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The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE Smackdown review
November 4, 2004
Taped 11/2/04 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Aired on UPN
Report by Paul Madavi, Torch Team Contributor
Hello and welcome to the Smackdown Breakdown, your source for in depth Smackdown analysis. Before we get started, a quick shout-out to WWE wrestlers recently released: Billy, Chuck, Test, A-Train, Rodney Mack, and Johnny The Bull. Good luck selling phone calls on E-bay! Nidia, Jazz, and Gail, go directly to ROH, where you’ll be taken seriously for a change. Enough with the wisecracking, on with the review!
This week’s episode: Kurt Needs a Fourth.
The show begins as usual with the opening montage, and we quickly go to footage of Tough Enough competitors going through intense training in the back of the arena. We cut to Al Snow and the seven finalists in the ring. Al Snow introduces Kurt Angle, who walks down to the ring. Surprisingly, Kurt is smaller than almost all of the Tough Enough competitors. Our Olympic Hero berates each of the finalists in turn.
Kurt demonstrates how to perform a squat-thrust, and explains that the finalist who does the most squat-thrusts will win tonight’s competition. While the crowd is forced to watch this boring garbage, the home audience is allowed to watch a video package of last week’s Tough Enough segment. We’re back to the “action,” and our competitors are being eliminated one by one. The last man standing is Chris Nawrocki. His prize? A match with Kurt Angle that starts RIGHT NOW!
(1) Kurt Angle defeats Chris Nawrocki * Nothing to see here folks. Kurt quickly pins Nawrocki. Kurt then asks if anyone else is man enough to get in the ring, which leads to. . .
(2) Kurt Angle defeats Dan Puder* Dan Puder puts up a better fight than Nawrocki, but is pinned quickly enough.
*Not real matches, do not deserve The Breakdown.
We go to a recap of Booker T’s victory over Orlando Jordan from last week, and then go promptly to Josh Matthews interviewing Orlando Jordan and John Bradshaw Layfield. Josh asks Orlando why he thinks this week’s rematch between Jordan and Booker will be any different than last week’s match. JBL lays a big slap across Josh’s face. Josh rebels from the typical interviewer mold, says he sick of taking abuse from JBL and Jordan. He tells Jordan that if he wants to beat Booker T, he needs to get his head in the match and out of JBL’s @$$!
[Commercial Break]
(3) Booker T defeats Orlando Jordan We start with a lock up and Booker T in control of the match. After a small surge by Orlando Jordan, Booker T applies an armbar. Jordan works him back into the corner, and applies some kicks and elbows. Booker T regains control with a kick to the face, which leads to a spinebuster by Booker T. JBL enters the ring and attacks Booker T, which causes the disqualification of Orlando Jordan. Some kicks and punches are capped off by a Clothesline from Hell.
The Breakdown
Psychology: Booker T retained his dominance over Orlando Jordan, as the offense was heavily slanted towards Booker. This makes sense, as Booker is the #1 Contender. The match was too short to develop any real kind of psychology. It doesn’t seem, however, that JBL did as much damage as possible to Booker T, and given that this was the perfect time and opportunity, it doesn’t make sense that he didn’t work him over with a chair.
Action: The pace of the action was fast, and we saw a couple of Booker T’s signature moves. I have no idea why they used an armbar in a match that only lasted a few minutes. Otherwise, it was pretty much as action packed as such a short match with such large athletes can get.
Entertainment: This wasn’t all that entertaining. Aside from a couple of nice moves from Booker, there wasn’t too much content to get excited about. JBL’s run in wasn’t particularly surprising, since he’s done this kind of thing to every #1 Contender since capturing the belt.
We go backstage, where the Dudley Boys recap their plan to eliminate Big Show in exchange for the fourth spot on Angle’s Survivor Series team. They plan on calling Big Show to the ring, and putting him through tables. Clap. Clap.
[Commercial Break]
We return to Josh Matthews apologizing to General Manager Theodore Long for his behavior during the interview with Orlando Jordan. Booker T storms in and demands a match against both Orlando Jordan and JBL. Theodore Long doesn’t want to set up a handicap match for Booker, but if he can find a partner, he’ll book a tag match. Josh Matthews asks Booker T to be his partner in the tag match. Booker bites, and the match is set for later on!
We cut to the ring, where the Dudleys promptly call out the Big Show. A table is set up in the ring, and Spike stands atop it, verbally abusing Big Show. As Show approaches the ring, he appears perturbed by the challenge. The Dudley’s quickly attack and 3D the Big Show. However, when they attempt to put Big Show through the tables, both Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley are put through the tables set up in the ring. Spike Dudley runs away before he is forced to eat table. Well done, Spike.
