WWE Super Tuesday (11/12/02)

WWE Super Tuesday

Fleet Center and Verizon Wireless Arena

Boston MA and Manchester, NH

November 12, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Tazz

Ring Announcers: Lilian Garcia and Tony Chimel

Vince has always had an obsession with shows on Tuesday whether its Tuesday In Texas or the eventual Taboo Tuesday. The problem is fans just don't want to pay more money for a Tuesday ppv. With just five days before Survivor Series, Vince decided to just have a UPN special instead much like the old Survivor Series Showdown shows. The stars of Raw and Smackdown will both participate in this special although the Raw 10 men tag was filmed last week in Boston while the triple threat match and bikini contest was filmed in Manchester. Its going to be Triple H, Christian, Chris Jericho, Rosey and Jamal against Booker T, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Bubba Ray Dudley. Also a bikini contest between Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson. Finally, a triple threat match between Edge, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. Btw, Vince is an absolute moron for not making the tag match Survivor Series style. If they weren't going to have elimination tag matches on the card, this would have been PERFECT for that. Could have had Eddie, Kurt Angle, Chavo Guerero Jr, Benoit and Big Show against Edge, Rey Mysterio Jr, Rikishi, Billy Kidman and Brock Lesnar. Oh well...

We get a cool remix of The Beautiful People and Across The Nation for the intro. Both announce teams say their hellos with dueling arenas. This entire night was filmed in advance but we're going to pretend its on the same night. Cole and Tazz sends us to Stephanie McMahon's office. She says Edge and Rey Mysterio are the new tag champs and at Survivor Series it'll be a triple threat tag team match. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Los Guerreros vs Edge and Rey Mysterio. Because of that, the triple threat match tonight will be Benoit vs Edge vs Eddie. She's going to hold on to the belts so nobody steals them. In other words, this is the kayfabe reason why Edge and Mysterio aren't holding the title belts due to the fact they hadn't won them yet when this was filmed last week.

Match 1

Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit vs Edge in a Triple Threat Match

Benoit makes his entrance last as Tazz says he's mad at Kurt for dropping the tag belts. Benoit attacks Edge at the start and boots him in the corner as Eddie hides outside.  Benoit rams Edge into the corner and chops away at him. Benoit rams Edge into the other corner and chops away. Edge sends Benoit sternum first into the corner and Edge hits a back suplex. Edge hits a leg drop and covers but Eddie slides in to break up the count. Eddie kicks away at Edge and hits a back elbow smash. Benoit nails Eddie from behind and hits a back suplex on him. Benoit sends Eddie in the corner and kicks away at him before landing some chops. Edge comes in and nails both of them with right hands. Chris lands a running knee to the ribs on Edge as Tazz says Rey Mysterio goes one on one with Eddie this coming Thursday on Smackdown. Benoit and Angle will also duke it out on Smackdown as Eddie cheapshots Benoit. Eddie sends Benoit off, ducks the line and they take each other out with a double clothesline. Edge then hits a on Eddie and goes to town on Benoit. Eddie from behind hits a back suplex on Edge. Eddie goes for the El Paso Lasso on Edge but Benoit hits a dropkick. Eddie slugs Benoit and he retaliates with right hands. Edge slugs Benoit and hits a flapjack on Guerrero. Edge hits the flapjack on Benoit as well. Edge goes upstairs but Eddie cuts him off. Benoit puts Eddie on his shoulders and Edge hits a missile dropkick on Guerrero. Edge covers Eddie for 1......2..nope. Chris ducks the line and hits a german suplex on Edge but Eddie hits a suplex before covering for a deuce.  Eddie misses the frog splash off the top and Edge hits another face plant on Eddie. Benoit catches Edge with the Crippler Crossface in the middle of the ring but Chris intercepts a diving Eddie, locking him in the Crossface. Edge dropkicks both men in the face then hits Benoit with a spear. Eddie runs right into the Edgecution and Edge covers for 1...2..nooo, Chavo Guerrero Jr runs down to pull referee Mike Chioda out. Edge hits a baseball slide to knock out Chioda, Chavo and the camera guy. Chavo sends Edge into the ring post but Rey Mysterio Jr runs out to counter Chavo. Rey hits a moonsault on Chavo outside as back inside Eddie gets caught in the crossface. Kurt Angle then runs out, throws the referee in on top of Benoit to break up the hold. Angle hops up on the apron as Eddie rolls up Benoit from behind for 1...2...3 to win the match. Eddie stole that one off the distraction. That was a pretty good match despite the run ins and it set up the triple threat this coming Sunday. Eddie and Chavo celebrate in the ring as Benoit and Angle yell at each other up the ramp.

Time of match: 7:29

Winner: Guerrero by pinfall

Cole hypes up the ten men tag as Big Show is coming out later. Back from break we get a video montage of Big Show and Brock Lesnar's feud up to this point. Again, if they didn't book Show out to be a goofus for a year straight, this might of worked. After that LONG montage here comes Show himself to the ring. Show says he's quoting Paul Heyman by saying Lesnar can't beat him. He brags about hurting Lesnar and this Sunday he'll be the next WWE Champion. His music hits and he leaves....what? The montage was longer than the promo. Kind of pointless but up next is Trish vs Torrie. Back from break we shift over to Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross for a moment to hype up Raw's events. We get the elimination chamber video from Raw. What's with the montages? You can put all this stuff on the pre-show on Heat. They could have easily had Bubba Ray vs D'Von for the amount of time they wasted on video montages. Anyway, let's get to the ring.

Match 2

Torrie Wilson vs Trish Stratus

Tazz is our MC for our bikini contest. Normally these things are a waste of time since the babyface wins every time, but we got two babyfaces here so I'll treat this as an actual match. Interesting to see who the crowd picks. Cole drools over Torrie as she makes her entrance. Tazz explains the rules, they got 30 seconds to show their stuff and the audience picks the winner. Trish goes first as Tazz says this is the biggest moment of her career....what? Trish shows off her bikini and gets a good pop from the crowd. Tazz tells Cole to get Stephanie to get Trish on Smackdown. Torrie goes next and gets a much larger pop for her skin colored bikini and booty shake. Tazz asks the crowd who wins and clearly Torrie gets the larger pop but all of a sudden Nidia hits the ring and pulls out Torrie. Nidia rushes Trish and both she and Torrie fend her off. Torrie and Trish raise each other's arms in victory. Torrie got the louder pop but everyone's a winner here apparently.

Time of match: N/A

Winner: Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson

Cole sends it to JR for the Raw portion of the show, which has about 18 minutes left of showtime. We got an interview with Shawn Michaels next. Again, we want to see wrestling, you can save all this for Heat. We get a montage of Shawn vs HHH up to this point and finally JR asks Shawn "live" via satellite what Sunday will be like. Shawn "One word...Wild, crazy, chaotic....okay that's three words. He says his motivation is simple, keep HHH from winning and ruin his life. He admits its immoral but he's doing it anyway. He doesn't know who's going to win but HHH certainly won't. Time for the main event.

