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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
SEPTEMBER18, 2003
TAPED TUESDAY

-Vince McMahon opened the show in front of a black backdrop talking about history being made with the first-ever broadcast television 60 minute Iron Man match. Undertaker interrupted him and said he doesn't forgive or forget that Vince sent Brock to the ring to cost him his title shot at Angle.

-The Smackdown opening montage aired followed by Michael Cole and Tazz introducing the show.

1 -- REY MYSTERIO & CHRIS BENOIT vs. TAJIRI & RHYNO

Benoit and Rhyno wrestled the bulk of the match. Rey entered the match at 2:00. He hit some highspots on Rhyno. Tajiri sprayed his mist at Rey, but it hit Rhyno by mistake. Benoit then German suplexed Tajiri and then held him as Rey hit the 619. Tajiri rolled out of the ring. They repeated the same two moves on Rhyno, who then fell prey to a three count after Rey's West Coast Pop.

WINNER: Rey Mysterio & Benoit at 3:22.

STAR RATING: *1/2 -- Really good three minute TV match.

-Cole and Tazz plugged the tag title shot later with WGTT vs. Guerreros and of course the Iron Man match.

[Commercial Break]

-They showed the cover of Rock on the cover GQ.

2 -- TORRIE WILSON & NIDIA vs. SHANIQUA (w/Dawn Marie)

Torrie and Nidia went after Shaniqua two on one early, but Shaniqua won easily after a powerbomb on Nidia.

WINNER: Shaniqua at 1:46.

STAR RATING: 1/2* -- Not much to it, but effective at setting up Shaniqua as the second toughest wrestler in WWE behind Brock Lesnar. If they're not going to push her in the men's division in mixed matches (a la Chyna), they're going to run out of credible opponents quick.

-Backstage, Vince McMahon, with Big Show and Sable by his side, entered Stephanie's office. She was drawing Devil Horns on Sable's face on a poster and talking on the cell phone about the Iron Man match. What a clever way to plug the main event! Vince said he was going to make her quit. Steph said, "You can't make me quit. Why don't you just fire me and get it over with." Vince said he does what he wants when he does it the way he wants to do it. He said by the time he's done with her, she'll beg to quit.

[Commercial Break]

-A vignette aired on previous Lesnar vs. Angle matches.

-Eddie Guerrero congratulated Chavo for getting them a tag team title shot. Chavo said he talked Steph into it. Chavo told Eddie he's going to look great with two belts. Chavo said they'd win the belts and bring the home gold to grandma. "Winning for grandma, that's great!" said Tazz.

[Commercial Break]

-A John Cena vignette aired with him talking about leaving all the competition dead like Saddam Hussein's children.

3 -- CHARLIE HAAS & SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. EDDIE & CHAVO GUERRERO - WWE Tag Team Title match

Eddie drove Chavo to the ring in another bouncy car. Eddie's got more cars than Jay Leno does. They cut to a break at 2:30, obviously front-loading commercials so the 60 minute match will have minimal interruptions.

[Commercial Break]

Shelton Benjamin brought a chair into the ring, but Chavo kicked him from behind before he could use it. Shelton sold a serious knee injury. Benjamin then went down awkwardly on his head. They paused the match briefly to check on his well-being, then went right to the finish with Frog Splash by Eddie for the win.

WINNERS: Guerreros at 13:30 to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles.

STAR RATING: *** -- Really good tag match. Not especially memorable, but really solid work. Shelton did legitimately hurt his knee in the match and had it scoped. It doesn't appear to be anything serious. Haas was stunned on the bump he took, but ended up being okay.

-On on screen graphic showed Tazz's "Keys to Victory" with three points of strategy for each wrestler. Nice touch. Another case of Smackdown drawing from other sports pregame shows to really add

[Commercial Break]

-Cole said this was the first time in broadcast TV history and only the third time in WWE history (the other two being Michaels vs. Bret and Hunter vs. Rock) for a 60 minute Iron Man match. They showed a group of wrestlers backstage waiting to watch the match. They then cut to the APA playing poker with Ultimo Dragon (he lives!), Orlando Jordan, and Rey Mysterio. They were talking about the match, too.

