benoit looks confused. Kurt gives him a hug and the crowd laughs. How Chris isn't laughing his ass off is beyond me. 

Backstage Heyman is trying to talk Brock out of going to the ring but Big Show looks like he's heading out there as well. Back from commercial, Tazz says Lawler didn't get Scott Steiner on Confidential, he did. Cole then runs down the card including a new match, Goldust and Hurricane vs William Regal and Lance Storm which will take place on Sunday Night Heat.

Here comes Lesnar to call out Big Show. He throws the WWE Championship down and removes his shirt. His ribs are all taped up and he grabs the mic. Lesnar says face him in the middle of the ring one on one. The crowd cheers as Heyman tries to talk Lesnar out of it. Heyman grabs the mic but Lesnar tells him to shut up much to the crowd's delight. Lesnar "Big Show, if you don't get out here. That's alright, I'll just drag your ass out." Show's music hits and here he comes. Lesnar cuts him off and sends him immediately into the steel steps, cutting Show's forearm by accident. Lesnar grabs a chair and bashes Show in the head twice then kicks away at him. Lesnar hits Show in the back twice and Show is busted wide open, that was no accident. Lesnar grabs the title belt and clocks Show with it. Show is laid out as Cole says "The giant has been slain tonight. Maybe Paul Heyman was wrong, maybe he CAN beat the Big Show." We go to a replay of what just happened as the crowd cheers Lesnar. If this was supposed to be a face turn for Brock, it worked.

We sign off with Lesnar standing tall. The sad part was the good matches on the card were cut short due to the storyline feuds. The triple threat tag match overshadowed almost the entire show except for Torrie/Dan/Al and Show/Lesnar. The fact they gave Torrie, Dawn and Al three segments is inexcusable. Still, we got our stories heading into Survivor Series. Lesnar evened the playing field a little bit to show he's not intimidated by the giant. Angle and Benoit are going to try to co-exist to win the triple threat tag match and Billy Kidman has Jamie Noble's number right now. We still got some business before Survivor Series in the form of a Saturday double shot for house shows. Raw will be in Reading, Pennsylvania this Saturday. I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (11/7/02)

WWE Smackdown

Verizon Wireless Arena

Manchester, NH

November 7, 2002

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz

Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel

We're 10 days away from Survivor Series and apart from Brock Lesnar vs Big Show, nothing else has been booked. Hopefully tonight gives us some matches since the only ones booked are two from Raw and the WWE title match. Halloween Smackdown gave us the birth of rapping John Cena as well as Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle going at it again. This week's show might be more of the same. Before we get anywhere, we have a dark match.

Dark Match

Doug Basham vs Nathan Jones

Basham was the OVW mainstay having great matches with anyone WWE sent down there and anyone on the roster, but for some reason just couldn't get a spot on either brand. Jones was the 6 foot 6 300 pound monster from Australia that also needed a spot somewhere. Jones took it with the full nelson slam.

Winner: Jones by pinfall

Let's get on with the show. We open with a montage of Big Show putting Undertaker out of action and showcasing that Lesnar is overmatched for the first time in his career. They're doing a great job of building up Show to be a monster that a post-Hell In A Cell Lesnar might not be able to handle.....but the problem is he was booked as a doofus for far too long to have any kind of Hogan/Andre aura. We get a highlight of Big Show heaving Rey Mysterio into the crowd and laying out Lesnar last week. Paul Heyman "You can't beat the Big Show." Tonight we have an old school 2 out of 3 falls tag team title match with Edge & Rey Mysterio Jr in a rematch with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. On to our first match.

Match 1

Torrie Wilson and Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble and Nidia

Real life couple vs fake couple. Apparently Nidia is going to be on the TV show Blind Date. Kidman starts with Noble and Kidman starts with the left arm but Noble hits northern lights. Kidman ducks the line and hits a hurracarana but a charge in the corner eats elbow. Noble slingshots Kidman onto the second rope who hits a dropkick. Kidman covers for 1..2...nope. Noble hits a t-bone taz plex and covers for a two count as Nidia tags in. Nidia kicks away at Kidman but he blocks a slap an tags in Wilson. Torrie clotheslines her down then kicks away at her.  Cole hypes up Super Tuesday which will feature a bikini contest between Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson. Normally those things are a waste of time since the crowd never cheers the heels, but two faces might make it interesting. Nidia gets a thumb to the eye and goes for the blatant choke. Nidia hits a scoop slam and covers, only to pull Torrie up at two. Wilson goes for the sunset flip but Nidia counters by dropping to her knees for 1......2...no. Torrie blocks the big forearm and delivers a neckbreaker. She yells at Nidia to get up and hits a dropkick. Torrie covers for two then slaps Noble off the apron. Noble tries to get in the ring but referee Mike Sparks holds him back, so Kidman gets in to get rid of him. Sparks turns around to tell Kidman to get lost, allowing Noble to clothesline her. The crowd boos that one as Nidia tags out to Noble. Noble stalks Torrie but runs into a shoulder to Kidman, getting the tag. Kidman drops Noble with a clothesline and a dropkick. Kidman hits a back drop and a death valley backbreaker before covering for 1...2..nope. Noble blocks the clothesline and hits a DDT. He covers for two then goes for the Tiger Bomb but Kidman counters with a sky high. He covers for 1...2....Nidia breaks it up. Torrie runs into a clothesline and the heels go to whip the faces into each other, but they get reversed into each other. Kidman dropkicks Noble in the back and Torrie wipes Nidia out. Kidman goes up and over and hits the bulldog. He drags Noble in the corner, goes upstairs, hits the 7 Year Itch and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Kidman pins the Cruiserweight champ, this might put him in line for a Cruiserweight title match coming up soon. Never a bad thing to start with a cruiserweight opener and Torrie/Nidia held their own.

Time of match: 5:06

Winners: Wilson and Kidman by pinfall

Big Show arrives at the arena and intimidates a security guard to tell Brock Lesnar that he's here. Torrie in the back runs into her father who says he needs to talk to her. Al says he's done everything for her so to let him do "something" tonight. He doesn't elaborate so Torrie is confused. We cut to SMACKDOWN NUMBA WUN ANNOUNCA Funaki with John Cena. Cena freestyle raps that he's going to beat Rikishi tonight and says the iconic "word life" for the first time. Rikishi shows up to answer with his own battle rap. "Get a piece of the Kish right in yo face." The funny thing was Rikishi admitted on the Yokozuna documentary that Yoko wanted to be a rapper so I'm sure that's where Rikishi picked that up. We cut to Stephanie McMahon watching the tape of her and Eric kissing.....are they ever going to deliver on this? Chavo and Eddie Guerrero walk in and Chavo says that's a nice lip-lock hold. Eddie and Chavo want a piece of Angle & Benoit and Eddie beat Angle last week. McMahon says they beat them to earn the shot. Stephanie says she has an announcement to make on Super Tuesday regarding the tag belts. Stephanie says tonight Eddie has a non-title match against Brock Lesnar. Eddie and Chavo complain and Chavo tries to back out of it. Eddie says WE will beat Brock Lesnar. They argue on the way out the door as we go to commercial. Least we get tonight's main event set, Eddie vs Brock. On to the next match.

