Chavo Guerrero beat Rey Mysterio. It didn't take long for Chavo to use some higher impact moves to get on top though. That is until Rey counters an ambitious top-rope maneuver with a top-rope face-plant. Rey hits the 619, but can’t get the pinfall as the 2 head to ringside. This brings out Vicki Guerrero, who pleads with both men to stop the bout. Both wrestlers then hit Eddie’s patented 3 Amigo suplexes, with Rey getting the upper hand & heading back to the top rope. But Vicki (sort of inadvertently) crotches him, allowing Chavo to hit a brainbuster & frog splash for the pinfall at the 11 minute mark. ***
Big Show defeated Sabu to retain the ECW World Title. Sabu wastes no time taking advantage of the ECW Rules stipulation, as he uses a chair to mount some offense right from the opening. He gets tripped into the same chair though & The Big Show removes it from the equation by destroying it with his boot! Soon after, he counters a cross body block with a huge fallaway slam, but Sabu uses another chair or 3 to swing the momentum back in his favor. The challenger then sets a table up in the corner & bulldogs TBS through it. He can’t capitalize though & eventually gets a Vader Bomb for his trouble. This allows The Big Show to set up a table (balanced on steel steps) in the ring, which Sabu eventually uses (after a botched first attempt) to DDT the champ through. But a second attempt through another table is countered by TBS for a chokeslam through the table for the pinfall at the 9 minute mark. I predominantly liked the way this bout was put together & booked around the strengths of both men. ** 1/2
Egomania ran wild over Randy Orton brother! A thunderous applause greets The Hulkster as he uses his greater strength to overwhelm Orton during the early moments of the bout. He even goes the DX crotch shop, as he bites & eye gauges his way to keeping control of the match. Orton fights back by systematically attacking Hogan’s left knee, but it thankfully doesn’t last for too long, as he misses an ill-advised top-rope cross body block. Orton counters some Hogan offense with a dropkick though & then hits his patented RKO. But in a booking move that has the audience in raptures, the referee continues the bout after noticing that the veteran got his foot on the rope before the 3 count. The usual Hogan finale immediately follows (including the legdrop of doom) & The Hulkster gets the victory at the 11 minute mark. **
Ric Flair defeated Glorified Stuntman in a "I Quit" match. Foley attacks at the bell & then uses the garbage can that he brought to the ring to squash Flair’s face in the corner. Mr Socko then makes an early appearance as Foley grabs the mic & ambitiously asks for the end of the bout within the opening 2 minutes. Mick then goes for the barbed-wire, but Flair counters with a grab of Mick’s crotch & then chops away with a barbed-wire covered socko! Following a little offense by Ric, Foley regains control by grabbing a barbed-wire covered board from under the ring & ravaging Flair with it over & over again. It’s an understatement to say that Flair bleeds & turns into a redhead! Foley then heads for the thumbtacks & body-slams Flair into them. Ric doesn’t quit though & gets raked in the forehead by Barbie as his penalty. Finally, Flair fights back with a low-blow & goes to work with some intense, if unspectacular, offense. He then charges Foley on the apron & Mick takes a hard fall near the entrance-way. The referee calls for the bell at this time (11 minute mark), but Flair won’t allow it to end that way, as he channels Jack Nicholson’s character from “The Shining†& drags Mick back into the ring to attack him with Barbie for a minute or so! Melina then throws the towel in the ring & begs an end to the bout, but Flair once more won’t take anything less than Foley saying “I Quitâ€. He soon says this as Flair charges at Melina, who was trying to shield Mick from the attack. Entertaining & intense 13 minute fight that just never let up. *** ½
Batista defeated King Bookah by DQ in a match for the Smackdown World Title. Before the bout, Sharmell says “All hail King Bookah†enough times for us to wish laryngitis upon her. The match starts methodically with both careful not to make a mistake & playing mind games. Batista’s greater strength sees him take control, but the champ fights back by hanging Batista up on the ropes twice. A shot to the head with his scepter keeps Booker in control, but he can’t get the pinfall, nor a submission from some glorified restholds targeting the challengers injured arm. A missile dropkick & a bookend both get 2 counts, and then Batista gets the same result (plus some Goldberg chants) with a jackhammer! The challenger then sets up a Batista Bomb, but Sharmell jumps on the 2 men leading to the cheap DQ result at the 11 minute mark. Batista does hit an awkward Batista Bomb in the aftermath. Inconsistent title bout that took a long time to get into gear. The 2 didn’t seem to mesh together very well, while the storyline of the bout was decent at best. Nothing too bad though & it did have its moments. The disappointing finish definitely wasn’t one of them. ** ½