-Cole and Tazz explained the rules - 60 minutes of wrestling, wrestler with the most falls wins, and falls can take place via pinfall, submission, countout, or DQ.

4 -- KURT ANGLE vs. BROCK LESNAR - WWE Hvt. Title match

They began with a staredown. Brock attacked Angle before the bell. A graphic in the upper right corner of the screen (a "Fox Box," as it's been called) showed the countdown and the total falls for each wrestler. They took down the box about 30 seconds into the match. Had they made the box a bit less intrusive in size, they could have kept it up there and it probably would have intrigued channel flippers into realizing they were seeing something different than "just another match" (not that Angle vs. Lesnar in a singles match of any kind is "just another match"). Angle fought back and dropkicked Lesnar's left leg from behind. He followed up with some suplexes. Lesnar bailed out to ringside. When Lesnar reentered the ring, Brock called for timeout, but then sucker kicked Angle at 2:45. Lesnar bailed to ringside again. Cole wondered what kind of strategy Lesnar was trying to employ. When Lesnar bailed to ringside again to sell a leg injury, Angle finally lost patience and chased after him. Lesnar then sent Angle into the ringpost to take his first advantage. He brought a chair into the ring with him and bashed Angle with it at 8:30 to get DQ'd. Lesnar hit Angle several more times with a big smile on his face. "What the hell is Lesnar doing here," asked Tazz. "He just gave away a fall." Lesnar asked for hit water bottle and drank some water. Meanwhile, Angle lay in the ring on his back recovering from the chairshots. After the brief rest period, Lesnar gave Angle an F5 to tie the match at one fall each at 10:20. "I get it now, Cole," said Tazz. "DQing himself by using the chair was a strategy to get a jump on Angle in this match." Lesnar followed up by putting Angle in an Anklelock at 12:00 for a sudden tapout win to take a 2-1 advantage. They cut to their first commercial interruption of the match.

[Commercial Break]

They showed a clip from during the break of Angle kicking out of a Lesnar pin attempt after an Angle slam. Lesnar was shocked and went for another cover, but Angle kicked out again. They went back to live action. Angle showed some life for a minute and scored with two suplexes, but soon Lesnar overwhelmed him and gave him an F5 at ringside at 19:45. A "holy sh--" chant broke out. Lesnar returned to the ring and won another fall by countout to take a 3-1 lead. "Kurt Angle is behind the eight ball in a big way," said Tazz. "Can one of the most courageous champions ever come back from a two falls deficit?" asked Cole, as they cut a second commercial interruption.

[Commercial Break]

Angle was on offense upon returning from the break. At 26:00 Angle hit an Angle Slam to score a three count and close the gap to 2-3. Cole said in the unlikely event of a tie, they had been granted permission from UPN to go to overtime. I wonder what the local news affiliates who don't realize the show is pretaped and matches are predetermined thought about that newsflash? I bet UPN headquarters got at least one phone call from a nervous newsroom wondering if they needed to be on standby for a delay. Angle put Lesnar in the Anklelock. Lesnar knocked the ref down when Angle ducked a clothesline. Angle then hit an Angleslam. The ref was down, but the crowd chanted to three. Lesnar then gave Angle a low blow. Cole said Angle should have scored that pin and Lesnar should have been DQ'd for the low blow, and the score should be 4-3 for Angle. Of course, had Angle scored the pin, the low blow would've never happened, so you can't really say that. Lesnar went to ringside and yanked a technician out of his way as he grabbed his belt and brought it into the ring. Lesnar KO'd Angle with it at the exact mid-point of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Angle came off the apron with a flying axe handle on Brock at ringside. Tazz said he's not used to seeing Angle do that type of move. Back in the ring Angle went for a flying dropkick off the top rope and took Angle to the mat. He followed up with a moonsault, but Lesnar moved. Angle went for another Anklelock, but Lesnar escaped and sent Angle through the ropes to the floor. Lesnar went after Angle at ringside and whipped him into the steel steps. He went for a cover inside but Angle kicked out at 40:00. A frustrated Lesnar grabbed stairs from ringside, but Angle kicked them into Lesnar's face. Angle covered Lesnar inside the ring and scored a two count. He hooked the leg again and scored another two count. Just as Cole was announcing they had to take the final commercial break, Angle went for a cover after an elbow block for a two count.