Match 2

Rikishi vs John Cena

Cena still comes out in the prototype tights and generic theme but does the word life pose in the ring. Tazz "I'm Tazz and you're a spaz." The funny thing was the Eminem movie 8 Mile had just come out the day before so white people battle rapping was about to become a thing. Rikishi taunts him at the bell but Cena trips him up to start. Cole runs down our house show schedule coming up and Cena gets the ass to the ribs. Cena tries a headlock then gets shoulderblocked down. Cena bails outside then gets inside and says this is MY house. Rikishi just drops him with a right hand. Cena ducks the line and we get an old Andre The Giant spot where Rikishi just bends over and Cena freaks out. Cena goes to punch Rikishi's ass and holds his hand like he broke it. Lot of comedy in this so far but the dropkick to the knee is no laughing matter. Cena hits a back suplex and taunts the irate crowd. Cena kicks away at Rikishi in the corner but Rikishi rallies with right hands. Cena does get a clothesline to the back of the neck then he goes upstairs. Cena hits a missile dropkick and covers for 1...2....nope. Cena locks in a chinlock but Rikishi powers out of it. Rikishi avalanches Cena in the corner and John drops. Rikishi does the stinkface as Cole says that's Chocolate Ice. Rikishi hits a modified rock bottom and executes the banzai drop. Rikishi gets the 1...2....3 to win the match. Gotta love Vince logic. Test gets a new gimmick where all Stacy Keibler does is bend over and say testicles, yet he gets the win on Raw. Cena gets a new gimmick and he's humiliated by Rikishi, go figure. Rikishi dances after the match because...yeah.

Time of match: 4:12

Winner: Rikishi

Backstage Matt Hardy V1 is with Shannon Moore. Apparently Moore is his new stooge, which makes sense because Moore (and The Hurricane) did the Carolina indies with the Hardys. Matt says every tape he gives Shannon are valuable lessons to learn. Shannon goes to put sugar in Matt's coffee and he scolds him saying they're empty calories and could lead to a bad twist of fate. Shannon is the first MF'er of Mattitude (Matt Follower). Matt says he and Lesnar have serious business so he's going to go see him now.

Back from break Dawn Marie is oiling up her legs when Al Wilson walks up. Dawn asks if he's sure he wants to do this and this is a big step for a couple to male. Wilson says he's done a lot of soul searching and he's going to "ask her the question" in the ring. I see where this is going....ugh. Cut to Matt locking for Lesnar but runs into Matt Hardy. Hardy says he beat Undertaker twice and softened him up for Lesnar to destroy him. Heyman says to get to the point and Matt says he wants a match against Big Show to soften him up for Survivor Series. Heyman says he wishes he could find the words to thank him and he says Mattitude is the next big thing. Heyman walks into the locker room where Brock is pacing around. Brock asks what and Heyman says he negotiated the deal of the century. Heyman says Hardy will take on Big Show tonight, but Lesnar yells that he wants him one on one. Heyman says he gets his match at Survivor Series, let Hardy take Show tonight. Heyman says Brock's got a match with Eddie Guerrero and to focus on that. Heyman says to let him do his job and to decide when to unleash the animal.

Cut to Al Wilson coming to the ring to absolutely no pop and even Tony Chimel sounds bored saying his name. Cole "What in god's name is Al gonna do? He's not gonna ask THAT question is he?" Way to blow it, Cole. Tazz "Well, this is either gonna be really really good, or really really bad." Haha, even they know this is not going to end well. Tazz makes fun of the fact he got no pop as Al grabs a mic. "25 years ago, I was blessed with a little angel, Torrie. I know she wants what's good for me and I want what's good for her." Tazz "Why does he sound like Kermit The Frog?" Hahahahaha. Al wants Dawn Marie to come out and she does. Tazz "Will someone please get the hook?"  Cole "Ladies and gentleman we may be about to witness the biggest trainwreck in Smackdown history." Tazz gives a shoutout to "Nunzio" which was cool foreshadowing. Al says she makes him very strong, sexy and feral" Tazz "What??" Al says she made him feel like a man and a man has to do what a man has to do. Al drops to one knee, Tazz "Oh no! Cole!" The camera pans to the bored crowd and Al asks her to marry him. Cole and Tazz both scream No! as Cole says "I thought we couldn't get any worse than Billy & Chuck." Dawn paces around without answering him and Al says if she doesn't say yes, he'll kill himself." Tazz "Say no! It'll make for great TV." For once he's right. Dawn builds tension by stalling then says "Yes." Cole and Tazz "Noooo!" They hug in the ring as the crowd boos. Al puts the ring on her finger and Al celebrates. Cole feels bad for Torrie and Tazz feels bad for the viewers. Thanks Tazz. Cole tries to save face by saying we got more matches to come and Tazz begs for a commercial. The sad part was this was going to get much, MUCH worse.

Back from break we get the extreme blast of the night from the JVC Tower of Power. Its Big Show chokeslamming Brock through a table from last week's Smackdown. As Big Show makes his entrance for the next match, Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd runs up to a crying Torrie Wilson leaving the arena to ask about what we just saw and she just blows him off. On to the next match.

Match 3

Matt Hardy vs Big Show

Matt's blurb says "Matt hates cold weather" as Cole thinks Matt's ego is out of control. A second blurb says he scored a 1330 on his SAT's. Bell's gone and Matt punches Show but they have no effect. Btw this is when Big Show started wearing black jeans over his singlet...why? Nobody knows. Matt goes for side effect but Show blocks it and drops Hardy with a clothesline. Show sends Matt into the ringpost and rolls him inside. Brock and Paul watch from the back as Show hits a side backbreaker. Show gets in a bearhug but Matt bites him to break free. Show misses a charge in the corner and Matt punches away. A charge eats boot but jumps right into the chokeslam. Show covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Show smashes Matt in under 2 minutes to send a message to Lesnar. Show grabs a mic after the match and says he was the next big thing long before Brock ever was. Show says he'll be the next WWE champion at Survivor Series. Not a fan of squashing Matt right in the middle of his entertaining heel turn but Matt was pretty much a henchman for Lesnar, made sense to sacrifice him to put the message out.

Time of match: 1:57

Winner: Big Show by pinfall

Backstage Lesnar heaves and smashes the TV he was watching the match on. He wants Show and he wants him BADLY. We cut right to the next match.

Match 4

Edge & Rey Mysterio Jr vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match

Kurt and Chris damn near killed each other last week but they have to co-exist tonight. This is the big re-match from No Mercy and this is going to be a good one. First fall has Angle and Benoit naturally arguing who will start. Kurt starts with Rey and gets a waistlock but Rey uses his speed to crawl under Kurt and mule kick him. Rey arm-drags Kurt and mocks his taunt. Kurt chases Rey around the ring and Rey outsmarts Kurt to throw himself to the floor. Benoit facepalms in the corner trying not to laugh. Cole says as a team they're unbeatable but they hate each other. Angle applauds Rey and tells Rey to bring it. Kurt drops Rey and taunts Edge but walks into a hurricarana. Edge tags in and Kurt complains saying he wants Rey more. Kurt tags Benoit who also is unhappy he got tagged in. Edge drops Benoit with a shoulderblock then hits two armdrags followed by a dropkick. Edge rams Benoit into the corner and pounds away on him. Edge gets a side headlock but Kurt pulls his hair. Edge clocks Angle off the apron but Benoit sends him sternum first into the corner. Chris hits a back suplex and tags Kurt in to stomp away, then cheapshot Rey off the apron. Kurt chokes Edge on the second rope then delivers a vertical suplex. He covers for 1...2..nope. Benoit tags in and kicks away at Edge and chops him in the corner. A charge in the corner eats elbow and a second eats knee. Edge hits the Impaler and both men are down. Rey tags in for a legdrop to the back of the neck but Chris kicks out at two. Rey drop toes Chris into the corner and Edge cuts Angle off. Both heels are in the corner and Edge hits a shoulderblock to send Kurt to the outside. Edge sets up Benoit on the second rope then launches Rey into a hurricarana off the rope. Rey covers for 1...2...nope, Kurt pulls Rey out. Edge takes Angle out with a clothesline and sets up Benoit on his shoulders. Rey hits the West Coast Pop and covers for 1..2....3 and Edge & Rey take the first fall.

Kurt runs in an cleans house as we go right into the second fall. Rey armdrags Kurt but runs into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Cole says this is a must win fall now as Angle hits another suplex and covers for a deuce. Kurt chops Benoit as a tag and Benoit hits a big stomachbreaker on Rey. Benoit isolates Rey in the corner then climbs to the second rope with Rey on his shoulders. Rey hits a top rope bulldog and both men crawl for the tags. Kurt gets the tag but so does Edge. Edge hits a backdrop on Kurt and throws Chris through the second rope into the camera guy. Edge calls for the spear on Angle and goes for it, but Angle pushes the referee away and Benoit holds up the tag title belt for Edge to ram into. Kurt pulls the straps down and locks in the anklelock. Benoit throws Rey outside and the ref calls for the bell, we're tied up.

