By Greg Schiller, Torch Team Contributor

WWE Smackdown Review
August 26, 2004
Taped 8/24/04 in Fresno, CA
Aired on UPN
Report by Greg Schiller, Lounge Janitor's Replacement

If you've made it this far, I'm very happy, so onward for the second hour of Smackdown!

(3) Booker T defeated John Cena. No mic time for Cena and that's okay by me. Cena with a quick school boy right at start gets one. Booker takes to the offense with some chops and kicks and gets a one count as well. Booker nails Cena with a sloppy forearm shot that gets two. Snap suplex gets another two count for Booker T. Cena comes back with a hip toss that gets two. Cena with another two after some kind of body block knockdown. Cena with a key lock to Booker's arm. I guess working the arm is the thing tonight. Booker comes back with heel kick that gets two. Booker lays on the rear naked choke, Cena gets out and hits his shoulderblock for two. Booker nailed Cena in the back with high knee that knocks Cena out of the ring. Booker follows him out, smashes Cena against the ring railing, then throws him back into the ring. Booker then goes to the top rope hits his missile dropkick for two and a half. Booker hits a spinning heel kick for two and then goes back to the rear naked choke. Cena comes back but runs into another heel kick from Booker for two. Booker goes back to choke and another two. Cena comes back but runs into a spinebuster this time for another two count. Tell me Cena isn't going to win. Booker with another surfboard-like hold that Cena battles out of. Cena with, you guessed it, another shoulderblock that gets two. Booker goes for the Bookend but Cena bails out and hits a bulldog. Cena with the Five Knuckle Shuffle that gets two. Cena pumps up the sneaks and goes for the F-U. Booker gets out of it and hits a knee to Cena's forehead. Booker with a backslide and feet on the ropes gets the three count. **1/2

Back from commercials with a replay of the ending in the John Cena and Booker T match. Cole and Tazz announce that match number three will be in Australia and that they will replay footage of that match next week.

Josh Matthews is in the ring with Paul Heyman. Heyman explains that he bought himself a guard dog and introduces John Heidenreich. Heyman says that no one will push him around with Heidenreich around. Josh asks Heyman if big Heidenreich can live up to the hype, insert joke here. Heidenreich asks Josh if he looks like hype and then proceeds to do the beat down on Josh. Nice slingshot back breaker followed by a cobra clutch that leaves Josh laying. Heyman says, “That's not hype, that's Hypenreich.”

Up next, Rey Mysterio goes against Kurt Angle, as we take another break.

Back with a Big Show video as he's set to return.

(4) Kurt Angle defeated Rey Mysterio. Angle comes out followed by Mysterio, “here we go.” Rey throws his shirt out to his good friend, Jorge Paez, who's with us tonight in the front row, ugh. Angle starts with his mat wrestling offense. Angle gets a two count with a side headlock. Mysterio comes back with an armdrag and then does the Olympic Twirl. Angle goes back to the mat with a front facelock. Mysterio comes back with a drop toe hold and side headlock. Angle counters with a back suplex and some uppercuts in the corner. Mysterio hits the headscissors that takes Angle to the outside as we go to a commercial break.

We're back with Angle regaining control with Mysterio on the mat. Angle goes for some pin attempts that get, you guessed it, two. Angle with a body slam for a series of two counts. Release German suplex by Angle followed by a bear hug. Rey breaks out with a headbutt, but, then runs into another release German that gets two. Angle Slam gets reversed by an armdrag. Drop toe hold by Mysterio followed by an RVD Split Legged Moonsault. Standing dropkick for Rey gets two. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors followed by another drop toe hold lands Angle on the ropes. Rey goes for the 619 but Angle avoids it. Back and forth leads to Rey hitting the 619 this time. He goes for the West Coast Pop that Angle turns into a powerbomb pin attempt that gets only two. Straps come down as Angle goes for the Angle Slam that again gets reversed by Mysterio into a reverse DDT, which gets a two count only. Mysterio tries to reverse another powerbomb but Angle rolls up Rey and plants the knees on the shoulders for the three. ***1/4

Back from commercial break with this week's Smackdown Throwback. November 11th, 1999, Arnold S. (I don't feel like looking up the spelling of his last name) is presented with the title belt from Vince McMahon and lays out Triple H.

RAW Rebound of Triple H, Randy Orton, and the Wedding From Hell.

Cole and Tazz talk about GM Long's decisions tonight and about the $1,000,000 Tough Enough.

Backstage JBL is talking to himself as he then goes into the dressing room to talk to Orlando Jordan and how unfair GM Long's decision is to have Jordan defend the WWE Title on JBL's behalf against the Undertaker. Jordan says he under a lot of pressure defending the title. JBL tries to pump up Jordan with pep talk but he keeps bringing up wrong ideas. Jordan asks JBL if he could wear the title to the ring. JBL gives Jordan the title but thinks, “I’m screwed.”

