SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
OCTOBER 14, 2005
TAPED TUESDAY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEX.
BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR
-Michael Cole and Tazz introduced the show. They went to a clip of Randy Orton setting the Undertaker casket on fire. Then Randy and Bob Orton walked to the ring. Tazz said what Orton did last week was the lowest thing he’s ever seen. It’s so difficult for announcers to find the right tone for this over-the-top comic book angle which has no realm of believability. “How does it feel to know you’ll never, ever see the Undertaker again,” said Orton. “Thanks to Randy Orton, the Undertaker is dead.” As Orton continued to brag, Eddie Guerrero’s music began. The Ortons seemed surprised. Orton said he didn’t know why Guerrero was interrupting him. He asked Guerrero why he took a loser’s approach on Sunday since he won a friend and some respect, but not a win and not a title. He threatened to give Guerrero an RKO if he didn’t leave the ring. The crowd immediately began chanting “Eddie, Eddie.” Tazz and Cole discussed whether they believed Eddie had really changed for the better. Guerrero told Orton to give him an RKO and “see what happens.” Orton instead said he wanted to call Batista to the ring. Batista walked out with his belt and entered the ring. He asked the fans how many of them “wanted to see Randy vs. Eddie tonight.” Batista said what the people want, the people get, and that will happen. Since when did Batista become match-maker? Tazz raised that utterly logical question which at first didn’t seem to register with Michael Cole. Tazz said it remained to be seen if it would be officially booked.
-Cole plugged details on the Jennifer Aniston-Stacy Keibler controversy and said the Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan match was up next.
[Commercial Break]
-They officially announced Eddie Guerrero vs. Batista had been booked by Teddy Long. Cole declared it “the first time ever” match between those two.
-They showed a promo that aired originally on WWE.com where Orlando Jordan declared that if he tapped out to the Crossface again, “I’ll quit the business.” How about, “I’ll quit the sport.” Within the context of this sports entertainment program, which is portraying a “competitive sport” in every way, shouldn’t those performers within the context of the show refer to it as “wrestling” or “the sport,” not “the business” (or “the industry”)?
1 — CHRIS BENOIT vs. ORLANDO JORDAN — U.S. Championship Match
Benoit went for several early Crossface attempts, but Jordan blocked them effectively. Tazz wondered if Jordan’s promise to quit if he tapped to the Crossface was throwing off Benoit’s gameplan by causing him to focus too much on the one move. Jordan held his own for several minutes. Benoit came back with his German suplex series and a Crippler Crossface attempt. Jordan blocked it. Benoit instead went to a Sharpshooter. Jordan tapped out.
WINNER: Benoit at 4:25 to retain the U.S. Title.
STAR RATING: 3/4*
-Sharmell had a good point backstage as she aggressively confronted G.M. Teddy Long about giving Jordan a U.S. Title match. Long interrupted, “Why are you so angry is the problem.” Long said, “Sharmell, you’re right. So I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to meet you half way tonight.” He booked JBL vs. Christian vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Booker T in a Fatal Four-Way where the winner would get a U.S. Title match on Smackdown next week. Network Guy approved. Sharmell bobbed her head and said in a sassy disgruntled tone, “It should still be one-on-one.”
-They showed Christy Hemme leading LOD toward the entrance.
-The commercial for Raw said that for the first time ever, the McMahon family is united and a new era of Raw begins. They may be speaking too soon as far as Shane McMahon’s unity with the rest of his family goes.
[Commercial Break]
2 — MNM (w/Melina) & WILLIAM REGAL & PAUL BURCHILL vs. LOD (w/Christty Hemme) & PSICOSIS & SUPER CRAZY
Cole said, “They are from the Hollywood A-list, or so they claim to be.” It’s about time Cole showed some skepticism about MNM’s claims of hanging with the big stars. The Mexicoopls made the LOD match watchable by keeping them out of the match for the most part. Crazy then hit a moonsault on Mercury (who was nice enough to shift himself into perfect position for it). After the match, they were attacked by a mystery duo dressed in black slacks and muscle shirts. They gave the Vegematic to
WINNER: LOD & Mexicools at 5:08.
STAR RATING: *
[Commercial Break]
-“I’ve thought of you as a bit of a tramp, but what was it like fooling around with Jennifer Anniston’s boyfriend?” said Christian. Stacy denied that he was her boyfriend or that she fooled around with him. Christian asked for some details. Stacy was about to speak when Jillian Hall interrupted. Tazz said, “This is one time I wish we didn’t have cameras on both sides of the arena,” a reference to catching the left side of Hall’s face with the tumor growth. Jillian said there was no shame in losing her boyfriend to Jennifer Aniston. Stacy asked if Hall wanted to become her publicist? Hall said yes. She said she had a question for her: “What on earth is that thing on your face.” Cole laughed. Hall swung at Stacy. Stacy blocked her and slapped Hall. Hall bailed out of the ring. Stacy walked away. Well, that was a lot of something except for much in the way of concrete info about the Star tabloid story.