Kurt stomps Edge out of the ring and Chris & Kurt both take credit for the win. They shove each other as we cut to commercial. Back from break Kurt drops Mysterio and covers for a two count. Kurt pounds away on Rey in the corner then throws him to the outside. Kurt distracts the ref by messing with Edge so Benoit can stomp on Rey outside. Chris throws Rey inside and Kurt covers for 1...2...nope. Rey hits a heel kick to the chin of Angle and crawls toward Edge. Edge tags in and kicks away at Angle in the corner. Edge gets whipped into the corner but the charge eats boot. Edge still walks into the overhead belly to belly suplex. Benoit tags in and backdrops Edge before delivering a side backbreaker. Benoit covers for 1...2...nope. Benoit locks in a half crab and Edge kicks out, but Angle tags in. Angle cheapshots Rey to isolate Edge from his corner. Kurt clotheslines Edge and covers for a deuce then Benoit tags in. Chris gets in knees to the ribs and stomps away in the corner. Chris whips Edge in the corner but he counters with an elbow. Edge climbs to the second rope but Benoit delivers a back suplex from off the top. Both Angle and Rey get the tags and Angle rams himself into the ringpost. Rey hits the broncobuster but Benoit german suplexes Mysterio from behind before knocking Edge off the apron. Rey rolls out of the Angle Slam and sends Angle crashing into Benoit. Rey drops a stunned Angle into the second rope and goes for the 619, but Angle sucks. Mysterio's hurracarana is blocked but he sunset flips Angle for 1....2....Angle grabs the rope....3!!! WE GOT NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! The ref then notices Angle was holding onto the rope and even Benoit runs in to saw he saw it too. Referee Brian Hebner gets cornered by Angle & Benoit and even he admits that he saw the rope after counting the fall.

We cut to commercial and when we get back, we get a replay that shows Angle grabbing the rope. During the break Hebner tells Chimel that the fall doesn't count and the match is restarted. Angle and Benoit argue in the ring and Rey uses the distraction to dropkick them both. Benoit sends Rey into the corner and delivers a back suplex. Benoit hits a snap suplex and covers for 1..2....nope. Cole says for all intents and purposes we're in overtime. Benoit tags in Angle and they do a double knee buster to Rey. Kurt stomps away at Mysterio then slugs away in the corner. Kurt tags Benoit who hits a dropkick on Rey on the ground. Benoit chops Mysterio down and executes a gut-wrench suplex, but the cover only gets two. Kurt tags in and kicks Rey in the ribs. Kurt does a gut-wrench suplex of his own then covers for 1...2...no, Edge kicks Kurt off. Kurt gets in a waistlock as Benoit shouts to squeeze him. Rey fights out of it then hits the wheelbarrow DDT.  Edge gets the hot tag and he hits a top rope clothesline. Edge goes nuts on both Angle and Benoit then hits Edge-O-Matic on Kurt. He covers for two but Kurt slaps on the ankle lock. Edge somehow kicks Kurt into the corner and somehow Rey hits the 619 around the damn ringpost. Benoit nails Rey outside but Edge hits the spear on Kurt. Edge goes for the cover but notices Benoit is on the top rope. He moves and Benoit accidentally hits Angle with the headbutt.  Rey gets in and dropkicks Benoit to the outside. Edge covers for 1...2....THREEEEEE, WE GOT NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS....for real this time. Edge and Rey celebrate in the ring as Rey has won his first gold in the WWE. Another great match from these guys after they had that amazing one at No Mercy.

Time of match: 24:16

Winners: Edge and Mysterio 2 falls to 1 (new Tag Team Champions)

We get a graphic for Lesnar vs Guerrero coming up in our main event before we go to commercial. Back from break Michael Cole runs down the Super Tuesday card. Next Tuesday Torrie Wilson faces Trish Stratus in a bikini challenge, a ten men tag featuring Triple H, Chris Jericho, Christian and 3 Minute Warning vs Kane, Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy, then finally a triple threat match where Edge faces Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. The funny thing is Edge is holding the Smackdown tag title in the graphic, way to put over that kayfabe is dead haha. Stephanie also has an announcement about the tag titles at Survivor Series. The ten men tag was already taped after Raw went off the air in Boston and the other two matches will be recorded after the show tonight. How's that going to look when you have two different arenas? Anyway we cut to Big Show with Mark Lloyd and asks who's going to win tonight between Show and Guerrero. Show says HE is going to win. Lloyd asks how. Show says stick around, you'll find out. We cut to Los Guerreros coming up to Paul Heyman and say they have something in common. Eddie says he doesn't think Brock can beat Big Show either. Eddie doesn't think Brock can beat him either and Brock storms outside, chasing the Guerreros away. Heyman says "I'M SICK OF THIS SHIT! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? I've been telling you for weeks to listen, EXCUSE ME, I'M TALKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW!' Heyman says he's been responsible for Brock's success all along so be grateful. Heyman says if he wants to go wrestle Guerrero, fine but do it without him. Heyman says go be the brawn without the brains and storms off. Heyman's got somewhat of a point, but there is definite dissension in the ranks. Onto the main event.

Match 5

Eddie Guerrero (with Chavo Guerrero Jr) vs Brock Lesnar

No title on the line and no Heyman either. Chavo jumps Brock before the bell but Lesnar heaves him out of the way and drops Eddie as well. Brock bashes Eddie against the side of the ring and throws him inside where the bell rings. Eddie trades blows with Brock but Lesnar rams him into the buckle. Brock shoulderblocks Guerrero in the corner, whips him into the other corner and does more shoulderblocks. Lesnar backdrops Guerrero and Chavo tries to get his attention. Lesnar hits a bearhug then throws Guerrero onto the apron. Brock gets an overhead backbreaker on Eddie and Lesnar shouts Chavo to look at his boy. Lesnar does a modified Dominator as Tazz ponders if Brock can get Big Show up like that. Eddie bails to the apron and Lesnar heaves him over the top rope into the ring. Brock drops Chavo of the apron but walks into a low blow by Guerrero. Eddie pounds and kicks away but Lesnar shoves him off. Eddie hits a dropkick and continues to kick at him. Eddie tries to lock in the El Paso Lasso and does it. Brock easily kicks him off but Eddie dropkicks Brock in the leg then covers for a deuce. Cole brings up Lesnar's inexperience despite being the youngest WWE Champion. Eddie ducks the line and Guerrero dropkicks Brock, but it doesn't drop him. Brock clotheslines Eddie twice then whips him into the corner. A shoulderblock and overhead suplex has Guerrero reeling allowing Brock to shoulderblock him in the corner. A charge misses when Chavo pulls Eddie out of the way and works over the left arm. Brock returns the favor with a low blow and an F-5. Brock covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Lesnar beats Guerrero but he didn't squash him like Show did to Matt Hardy. Still a damn good match for what it was.

