By Tom Robinson
cpsent.com
Velocity/Smackdown tapings
Anaheim, Ca
06-03-03
First off the highlights.
1-Kurt Angles return- Angle reminds us why we are all fans of his. It was
awesome
2-Cruiserweight title change- Ray Mysterio is your new champ in an
AWESOME match
3-Steph shoots on Daddy Mac- He hires Sable as her assistant and she
mentions to him that she is the same person that tried to sue their company for
millions of dollars n a sexual harassment case!
Velocity
I’m going to put this all in the Velocity category. It was mentioned
beforehand that the Velocity tapings were starting. Josh and Cat came down after
the second match.
1-Ultimo Dragon over Shannon Moore- Great ovation for Dragon when he
first came out. He has some nice pyro also. Very good match that ended when
Dragon got Moore into what looked like a reverse figure four (sorry im not good
with certain finishers) then while in the hold went into a bridge also. Moore
tapped out and the crowd went nuts.
Now this is the first time I have seen Dragon and I was very impressed.
2-Billy Gunn over Zolo (?)- Hearing the pop that Billy Gunn got reminded
me of the old Norm MacDonald line when he was doing Weekend Update on Saturday
Night Live. “Germans love David Hasselhoff”. Well folks, Wrestling crowds love
Billy Gunn. Easily one of the top 5 pops of the night here. The match itself was
so-so. It wasn’t bad, but not good either. Gunn wins with the “fame-asser”. Oh
yeah, it looks like he will indeed be doing the “Mr. Ass” gimmick.
At this point Josh and Cat come out. Josh gets a mixed response. Cat
really gets none at all.
3-Shawn O’Haire over Spanky- Great entrance music for both guys. I just
wish the match was better. Pretty much your typical big man/little man matchup.
Spanky sold O’Haires DVD looking finisher very well at the end. Blah
match
This is where they filmed the opening for Velocity
4-Crash over Orlando Jordan- Semi-Dull matchup here. Jordan could have
some potential but he is very green. Crash wins with the rollup pin aided of
course by Shannon Moore who helped hold his arms for leverage.
5-A-Train over Funaki- Total squash here. Match lasted maybe a minute.
Afterwards, Train proclaimed that he isn’t done and asked “who wants to fight”
Out comes Bill Demott who cuts a lame “shave your back” knock-knock joke then
hits the ring. Quick back and forth leading top Demott rolling up Train for the
win.
Looks like Velocity has a new feud brewing!
That’s it for Velocity. I hope Ultimo vs. Moore makes the show! Other
than that it was just ok.
Smackdown
Opening shot of Freddie Blassie was a nice move.
Then we see that unbelievable video of Kurt Angle. I missed it last week
and am glad to have seen it tonight. It is simply the best video they have ever
done.
Pipers Pit opens things up. Piper and O’Haire hit the ring and Piper
starts talking about their guest Zach Gowen. Piper starts putting Gowen over a
bit and even uses his “serious” voice for effect. He goes to call him out when
Mr. Mcmahon comes to the ring. Once he hits the ring Mcmahon talks about how
last week he said things were going to change and that was going to start here
and now. He says Gowen deserves a chance and he will get it. He calls Gowen out.
Out comes Gowen and Mr. America.
Mcmahon says nobody can give Gowen a contract but him. Not Piper, not
“Hogan”, not O’Haire. He says next week Gowen will get his chance. There will be
an arm wrestling challenge next Thursday in Florida. Representing WWE will be
Mr. Mcmahon himself. Hogan then accepts the challenge and says how he will beat
Mcmahon. Wait though! Hogan isn’t going to represent Gowen. Zach will face
Mcmahon himself! Then Piper crawls behind Gowen and Mcmahon pushes him over. The
heels then leave the ring. After all this it is pose time for Hogan/America and
Gowen. I admit, it is fun to watch Hogan live! Even if he did screw up a bit (im
sure when cameras were off) and talk about his Hulkamaniacs! OOPS!
I wont mention though Mcmahons two sad/stupid lines he used about Gowen.
Im sure they will be loud and clear to all on Thursday.
On the video monitors we see that next week it will be Brock and Big Show
for the heavyweight title.
A very good Freddie Blassie tribute is next. Right on par with others
that they have done. J.R. does a lot of the voice over work here.
The Gail Kim promo is shown
Backstage we hear Matt Hardy tell his Shannon Moore and Crash about how
he will “prove em all wrong again”. Nobody thought he could do everything he has
done. Tonight he will prove em all wrong!
1-Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri vs. The Basham Brothers in a non-title match-
Good match here. The Bashams look good in the ring. They should make some waves
in the tag ranks. The finish saw Eddie hit a five-star on one of the brothers
and Tajiri kick his head of and get the pin.