Match 3

Triple H, Rosey, Jamal, Christian and Chris Jericho (with Rico and Ric Flair) vs Booker T, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy in a Ten Man Tag Match

Thankfully the heel entrances are cut in favor of a video showing Jericho decimating Kane and Rob Van Dam on Monday. JR and King ask how Hardy is able to walk after being put through the table "last night" which was funny since this is clearly filmed the week before since you can see the god damned Boston Celtics banners hanging in the Fleet Center during the camera cut to the ring. Hardy starts with Jamal and Jamal starts with right hands "sup boy!" Jamal hits a backdrop on Jeff "Get your ass up boy!" Jamal tags in Christian and Hardy slides under him, takes him down and hits the between the legs legdrop. Hardy tags in Bubba who punches away at Christian. Bubba chops Christian in the chest and looks over at Jericho "I got one for you two ya punk". Christian is whipped into the corner and Bubba hits a stinger splash followed by Dusty Punches. Bubba covers for 1..2...no. The crowd chants "we want tables" as Bubba hits a flapjack on Christian. Rob Van Dam tags in and Jamal tags in as well. Van Dam kicks Jamal but Jamal misses a charges in the corner. RVD hits the top rope dropkick and moonsault for 1...2..nope. Jamal clotheslines RVD down and HHH tags in. Hunter punches him in the corner but the ref gets distracted allowing the corner beat down. Jericho tga sin and hits a back suplex on RVD. "I'm the king of the world." Jericho misses a dropkick and RVD hits rolling thunder. RVD tags in Kane who cleans house of HHH and Jericho. Then he knocks everyone else off the apron. Jericho runs into a boot as Kane double clotheslins Christian and HHH. Kane sidewalk slams HHH and goes up to the top rope. Kane hits the top rope clothesline and covers for 1.2..no, Jamal pulls him off. Pier Six brawl outside with only RVD and Christian in the ring. RVD takes out Christian then heel kicks Jericho. Jericho turns a flip into the Walls of Jericho but Booker T hits the axe kick. Booker hits the scissors kick on Y2J and does the spinaroonie. Christian hits the reverse ddt but walks into the Bubba Bomb by Bubba Ray. Jeff Hardy hits the swanton on Christian but Rosey sends Jeff into Jamal for the samoan drop. Bubba cleans out Rosey but eats superkick from Jamal. Kane grabs Jamal and chokeslams him off the top rope. HHH runs in and goes for the pedigree, but is backdropped. Kane hits the chokeslam and covers for 1...2..nope, Christian breaks it up. Kane throws Christian on top of Rosey and Rico outside but turns around into a missile dropkick from Jericho. Rob Van Dam hits the five star frog splash on Jamal out of nowhere when Jericho grabs a chair. He rushes RVD with it but Rob hits the Van Daminator to take out Jericho. Rob somersault planchas the heels outside leaving Kane in the ring. Flair hits Kane with a chair and HHH hits the pedigree. HHH covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Of course....once again HHH goes over to show that nobody else in the chamber match has a chance in hell. The heels celebrate outside as we go off air. Since the stupid video montages took forever, they only had 8 minutes to get their shit in and it was just spamming finishers.

Time of match: 8:23

Winners: HHH, Jamal, Rosey, Christian and Chris Jericho by pinfall

All in all that was a total waste of time. They could have had cut the video montages, Big Show's promo and Shawn's satellite interview to have two separate elimination matches in the spirit of Survivor Series. The opener was good but then everything else went south. The only drama going into the elimination chamber is will HHH or HBK win. That's not how you promote a six person match. If fans know that 4/6ths of the competition have no chance, what's the point of watching? At least Smackdown attempted to book Big Show as a monster to give Lesnar a roadblock for the first time in his career. The less said of "Super Tuesday" the better. Up next is the final Smackdown before Survivor Series coming at you from Columbus, Ohio. I'll see you there.

WWE Sunday Night Heat (10/20/02)

OCTOBER 20, 2002

ALLTELL ARENA

LITTLE ROCK, AR

Commentators: Jonathan Coachman & Lita

Welcome to a special edition of Heat as its the night of WWE No Mercy. This entire show will mostly be hype for the upcoming ppv with one match for the DVD most likely. Our hosts are Jonathan Coachman and Lita who's still recovering from her injury. Lita says she's no longer a virgin of pay-per-views and Coach gives her a look. Coach hypes up the main event Hell In A Cell match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar for the WWE title and Kane taking on Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. The WWE tag team title finals as Edge & Rey Mysterio Jr face Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Coach sends us to the tag team title tournament highlights which had Edge & Mysterio defeat Brock Lesnar and Tajiri (yes I'm serious). Los Guerreros defeated Mark Henry and Rikishi and Reverend D'Von and Faarooq defeated Billy & Chuck in the first round. Stephanie orders enemies Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit to team together and if they fight, they'll be suspended a year without pay. Angle and Benoit put their differences aside to defeat Billy Kidman and John Cena in the first round only for Los Guerreros to attack Chris Benoit. Angle & Benoit defeat Los Guerreros in the semi-finals with Edge and Mysterio defeating D'Von and Faarooq to set the stage for No Mercy. Edge & Rey can get along, but will Kurt and Chris? Coach hypes up Saliva's Always with Saliva themselves performing at The World....yippie.

Before we go to commercial we get Paul Heyman alone giving his thoughts on Hell In A Cell. He talks about how it ends careers and shortens lives. He mentions Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Tim White never was the same after it. Paul says when Brock retains the title, he'll come out a different man and nobodies lives will be better. Talk about long term storytelling. We then get our road schedule with Raw in Nashville tomorrow night, Tuesday night in Memphis, Friday night in Topeka, Saturday night in Witchita, one week from tonight in Toledo and next Monday night in Detroit. Back from commercial, Coach and Lita hype up Tough Enough 3...ugh. We recap the audition process where the superstars went to 25 different people to personally invite them. Somebody named Wendell says he's the best athlete but gets cut for talking back to Al Snow when he half-asses calisthenic drills. Then the crew has to bike for 3 miles with Bill Demott yelling at them then has to run another 3 miles. You gotta be in great shape to survive that. The 13 that survives are the ill fated Matt (Cappotelli), Rebekha, Justin, Jill, Jonah, Eric, Chad, Lisa, Nick, Jamie, Scott, John (Morrison) and Kelly. Out of the 13 that were picked, only two made it to OVW with one a lengthy WWE career. Out of the 11 that didn't make it, only two had minor success. That means only 4 really had any kind of success out of 25 picks....and that's the problem with taking athletes and trying to teach them to wrestle, they might not have the passion. Whereas indy vets that have nothing to lose will never see the big time.