Time of match: 6:39

Winner: Lesnar by pinfall

After the match, Cole shows us the replay of what just happened and Lesnar celebrates on the ramp....but gets ambushed by Big Show. Show press slams Lesnar over his head into the crash pad below. Show sends a message that Lesnar is facing someone bigger and stronger than him. Funny how in 2 weeks, Smackdown has booked Show better than Raw has for a year now. We go off air with Show looking menacing. We're 10 days out from Survivor Series and so far we only have one Smackdown match signed. Super Tuesday apparently is going to give some clues to a tag match but other than that, its Brock vs Show and that's it. This was a tale of two hours because we started with Cena's comedy shenanigans with Rikishi, Mattitude getting squashed and Al Wilson's proposal....then we got the amazing 2 out of 3 falls tag match and a good Eddie vs Lesnar match. Its like Smackdown can flip a switch and put on an instant classic. Kidman might get a title shot at Jamie Noble at Survivor Series and now that Angle & Benoit are no longer the tag champs, they're free to fight each other again. Finally they're giving Lesnar some adversity because he's been the aggressor since he's come to WWE and now he's run into a wall he can't simply bust through. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. The stars of Raw are performing at a house show in State College, Pennsylvania tomorrow night. I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (10/10/02)

WWE Smackdown

America West Arena

Phoenix, Arizona

October 10, 2002

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz

Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel

While Raw raked the eyes of anyone watching with the poorly constructed Raw Roulette then topping off with the infamous Katie Vick angle, Smackdown was the polar opposite lately. They've been putting on great matches for weeks and the introduction of the WWE Tag Team Championship tournament added some pizazz to an already great show. But, things were about to go horizontal as well but we'll get to that later. Before we go anywhere we got the dark matches before the Velocity taping. Let's get to them.

Dark Match 1

Shannon Moore vs Spanky

No, that's not Spanky from Little Rascals. That's Brian Kendrick getting a tryout. Shannon won with the Flair pin. You'll be seeing Kendrick real soon.

Winner: Moore by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Val Venis and Bill Demott vs Shelton Benjamin and Bull Buchanan

Shelton and Bull had been teaming on the house shows as this was Shelton's trial run before he made his TV debut. Shelton had all the athleticism in the world so it won't be long until he's brought up. Still, the veterans Val and Bill win it after Demott pinned Benjamin.

Winners: Venis and Demott by pinfall

Now let's get started with the show. We start with a recap of last week's show where Undertaker got ambushed by Brock Lesnar to help Matt Hardy win a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Then Brock used a propane tank to break Undertaker's hand. We open with The Undertaker, cast and all, in the parking garage waiting for Brock Lesnar. But here comes Matt Hardy to the ring for a chat. The crowd chants "We want Jeff" as Tazz says he has Mattitude. Hardy says times are great for Version 1 and he's getting all sorts of fan mail for beating Undertaker twice. Hardy brags about beating him singlehandedly and shows the highlight from last week. Naturally its just the three count and not the F-5 Brock Lesnar unleashed. Taker is being shown coming to the ring and Matt says he'll beat him up if he comes out there. Taker hits the ring and Matt attacks and slams the cast against the turnbuckle. Taker then uses the cast as a weapon to punch Matt with it. Outside the ring Taker sends Hardy into the steel steps and into the timekeeper's table. Undertaker pounds away on Matt and Matt's been busted open. Taker chases off the referees and Hardy throws right hands only to eats knees to the gut. Taker gets in the ring and punches the bloody Matt with the cast again. Hardy kicks Taker in the gonads as the referees try to break them up. Taker hits Matt with the cast again and Matt counters with a chair shot to the back. Taker beats the daylights out of Matt and almost takes referee Mike Chioda's head off with a swinging right. Taker elbows Matt against the post but Matt moves when Taker goes to punch hit. Taker holds his hand in pain as Matt escapes a bloody mess. Cole says Taker can use the cast as a weapon and may have evened the odds at No Mercy. That was 10 full minutes, just a tad too long but Taker needed to get revenge somehow. We cut to commercial and when we come back, we get the highlight of Matt's beat down. On to our first match.

Match 1

Rikishi vs Eddie Guerrero (with Chavo Guerrero Jr)

Last week Los Guerreros defeated Mark Henry and Rikishi in the first round of the tag title tournament and Rikishi takes on Eddie in singles action this week. We get a quick shot of the back with the trainer saying Taker's hand might be broken in another spot. Bell's gone and Eddie starts with a headlock but eats a shoulderblock. Rikishi says to bring it as Michael Cole says Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle will be teaming tonight and they'll be suspended if they fight each other. Cole says Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr will be teaming as well. Eddie runs into a bearhug as Cole says Dawn Marie challenged Torrie Wilson to a Lingerie Contest. Will these ridiculous antics ever cease? Eddie goes for a sunset flip but just moves before Rikishi sits on him. Eddie dropkicks Rikishi and clubs away at him. Eddie stomps away and even Chavo gets a cheapshot in. Eddie punches Rikishi in the corner but gets backdropped. Rikishi hits a modified spine buster but misses an avalanche in the corner. Eddie dropkicks the knee and hits a hilo. Eddie goes for the frog splash but misses it. Eddie staggers into a Samoan drop and Rikishi hits a clothesline in the corner. Eddie falls into the corner and Rikishi goes for the stinkface. Chavo hops on the apron and Rikishi tosses him in the ring. Rikishi savate kicks Chavo into Eddie and avalanches them both. Both Guerreros fall in to the corner and both get stinkfaced at the same time. Eddie grabs a chair and throws it in the ring. Eddie then grabs a second chair and goes to hit Rikishi with it. Rikishi catches him and unloads with right hands but Chavo grabs the second chair but kicks kicked for his trouble. Eddie picks his chair back up and waffles Rikishi in the leg with it while referee Jimmy Korderas was busy getting Chavo out of there. Eddie locks in the El Paso Lasso and Rikishi taps to end the match. Eddie has beaten Mark Henry and Rikishi by submission in successive weeks with a lot of help from Chavo. Good crash style match and the double stinkface was funny.

Time of match: 4:37

Winner: Guerrero by submission

Back to Torrie Wilson going through her own underwear and can't believe Dawn challenged her to this match. Al Wilson shows up and says she wants to show him something. Uh, what? What dad is cool with their own daughter going through lingerie? Then again, its only a show so who cares. Back to Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in Stephanie McMahon's office staring each other down. Stephanie says she needs them to get along because they're the best in WWE but if they can't get along, they'll be suspended without pay. Kurt says he's not even going to pretend to like Chris then thanks Stephanie for the opportunity. He says he's going to win no matter how much teeth or lack of brain cells his partner has. Chris fakes a belly laugh and says Kurt is bitter that he lost at Unforgiven. He says Angle's never been tag team champion so follow his lead. He grabs Kurt's medal and Kurt says don't touch. Stephanie tells them both to get to steppin but they refuse to leave first. Stephanie just sits down.

We cut to Rey Mysterio Jr with Funaki SMACKDOWN NUMBA WUN ANNOUNCA! He asks how they have a chance against Jamie Noble and Tajiri. All of a sudden Nidia shows up and starts hitting on him in Spanish. Rey then says something to offend her and she starts screaming at him and Funaki. She storms off and runs into Jamie asking what's going on. She blows him off and he spins her around saying she doesn't turn her back on him, he's Cruiserweight champion. He wants respect and Nidia says this is not the time or place. Jamie yells and she yells so security throws them both out. Back to Los Guerreros who's outside Stephanie's office where Chris Benoit finally walks out. Eddie brags about what they did to Rikishi and Chris doesn't look impressed. Chris "I don't know what the hell is up with Stephanie but I'll be damned if I sit home for a year. Eddie and Chavo stir the pot by saying Kurt is gonna train for the Olympics so Curt needs to watch his back. Kurt walks out and he calls Eddie "home slice." Kurt "Was it something I said? Wait a minute, were you guys talking about me? We may not be able to fight during our matches, but I'll beat it out of you." Chris "Yeah, YOU beat it out of me, yeah." Cole says the match is next.

