Best of WWE Smackdown!- Disc Two (2009)
by Scrooge McSuck
- Part Two of Three from the Best of WWE Smackdown (1999-2009). Last time, we counted down moments 100 through 70, with some classic matches and moments, and not-so-classics. Michael Cole and Matt Striker are with us still to continue the countdown. Hopefully Striker doesn't make another stupid comment like the Undertaker being the one person you think of when you hear the word Smackdown. What a moron. Let's get back to the countdown...
69. Mr. Kennedy! The man that did his own ring introductions. It was cool at times, but he really didn't do much for me as an actual wrestler. Now we have Ricardo Rodriguez doing the introductions for Alberto Del Rio, which is about 500 times more awesome than Kennedy's over-the-top self-loving introductions.
68. 9/9/99 - The Rock and Mankind are taking on the Undertaker and Big Show in a Buried Alive match. Show throws Mankind off the stage, onto the "grave site", and right into the actual grave. That was pretty cool. Hey look, it's another early episode of Smackdown with another unnecessary gimmick match.
67. 3/30/00 - Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley defeats Jacqueline for the Women's Championship, with a little help (by little I mean a lot) from Tori (not Wilson) and the rest of D-X. It was for the best, since the Women's Division was almost non-existant in 2000. You had Jackie, Ivory, and that's all. Lita was just getting screen time, The Kat and Terri weren't good enough for garbage women "matches", and that covers everyone, I think.
Randy Orton vs. Hardcore Holly:
Moment #66, from April 25th, 2002. This was Randy Orton's debut, and punishment for trying to pick up one of Vince McMahon's ho's. Holly was playing "Tough Enough" bully at this point. It wasn't until TE3 where he beat the shit out of one of the trainees, which to this day I say was instructed of him to do or was just a complete work, period. Orton looks weird trying to smile and without a bunch of tattoos (he still has a few, but not sleeves). Orton with a quick waistlock takedown, and Holly counters with a headlock. He comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle, but Orton comes back with a hip toss and crappy bulldog for two. Holly up fast, connecting with a sharp clothesline. Holly splits the difference with a boot to the midsection, then pounds away across the back. Holly with blows across the chest, a spot that Sheamus uses frequently in all of his matches. Whip to the ropes, and Orton comes back with a dropkick for two. Holly meets an elbow in the corner, but has enough in him to crotch Orton across the top rope. Orton shoves him off and hits a body press, but Holly rolls through for two. Orton with a drop toe hold and Oklahoma Roll for three at 2:45. Very rushed, but Orton's inexperience was still obvious.65. 2/10/00 - Kurt Angle defeats Val Venis for the European Championship. I would've liked to have seen the actual match. Angle celebrates like he won the World Title. Two weeks later, he won the Intercontinental Championship, becoming the Euro-Continental Champion, before losing both belts at WrestleMania XVI without losing a fall.
64. 12/16/05 - Batista and Rey Mysterio win the Tag Team Championship from MNM. Lots of mentioning Eddie Guerrero in the match commentary. I honestly don't know where the titles went from there.
63. 9/16/04 - Heidenreich kidnaps Michael Cole, takes him into a bathroom stall, and reads him poetry. The near prison-rape style overtones were a bit too much, and the incident was still really dumb, regardless of what you were looking into it.