Back to Coach and Lita who hype up the World Tag Team title match between Chris Jericho and Christian taking on Booker T and Goldust. Then we got a grudge match between Ric Flair and Rob Van Dam after Flair turned heel and cost Rob his WHC match with Triple H. We get a highlight of Tim White getting knocked out at Hell in A Cell at Judgment Day and we got to an interview with White himself. He says there's no winners, only survivors and his livelihood was taken away. He never wants to be in another HiAC match ever. One of the commercials is Pete Rose insulting wrestling fans coming to his door for Halloween until the real Kane shows up.

Back to Coach and Lita, they hype up Kane vs Triple H unification title match. We get a montage of all the great Intercontinental champions of the past. Also included is Goldust winning the title, Steve Austin getting paralyzed by Owen Hart, Steve Austin throwing The Rock's belt into the river, Chyna becoming the first women's champion, Kurt Angle becoming the Euro-continental champion and highlights of various matches. They wanted to get rid of the IC title to have just five titles in the company, two sets of tag champs, two sets of world champs and the Cruiserweight champion. We then show Saliva backstage at The World, guess they're up next.

Back from commercial, Coach and Lita sends us to The World in New York City. They interview Saliva who's new CD comes out November 12 called Back Into Your System. They worked with Chris Jericho on King Of The World and Saliva kayfabes saying they want to slap the taste out of his mouth. They explain what their new song is about and they go right into Always. After the song, we go to an interview with The Undertaker who downplays being the "master" of Hell in A Cell saying its not a compliment. Its war and anything goes in the match. Undertaker says he shortened Shawn Michaels' life and Mick Foley's career and he has no idea what he did to himself. He says only he and Lesnar go in, but one man comes out.

Back from commercial we go to the Slam of The Week. Jamie Noble and Nidia were supposed to fight each other with Tajiri as the ref and naturally they turn on Tajiri. Was anyone fooled? Jamie Noble puts the title on the line against Tajiri and then Dawn Marie faces Torrie Wilson....ugh. We then go to the recap of the feud between Kane and Triple H....and its not pretty. Kane enjoys a babyface run culminating in winning the IC title but Eric Bischoff says "One show, one champion. Kane vs Triple H winner take all". Usually title vs title means the IC Champ wins but this is unification rules.....and Triple H goes into the Katie Vick storyline which doesn't need to be told here. Back to Coach and Lita, Lita says Kane may not be 100% in the head and he has to worry about Ric Flair as well. Coach and Lita are going to send it to Michael Cole and Tazz when they come back. But first, we got to Brock Lesnar for an interview. He's not nervous about Hell In A Cell, he's excited. If he beats The Undertaker at his own game, he'd be unstoppable. Lesnar says Taker has won before but he won't tonight. Lesnar says Taker's broken hand will be a factor one way or another. Lesnar says he won't just be WWE Champion but Hell In A Cell champion as well. After commercial we go to our pre-show match.

Match 1

The Hurricane vs Steven Richards

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

Last month we had a Smackdown pre-show match and tonight its the Raw crew. Richards attacks Hurricane at the bell but Hurricane counters with a sunset flip. Hurricane eats a back suplex as JR brings up how Chris Jericho and Christian defeated Hurricane and Kane to win the tag straps last Monday. Richards delivers a snap suplex then locks in a surfboard. Hurricane powers out of it and flips over Steven. Hurricane delivers a neckbreaker then a big clothesline. Richards charges but eats elbow and Hurricane hits a neckbreaker off the second rope. Hurricane kicks Richards in the head and covers for 1...2...nope. Hurricane calls for the chokeslam but Richards counters with a knee. Richards hits a Stevie Kick and covers for 1...2...no. Richards puts Hurricane on the top turnbuckle and goes for a superplex. Hurricane knocks Steven off then delivers a vertebreaker. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Short and sweet but Hurricane wins it. Serviceable crash style match that hypes the crowd up for tonight's show.

Time of match: 3:05

Winner: Hurricane by pinfall

JR and King sends us to a montage of the events leading up to tonight. Taker and Lesnar fought to a draw at Unforgiven and Lesnar broke Taker's hand with a propane tank. Stephanie tells Paul Heyman and Brock that Taker will fight Brock in a rematch anyway in Hell in a Cell. Then we get the stupid "Tracy" storyline where she lies about sleeping with Taker and gives one of the worst slaps in wrestling history. Taker says he's going to take it out on Brock at No Mercy. Lesnar intimidates Stephanie and lays out Taker, stomping on Taker's injured hand. Taker fights back and beats up both Heyman & Lesnar before they retreat. Michael Cole and Tazz are in the ring and describe how Hell In The Cell works and how evil the match is. The cell lowers and it would have been funny if Cole and Tazz had an impromptu match inside it. Cole asks will Lesnar finally put an end to the dead man or will Taker keep his master of the cell streak alive? Find out tonight at No Mercy!

WWE Velocity (9/28/02)

September 28, 2002

San Diego Sports Center

San Diego, CA

Commentators: Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd and Tazz

Ring announcer: Tony Chimel

This week's velocity was taped Tuesday night before Smackdown and we got three matches. Billy Kidman vs Crash Holly, Shannon Moore vs Doug Basham and Reverend D'Von vs John Cena. No Albert this week? What is this herecy? The recaps should be fun as well since we had one of the best Smackdowns of all time on Thursday. Dorkus Malorkus and Tazz welcome us before sending us to our first match.

Match 1

Crash Holly vs Billy Kidman

We start the night with cruiserweight action between Kidman and Crash. They shake hands to start and they chain wrestle while the crowd chants "Let's go Elroy!" Crash goes up and over in the corner but Kidman fakes him out when he does it. Kidman hits a flying back elbow smash then sends Crash through the ropes to the outside with a head scissors. Kidman misses a baseball slide to the floor and Crash powerbombs him against the barricade. Tazz is trying to babble on about Brock Lesnar as he's instructed to do by whoever is in his ear, but he gets distracted by the cool looking powerbomb. This is why I hate C shows. Tazz wants to enjoy the match but they're instructed to promote Smackdown, Unforgiven, No Mercy and the upcoming presidential election if Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn tell them to. Back inside Crash covers for a deuce and hits a scoop slam. Another cover gets only a 1 and Crash locks in a surfboard. Dorkus Malorkus and Tazz continue to yap about Lesnar and Taker. A backbreaker by Crash also gets a two count and locks in a camel clutch. Crash lets him go and jumps on his back then re-applies it. Kidman powers out if it and catches Crash with an inside cradle for a two count. Kidman rallies with a series of clotheslines but misses a charge in the corner. Crash rolls him up and puts his feet on the ropes for 1...2....no. Tazz says referee Jimmy Korderas can't use the excuse his hair got in his eyes because he doesn't have any. Kidman counters a scoop slam with a sit down powerbomb for 1...2...noooo. Crash counters a bulldog and hits one of his own before covering for 1...2....noooo. Crash gets frustrated and Kidman hits an enziguiri. Kidman goes upstairs for the Seven Year Itch but Crash counters and does the Crash Landing for 1...2.....3 to win the match. Solid effort by both men including some good high spots to tell a story. Crash gets the duke as Dorkus Malorkus says Crash has been on a roll on Velocity lately.

