WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
TAPED: September 25, 2007
AIRS: September 28, 2007
Indianapolis, Indiana @ Conseco Fieldhouse
REPORTED BY MICHAEL WEAVER, JR OF www.WrestlingUpdateOnline.com
Before the taping bega, a special advertisement for the WWE WrestleMania 23 DVD was aired. It was the recap video played at the end of the pay-per-view. Note that the only remnant of the United States Championship between Chris Benoit (then champion) and “MVP” Montel Vontavious Porter was a scene of MVP walking down the isle. That’s it.
Ring Announcer Justin Roberts (Who now only ring announces for SmackDown and Tony Chimel announces for ECW on Sci Fi.) welcomes us to the TV taping and announces that after the opening contest, the taping will officially begin.
DARK MATCH: JESSE & FESTUS v/s DEUCE ‘N’ DOMINO (W/CHERRY)
This was my first chance to see Jesse and Festus in action. The crowd was solely behind Jesse and Festus. The match ended when Jesse pinned Domino after nailing a flying shoulderblock off of the shoulders of Festus.
WINNERS: JESSE & FESTUS
Michael Cole and “JBL” John Bradshaw Layfield make their way to the announcers’ table.
A recap video of the wedding between Teddy Long & Kristal Marshall is shown.
Vince McMahon and Vickie Guerrero are shown backstage. Vickie says she talked to Kristal last night and that Teddy has been in a coma since last week. The nurses are watching him 24 hours a day and he hasn’t improved at all. She asks McMahon if he knew that heart disease runs in Long’s family and he said no. He then said that the show must go on and that due to her being the Assistant General Manager and Long being unable to complete his duties, Vickie would become the acting general manager. She says she will accept the role and is honored. As Vince leaves, Finlay enters the room. Vince says that with their Irish heritage they have something in common. They also have Hornswoggle in common. Vince says he’s had some problems with him and he hopes that Finlay could help him out. They walk out the room as Vickie looks on.
The SmackDown! opening airs.
MATCH #1: TORRIE WILSON v/s VICTORIA
This match began the show. Both Divas came to the ring alone and it was Victoria who captures the victory. After the match an unknown woman dressed in red came to the ring and attacked Torrie Wilson.
WINNER: VICTORIA
The United States Champion and 1/2 of the Tag Team Champions, “MVP” Montel Vontavious Porter, came to the ring to host a VIP Lounge along with his “posse.” He said it’s been one year since he joined WWE. His tag team partner, Matt Hardy came to the ring and said that he had two gifts for him. The first gift was a video package where he (Hardy) had MVP’s best moments placed in a music video. At first only sound was playing and Hardy made a face like “Well, come on!” and then it aired. The video had moments where MVP was getting his butt kicked by superstars such as Kane, Evander Holyfield, including the Inferno Match where Kane sat MVP on fire. Also, footage of the Hardy-MVP non-wrestling contests were aired as well. Afterwards, MVP said that wasn’t funny and Hardy said to calm down because it was just a joke. Hardy said that he did have a gift for MVP and he gave it to him. MVP unwrapped the present to reveal a bottle of Crystall. One of MVP’s friends tried opening the bottle and had a lot of trouble. Finally the bottle was opened and as the Tag Team Champions were celebrating, Hardy said that he has another present for MVP and that one is because he knows MVP likes to pass challenges so tonight he has gotten MVP a match where he will defend the United States Championship against KANE! MVP was not pleased as Hardy celebrated back to the locker room.
A preview for No Mercy aired advertising the WWE Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing Match between John Cena (champion) and Randy Orton and the World Heavyweight Championship in a Punjabi Prison Match between Batista (champion) and The Great Khali. For more on No Mercy visit the official website at http://nomercy.wwe.com.
A video aired promoting ECW’s biggest competitor – Big Daddy V and Matt Striker. It’s the same video that has aired on ECW on Sci Fi where Striker talks about the first victim being The Boogeyman. It also contains highlights of the Extreme Rules Match between V and Boogey from a few weeks ago. At the end, V looks into the camera and growls.
