The Top Ten 5.22.07: Smackdown Moments

Posted by Julian Williams on 05.22.2007

The moments that made you stay inside your house on Thursday and Friday nights instead of going out and getting laid.

Good morning people and welcome back to another PROMPT edition of The Top Ten. I apologize for being out last week, but I felt like I came down with Polio or some other virus from the 1920's so I was too sick to stare aimlessly at my computer while trying to think of something witty to type. I'd like to thank Daniel Wilcox for stepping in last week on UBER short notice to provide a great column on The Top Ten Edge Matches. All I had to do was give Daniel my soul in exchange for him doing my column. Sucker, my soul hasn't been any good since 1998. This week's column is going to be on The Top Ten Smackdown Moments. Smackdown has provided us with many great moments during its eight-year run and I'm sure it will give us many more in the years to come. Enough of this intro nonsense, let's dive into the mailbag!

Reader Feedback

First up is resident 411 writer, O'Dog, who points out an error on my part

Hey man, fellow writer O'Dog here. Great list and a great topic for a list. I just wanted to mention that you had the date for the #1 match wrong. I only bring this up because the airdate was Sept. 26, 2002, which is the same date as your #9 match, the Benoit/Angle/Mysterio three-way. I only mention it because it was one of the few WWF tv shows, maybe the only?, that featured two legit ****+ matches. Think about that, two of SmackDown's best matches in 8 years happened on the same show. Crazy. Good list

O'Dog is spot on here as it was indeed 9/26/02 when both of these fantastic matches aired. It is pretty crazy that two of the best free TV matches in the modern era were on the same show. But then again, during the era of the Smackdown Six, you were virtually guaranteed a **** match every week. Damn how I miss those days. That episode of Smackdown may rank as one of the best free TV episodes of all-time. Hmmm, what's that I smell? A future Top Ten on the greatest Free TV matches and shows of all-time? Yup, that's what it smells like. Either that or crusty toenail juice.

Next up is Rey, who mentions a few other forgotten SD classics:

Great article, you could rearrange your rankings several different ways and still not be wrong. The fall of 2002, i consider the greatest period in wrestling television, even better than the Monday Night Wars. During that time, at the end of each episode of Smackdown, I would call my little brother. We would scream like two little school girls about the classics we just saw.

But here are a few honorable mentions:

The Rock/ Austin vs Kurt Angle/William Regal-this was leading to their monumental match at WM17. Austin was absolutely on fire as he destroyed everyone, even his partner.

Jeff Hardy vs HHH for the IC title-speaking of memorable upsets, this was during the days of the Two Man Power Trip. Austin/HHH held all the titles. Hardy scored the upset as Team extreme showed up to help out.

HHH vs The Rock-the very first episode of SD for the WWF title. HBK was the referee. And it ended with a surprise superkick and a very brief reformation of DX.

Rey has some great stuff here, including the HHH/Rock match which was thisclose to making my list, but only missed out because I didn't remember too much about the match except that Shawn kicked The Rock out of nowhere. The match between Rock/Austin & Regal/Angle is also a forgotten classic (Alert O'Dog!) and added greatly to the story they were setting up for WM17. And you weren't the only one who screamed like a little school girl during the era of The Smackdown Six. Of course, I still scream like that today whenever John Cena comes out. What can I say, he's so dreamy.

Finally, Paul mentions a great, forgotten contest:

Fine by me, one id like to mention even if just for an "honorable" is....

Marty Jannetty vs Kurt Angle, id go as far as to say that was one of my favorite matches of that year, it is a dam shame Marty cant keep it together because I really believe he could be an asset to WWE

I had completely forgotten about this match, but Paul's mention of it brought back great memories as I thought that Jannetty looked great and was about to embark on another WWE run. Of course, his demons got the best of him and he was soon promptly given the boot again. It's a shame because I always felt Jannetty was a great worker and even though Shawn Michaels was the better part of The Rockers tandem, Jannetty wasn't too far behind him. That should be a lesson to you kids, Crack is Wack. Just ask Whitney Houston, she'll tell you.

