Smackdown Taping Spoilers From Youngstown, Ohio
Thanks to Dan Hooper and Randy Ebert for sending this in:
I guess this is the first time that there has been a televised WWE event in the Youngstown area in twelve years. Crowd was pretty geeked and the house seemed pretty full. The Chevrolet Centre is not very big ? maybe 15,000 if that. It has no upper level. Just floor seating then one level of arena around that. There weren't many empty seats. But the small building made the pyro absolutely deafening.
Jesse & Festus (The Daltons ) d. Mike Mondo and Nick Nemeth (formerly Mikey and Nicky of the Spirit Squad)?after a "money shot" from Jesse. The Daltons are way over with there entrance theme resembling "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and everyone clapping along.
Chuck Palumbo d. Paul Burchall?after a running big boot and his finisher (which is kind of like a spinning "dominator")
Smackdown:
Batista d. Domino to open up the show via the powerbomb (it wasn't really a Batista-bomb since it wasn't a sit-down powerbomb). After the match, Deuce tries to hit Batista with one of the tag team titles but he misses and Batista follows it up with a spinebuster and a powerbomb.
With Batista in the ring, Khali appears on the tron and utters some jibberish before Runjin Singh says that Batista better enjoy his victory and savor it because there will be no celebrating after Summerslam. He says that in case he doesn't know what Khali is capable of, he should watch the video. We are then inexplicably shown video of Hornswaggle and Jamie Noble and all the while Batista is standing there with an empty look on his face (this will be fixed in editing tomorrow morning). Singh says that what happened to Ric Flair last week will happen to Batista at Summerslam.
Tony Chimmel in the ring announces to the crowd to please welcome back Rey Mysterio to Smackdown! Chavo Guerrero emerges with a Rey mask on and cuts a promo by saying that not only is Chavo a better wrestler than him (Rey), but that he is also a better human being. He says that he doesn't think he can beat Chavo, because he is in the prime of his career. Chavo inflicted so much pain on his leg and made him say "I Quit." Chavo (as Rey) goes on to say "I Quit" a few more times until Eugene 's music hits.
Chavo Guerrero d. Eugene ?Chavo actually went for the 619 during this match but comically flopped out of the ring. He then took off the mask to reveal what we already knew. Eugene mounted something resembling a comeback, hitting Chavo with the "3 Amigos," but missed a Frog Splash and then fell victim to Chavo's frog splash for the victory.
Mark Henry d. Sterling Keenan (who routinely works for IWC in Pittsburgh area) after an elbow drop and a bear hug. Henry grabs the mic and says that this is getting redundant; he says that all the fans are feeling sorry for his opponents. He says that he is the "Silverback" and that this is just what he does ? and of course shows a video to prove it. At first it looks like it will show Undertaker's decimation at the hands of Henry on May 8, but all of the sudden the video talks about how UT has risen from the dead plenty of times before as the arena goes dark. When the video ends and the lights come back on, we hear the druid music and see a druid walk back from the ring dropping what looked like sand all the way to the entrance. Mark Henry looks confused, which isn't that much of a surprise; but so are we. Looks like UT vs. Henry at Unforgiven may be on the horizon.
Kenny Dykstra is shown backstage kissing Victoria ?Michelle McCool walks by and tells them to get a room. Victoria says at least I have a man. Michelle says that he doesn't look like much of a man and that she thinks of all men as hers.
Victoria d. Torrie Wilson?Jimmy Wang Yang decks Dykstra at ringside, which gives Torrie enough time for a roll-up attempt that Victoria kicks out of. Victoria wins with the Widow's Peak, but is then attacked by Michelle who literally kicks Victoria out of the ring
MVP cuts a promo on the tron saying that he only lost the arm wrestling match last week because of a life-threatening heart condition. He says he had surgery on it and will be back in 1 week. MVP says that he will pick the event that he battles Matt Hardy in next week ? and that nobody would be able to come back that soon and perform like him, because he is half man and half amazing ? he is MVP. This guy gets more and more money every week.
Matt Hardy d. Finlay?via countout. Long, slow match that saw a disappointing finish. Hornswaggle appeared from under the ring and Finlay threw him beneath the bottom rope. Noble ran out and pulled Hornswaggle out, distracting Finlay. Hornswaggle ran to the back and was followed by Noble, who was followed by Finlay. He is counted out to give Hardy the win, which was followed by a chorus of boos for the lame ending.
Backstage, Finlay confronts Noble for picking on Hornswaggle. Noble says that there are three of them (he was with two other Cruiserweights) and only one Finlay. Finlay inadvertently smacks Kane, who was standing behind him, and Kane chokeslams Finlay into a wall and some other fine props.
Kane d. Sylvan (who came out to the old La Resistance music, different from what he used at a Raw house show in Wheeling over the weekend ? and he was without Maryse as well)?Kane wins with a chokeslam, and as he lights the arena up from all four ringposts, Finlay sneaks in and attacks Kane from behind with the shillelagh. He beats on Kane for a good bit, even after the refs try to break it up.
Masterlock Challenge?Chris Masters issues an open challenge to any fan in the audience. He first picks a big dude, and Masters asks him, "What makes you think you can break my Masterlock?" This monster says, "I was all-state in football, the captain of my high school wrestling team, and I was convicted of manslaughter and just got out of prison." (Oh, great?.some death banter only a few months after Benoit.) Masters says he doesn't want to embarrass the guy in front of his family and then picks out John from Youngstown (who happens to be "Fabulous" John McChesney, also from IWC — big night for them!). Masters wins easily.
Ric Flair meets Batista backstage and tells him that "his idol" will cut Khali down to his size, slap on the Figure Four, and make Khali tap tonight.
Khali d. Ric Flair?Flair's only offense was a thumb to the eye, a low blow, and a few chops. Khali pins Flair's shoulders to the mat for the 3 count after squeezing his head in. He keeps the hold on Flair even after the bell rings and Batista makes the save, backing Khali into the corner. Batista later sets him up for the Batista bomb but Khali shoves him away and squeezes his head until he stands tall over both Batista and Flair to close the show.
That was the end of the taping. After ECW was over, Khali defeated Batista by DQ when Flair came out and hit Khali with a chair. Crowd goes home happy.
A few notes:
? As someone mentioned, the Chevrolet Centre is not very big so Batista's pyro was sure to blow out some eardrums, especially those who were close to the stage.
? I was sitting almost even with the SD set and I could only see the tron from the back, where all of the video is a mirror image of what you see at home. One of the funny things was that it made Eugene seem less "special" since he was facing the right way for once.
? They ran down the Summerslam lineup at one point, announcing that Punk would face Morrison at SS, and effectively ruining the main event of ECW for the home crowd.