*This isn’t one of my best shows, it was done in recap form, just trying something new, I personally don’t like it so Smack Down will be differently.
Jim Ross and Jerry the King Lawler welcome us to the broadcast, as they review and recap the happenings of Wrestle Mania XX; this Wrestle Mania saw the World Heavyweight Championship change hands from Triple H over to Chris Benoit in a Triple Threat match that involved Shawn Michaels. Jim Ross and Jerry the King Lawler have very little time to talk as straight off the bat, the music of the Gore Machine Rhino’ hits and he makes his way down to the ring with a mixed crowd reaction. Not long afterwards, the music of his opponent, Chris Jericho hits and Chris receives a better reaction then Rhino had and was clearly the favorite coming into the matchup. There is a short video clip that shows the audience and the people watching at home what had gone down between Chris Jericho & Christian at Wrestle Mania, two former tag team champions in their own rights… it wouldn’t’ take long before the bell would sound and the matchup would begin.
The matchup began with Chris Jericho & Rhino locking up in the center of the ring, Chris Jericho kneed him in the gut and then had the opportunity to give him a clubbing fist to the lower back as he leant forward, Rhino though at that time, used his power advantage to just ram Jericho back first into the turnbuckles, running forward pushing him into them as he leant forward. Chris Jericho attempted to give him some shots but Rhino just absorbed them as he shoulder blocked him two times, he then grabbed his arm and threw him at the opposing turnbuckles as Chris Jericho hit them chest first. Chris Jericho staggered backwards holding his chest as Rhino was ready to put Chris Jericho away with a Gore! Rhino ran right towards Chris Jericho, who was able to move out of the way just in time. Rhino then had hit his head on the second turnbuckle, and as he turned back around Chris Jericho had hit a standing dropkick to the mid section, taking him down to the mat. Chris Jericho then moved back up to his feet where he would get his opponent, Rhino in a head lock as he sat down on the mat. Chris Jericho would slowly move up to his feet with Rhino in the head lock as Rhino would hit a few side elbow shots before taking Chris Jericho off the mat with a Back Drop, Chris Jericho though had the wherewithal to land on his feet behind Rhino, and when Rhino turned around he was grappled, locked up with and Chris Jericho had hit a Fisherman Suplex, hooking the leg for a bridge as the referee came down instantly to make the count. 1………….. 2. But it was ended with a kick out by Rhino who still had lots of life in him. Chris Jericho then moved up to his feet slowly, as he then saw Rhino down, Chris Jericho ran at the ropes, jumping at the middle rope and rebounding off of it going for a Lion Sault, on his opponent. Rhino though moved out of the way and Chris Jericho was able to land on his knees behind him. Rhino moved up to his feet, ran at the ropes and on the rebound attempted another Gore! But Jericho leaning forward, grabbed both legs of Rhino, tripped him over and moved him over onto his stomach ready in position for the Walls of Jericho! It wouldn’t take long for Rhino to tap out.
After the commercial break, the music of Evolution had hit and they had received tremendous amounts of heat coming into the ring, Jim Ross commented that Triple H seemed Bare’ he seemed naked without his coveted World Championship belt around his waist. Triple H had entered the ring along with Rick Flair, without Dave Batista or Randy Orton… Flair and Triple H both grabbed microphones in hands and where in suits, classy as usual with Triple H’s hair tied back and ties that cost as much as cars, Rolexes that would weigh as much as the average man.
Triple H has a hard time trying to get a sentence out of his mouth without the crowd interrupting him and intercepting his speech with boos, and “You Tapped Out” Chants. Though nonetheless he yells at them to shut their mouths and Triple H does eventually speak.
Triple H: “Wrestle Mania was a rollercoaster of a night, it began with Rick Flair, Randy Orton and Dave Batista picking up victories over The Rock and Mick Foley, {He applauds them for a moment giving them praise} but in the Main Event, which is was meant to be Chris Benoit vs. Triple H, was a mistake, it was meant to not involve Shawn Michaels, I beat Michaels fair and square back at the Royal Rumble in our Last Man Standing match.”
More Chants
Triple H: “But no, Shawn had to stick his big ‘egotistical’ nose into the Main Event once again and headline another Wrestle Mania, {claps} Well Done Michaels you have done it again, you have proven once again that your ego is just too dam large.”
At that point of time “Sexy Boy” does hit and Shawn stands on the entrance ramp
Shawn Michaels: “How typical of Triple H, I should have seen this coming, ever since the first day you walked into the company and until now you have not changed one bit, I remember back in 1997 when we were together; and we would lose you would go on a rampage and destroy everything and anything you would get your hands on backstage until I would come and calm you down, reminding you that there will always be another night… Triple H, Flair guys just grow up and give Chris Ben-wa his respect.”
