WWE SmackDown! Report
By Steve Khan
email: sh2k3@yahoo.com
Air Date: June 23, 2005
Taped from the Tucson Convention Center in Arizona
Big News: Rey Mysterio beat Eddie Guerrero.
Turns/Title Changes: None.
Best Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
Worst Match: The rest.
Line of the Night: None.
Show Details: A Rey/Eddie video package aired before the intro. Randy Orton
came out to start the show and cut his usual Legend Killer promo. Orton also
reminded us of his win over Chris Benoit to become the youngest Heavyweight
Champion in history. That was 10 months ago, believe it or not. He showed
video footage of the RKO on Undertaker last week. As Orton was about to
leave, the lights flickered and footage of Taker beating Orton at
WrestleMania aired. Taker was standing in the ring once the lights came back
on. Orton fled the ring telling Taker they would do this on Orton’s terms.
Lightning struck an area close to Orton and he ran off.
Mercury w/Nitro & Melina vs. Heidenreich
They did a weird spot where Mercury’s head bounced back against the head of
Heidenreich, knocking the big man down. Mercury hit a neck breaker for two.
Heidenreich hulked up and knocked Mercury out of the ring. Melina slapped
Heidenreich and Michelle ran out to attack her. With Nick Patrick
distracted, Nitro super kicked Heidenreich and Mercury covered him for the
win. I think it’s safe to say Heidenreich is the worst wrestler on
Smackdown.
Backstage, Melina was furious at Michelle, and challenged her to a match
next week. I would normally mention how the Tag Champs looked secondary to
this dumb angle, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I just went over the
wwe.com, and the Smackdown champions are listed as Orlando Jordan, Paul
London, Johnny Nitro and Mercury. I knew they were all the champions before,
but seeing it like that was rather sad. Speaking of which, JBL was backstage
talking with Theodore Long. JBL heard Long has a new Smackdown Title and
would present it later tonight. Long said that’s true, and he’ll have an
announcement for concerning the new title later tonight.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
With Chavo on the outside of the ring, London was setting up for a high spot
when Juventud Guerrero, Super Crazy and Psicosis made their way out. They
attacked Chavo, and gave Paul London a beat down. Juventud grabbed the mic
proclaiming that they weren’t Mexicans to be laughed at anymore. They called
themselves “Mexicool”. This would’ve been an impactful debut if the WWE
hadn’t buried their Cruiserweights for so long. The threat of taking over
the cruiserweight division is a weak one, and I can’t imagine why any fans
would care about this.
JBL came out and cut a boring promo. He said Smackdown has been without a
champion since WrestleMania when he lost to Cena, which he called a fluke.
Booker T interrupted him and said the new Champ should have to earn the
title, which is what Benoit said when he returned to Smackdown. Booker
challenged JBL to a fight tonight where the winner would be crowned the new
Smackdown Champion. This brought out Benoit who grabbed the mic from JBL and
proposed a triple threat match. Big Show entered and suggested a fatal
fourway. Teddy Long came out and announced a 5-man challenge match for next
week, which would include the Undertaker. The winner of this match would be
the new Smackdown Champion. I thought they said the title situation wouldn’t
be decided over until after the draft. Muhammed Hassan entered with Daivari
as the latest wrestlers to be demoted to Smackdown. Hassan felt he was being
discriminated against once again, being left out of the Smackdown
Championship match. Muhammed had words for everyone in the ring, including
JBL. Long added Hassan to the Championship match, making it a 6-man
elimination. JBL pushed Hassan down, and Booker, Benoit and Show followed
with a beat down. Show threw Daivari out over the ropes on Hassan. Teddy
made Hassan’s first match against Big Show. On a side note, they really
aren’t making the lottery seem random at all.
Big Show vs. Muhammed Hassan
Show dominated this match from the start. Matt Morgan came out for
commentary. Morgan grabbed a chair and tried to interfere but Show punched
the chair into Morgan. With the referee down, Hassan knocked Show over the
head with the chair. Hassan then gave Show a double axe handle off the top,
driving Show’s throat into the steel chair, which didn’t actually happen.
This allowed Hassan to pick up the win in a very unimpressive debut.
Earlier in the night, Rey Mysterio said Eddie has brought out a side of him
Rey didn’t know he had. Eddie Guerrero said Rey doesn’t know what Eddie is
capable of. They played another video package and played up the story of
Eddie being unable to beat Mysterio.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
The crowd chanted “Eddie Sucks” to begin the match. The story early in the
match was that Eddie would try to slow things down and Rey would continue to
speed it up. Rey hit a monkey flip and Eddie rolled out of the ring. Rey hit
a plancha and they went to commercial. Guerrero had a bruised side below his
oblique area. Rey exploited it with an abdominal stretch. Eddie prompted
Mysterio on the top rope and was about to give a clean break, but pushed
Mysterio off the top rope to the outside instead. He bounced Rey’s head
against the announce table several times and rammed Mysterio against the
steps. During a commercial break, Eddie slammed Rey’s spine against the
steel pole. After the break, Eddie had the Gory Special applied. Rey got out
and came off the ropes but Eddie countered with a backbreaker. Guerrero hit
a power bomb but Rey kicked out. As the match went on, Cole berated Eddie
for cheating, even though when Eddie was a face, it was all in good fun.
Eddie applied a full nelson with his back to the referee. This allowed Eddie
to choke Mysterio without being detected by the referee. Mysterio came off
the turnbuckle and hit a hurricanrana. Mysterio went for the 619 but
Guerrero came off the ropes and nailed a clothesline. Eddie hit another
backbreaker for a two count. Mysterio came back with a bulldog and both men
were down. Rey hit a “big boot” of sorts off the ropes. Mysterio hit a
springboard crossbody for a near fall and followed with a springboard
sitting senton for another near fall. Mysterio went to the top but Eddie
knocked his legs out from under him. Guerrero went for the triple verticals
but Rey countered the third one and dropkicked Eddie onto the middle rope.
Rey went for the 619 but Eddie ducked and hit a final vertical suplex.
Guerrero missed the Frog Splash and Mysterio picked up a two count. Mysterio
finally hit the 619 followed by a springboard dropkick for the win. This was
a fantastic match and the crowd was psyched for it.
