411's WWE Smackdown Report: 12.30.05
Posted by Scott Fried on 12.30.2005
Booker-Benoit Best of Seven: Match Five: Benoit-Orton
Benoit is arguing with Booker as we open. Booker can't wrestle due to an injury, so he wants the title handed to him. Benoit disagrees. So does Teddy Long. He mentions awarding the match to Benoit, but he wants none of that. Booker throws out the idea of finding a substitute. Teddy Long isn't wild about it, but Benoit says okay. Long decided to let the substitution go through.
John Bradshaw Layfield versus Matt Hardy
JBL cuts a promo about how he "makes statements," rather than simply wrestling matches. Hardy throws his shirt at JBL and attacks him with punches. JBL reverses a whip and hits a big boot, then a spine kick. JBL beats on Hardy in the corner, kicking him in the head once more. He gets a neckbreaker on Hardy, then another. JBL hits a shoulder, then three elbow drops. He flashes the V1 signal, then kicks Hardy in the head again. Matt Hardy gets up and hits some punches, then starts punching around wildly. JBL kicks his head again and gets a suplex, then a forearm to the back. JBL chokes Hardy across the top rope, then throws him to the corner and hits a clothesline. Back suplex by JBL. Hardy avoids a big boot, then kicks JBL in the face and hits a bulldog. JBL fights back with a running shoulder, then takes the cover off the turnbuckle. He tries to send Hardy there, but he blocks and slams JBL. JBL goes down and Hardy hits the legdrop for two. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate, but JBL shoves him away. Hardy dodges a clothesline, and JBL catches him in a fallaway slam position. He deposits Hardy on the buckle, then goes for a top rope fallaway slam, but he's interrupted by the music of The Boogeyman. He makes his way out. Bradshaw is scared, but hits the fallaway slam and the Clothesline from Hell. However, Boogeyman is down by the ring, so Bradshaw leaves rather than making the cover. He pulls Jillian Hall in front of him when The Boogeyman throws worms, then heads out into the crowd. This leads to Hardy getting the countout win.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Match Time: 6:19
Rating: **3/4
Commentary: Nothing really doing here. Hardy was just taking punishment throughout the bulk of the match- I wasn't even feeling his comeback. As for The Boogeyman, a feud with JBL sounds… interesting.
Orlando Jordan approaches Booker backstage. He wants to substitute for Booker, but Sharmell cuts him off mid-sentence. She brings up his history against Benoit, and she and Booker make fun of him for tapping.
Psychosis and Super Crazy versus The Dicks
Psychosis and Chad Dick start out trading sweeps and covers. Psychosis gets a wristlock and tags Super Crazy. Chad tags James, who whips Crazy into the ropes and catches him with an elbow. Crazy gets a spinning heel kick, then tags Psychosis. They hit the rolling leg lock. Psychosis goes up top, but Chad shoves him off and James covers for two. Tag to James, who hits a kneedrop and tags Chad back. Chad applies a chinlock, then throws Psychosis to the corner. Psychosis hits an enziguri, then makes the tag to Super Crazy. He gets a dropkick, then kicks James Dick into a lawnmower. Crazy goes up top and James tries to stop him, but he comes off with a sunset flip for two. The Dicks go for their finisher, but Psychosis makes the save. Crazy gets a crucifix for two, then springs a Dick up in the air so Psychosis can hit a missile dropkick. Super Crazy hits the moonsault for the win.
Winners: Psychosis and Super Crazy
Match Time: 3:55
Rating: **1/2
Commentary: Pretty much a regular four minute tag bout. Have Spanky and London wrestle Psychosis and Super Crazy every show for the next six months.
Booker approaches Orton, asking him to take his spot. Orton is reluctant, but Booker tells him that it's a way to end the year on a high note after his loss to The Undertaker. Orton accepts the invitation.
MNM is talking to Melina backstage. This leads into clips of her getting down with Batista. We cut to her in the ring, at a podium. She prefaces by saying that the subject matter is of an adult nature. She talks, and it boils down to this- Batista sexually assaulted her. This goes on for a long, long time. She's suing Batista for sexual harassment. This whole thing is just so incredibly ass-backwards, nonsensical, and worst of all, boring.
Best of Five Series: Match Five: Chris Benoit versus Randy Orton
Booker T and Sharmell are on commentary. Lockup to start, and Orton grabs a headlock. Chris Benoit pushes him off, but Orton returns with a shoulder. Benoit grabs his arm and tries to take him down into the Crossface, but Orton rolls out of the ring and we go to a commercial. When we return, Orton has Benoit in a headlock and takes him over to the mat. He holds the headlock on the mat, just as he's prone to do. Benoit gets up and shoots Orton off, but Orton comes back with a shoulder. Benoit hits a running forearm, then goes to the chops. Orton goes down and pulls Benoit into the corner, but Benoit hits another chop. Orton gets an eyepoke and a suplex, but Benoit gets two armdrags. He retains the armlock on the mat. Orton tries to reverse, but Benoit keeps it. Orton gets up and elbows Benoit off, but Benoit takes him over with a headlock. Orton wraps his legs around Benoit's neck, then wrenches that hold. Benoit gets to his knees, then dives out of the hold and grabs a headlock. Orton gets up, then shoots Benoit to the ropes. When he comes back, Orton sends him sailing over the top. Benoit chops Orton on the outside, but Orton slams him to the table. Orton then gives Benoit a back suplex onto the rail of pain. Orton rolls Benoit back in and covers for two. Orton then hits the chinlock. He wrenches the neck to let go, then covers for two. Orton goes back to the chinlock. Benoit gets up and elbows Orton off, then chops the shit out of him. He gets two more running forearms, then two Rolling Germans into a fujiwara armbar. Benoit tries for the Crossface, but Orton gets the rope. Orton rolls outside, and Benoit hits a suicide dive. We go to another commercial. When we return, Orton has an armlock on Benoit. He then throws Benoit to the ringpost. Orton pulls Benoit out and does it again. He then yanks Benoit's arm around the rope and pulls on it. Orton goes to stomps, then back to the armlock. Benoit counters with an armdrag, then hits an enziguri. Benoit covers for two. Benoit gets some stomps, but Orton gets up and wrenches the arm. Orton hits the 3.0 for two. Orton goes up top and comes off with a crossbody, but Benoit avoids it. He hits a German Suplex. Orton blocks a second, so Benoit hits the Three Amigos. Throat cut, and he goes up top. Orton avoids the Diving Headbutt. Benoit scoops out Orton's legs and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Orton pushes him off. Orton goes for the RKO, but Benoit blocks and goes to the arm. Orton turns around and goes for it again, but Benoit takes him down into the Crossface. He keeps the hold, but Sharmell runs in an hits him with a crutch, giving Benoit the DQ win. Post-match, Orton hits an RKO on Benoit.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Match Time: 21:14 (including commercials)
Rating: ***1/2
Commentary: Not up to par with the Booker-Benoit matches, but whatcha gonna do? Glad to see they gave it a lot of time, as it makes Benoit look like a legit wrestling draw.