Handicap Tables Match: The Rock vs. The Dudley Boyz:
Moment #62, From the March 9th, 2000 episode. The Dudley Boyz are the reigning Tag Team Champions, and still technically heels. I feel like I recapped this very recently, but the hell if I can remember when. The Dudleys attack in the aisle, but the Rock fights them off. He clobbers the both of them with the ring bell and follows up with chair shots for all. He takes Buh-Buh through the crowd for some power walking. D'Von makes the save, but Rock continues the dominance. He follows them up the ramp with a double clothesline, then takes Buh-Buh over with a suplex. He brings D'Von into the ring, but Buh-Buh sneaks up and takes the Rock down with a back suplex. They do the Wassup before it was a comedy spot. Rock with a clothesline on Buh-Buh, and D'Von with a clothesline on the Rock. Rock with a Samoan Drop on Buh-Buh, a spinebuster to D'Von, and it's People's Elbow Time, but Buh-Buh interrupts with a spear. Here comes a table. They go for the 3D, but Rock escapes and puts Buh-Buh through the table with the Rock Bottom. Unfortunately for the Rock, he also has to put D'Von through a table. Rock sets up another table as the Dudleys play dead. Rock goes for a Rock Bottom, but Buh-Buh with a chair shot, and a 3-D through the table ends it, giving the Dudleys the victory at around the 7-minute mark. Harmless fluff, but memorable match? Not really.61. 1/24/02 - Vince McMahon cuts a bug-eyed promo about bringing the New World Order in to kill the WWF. Up to the day of the No Way Out PPV, I had a hard time believing that Hogan, Hall, and Nash would be back on WWF Television. Only Hogan made significant impact, with the other two falling the injuries and substance abuse problems.
60. 9/11/03 - Parking Lot Brawl! It's John Cena and Eddie Guerrero in the "first ever" Parking Lot Brawl. I guess no one watched the abysmal iron circle match with Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman from 1999.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match:
Matt Hardy V.1 © (w/ Shannon Moore & Crash) vs. Rey Mysterio:
Moment #59, from the June 5th, 2003 episode. Matt Facts of the night: Matt is taller than Rey and he despises traffic. We're in Anahiem, CA, which isn't too far from San Diego, so typical WWE booking would have Rey job clean in under a minute. This must've been right before Crash was released. I remember him popping up on TNA weekly shows as "Mad Mikey" before sadly taking his own life. Lockup into the corner, Rey ducks a cheap shot and rolls Matt up for a quick two count. Hardy grabs a wristlock, but Mysterio quickly counters, as Cole and Tazz reference Great Sasuke, Jushin Liger, and others as greatest "Cruiserweights" of all time. They exchange chops until Mysterio takes him down with a snapmare. Mysterio with a basement dropkick and slingshot splash from the apron for a two count. Charge to the corner, Mysterio gets thrown to the apron again, and gets clotheslined to the floor. Moore and Crash with cheap shots, but the referee sees it... and just throws them from ringside. I guess this match MEANS SOMETHING. Hardy argues the decision, allowing Mysterio to surprise him with springboard senton.
Back from commercial, Matt catches Mysterio off the ropes with a boot and sets up for a Razor's Edge, but Mysterio slips free. Hardy crotches Mysterio across the top rope (he has an injured groin, you know), and stomps away at the knee. Hardy continues working the leg and slaps on a single-leg crab. I loved Matt Hardy at this time, but he's definitely not a Crusierweight style worker, other than an occasional big spot. Mysterio kicks Matt off, but the 619 isn't going to happen with the hobbled leg, and Matt quickly clips the knee to regain control. He wraps the leg around the middle rope and punts away at the knee. Mysterio kicks him off, again, and heads to the top rope, but he gets trapped in a tree of woe. Hardy measures up and charges, but Mysterio pulls himself up just in time, forcing Matt to meet the post. Mysterio with a moonsault, blocked, but Mysterio turns it into a DDT instead. That only gets two. Whip to the corner is countered with a forearm, and Mysterio comes off the second rope with a bulldog for another two count. Matt with a slam, but he takes too much time on the ropes. Mysterio climbs up with him, and Matt ends up taking him down with the Side Effect for a two count. Mysterio with a small package for a two count. Whip to the ropes is blocked and Mystero hits a Twist of Fate, for two. Mysterio with the 619. West Coast Pop is bcaught, but a head scissors takes both men over the top rope, to the floor. Matt distracts the referee, allowing Crash and Moore to sneak back in and plant Rey with a double front suplex. Matt off the top with a leg drop, but it only gets two. He goes for the Twist of Fate, but Mysterio counters with a roll up, and that gets three at 10:23 (minus a commercial break). Other than the somewhat anti-climatic finish, a great television match, and what we should've gotten at WrestleMania XIX instead of a bunch of live performances from Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, and a couple of sluts that relegated their match to a 3-minute rush job.
