SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE SMACKDOWN
JANUARY 20, 2005
TAPED TUESDAY IN MONTREAL, QUEBEC
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR
-Extended highlights aired of last week’s soap opera with JBL, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Joy Giovani, and Amy Weber.
-Michael Cole and Tazz welcomed viewers to Smackdown in Montreal. He introduced Teddy Long, who was standing in mid-ring. Long said last week Angle sunk to a new low. He said he played Big Show, JBL, and all of Smackdown. He said tonight he would be sure Angle faced the music. He said he just got off the phone with Angle. He said when Angle arrives later, he will step into the ring and issue an apology to Joy. He said he will stand alone when he issues that apology, or else he will officially remove him from the WWE Title match at the Royal Rumble. He said Angle would not get another title match in 2005. He said he gave Angle his word that no one will lay his hands on him. After the apology is given, he said it’s open season on Angle. He introduced the first match, a tag team match.
1 — THE BASHAMS (w/Orlando Jordan) vs. EDDIE GUERRERO & BOOKER T
Guerrero drove his bouncy car to ringside. Booker got his own separate ring entrance. That’s always interesting to see how WWE handles two singles wrestlers. Usually the bigger name gets his own entrance and the other accompanies him. When they each get their own ring intro, it’s a sign management sees them as near equals. Cole said Eddie must be glad Rey Mysterio isn’t involved in the match since Rey has his number recently. Guerrero worked a sustained stretch in this first segment of the match.
[Commercial Break]
The Bashams doubled up on Booker after the break. Danny applied a full nelson, much more interesting to watch than a chinlock or headlock, and made intense facial expressions that bordered on his eyeballs popping out. Booker escaped at 11:00, but ended up powerslammed before he could make a full-fledged comeback. Eddie detached the tag rope and slid it half way across the top rope so he could “legally” have a better chance to reach Booker and help out. The ref wasn’t going for it. The crowd loved it. Full nelsons were the theme of the Bashams’ offense for a few minutes. At 14:30 Doug went into a chinlock. Booker escaped and hit a spinebuster and finally hot-tagged Guerrero into the ring at 15:30. He worked over both Bashams. He hit three unreleased suplexes, then threw Orlando Jordan into the ring and stomped away at him. Guerrero then grabbed the tag belt and KO’d Danny. The ref saw it. Guerrero denied it, then got on his knees and crossed his heart. The ref called for the bell. Booker was not happy with Guerrero and told him so afterward. Booker said, “We had them beat and you had to go and screw it up. That’s four frickin’ times.” Guerrero walked away. Danny then attacked Booker from behind. Guerrero noticed, but didn’t return to the ring at first even when Jordan joined the beatdown. After a few seconds, he charged to the ring and cleared it of the heels. Booker did the Spinarooni and set up Jordan for a frogsplash. Booker and Guerrero had a staredown afterward, as if reconciling conflicting feelings about each other.
WINNERS: The Bashams at 17:20.
STAR RATING: **1/2
-Cole and Tazz plugged John Cena vs. Rene Dupree and Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a Royal Rumble qualifying match.
[Commercial Break]
-JBL and Amy Weber talked backstage about what was going on with Kurt Angle. Josh Matthews entered the picture and held up a mic for JBL to talk into. Why was the mic needed when his conversation was heard even before Josh arrived with the mic? JBL told him that Angle crossed the line. He said bounding and gagging a helpless woman is despicable. He said he and his cabinet would get their hands on Angle and promised the perception of him and his cabinet would “forever be changed.”
-Joy told Big Show backstage to calm down. He said he knew Angle was about to arrive any second, and despite what Long said, he wants to beat the apology out of him. He told her it didn’t concern her. Show then sat at in front of the door where Angle was expected to arrive.
[Commercial Break]
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2 — AKIO vs. SCOTTY 2 HOTTY – Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
I can’t believe this poor guy is still stuck with this gimmick. Cole said Scotty was back after a medical situation took him out of the ring since October. He explained that went through a cancer scare, but thankfully had a benign tumor was removed from his “lower extremities.” There was a tumor in one of his toes? Akio went after Scotty at the start aggressively. Tazz explained that getting into the Rumble is a big opportunity since a late entry can allow anyone to have a chance. Tazz said even without the size of some others in the Rumble, “if you can duck and dip and hide, next thing you know, you’re one of the finalists.” Yes, WrestleMania 21 – Triple H vs. Scotty 2 Hotty as the final headline match. That’s like when the smallest market team with no stars makes it to the championship finals of one of the major league sports, ruining the ratings. Akio applied the New Style-required abdominal stretch, then added a poke with an elbow for added leverage; again, much better than settling into a weak looking chinlock while jawing at the crowd as too many wrestlers still do. Akio missed with an cool looking corkscrew moonsault. Moves like that mean nothing when they’re not the focus of a major marketing effort by WWE to turn them into big deals. Instead, it was a throwaway move that meant nothing when used passively. Hotty then did his Worm dance and finished Akio off with a lame chop. That’s the worst finishing sequence ever. Seriously, Scotty does a ridiculous-looking dance that does nothing but give his opponent time to recover, then hits him with a chop that looks like it misses by a half foot, and somehow that’s enough for a pin.
WINNER: Scotty at 2:03.
STAR RATING: 1/2*
-Josh interviewed John Cena backstage. He talked about his gang of soldiers supporting him. He said when he wins, that guarantees him a chance to enter the Rumble, win, and headline WrestleMania. “It’s not about the man, it’s about the movement,” he said. Will Cena’s toilet humor never end?