[Commercial Break]
3 — JBL vs. REY MYSTERIO vs. BOOKER T (w/Sharmell) vs. CHRISTIAN
Cole noted that JBL is now a columnist at Street.com and is dishing out financial advice. Tazz acknowledged that JBL beat Rey due to outmatching him on size, but said Rey showed a lot of heart. Rey went after JBL early. JBL tossed him out of the ring, but Rey dove back into the ring and took JBL down.
[Commercial Break]
At 10:00 Booker set Christian up for the Scissors Kick. Christian moved. Rey gave a Drop the Dime to Booker for a two count. JBL nailed Christian with a Clothesline from Hell. Rey schoolboyed JBL for a near fall. Booker knocked JBL out of the ring with a wheel kick. Rey set up Booker for a 619, but Sharmell tripped Rey on the rebound off the ropes. Booker then hit the Scissors Kick for the win. Sharmell celebrated with her husband afterward. Rey looked upset with Sharrmell’s tactic.
WINNER: Booker T at 11:12 to earn a U.S. Title match next week.
STAR RATING: *3/4
[Commercial Break]
-Backstage Benoit told Booker and Sharmell that if it wasn’t for her interference, Booker wouldn’t have won. Booker told Benoit to calm down because that was his wife he was talking to. Benoit walked away. Booker then demanded to know what she was talking about. She told him not to listen to Benoit because what matters is that next week he’ll be U.S. Champion. Booker smiled and they smooched. This is doing a lot to make the U.S. Title seem important. Sharmell continues to be great in her role.
-The Raw Rebound focused on the Jim Ross angle. Just to be clear, Ross was scheduled to be dumped from Raw and moved to WWE.com in order to bring in Mike Goldberg from UFC. When Goldberg turned down WWE’s offer, the angle to oust Ross continued, but it could end differently now than originally planned, including with Ross back on the air in a couple of weeks. However, there’s no guarantee of that and he could still be replaced. Very few people within WWE are being let in on details of Ross’s fate at this point, and Ross is indicating to his friends that he expects to not be returning the cablecasts, but instead be relegated to webcasts.
[Commercial Break]
4 — BOBBY LASHLEY vs. NUNZIO (w/Big Vito)
Lashley overpowered and tossed Nunzio around the ring and then out of the ring. Vito backed off when Lashley jumped to ringside, but then hit him from behind as soon as he turned his back. That gave Nuzio a chance to get in some offense. Nunzio’s dropkicks didn’t have much effect on Lashley. Lashley caught Nunzio coming off the ropes and gave him a backbreaker driver. He followed up with his finisher.
WINNER: Lashley at 2:03.
STAR RATING: 1/2*
-Network Guy talked to Teddy Long backstage. He brought up the “Boogieman” character that was being promoted this summer. He portrayed it as if the ads on UPN were to promote a TV series on UPN. He said something weird happened on the set, but now he thought it’d be a good idea to use him on Smackdown since they still had him under contract. Boogieman walked in. Long hilariously said, “Is this some kind of Halloween joke? What am I supposed to do with him?” Boogieman, with his face painted in red and black, began to sing and laugh maniacally. He held an oversized novelty alarm clock and swung it and said “tick, tock, tick, tock.” He closed, “Be very afraid because you are about to face your demons!” Then he smashed the clock against his head and sang some more and laughed some more. He’s my new favorite wrestling character. Ridiculous and yet strangely entertaining debut. Long didn’t know how to react, but said, “You may have some potential.”
-Cole plugged Eddie vs. Orton one more time.
[Commercial Break]
-A clip aired of the show-opening angle.
5 — EDDIE GUERRERO vs. RANDY ORTON
Cole brought up the roots of Batista and Orton in Evolution with Ric Flair and Triple H. Orton went to a headlock right away. Eddie came back and used the tag rope to choke Orton. When he charged Orton in the corner, Orton moved. Orton then threw Eddie to the floor.
[Commercial Break]
At 12:00, after some ringside brawling, Orton applied a chinlock in mid-ring. Guerrero escaped with a series of rapid-fire elbows. Then Bob shoved Guerrero off the top rope as he was setting up a frog splash. They double-teamed Guerrero afterward. Batista charged to the ring to make the save. He cleared the ring and held Guerrero’s arm in the air. Guerrero looked on a bit leery of being this close to Batista now.
WINNER: Guerrero via DQ at 15:30.
STAR RATING:
-Long stepped out onto the stage and announced that he was going to put their friendship to the test because they were going to book Eddie & Batista vs. The Ortons on Smackdown next week. Cole and Tazz snuck in another plug for Benoit vs. Booker next week.
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