58. Montage of Superstars imitating each other, including the Rock's impression of the Big Show (in slow motion, too, just incase), Kane's running through the Rock and Hulk Hogan's catchphrases, Edge dressed up as Hogan and cutting a Hogan-style promo (which sadly might be Hogan's real life interpretation of certain events). Edge and Christian bring out the Hardy Boyz from 2050. I don't remember that one, but it seems like it was kinda funny. "Are they still spelling things with "Z" instead of "s" in the future.
57. The Big Show's Superhuman Strength. Watch him destroy and turn over cars to scare Torrie Wilson, Big Boss Man and Albert, throw over a Jeep for whatever reason, and... well, that's all.
56. From 4/11/02 - Vince McMahon needs a "personal assistant", and Stacy Keibler gives him a table dance for the job. Vince McMahon screaming off a potential male, homosexual applicant is kind of funny, without having to resort to insensitive slurs about someone's sexuality.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WWF Champion) vs. Rob Van Dam (Hardcore Champion):
Moment #55, from September 4th, 2001 episode. I'm guessing these are taping dates given to us, because September 11th fell on a tuesday, and they did a live episode on September 13th. Wow, I forgot they changed Steve Austin's theme music when he joined the Alliance. It sucked, and thankfully was changed back to the old theme immediately after Survivor Series. Weird match, since both are Alliance members. I'm sure if you asked me 10 years ago what was up I could tell you, but now... fuck it. Austin attacks before the bell and stomps RVD down in the corner. Austin with choking in the corner, followed by more stomping. RVD blocks the Stunner and connects with a spinning heel kick. RVD with blows in the corner until Austin thumbs the eyes. Austin with a knee to the back, sending RVD to the corner. Whip across the ring, Austin meets an elbow on the charge. RVD to the top, and Austin shoves him off, to the floor. He tosses RVD over the security wall, with some nice distance. RVD battles back, and takes Austin over the wall with another heel kick. Austin with a clothesline to once again cut off any momentum RVD was building. Back in the ring, Austin covers for two. He crotches RVD across the top turnbuckle and takes him down with a super-plex for two. RVD offers a comeback until missing a dropkick. Austin to the second rope, but he decides against it and casually stomps on RVD's chest. Back to the floor, RVD blocks a suplex and takes Austin over with one of his own, onto the ramp. Austin ducks a clothesline, crotches RVD across the security wall, and hits a clothesline to the back of the head. Austin with a short-arm clothesline for two, then settles into a chinlock. RVD fights free and they slug it out. RVD counters the Stunner again and connects with a dropkick. RVD with a handspring moonsault, but Austin gets the knees up. Austin with a chair, and it's Van Daminator time! What, no DQ? RVD to the top, and AGAIN he's crotched. Austin follows, but this time gets thrown off. Five-Star Frog Splash misses. Kick-Wham-Stunner, but he refuses to cover. Austin with the Ankle-Lock, but Angle's entrance music distracts him and RVD rolls him up for three at 9:48. Wow, that finish sucked, and the match.... how is THIS a top moment? Austin squashing RVD for the majority of the match. RVD must've pissed someone off.54. The Edge and Vicki Guerrero relationship. That's some tongue-kissing I don't need to see again.
53. From the 10/28/99 episode, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin systematically takes out D-Generation X. Road Dogg is caught in a BEAR TRAP, Billy Gunn caught in a snare, and X-Pac just beat the crap out of. I guess they had to build up Austin for a title match that never came, since he was due for neck surgery just a few weeks later. The final call-out ends with Austin netting DX in the ring, and being joined by Kane and the Rock in cleaning house. Wow, this actually looked like a good episode.