That's all for the feedback this week friends. A hearty Thank You goes out to all of you that sent in your feedback. Keep sending in your responses, I always love to hear what you guys think even if you think me and my lists deserve to burn in the fiery pits of hell. I got an email like that the other day. Mom can be so mean at times.

The Top Ten Smackdown Moments

Honorable Mention: Vince McMahon wins the WWE Title (9/16/99)
Vincent Kennedy McMahon: WWE Champion?!?! Who would of ever thought that? The impossible became a reality on this episode of Smackdown after Triple H refused to take on Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event for the WWE Title and instead goaded Mr. McMahon into accepting a match with The Game by questioning his grapefruits. The Game relentlessly beat down McMahon and it seemed like the end was near. Even Shane McMahon, who was named the special guest referee, tried to stop the brutal assault HHH was administering on the Chairman and ate some steel chair for his troubles. Just when it seemed like Trips was about to finish off The Boss, glass shattered and Stone Cold entered the arena through the crowd. He blindsided HHH and hit him with a Stunner and placed Mr. McMahon's lifeless body on top of HHH for the three count. This was just an unexpected and unbelievable moment that instantly made fans know that Smackdown was the show to watch.

Honorable Mention: Austin destroys the DX Express (4/27/00)
Stone Cold Steve Austin was going to be in the corner of The Rock when he faced HHH for the WWE Title at Backlash. Triple H had recently reformed DX and speculated that Austin wasn't even going to show up at Backlash since he was a chickenshit and there was no way The Rock could overcome the odds. The Rock came out and pointed to the OvalTron where Stone Cold was sitting in a demolition truck next to the DX Express (a bus that DX had been driving around in for weeks and touted it as the greatest bus ever invented). Austin said that he was indeed going to be at Backlash and was going to raise as much hell as he wanted and proceeded to drop a huge steel railing right on top of the DX Express which caused it to completely explode. DX and the McMahon clan looked on in horror as their precious bus was turned into scrap metal in a matter of seconds. It was an awesome visual and another impressive piece of destruction to be added on Stone Cold's list.

Honorable Mention: John Cena creates a new persona (10/31/02)
On a Halloween edition of Smackdown in 2002, a bunch of WWE superstars dressed up as a part of the costume party that was going on backstage. One superstar's costume stood out above everybody else's and that was John Cena who was dressed up as Vanilla Ice. Since Cena had debuted in the WWE earlier that year, the fans had a hard time connecting with him and even a recent heel turn did nothing to make the fans care about him. When he donned the hip-hop apparel and started spittin' freestyles, though, the fans instantly got hooked on him and wanted to see more of this wanna-be. Soon, the fans actually started to cheer him since he actually had some skills on the mic and had tons of charisma to back it up. John Cena soon became the #1 star in the entire promotion and all his success can be traced back to this episode of Smackdown because without this gimmick, he probably wouldn't even still be in the WWE today.

10) Smackdown's Pilot Episode (4/29/99)
In early 1999, I didn't have cable in my household since my mom thought that cable was the devil and would distract me from doing my school work. I didn't wind up getting cable until September of that year (coincidentally because I needed The History Channel in order to do weekly assignments for my World War II class) so before then, my only way to see what was going on in the WWE was to catch WWF Metal on local channel 55 which was basically an even more jobber-riffic show than Sunday Night Heat. So you can imagine my elation when I found out that UPN was going to be having a WWE special called Smackdown in April. The show was everything I expected and more with a great main event that featured Stone Cold & The Rock against Triple H & The Undertaker. The show was a huge success and that propelled UPN to make Smackdown a permanent fixture on their network starting in the fall of that year. Without the success of this pilot episode, we might have never gotten another night of wrestling during the week and that would have been a shame as Smackdown has continuously been an entertaining show to watch.