Match 2

Billy Kidman and John Cena vs Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit

Amazing how one man would eclipse the other three when all was said and done and it wouldn't be who you'd think in 2002. Benoit and Angle argue outside before the match even starts before Chris starts with Kidman. The winners face Los Guerreros in the semi-finals next week. Benoit dominates Kidman to start with right hands and chops. Kidman gets a hurracarana and locks in an arm-bar before tagging in Cena. They double team Benoit and John covers for a 1 count. Benoit tags in Angle and Cena hiptosses him. Cena drops Angle with a forearm then covers for a deuce. Kidman tags in and dropkicks Angle then covers for another two count. Kidman kicks Angle and charges but Kurt belly to belly suplexes him over the top to the floor. Benoit picks Kidman up and throws him back in the ring. Angle hits a back suplex and Benoit reaches for the tag. Angle hits another belly to belly overhead suplex and Benoit tags himself in. Cole says he'd be shocked if they can make it through. Benoit german suplexes Kidman twice and executes a side backbreaker. Benoit taunts Kurt and slaps Kidman across the face. Cole plugs a Saturday night house show in Benoit's home town of Edmonton. Benoit locks in a half-crab but Kidman catches him in a small package for a two count. Kurt tags himself in and does a backbreaker to Kidman. A cover gets a two count and he sends Kidman into the corner. A charge eats boot and Kidman tags in Cena...only the ref didn't see it. Angle hits a vertical suplex and tags Benoit in. Benoit goes to whip Kurt into Billy but Kidman moves and Kurt hits the ringpost, spiraling out of the ring. Kidman hits an enziguiri on Benoit and crawls over to Cena. Kidman gets the hot tag and Cena ralies with clotheslines to Benoit. He backdrops Benoit and plants Angle as well. Cena hits a 3 Handled Credenza (!!) and covers only to see Kurt coming. Kurt splashes Benoit by accident and Cena throws him to the outside. Benoit gets clotheslined by Cena but he's pulled outside by Kurt. Kidman goes for the 7 Year Itch and hits it. Kidman covers for 1....2...noooo, Angle pulled Kidman out at the last second. Cena clotheslines Kurt out of the ring but is backdropped over and out by Benoit. Kidman hits an X-Factor on Benoit and covers for 1...2...noooo. Angle counters a bulldog into an Angle Slam and locks in the ankle lock. Benoit shoves Cena into Angle and both fly out of the ring. Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface and Kidman submits to end the match. That was damn good match with the story going on that Angle and Benoit can't get along. Good work to all four guys.

Time of match: 7:51

Winners: Angle and Benoit

After the match Benoit and Angle goes nose to nose as the ref raises both their arms in victories. We cut to the back with Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar and.....ugh....Tracy coming to the ring. As I mentioned, Vince McMahon went nuts trying to add pizazz to the No Mercy main events by incorporating Katie Vick into HHH vs Kane and...well....you'll see. Heyman grabs a random stooge and tells him to clear the ring. We go to commercial and when we come back, we get a Mattitude vignette set to Live For The Moment by Monster Magnet. Say what you will about Matt, that song SLAPPED back then. After a highlight of Taker beating up Matt earlier, here comes Brock, Paul and Tracy....ugh. Tracy Dali was an actress, cheerleader and Playboy model brought in for this. Heyman goes over what Brock did last week and says Taker is screaming about Hell in A Cell. Heyman puts over Taker's accomplishments at previous HIAC but as a man, Tracy has some words to say about the person. Before she can say anything, Taker himself comes out.

Taker gets in the ring and Tracy says "How could you Mark? For 3 months you have lied to me and slept with me. Now I find out you're married and your wife is pregnant. You're a bastard! I never even cared that you were The Undertaker or watched wrestling. I even promised you that I would never take our relationship public. Now I see why, don't I?" The only problem with this logic is he literally has Sara tattooed on his throat, how did she not know he had another woman. Taker grabs his own mic and says he has no idea who she is. She slaps him half-heartedly behind the ear and storms off with Lesnar and Heyman. Taker is completely confused and so are the fans really. Nobody asked for this and it just drags the angle down. Its not Tracy Dali's fault for taking a job, but Stephanie thinking it was necessary.

Back from commercial Heyman, Tracy and Brock are leaving when Stephanie walks up to them. Stephanie informs them that Brock has a match tonight and Heyman asks what? Stephanie says Jamie Noble has been thrown out of the arena and Brock will now team with Tajiri. Heyman complains about it and says this is an unsafe working environment. Stephanie says the match will be on but Undertaker will be banned from ring side. Heyman asks how that's going to keep Taker away and Stephanie says if he does interfere, then he won't face Brock at No Mercy. Brock is mad as we cut to the ring.

Match 3

Billy Gunn (with Chuck Palumbo) vs Reverend D'Von (with Ron Simmons)

Yes, you read that right. They FINALLY dropped the name Faarooq and started calling Ron by his real name. With Deacon Bautista headed to Raw, D'Von needed a new partner and they stuck Ron Simmons with him. Billy faces D'Von one on one and they lock up to start. D'Von sends Billy off and eats a shoulderblock. Billy hits an arm-drag suplex and covers for a two count. Billy goes for One and Only but D'Von escapes. D'Von takes over with a thrust to the throat only to run into a hiplock. He covers for a two count and D'Von bails to the outside. Palumbo shouts at D'Von which causes the ref to pay attention to him, allowing Simmons to clotheslines Billy Gunn, D'Von sends him into the steps then back inside. Billy instinctively reaches for a tag but forgets its a single match. D'Von hits a jumping elbow on Billy and a big right hand. D'Von locks in a chinlock as Cole babbles on about Brock Lesnar and Undertaker...like we don't get enough of this on Velocity? D'Von covers for a two count, hits a scoop powerslam and covers for another deuce. Gunn reverses a backdrop and hits One and Only. Gunn rallies with right hands in the corner and hits a stinger splash. Gunn calls for the fameasser but Simmons grabs the leg to stop him. Palumbo superkicks Simmons and D'Von goes for Saving Grace. Gunn rolls through it and hits the fameasser. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Weird to have Simmons and Dudley lose like this with their semifinal match next week, but Gunn gets the duke. Not great but they needed something to fill the show. This would be the last Smackdown appearance for Billy for nearly a year as he'd get injured on an upcoming house show.

Time of match: 5:21

Winner: Billy Gunn by pinfall

Back to the backstage area, Undertaker is on a cell phone talking to someone. Apparently Sara is NOT happy with these accusations and hangs up on him. We go to commercial and when we come back, Chavo Guerrero is shouting for help. He tells Benoit that Angle has Eddie Guerrero and needs help. He leads Benoit to a room and shuts the door behind him. We hear fighting noises and when the dust settles, Chavo opens the door and Eddie walks out with a steel chair. Eddie claims "Kurt Angle" wrecked Benoit. We cut to Torrie Wilson who says not to watch her in the lingerie contest and they'll have dinner later. Well...yeah. Dawn Marie walks up and shows off her lingerie to Al. The showdown is next.....ugh.

Match 4

Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson in a Lingerie Showdown.

Tazz is our MC and he shills the Divas Magazine before Torrie and Dawn make their entrances. Same thing as a bikini contest only different attire....sort of. Dawn goes first and shows off the goods before Torrie does the same. Naturally the crowd cheers Torrie and she wins. A complete waste of time who's only purpose is "yay boobies". Dawn wants a handshake but Torrie stones her cold after what happened last week.

Winner: Torrie

Backstage Dawn runs into Al Wilson and says she wanted to congratulate Torrie. Al claims he watched and Dawn shows her the Divas Undressed Magazine with her hotel room number card. Oh god....anyway, we cut to Paul and Brock. Paul tries to talk strategy for Edge and Mysterio but Brock says he wants Paul's phone. Paul hands it over and Brock calls a number to check on whoever he's calling. The person on the other line has no idea who he is so he introduces himself. Lesnar admits he just called Sara and Heyman is mortified. We then go to a highlight of Tracy's slap, which runs way too long. Finally, let's go to our main event.