Next up is Kurt Angles return
Kurt comes out to a monster mix of cheers and “You Suck” chants. It was
awesome. He first mentions, “You don’t know how good it feels to hear those
words (you suck) again. Then he asks for his music again! Classic! Kurt was
fired up. He talks about how “your Olympic Hero” is back. He is back for 1
reason only. He is a champion and wants to win the championship again. The
“What” chants broke out here and Kurt did the unthinkable (with all apologies to
Tim Whitehead who lives for that chant!!!) Kurt says, “I missed that word
too”!!!! (UH-OH) He then said he
wanted to bring someone out and thank them for all their support while he was
out. Big Shows pyro hits! Show says he isn’t out there to say how happy he is
that Angle is back. He says angle hasn’t earned his respect then backs him into
the corner where they are nose to nose. He tells Angle that when he beats Brock
next week that “maybe” he will give Kurt a shot at the title. Angle then proves
why he is the best. He offers Show a breath mint (LOL). He then climbs to up the
rope (they are still in the corner) and gets eye to eye (kind of) with show and
tells him “Listen to me you big overgrown son-of-a-bitch” Show tries to
intimidate more and Angle comes up with another funny one when he says “excuse
me if I don’t feel poopy in my pants right now” (Only Angle can get away with
that) He then says “With all due respect to Stone Cold Steve Austin. If you want
me to open a can of whoop-ass give me a YOU SUCK” show then grabs Angle by the
neck. This gets Brock out there. Once he hits the ring, Show bails. Angle then
puts Brock over as only he can by telling him that he can’t remember the last
time anyone kicked his butt the way Brock did at Wrestlemania. Then he says how
Big Show seems to have gotten the better of him lately. He says he wants Brock
again. Brock responds by telling him ”When I beat Show, if you want a shot. Its
on!” Much to everyones delight! Angle then thanks Brock for his support while he
was out. They shake hands and hug and it looks like we will have a face-face
rematch down the line.
The segment was awesome. I hope I did it justice here in this
re-cap.
2-John Cena vs. Chris Benoit- Cena wins the match when after a ref bump
he goes to grab his gold chains. Rhyno comes out and takes them form him. As
Rhyno is trying to hit Cena with the chains, Cena ducks and Benoit is laid out
for the three count. Hmmmm. Good match with an interesting ending. Who is going
to turn?
3-Rikishi and Torrie over Nidia and Jamie Noble- I honestly don’t think I
have ever seen Jamie Noble win a match since he lost his cruiserweight title.
The guy works hard and is very good. I just hope he maybe is “paying his dues”
in certain peoples eyes. He could be a player here as we have seen before.
Finish saw Torrie hit a swinging neckbreaker on Nidia for the win. I have to say that Torrie is getting a
lot better in the ring. If she keeps this up she will end up on Raw as the next
woman who wants to kick Trish Stratus butt! I also get a kick out of Nidia’s
“character”
Blah match overall though. At least the crowd got to see a stinkface
(Nidia) and Torrie and Rikishi dance.
Next we saw a Badd Blood promo for the HHH/Kevin Nash match. Earlier we
saw the Jericho/Goldberg one and it got some reaction. Goldberg got booed. There
was no reaction to this one whatsoever. It is scary.
Matt Hardy/Rey Mysterio tale of the tape is next
Josh Mathews then interviews Mysterio. Mysterio says “Im ready, Im here
to win the cruiserweight title” Eddie Guerrero hen comes in and gets Rey all
fired up. Eddie is even wearing one of his shirts. He tells him “Don’t even
think about coming back into that locker room without that cruiserweight gold”
Awesome stuff that pretty much showed everyone what was going to happen.
Next is a quick recap of the Pipers pit segment.
Backstage Steph tells Vince “I see your hanging around my office again”
She then tears into Vince for the comments he made to Zach Gowen (again you will
have to see them Thursday) and says that “If anyone deserves a contract it is
him. If you don’t give him one, I will” Vince then threatens to FIRE Steph if
she does that. He then questions her mental state and says he has hired her an
assistant. He then introduces Sable!
Steph then goes off and surprisingly asks Vince “What position is Sable
qualified for, DAD?” then asks “Does her body make you forget that she sued our
company for millions and for what, sexual harassment?”
Vince then asks Steph something about if she was jealous of Sables looks?
(I forgot to write that down, I was in shock over the lawsuit line)
4-Rey Mysterio wins the Cruiserweight Title over Matt Hardy- AWESOME
match. Good back and forth with Rey really selling the groin injury like he was
dying. There were numerous near falls and the crowd was into every one. Finish
saw Rey win with a rollup. Post match his son came into the ring and celebrated
with him.
It was simply a great match.
And a great show!
And before I forget the best crowd I have ever heard here in Southern
California.
Tom Robinson
cpsent.com