[Commercial Break]
-Cole showed a clip of the Steve Austin press conference that took place on Wednesday. He didn’t reveal deals, instead saying details would be revealed on Raw on Monday. Or, you know, viewer could, like, go to WWE.com for full details. That made Cole and Tazz look bad for knowing less than WWE.com visitors or withholding information intentionally.
-Long told Show not to do anything he regrets. Show said anything he does he won’t regret.
-Carlito Cool walked out with a petition. “Or, as I call it, a silly petition,” says Cole. Carlito, wearing a shoulder immobilizer, got some fans at ringside to sign a contract, then entered the ring. He complained about Long just sitting around last week as Joy was abducted. Heidenreich’s music interrupted. “This guy is extremely, extremely odd,” said Cole. I thought he was going to say he was “extremely, extremely” something else, given his experience with him in that back room. Heidenreich signed the petition because he was upset that he was forcing him into the casket match with Undertaker at the Royal Rumble. He insisted he wasn’t afraid of the Undertaker, but he is afraid of caskets. Undertaker showed up on the video screen, in yet another way of getting him on Smackdown without him actually having to show up at the taping, opened a casket and inside was what Cole described as a “lifelike dummy of Heidenreich.” Actually, it looked a little more lifelike than that. Heidenreich freaked out. Taker promised him that at the Rumble, he would rest in peace. The crowd said it along with Taker, who they rolled his eyes back. That’s just painful to look at. Heidenreich cried and screamed and retreated through the crowd.
[Commercial Break]
-Big Show stood by the door as it opened with a chair in hand. Two more WWE Divas showed up. He startled them. He asked if they had seen Angle. They said no.
3 — JOHN CENA vs. RENE DUPREE – Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
When Cole interrupted Tazz, Tazz screwed up the “sorry to talk while you were interrupting” line by telling Cole, “Sorry to interrupt while you were talking.” Cole didn’t jump all over him for that, as he did earlier when Tazz said Dupree was “from French” (instead of France). Dupree dominated the first four minutes, including a nice standing dropkick at ringside. Cena then made a comeback. Cena scored a near fall after a Five Knuckle Shuffle. He then pumped up his shoes as Dupree rose to his feet. He then went for an FU, but Dupree countered. Cena then tried again, hit the FU, and scored the three count. Kenzo Suzuki attacked Cena after the match. Does it really matter, considering how quickly and decisively Cena pinned him two weeks ago?
WINNER: Cena at 5:45.
STAR RATING: *1/4 — Decent short TV match, but can we now all agree that Cena and Dupree not enter the same ring for at least a full year?
[Commercial Break]
-They showed Show still waiting for Angle.
-Cole and Tazz plugged the Rumble line-up.
-JBL approached Show backstage. He said they both want to destroy Angle when he arrives. JBL proposed that after Angle apologizes to Joy, “you and I for one night only team together to destroy Kurt Angle, then at the Royal Rumble it’s you and me for all the marbles – may the best man win.” Show told JBL that was the first time he’s ever made sense. JBL told him to think about it.
-Cole plugged Rey vs. Chavo and said, “It’s going to be awesome!”
[Commercial Break]
4 — REY MYSTERIO vs. CHAVO GUERRERO JR. – Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Rey held the 619 cam on the way to the ring, and they cut to a clip of it during his ring intro. Tazz and Cole did a nice job setting the stage for the match, treating it as a relatively big match, talking about the differences in their styles. Rey knocked Chavo off the ring apron by snapping his head over the top rope.
[Commercial Break]
Chavo took over offense and applied an interesting mat hold with a chinlock/armbar combo. Rey made a comeback at 8:30. They went into a nice series of near falls. Chavo ducked a 619 attempt at 12:00. Then Chavo blocked a Rey huracanrana attempt and slapped Rey’s body front-side first on the mat for a convincing near fall. Rey then hit the 619 and a springboard splash for the win.
WINNER: Mysterio at 13:14.
STAR RATING: **3/4 — Good TV match.
-Raw Rebound aired.
-Cole and Tazz plugged Cena vs. Kenzo for the U.S. Title next week.
[Commercial Break]
-Kurt Angle stood mid-ring and asked Joy to walk out because he had something to say to her. Joy walked out looking as ridiculous as only a WWE Diva can look. Even adult movies don’t have women dressing as silly as WWE does. Angle said his abducting her, gagging her, and throwing her into a locked trunk wasn’t personal. He said, “You seem like a very nice girl, even if your taste in men is suspect.” He went on to say she was an innocent bystander in his personal issue with Big Show and JBL. He said if he has to pay a price for what he’s done, “let’s get it over with.” Big Show walked to the ring. Tazz said Angle was willing to face the music. Angle jumped out of the ring as soon as Show entered. Angle said, “On second thought, I apologized already, and I’ll face you at the Royal Rumble, so we can settle it then.” He then walked away with a smile on his face. JBL’s music then began. Angle looked worried. Show laughed. JBL asked Angle if he really thought he would get away with what he did to him and his cabinet last week. He told Angle he couldn’t talk his way out of it, he was going to get what he deserved. They went nose-to-nose at ringside. JBL began smiling. Angle began smiling. They shook hands and then looked up at Big Show, who realized he had been double-crossed. Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns ran out, joining Angle, JBL, Jordan, and The Bashams. They surrounded the ring. They At first they attacked one at a time. When that didn’t work, they had the genius idea of attacking him all at once. Show shrugged all of them off at once, then choked both Angle and JBL at once. Eventually, though, Angle gave Show an Angle Slam. JBL nailed him with a chairshot. They ganged up on him, throwing more kicks at him as the supporting cast held him in place. Angle and JBL knocked Show out of the ring with the ring stairs. A bleeding Show lay at ringside motionless as the show ended.
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