MATCH #2: CHUCK PALUMBO v/s KENNY DYKSTRA
Palumbo was definitely over in Indianapolis. He came to the ring via his motorcycle. While the former World Tag Team Champion was over, I do not believe his opponent was. Kenny Dykstra tried and tried to win the match but Palumbo was just too much for the former Spirit Squad member. The match ended via pinfall.
WINNER: CHUCK PALUMBO
Jesse and Festus appeared on the Titan Tron and Jesse said next week will be their in-ring debut on SmackDown. He said once Festus gets into the ring and the bell rings, he becomes completely opposite of what he normally is. He said once the bell rings for the final time, Festus goes back to his calm self. Festus is the face of wrestling, according to Jesse.
Michael Cole and JBL did an on-camera segment.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Batista appeared on the Titan Tron for an interview. After being confronted by JBL who accused Batista of being scared of the Punjabi Prison match, Batista said that when you put him in a cage, he is unleashed and people get hurt.
Kane was shown walking backstage towards the ring with a smile on his face.
A video promoting The Undertaker’s in-ring return to SmackDown! tonight aired.
MATCH #3: WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – MVP (CHAMPION) v/s KANE
The US and Tag Team Champion came to the ring first. The challenger came out second and after a hard fought battle, Kane defeated MVP via disqualification when he had MVP set up for the chokeslam but the champion kicked him between the legs in front of the referee. MVP quickly left the ring with his belts and posed as if he had won the match. Kane stared at the champion and if looks could kill, we would be mourning MVP right now.
WINNER: KANE VIA DISQUALIFICATION, MVP RETAINS THE TITLE
A recap video of the WWE 2007 Diva Search Limbo Contest was aired.
JBL entered the ring and said we were going to see a real interview with hard questions. He introduced Rey Mysterio and informed him that next week Rey will take on The Great Khali. Rey asked why JBL had all the hate. He asked if it was because Mysterio ended his career. JBL said that’s exactly why because he is tired of seeing people half his size with half his talent while he has to sit at ringside and talk about them. Rey reminded JBL that he’s been World Heavyweight Champion AND ended his career. Mysterio said he wasn’t going to fall for the same trick that happened last week so it’s time for JBL to either “put up or SHUT UP!” JBL shoved Mysterio to the mat who then knocked JBL to the ropes. He went for the 619 but JBL moved so Mysterio dropkicked him which sent him back to the ropes. Mysterio tried again and nailed the 619 and then the splash from the top rope. As Mysterio was celebrating his “victory,” Finlay ran to the ring and as Mysterio turned around, Finlay nailed him with the Shilaleigh. Finlay stared at Mysterio and then at JBL before leaving the ring. Two referees came to the ring and helped Mysterio but completely ignored JBL who stumbled back to the commentator’s table. Funny note: while JBL was “out” one of the cameramen placed his hat on his own head. As soon as JBL was back on his feet, he quickly took the hat off and placed it on the ring apron.
REMINDER: NEXT WEEK REY MYSTERIO WILL WRESTLE THE GREAT KHALI ON SMACKDOWN!
Backstage, the interim general manager Vickie Guerrero was with Cruiserweight Champion, Hornswoggle. She said she liked what he did on RAW but this is SmackDown and she’s in charge. She said his capturing the Cruiserweight Championship was a fluke and that him being a champion AND a McMahon makes him a big target in the locker room. Everybody wants to be the one who takes out Mr. McMahon’s son. She said Mr. McMahon and Finlay would never forgive her if she allowed something to happen to Hornswoggle so for the safety of Hornswoggle, the Cruiserweight Championship has been vacated. She did not say how a new champion would be crowned but she told him everything would be okay and he shook his head no and had a very sad facial expression as he left the office.
The SLAM of the WEEK was shown and it was last week’s Jimmy Wang Yang versus Jamie Noble match where Noble was counted out due to the distraction by Shannon Moore.
