Would just like to firstly say that this is the first time I've ever
tried getting in contact with your site, but it is excellent, so keep up
the great work. It's an invaluable source of results for UK wrestling
fans that don't get Sky tv.
I attended the taping of Smackdown last night and would just like to add
my thoughts to it. Firstly it was a good strong show and the sold out
crowd lapped up every second of it, me and my mate had fantastic seats
to the side and could see all the action., and hear all the reaction
from the crowd, some of which was quite surprising but more of it later.
The first match of the Smackdown show was JBL vs William Regal, (who got
a massive pop) JBL came out first and started dissing England saying
things like Tony Blair being Bush's poodle, but the funniest thing was
about the fact that we follow a Queen (he implied of the homosexual
variety) Regal came out, whipped JBL around the ring some, did a sort of
strut with JBL's hat, but ended getting beat with a clothes line from
hell that didn't really seem to connect. Good strong start to the show
though and the English crowd loved Regal and gave him massive respect.
I really enjoyed the next match which was the 6 man tag with London and
Kendrick with Super Crazy against MNM (man Melina is HOT in the flesh!!)
with Greg Helms. Match was full to brim with high energy moves and it
difficult to keep up with the pace of the action as they were all
hitting moves from some corner or other all the way through the match.
London came off the top to pin Helms despite one of MNM trying to get in
the ring to prevent the pin but getting stopped by Crazy.
The next match was one I'd been looking forward to all day as it was
Bobby Lashley against the Worlds Fatte...oops mean Strongest Man Mark
Henry. I was looking forward to seeing how Lashley handled himself
against such a big opponent. It turned out though to be the most
disappointing match though because the best we saw was Lashley body
slamming Henry. Henry then went to charge at Lashley on the ropes but
Lashley ducked, Henry fell through the ropes, hit his head on the
announce table and got counted out. Real anti-climax to what could have
been a great match. Good to see Bobby going on in the KOTR comp. Henry
got his revenge by charging Lashley into the ring post outside the ring
after the match. Crowd loved Lashley, lot's of chanting, and cheering as
he was lead from ringside by officials.
Earlier in the night, there had been a confrontation between Booker T
and Gunner Scott and Booker responded by saying he couldn't wrestle
because he had a cold but he would find Gunner an opponent. The opponent
he found for him was Finlay. Booker came down for commentary with
Sharmell. The funniest thing in this match happened as Gunner was
approaching the ring. There seemed to be some sort of clash with a
photographer and they both ended up flat on the faces. Lot's of laughs
from the crowd. Pretty good match but short with Booker costing Finlay
the match after interfering. Both guy's beat on Gunner until Chris
Benoit ran in to make the save, to massive pops from the crowd. We
thought we'd seen all we would of him in the Velocity taping.
Next up was the only other disappointing thing from the night. When me
and my mate had arrived we went straight to the side entrance where the
wrestlers arrived. One the security guys said everyone had arrived at
about noon apart from one, The Undertaker. We decided to wait to see if
we could see the Deadman arrive but after a while decided to go and get
our seats. Krystal (who is another hottie in the flesh) then came to the
ring to interview The Great Khali. After a couple of minutes of Daivari
claiming that the Undertaker was gone, how Khali had destroyed him with
his bare hands, the crowd began chanting for Taker. Everyone kept
looking around as Daivari kept spouting his stuff. Then, the other
funniest spot of the night. Khali started to speak (if that's what you
can call it(, and because we honestly could not understand a word the
guy was saying, the whole crowd started shouting "What?" after every
sentence he said. Now I don't know if he was speaking his native tongue,
or just whether his English is so bad, but it was still really funny.
Eventually, they both left the ring, and to the whole arena's
disappointment, no appearance by Taker. He really does have the audience
in the palm of his hand, even when he isn't there. I think if he had
been, the roof would have come off.
Next it was main event time. Now on the whole, throughout the rest of
the card, it was pretty obvious who the crowd was going to pop for.
