WWE Smackdown! Taping (19th June 2007 – Charlotte, NC)
By: CJ, rajah.com reader
Dark Match:
The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) Vs. (WWE Tag Team Champions) Deuce & Domino (w/ Cherry)
Winners: The Major Brothers By: Pinfall (? Major over Deuce)
Smackdown! Taping:
(WWE Cruiserweight Champion) Chavo Guerrero & Jamie Noble Vs. Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore
Winners: Chavo Guerrero & Jamie Noble By: Pinfall (Chavo Guerrero over Shannon Moore)
Mark Henry Vs. Sho Funaki
Winner: Mark Henry By: Stoppage
Finlay Vs. Matt Hardy
Winner: Matt Hardy By: Pinfall
‘The Masterpiece’ Chris Masters Vs. Danny Shanley
Winner: Chris Masters By: Submission
Batista & Ric Flair Vs. (WWE World Heavyweight Champion) Edge & (WWE United States Champion) Montel Vontavious Porter
Winners: Batista & Ric Flair By: Pinfall (Batista over Edge)
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Dark match: Brett & Brian Majors defeated WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champions Deuce & Domino (w/ Cherry) in a non-title match at 4:44 when Deuce was pinned with a roll up after the other Major brother pulled Domino off the ring apron as he attempted to interfere. Fine match but all the heat came from the champions. At one point, Domino turned to the crowd and yelled "Deuce and Domino!" and was booed out of the building. After the match, the champions held their belts in the air to the same reaction.
Smackdown!
The show opens with The Cutting Edge. The topic of discussion - who killed Vince McMahon? Edge mentions it's often the person you least suspect, with him then calling for Torrie Wilson to come out. Edge mentions the past between Vince and Torrie and the recent altercation on Raw a few weeks back with her, Flair, and Vince. As Torrie stands there not sure what to say, MVP appears, wearing a suit, and begins to sympathize with Torrie before calling her a liar. This leads to Ric Flair appearing, who received the pop of the night. Flair gets in the ring and comes face-to-face with MVP before decking him but is eventually double teamed by MVP and Edge, leading to Batista running out to make the save. And you have the buildup for the night's main event tag team match - Flair & Batista vs. MVP & Edge
Teddy Long is shown backstage speaking with Vickie Guerrero. The audio went out but it appeared as though he was praising her idea for the night's main event tag team match.
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Jamie Noble defeated Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore at 6:13 when Chavo pinned Moore with a Gory Bomb. Good match. Moore got the hot tag and cleaned house, with Yang eventually hitting a somersault splash to the floor on Noble immediately before the finish. After the match, Yang motioned to Chavo he was coming for the belt.
Mark Henry defeated Sho Funaki via TKO with the bearhug at 2:14
We got a recap of the Vince McMahon car explosion. The first of many recaps throughout the night. This was followed by the WWE 24/7 "Right Now" music video, done just for the live crowd.
Long was again speaking with Vickie backstage in which he mentioned Vince's "death" and said life's too short and he would make an announcement later in the show regarding that. Kristal then appeared and Long said he wanted her to come out to the ring with him. If you're jumping to conclusions right now ... yeah, it's that.
Matt Hardy pinned Finlay at 17:08 with the Twist of Fate, moments after being hit in the leg with the shillelagh. Really solid match. Finlay worked Hardy's leg the entire time and ripped off the knee brace. It appeared at many times throughout the match that Matt was too hurt to continue but he hit a surprise Twist of Fate as the referee tried to get Hornswaggle out of the ring. I think the story told here really built Matt up as a singles player.
Long and Kristal come out to the ring and Long talks about how life is precious and too short and he doesn't want to continue his without Kristal. He gets down on his knee and pops the question but Kristal bursts out crying and after several awkward moments runs backstage. Long, confused, soon follows.
Chris Masters defeated Danny Shanley via submission with the Masterlock at 3:44
The Sensational Sherri still image was again shown. Apparently she couldn't get a memorial video package shown on Smackdown either.
Long is backstage knocking on Kristal's door. She eventually answers and is still crying. After several moments of Long apologizing for asking in front of the audience, Kristal agrees to marry Long and they hug. I call shenanigans.
The federal investigator updates us on the exploding limo. He won't go into specifics but says the DNA of three people was found inside the car - Vince, his driver, and "one other well known personality." Well that narrows it down...
Batista & Ric Flair defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge & WWE US Champion MVP at 13:49 when Batista pinned Edge with the sit-down powerbomb after reversing Edge's spear into a spinebuster
Dark match after ECW: Batista defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge via disqualification at 5:47 when the champion hit a low blow as Batista attempted the sit-down powerbomb. For a 5-minute match, it was pretty good. Edge brought the belt in, the referee takes it away, which was followed by near falls by both men. After the match, Edge attempts to hit Batista with the belt but is speared to send the fans home happy.
Hot crowd, as they usually are in the Carolinas, but it didn't appear to be sold out. Very close though. Flair and Batista were easily the top two babyfaces, and it was a close call as to who was more over. MVP had quite a few fans as well, at least in my section (and they were all kids).
Credit: wrestlingobserver.com