MATCH #4: SHANNON MOORE v/s JAMIE NOBLE
Jamie Noble came to the ring and signaled that he was going to win the Cruiserweight Championship. Shannon Moore came to the ring next. Noble appears to be on the way up the ladder of success as he pinned Moore.
WINNER: JAMIE NOBLE
Backstage, The Great Khali and his translator, Ranjin Singh appeared on the Titan Tron. Khali said a bunch of stuff in his native tongue and then Singh translated it. Singh stated that Khali wants Batista to watch next week’s match between The Great Khali and Rey Mysterio so that way he can get an idea of what is in store for him at No Mercy. Khali promised victory and a new champion at the next pay-per-view.
MAIN EVENT: THE UNDERTAKER v/s MARK HENRY
“The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry came to the ring for the main event followed by The Undertaker. ‘Taker’s entrance features two hanging Undertaker symbols that are caught on fire and then similiar exploding fire from the ground. ‘Taker had very little trouble with Henry. One memorable moment was when ‘Taker had Henry set up for Old School and Henry caught him in a bear hug. The Undertaker won the match after a chokeslam. I believe the next “segment” was taped after the show went off the air. As ‘Taker was celebrating in the ring, the chanting began and the Druids came to the ring, picked up Henry and carried him back to the locker room area. ‘Taker then signaled that he wants the World Heavyweight Championship around his waist.
WINNER: THE UNDERTAKER
Before the live broadcast of ECW on Sci Fi, four videos were shown. They were a video recap of the WWE in Baghdad 2006 … a preview of WrestleMania XXIV; which tickets go on sale on November 3 … a music video promoting Jeff Hardy which featured clips of his WWE career … and Timberland’s “Throw It On Me” music video featuring the WWE Divas.
During the commercial break before The Miz’s match, a video was shown on John Cena which featured clips of his WWE career.
During two of the commercial breaks of ECW on Sci Fi, they had two different segments. They were Kiss Cam where Tazz enters the ring and the TV cameras put different couples on the Titan Tron. The couples are supposed to kiss when they appear on the screen. Some couples featured two women, two women that were different races, two men (didn’t kiss), and other man-woman combinations. At one point they showed and overweight woman on the screen and Tazz said “Oh no, never mind. Get her off the screen.” Which I thought was rude. The other segment was the Sign of the Night where Joey Styles enters the ring and different signs that are in the crowd appear on the Titan Tron. Wrestlers that had signs written about them included: CM Punk, Big Daddy V, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Teddy Long and The Undertaker.
DARK MATCH MAIN EVENT: WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – BATISTA (CHAMPION) v/s THE GREAT KHALI
At the end of the night a special dark match took place just for the fans at Conseco Fieldhouse. WWE originally announced it as a tag team match between World Heavyweight Champion, Batista & The Undertaker versus The Great Khali & Mark Henry. However before ECW on Sci Fi began, Tony Chimel announced that it had been changed to a World Heavyweight Championship Match between Batista (champion) and The Great Khali. Interesting note: since it took place after the live broadcast of ECW on Sci Fi, they left all of the ECW stage materials up so technically history was made as a World Heavyweight Championship Match took place in ECW. The match was probably five to ten minutes long with Batista nailing the spear and the spinebuster on Khali. Batista pinned Khali to retain the championship. As Batista celebrated in the ring, he saw a boy around the age of 10 at ringside who took his shirt off to reveal that he had his own pair of Batista trunks. Batista told security to bring the boy into the ring and the World Heavyweight Champion celebrated his victory with perhaps his biggest fan. Batista then walked around ringside and made sure to slap the hands of as many fans as he could. When he reached the locker room entrance, he went back and slapped hands with fans that were lined up the isle way and then walked back and clapped for the fans in attendance and then bowed before giving the peace sign and walking backstage.
WINNER: BATISTA, RETAINS THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
—
Michael Weaver, Jr.
Personal Profile – http://www.myspace.com/michaelweaverjr
WU Online: The Website – http://www.wrestlingupdateonline.com
WU Online: The Newsletter – http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/wuonline/
WU Online: The Profile – http://www.myspace.com/wuonline