Then the music of Chris Benoit hit with a ‘toothless’ grin on his face, he moved down to the ring entering it with the two men he beat last night at the Pay Per View, along with Rick Flair. Chris has the belt handing from his shoulder as Chris then tells them plain and simple if you want me again all you do is have to ask, I have no problem beating you guys again and proving why I am 4 Real. Though moments later on “I’m Back and better than ever” hit’s throughout the arena, and Eric Bischoff is on the entrance ramp as everyone in the ring is eying the General Manager of Raw. Eric tells everyone to be quiet and he is the one who makes the matches around here not any of you guys, he then tells Shawn and Chris to get ready for tonight as in the Main Event, it will be Shawn Michaels teaming up with Chris Benoit to take on half of Evolution, Dave Batista & the Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton here tonight. The crowd erupt as Triple H and Flair smile, and smirk as Benoit and HBK eye each other wondering how they can possibly work together if they just wanted to beat the hell out of each other a mere 24 hours ago.
After the commercial break the music of Christian hits and Christian makes his way down to the ring receiving lots of heat, he is ready for one on one action here tonight against his opponent, whose music plays seconds later on… Matt Hardy! Matt gets himself a standing ovation as Matt Hardy Version 1 moves down to the ring focused for his match. As the bell rings and the matchup gets underway, Christian goes to clothesline Matt Hardy down but Matt ducks underneath it and hits a couple of right arm shots backing Christian against the ring ropes… Matt then grabs him and throws him at the ropes ahead of him, and leans forward going for a Back Body Drop, Christian at that time puts the brakes on and then comes forward hitting Matt Hardy with a swinging neck breaker. Christian then begins to stomp away at the Hardy brother, Matt keeps trying to sit up and tries to come back into the match but every time he does he is just kicked back down as Christian receives lots of heat in the process. Christian then grabs Matt by the arm and pulls him up to his feet, throws him against the turnbuckles. Matt Hardy then gets chocked as Christian sticks his hand in the throat and around the neck area of Matt Hardy before the referee was able to step in between the two. Matt Hardy gets kneed in the mid section before falling down to the mat against the ropes as Christian takes a few steps back, taking the time to taunt the crowd, but when he turned around Matt grabbed his tights and was able to pull him face first into the turnbuckles and Matt moved up to his feet behind him and kicked him in the gut, he then went for a Suplex.
Christian though landed on his feet behind him showing great amounts of athleticism and then grabbed Matt from behind, grabbing onto both arms and going for the Un-Prettier, Matt Hardy turns him around and then pushes Christian at the ropes, on the rebound Matt grabs Christian’s head and sends him flying, directly over the top rope and to the outside of the ring. Matt then to the excitement of the crowd, grabbed hold of the top ropes and as Christian was on one knee, was about to pull himself up and over, onto Christian but Christian grabbed hold of the legs of Hardy and pulled him out of the ring under the bottom rope. Christian was able to hit a DDT on the outside after hitting some hard rights and lefts on Matt, Christian grabbed Matt and rolled him into the ring under the bottom rope, covering him for a pin fall attempt. 1…………..2…. but Matt Hardy was able to kick out. Christian applies more offense as he runs at the ropes behind him and hits a leg drop on the head area that was hit with a DDT moments ago, Christian then jumps up and drops a knee a hard knee onto Matt Hardy before covering him once more but Matt once again was able to kick out. Christian was running out of options as he grabbed hold of Matt Hardy, pulling him up to his feet and then turning him around for the Un-Prettier, Matt though could not do anything about it and was hit with the maneuver… Christian covered him for a pin fall and it was over, he got himself the three count.
Backstage in the locker room of Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels walks in
Shawn Michaels reminds Chris that he respects him a lot and everything he has gone through to get to the top but he tells him that even though we are partners here tonight, at Backlash he wants it to be Chris Benoit vs. HBK, Chris says that he thinks that is a great idea and tells him that Backlash is later on, and tonight is now, him and Shawn Michaels are seen talking about plans for tonight’s main event tag team match as the camera is mute’d up so their conversations cannot be heard, the camera then moves down to the ring as the music of Edge hits and he gets a standing ovation, making his way down to the ring with a cast on his shoulder.
Edge grabs the microphone and tells everyone that he will be back and ready to face people in the ring come Backlash, Edge then tells the world that Randy Orton has just come off a huge win at Wrestle Mania but should be ready because he has never beaten Edge and with all of his Edge heads behind him, he can’t RKO all of the heads’ (he laughs) and then tells Randy Orton, to watch his back, it only takes a blink of an eye to be speared.