Time of match: 4:34

Winner: Crash Holly by pinfall

Before we go to commercial we go to our recap portion and naturally its the amazing No DQ match between Edge and Eddie Guerrero that was half-ladder match. Too bad Edge legitimately injured his neck because to this day that was one of the best Smackdown matches ever. We also get more highlights of the Wrestlemania 19 press conference before we get to our next match.

Match 2

Shannon Moore vs Doug Basham

Moore was making a name of himself on Smackdown as Matt Hardy's lackey but Basham was just waiting for a spot to open up. Basham was one of those guys that spent way too long in the indies/developmental as he was already 31 by this point, which isn't his fault since WCW and ECW bit the dust a year earlier. Like I mentioned in another review, Doug had an incredible match with Chris Benoit a few weeks earlier so all eyes were on him. Tazz gives a shout out to Ohio Valley Wrestling as Dorkus Malorkus says "rookies" like Basham ask Tazz for advice. HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Basham was a 9 year veteran at this point, mentored by "Nitro" Danny davis and Jim Cornette. With all due respect, what the hell could Tazz tell him? Moore gets in an arm-ringer and Basham misses a charge in the corner. Moore hits a dropkick and a hurricarana but the cover only gets two. Moore's charge eats ring post and Basham hits a drop toe hold into the second rope. Basham covers for a two and he rams Shannon's head into the corner. Doug hits a clothesline in the corner as Dorkus correctly tells us Moore trained with the Hardy boys (so did Hurricane). Basham locks in a neck lock as the crowd chants "You suck" at Basham. Tazz says both his grandfather and father were named Tazz but his real life father stole the show on Before They Were Superstars. Mr. Senerchia said "I tell my son in high school NO DRUGS! You do drugs, I break your legs, you don't go out! No drugs!" To my knowledge Tazz was never involved in any shenanigans in the ECW locker room so heeded his father's words. Basham takes Matt down and they kind of botch an inverted power bomb into a bulldog spot causing the crowd to boo loudly. A charge by Basham in the corner eats boot and Shannon rallies with forearms. Shannon goes up and over and hits a bodypress for 1...2..no. Shannon hits a spinning heel kick and a rolling neckbreaker. Shannon covers for 1...2...nope. Shannon comes off the ropes and Basham counters with a jumping leg drop....nice. Basham covers and gets 2 and 3/4 before setting Shannon up on the top rope. Shannon elbows Doug off and hits a Halo (modified whil-o-whisp) then covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Kind of a sloppy match but they only had four minutes and probably called it on the fly. Still, some of the spots worked. Tazz says "shades of Jeff Hardy" which is what Dorkus alluded to earlier.

Time of match: 4:12

Winner: Moore by pinfall

Our next recap is the brilliant main event from Smackdown where Rey Mysterio Jr defeated Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a triple threat match. Benoit and Angle were so bloodthirsty to destroy each other Rey snuck in and stole the victory. If it wasn't for Eddie vs Edge, that would have been the talk of the week. After that Tazz says our main event will be John Cena against Reverand D'Von. Back from break we get a recap of Brock Lesnar taking out Funaki and busting open The Undertaker after Taker beats up the "ingrate" Matt Hardy. Again, one of the best Smackdown's of all time so I can see why this episode dedicated so much time to the recaps. Let's get to our main event.

Match 3

Reverand D'Von vs John Cena

Where have we seen this before? Cena does the "Word Life" pose despite not having the gimmick yet. They lock up to start and Cena gets the upper hand in the corner. Tazz brings up what I mentioned earlier that the triple threat got overshadowed by Edge vs Eddie Guerrero. Its funny how this Velocity was taped before the very same Smackdown they're mentioning in past tense, gotta love syndication. D'Von misses a line in the corner and eats an armdrag. Cena hits a hiptoss and another arm drag as the announcers mention "ruthless aggression". Cena hits a body press for a two count and another arm drag. The crowd chants "we want tables" as Cena rolls up D'Von for another two count. D'Von sends Cena ass over tea kettle to the outside. Cena gets on the apron and does a face plant to the floor when D'Von hits a forearm. D'Von rolls him inside and puts the boots to him. Some dude in the crowd chants "Cena sucks!" as D'Von rakes the eyes. Cena rallies with strikes and a clothesline, covering for a two count. D'Von hits a lariat on Cena and puts the boots to him again. A cover gets a deuce as Dorkus Malorkus starts babbling about Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker again (I'd love for Lloyd to tell whoever is in his ear to stick it). The crowd chants "boring" as D'Von misses a second rope elbow. Cena hits a series of clotheslines and an atomic drop. A dropkick by Cena gets 1...2....nope. Cena hits a spinning fisherman's suplex (!) and covers for a deuce. Cena goes for the 10 punches in the corner but makes it to four before D'Von slides under and hits a second rope neckbreaker. D'Von covers for 1...2....nope. D'Von goes for a Saving Grace but Cena rolls through. Cena sends D'Von off but the reverend throws Cena over the top rope. Cena catches himself, hits a shoulderblock and sunset flips D'Von for 1...2....3 to win the match. Cena wins the match as Malorkus calls it an upset. D'Von hits Saving Grace after the bell to get some heat back. D'Von hits the wazzup headbutt as Malorkus says "Geeeeeez." D'Von leaves Cena sprawling as we sign off. Decent match for what it was as some of Cena's spots were hilarious. You could tell Cena was due to break out but just needed the right gimmick.

Time of match: 5:11

Winner: Cena by pinfall

Mostly by proxy, this was probably one of the best Velocity's of all time. The recaps were fun because of the great matches and Crash vs Kidman was great for the time frame given. Smackdown was definitely the place to be at the time and good times were coming for sure. As for this show, the opener was great, the second match was meh and the main event was okay. Least there was no Albert this time, right? We got three shows tomorrow with the Raw crew in Beaumont, Texas, Smackdown in Bossier City, Louisiana and Sunday Night Heat. I'll see you in Bossier City.

