Umaga defeated Kane: Kane clearly won the voting here with 49% & Sandman amazingly voted better than Benoit :fish: . In this interesting choice as opener, both men begin to battle evenly with huge blows, attempting to take their opponent off their feet. It's Umaga who does it the first 3 times, initially with a belly to belly suplex. The Samoan Bulldozer remains in control for minutes on end & thankfully shows us occasional his athleticism for such a large man. The momentum finally sways to Kane when Umaga misses a Samoan Spike on the outside & injures his arm up against the ringpost. Kane completely ignores that though & only follows up with elbows & fists to the head... Although the crowd seem to like that. A Umaga Samoan Drop evens things up, but he misses a splash in the corner resulting in Kane heading to the top-rope. Umaga halts his momentum with a thrust to the throat though & follows up with a Samoan Spike for the clean pinfall at the 9 minute mark. Hard to rate this high being much more of the same. **
Cryme Tyme defeated Haas/Viscera, Cade/Murdoch, and The Highlanders in a Texas Tornado Match. The Tornado option gained exactly half the votes, with the turmoil option scoring well with 35%. As expected, it's bedlam from the beginning as Cryme Tyme mix it up with Haas & Vis in the ring, while The Highlanders do the same with the rednecks on the outside. A nice double-team splash on Viscera by Cryme Tyme impresses, before The Highlanders clean house & hurl themselves to the outside. Back in the ring, Shad & Vis give us another version of Kane vs Umaga, before Cade & Murdoch hit their finisher on Robbie. But Cryme Tyme clear the ring of the rednecks & steal the pin in a little under 5 minutes. I predicted this would be short, but not that short! Nothing too terrible for the first few minutes, even though it seemed a little too rehearsed & was a touch difficult to follow the action. **
Jeff Hardy defeated Carlito to retain the IC Title. Carlito dominated the voting with 62% of the vote. A clean hand-shake opens proceedings before the 2 trade pinfall attempts in an interesting, if not totally crisp, sequence. The back & forth action continues until Carlito counters Hardy's patented guardrail run with a dropkick to the gut. Carlito locks in a couple of restholds back in the ring & then a knee to the gut logically leads to a modified bearhug. The restholds continue on for way too long though, in amongst some 2 counts gained by Carlito & some "boring" chants from the crowd! Jeff finally mounts some offense with a DDT & then follows it with a nice Michinoku Driver. This results in a Swanton attempt, which Carlito counters with a pair of knees for a super close 2 count. The same result comes from a springboard senton & moonsault, before a springboard cross body-block misses the target. Hardy then earns a close 2 count of his own with Whisper In The Wind & then earns the victory at the 13 minute mark after blocking a hurracanrana attempt & hitting his Swanton finisher. ** (these guys are capable of much better also)
Randy Orton and Edge defeated Shawn Michaels and HBK. Eric Bischoff was the special guest ref. :ranting_w: DX play some effective games with the crowd before doing their usual mic shtick (if a little more ad-libbed than usual). Michaels & Edge kick things off & it is HBK that is one step ahead with some nice crisp wrestling. Triple H comes in to add more brawn, but a nice Orton dropkick stems the tide, as referee Bischoff pretty much stays in the background with slow consistent counts for both teams. H does get an early hot tag to his partner leading to an HBK flurry of offense, but Orton crotches him on the ring-post to once more sway the momentum to the heels. Randy then adds some nice intensity, while Edge uses the inexperienced ref to annoy Hunter. An Orton mid-match resthold wears down HBK & a nice modified back-breaker leads to an Edge spear that hits nothing but Bischoff!
