Tremendous Tirades: WWE Velocity (5.29.04 and 6.06.04)

Posted by Larry Csonka on 05.26.2008

More from the archives!

So here is the deal. As mentioned in the first review that ran today I was digging back into the pre-411 archive the other day, looking for something and came across some Velocity recaps. Only four or so, but I figured I would put these recaps together in pairs and run them as reviews for fun. Nothing has changed in the recaps since I first did them, so it will be fun to check out my opinion from then. Plus today is May 26th, which is my anniversary here at 411. FOUR YEARS and going strong.

5.29.04

- Josh Matthews and Bill Demott welcome us to another addition of Velocity.

Match #1 The FBI (Stamboli and Nunzio) vs. Billy Kidman and Paul London

Kidman and Nunzio to start. They lock up, and Kidman gets a take down, and Nunzio escapes to the ropes. Lock up again and Kidman with the advantage, off the ropes, and a shoulder block to Nunzio. Headlock take down now, and Nunzio fights to his feet. Tag to Stamboli, they try a double team, but Kidman escapes and gets a flying head scissors followed up by an arm drag then tag to London. Sweet drop kick by London for 2. RANA to Stamboli and a sidekick gets 2! Stamboli takes him to the corner, and gets a tag to Nunzio. He has control of London, but London fights back with fore arm shots. Stamboli charges in and tales down London so Nunzio can go on the offensive. Rear choke by Nunzio, and London tries to escape…off the ropes, and Stamboli grabs him, shakes him off but Nunzio takes control again. Stamboli tags in, and London tries to punch it out with him, but gets press slammed for his trouble. Cover, and Kidman breaks it up. Rear headlock by Stamboli, London to his feet but Stamboli rams him back into the corner. They double-team him, and Nunzio tags in. Nunzio missed a knee drop, and an elbow and KIDMAN IS IN! Takes Nunzio down, big backdrop. He knocks Stamboli off the apron. Nunzio caught in the ropes, MISSILE DROP KICK by London to Stamboli! BK Bomb to Nunzio. Kidman up top, but Stamboli knocks him off with a foreign object I believe, and Nunzio covers Kidman for the win @ 6:37.

Not a bad match, but it seems like if they would have had 5 more minutes, they could have built the hot tag better. It lacked some flow, but was alright. *½


- We head back to Smackdown, with highlights of Booker T calling out the Undertaker for a rematch next week. GOOOOOOOOONG! Booker ain’t scarred SUCKAAAAAAAAAA!

- Here comes Teddy with Jindrak…where is the long Teddy promo!?! Ok, Teddy is talking. He says to recognize that Jindrak is the winning prize, they will get their money’s worth and Jindrak poses.

Match #2 “The Reflection of Perfection” Mark Jindrak vs. Shannon Moore

Lock up to start, and Jindrak shoves Moore away to pose. Another lock up, and be throws Moore down. Kick by Jindrak, and he tosses Moore to the floor, he poses, but Moore back in and knocks Jindrak to the floor. Baseball slide to Jindrak, followed up by chops. Back in the ring, and Jindrak knees him in the head, followed up by a vicious clothesline. Chokes Moore over the 2nd rope now, then boots him repeatedly. Vertical suplex gets 2 for Jindrak. Just stomping Moore now, picks him back up and knocks him right back down. Arm stretch submission on Moore, who escapes and punches away on Jindrak. Off the ropes, and another clothesline to Moore and pushups follow for Jindrak. He picks Moore up, but Moore chops back, a couple of fore arms and a spinning heel kick take Jindrak down for 2. Moore up top, but caught, Moore kicks his away, Sidekick from the top for 2! Moore misses in the corner, and the Mark of Excellence gets Jindrak the win @ 5 minutes.