WWE Smackdown (9/26/02)

September 26, 2002

San Diego Sports Center

San Diego, CA

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

Ring Announcer Tony Chimel

We saw the fallout from Unforgiven on the Raw side and now we got the Smackdown side. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar fought to a draw with The Undertaker so that feud still needs to be settled. It looked like Edge and Eddie Guerrero finally had their blowoff but we are nowhere near yet done with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Jamie Noble is still the Cruiserweight champion and Stephanie McMahon humiliated Eric Bischoff with the help of Rikishi. Before we do anything, we have some dark matches that occurred before the Velocity taping. We'll save the Velocity matches for the actual Velocity show.

Dark Match 1

Horshu vs Al Snow

Yes, THAT Horshu from WCW. Born Matthew Weise, he was a WCW Power Plant graduate that shaved his head in the shape of a horse shoe and was a jobber for a couple of years. He was working the independents around this time and eventually would sign full time with WWE. This must have been a tryout match and Al Snow wins it with a snow plow. Horshu would come back two years later under the name Luther Reigns.

Winner: Al Snow by pinfall

Dark Match 2

Ivory vs Molly Holly

No idea why this was on a dark match instead of the Velocity taping but then again, women's wrestling was seriously lacking on Smackdown so this was probably throwing a bone to these two and give the live crowd something to enjoy. Ivory won the match.

Winner: Ivory

We open the show with a montage of Eric Bischoff getting humiliated by Stephanie and Rikishi before Cole and Tazz welcomes us. Speaking of Rikishi, he's in the first match.

Match 1

Rikishi vs Chavo Guerrero Jr

This stems from last week when Guerrero waffled Rikishi with a camera during the tag match which led to Chavo getting the win for Los Guerreros. Cole says we're getting a No disqualification match between Edge and Eddie later and Tazz says a bikini contest too...ugh. Bell rings and Chavo stalls to start. Rikishi chases him around the ring but Chavo kicks Rikishi once back in the ring. Chavo can't move him so Rikishi heaves him over the top rope. Cole hypes up the rest of tonight's festivities as Chavo comes off the top but Rikishi catches him and starts knocking him around with forearms. Rikishi goes for the avalanche in the corner but eats boot. Chavo hits a facebuster and puts the boots to him. Chavo works over Rikishi in the corner but its Rikishi's turn....until his charge eats ringpost. Standing dropkick sends Rikishi in the corner and he taunts the crowd. He goes to deliver a stinkface of his own but Rikishi headbutts Chavo's ass and he goes flying. Chavo pulls his tights up but runs into a backdrop. Rikishi rallies with right hands and a belly to belly suplex. Rikishi calls for the avalanche and hits hit this time with sends Chavo into the corner. Rikishi calls for the stink face but Chavo slides out of it. Rikishi hits a modified chokeslam and goes for the banzai drop. Chavo counters with knees to the gonads and covers for 1......2...nope. Chavo grabs the camera again but referee Jimmy Korderas catches him. Rikishi superkicks the camera into Chavo's head to knock him out. Rikishi hits the banzai drop and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Rikishi gets a bit of revenge for last week although Chavo escapes without taking the stink face. Rikishi grabs a fedora hat and dances at the entrance way for no reason other than to entertain the crowd.

Time of match: 4:33

Winner: Rikishi by pinfall

We cut to Torrie Wilson lotioning up her body for the bikini contest coming up.....what do you need lotion for indoors? Back from commercial Tazz is in the ring and Billy & Chuck will be the judges.

Match 2

Torrie Wilson vs Nidia in a Bikini Contest.

What do you need Billy and Chuck here for? Anyway Torrie makes her entrance first followed by Nidia by herself. She flirts with Billy and Chuck with Cole noticing she's wearing sneakers. Of all the places to look, you look THERE? Tazz explain the rules, you got 30 seconds to do what you want and the judges give their scores. Nidia goes first and she starts dancing only to lose her gum on the canvas. She puts it back in her mouth which is BEYOND disgusting for anyone that's ever been in the ring as Cole laughs his ass off. Nidia pretends to be out of breath and Tazz asks what the judges think. Palumbo holds up a 6 and Billy holds up a 9....har de har har. Torrie is up next and she looks a lot more coordinated. Billy and Chuck give her a perfect 10. Torrie wins and Nidia throws a temper tantrum. Billy "She's hot but not Torrie Wilson hot." A complete waste of time, moving on.

Time of match: N/A

Winner: Torrie Wilson

Billy and Chuck celebrate in the ring with Torrie but here comes Jamie Noble and Tajiri. Oh....THAT'S why they were the judges. Noble cuts a promo complaining about the judges' scores and Billy & Chuck have no taste. Noble and Tajiri wants to challenge them to a match right here and now. I thought Tajiri and Noble were feuding? Billy and Chuck are in street clothes but accept.

Match 3

Billy & Chuck (with Torrie Wilson) vs WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble and Tajiri (with Nidia)

We don't even have a ref in the ring yet as they brawl to start. Finally a ref gets in and the bell rings. Paul Heyman was notorious for impromptu matches in ECW so he must have booked this. Noble and Tajiri beat up Billy Gunn who's in a blue t-shirt and jeans. Then again, he should be used to wrestling in jeans. Noble and Tajiri double team Billy but Chuck pulls Tajiri out and Noble runs into a tilt-a-whirl slam by Billy. Billy rips his shirt off but Noble dropkicks Billy's leg. Tajiri tags in and he kicks Billy in the injured leg. Tajiri hits the springboard back elbow, ducks the line and hits a savate kick. He covers for 1...2...nope. Noble tags in and he dropkicks Billy again. He too works over the left leg but Billy leg presses him over the top rope to the floor. Tajiri kicks Chuck off the apron and they double team Billy in the corner. Noble takes over on the leg with Cole babbling about Brock Lesnar and Undertaker coming up later. Noble gets in a leg lock but his chop pisses off Billy causing Billy to forearm him. Billy rallies with right hands but falls down selling the leg. Cole says the ref should stop this but Tazz says its too soon. Tajiri works over Billy with Noble distracting the referee. Noble continues to work over the leg as Cole bringing up The Hurricane and Randy Orton leaving for Raw and now all contracts are binding. Billy uses his good leg to kick Noble off him then delivers a flapjack. Billy gets the hot tag to Chuck who cleans house. He overhead press slams Noble and rips his shirt off. Chuck picks up Tajiri for the Doomsday Device and Billy hits hit. Chuck covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Talk about making something out of nothing as they told a good story here. Nidia throws another temper tantrum as Billy and Chuck celebrate with Torrie. Torrie beats up Nidia and spanks her with Billy holding Nidia's arms. Gotta love 2002 folks.