9) Paul Heyman goes off on Vince McMahon (11/15/01)
When Paul Heyman came out to deliver his now infamous promo on a November 2001 episode of Smackdown, I don't think any of us were expecting what came out of his mouth. Heyman absolutely SPAT on the name of WWE and talked about how much the show sucked and how Vince McMahon is a disgusting, vile son-of-a-bitch. He stated that he hated Vince's stinkin' guts and his own family hated him as well. He continued on by saying that Vince stole all his ideas from ECW to make the Attitude Era and he had turned "wrestling" into a dirty word. He even took off his hat and threw it in Vinnie Mac's face while screaming, "SCREW YOU!!" This was just a powerful, emotional promo that felt REAL. You really felt that Heyman meant every word that he said and most likely, he did mean every word that he said. The fact that Vince allowed him to go on a tirade like that is amazing and is one of the most memorable moments of an otherwise unforgettable angle.

8) Jeff Hardy upsets Triple H (4/12/01)
The Two Man Power Trip of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H were running wild over the WWE as Stone Cold was the WWE Champion and HHH had defeated Chris Jericho shortly after Wrestlemania 17 to become the new Intercontinental Champion. The Hardy Boyz along with Lita would take on The Power Trip and Stephanie McMahon on an episode of Raw and after the match, The Power Trip would assault Team Xtreme and take out both Matt and Lita. This enraged Jeff and he challenged HHH to a match for his Intercontinental Championship. HHH displayed his superiority for the majority of the match and it seemed like it was going to be a walk in the park for HHH. Soon, Jeff was able to fight his way back into the match and the fans started to firmly believe that Hardy might pull it off. Triple H started to dominate again to diminish those hopes until Matt Hardy ran down to ringside and cracked HHH with a chair behind the ref's back which allowed Jeff to hit Trips with a Swanton Bomb to win the Intercontinental Title. This was a major upset at the time and a great Smackdown moment.

7) Edge cashes in Money In The Bank and wins the World Heavyweight Title (5/11/07)
Sure, this just happened a few weeks ago and was spoiled by the WWE itself spilling the beans on it, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this was a great SD moment. It was done in such a fantastic way that it made everyone involved look great. Batista was able to go almost 30 minutes with The Deadman in a cage and get a draw, which makes him look even more impressive in the eyes of the fans. Mark Henry came out and destroyed ‘Taker after the match which made him look like a fearsome monster. Edge cashed in his MITB shot on a fallen Undertaker which not only made him the new World Heavyweight Champion, but also made him even more hated by the fans for taking advantage of a beaten down ‘Taker. And The Undertaker looked more impressive than ever, even in defeat, because it took three men beating him down until he finally didn't have enough to retain his title. That's four different superstars who looked like a million bucks because of one angle. This was just a great moment that couldn't even be ruined by the WWE blowing their load too early and spoiling it for everybody.

6) Rhyno gores Jericho through the old Smackdown set (8/9/01)
Remember the old Smackdown set with the OvalTron? Do you ever wonder what happened to it? This is what happened to it. Chris Jericho had just finished defeating Hugh Morrus in a match and as he began to make his way to the back, he was attacked by Rhyno. Rhyno pummeled Jericho until he laid prone in front of the Smackdown set. Once Jericho got up, Rhyno charged him and GORED him through the set! The whole damn set imploded and it looked as if Rhyno may have just killed Jericho because the impact was that scary. For the rest of the show, they had to use the ramp with no set and the next week, the new (and current) Smackdown set with the fist premiered. That's what makes this moment so memorable, that they had to get a brand new set to replace the one Rhyno destroyed (yes, I'm aware that they already planned to have a new set and it was just used as a way to explain the new set, but that doesn't take away from it's awesomeness and this little explanation must have now set a record for a phrase placed in parenthesis).

5) Austin & Booker go grocery shopping (12/13/01)
This was during the Stone Cold/Booker T feud in late 2001 that had Ric Flair siding with Austin and Mr. McMahon siding with Booker T. The two owners sat in a skybox while watching Austin chase Booker all around town until it finally convened in a supermarket. Book had thought he had gotten away when Austin came out of nowhere and proceeded to beat the crap out of Booker all around the supermarket. The ending was great as Austin scanned Booker through the checkout after whuppin' his ass with various items like fruit and milk. A great skit which I always think of anytime I'm in a supermarket because I would love to kick someone's ass while doing my grocery shopping. Who wouldn't?