A good match although it was basically a squash. Jindrak showed a lot of ring attitude in this match, which made it enjoyable, but he needs to get more solid in the ring. His attitude is good though. *½


- Back to Smackdown and Kurt Angle talking about the Smackdown Stars safety. He has EMT’s for Eddie, what a sweetie. We go to Eddies “match.” Eddie don’t need no stinkin EMT’s! Eddie beats up the Executioners, I mean the JOB Squ...er Bashams. Kurt comes out and talks more. Cena wins with his fireman’s carr…I mean F-U. He heeds to fix that, it looks like crap anymore.

- We go back to Smackdown again to relive the Lumberjack match between John Cena © and Rene Dupree for the US Title. Booker T rally’s the heels to attack Cena on the out side as “Kurt in the box” watches on, then approves of the French Jig! The French Jig is awesome!

Match #3 Billy Gunn vs. Sakoda

Gunn revs up the crowd, and we get a lock up to start to the corner, and Gunn breaks clean. Another lock up, and Gunn goes to work on the arm. Reversal by Sakoda, then by Gunn. Sakoda elbows his way out, and takes Gunn down with a headlock. Gunn reverses it and gets a head scissors, then a headlock. Back to their feet, off the ropes, and Gunn takes Sakoda down and gets a 2 count. Kick by Sakoda, off the ropes, and a series of arm drags by Gunn and he gets 2. Sakoda hides behind the ref. He gets up, and a single arm DDT to Gunn. He wrenches the arm of Gunn around the top rope, and Gunn is in pain. Some kicks and chops, and Sakoda gets a 2 count. Arm bar to Gunn now, as Demott points out Gunn’s history of bad shoulder problems. Back to their feet, and a power slam by Sakoda almost drops Gunn on his head, but gets 2. Off the top by Sakoda, but Gunn gets the boot! Punches by Gunn, then a back elbow to Sakoda. Back up, STO by Sakoda gets 2. Off the ropes, kick to Sakoda…FAMEASSER finishes Sakoda @ 5:10.

A fine match, they worked well together, but once again, another 5-minutes would have given the match a better flow. *¾

6.06.04

This episode was In Memory Ronald Regan, who died at the age of 93 after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's.

- Josh Matthews and Bill Demott welcome us to another addition of Velocity.

Match #1 Spike Dudley vs. Shannon Moore

Lock up to start, and they fight back to the corner for a clean break. Lock up again and Moore gets an arm bar but Spike escapes and gets a headlock. Moore escapes and gets a back suplex for 2. Slam by Moore and he goes for a double arm submission. Spike fights to his feet and makes it up. He escapes and punches away at Moore. Spike shoves Moore away, but Moore gets a leg lariat for 2. Neck breaker by Moore gets another 2. Suplex to Spike, and Moore follows up with a rear headlock. Spike tries to show signs of life and he gets to his feet. Moore pounds away, off the ropes and Spike gets the battering ram and Moore hits the floor. Spike up top…CROSS BODY to Moore! Back in and Spike gets a clothesline for 2. Spike slams Moore, he tries the double boot from the top, but Moore gets the boot up. Northern-lights suplex by Moore gets 2! Moore rams Spike to the corner, he then misses a charge and Spike gets the Dudley Dog for the win @ 4:41.

Good short match. They worked well together, but I think they would have benefited from another 2 minutes or so. *¾


- Next we get highlights from Smackdown, where JBL announces the Bull Rope stipulation.

- Now we get a Velocity exclusive from Smackdown. (The match they cut.)

Match #2 Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly vs. The FBI (Nunzio and Stamboli)

Nunzio and Holly to start. But Nunzio decided to have Stamboli start. Off the ropes and shoulder block by Stamboli. Off the ropes again and Holly gets a power slam for 2. Chops now by Holly, he then drapes him over the ropes and kicks him in the nizzies! Holly tries a roll up, but Nunzio nails him, and a spine buster by Stamboli. Nunzio is in now, and he fires away with punches. Choke now to Holly, then a cover for 2. Tag to Stamboli. They punch it out, but Stamboli gets a press slam to Holly and covers for 2 as Gunn breaks it up. Rear headlock by Stamboli, and Holly fights to his feet. Take down by Holly, but Stamboli follows up with a clothesline. Tag to Nunzio, they try a double team, but Holly kicks Nunzio away and a sweet drop kick to Stamboli. Holly needs the tag…and gets it! Gunn is the old house of fire here, and makes Nunzio fly with a huge backdrop. Fame-asser to Stamboli! Holly grabs Nunzio…GHB (Power Bomb/neck breaker combo, Gunn/Holly Bomb) TO NUNZIO finishes it @ 4:18.

