WWE Velocity & Smackdown! *Spoilers* (5/2/06) - Cincinnati, Ohio

By: Marianne, rajah.com reader

Went to the Smackdown tapings last night. Good, but not great,
show. Place was packed with a very small section "blacked off". VERY LOUD.

Began with tapings for Velocity (William Regal and someone vs. some
team; Matt Hardy vs. Animal; Gregory Helms vs. ?). Highlight for me
was Lashley vs. someone destined to lose. He needs to work on his
in-ring skills if he ever wants to be a top tier wrestler
imho. Regal didn't play to the crowd like he did when I saw him in
NC last year. He's usually a good crowd-worker as a heel. Maybe he
was having an off night. Paul Burchill's entrance was somewhat
cool. I like the Johnny Depp look.

Now, for SMACKDOWN.... (btw, the sound was ridiculously loud all night....)

Show opens with Rey doing one of his promos only to be interrupted by
JBL, who says the crowd will never chant Rey's name - crowd responds
by chanting more "Eddie" - would think a chant of Rey would have been
more appropriate (thanks, Cincinnati, for making JBL's pt). Rey says
he's never backed down from a fight, so JBL tells him he has an
opponent for him if Rey's a man of his word. Big shocker
(not): it's Mark Henry. Wow, Rey does look small in the ring with
Mark Henry. Wow, JBL is in bad shape. He looks worse every week.

The following matches aren't in order.

Booker T vs. Gunner Scott... Sharmell comes out and announces the
next King of the Ring. Boring match. Booker is boring. Later,
there's a dressing room encounter between Lashley and Booker setting
up the King of the Ring final (if Lashley gets by Finlay, and he will).

MNM vs London/Kendrick...never even started as MNM attacked, got DQd,
kept attacking, and left. My boyfriend was thoroughly confused.

Kid Cash vs.Supercrazy (no Juan Deere) vs. Nunzio with Vito for a
title shot against Gregory Helms... interrupted by the Great Khali,
whp cleaned house and left.

Finlay vs. Benoit... I was surprised at how much I liked this
match. Real back and forth match with Chris selling Finlay's offense
fairly well. Match ends when Finlay sneaks in a chair
shot. Highlight was Finlay's temper tantrum during which he tossed
chairs into the ring. I don't know why he didn't get DQd. Here's my
big beef with WWE: it used to be that this sort of crap (throwing
chairs) always got you DQd. Now you only get DQd about 20% of the
time (ie MNM's pre match attack). Benoit got good pop post-match.

The Gymini with Simon Dean vs. Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki.... silly
match with The Gymini going for all these power moves that seemed
needless on the long drink of water that is Funaki. One of the twins
pinned Scotty, who seemed to have ants in his pants while on the
apron. Simon Dean was wearing a green neon jumpsuit...very 1980s.

There was a backstage promo with Theodore Long, Daivari, and the
Great Khali. Undertaker has challenged the GK to a match at Judgment
Day. GK wasted no time in signing the contract. No Undertaker this week.

Mark Henry vs. Rey with JBL as guest announcer... pretty good match
with Rey getting some offense on Mark Henry, knocking him to his
knees, delivering the 619, etc. but it all ends with one big splat as
MH picks up the win.

After the match, Mark Henry is about to crush Rey by jumping from
about 10 feet above the floor; he's dragged Rey like a wounded animal
up the ramp after tossing him through the ring. People are in
hysterics near where I am sitting. JBL runs up and begs Mark not to
do it, because "If you destroy him, there will be nothing left." JBL
promises Mark a title shot after Judgment Day. MH doesn't splash Rey
- probably would have killed him had he done it.

Dark match: triple threat match for the World Heavyweight
Title: Rey vs. JBL vs. Mark Henry... starts out with JBL just
trying to get the pin, but Mark Henry won't allow it. Decent dark
match with Rey getting the win and Mark Henry and JBL left in the
ring with JBL begging Mark Henry not to hurt him.

Final thoughts: WHERE IS THE BOOGEYMAN? I was hoping for an
appearance. Someone had a "Got Worms?" sign. As I said above, I
really hope Lashley develops more. He doesn't seem to have a strong
ring presence yet. Batista improved dramatically, and I hope Lashley
does as well. I could see a Lashley vs.Batista main event someday
for the title. Was also hoping for a Batista appearance last
night, but I don't think that will happen until Judgment Day (or after).

Biggest pop:
Rey
Benoit
Lashley

Biggest heat:
the guy in front of me who kept holding up the Raiders Jerry Rice jersey
JBL
Mark Henry

Submitted by:
Marianne
http://twentyonestages.blogspot.com/