Back from break, Cole and Tazz pimp the two out three falls match for next week between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero. They also replay the beat down from SummerSlam by the Undertaker on JBL explaining why JBL is unable to defend his WWE Title.

(5) The Undertaker defeated Orlando Jordan (w/John Bradshaw Layfield) by disqualification. JBL is still wearing the his hat on top of his body brace, great stuff.
Undertaker comes out as only the Undertaker can as JBL cowers behind the ring post, hilarious. Taker starts the offense, of course, beating down Jordan. Jordan actually comes back with some offense but is stopped and laid out with the big boot followed by a two count. Undertaker goes Old School and then hits a Lariat for two. Jordan comes back and stomps the Undertaker to the outside. Jordan throws Taker back in and nails the foot to the ribs. Jordan drops the elbow and gets two. Body slam followed by a legdrop gets another two. Taker fires back with the soup bones but Jordan counters. Taker comes back with Snake Eyes and a big boot. JBL grabs Taker's foot, Taker goes outside, Jordan nail Taker into the ring railing. Jordan throws Taker back in for a two count. Taker goes for the Tombstone but Jordan reverses it into Jeff Jarrett's Stroke for two. Taker does the sit up and nails a shoulderblock, which I think was supposed to be the flying clothesline, but eh. Stinger Splash in the corner on Jordan followed by another. Taker nails JBL who was on the ring apron. Taker nails a chokeslam on Jordan and then signals for the end. Tombstone piledriver gets two before JBL pulls the referee out of the ring causing a disqualification. **

JBL reminds everyone that the title can't change hands via a disqualification. As he shows the belt off, Taker comes up from behind and rips JBL's neck brace off. Taker then slams JBL into the announce table and rips off the body brace. Taker stalks JBL into the ring and then lays him out with a chokeslam. Jordan and JBL lay motionless in the ring as the Taker's theme hits. Taker grabs the belt and does the Taker pose in a purple haze as we end the show.

I don't do quotes of the night but I found this one:

“The pinnacle of this icon garbage came in last night's cage match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. . . WCW had the gall to say this was the greatest cage match in history. . . You've got a 46 year old bald movie star wannabe, who looks like Uncle Creepy with a good build, taking on a guy with an artificial hip who hasn't wrestled a full schedule in ten years. It's a tribute, in my mind, to the massive egotism of both men and an indictment of WCW's promotional policy that this match even took place, much less in the main event, when the card was probably the best WCW is capable of having. At the ten-minute mark, they were sucking wind so bad the first three rows passed out of oxygen depravation. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. . . I'm sick of guys claiming to be the icon especially when it usually comes from guys who just didn't know when to quit. Roddy Piper was my idol when I was a teenager, but that was 20 years ago. Hulk Hogan during his best years was 50% media creation and that was long gone. This match was a slap in the face to every wrestler that takes pride in his profession. . . On a personal note to Hulk Hogan, you are a household word but so is garbage and it stinks when it gets old too.” - Jim Cornette, Monday Night Raw 10/27/97

Trivia Answer Time:

It's time for the answer man to make his long-expected step forward. Throw out all your pencils, pens, crayons, felt-tip flair markers. . . time to grade your tests.

1. I'm getting too predictable. Maybe because the first question always ends up as b). No wonder it's not so hard. But, yes, Dusty beat the “Handsome One” in Tampa. Seems like ages ago when I first watched the NWA June 8th 1985, the night Black Bart beat Ronnie Garvin for the National Heavyweight title - with help from Baby Doll's loaded elbowpad. (Didn't even have to look that one up.)

2. I must be on an NWA kick this week. If you remember in May 1997, Mankind assaulted Jim Ross at the end of his three-part interview. The correct match is c). Way before Nikita turned good after Magnum TA's auto accident, Nikita received cheers all around the country after giving the pandering, loud-mouthed announcer David Crockett the Russian sickle, the most devastating clothesline this side of Stan Hansen.

3. “You've got to be joking.” Kevin Nash's first title was the WWF Intercontinental belt, won in April, 1994, which pre-dates the Tag belts by a few months. Shame if you missed this question. I may punish you with a picture of Nash “rehabbing.”

4. This is hard, I know. But, in these days of internet capabilities, you should have the answer figured out in a few moments. . . I can wait.

Okay, long enough. When Embry won the match, World Class switched to the USWA. But if he lost? General Scandor Akbar and Tojo Yamamoto's Yamasaki Corporation was to absorb all remaining stock and control of the former Von Erich stronghold. Maybe if they had won power Akbar could have had the company spell his name one way or the other. You thought the NWA was bad with Mike Rotundo/Rotunda - WCCW was worse with names. It was almost like if you weren't a Von Erich, your name had to be spelled 100 different ways. I mean, how hard is it to spell David, Mike, Kevin or Kerry?

Greg Schiller would like to thank Dusty Giebink for this opportunity and can be reached at gshark99@buffalo.com. Also, Greg will write wrestling related articles for food.

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