H then gets the hot tag & cleans house with standard stuff, until eventually getting speared by Edge, who is in turn taken out by a plancha by HBK. Orton then hits HHH with an RKO, but by the time another referee gets to the ring, H kicks out at 2. A 2nd RKO is then blocked & Orton walks right into Sweet Chin Music. But a now conscious Bischoff stops the count, resulting in an Edge chair-shot to HBK & an Orton chair-shot to Triple H, after which Bischoff happily counts the pinfall at the 18 minute mark. For want of a better word, this was so "professionally" performed that it practically overcame rather unimaginative booking where nothing very special happened. ***
Lita beat Mickie James in a LUMBERJACK MATCH to win the Women's Title. Both women throw their opponents out to the LumberJacks to begin the bout, while Mickie establishes equality in the ring by getting the better of the awkward opening sequences. The divas at ringside attempt to get some noise into the bout, but the live crowd predominantly sit silently, while Lita gets on top in the ring. A mid-match sleeperhold by Lita doesn't help, although the reversal by Mickie into a cross arm-breaker was quite impressive. Both women end up on the floor after another sloppy move, but the lumberjacks get them back into the ring soon enough. Yet another messy move follows, resulting in some more lumberjack involvement, that thankfully leads up to Lita hitting the spike DDT for the title win at the 8 minute mark. * 1/2
Ric Flair and Roddy Piper beat Spirt Squad (Ken and Mike) to win the Raw Tag Titles. Piper scored 46% of the vote here, but Rhodes (35%) & Slaughter come out to provide back-up for the veterans. Flair & Kenny put together a decent sequence to begin, but Piper can't keep the momentum going for long once he gets in. The clearly out of shape Roddy actually does well to stay in the ring for so long as the heels isolate him with fairly standard offense. The hot tag to Flair eventually comes when the Squad miss a huge double-team splash. The veteran faces then perform some standard double-team moves before Flair locks in the Figure 4 Leglock, which is broken up Kenny's nice top-rope leg-drop. But a 2nd attempt at the Figure 4 gets the job done for the legends at the 7 minute mark. Well... that wasn't exactly scintillating action! Piper could hardly move at times & I'm just thankful that nothing too embarrassing happened. * 1/2
King Bookah defeated John Cena and Big Show in a NO DQ, NO COUNTOUT, TRIPLE THREAT MATCH OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM to retain the Smackdown World Title. Jim Ross announced the significant addition of the 'No DQ & No Countout' stipulations prior to the bout which was for Booker’s title (that won the vote by a landslide)! Booker tries to make a deal with Cena, but the Raw wrestler responds with a right fist to clear the king from the ring. And he wisely stays out on the floor as The Big Show's huge size predominantly dominates Cena in the ring. The ECW Champ continues the momentum when Booker & Cena swap roles, as the action moves along at the big man's slow pace. His 2 opponents finally realize they must combine their efforts & eventually clothesline TBS out of the ring & use the steel steps to keep him there. Back in the ring, Booker gets 2 counts with a Bookend & Super-Kick, before Cena gets the same result with a belly to belly suplex. Booker then slows things down with a resthold, before Cena misses a top-rope splash that doesn't exactly have Val Venis thinking about changing finishers! Some decent, if unspectacular, sequences involving countered finishers & nearfalls pick things up a little & get the crowd involved, before Big Show finally rejoins the action & begins to dominate once more with an impressive double suplex & clothesline. The ECW Champ follows up with a chokeslam to Booker & a spear to Cena. Some ringside action takes Show out once more though, as Cena hits his usual flurry of offense on Booker. But it's an interfering Queen Sharmell that gets an F-U before Booker is locked into the STF-U. Keven Federline then runs in & strikes Cena in the back with the World Title. Booker follows up with another title shot & gets the pinfall at the 21 minute mark. ***
Cryme Tyme defeated Haas/Viscera, Cade/Murdoch, and The Highlanders in a Texas Tornado Match. The Tornado option gained exactly half the votes, with the turmoil option scoring well with 35%. As expected, it's bedlam from the beginning as Cryme Tyme mix it up with Haas & Vis in the ring, while The Highlanders do the same with the rednecks on the outside. A nice double-team splash on Viscera by Cryme Tyme impresses, before The Highlanders clean house & hurl themselves to the outside. Back in the ring, Shad & Vis give us another version of Kane vs Umaga, before Cade & Murdoch hit their finisher on Robbie. But Cryme Tyme clear the ring of the rednecks & steal the pin in a little under 5 minutes. I predicted this would be short, but not that short! Nothing too terrible for the first few minutes, even though it seemed a little too rehearsed & was a touch difficult to follow the action. **
Jeff Hardy defeated Carlito to retain the IC Title. Carlito dominated the voting with 62% of the vote. A clean hand-shake opens proceedings before the 2 trade pinfall attempts in an interesting, if not totally crisp, sequence. The back & forth action continues until Carlito counters Hardy's patented guardrail run with a dropkick to the gut. Carlito locks in a couple of restholds back in the ring & then a knee to the gut logically leads to a modified bearhug. The restholds continue on for way too long though, in amongst some 2 counts gained by Carlito & some "boring" chants from the crowd! Jeff finally mounts some offense with a DDT & then follows it with a nice Michinoku Driver. This results in a Swanton attempt, which Carlito counters with a pair of knees for a super close 2 count. The same result comes from a springboard senton & moonsault, before a springboard cross body-block misses the target. Hardy then earns a close 2 count of his own with Whisper In The Wind & then earns the victory at the 13 minute mark after blocking a hurracanrana attempt & hitting his Swanton finisher. ** (these guys are capable of much better also)
Randy Orton and Edge defeated Shawn Michaels and HBK. Eric Bischoff was the special guest ref. :ranting_w: DX play some effective games with the crowd before doing their usual mic shtick (if a little more ad-libbed than usual). Michaels & Edge kick things off & it is HBK that is one step ahead with some nice crisp wrestling. Triple H comes in to add more brawn, but a nice Orton dropkick stems the tide, as referee Bischoff pretty much stays in the background with slow consistent counts for both teams. H does get an early hot tag to his partner leading to an HBK flurry of offense, but Orton crotches him on the ring-post to once more sway the momentum to the heels. Randy then adds some nice intensity, while Edge uses the inexperienced ref to annoy Hunter. An Orton mid-match resthold wears down HBK & a nice modified back-breaker leads to an Edge spear that hits nothing but Bischoff!