Triple H and Shawn Michaels beat Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon. Preceding the beginning of the bout, the McMahons send out The Spirit Squad, Ken Kennedy, William Regal, Finlay & The Big Show to take apart D-Generation X. This includes TBS choke-slamming Triple H through the ECW announce table. All in all, the heel destruction lasted 5 minutes. Predictably, both Shane & Vince dominate HBK in the opening minutes, and they surprisingly even throw in some double-team maneuvers mimicking some tag-team finishers of the past (EG: Demolition, The Hart Foundation & The Legion Of Doom). They can’t find a 3 count though & Michaels almost unrealistically fights back & tags a now conscious Triple H. The Game predictably cleans house & Umaga predictably comes out & saves Vince from a Pedigree. But before he can do too much damage, Kane appears to pummel the Samoan Bulldozer back to the locker-room. Vince then decks the referee after a 2 count & Shane makes up for the lack of an RVD appearance by attempting a Van Terminator. But it’s nicely countered (although not perfectly executed) by HBK intercepting it with Sweet Chin Music. H follows up with a pedigree to get the pinfall at the 13 minute mark. Well booked bout that thankfully threw a few different variations into the predictable happenings to improve its entertainment factor. The pre-match attack, early double-team maneuvers & finishing sequence were all well thought out, if nothing super special. Hard to fault really, although it wasn’t up to any of the combatants best matches of their career. ***
Edge defeated John Cena to retain the Raw World Title. : Good main-event feel to the beginning of this bout, as Cena was full of intensity & nicely acted out a wrestler trying to maintain his emotions. For his trouble, he got a rather mixed reaction during the bout, after a loud initial pop. After dominating the first minute or two, Cena runs into the ringpost & then almost gets counted out… 3 times! Edge takes control for minutes on end, and in amongst countout win opportunities, puts together a variety of methodical offense. The mid-match resthold (2 actually) comes & this cues the crowd into dueling chants. Edge tosses a chair away due to the DQ stipulation of the bout, which leads to a huge flurry of offense from Cena. But Edge counters an F-U attempt & gets a 2 count with an impaler DDT. Cena then gets the same result following a victory roll & a rollup, and then a double clothesline gives both men a break leading into the final sequence. Edge goes for his spear, but Cena takes him down in a toe-hold, which he obviously uses to lock on the STF-U. But Edge dramatically reaches the ropes and, following a couple of Lita distractions, hits Cena with some brass knuckles for the pinfall at the 16 minute mark. Up & down bout that began well, but too quickly got into a bit of a rut. Some good storyline stuff attempted to hide the fact that they were trying to stretch the match out, but wasn’t completely successful. The slightly overbooked last 5 minutes or so was an undoubtedly dramatic & entertaining 2 count-fest though & definitely helped the match quality out. Good job overall, although (being harsh) I felt there was something missing & was looking for these 2 to do better. I’m actually wondering if a completely biased crowd in Cena’s favor wouldn’t have helped out a lot, as it would have made Edge’s win look all the more stronger! *** ½
Big Show defeated Sabu to retain the ECW World Title. Sabu wastes no time taking advantage of the ECW Rules stipulation, as he uses a chair to mount some offense right from the opening. He gets tripped into the same chair though & The Big Show removes it from the equation by destroying it with his boot! Soon after, he counters a cross body block with a huge fallaway slam, but Sabu uses another chair or 3 to swing the momentum back in his favor. The challenger then sets a table up in the corner & bulldogs TBS through it. He can’t capitalize though & eventually gets a Vader Bomb for his trouble. This allows The Big Show to set up a table (balanced on steel steps) in the ring, which Sabu eventually uses (after a botched first attempt) to DDT the champ through. But a second attempt through another table is countered by TBS for a chokeslam through the table for the pinfall at the 9 minute mark. I predominantly liked the way this bout was put together & booked around the strengths of both men. ** 1/2
Egomania ran wild over Randy Orton brother! A thunderous applause greets The Hulkster as he uses his greater strength to overwhelm Orton during the early moments of the bout. He even goes the DX crotch shop, as he bites & eye gauges his way to keeping control of the match. Orton fights back by systematically attacking Hogan’s left knee, but it thankfully doesn’t last for too long, as he misses an ill-advised top-rope cross body block. Orton counters some Hogan offense with a dropkick though & then hits his patented RKO. But in a booking move that has the audience in raptures, the referee continues the bout after noticing that the veteran got his foot on the rope before the 3 count. The usual Hogan finale immediately follows (including the legdrop of doom) & The Hulkster gets the victory at the 11 minute mark. **
