Smackdown!
St Louis, Missouri
April 28, 2006
The Dream stays alive
By Louie Dee
April 28, 2006
Despite Kurt Angle’s best efforts, Friday night wasn’t the right time for Rey
Mysterio’s ride to come to an end.
Heading into his World Heavyweight Championship match with Kurt Angle, Mysterio
said that he was living his dream, and even if Angle ended it, the ride was
still worth it. As reported in an exclusive interview on WWE.com earlier in the
day, Mysterio said that “if today is indeed my last day as World Heavyweight
Champion, I am going to look back and know that I lived out my dream, and
enjoyed every minute of it.” Fortunately for Rey, he was somehow able to keep
his dream alive in front of a fantastic and gracious capacity crowd in London.
Throughout the show, clips of Angle’s previous championship victories were
shown, and the six-time champion came into the match looking to make history
once again. Everyone knows what Angle will do to get the gold, but the question
was what Mysterio would do to keep it?
Earlier on SmackDown, Rey acknowledged that he knew he had to avoid the Ankle
Lock, and he was successful for the most part. The champion was able to escape
from an early attempt, and also blocked several Angle Slam attempts. After Angle
ran shoulder-first into the ringpost, Rey had an opening. He Dropped Da Dime and
nailed the Wrestling Machine with a 619, but when he went for the seated senton,
Angle amazingly caught him in mid-air, countering Rey’s attack into the Ankle
Lock. Angle cranked the hold, and as Rey’s hand was raised, just a half-second
away from tapping out, Mark Henry inexplicably interrupted the match, perhaps
costing Angle his seventh championship. Miraculously, Rey survived again.
After breaking up the Ankle Lock, Henry tossed Rey aside and sent Angle to the
floor. The World’s Strongest Man then assaulted the Wrestling Machine, splashing
him against the ringpost. He then set Angle up on a table and climbed the apron,
and after building up a head of steam, he jumped and sent his massive 400-pound
frame crashing down into Angle and through the table, injuring Angle’s ribs. But
why did Mark Henry do this? Did he simply want to throw his weight around? Was
it to prove he’s the World’s Strongest Man, or maybe because he was upset over
his loss earlier in the night? His motives are unclear, but Angle wasn’t the
only man to feel his wrath on SmackDown.
Henry met Bobby Lashley in a King of the Ring tournament opening-round match
earlier in the night, a contest that Lashley was extremely excited about. Before
the match, Lashley said that he understood the importance of this night, saying
it was the biggest of his career. He knows that winning the King of the Ring
tournament would put him in the company of such greats as Bret Hart, Triple H
and Stone Cold Steve Austin and perhaps propel him to even bigger things.
Earlier in the day in an exclusive WWE.com interview, Henry said that kings have
power, and since he is the World’s Strongest Man, he should be crowned king.
Tool
In the match, which pitted power against power, the hard-hitting newcomer did
everything he could to try to take the World’s Strongest Man down. Henry
rebuffed him every time, until finally, a series of Lashley clotheslines took
him off his feet. The powerful Lashley then used every ounce of strength he had
to slam the massive Henry, but his attempt at the Dominator was blocked. Henry
charged at Lashley, but Lashley pulled the ropes down; Henry crashed to the
floor, hitting his head on the announcers’ table. The force of the blow
temporarily stunned Henry, and he was counted out to give Lashley the victory.
As he celebrated, however, Lashley was attacked by Henry, who splashed him into
the ringpost much as he would Angle later in the night. The World’s Strongest
Man then stormed off in frustration. Was it this frustration that led to his
later attack on Kurt Angle?
Friday night was a bad night for MNM as well; coming off three straight losses
to Paul London & Brian Kendrick, the WWE Tag Team Champions teamed with
returning Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms to face London, Kendrick & Super
Crazy of the Mexicools in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. Unfortunately for MNM, it
was a different combination, but the same outcome. MNM & Helms dominated
Kendrick for most of the match, but London was able to make the tag and clean
house. It came down to London against Helms, and London reversed a suplex into a
small package to pin the Cruiserweight Champion, giving himself and Kendrick
four straight match victories over the WWE Tag Team Champions.