52. Debra's Cookies. They sucked, we get it. Didn't need this bit done 56 times.
51. Stinkdown! Just a series of Stinkfaces, the best being when the Rock shoved Vince McMahon's face directly into his ass, and Shelton Benjamin's shriek of terror during the Smackdown Royal Rumble Match. Sadly, we didn't see the latter.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri © vs. Team Angle
Moment #50, from the May 29th, 2003 episode/taping. Guerrero and Tajiri won the belts at Judgment Day, with Tajiri filling in for an injured Chavo. This had to be right before Team Angle turned on, you know, Kurt Angle, and became the World's Greatest Tag Team. Team Angle attacks from behind, sending Tajiri to the floor and double teaming Guerrero. Whip to the ropes, and Eddie connects with an elbow on Haas. One more time, and this time it's Haas taking Eddie over with a back drop. Guerrero gets tossed to the floor, allowing Benjamin to get a few cheap shots in. Back inside, Benjamin with knees to the midsection. Whip to the ropes, Eddie comes back with a dropkick. Tajiri tags in and lands a kick to the back of the head. Tajiri with chops, followed by a hurricanrana. Whip to the ropes and Tajiri with a sunset flip. He rolls it around the ring before getting a two count. Tajiri with a dropkick and elbows to the top of the head. They go through a series of counters until both men go down from roundhouse kicks.
We come back from commercial, with Tajiri connecting with a basement dropkick. Haas blocks a heel kick, allowing Benjamin to clip the knee from behind. Haas tags in and locks on a wrenching toe hold. Haas continues working the leg, but Tajiri fights him off with chops to the chest. Haas with an atomic knee buster, and Benjamin off the top with a double axehandle across the knee. Benjamin with a variation of a step over toe hold. Haas with a single leg crab, but Guerrero comes in to break the hold. Benjamin in without a tag, and he works the crab, as well. Brian Hebner FORCES THE BREAK AND SENDS BENJAMIN OUT, realizing the tag wasn't made, thus making him the smartest referee, EVER. Haas continues working the knee, regardless of the referee's legal distraction. Benjamin springs in with a splash across the leg and covering for two. Tajiri counters another knee buster with a spinning head scissors. Guerrero with the tag, and he takes Haas down with a back suplex. Benjamin misses a charge and gets taken over with a monkey flip. Guerrero with a double clothesline, then dumps Benjamin to the floor. Haas goes for a suplex, but Guerrero counters and it's Three Amigo's time (before it had a name). Eddie to the top rope, and the Frog Splash connects, but Benjamin breaks the cover. Haas and Benjamin with their double team superkick (set up Hart Attack style), but Tajiri breaks that pin attempt. Eddie with a double DDT, and now Tajiri gets the hot tag. Tajiri with an enziguri on Haas, but a Tornado DDT is countered with a Northern Lights for two. Benjamin gets dumped by Guerrero, and Tajiri with a superkick to Haas. Eddie with a body press to the floor. Haas ducks the roundhouse kick, and the Haas of Pain is locked on... but the bell rings. It was Eddie Guerrero tricking him! Eddie with the belt, and he plays dead in the ring, while Haas has the belt in hand. It's a frame up! Disqualification win for Eddie and Tajiri at 12:16. I totally forgot about Eddie's antics around this time. Pretty good match, with some solid wrestling from Team Angle. Haas and Benjamin reminded me of a throwback to the old school NWA style of working. It just makes me wish they got 25 minutes instead of 10.
49. The Rock and Busta Rhymes on the June 11th, 2002 episode. Ugh. I hope this wasn't to pimp Halloween Resurrection (or whatever the proper spelling was).
48. From the 12/19/08 episode, Jeff Hardy is the NEW WWE champion. Umm... so his introduction as Champion is a moment? I guess it's cool to celebrate a title win days after actually winning it. Sorry, is my dislike of Jeff Hardy too obvious?