At that point of time the music of the Dudley Boys hit, “Coming Down” and the crowd give them a good crowd pop, but later on the music of the reigning Tag Team Champions, Rob Van Dam and Booker T hit and they got themselves even more of a fan reaction, the ring announcer Lillian Garcia announced that the one on one contest was between Booker T and Bubba Ray Dudley. The commentators comment on the fact that RVD and Booker won the Tag Titles last night at the Pay Per View at the grandest stage of them all Wrestle Mania, and that the Dudley Boys if they win here tonight it may get them a title shot in the near future.
The matchup begins with Bubba Ray Dudley and Booker T locking up, Booker T begins with some classic Booker T style chops and right hands coming back and forth, backing Bubba Ray Dudley against the ropes continuing the attack on him, giving him very little room to breathe. But the ring veteran ends up fighting back with a couple of his own shots eventually pushing Booker T back to the center of the ring and when Booker T stood there groggily, staggering on his two feet, Bubba began to taunt him with the ‘Stick and move’ then elbowing him in the top of the head to take him down to the mat. Bubba Ray Dudley then falls down on top of Booker T stomping a knee right into his chest area before grabbing him by the hair on his head and bringing him up to his feet and throwing him at the ropes, Bubba leans forward for a back body drop but Booker keeps running and attempts a Scissor kick, but Bubba scouted it and moved his head out of the way, then behind Booker he gets him in the momentum changing sleeper hold. Bubba Ray Dudley holds the pressure on him for quite a number of moments before Booker T goes down to one knee, RVD is willing him on the outside but he is barely able to hear anything.
Booker T though manages to get to a vertical base once again and hits Bubba twice in the mid section with hard elbows, he then runs at the ropes ahead of him and then comes back with a hard straight kick, he then grabs Bubba, brings him up to his feet and goes to kick him in the gut but at that time Bubba rakes the eyes and clotheslines him down, he grabs his legs and calls for Devon, who isn’t even in this match to come up onto the top rope to hit the infamous “Wuzzap” Maneuver, RVD though doesn’t allow it as he runs into the ring and it turns into a brawl which ends the match, during the commercial break the officials try to break it up as Booker T slides out of the ring but RVD turns around only to get smashed to the mat with a hard thunderous 3D by Bubba and Devon Dudley.
Backstage, Jonathan Coachman interviews Eugene
Jonathan Coachman asks him if he is at all scared or nervous getting into the Raw ring for the first time, Eugene just scratches his head and says “uh, no” in an unsure tone of voice as Jonathan Coachman doesn’t hesitate to tell him who his opponent will be for tonight, and it is announced to be the former WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar! Eugene doesn’t seem worried, the commentators talk about how one sided this match could be and how could Eugene’s uncle, Eric Bischoff be capable of putting his nephew in a match like this against Brock Lesnar. Jim Ross then says that Eugene isn’t worried either means that he isn’t scared of Brock Lesnar or is too stupid to be scared of Brock Lesnar.
At that point of time here come the Pain hits and Brock Lesnar does make his way down to ringside, Brock Lesnar enters the ring with the crowd giving him a load of heat, he is the former Wrestle Mania headliner and former WWE Champion though no one seems to show him one bit of respect. But when Eugene’s music hits he sprints down to ringside, high fiving fans along the way, he gets everyone pumped up and ready for action which could very well be one sided on paper.
Brock Lesnar starts this matchup off with a taunt, he flexes his muscles and Eugene runs right at him only to have Brock Lesnar out smart him with a Belly to Belly overhead throw suplex to the corner of the ring, Brock Lesnar once again flexes his pecks in front of Eugene as he sat at the bottom corner against the turnbuckles, and was about to cry’ but Eugene came back up to his feet and hit a couple of hard right hand shots to the head of Brock Lesnar and began to fire up, the crowd were really behind him, though Brock Lesnar just grabbed his body and locked him up with a devastating Bear Hug not letting him get any sort of momentum into this bout’. Brock Lesnar then throws him to the other end of the ring like a rag doll, he lastly moves on top of him, grabbing his leg and turning him onto his stomach for a possible Brock Lock, which makes Eugene fade to black’ out of nowhere, Chris Jericho runs down from the isle behind Brock Lesnar and ends this matchup fast with a dropkick to the back which sends him out of the ring through the middle rope, and Brock Lesnar leaves through the crowd as Eugene was helped to the back.