MNM fumed, and Melina berated them backstage. Mercury & Nitro said it wasn’t
their fault because they didn’t lose, but Melina told them that they didn’t win
either. She then ran into Jillian, who only made her night worse. Melina mocked
Jillian for getting fired, offering her a job doing Melina’s makeup. Instead,
Jillian tossed a compact back in Melina’s face, and the two Divas got into a
fight, tossing various beauty products at each other. I hate to make Melina’s
weekend worse, but in my opinion, I think it’s time to give London & Kendrick a
chance at the WWE Tag Team Championship.
Speaking of championships, JBL defended the United States Championship on
SmackDown. Last week, the self-proclaimed Wrestling God said he was coming to
London to challenge the best England had to offer. When he got there, however,
it seemed that JBL was more focused on insulting the crowd. The cocky United
States Champion used SmackDown as his platform to insult the great English fans,
telling them that they were basically America’s bitch. England’s own William
Regal finally had enough, coming out to confront JBL. While he agreed with JBL’s
thoughts about Prime Minister Tony Blair, Regal told JBL that the rest of the
world saw Americans as lazy, loud-mouthed and cowardly, and then challenged him
for the championship. Regal had the crowd firmly on his side, as they considered
their fellow Englishman the lesser of two evils; unfortunately, the home field
advantage wasn’t enough for Regal, as JBL nailed him with a Clothesline from
Hell to win the match and retain his championship.
While the Englishman was unable to pick up a win, Irishman Finlay was victorious
over Gunner Scott. Early in the show, Booker T was backstage being interciewed
by Kristal. And in typical Booker style, he ignored her question and went on a
rant of his own about how he could beat anyone and would win the King of the
Ring tournament. Newcomer Gunner Scott interrupted, re-introducing himself to
Booker and reminding him of his victory over the 5-time WCW Champion a few weeks
ago. Booker told Scott that he could beat him anytime, but not tonight, because
he was supposedly under the weather. Booker then coughed a lot, saying he’d find
a replacement to face Gunner. It turned out to be Finlay, and Booker, despite
his obviously serious illness, sat in to do commentary. Michael Cole asked
Booker if he was a hypochondriac; I was wondering the same thing, because it
seems to me that Booker gets sick or injured at some pretty convenient times.
Scott gave the tough Finlay all he could handle. Frustrated, Finlay grabbed his
shillelagh as the two battled on the arena floor. Scott avoided Finlay’s swing,
tossing him back into the ring. As referee Nick Patrick tried to pry the weapon
from Finlay, Booker got up from his seat and nailed Scott with a vicious kick.
He then rolled Scott in the ring, where he was easy prey for Emerald Fusion,
Finlay’s modified version of the Death Valley Driver. After the match, Booker &
Finlay stomped down the newcomer, but Chris Benoit ran out to run them off. The
recent history between Benoit and Booker is no secret, and the Rabid Wolverine
does meet Finlay in the final King of the Ring first-round match next week in
Cincinnati, but I have to wonder if there’s more to it than that. Benoit was the
one who congratulated Scott after his victory over Booker weeks back, and now he
has come out to save the newcomer; perhaps the Rabid Wolverine sees Gunner as a
potential protégé?
SmackDown also saw the re-emergence of Native American Superstar Tatanka.
SmackDown camera visited the Lakota tribe, which was represented by the likes of
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. A current Lakota chief spoke of their history and
culture, and it was announced that a new warrior would soon be forged in
Tatanka. Apparently next week, Tatanka will be initiated into the tribe, which
is a huge honor.
Also on SmackDown, The Great Khali spoke once again. Daivari led his massive
charge to the ring, and told the fans that the rumors were true. The Great Khali
has broken Undertaker’s spirit, and while the Deadman always rose from the ashes
to vanquish his assailants, this time it was different. Daivari said Undertaker
trembled in fear of Khali, who needed no weapons other than his bare hands to
annihilate the Deadman. He then said that Undertaker was gone for good because
he was afraid of The Great Khali. It has been weeks since anyone has seen or
heard from the Deadman; could Daivari be right? Has Undertaker’s spirit truly
been broken?
Matches
World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle (No Contest)
Paul London, Brian Kendrick & Super Crazy def. WWE Tag Team Champions MNM & Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms
Bobby Lashley def. Mark Henry by countout (King of the Ring Tournament Match)
United States Champion JBL def. William Regal
Finlay def. Gunner Scott