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.