[Commercial Break]
We return backstage where Kurt Angle, Luther Reigns, and Mark Jindrak bemoan the dreadful attempt the Dudley’s made at disabling the Big Show. Kurt spots Carlito Caribbean Cool and his, uh, friend Jesus, and asks Carlito to be his fourth team member. Carlito takes a big bite of apple, and then accepts Kurt’s offer, shaking his hand to seal the deal. “Survivor Series. . . that’s cool!”
[Raw Rebound]
We quickly cut back to Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio getting hyped up for their tag match versus Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns.
[Commercial Break]
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(4) Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam defeat Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak Rey Mysterio comes out first, followed by Rob Van Dam. Both men get decent pops from the crowd. Jindrak and Luther Reigns come out together, like a pile of so much buzz cut and muscle. Mysterio and Jindrak start the action. Mysterio quickly gains the advantage with his speed and Luchador style. RVD is quickly tagged in, and Jindrak uses his strength to gain the upper hand. RVD counters with a clothesline, and he and Mysterio hit a double leg drop. Nice spot! Jindrak again gains control and tags in Reigns. The clubbing blows begin. RVD and Mysterio take control. When Mysterio is tagged in, he goes for the 6-1-9 on Luther Reigns, but is caught outside of the ring by Jindrak and thrown to the ground.
[Commercial Break]
We return with Luther Reigns controlling Mysterio with a chin lock, and then a full nelson into a slam. Nice show of strength by Reigns. Jindrak is tagged in and stomps away on Rey Mysterio. Jindrak controls with headlock, and eventually tags in Reigns, who stomps away on Mysterio. Quickly, Reigns tags Jindrak back in. Rey tries to use a springboard DDT to get out of the mess he’s in, but Jindrak counters into a tilt-a-whirl slam. Reigns is tagged in and applies a bearhug. Mysterio manages to squeeze in a tornado DDT to even the odds on Reigns. RVD is tagged in, and he surges, taking out both Reigns and Jindrak. RVD back-suplexes Mysterio into a moonsault on Jindrak and follows with Rolling Thunder. Shortly after, Mysterio hits the 6-1-9 and RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash for the pin.
The Breakdown
Psychology: This match showcased some primo WWE style psychology. Mysterio and RVD always relied on speed and cunning to gain the upper hand, and worked their way out of trouble without making Jindrak and Reigns look too weak or too stupid. As heels, Jindrak and Reigns were convincing and used their size and strength well, even if not enough. RVD and Mysterio gained the upper hand a little too often to ever make it seem as if they were in danger of losing the match, even during the prolonged beating of Mysterio. No one made a concerted effort to attack a single body part, despite Tazz and Cole claiming that Jindrak and Reign’s plan was to work Rey’s back.
Action: Excellent action. RVD and Rey Mysterio showed some innovative moves on a number of occasions, and the big men did a good job of mixing clubbing blows with high impact slams, and submission holds. There weren’t any slow points in the match, and the action never seemed forced, or overdone.
Entertainment: This was a highly entertaining match with great action and psychology. It was virtually non-stop, and always interesting. Giving Reigns and Jindrak long period of dominance made the high flying maneuvers of the faces that much more exciting. Kudos to both teams for keeping each other fresh and trading good back and forth action.
On their way up the ramp, RVD and Mysterio are stopped by Carlito Caribbean Cool and Jesus. RVD gets a face full of apple, and all hell breaks loose as they are thrown back in the ring to get stomped on by Jindrak and Reigns. Eddie Guerrero makes the big save with a steal chair. Good Survivor Series set up.
[Commercial Break]
We return to Tazz and Cole running down the list of Survivor Series matches, and we get a recap of Undertaker’s confrontation with Paul Heyman.
We cut to Theodore Long relaxing and reading Smackdown magazine, when Eddie Guerrero comes in. They begin to chat about Survivor Series. Long tells Guerrero that Mysterio will not be able to be part of Eddie’s Survivor Series team. Rey will be part of a Fatal Four Way match at Survivor Series for the Cruiserweight Title. Eddie is given one week to find his fourth team member.
We then cut to the ring, which has an arm wrestling table in it. Apparently this is how Dawn Marie and Miss Jackie will be “settling their differences,” as Michael Cole so stupidly puts it. A quick recap of their cat fight from last week airs.
[Commercial Break]
Michael Cole’s voice is the first thing we hear back from commercial, as he stands in the ring and introduces the arm wrestling match, and Dawn Marie. For some reason, Dawn Marie grabs the microphone from Cole, and dedicates her victory to Charlie Haas. Cole then introduces Miss Jackie. Dawn Marie grabs Cole’s butt as he leaves the ring, again for some unknown reason. Jackie makes her way down to the ring. Sigh. Four breasts. None of them move. From now on, I’ll refer to the space between Dawn Marie and Miss Jackie as Silicone Valley. When the contest begins, Dawn Marie head butts Miss Jackie and they begin to brawl. Charlie Haas makes his way down to the ring in a knee brace and with crutches. Then, for yet another unknown reason, Heidenreich comes out and beats the hell out of Haas and Miss Jackie. He target’s Haas’s knee. Heyman runs to the ring and pleads for Heidenreich to stop. He keeps telling Heidenreich that Haas is not the Undertaker. Heidenreich doesn’t seem to care. Heidenreich hits his finisher, and then does the Dead Man Pin. Not the most convincing way to sell the Survivor Series match between Heidenreich and Undertaker.