Match 5

Tajiri and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr

Edge had been facing Brock on the house shows so they might have good chemistry here. Cole says before the match Brock doesn't want to be here. We start with Edge and Brock at the bell and Edge gets thrown halfway across the ring to start. Edge gets thrown across a second time and Brock laughs at him. Edge gets in a headlock but gets shoulderblocked. Edge catches Brock with a drop toe hold and pulls the top rope down to send Brock flying over the top. Lesnar is PISSED and paces around outside. He kicks the ring steps and Heyman tries to calm him down. Brock gets in and warms up but misses the clothesline. He gets a knee to the ribs and forearms Edge in the back. Mysterio blind tags in and Edge goes for a bodypress. Brock catches him but Mysterio jumps on Edge to take Brock down. Rey covers but gets launched off at 1. Rey and Brock are now in the ring for the first time together, power vs speed. Brock snatches Rey by the legs but almost botches the powerslam. Lesnar tosses Rey like a gnat and Tajiri tags himself in. Tajiri lands a superkick to drop Rey and locks in a chinlock. Cole says Tajiri's chances to win the tag belts increased ten-fold with Brock. Tajiri charges but is thrown up and over. Tajiri catches Rey with the tarantula but misses the Buzz Kick but hits a standard dropkick. Tajiri tells Brock he's got this as Heyman says to keep on him. Rey hits a hilo hurracarana and Tajiri sets Rey up on the top rope. Tajiri slugs at him then goes up himself. Rey knocks Tajiri off and makes the tag to Edge. Edge goes apeshit on Tajiri and knocks Brock off the apron. Edge counters the big kick and hits Edge-O-Matic. Lesnar gets in and hammers Edge. Edge tries a clothesline but Brock no-sells it. Edge hits another one to no effect but a third forearm drops him. Tajiri accidentally buzz kicks Lesnar and a double dropkick sends Lesnar outside. Edge drop toes Tajiri into the ropes and Rey hits the 619. Edge hits the spear and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. The individual matchups with Edge vs Brock, Rey vs Brock and Rey vs Tajiri were interesting but this was as makeshift as it gets. Still, they did well with what they had. Topped off a bad Smackdown with at least a good match.

Time of match: 7:23

Winners: Edge and Mysterio

After the match, Lesnar backdrops Edge on the floor and catches Rey in mid-air. Brock hits the backbreaker and launches Mysterio back in the ring. Lesnar hits the F-5 on Tajiri and Mysterio, but The Undertaker hits the ring. Taker blasts Lesnar with the cast that hurts him but sends Brock heading for the hills. Taker stands tall to end the show with Lesnar retreating. Cole says there will be no escape at No Mercy at Hell In A Cell as we sign off. God, that show SUCKED. It was 75% talking/segments and 25% wrestling which is unacceptable by Smackdown standards. The whole Tracy storyline was seriously unnecessary and just having Taker sell a broken hand would have done just fine. Los Guerreros screwing with Benoit and Angle before their semi-final tag match next week was good, but it dragged way too long. The lingerie match was also a waste of time but that's standard Divas circa 2002. All in all this show fell off a cliff compared to the previous two weeks and its a shame because it was supposed to be better than Raw. Vince royally screwed up with Raw Roulette and too much talking on Smackdown. Hopefully he can salvage what he can before No Mercy. Tomorrow night the stars of Raw have a house show in Utica, New York so I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (10/3/02)

Cajundome

Lafayette, Louisiana

October 3, 2002

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz

Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel

Coming off the heels of arguably the greatest Smackdown of all time, how could you possibly top it? You can't, but Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon on WWE.com promised a huge surprise for tonight's show. What could it be? How will The Undertaker respond to Brock Lesnar leaving him a bloody mess last week? Will Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit have another match together at No Mercy? Now we have to go search for clues. Before that, we have our customary dark matches and Velocity taping. We'll just go with the dark matches here.

Dark Match 1

Little Guido vs Funaki

Once again, Little Guido from ECW gets a tryout with WWE and he must be impressing because he's being booked again and again. Funaki gets the win here with a roll up.

Winner: Funaki by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Val Venis vs Shelton Benjamin

OVW rookie Benjamin is inches away from being on TV full time, he just needs the right gimmick and spot to open up. Venis gets the win here via submission.

Winner: Venis by submission

Now let's get on with the show. The show opens with Stephanie McMahon's big announcement. Edge will take on Kurt Angle. Matt Hardy takes on The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere match, Chris Benoit will face Rey Mysterio and a tag team tournament will be held to crown new WWE Tag Team Champions......what? Get this, Vince wanted TWO sets of tag team champions yet only one singles title per show. Rather than keep Kane and The Hurricane as WWE Tag Team Champions, they are now the World Tag Team Champions and the winners of this tournament will be the WWE Tag Team Champions. It wouldn't be for a long time before writers came to their senses and just called them Raw & Smackdown tag titles. Anyway, the finals will be at No Mercy and the first round starts right now.

Match 1

Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo) vs Mark Henry and Rikishi

Kind of an odd pairing of Mark Henry and Rikishi but two 400 pounders would ordinarily be hard to beat. The Guerreros waste no time and attack before the bell even rings. Eddie works over Rikishi with Chavo pounding on Henry. They go to whip the fat guys into each other but they get reverse whipped into the corner and splashed by Henry & Rikishi. Henry press slams Eddie into Chavo and Rikishi hits a double clothesline. Henry and Chavo leave as Cole sings Eddie's praises for his performance last week. Eddie dropkicks Rikishi as Cole says another first round match has Billy and Chuck facing Reverend D'Von and Deacon Bautista. Eddie ducks the line and narrowly avoids Rikishi's backside, but foolishly goes for the sunset flip. Rikishi goes to sit on him but Eddie escapes and tags in Chavo. Rikishi gets rid of Eddie and hits a samoan drop on Chavo. Rikishi savate kicks Eddie and Mark tags in. Chavo sticks and moves with Henry only for Mark to throw him over the top rope one handed. Mark goes for a press slam on Eddie but Chavo chop blocks him. Chavo works over the left leg and Eddie helps out from the outside. Chavo kicks away at the leg and Eddie tags in with a hilo. Eddie takes over on the left leg and hits a dropkick it. Chavo tags in and hits a dropckick to the ribs. Apparently we get another worthless bikini contest with Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson later as well with Tazz as the host. Henry kicks Chavo into the corner as the crowd chants "Eddie sucks." Eddie tags in and taunts Rikishi before applying a modified ankle lock. Referee Mike Sparks stops Rikishi from entering the ring which allows Chavo to waffle Henry in the leg with a steel chair. Eddie applies Tequila Sunrise and Henry gives it up to end the match. Los Guerreros cheat to win....something Eddie wanted four years ago. Henry rolls around in pain as that was smart strategy by Eddie and Chavo. Rikishi wasn't even a factor after the initial shine. Just goes to show how little the office thought of Henry and Rikishi at this point as they get utterly dominated by two guys half their size.

Time of match: 5:16

Winners: Eddie and Chavo by submission

Back from commercial we get a replay of the Guerreros cheating to win. Henry had to be helped to the back and we cut to Torrie Wilson and some old guy. They bump into Billy and Chuck and Torrie introduces the old guy as her father, Al. Yes, this is the start of THAT angle. Dawn Marie walks up and introduces herself to Al while saying she's competing against Torrie in a bikini contest. Why Torrie would bring her real life father to see that, you'd have to ask Paul Heyman. Speaking of Heyman, he's with Brock Lesnar in the back watching tape of Lesnar taking out The Undertaker last week. Heyman says Brock is going to have to give Taker a rematch at No Mercy and there will be a stipulation attached. Matt Hardy walks up and says its not gonna be a Falls Count Anywhere Match because he's gonna take out Taker this week. Lesnar and Heyman look at him funny as we cut to Undertaker on his bike. Back from commercial the Boot of The Week is Taker squashing Matt Hardy and Lesnar hitting him with a chair. Not exactly a boot.

