WWE Smackdown house show
October 18, 2004
Minneapolis, Minn.
Report by Chris Vetter, PWTorch.com correspondent

What you need to know: Undertaker wrestles two matches, totalling 36 minutes of ring time! No titles changed hands.

WWE is at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Oct. 18, 2004. Show gets started at 7 p.m. sharp. We have perhaps 4,000 in attendance. General Manager Theodore Long runs down the top few matches, including Booker T vs. JBL for the title. I was surprised and perplexed, as I thought Booker T was injured…

(1) Chavo Guerrero defeated Billy Kidman at 5:25. Decent opener. Chavo draws a nice face pop, and Kidman gets a bigger reaction than I’ve seen in the seven years or so since he debuted; just great heel heat. After getting the upper hand, Kidman mocks Chavo’s hand gestures, which draws boos. Kidman is really jawing with the crowd. Chavo hits a backbody drop and a dropkick. Kidman hits a spinning DDT, then climbs the ropes for a Shooting Star Press. However, Chavo knocks Kidman off the corner, and gives him a Gory Bomb for the pin.

(2) Mark Jindrak & Luther Reigns defeat Nunzio & Johnny The Bull at 6:13. Solid match. JTB gives Jindrak a gorilla slam, which pops the crowd. The referee actually misses a clean heel tag in, and forces one of the guys to go back to the corner. (Foreshadowing…). Heels work over Nunzio, as Reigns applies a bear hug. Jindrak a couple of times does a “Val Venis hip swivel” at the crowd, which draws jeers. The ref misses a face tag, and the heels give Nunzio a double pancake slam for the pin.

(3) Hardcore Holly defeated Orlando Jordan at 8:55. Jordan gets in the ring and acts like he wants to box. When Holly lunges at him, Jordan bails out of the ring. Funny. Jordan lays in some weak chops. Holly comes back with some armdrags and much better chops. This is mostly punches, kicks and brawling, but the crowd liked it. Holly hit his signature standing drop kick for a nearfall, then wins it with a rollup.

(4) Rene Dupre & Kenzo Suzuki defeat the Dudleys (w/Dawn Marie) and Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam in an elimination match at 17:29. Best match of the night. RVD and Bubba start, and RVD hits a huracanrana and spinning kick. Rey checks in and gives D-Von a huracanrana. Dawn Marie trips Rey, stopping him from hitting a 619. Rene finally checks in at 8:00 (it had only been Dudleys vs. RVD/Rey until now). The tag champs take turns beating on Rey, until he hits the hot tag to RVD. RVD hits a missile dropkick on Bubba, then pins him with a rolling thunder at 11:23.

The match continues immediately, as Kenzo & Rene attack the faces. RVD hits a split-legged moonsault and a plancha to the floor. The heels wind up working over RVD until Rey gets a hot tag. RVD misses a plancha and crashes to the floor, allowing Rene to pick up Rey for a bodyslam and the pin. After the match, Rey hits his 619 and RVD hits a Frog Splash, which pops the crowd.

(5) Spike Dudley defeated Sho Funaki and Shannon Moore at 4:25. This was a disappointment. Shannon came out with a black jacket with spikes, and his hair was in a spiked Mohawk. Sho & Shannon are teaming up on Spike, until Shannon turns and attacks Funaki. Sho hits a nice sideslam on Spike, then a plancha onto Shannon on the floor. Shannon gives Spike a sunset flip and a Northern Lights suplex for a pair of nearfalls. Spike rolls up Funaki out of nowhere for a flat finish.

(6) Undertaker defeated John Heidenreich at 15:26. Brutally awful. This match had no business going this long. Undertaker dominates the first five or six minutes, with punches and kicks, beating up John inside and outside the ring. Heidenreich gets a low blow and takes control. He applies a crowd-killing sleeper a few times. They trade punches, then Undertaker hits a Mafia kick, a choke slam, and a Tombstone Piledriver for the pin. Heidenreich is boring.

Torrie Wilson comes out and shoots a dozen RVD shirts into the crowd. She then takes off the RVD shirt she’s wearing and throws that to the crowd, showing off a skimpy outfit. We take a 10-15 minute intermission.

(7) Carlito Caribbean Cool defeated Eddie Guerrero via DQ at 8:39. Crowd loves Eddie. Eddie works over CCC’s arm, and cheats by pulling Carlito’s hair. They brawl to the floor. Back in the ring, Eddie hits a huracanrana. Carlito hits a spinning neckbreaker for a nearfall, then misses a moonsault. Eddie hits his “three amigos” triple suplex combo, but he accidentally hits the ref. Carlito goes for Cena’s chain, but Eddie blocks the punch, and hits Carlito with the chain… and the ref sees him do it, and disqualifies Eddie. The crowd seems to buy CCC as a “superstar” already.

(8) Big Show defeated Kurt Angle (w/Luther Reigns) at 10:04. Fun match. Humor to open, as Big Show picks up Ref Brian Hebner and puts him on the top rope in the corner, and orders him to stay there. When Hebner climbs down, Show yells at him, and Hebner immediately climbs back to the top. Funny. Another fun segment as Angle tries to give Show a German Suplex, but he can’t budge him. Show hits a hard chop and hip tosses Angle across the ring. Show hits an impressive vertical suplex. Reigns interferes and attacks Angle on the floor. Back in the ring, Angle works over Show’s left leg, and hits a few chop blocks on it. Angle hits an Angle Slam and applies an ankle lock. Show gets out and hits a chokeslam for the win.

Before the next match, Theodore Long tells us Booker T isn’t here, because his plane reservation got canceled. He has a replacement opponent for JBL, though…

(9) John Bradshaw Layfield (w/Orlando Jordan) defeated Undertaker at 21:17. Painful match, and the worst WWE main event I’ve ever seen live. JBL comes out in a white limo, which was a nice surprise. JBL refuses to get in the ring with Undertaker, and he stalls for four minutes. Finally, they tie up and exchange punches and restholds in the ring, and brawl to the floor. Lots of “boring” chants smattering throughout the arena. Jordan interferes, and JBL is illegally choking out Taker. Ridiculous amount of rest holds. Undertaker hits his flying clothesline, which pops the crowd, and he hits the Mafia Kick for a nearfall. JBL hits the Clothesline from Hell, but the referee is bumped moments later. Jordan enters the ring, but Undertaker beats him up. Heidenreich runs down to ringside, and attacks Undertaker, allowing JBL to score the win.

Myself, and most of the crowd, filed out in disgust, turning our backs on the final segment, as I presume Undertaker recovered to beat up Heidenreich some more. I didn’t care. It was 10:15, and the last match just killed me.

Final thoughts: Worst WWE house show in Minnesota ever? Perhaps. There were a couple of entertaining matches, but Undertaker had no business out there twice. The matches were old school stuff, with punches, kicks and lots of restholds. If that styles interests you, great, but the crowd wasn’t into this at all. There were not any matches that people will be talking about the next day at the watercooler.

***

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