4) Brock Lesnar and The Big Show's ring collapse (6/13/03)
When you think of some of the biggest "Holy Sh!t" moments of all-time, this one has to immediately spring into your head. This was during the ongoing feud between The Big Show and Brock Lesnar over the WWE Title. Big Show (for some reason) had climbed up to the top rope, but Brock was able to stop him and then went up to attempt a superplex. I automatically thought that there was no way Brock would be able to superplex Show, I didn't care how strong he is. When I saw that he might actually do it, I thought it would make for a pretty cool visual. I had no idea what was going to come next. Not only did Brock successfully superplex The Big Show, but the whole damn ring imploded and collapsed underneath the two behemoths. It was a moment that literally made me jump out of my seat and scream, "Holy Shit!" because I didn't see that coming from a mile away since I didn't read spoilers back in those days. Even Tazz on commentary had to let out a four-letter word (bleeped out of course) because the moment was that crazy. When you think of some of the greatest moments ever in Smackdown history, that one has to one of the first you think of.

3) The first ever Tribute To The Troops (12/25/03)
Entertainers are always quick to offer their support for the troops and send them video postcards, but few actually travel over to give them personal support. The WWE did just that during December of 2003 when they traveled over to Baghdad for the first annual Tribute To The Troops. The elation on the faces of the troops when they saw their favorite WWE superstars and divas made you know that they truly appreciated the wrestlers coming over there. You could also tell from the look on the faces of the wrestlers that they appreciated the sacrifices that those young men and women were making for their country. The Tribute To The Troops special has now become an annual event and is now done by Raw instead of Smackdown, but the first one was SD-sponsored and it meant everything in the world to those troops and it was great to see a smile on their faces when they usually face fear and violence everyday.

2) Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show (11/18/05)
Many people remember the Raw Tribute Show for Eddie Guerrero which aired just one day after his death, but some tend to forget the Smackdown Tribute Show that aired the same week. I felt the Smackdown Tribute show was just as important, if not more important, as the Raw Tribute show simply for the fact that Eddie Guerrero cemented his legacy on Smackdown. Smackdown is where Eddie was a part of the fabled Smackdown Six, where he had the now legendary Parking Lot Brawl, where he became the first ever WWE United States Champion, where he won the WWE tag team titles along with his nephew Chavo, and where he reached the pinnacle of his career by winning the WWE Title. Eddie had a great career before Smackdown which included his tours in Japan, his time in ECW and WCW, his Latino Heat angle with Chyna, and his IC Title battles on Raw, but nothing could compare to all the success he achieved as a member of Smackdown. The Tribute show was terrific with some great matches in Eddie's honor including Triple H vs. Chris Benoit (which included Dean Malenko joining them after the match) and Chavo Guerrero vs. John Bradshaw Layfield (where Chavo hit the Three Amigos and the Frogsplash for the win). This was just a terrific way to say goodbye to Eddie Guerrero on the show that brought him to the pinnacle of his career.

1) First Live Sporting Event held after 9/11 (9/13/01)
After the unspeakable tragedy of September 11th, the world as we knew it shut down. All sporting events and live shows were cancelled and many people didn't know how (or if) we would ever be able to go back to normal. Two days after the attacks, Smackdown became the first live sporting event to occur since the attacks and many brave fans came out to support America. The event was very somber, of course, but it also featured some great in-ring action which gave the fans a reason to cheer and make them realize that the terrorists had not won and we would be able to return to enjoying all the things we did before the attacks. I believe that this event was a huge step in helping the psyche of Americans at that time as a huge sporting event was held without incident and helped people realize that we could indeed return to our regular way of life. Mainstream America usually doesn't like to give the WWE credit on anything, but I don't think anybody can deny that this event was an important step in helping the average American to realize that everything was going to be alright.

The Sign-Off

That's all I got for you this week people. Be sure to send in all your feedback and park it here next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Latino Wrestlers. I would think of something to say in Espanol, but I only passed AP Spanish because I cheated off of the Ecuadorian kid that sat next to me. Thanks Miguel.