Ric Flair defeated Glorified Stuntman in a "I Quit" match. Foley attacks at the bell & then uses the garbage can that he brought to the ring to squash Flair’s face in the corner. Mr Socko then makes an early appearance as Foley grabs the mic & ambitiously asks for the end of the bout within the opening 2 minutes. Mick then goes for the barbed-wire, but Flair counters with a grab of Mick’s crotch & then chops away with a barbed-wire covered socko! Following a little offense by Ric, Foley regains control by grabbing a barbed-wire covered board from under the ring & ravaging Flair with it over & over again. It’s an understatement to say that Flair bleeds & turns into a redhead! Foley then heads for the thumbtacks & body-slams Flair into them. Ric doesn’t quit though & gets raked in the forehead by Barbie as his penalty. Finally, Flair fights back with a low-blow & goes to work with some intense, if unspectacular, offense. He then charges Foley on the apron & Mick takes a hard fall near the entrance-way. The referee calls for the bell at this time (11 minute mark), but Flair won’t allow it to end that way, as he channels Jack Nicholson’s character from “The Shining†& drags Mick back into the ring to attack him with Barbie for a minute or so! Melina then throws the towel in the ring & begs an end to the bout, but Flair once more won’t take anything less than Foley saying “I Quitâ€. He soon says this as Flair charges at Melina, who was trying to shield Mick from the attack. Entertaining & intense 13 minute fight that just never let up. *** ½
Batista defeated King Bookah by DQ in a match for the Smackdown World Title. Before the bout, Sharmell says “All hail King Bookah†enough times for us to wish laryngitis upon her. The match starts methodically with both careful not to make a mistake & playing mind games. Batista’s greater strength sees him take control, but the champ fights back by hanging Batista up on the ropes twice. A shot to the head with his scepter keeps Booker in control, but he can’t get the pinfall, nor a submission from some glorified restholds targeting the challengers injured arm. A missile dropkick & a bookend both get 2 counts, and then Batista gets the same result (plus some Goldberg chants) with a jackhammer! The challenger then sets up a Batista Bomb, but Sharmell jumps on the 2 men leading to the cheap DQ result at the 11 minute mark. Batista does hit an awkward Batista Bomb in the aftermath. Inconsistent title bout that took a long time to get into gear. The 2 didn’t seem to mesh together very well, while the storyline of the bout was decent at best. Nothing too bad though & it did have its moments. The disappointing finish definitely wasn’t one of them. ** ½
Triple H and Shawn Michaels beat Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon. Preceding the beginning of the bout, the McMahons send out The Spirit Squad, Ken Kennedy, William Regal, Finlay & The Big Show to take apart D-Generation X. This includes TBS choke-slamming Triple H through the ECW announce table. All in all, the heel destruction lasted 5 minutes. Predictably, both Shane & Vince dominate HBK in the opening minutes, and they surprisingly even throw in some double-team maneuvers mimicking some tag-team finishers of the past (EG: Demolition, The Hart Foundation & The Legion Of Doom). They can’t find a 3 count though & Michaels almost unrealistically fights back & tags a now conscious Triple H. The Game predictably cleans house & Umaga predictably comes out & saves Vince from a Pedigree. But before he can do too much damage, Kane appears to pummel the Samoan Bulldozer back to the locker-room. Vince then decks the referee after a 2 count & Shane makes up for the lack of an RVD appearance by attempting a Van Terminator. But it’s nicely countered (although not perfectly executed) by HBK intercepting it with Sweet Chin Music. H follows up with a pedigree to get the pinfall at the 13 minute mark. Well booked bout that thankfully threw a few different variations into the predictable happenings to improve its entertainment factor. The pre-match attack, early double-team maneuvers & finishing sequence were all well thought out, if nothing super special. Hard to fault really, although it wasn’t up to any of the combatants best matches of their career. ***
Edge defeated John Cena to retain the Raw World Title. : Good main-event feel to the beginning of this bout, as Cena was full of intensity & nicely acted out a wrestler trying to maintain his emotions. For his trouble, he got a rather mixed reaction during the bout, after a loud initial pop. After dominating the first minute or two, Cena runs into the ringpost & then almost gets counted out… 3 times! Edge takes control for minutes on end, and in amongst countout win opportunities, puts together a variety of methodical offense. The mid-match resthold (2 actually) comes & this cues the crowd into dueling chants. Edge tosses a chair away due to the DQ stipulation of the bout, which leads to a huge flurry of offense from Cena. But Edge counters an F-U attempt & gets a 2 count with an impaler DDT. Cena then gets the same result following a victory roll & a rollup, and then a double clothesline gives both men a break leading into the final sequence. Edge goes for his spear, but Cena takes him down in a toe-hold, which he obviously uses to lock on the STF-U. But Edge dramatically reaches the ropes and, following a couple of Lita distractions, hits Cena with some brass knuckles for the pinfall at the 16 minute mark. Up & down bout that began well, but too quickly got into a bit of a rut. Some good storyline stuff attempted to hide the fact that they were trying to stretch the match out, but wasn’t completely successful. The slightly overbooked last 5 minutes or so was an undoubtedly dramatic & entertaining 2 count-fest though & definitely helped the match quality out. Good job overall, although (being harsh) I felt there was something missing & was looking for these 2 to do better. I’m actually wondering if a completely biased crowd in Cena’s favor wouldn’t have helped out a lot, as it would have made Edge’s win look all the more stronger! *** ½