Match 2

Matt Hardy vs The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Remember that storyline in WCW where Billy Kidman "beat" Hulk Hogan and crowed about it? They're essentially doing that with Matt and Undertaker. Bell rings and immediately Taker corners Matt and beats the daylights out of him. Taker punches him all around the ring then drops a leg on Hardy when he's prone on the ring apron. Taker throws Matt into the timekeeper's table and continues to punch away at him. Taker heaves Matt onto the announce table as Cole & Tazz retreat. Matt blocks a chokeslam but Taker counters the Twist of Fate, pushing Matt into the barricade. Taker clotheslines Matt over the barricade and continues to beat him up in the crowd. Matt staggers near the entrance and throws a drink at Taker before punching him. Matt hightails it out of there with Taker in hot persuit. Hary ambushes Taker but gets rammed into production crates. Taker continues to beat around Matt who runs by a wooden palate of popcorn and tries to escape through a green door. The door won't open and Taker says Matt has nowhere to run or hide. Matt climbs to the top of a storage cage when Brock Lesnar appears out of nowhere and ambushes Taker. Taker fights back with right hands and sends him into the cage. Hardy eats a knee to the ribs but Lesnar catches him and hits an F-5 onto the palate of popcorn....which shouldn't hurt at all. Hardy rolls Taker over and covers for 1...2....3? Yes, Taker took exactly one bump and it was enough to beat him yet he kicked out of everything at Unforgiven. Horrible writing but we're not finished!

Time of match: 4:45

Winner: Matt Hardy by pinfall

After the match, Heyman says to leave and shakes Matt's hand for a job well done. Brock doesn't listen to Paul and instead crushes Taker's hand with a propane tank. Heyman freaks out, grabs Matt and Brock and leaves while Taker rolls around in pain. Brock sends a statement to the Deadman. Back from break we get an ad for the upcoming Survivor Series and the trainer is with Taker. He's icing his hand and Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd asks Larry the trainer how he looks. Larry says his hand might be broken and they'll know later. On to the next match.

Match 3

Crash Holly vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia) for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Good call to have this after the Taker match. Bell's gone and Noble starts with an arm ringer. They both reverse each other and Noble rams Crash into the corner. Noble heaves Crash in the corner but a charge eats elbow. Nidia grabs the leg and Jamie gets a knee to the back. Noble taunts the crowd and gets a forearm to the back. Noble covers for a deuce and rams Crash into the corner. Noble chokes Crash on the second rope and drops a series of elbows on the back of Holly. Crash gets in a camel clutch but gets up and rams Jamie back first in the corner. Crash rallies with a clothesline and a back elbow smash. Crash flapjacks Noble and goes for a powerbomb but Nidia hops on the apron. Holly hits an O'Connor Roll to knock Nidia off the apron for 1...2...nope. Crash goes for Crash Landing but Jamie blocks it. Crash tries a sunset flip but Noble gets the knees down and holds the rope for 1...2....3 to win the match. The crowd absolutely did not give a damn about this match and its a shame, it was good for crash style.

Time of match: 3:35

Winner: Noble by pinfall (still Cruiserweight champion)

Dorkus Malorkus is with Kurt Angle who asks if he regrets losing last week. Angle says being the best means never having to say sorry. Angle said he didn't take the fall, Chris Benoit did. Angle says he's a Mozart symphony and he's a work of art. Angle spots Edge and Edge walks up only to say "You don't suck, but you're not perfect." Kurt says the gold medals says he is, Edge says his shiny bald head proves he's not. Angle says he's been waiting for payback and they're up next. Edge says "After you" and Kurt sucker punches him. On to the next match.

Match 4

Kurt Angle vs Edge

The big rematch from the Hair vs Hair match although Cole says Edge may not be 100% not just from the sucker punch but due to the match with Eddie Guerrero last week. They lock up to start and Kurt uses his amateur skills to get the upper hand. Edge catches Kurt with an arm-drag and they trade arm ringers. Edge once again gets the upperhand and drops a leg on the left arm. Kurt rolls him up for a two count but Edge doesn't let go of the hold. Kurt finally powers out of it but runs into an elbow and yet another arm drag. Kurt fights out of it with right hands but Edge turns the tables with boots in the corner. Edge ducks the line and hits a spinning heel kick, covering for a two count. Angle backdrops Edge to the apron but Edge snaps Kurt off the top roe. Kurt bails outside and Edge throws him back inside. Edge rams Kurt shoulder first into the ring post which sends Kurt to the floor. Kurt climbs on the apron and a eats a right hand. Back inside Edge locks in another arm bar but Angle hits an Angleslam on Edge over the top rope to the floor. Kurt drops Edge throat first onto the barricade, gets in to break up the count then stomps on Edge outside. Back inside Kurt kicks him full force in the ribs and delivers a snap suplex. Kurt works over Edge in the corner but Edge starts fighting back. A charge in the corner by Angle eats boot but he recovers for an overhead belly to belly suplex on Edge. He covers for a deuce then wraps his legs around Edge's legs while applying a chin lock. Edge powers out of it but Edge eats a knee to the ribs. Angle clubs away on Edge and covers for 1...2...no. Angle locks in an abdominal stretch but Edge fights out of it with a hiptoss. Edge rolls up Angle for 1...2...noooo. Angle hits a back suplex and covers for a deuce. Angle goes for a bearhug waistlock on the mat before Edge powers out of it. Edge hits a huge overhead belly to belly suplex and both men are down for a nine count. Angle and Edge get up just in time and slug it out in the center. Edge hits a flying forearm and rallies with clotheslines. A backdrop stuns Angle and a face plant gets a deuce when Edge covers. Edge's savate kick stuns Angle and Edge goes for the spear....only for Kurt to catch him and heaves him directly into referee Mike Chioda. Edge hits Edge-cution and hooks the leg but there's no referee. Angle gets a low blow and hits the Angleslam. Referee Mike Sparks runs to the ring and counts 1...2...noooooo. Angle goes for the ankle lock but makes it to the rope. Edge snaps Angle off the top rope and goes upstairs. Angle gets shoved off once but hits the superplex. Both men bridge and 1...2....3 to end it. Kurt's music hits and Mike Sparks raises Kurt's arm in victory....but wait! Referee Mike Chioda woke up in time to see Edge bridging and declares HIM the winner. The referees argue and Sparks shoves Mike. Mike levels him with a right hand and the other referees run in to calm them down as we got to commercial. Back from commercial, Cole says the match was restarted during the break and all the other refs are gone. Kurt hits a belly to belly on the floor and rolls Edge back inside. Kurt ties Edge's arms in the top rope and taunts the irate crowd. Kurt hits a spear to Edge and a normal football tackle. A third tackle attempt is dodged as Kurt goes flying out of the ring. Kurt crawls on the apron but Edge spears him all the way into the barricade. Edge goes up to the top rop and planchas Kurt on the floor. Kurt rolls in the ring as Edge goes up to the top again. Edge hits a missile dropkick and covers for 1...2....nooooooo. Kurt staggers into Edge-o-matic and Edge gets 1....2...nope. Kurt catches Edge with a german suplex. Kurt does it twice more as Chris Benoit strolls to the ring. Kurt is momentarily distracted but goes back to work with german suplexes. Kurt continues to point at Benoit but runs into a boot from Edge. Kurt counters a sunset flip with the ankle lock. Edge kicks Kurt to the floor and Kurt grabs a steel chair. Chioda checks on Edge and Kurt slides inside with the chair. Benoit hops on the apron and Kurt takes a swing at him....only for Chris to drop down and the chair hits Kurt in the head on the ricochet. Kurt turns around INTO THE SPEAR! Edge covers for 1...2....3 and that's officially the end. Edge wins in a match arguably better than their Hair match earlier. Benoit laughs his ass off as he leaves as Edge celebrates. The match officially went 20 minutes and if it wasn't for the unnecessary ref fight/false finish, that would have been up there with Edge/Guerrero the week before. Edge has put on the best match of the night two weeks in a row and was gaining steam.