[Commercial Break]

They showed that during the break, Lesnar superplexed Angle for a pin, giving him a 5-2 lead with 15 minutes left. Lesnar set up an F5 against the ringpost, but Angle escaped Lesnar's grip and gave an F5 to Lesnar against the ringpost instead. Angle rolled into the ring to break the count, then went back after Lesnar at ringside. Lesnar sold a knee injury in the ring. Angle went for an Anklelock, but Lesnar grabbed the bottom rope to break the hold. Lesnar then came back with an F5 on Angle in the ring for a near fall. Lesnar limped to the ring apron. He climbed to the top rope. Fans began standing. Tazz said it was shades of WrestleMania. Angle, though, caught Lesnar on the top rope and suplexed Lesnar to the mat. Angle scored a pin at 50:15 to make it 5-3 in Lesnar's favor. Both men were down for the 15 second rest period. They broke out football analogies, talking about how this was the fourth quarter for both men, and Lesnar needed to focus on having a good defense in the final minutes. Angle was the first up, but Lesnar surprised Angle at 52:30 with a DDT for a near fall. Angle applied another Anklelock at 55:00. Lesnar circled the ring grasping for the nearest rope, but he couldn't grasp it. When Lesnar touched a bottom rope, Angle yanked him off. Lesnar then tapped out at 56:00, cutting Lesnar's lead to 5-4. Cole reiterated they have permission from UPN to go to overtime. That is such a great touch to add to the telecast to give it a feeling that it's not inevitable it would end at the top of the hour, making it seem obvious Lesnar was going to win. Angle applied another Anklelock, but Lesnar escaped by throwing Angle into the ropes. Angle followed up with a Bow and Arrow, but Lesnar elbowed out after a minute. With two minutes left, Lesnar bailed out to ringside. Angle chased him to ringside and applied the Anklelock on the floor. He torqued the ankle several times. Angle threw Lesnar into the ring. Lesnar bailed out. Angle chased him back to ringside, rammed his head into the stairs, and then threw him back into the ring. Angle gave Lesnar four consecutive German suplexes. When Angle went for a fifth, Lesnar grabbed the ref and then kicked Angle from behind. Angle slipped on a final last-ditch Anklelock with 12 seconds left. Lesnar was about to tap, but the bell rang to end the match before Lesnar succumbed to tapping. The ref handed Lesnar the title belt as he was announced as the new WWE Champion. Cole said Lesnar was intent on cheating his way to the WWE Title, "and that last low blow with less than a minute left was the exclamation point on that strategy." Cole said Angle was the better athlete, but Lesnar wasn't out to prove that.

WINNER: Lesnar at 60:00 (5 falls to 4)

STAR RATING: ***** - A masterful 60 minute match. The pacing and placement of the falls was strategically done to maximize the drama of Angle's comeback. Angle's early losses were set up well with Lesnar's early heelish strategy of using a chair to sacrifice a fall for the long term benefit. Nothing about the match seemed contrived. There was no long stalling just to fill time. The execution of the moves was spot on. These two have a great chemistry and it came through with this match. (Be sure to check out PWTorch.com for two special Torch Flashbacks featuring in-depth looks at the previous two 60 Minute Iron Man matches - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels from 1996 and The Rock vs. Hunter in 2000.)

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