Smackdown!

Fayetteville, North Carolina
July 1, 2004

 

COLD NIGHT IN CANADA

Winnipeg, Manitoba, was a tough place to be a title holder on Thursday night. WWE Champion JBL was deceived, United States Champion John Cena was stripped and the 18-time tag champs fell to a couple of crisp, counterattacking cruiserweights.

After months of trying to wrestle the United States Championship away from Cena through a steady diet of difficult matches, General Manager Kurt Angle finally succeeded — by taking an out-of-the-ring shortcut. Angle vacated the belt after Cena defied previous warnings and put his hands on the SmackDown! GM. But it might be worthy to note that at the time, Cena was battling his scheduled opponent, Booker T, as well as enforcer Luther Reigns, a cane-wielding Angle and fiery Kenzo Suzuki. A Reigns sneak-attack and powerslam left Cena writhing in the ring; Angle’s proclamation added insult to injury.

After nearly losing the WWE Tag Team titles on Velocity, The Dudleys were wary of the courageous tandem of Paul London and Billy Kidman. They isolated London in classic Dudley fashion, using their superior size to grind down the challenger. But both London and Kidman proved far more resilient than expected, eventually turning the tables on D-Von and Bubba Ray.

With a WAZZUP! headbutt of their own, the challengers began building momentum. When a London crescent kick set up Kidman’s patented Shooting Star Press, we suddenly had an upset special. The new WWE Tag Team Champions were met with a hero’s welcome backstage, and surprisingly, they even received a congratulatory handshake from the beaten Dudleys.

WWE Champion JBL hand-picked another opponent Thursday, seemingly ensuring a smooth path to next week’s Steel Cage Match with Eddie Guerrero. Promising a “champion vs. champion” competition, JBL brought out a Mexican title holder, El Gran Luchadore.

Just as planned, JBL dominated with power moves. But when he tossed El Gran Luchadore to the outside, things quickly got interesting. The masked Mexican Superstar switched with an near-identical wrestler under the ring — one who could hold his own with the WWE Champion. Suddenly, JBL had his hands full with his opponent. And before he could fully sort out the circumstances, El Gran began to strut just like Latino Heat! After finding himself on the wrong end of the “Three Amigos” suplexes, JBL knew something was amiss and made for the entrance ramp. The familiar-sounding second Luchadore reminded JBL that next week, there will be no running from the Steel Cage.

Match Results:

Rob Van Dam defeats Mark Jindrak

Paul London and Billy Kidman def. The Dudleys (new WWE Tag Team Champions)

JBL and El Gran Luchadore wrestle to a no contest

Chavo Guerrero/Akio/Jamie Noble def. Spike Dudley/Scotty 2 Hotty/Rey Mysterio (Six-man tag match)

John Cena def. Booker T (DQ; United States Championship vacated)