Time of match: 21:26

Winner: Edge by pinfall

Back from break we get an unnecessary Rey Mysterio montage before highlights of Edge's victory. An irate Kurt Angle is in the back looking for Benoit and finds him in the locker room. Los Guerreros hold Benoit back with smirks on their faces with Albert, John Cena, Shannon Moore and Billy Kidman holding Kurt back. Stephanie McMahon runs in between them to break it up. Stephanie says next week Kurt and Chris are PARTNERS in the tag team tournament. If they fight in the ring they're suspended without pay for a year. Angle says fine, no touching....and sucker punches Benoit. Stephanie SCREAMS at Kurt and now the "no touch" rule is in effect. We cut to Heyman and Lesnar and Heyman hypes him up by saying he ended Hulk Hogan's career and the WWE title from The Rock. All of a sudden Matt Hardy comes in and says he beat Taker with Mattitude. He says if Taker can't compete at No Mercy, then Matt is the number 1 contender by default and HE should get the title shot. Matt thinks its a great idea and leaves to tell Stephanie. Heyman sarcastically says "I'd be very careful, he'd KILL you." Brock laughs as Billy and Chuck make their way to ringside. Back from commercial we get a Raw Roulette advertisement. They're pushing it HARD....but then again, its better than no hype at all.

Match 5

Billy & Chuck vs Reverend D'Von and Faarooq

It was originally supposed to be Deacon Bautista but for some reason they switched last second to Faarooq. Billy gets on the mic and asks Faarooq why he's associating with "this sorry son of a bitch!" Faarooq grabs the mic and waffles Billy with it and its time to get it on. D'Von heaves Billy over the top rope and Faarooq pounds away on Chuck. Faarooq hits a snap suplex and covers but the referee was distracted by Billy Gunn. D'Von tags in and they isolate Chuck Palumbo. Chuck heaves D'Von and Faarooq tags in to knock Billy off the apron. Chuck rallies with right hands but Faarooq takes him down and pounds away. Faarooq stomps on Chuck in the corner and D'Von tags in for more damage. D'von tells Billy to "suck it" and continues to pound away on Chuck. D'von scoop slams Chuck and Faarooq tags back in. Faarooq holds Chuck for the wazzup headbutt but Chuck reverses it with a victory roll and Billy throws D'Von off the top into Faarooq's gonads. Faarooq tags D'Von but Billy finally gets the hot tag. Billy rallies with forearms to D'Von and backdrops him. Billy sends Faarooq in the corner but D'Von stops the momentum. Faarooq sets up Billy for a back suplex and D'Von turns it into a neckbreaker. Chuck cleans out Faarooq but D'Von covers Billy for 1....2...nope. Billy goes for the fameasser but runs right into a Faarooq spinebuster. Faarooq runs over to stomp on Chuck as D'Von covers Billy for the 1..2.....3 to end the match. The makeshift team wins over the ex-tag team champions. What happened to Bautista? Oh don't worry....you'll see him again REAL soon. Formulaic tag match but it got the job done of advancing Faarooq and D'von.

Time of match: 4:07

Winners: D'Von and Faarooq by pinfall

Dawn Marie walks up to Al Wilson shows off her bikini to him. Al says she looks good and Dawn thanks him before walking off. Ugh, we'll be right back after these messages. Back from break we cut to Tazz in the ring.

Match 6

Torrie Wilson vs Dawn Marie in a Bikini Contest

Torrie won a contest last week over Nidia but the ex-ECW alumnist Dawn Marie wants her shot against Torrie. Torrie enters with a lolipop and Tazz explains the rules. Dawn goes first and unlike Nidia, looks like she's done this kind of "dancing" before. Torrie's turn and she wears one significantly smaller than what Dawn is wearing. Torrie wins and heaves her lolipop in celebration. Dawn offers a handshake then slaps her across the face. Dawn then heaves Torrie outside to get some heat back. Cole "Talk about sore loser! That was uncalled for! Dawn Marie is a witch." Normally this would be a waste of time but at least it established a feud between Torrie and Dawn....yay.

Winner: Torrie Wilson

Back to Heyman and Brock walking in the back and an irate Stephanie comes up to say she's been on the phone with The Undertaker. Stephanie says his hand is broken but insists on facing Brock for the WWE title. Stephanie says she's picked the stip but Heyman butts in "Let me guess, one arm tied behind the man's back!" Brock says "How about thumb wrestling?" Stephanie stones them both and says the stipulation is HELL IN A CELL. Heyman and Brock's expressions drop as Heyman just realized what Brock has gotten himself into. The main event of No Mercy is set. We go to break and when we come back the "Color of The Night" (the hell?) is Rey Mysterio winning last night's triple threat match.

Match 7

Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio Jr

Rey pinned Chris last week so they rumble one on one tonight. Bell's gone and Chris wastes no time kicking and punching Rey. Chris gets in a backbreaker as Cole says if Kurt and Chris hit each other in a match, they'll be suspended a year. Uh oh...the key word is "in a match". Chris heaves Rey into the corner but a charge eats boot. Tazz brings up these two never actually wrestled in WCW, how would he know? Benoit sets up Rey on the top turnbuckle but Rey counters a razor's edge with a hurricarana. Rey uses speed tactics to wheelbarrow bulldog Benoit. A cover gets a deuce and Chris sets up Rey on the top rope only for Rey to use his legs to send Benoit over the top to the floor. Rey hits a springboard hilo to the floor, throws Chris back in and covers for a two count. Benoit catches Rey with a backbreaker and sends him into the corner again. Chris delivers a back suplex and covers for 1...2..no. Benoit backdrops Mysterio and kicks at him in the corner. Benoit has a unique hold using Rey's own hands against him but Rey counters with a hold of his own. Rey flips over into a sunset flip but only gets a one. Chris hits a left arm lariat and rams Rey's head into the buckle. Chris chops Rey and repeatedly rams Rey into the corner. Chris locks in a surfboard but Rey powers out of it...only for Chris to catch him and german suplex him. He covers for 1...2...nope. Chris again hits a big clothesline and stacks Rey for a two count. Rey hits a big dropkick as Cole & Tazz say Benoit hasn't missed a beat since he got back from neck surgery. Rey catches Benoit with a right hand and goes for an asai moonsault, but Chris catches him mid-air. Benoit goes for snake eyes but Rey rolls out of it and hits a spinning heel kick. Rey hits a dropkick to the chin of Benoit on the ground. Rey hits a split legged moonsault and covers for a deuce. Rey counters a german suplex and hits an enziguiri to send Chris onto the middle rope. Rey goes for the 619 but Chris catches him. Benoit hits a shoulderbreaker and calls for the diving headbutt. Chris dives almost the full length of the ring and hits it. He covers for 1..2....NOOOOO, somehow Mysterio kicked out. Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface but Mysterio was near the rope anyway to break it. Rey counters a german suplex with two dropkicks to the legs then hits a second rope legdrop. Chris slinks onto the second rope and Rey hits the 619. Chris ducks the West Coast Pop but somehow Kurt Angle appears out of nowhere and snaps Chris' head off the second rope. Chris staggers into a hurricarana with a bridge by Rey for 1....2....3 to win the match. Second week in a row Rey uses Angle and Benoit's hatred against each other to win the match. Another great match to cap off the night with Benoit using holds and Rey's lightning speed to counter what he could. They were called the Smackdown Six (Eddie & Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Edge and Chris Benoit) and so far they've rocked the last couple of shows, great effort by Rey and Benoit.

Time of match: 10:50

Winner: Mysterio by pinfall

After the match Angle and Benoit unload on each other with right hands and Angle hits a german suplex followed with an ankle lock. Benoit counters with a Crossface and Angle taps. The referees and agent Fit Finlay try to separate them but fail miserably. Benoit and Angle stare at each other as we fade to black. When you follow one of the best shows ever, a let down is inevitable....well this wasn't that much of a let down. Sure Undertaker vs Hardy was booked terribly and bikini contests are a waste of time, but the Cruiserweight match was a fun few minutes, Edge vs Angle stole the show and Rey and Benoit rocked too. The Smackdown tag title tournament is heating up with D'Von and Faarooq along with Los Guerreros advancing. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle better get along next week or else! Taker's hand is broken but he's got Lesnar at No Mercy in Hell In A Cell. Things are looking good for Smackdown. Tomorrow night the stars of Raw are working a house show in Boise, Idaho for some ungodly reason so I'll see you there.