47. Billy and Chuck's wed--- commitment ceremony. The whole damn thing. It was a publicity stunt that pissed off GLAAD, and served only as a means to push Three Minute Warning. Didn't Billy and Chuck vanish from television almost immediately after this? And who knew the preacher/justice was really Eric Bischoff under some heavy makeup? That reveal was the only good part.
46. From the 11/18/05 episode, a Tribute to Eddie Guerrero. That was a hard week as a wrestling fan, and at least both Raw and Smackdown were dedicated to him, with everyone paying respects to Eddie. Notable moment includes Batista driving out a low-rider and resting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship across the hood.
45. Where Is Foley? During the Summer and Fall of 2000, Mick Foley was the WWF Commissioner, and would keep his office in whatever hole in the wall he could find. He sure was a treat from the typical commish/GM/whatever, having fun the whole time instead of just being a dickhead.
44. From the 9/9/99 episode (again): Jeff Jarrett, the He-Man-Woman-Hater, punks out women, and lays out the Fabulous Moolah with a guitar. Cool moment, but not a particularly memorable one.
WWE Championship, Steel Cage Match:
John "Bradshaw" Layfield © vs. Eddie Guerrero:
Moment #43, from the July 15th, 2004 episode. According to Cole, this is the first time the WWF Championship is being defended inside a Steel Cage (on Smackdown). I'll take his word for it. I don't recall ever watching this one, or at least not since the original broadcast. I still regret never buying one of the Scarface-inspired Latino Heat shirts. I guess there's no escape through the door, with it being chained shut. Slugfest to start, won by Eddie? JBL blocks being sent into the cage, so Eddie takes him down with a back suplex for a one count. Whip to the ropes, Eddie ducks a boot, but takes a flapjack into the cage wall. JBL climbs, already, but Eddie grabs the ankle and brings him back down. Whip to the ropes and JBL throws Eddie over with a fallaway slam. Another climb attempt, failed. JBL gets knocked off after tasting steal, but rolls away from a Frog Splash attempt. Eddie stops another escape attempt by crotching JBL across the top rope. Eddie pounds away and pulls off the Three Amigo's. Eddie to the top rope, but JBL interrupts and lands a series of rights. JBL climbs up as well, and takes Eddie down with a super-plex.
Back from commercial, with JBL connecting with a swinging neckbreaker. He hits the ropes, but the clothesline from Heck is countered with a dropkick. Eddie with a deliberate low blow for a two count. Whip to the corner, and JBL plants Eddie with a spinebuster for a two count. Eddie prevents a climb and comes off the top rope with a Russian leg sweep. JBL catches Eddie off the ropes with a sleeper hold. Eddie with a leverage throw to escape, sending the champion into the cage in the process. JBL gets sent ino the cage, but a cover only gets two. Eddie charges, and gets back dropped into the cage. They slug it out again until JBL comes off the ropes with the Clothesline from Hell. Sounds like he got all of that, but it only gets a two count. One more commercial interruption, and we're back with JBL trying to climb out, but Eddie keeps him from escaping. JBL goes for a fallaway slam into the cage, but Guerrero counters with a Tornado DDT. JBL breaks up an escape attempt, with Eddie hanging on by a leg. JBL with a powerbomb for a two count. Guerrero throws JBL off the top rope and seems to make his escape, but the target is too much of a temptation, and it's a Frog Splash from off the top of the cage! Okay, that was pretty damn cool. Both men play dead, and rightfully so. Eddie with the slow crawl to cover, and it only gets two. If I was Guerrero, I would keep covering him. Kicking out would be too much after so many times, you would think. JBL somehow has enough in him to take Guerrero down with a DDT. Both climb the same side of the cage and start slugging it out across the top. Suddenly a masked man (the Executioner? El Gran Luchadore? Whatever) runs in, and it's obviously Kurt Angle. He pulls Eddie down, allowing JBL to escape at 21:10 (minus two commercials). Wow, what a terrible finish. The Angle/Guerrero feud wasn't that memorable, either. Kind of slow-ish, with too much "big spot, climb, big spot, climb" going on. Not a bad match at all, but not something I would chalk up as memorable, unless it's because of being a free TV Cage Match. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of climb-out cage matches, either.