H then gets the hot tag & cleans house with standard stuff, until eventually getting speared by Edge, who is in turn taken out by a plancha by HBK. Orton then hits HHH with an RKO, but by the time another referee gets to the ring, H kicks out at 2. A 2nd RKO is then blocked & Orton walks right into Sweet Chin Music. But a now conscious Bischoff stops the count, resulting in an Edge chair-shot to HBK & an Orton chair-shot to Triple H, after which Bischoff happily counts the pinfall at the 18 minute mark. For want of a better word, this was so "professionally" performed that it practically overcame rather unimaginative booking where nothing very special happened. ***
Lita beat Mickie James in a LUMBERJACK MATCH to win the Women's Title. Both women throw their opponents out to the LumberJacks to begin the bout, while Mickie establishes equality in the ring by getting the better of the awkward opening sequences. The divas at ringside attempt to get some noise into the bout, but the live crowd predominantly sit silently, while Lita gets on top in the ring. A mid-match sleeperhold by Lita doesn't help, although the reversal by Mickie into a cross arm-breaker was quite impressive. Both women end up on the floor after another sloppy move, but the lumberjacks get them back into the ring soon enough. Yet another messy move follows, resulting in some more lumberjack involvement, that thankfully leads up to Lita hitting the spike DDT for the title win at the 8 minute mark. * 1/2
Ric Flair and Roddy Piper beat Spirt Squad (Ken and Mike) to win the Raw Tag Titles. Piper scored 46% of the vote here, but Rhodes (35%) & Slaughter come out to provide back-up for the veterans. Flair & Kenny put together a decent sequence to begin, but Piper can't keep the momentum going for long once he gets in. The clearly out of shape Roddy actually does well to stay in the ring for so long as the heels isolate him with fairly standard offense. The hot tag to Flair eventually comes when the Squad miss a huge double-team splash. The veteran faces then perform some standard double-team moves before Flair locks in the Figure 4 Leglock, which is broken up Kenny's nice top-rope leg-drop. But a 2nd attempt at the Figure 4 gets the job done for the legends at the 7 minute mark. Well... that wasn't exactly scintillating action! Piper could hardly move at times & I'm just thankful that nothing too embarrassing happened. * 1/2
King Bookah defeated John Cena and Big Show in a NO DQ, NO COUNTOUT, TRIPLE THREAT MATCH OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM to retain the Smackdown World Title. Jim Ross announced the significant addition of the 'No DQ & No Countout' stipulations prior to the bout which was for Booker’s title (that won the vote by a landslide)! Booker tries to make a deal with Cena, but the Raw wrestler responds with a right fist to clear the king from the ring. And he wisely stays out on the floor as The Big Show's huge size predominantly dominates Cena in the ring. The ECW Champ continues the momentum when Booker & Cena swap roles, as the action moves along at the big man's slow pace. His 2 opponents finally realize they must combine their efforts & eventually clothesline TBS out of the ring & use the steel steps to keep him there. Back in the ring, Booker gets 2 counts with a Bookend & Super-Kick, before Cena gets the same result with a belly to belly suplex. Booker then slows things down with a resthold, before Cena misses a top-rope splash that doesn't exactly have Val Venis thinking about changing finishers! Some decent, if unspectacular, sequences involving countered finishers & nearfalls pick things up a little & get the crowd involved, before Big Show finally rejoins the action & begins to dominate once more with an impressive double suplex & clothesline. The ECW Champ follows up with a chokeslam to Booker & a spear to Cena. Some ringside action takes Show out once more though, as Cena hits his usual flurry of offense on Booker. But it's an interfering Queen Sharmell that gets an F-U before Booker is locked into the STF-U. Keven Federline then runs in & strikes Cena in the back with the World Title. Booker follows up with another title shot & gets the pinfall at the 21 minute mark. ***