Another short match. It wasn’t bad, but it is hard to build to a hot tag in a 4-minute match. Gunn and Holly are a solid team though, and it was good to see them back together. **



- Jindrak comes out, and Teddy is on the mic! He says they know what to do, so stand up and show some love for the man that is perfection! Teddy is just awesome! He tells Jindrak to show the world the perfection.

Match #3 “The Reflection of Perfection” Mark Jindrak w/ Teddy Long vs. Billy Kidman

Lock up to start, and Jindrak shoves him down and tells him to “Bow down to perfection!” He gives Kidman a free shot, and Kidman chops away then follows with fore arms. 10-punch count in the corner, but Jindrak tosses him to the floor. Back in the ring, and Jindrak kicks away at Kidman. Follows that up with a suplex for 2. Rear choke by Jindrak now, Kidman tries to fight to his feet and does. He punches away, but Jindrak gets a nice drop kick followed by some pushups. He poses for the crowd, but Kidman attacks from behind. Kidman off the ropes with a flying forearm. Kidman to the 2nd rope and gets a missile dropkick for 2. Jindrak pushes Kidman off, leaps to the top and gets a sweet flying clothesline for 2. Enziguri by Kidman, he pulls him to the corner, and Teddy Distracts the ref, but Kidman shoves him away. Kidman grabs Jindrak and tries a tornado bulldog, but Jindrak reverses it into the Mark of Excellence for the win @ 4:10.

Short match, but that might be best for Jindrak at this point. His character development is good, and these short matches against the Cruisers make him look good. **

- We get highlights of Smackdown, and the Undertaker vs. Booker T match. Paul Heyman w/Skullet make an appearance and delivers an ultimatum to the Undertaker to join him. The Mad Scientist is back!

Match #4 Rico and Charlie Haas © w/ Miss Jackie vs. Akio and Sakoda

Haas and Sakoda to start. Hass gets a headlock, shoved off the ropes and gets an arm drag take down. Hass shoved Sakoda to their corner and Rico slaps his ass. Dropkick to Sakoda by Hass. Sakoda checks out Miss Jackie, he likes her. Sakoda wants Jackie to feel his ass, he bends over and Rico does. Rico is kinda gay if you didn’t know. Rico is in, and he rides him…wow, tag to Akio, then he rides him. Atomic drop to Akio, double team arm drag to Akio and Hass gets a 2 count. Akio up and a leg lariat by Akio gets 2. Headlock by Akio on Hass, they go to the corner, and Akio gets a head scissors variation in the corner. Sakoda tagged in, Hass in the tree of woe, and they double-team him. Sakoda rolls up Hass and gets 2. Hass tries to fight his way back up, and gets a back suplex to Sakoda. Tag to Akio and Rico! Rico in with kicks for all, he tries to nail Akio, but Sakoda saves him. Akio takes Rico off the ropes, blind tag by Hass. Rico kisses Akio which lets Hass get a bridging German suplex for the win @ 5:00.

Nothing but comedy. There was a lot of that and when they got into the match it seemed way too rushed. They had no time to make the match worth watching. *

The 411: Well, the first edition of Velocity was just there. Jindrak continues to show great character improvement, but is still lacking in the ring. No lengthy match this week, and I was also disturbed by Gunn’s solo appearance as at the time I really felt that they needed to be building tag team contenders. Wow, four years later and it is still the same. The second edition had 4-matches all between 4 and 5 minutes. 2-weeks ago the main event was getting 12-minutes and time to build. I don’t know what happened but it really hurts the match quality and the shows feel different. These weren't as fun as the first two.

Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]