[Commercial Break]
Al Snow welcomes us back. He stands at the top of the entrance ramp, with the Tough Enough competitors behind, shoulder to shoulder. We get a recap of the Tough Enough shenanigans from earlier tonight. Al Snow then kindly informs us that we can vote at WWE.com for our favorite Tough Enough competitor. Torrie Wilson then makes her way out, wearing, as usual, close to nothing. She announces that next week, each Tough Enough competitor will be taking “The Torrie Wilson Sex Test.” She then gives each of them a good looking over, before she exits.
[Commercial Break]
We get a video package of the exploits of Big Show since his return to WWE Smackdown. Big Show and Kurt Angle are booked for a one on one match next week.
(5) Booker T & Josh Matthews defeat John Bradshaw Layfield & Orlando Jordan Orlando Jordan and JBL are already in the ring. Booker T and Josh Matthews make their way to the ring. Josh is wearing sweats! Booker T and JBL start off the action. Booker maintains control to begin with, using lots of strikes and kicks. Bradshaw gains the upper hand, using a boot in the corner, and then tags in Orlando Jordan. Booker T manages to gain control of Jordan with a heel kick, and then manages to avoid a run in by JBL. Booker T tags in Josh Matthews who hits a huge cross body splash on Jordan and a baseball slide to the outside on JBL. Josh quickly tags Booker T back in. JBL moves in illegally, and quickly gains the upper hand on Booker T. Josh accidentally tags Booker, but gets sent to the outside along with Booker. JBL continues to work Booker T over, on the outside. He then tosses Josh into the ring, and JBL and Orlando take turns brutally beating Josh. Jordan hits a series of punches on Matthews, and then goes for Booker. Booker T hangs Jordan on the ropes, allowing Matthews to make the tag. Booker T surges on the heels. Booker counters a Clothesline from Hell into a Bookend, and then gives Jordan a Bookend and scissors kick.
After the match, Booker T celebrates as Josh Matthews tries to recover from his butt-kicking, and that’s the show!
The Breakdown
Psychology: They did a great job of incorporating Josh Matthews without discrediting any of the “legit” wrestlers. The psychology followed that of the previous tag match to a tee, except that it was condensed. They’re setting up a good dynamic with a hot Booker T chasing a fading champion. This almost ensures a JBL victory at Survivor Series to rebuild his heat, which he seems to have lost of late.
Action: The action in this match was great. There weren’t any of the slow, boring rest holds we’re accustomed to in WWE style, and the ebb and floe of the match was very convincing. Kudos to Matthews for getting out there, hitting a spot, and then selling convincingly for both JBL and Jordan.
Entertainment: A very entertaining match, if a little short. A little more in depth psychology would’ve made for a more fun match, but it was good enough to keep my attention. Seeing Matthews in the ring was a big attraction, and I hope we occasionally see more of him, as he did well. Booker T seems to be going through a Renessaince. It seems that as long as his matches are kept relatively short, he can maintain his explosiveness. Good stuff.
Overall Show Breakdown
Psychology: While last week’s episode showed great balance, and interesting segments peppered with good action, this week’s edition of Smackdown seemed disjointed, jumping from storyline to storyline with reckless abandon. They did a marginally good job of pushing their storylines forward, although when you really look at it, not much happened. Tough Enough was much more of an albatross this week than it’s been in either of the previous installments.
Action: While the Tag Team matches were excellent, there just wasn’t enough legitimate action on the show. Kurt Angle’s two quick pins, and the Big Show squash of the Dudley’s didn’t really amount to a hill of beans. Miss Jackie and Dawn Marie were about as boring as possible. The main event was also good, but two real matches in two hours is just not good enough. The storylines and backstage stuff wasn’t good enough to justify the lack of action.
Entertainment: Despite the lack of real action, and the uneven feel of the show, it was relatively entertaining. The tag matches were fun, and it was nice to see Josh Matthews in action for the first time since Tough Enough I. In the future, the WWE really needs to pack in more action in the two hours they have, or they will start losing audience during the middle of the show. If I can get two more matches of the quality of tonight’s tag matches, I’ll be a happy camper.
That’s it for tonight, folks. Thanks for reading! Special thanks to Jason Palumbo for his help with tonight’s review. All you VIP’s, holla’ on the message boards.
Paul Madavi writes his reviews from Madison, WI where the beer is fresh, and the cheese is aged. Want to berate him about this review? Drop him a line at dr.oldskool@gmail.com and make eventful his otherwise boring existence.
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