Funaki is on the stage (in his interviewer capacity), and he welcomes Cruiserweight Champion Kid Kash. Kash tells Funaki to introduce him as the greatest Cruiserweight Champion of all time. He runs down Juventud in counterproductive (and odd) fashion. He then calls Funaki "sushi-boy" and begins to berate him. He ends the interview by slugging Funaki, then giving him a brainbuster on the stage. Even the parts of the interview that weren't offensive weren't very entertaining.
A promo airs for the return of Fit Finlay! Seriously! Great video, great to see. Damn, that's cool.
Josh Mathews is backstage, outside Batista's locker room. He'll get back to us when he can get a word with the champ.
Sylvan versus Bobby Lashley
Sylvan goes La Res on us, cutting an anti-American promo before getting on to his own aesthetic merits. Sylvan beats on Lashley in the corner to start, but Lashley takes over, whipping him to the corner and hitting shoulder rams. He whips Sylvan into the opposite buckle, then gets a clothesline. Sylvan slides out of the ring, then re-enters with a punch. Lashley catches it, but Sylvan hits a few punches. Lashley reverses a whip and gets a belly to belly suplex, and Sylvan heads out again. He's upset that Lashley hit him in the face, so he stays out for the ten count.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Match Time: 1:34
Rating: *
Commentary: Let Sylvan wear a facemask that he uses as an illegal object, or make him stop crying about his face. This way, he seems like one of the dumber guys in the company.
Josh Mathews asks Batista if he has any response to the charges. He's more concerned about his tag title match with MNM.
They replay Melina's announcement from earlier in the night.
Mercury and Mysterio start off. Nitro runs in, but Rey fight soff both members of MNM. He gets two off a low dropkick, then tags Batista, who kicks Mercury in the gut and slugs him down. Batista slams Mercury to the corner, then whips him across the ring. Nitro enters, so Batista kicks him and squashes both guys in the corner. Tag to Rey, who hits the Broncobuster on both. Rey gets whipped, but grabs the rope, kicks Mercury down, and hits a springboard headbutt for two. We go to a commercial, and when we get back, Batista works over Joey Mercury. He hits a kitchen sink, but Mercury slides out of a bodyslam. Batista nails a forearm for two, then tags Mysterio, who comes off the top for two. Mercury tags Nitro, and MNM work Rey over in the corner. Nitro whips, but Rey comes out with a multi-part tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Nitro backdrops Rey to the apron. Mercury trips him up, and Rey springs up. With Nitro's extra time, he manages to nail Rey with a superkick. Rey lands with his knee wrenched in the rope, so Mercury pounds on it. Nitro applies a kneeling toe hold, then kneedrops the leg and retains the hold. Rey kicks his way out, but Nitro tags Mercury and they hit a double legdrop for two. Mercury hooks a modified Stretch Muffler, then drops an elbow on the knee and hooks a grapevine. Rey fights back with punches. Mercury whips him, but Rey just falls down. Tag to Nitro, who gets a butt drop across the rope on the leg. MNM double team, with Nitro leaping over the rope and wrenching Rey's leg as he comes down. Batista heads over and scares all of MNM. Back in the ring, Nitro waits for Rey to get up, then kicks his leg out. Nitro covers twice and gets two each time. Tag to Mercury, who gets a chop block. Mercury puts Rey in the corner and works his leg over. He tags Nitro, and theny both ram Rey into the buckle. Rey fights back, gets whipped, and springs over Nitro. He tries to get around Nitro and Mercury to make a tag, but no dice. Rey finally does make the tag, and Batista goes wild on both guys. Mercury takes the shoulders in the corner, Nitro gets speared, Mercury gets Spinebustered. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down. Nitro interferes, but Batista shoves him off. Rey hurricanranas Nitro from the apron to the floor, and Batista hits a powerslam on Mercury, taking out the ref in the process. Mercury jumps on Batista, but the champ throws him off, whips him to the corner, and clotheslines him. Batista measures Mercury, but Mark Henry runs in and knocks him down! Henry gets a slam, and a while later, Mercury covers and gets the pin.
Winners: MNM
Match Time: 16:01
Rating: ***1/4
Commentary: Well, it's bizarre, I'll give them that. Not a bad match overall, but not on the level of the one two weeks ago.
That's Smackdown for this week. Catch you tomorrow for Velocity!
