Last night I attended WWE Smackdown! Summer Bash at Aberdeen?s Press &
Journal Arena. I should mention first that I haven?t had many opportunities
to watch Smackdown! in the past couple of months, so I?m a little out of
touch with current storylines etc.
The Arena was filled to capacity last night, and the evening started with
Teddy Long trying to warm the crowd up with a few Holla Holla Holla chants
and telling us who was on the show that night.
First Match: Cruiserweight Championship - Chavo Guerrero v Paul London
Chavo came out first to a chorus of boos, followed by London, who since I
last saw him in action appears to have been reborn as the Ultimate Warrior ?
from the fast guitar music, to the tassels hanging from his boots, to the
sprinting down to the ring, it felt eerily like I was watching Wrestlemania
5. London started out by doing backflips off all four turnbuckles, which got
the fairly quiet crowd on his side. The match once it got going was quite
good. Chavo was doing the usual heel stuff, like pretending to walk out, and
mocking the crowds ?Let?s go London? chants, while London was throwing out
high flying moves and somersaults without breaking sweat. London eventually
hit the 450 ? a really impressive move when you see it live ? and got the
pin
Winner ? Paul London
Second Match: Heidenriech vs Billy Kidman
Heidenreich came out first, doing his weird match into the ring, read us a
Disaster-piece and announced that it was time to find a friend. As he was
walking round the ring looking for a friend, Kidman appeared and attacked
him from behind, and the bell rang. The match was fairly back and forth,
Billy put up a good fight and controlled most of the match, but
Heidenreich?s size advantage was the deciding factor, and he won in with the
Swinging Sidewalk Slam. After the match had finished he took the mic again
and did a whole load of playground rhymes while trying to select a friend,
before picking up a terrified looking little boy from the front row and
taking him into the ring to march around with him.
Winner ? Heidenreich
Third Match: Tag Team Championship ? MNM vs Jindrak and Harcore Holly
I?ve never actually seen MNM in action before, so I wasn?t sure quite what
to expect from the champions. Harcore Holly came down to an absolutely huge
crowd reaction which was quite surprising ? as the match was about to begin,
Jindrak and Mercury were in the ring, and there were so much Holly chants
going on that Jindrak went over and tagged him in before the first punch was
thrown. Holly really had the crowd behind him and they had quite a good fast
paced match. Jindrak especially can really move for such a big guy and did a
couple of high flying moves. MNM did a lot of good heel work, distracting
the referee, and double teaming Holly and Jindrak. Melina made a nuisance of
herself at ringside a lot, interfering with the match frequently, and
goading the crowd who were busy chanting ?slut?. Highlight was when she got
caught in the ring with Holly, who lifted her skirt and gave her a slap on
the ass that could be heard from here to Inverness! It was all over when
Holly went chasing Melina up the ramp after she pulled his leg from outside
the ring ? while the referee was watching that, Mercury and Nitro did what
appeared to be a poor man?s 3D behind the ref?s back on Jindrak, and Nitro
covered him for the pin.
Winners ? MNM
Fourth Match: Carlito vs Rey Mysterio.
This was an absolute stinker of a match, due largely to Carlito. How this
guy manages to hold onto a job is beyond me. His attempts at playing to the
crowd are dull and ineffective, he?s one of the slowest movers I?ve ever
seen in my life, and his entire arsenal of moves appear to be punches,
kicks, and abdominal stretches. Lots of really long, boring, abdominal
stretches. Rey tried his best to work with him, but Carlito was controlling
the pace of one of the dullest matches I?ve ever seen. It was a blessing
when Rey hit the 619 and put him out of his misery.
Winner - Rey Mysterio
Next up Torrie Wilson appeared and threw some T-shirts to the crowd, then
after the bag of T-shirts was emptied, she raised the temperature in the
arena a few degrees by removing her own T-shirt and throwing it to the
crowd, much to the delight of the males in attendance?
Fifth Match: Eddie Guerrero vs Big Show
Eddie came out first, staring ahead intensely the whole time and ignoring
the ?Eddie Sucks? chants. When Big Show?s music started the place erupted
and he came out to huge pops. This one started out really slowly as well,
with Eddie spending 5 minutes or so trying to work out how to go about
attacking the big man, while Big Show merely stood in the centre of the ring
rebuffing all of Eddie?s attempts at offense. Eddie finally got the upper
hand when Big Show lifted him up for the chokeslam, and Eddie stuck a thumb
in his eye. It carried on like this for a while, and just as it looked as
though a proper match was about to start, Chavo Guerrero appeared on the
ramp. As Big Show stared at him, Eddie kicked him square in the nuts and got
disqualified. Big Show hit the floor, as you?d expect and Chavo came down to
the ring to try and take on Big Show, as Eddie ran outside and picked up a
steel chair. In the ring, Eddie raised the chair to hit Big Show, who merely
backed into it, clobbering Eddie between the eyes with the steel, knocking
him out, and then got Chavo into the chokeslam. Big Show left the ring to
huge pops as the Guerreros lay in the ring, both out cold ? cue Rey Mysterio
making an appearance and beating on Eddie for a while.