42. From the 10/31/02 episode. Rey Mysterio takes on Brock Lesnar, but Big Show runs in and launches him about ten rows back into the crowd.
41. Jamie Noble and Nidia. This is digging a bit deep, but once they came into money and did a few segments like being able to afford running water... yeah, that's some good redneck humility. Noble as a worker was under-rated at the time, but at least he was one of the main focuses of the Cruiserweight Title for the majority of 2002-2003.
WWE Undisputed Championship Match:
The Undertaker © vs. Kurt Angle:
Moment #40, from the July 4th, 2002 episode. Now they're giving the aired date instead of the taped date... makes a lot of sense. The Undertaker, in 2002 at least, was pretty horrible in the ring, putting on stinkers at three consecutive PPV's with Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan, and Triple H, in that order. The Monday Night Raw before this, though, he put on a great effort with Jeff Hardy (who I admit carried the majority of the match), and this match coming days later really helped rebuild him in my mind as a good worker, again. Lockup, and Undertaker easily shoves Angle back into the corner. Undertaker with a standing side headlock, followed by a shoulder tackle off the ropes, sending Angle to the floor for a breather. Angle with a bit of chain wrestling to grab a headlock, but once again, Undertaker levels him with a shoulder. Angle with a single leg sweep and a front headlock into a cover for two. Undertaker looks pissed, so Angle runs to the floor to really cheese him off. Back inside, they lockup, and Undertaker works the arm. Whip to the ropes, Angle with a drop toe hold, followed by a pair of arm drags. He celebrates and Undertaker repays him with a boot, sending him to the floor. Angle says fuck it and charges at Undertaker for a takedown. Undertaker shrugs it off and lays Angle out for a two count. Undertaker with a clothesline in the corner, followed by snake eyes and a running boot for another two count. 'Taker goes for a chokeslam, but Angle counters with a German suplex. Angle with a high-angle back suplex for a two count.
Angle takes it to the corner, unloading with a series of rights and boots. Angle slaps on a front facelock, then goes back to pounding away. Undertaker uses the referee's distraction to recover and throw Angle into the corner for some punishment of his own. Whip to the ropes, and Undertaker comes off with a diving shoulder. Undertaker with rights, a boot to the midsection, and a DDT for two. Angle slips out off a tombstone, and Undertaker counters a German. Another Tombstone attempt is countered, this time with the Ankle-Lock. Angle prevents a counter, but doesn't grapevine the leg. That always seemed to signal the end. Undertaker rolls through to throw Angle off. Angle blocks a boot and takes him down with the Angle-Slam for a two count. Damn those ropes. Angle pulls the straps down and slaps on the Ankle-Lock once again. Undertaker kicks Angle off, again, then hits the Chokeslam from out of nowhere. He takes too long to cover, allowing Angle to kick out at two. He signals for the Last Ride, but Angle counters with a triangle choke. Undertaker pins the shoulders down for three and taps out at the same time as the third slap of the mat, at 10:30, which means we have a no contest. WWE rarely did finishes like this, and it did lead to a pretty awesome three-way with the Rock at Vengeance, so no complaints. Really good match, too, with Angle obviously feeling it, and Undertaker doing his best to keep up with him.
Final Thoughts, Part 2: We've got three pretty good-great matches in the forms of Undertaker/Angle, Mysterio/Hardy, and Eddie & Tajiri/Team Angle, which makes up about 40-minutes of the disc. Honestly, other than the Austin/RVD match, none of the matches featured were that bad, if not incredibly mediocre. Some of the "countdown" parts are debatable, and it's going to be fun to see where we go for the last disc. Obviously a couple of matches will be excluded when they belong, but we'll see how WWE re-writes Smackdown History to replace them.
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