After the commercial break, the commentators wonder why Chris Jericho did what he did and possibly we may find out answers next week, though in the mean time the music of Kane hits and he makes his way down to ringside with heat rays that are heard even in the parking lot, Kane enters the ring with a smile on his face and an evil laugh which would send shivers down your spine before talking.
Kane “Last night, I proved exactly what I was talking about this whole time that the Undertaker is dead! I killed my Brother the Undertaker, I buried him alive at Survivor Series with my two bare hands, but all of these months of mind games and acts of coming back from the grave, I know that the Undertaker is dead and the Undertaker did not fight me at Wrestle Mania, the Undertaker is buried alive while I fought an Imposter at Wrestle Mania, I will be this week at Smack Down to prove it to the world that I am the only and real Monster in this company…. {Evil Laugh as he exits the ring}”
As the crowd tried to comprehend what just went down, the music of Evolution had hit and Randy Orton with Dave Batista made their ways down to the ring, Triple H and Rick Flair were not allowed at ringside but the reigning Intercontinental Champion and the Animal Dave Batista look ready as they are in their gear in the ring approaching go-time’
Not long afterwards the music of Shawn Michaels; hits and the crowd goes nuts, followed by the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion of the world, Chris Benoit, who makes his way to the ring. All four men are in the ring staring each other down as the crowd get heavily behind the champion and his partner. Both Orton and Batista know that if they win this match this may give them a shot at the champion in the near future as they would have beaten the champion in a tag team contest.
The matchup begins with the World Heavyweight champion in the ring with the Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton, ironically enough these two also opened the 2004 Royal Rumble in which Chris Benoit had won the contest that night. Though tonight, right now in the middle of the ring, Randy Orton and Chris Benoit lock up as Chris Benoit backs Randy Orton into the ropes with hard chops that leave hand prints into the chest of Randy Orton, Orton’s chest goes bright red instantly as his facial expressions tell a story of tremendous pain and chest burn. Randy Orton then knees Benoit in the gut out of desperation trying to do something to end the torture, as he dives at his turnbuckles tagging in Dave Batista! Batista enters the ring taking his time, playing in the head of his opponent, but the toothless grin on Chris Ben-wa shows that he isn’t intimidated and Chris Benoit the ravenous wolverine just bangs his chest, calling for Batista to do something.
Dave Batista runs at Chris Benoit, and shows that experience is a huge factor in the matchup as Chris Benoit outsmarts his opponent, tripping the big man down with a drop toe hold, as he has Batista face first onto the mat, Chris Benoit dives on him going for a Crippler Cross face but Dave Batista powers out of it then rolling onto his back and giving Ben-wa a hard right arm shot which gives him a moment to move back up to his feet. He grabs the Champion, by the head and then grapples up with him as he hits a Scoop Slam in the middle of the ring. He then grabs his opponent by the arm and drags him over to his turnbuckles where he brings Randy back into the contest. Randy Orton comes back into the match seeking retribution from minutes earlier as he begins to stomp away at Chris Benoit, not leaving a limb untouched. Chris then gets brought up to his feet only to have Orton bring him back down to one knee with a hard European style Upper Cut to the chin area, Randy Orton grabs Chris Benoit and throws him at the ropes, on the rebound Randy Orton dropkicks him down and then gets him in a side head lock as Chris Benoit holds his arm out in hope to tag in Michaels, though he is too far away to do so. Chris slowly gets the momentum and effort to get up to one knee and drop Randy Orton onto his back with a back drop, Chris Benoit goes over to Shawn Michaels and tags him in, Michaels gets a standing ovation as he runs right at Randy Orton and flying, jumping clotheslines him down in the middle of the ring. He then kicks himself back up to his feet.
Batista moves into the ring but Chris Benoit notices this and runs right at the animal, kneeing him as he was half way into the ring and taking him out of the ring, Chris Benoit goes to the top rope and then drops a flying head butt on Randy Orton as the crowd went wild, meanwhile Chris Benoit was forced to go back to his corner as Shawn Michaels stood next to Benoit in the corner, holding onto the ropes ready to hit Randy with some Sweet Chin Music, Shawn Michaels begins tuning up the band attempting to end this matchup now. Shawn then with a blink of an eye super kicks Chris Benoit as he stood on the ring apron and knocked his partner out cold, the commentators are in shock as are the world wide watching at home and here tonight. Could this be because he wants Benoit at Backlash?
Whatever the reasoning is, the match still goes on and Shawn Michaels does eventually Super Kick Orton seconds later and then covers him for the pin fall, Chris Benoit and Shawn have won this match but Shawn leaves the ring as the referee goes to check on Benoit if he is alright.