Time of match: 6:24

Winners: Billy & Chuck by pinfall

Cole and Tazz hype up The Undertaker vs Matt Hardy later as we got to break. When we come back, Smackdown NUMBA ONE ANNOUNCAH Funaki heroically knocks on Brock Lesnar's door for an interview. Funaki stammers through his intro and Lesnar manhandles him. Funaki asks if its true that Brock will not give Taker a rematch for the WWE title. Brock says Funaki was the only one to ask him to his face and Brock says he'll answer in public, in the ring. Funaki thanks him and says "see you in the ring". Uh oh....we cut to Stephanie McMahon on the phone lamenting the loss of The Hurricane and Randy Orton when Kurt Angle barges in. He thinks its funny what Stephanie did to Eric Bischoff and smart too. Kurt gets to the point and wants a rematch between him and Chris Benoit and Angle's mad that Chris cheated. Stephanie says she had something different as Rey Mysterio Jr walks in. He asks what the heck he's doing here and makes a child labor law joke. The hometown hero is going to be in a triple threat with Kurt and Benoit. Kurt asks why he's there threatens Rey that he's going to get the 1...2...3. Rey says he's going to give him the 6....1....9.

Funaki brings out the chair Undertaker used last night and gets in the ring as we cut to commercial. Back from commercial Funaki does his schtick and brings out Lesnar. Tazz "Here comes the pain". Heyman walks out with Brock as well and Brock is in wrestling gear. Funaki hands the chair to Lesnar and he throws it away and takes his belt off. Funaki drops the mic and starts throwing right hands that Brock no-sells. Lesnar takes Funaki's head off with a clothesline and a pump handle slam. Brock hits knees to the stomach, drives him in the corner and rams him into another corner. Brock hits an over the head belly to belly suplex and Funaki flies halfway across the ring. Lesnar hits the F-5 and Cole says we still don't have an answer if Taker gets a rematch. Lesnar throws Funaki out of the ring as Cole says its like poking an angry bear with a stick. Didn't really need to have this go on that long, he could have just beat him up in the back but oh well.

We cut to Torrie Wilson again in the back and Dawn Marie walks up. Dawn wants to congratulate Torrie on the win over the "nothing of a hillbilly" Nidia. Dawn says Torrie should take on her next time and Wilson just walks off. Edge makes his way to ringside for the next match.

Match 4

Edge vs Eddie Guerrero in a No Disqualification Match

Cole calls this the conclusion of a long rivalry as Eddie makes his entrance. Edge makes his entrance to a monster pop. Cole says Eddie won last night which kind of ruins who's gonna win this one. Bell's gone and they lock up to start. Eddie starts with punches in the corner and drops him with elbows. Eddie gets in a headlock but he shoulderblocks Edge down. Edge leapfrogs Eddie and monkey flips him as some girl screams bloody murder for some reason. Edge gets in an arm bar as Cole once again brings up there will be no more jumping ship. Cole says this started back when Eddie and Benoit defected from Raw months ago. Eddie covers with his feet on the rope as someone continues to scream. Edge reverses a whip and backdrops Eddie then hits a dropkick. A scoop slam by Edge is followed by an elbow to the chest but the cover gets a deuce. Edge locks in an arm-bar but Eddie counters with an enziguiri. Eddie stomps away then hits a vertical suplex before covering for a deuce. Eddie locks in a chinlock and screams "PINCHE BOLA DE MOJADOS" which translate to "Fucking wet balls". Edge powers out of it and hits a powerslam before going upstairs. Eddie stops him and hits a superplex. Eddie can't capitalize quickly and the cover only gets two. Eddie unloads with forearms but Edge hotshots him off the tope rope and clotheslines him over the top to the floor. Edge goes under the ring and gets a ladder, no disqualification after all. Edge goes to ram Eddie but Eddie ducks and Edge takes out referee Mike Sparks instead. Whoops! Eddie takes advantage with a forearm to the back and grabs a chair from underneath the ring. Eddie waffles Edge in the back with it and rolls Edge back inside. Eddie grabs the chair and clobbers Edge in the ribs with it before taunting the crowd. Eddie goes upstairs but misses the frog splash. All three men are down but Edge gets to his feet first. Eddie hits the spear and covers but there's no referee. Finally Mike Chioda runs in and counts 1...2...nooo. Eddie goes apeshit in the corner on Edge with strikes, then locks in a sleeperhold as the other referees haul off Mike Sparks. Edge powers out of it but Eddie ducks the line only to eat a facebuster. Edge covers for 1..2....nooooo. Eddie hits a top rope hurricarana and covers for 1....2....nooooo. Eddie works over the right arm and goes for the top rope arm drag but Edge counters with a sit down powerbomb. Edge grabs the ladder and throws it inside the ring. Eddie dropkicks the ladder into Edge's face. Eddie brings out a second ladder from underneath the ring as Cole asks what he needs that one for. Eddie hits a European uppercut that sends Edge onto one of the ladders. He puts the second ladder on top of Edge and hits a hilo onto the Edge sandwich. The crowd chants for Eddie as he covers for a deuce. Eddie climbs to the top of a ladder but Edge climbs up the other side. They trade punches and Eddie hits a sunset bomb off the top of the ladder for a huge pop. Eddie covers for 1...2...noooooo. Eddie sets the ladder up in the corner with Edge against it. He charges but Edge backdrops him onto the ladder. Edge sets up a ladder in the corner and goes to climb it but Eddie goes upstairs to get on the other side. Edge grabs Eddie and hits Edge-cution off the top of the ladder. Edge covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Eddie's head is busted open as Edge gets the duke and he walks away favoring his head. Eddie actually gets a standing O after Edge leaves. As good as this match was, there was one drawback. When Edge took that European uppercut onto the ladder, he legitimately injured his neck. He tried to work through it the next four months but it kept getting worse. Its a shame Edge lost so many years off his career due to what looked to be a simple bump off a ladder. This match was so good it ended up on three different DVD compilations. Viva La Raza: The Eddie Guerrero Story, You Think You Know Me? The Edge Story and Best of Smackdown: 10th Anniversary.

Time of match: 15:46

Winner: Edge by pinfall

How can you possibly top that match? By hyping up our main event of Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio coming up. Back from break we got Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd interviewing Chris Benoit who congratulates him on his win over Angle at Unforgiven. He asks what he thinks about the triple threat and Chris says "YOU SUCK!" Chris says the wrestler Kurt doesn't suck and he's a tough sonofabitch. Chris looks forward to beating him and Rey Mysterio. "Chris Benoit was born to hurt!". Matt Hardy is in the back with Shannon Moore and he says he beat The Hurricane so bad that Hurricane ran away to Raw. Matt says he can beat Hurricane and The Undertaker but Shannon says it had to more with Brock Lesnar than Taker. Matt calls him "Mr. Fancy Pants" and says he'll beat Taker without Brock's help....good luck with that. Matt leaves and Brock watches him walk away....ruh roh. Back from break Cole sends us to highlights of the Wrestlemania 19 press conference held in Seattle.  We're 6 months out but the date and location has been set. March 30, 2003 at Safeco Field in Seattle. Edge says he'll be there.....ugh. Taker says he'll be 11-0 after the show. Kane says freaks will rule at Wrestlemania. On to the next match.

