By: Brian Spence, rajah.com reader
Now dan..
Thought you guys might be interested in this, a recap of the Smackdown! House Show
held recently at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, as part of the
"Road to WrestleMania" tour...
SMACKDOWN! on a cold night in Wellington starts with Tony Chimel
introducing...Krystal? She runs down the card, then Chimel gets back on the mic to
introduce our first match...
WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Gregory Helms (c) v Kid Kash v Jamie Noble
I love the cruisers, but these aren't necesarily the three I'd choose to see..
Anyway, after a fast-paced match which drew quite a reaction from the 20,000 strong
crowd, Helms hit the "Nightmare on Helms Street" and...
WINNER: Gregory Helms
Charles Robinson then entertained the crowd with a few Ric Flair impressions before
our next match..
Slyvan v Funaki
Lots of "FU-NA-KI" chants - New Zealand was just over the moon to have WWE in their
country for the first time. Slyvan slowed things down quickly with a number of
rest-holds before Funaki scored the pin with a roll-up.
WINNER: Funaki
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
MNM (c) v Brian Kendrink & Paul London
I like Kendrick and London's entrace - Reminds me of the good ol' Ultimate
Warrior... After a LONG delay to start the match Kendrick and (the amazing) London
dominated, until MNM capitalised on interference from Melina to hit the Snapshot and
get the 3-count. I hope Kendrick/London get a decent push, Lords knows WWE needs
some decent tag teams at the moment.
WINNER: MNM.
The open-roof Westpac Stadium started to get much darker about now, and the crowd
were getting more and more into it. Next up was:
Road Warrior Animal v Matt Hardy
Lots of competing "L-O-D" and "HARDY" chants, clearly the 80's wrestling fans versus
00's wrestling fans... Hardy sold a bad landing from the top-rope midway through
the match, then Fat Animal started working on the knee.. Hardy hit the Side Effect
out of nowhere and tried to follow up with the Twist of Fate, but Fat Animal
counters and uses the ropes to seal the win.
WINNER: Road Warrior Animal.
Finlay v Lashley
HUGE pop for Lashley, who obviously has a massive future - He's incredible to see
live. Finlay is a great Old-School heel, I think these two should make for a great
fued. Lashley wins with the Dominator after 10 minutes.
WINNER: Bobby Lashley.
Next up was possibly the highlight of the night for me - JBL on the mic. His
appearance surprised me as he is legitimately injured at the moment, but it soon
became clear he was just here to rile up the crowd... After branding New Zealanders
"sheep-loving wannabe Aussies", reminding everyone that HE beat Eddie Guerrero for
the WWE Title, and calling rugby scrums "gay", Bradshaw launched into an
enthusiastic rendition of "God Bless America" - It was hilarious.
JBL is then interrupted by the Boogeyman! Bradshaw shoves Jillian into him just in
time for...Orlando Jordan to attack Boogeyman from behind? Em...okay.
Boogeyman v Orlando Jordan
Boogeyman wins, then eats worms. MAN Orlando is crap.
WINNER: Boogeyman
***INTERMISSION***
After the break we were treated to a "spectacular Pyrotechnics show" - Clearly just
what the WWE wanted to record for use on SD! back in the US... Then it was....
WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Benoit (c) v Booker T w/Sharmell
MASSIVE pop for Benoit, why on earth is he languishing at US Title level? Booker
dominated the most of the match owing to help from Sharmell, but Benoit locked on
the Sharpshooter (the place went nuts) then the Crippler Crossface for the tap-out.
WINNER: Chris Benoit.
Randy Orton v Rey Mysterio
HUGE heat for Orton, but it's telling that the only way WWE could get fans to care
about him was to have him insult Eddie's memory. Randy's pyro went a bit wrong,
unfortunately not setting him alight... Anyway - Biggest pop of the night so far for
Mysterio, and massive "EDDIE" chants throughout. Rey wins clean with the 6-1-9 then
West Coast Pop. After the match Rey held up some Eddie signs from ringside, before
Eddie's music and a tribute video were played on the big screen. Pretty cool.
WINNER: Rey Mysterio.
THE MAIN EVENT!!
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Kurt Angle (c) v Undertaker v Mark Henry (!!!!!)
MARK HENRY in a main event for the title??? Hell hath frozen over. Fortunately the
"World's Strongest Man" was absent from the ring for the bulk of the match, leaving
the awesome Angle and the Undertaker to put on a pretty good show. The match ended
however with Henry hitting 'Taker in the back with a chair just as he was about to
Tombstone Angle. Fans saw this as a pretty big cop-out for the main event, and
quite a few weren't best pleased... Massive support for the Undertaker in
Wellington, Angle was getting roundly boo'd against him.
WINNER: Kurt Angle/Undertaker by D.Q.?
The show ends with 'Taker soaking up the cheers from the crowd, then slowly making
his way up the ramp. It was great to see the Undertaker, it's not often he goes on
international tours, and who knows how much longer he might even still be wrestling?
A good show on the whole to mark WWE's first ever visit to New Zealand - Hopefully
they'll come back!!
Biggest Pops:
1. Undertaker (especially the entrace - It's quality live)
2. Rey (fingers crossed Vince has the grapefruits to put the title on him at WM... -
I doubt it though)
3. Benoit (hopefully he'll be back to WWE Title contention after WM)
Biggest Heat:
1. Orton (turkey)
2. JBL (priceless)
3. Mark Henry (probably more out of sheer frustration at the fact he was so high up
the card)