Winner ? Big Show (by disqualification)
Sixth Match: Booker T vs Kurt Angle
This match more than made up for the last two! Booker and Kurt put on an
absolute classic, this was a match worthy of gracing a pay-per-view, not
just a meaningless house show. The crowd were in an absolute frenzy, with
intermittent ?Lets go Booker, Let?s go Angle? chants almost lifting the roof
off the place, as fans of both wrestlers tried to out-do one another. Booker
and Kurt really meant business, and they had a brilliant fight, Booker was
throwing himself about like a man on a mission, with scores of high impact
moves raining on Kurt, while Kurt?s mat-style wrestling was also proving
very effective ? the two of them were countering all of each other?s moves
in an incredibly high paced match and it was one impressive set of moves
after another. These are two guys that are really on top of their game and
know how to work a crowd. It spilled to the floor as both Kurt and Booker
felt the impact of the steel ring steps, and the barriers, and at one point
Booker threw Kurt over the barriers into the crowd and the fight continued
there. Booker did the spinneroonie in the middle of the ring, which
delighted the crowd, though he didn?t manage to hit the Book End. Kurt
locked in the Ankle lock which Booker managed to escape from twice, and he
also kicked out of an Angle Slam. Kurt picked up a knock somewhere and was
bleeding from the mouth. It ended in strange fashion though, as Booker
rolled Kurt up in a quick cradle which Kurt half countered and both men?s
shoulders appeared to be down on the canvas for the three count. As the bell
rang, both men looked at the referee, confused as to who?d won it, as was I,
but Booker?s music played and he was announced the winner, much to Kurt?s
displeasure. He stayed in the ring complaining, and eventually they played
his music too as he left.
Winner ? Booker T
Seventh Match: Funaki vs Matt Morgan
Why this was second from top billing I have no idea. Matt Morgan brought
some comedy to the night as he stammered his way through sentences, and his
stammer appeared to get worse when he realised even Funaki was laughing at
him. When the bell rang Matt Morgan simply tore the little guy apart and
pinned him in about two minutes.
Winner ? Matt Morgan
Seventh Match: WWE Championship - John Cena vs JBL and Orlando Jordan
(Handicap Match) with Special Guest Referee
The Special Guest referee was introduced first, and the place literally went
insane as the familiar sound of breaking glass could be heard and Stone Cold
Steve Austin appeared at the top of the ramp, to the biggest pop of the
night. JBL trash talked through the mic for a while, and Cena got a decent
reaction too. Once the match started, it was actually very average and the
crowd were more interested in cheering for Stone Cold than for Cena. Orlando
Jordan did very little and I didn?t see much to convince me he?s a worthy US
Champion ? Cena and JBL battled back and forth but they didn?t do it with
much conviction. JBL is very good at getting the crowd against him, and
constantly mocked Cena?s style. The match was so average that nothing really
stood out ? Cena got Jordan in the FU and picked up the win. After the match
as Cena was outside celebrating, JBL and Jordan double teamed Austin and
gave him a good kicking, before Cena intervened and they took the upper
hand. Austin gave JBL a stunner and Cena put Jordan in another FU, and then
the two of them cracked beers and did the usual Stone Cold celebration ?
lots of beer everywhere and a lot of happy fans.
Winner ? John Cena
After the match, John Cena took the mic and had quite an emotional moment
with the crowd ? he said how much he loved coming to Aberdeen and how it had
a special place in his heart because every time he came he was always made
to feel so welcome (he even came out in a kilt last time he was here) ? he
made reference to the last WWE event here and how the place went crazy for
him, although it was almost two years ago and he didn?t mean much back then,
but he did get an enormous reaction that night ? he said Aberdeen was the
site of the original Chain Gang before he made it big ? it got him some
huges pops, expectedly so, though I?m sure he?ll say the same thing in
Dublin, Ireland tonight.
Biggest pops of the night:
1 ? Stone Cold Steve Austin
2 ? John Cena?s ?emotional? moment at the end
3 ? The Kurt / Booker match
Most heat of the night
1 ? JBL
2 ? Eddie Guerrero
3 ? MNM
Best quotes:
JBL ? ?To hell with you, and to hell with Scotland! I?m going to the bar!?
(cue loud boos)
JBL ? ?What the hell are you cheering him for? He?s just the referee, you?re
supposed to be cheering for me!?
John Cena ? ?No rhymes, and no raps tonight, this is coming straight from
the heart Aberdeen?
Billy Kidman - ?Heidenreich you don?t have any friends because you?re an
idiot!?.
Matt Morgan ? ?I?m sick of this s-s-s-stoopid country, England! That?s
right, England! What are you laughing at, you think this is f-f-f-f-funny
little man??