Match 5

Matt Hardy vs The Undertaker

Hardy had been a thorn in Taker's side for weeks but as Shannon Moore pointed out, it was mostly due to Brock Lesnar. Something tells me Brock will remain behind for this one. Even Cole says Matt is just a pawn for Heyman and Lesnar. Bell's gone and Matt goes for a handshake. Taker shakes his hand and doesn't let go. Taker whips him in the corner and ravages Matt with knee lifts. Taker hits a big right hand but a charge in the corner eats boot. Matt takes Taker down and unloads with right hands and stomps. Matt hits the legdrop off the second rope but the Twist of Fate is blocked. Taker sends him off the ropes and puts his head down. Matt kicks Taker in the head but runs right into a chokeslam. Taker calls and hits The Last Ride and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Before the bell even rings Brock Lesnar appears from nowhere and waffles Taker with the WWE title belt. Taker blades and Lesnar blasts him a second time to put Taker down for the count. Purpose served as Taker humiliates Hardy only for Brock to get the last word.

Time of match: 1:49

Winner: Undertaker by pinfall

Back from break we're shown Taker bleeding all over the place and staggering to the back looking for Brock. Brock gets the upper hand tonight but Taker will be looking for revenge. Now its time for the main event. Angle comes out first and cuts a promo saying Mysterio is an illegal alien and so is everyone else. Good luck saying that now. Kurt says Rey will need 911 and calls Chris Benoit an illegal alien as well. Finally let's get to the match.

Match 6

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio Jr

If you thought Edge vs Eddie was great, this should be great as well. Only problem is we only have about 10 minutes left in the show. Benoit enters second and stares down Kurt before Rey makes his entrance. Rey tries to get inbetween but Kurt piefaces him down and unloads on Benoit with a right hand. Rey hits a hurracarana on Kurt and uses Benoit as a launcing pad to kick Angle in the face, then bulldogs Chris. Rey covers Chris for a deuce and Kurt heaves Rey out of the ring. Kurt and Chris mat wrestle and Chris holds his own. Then Kurt hilariously knocks Rey off the apron to go back to another mat wrestling session. Benoit's turn to knock Rey off and Angle goes for the ankle lock but Chris counters. Angle tries to use the ropes to pin Benoit but Chris kicks out. Rey flips over Kurt and dropkicks Benoit then droptoe holds Angle. Rey leapfrogs over Benoit who avoids crashing into Kurt only for Rey to roll him up for a two count. Angle charges but Rey flips over him only to eat a back suplex from Benoit. Chris drops Mysterio and covers for a two count and delivers an inverted atomic drop. Chris chops Rey down and Chris delivers a snap suplex. A cover gets a deuce and Chris goes for a neck lock. Benoit picks up Rey and heaves him over the top rope as Angle gets back in to stomp away at Benoit near a pool of Undertaker's blood still on the canvas. Angle chops Benoit but Chris chops him back. Benoit runs into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Kurt covers but Chris gets his foot on the bottom rope. Kurt runs into a back elbow smash that drops the Olympian as Cole says these two rocked the house on Sunday at Unforgiven. Benoit hits two German suplexes but Kurt counters the third and hits two of his own. They block each other from hitting the third but Angle catches Chris with the Angleslam. Kurt pulls down the singlet straps but Rey springboard dropkicks Kurt through the ropes to the outside. Rey covers Chris for 1...2...nooo. Rey gets clobbered by Angle and throws him outside. Chris hits an over head german suplex on Kurt to end that segment. Chris gives the sign for the diving headbutt but Rey dropkicks him down. Kurt launches Rey over his head and onto Benoit on the floor. Kurt rams Mysterio into the barricade and throws Benoit back in. He chopblocks Benoit and locks in the ankle lock. Benoit gets to the ropes and Kurt dives on top of him only for Rey to hit a double 619 out of nowhere. Rey goes for the West Coast Pop but Kurt shoves Benoit into the ropes and Kurt catches Rey coming down, only for Rey to hit a sunset flip for a two count. Rey eats a clothesline but Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface. Kurt rolls into the middle of the ring and looks like he's going to tap. Rey comes out of nowhere with a springboard legdrop on Benoit and covers for 1...2.....NOOOOO. Rey dropkicks Kurt into Benoit, Chris dumping Kurt to the floor. Rey springboards into a hurricarana on Benoit and hooks the leg for 1...2.....3 to win the match. They only had 9 minutes but did the best they could in those 9 minutes. Rey took advantage of the other two being hellbent on destroying each other to win the match in his home town. This match would be featured on the Rey Mysterio: 619 DVD later. Mysterio runs off with referee Jimmy Korderas as the winner as we go to the replay.

Time of match: 8:43

Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr by pinfall

Benoit and Angle are mad in the ring as we fade to black. That show started off slow with the Rikishi match and bikini contest then became an all-time classic. The No-DQ match is still talked about today and the triple threat was one of Rey's favorite matches. Taker vs Brock was heating up but...just like on Raw, an awful writing decision almost ruined the story but we'll get to that when it happens. The Smackdown Six was in full effect here as the show established that in ring work was second to none. Stephanie behind the scenes knew she had something here which is why she was about to create something on screen actually worth something. All in all if it wasn't for the bikini contest this would have been one of the best Smackdown's of all time even with the Taker squash. The feuds were in place and the action was great as we start the climb to No Mercy. The next house show would feature the stars of Raw this Saturday night in West Palm Beach, Florida. I'll see you there.

WWE Sunday Night Heat (9/22/02)

Tonight is the night for Unforgiven. We got Undertaker vs Lesnar for the WWE title, we got Rob Van Dam vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, Ric Flair battles Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Molly Holly defends the Women's title against Trish Stratus, a should be classic with Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle and an 8 man tag with the Unamericans against Booker T, Kane, Goldust and Bubba Ray Dudley. Pretty much this hour of Heat with the exception of one match will be hype for tonight's show. Let's get to the hosts.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2002

STAPLES CENTER

LOS ANGELES, CA

Commentators: Jonathan Coachman and D-Lo Brown

Coach and D-Lo welcome us to the show and run down some of the card for tonight's pay-per-view. We also have a Heat exclusive match as Rey Mysterio Jr takes on Chavo Guerrero Jr. Before we get to any matches we get a music video montage for The Undertaker set to Adrenaline. Back to D-Lo and Coach, D-Lo says Taker is taking this personal. Taker makes his entrance into the arena on his motorcycle and Coach hypes up Rey vs Chavo coming up.