However, in one of the weirdest reactions I've heard, I'd swear the
crowd were more behind Angle than Rey in this title defence. From the
entrances it was obvious that this was going to be a really split crowd.
All the kid's cheering for Rey, but most of the adult's popping for
Angle. Now personally, although he's a great worker and all that, I'm no
massive fan of Angle was I was pulling Mysterio all match. Match was
back and forth with both guy's teasing their finishers on several
occasions. The finish was however a no contest with Mark Henry making
another appearance at ringside. He knocked Rey out of the ring and then
went after Angle, also throwing him outside. He set up against the ring
post and then splashed him. Then, out came a table from beneath the
ring. Henry set up the table and lay an out cold Angle on top. He
climbed on to the apron and then teased to jump off through Angle. At
this point he turned and started walking back toward the ring steps, but
he turned around and took a run up instead and jumped from the apron
onto Angle. The table crashed with Angle on it and Henry on top of him.
Angle looked to be in serious pain as Henry marched off down the aisle
and back out. It took a few minutes for both Rey and Angle to come round
but both eventually left under their own steam.
All in all, a very impressive show. Some great spots, some
unintentionally funny spots and some disappointment for the packed out
crowd. Best match was the title match followed very closely by the
opening match between JBL and Regal.
It's the first time in twelve years I've been to a live show. With my
proudest moment, being in attendance for Summer Slam 92 and Wembley
Stadium. You can certainly see how the business has evolved and I had an
awesome night. I'm looking forward to them coming back to London
hopefully sooner rather than later.
Like I said at the beginning keep up the great work on the site.
Phil Rogers
Report by: pwinsider.com
Welcome to our coverage of tonight’s Smackdown! TV tapings from London, England!
Velocity:
- Chris Benoit beat Vito via submission with the Crossface
- Matt Hardy beat Andy Simmons with a Twist of Fate
- Paul Burchill made his introduction swinging on a rope from the top of a London Bus to take on Nunzio. Burchill won with the C4.
- Orlando Jordan beat Scotty 2 Hotty with a Fame-Asser type move to end the Velocity tapings.
Smackdown!
- Promos were shown for Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle as well as Lashley vs Mark Henry in a King of the Ring match.
- JBL cut an anti-UK promo as it was announced that he would defend his US Title against William Regal to kick off the show. Regal came out in his Lord Regal ring attire to a huge pop and slated JBL before the match got underway. During the match, Regal tried to put on JBL’s cowboy hat which resulted in a lariat for his troubles. JBL retains via pinfall.
- Kristal interviewed Booker T and Sharmell backstage, who said Booker would win the King of the Ring tournament.
- The Hooligans (Kenrick and London) & Super Crazy beat MNM & Gregory Helms in a six-man tag team match after London pinned Helms.
- Another video showing Angle winning the WWE Title played before MNM were shown backstage. Melina was angry with her men for losing tonight. Jillian Hall walked by and was offered a job by Melina as their makeup artist. She accepted, but it led to a catfight with make-up being thrown around.
- Lashley cut a promo ahead of his King of the Ring match talking about great wrestlers who have won King of the Ring in the past, mentioning Bret Hart, Steve Austin and Triple H.
- Lashley beat Mark Henry via countout to advance in the KOTR tourney. Post-Match, Henry returned to the ring and splashed Lashley in the corner. Lashley was really over with the crowd.
- The Mysterio-Angle video package from the start of the show was shown again before Mysterio was interviewed backstage by Kristal who asked if his luck was running out. Mysterio said whatever happens tonight, he’s enjoyed being champion.
- Another video package showing Kurt Angle winning WWE gold was shown.
- Finlay beat Gunner Scott after interference by Booker T. Booker and Sharmell did commentary for this match. After the match, Gunner Scott was attacked 2 on 1 until Chris Benoit made the save.
- Kristal was in the ring but quickly interrupted by The Great Khali and Daivari who cut a promo. Kristal fled.
- Yet another Kurt Angle promo was shown.
- Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Title went to a no-contest after Mark Henry interfered. He laid Angle out on a table and hit a running splash on it to close the show.