Back from commercial, we get our upcoming schedule. Tomorrow night's Raw comes to you in Anaheim. Tuesday night is a house show in San Diego. Saturday night we go cross country to West Palm Beach, Florida. One week from tonight is in Beaumont, Texas. Next week's Raw comes to you from Houston, Texas. One week from Tuesday is a house show in Lafayette, Louisiana. The fans start to file in as Coach says he's looking forward to Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle coming up. We go to a recap of the feud between Angle and Benoit. Angle & Benoit faced Taker and Rikishi and Benoit laughed at Kurt when he got stinkfaced by Rikishi. Angle didn't take too kindly to that and he and Chris got into a scrap with Eddie Guerrero trying to play mediator. The next week on Smackdown, Angle held Benoit for Rikishi to stink face Chris. An angry Chris stormed into Stephanie McMahon's office and demanded a match with Kurt, Stephanie agreed. The match should be a classic. Back to Coach and D-Lo, D-Lo is leafing through the Raw Magazine that has Kurt Angle on the cover. Coach and D-Lo once again hype up Rey vs Chavo as we head to commercial.

Back from break, D-Lo and Coach bring up Billy & Chuck taking on 3 Minute Warning with the stipulations attached. If Billy & Chuck win, Eric Bischoff must kiss Stephanie McMahon's ass. If the Samoans win, Stephanie must have "hot lesbian action". We cut to Eric Bischoff on The Best Damn Sports Show Period out of character talking about him in disguise.

Terri Runnells is with The Unamericans stable. Lance Storm is sick and tired of their opponents representing America. Regal says the babyfaces are a ghastly group of degenerates. Test says they're going to love demonstrating their superiority to American losers. Christian says the best part is they get to do it in the capital of deceit, Los Angeles. Coach hypes up Rey vs Chavo again as we got to commercial.

Back from break, we get a Jeff Hardy video package set to "Not Enough" by Our Lady Peace. Coach and D-Lo shills Adrenaline then runs down the card. Triple H defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho defends the Intercontinental Championship against Ric Flair, The Unamericans take on Booker T, Goldust, Bubba Ray Dudley and Kane, Molly Holly puts the Women's title on the line against Trish Stratus, Billy and Chuck take on 3 Minute Warning, Edge goes one on one with Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle rumbles with Chris Benoit and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defends the strap against The Undertaker.

Backstage Eddie Guerrero is with Chavo Guerrero Jr. Eddie praises Chavo for hitting Rikishi with the camera and he showed Eddie he's got what it takes. Chavo says he's going to show him later by beating Rey Mysterio Jr. Eddie says he's going to take Edge out as we cut to commercial again. Back from commercial the WWE Rewind is Chris Jericho defeating Rob Van Dam for the IC title due to Triple H's help. Terri is with Ric Flair and asks if this his chance to make a statement. Ric says there's no doubt in his mind he's still at the top of his game and he made Jericho tap last month. He'll be the new IC champ.....WOOOO! We get a video package of Eric Bischoff bringing back the World Heavyweight Championship and.....handing it to Triple H. No tournament, no match, he just hands it to him. Eric did have a fatal four way elimination match between Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho on who faces HHH first. Big Show and Jeff Hardy were out first leaving Y2J with RVD. Van Dam won it with the 5 star to become the number one contender. 

Back to Coach and D-LO who says Wrestlemania 19's press conference is this Tuesday in Seattle. Finally, we get Chavo vs Rey next after we get back from commercial. Back from break D-Lo and Coach tells us to enjoy Unforgiven as we get to the match.

Match 1

Chavo Guerrero Jr vs Rey Mysterio Jr

Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

Cole and Tazz are our commentators for the pre-show match with The Fink as the ring announcer  This match would fit right in on WCW Thunder two years earlier but it'll be a fun way to open the festivities before Unforgiven. Rey starts with an arm drag to get Chavo off his game. The crowd chants "Chavo sucks" and Chavo taunts them for it. Chavo works over the right arm then kicks Rey in the stomach. Chavo drops Rey with a shoulderblock but Rey counters with a lucha arm drag. Rey eats a knee to the stomach but counters a roll up by throwing Chavo out of the ring. Rey baseball slides into a hurracarana then throws Chavo back in. Rey goes upstairs but Chavo counters with a dropkick on the way down. Chavo slugs away in the corner then flapjacks Rey. Chavo covers for a deuce then locks in an abdominal stretch. Chavo holds on to the rope for leverage and referee Mike Sparks looks for it. Sparks finally catches him and Rey flips over for a press cover for a one. Chavo goes back to the ribs and stomps away on Mysterio. Rey counters another flapjack attempt by landing on his feet and dropkicks the leg of Chavo. Chavo counters with another knee to the ribs then rams Rey into the turnbuckle then dropkicks him off of it. Chavo covers for 1...2...nope. Tazz "Its better to be cocky than to smell like it"....great. Chavo locks in a chinlock but Rey powers out of it. Rey runs into a powerslam but Rey rolls through it for 1...2...no. Chavo goes for a top rope back suplex then tries to rip the mask off. Rey elbows Chavo off the tip then hits an asai moonsault for 1...2...nooooo.  Rey gets backdropped to the apron but a Chavo forearm drops him to the floor. Chavo throws Rey back inside but Rey dropkicks him down. Mysterio hits a springboard plancha then throws Chavo inside. Rey boots Chavo and goes for a canadian destroyer but Chavo counters by backing Rey into the corner. Chavo hits an overhead backbreaker and covers for 1...2...no. The crowd gives the duo an applause as Rey hits a spinkick to the side of the head that knocks Chavo into the ropes. Rey hits the 619 and the West Coast Pop for 1..2....3 to win the match. Great match by Rey and Chavo and Rey celebrates in the ring. We go to the replay of the West Coast Pop as Tazz & Cole sing his praises. That was as good as any pay-per-view match.

Time of match: 9:01

Winner: Mysterio by pinfall.

After the match, Cole & Tazz hype up the Smackdown main event of Taker vs Lesnar and we go to a video package. Taker was the monster of the past but Lesnar is the monster of the future. Cole "You're looking at the WWE's animalistic future." Lesnar destroys Hulk Hogan and The Rock as Heyman said he told everyone it would happen. Undertaker defeated Chris Benoit in a number one contender's match. Then they brought pregnant Sara back for Lesnar to sneak attack Taker and rub Sara's stomach to send a message that this is personal. We get Adrenaline again for the final montage as we sign off. Will Taker stop the next big thing or will Taker be Brock's next victim? Find out tonight at Unforgiven.