Falls Count Anywhere

10-16-06

But would England forgive Fanboy Planet?

SmackDown!
Ken Kennedy has big talent and had a great gimmick for the recent weeks where he’s been saying he wanted to go to RAW to avoid The Undertaker. His US title match with Chris Benoit wasn’t bad at all; I mean it was a Benoit match, but Kennedy didn’t do too much in the match. He looked OK and he sold well, but he wasn’t working up to Benoit’s level.

Benoit hit a Diving Headbutt onto Kennedy’s shoulder and then he put on the Sharpshooter. As Kennedy was about to reach the ropes, Benoit turned around and tried to get Kennedy in the Crossface, but he managed to make the ropes and that led to Kennedy going to the outside and a commercial. Kennedy got distracted by The Undertaker’s music and smoke. That allowed Benoit to get the Rolling Germans and the Crossface for the win which earned Benoit the title. Good choice for the match, but I still think Kennedy would have been a better longer-run champion.

Regal and Vito had a match that was only watchable because Regal is tougher on bad gimmicked wrestlers than anyone else. He gave Vito a major half-nelson suplex for a near-fall. He practically dropped him right on the top of his head. That was awesome. Regal dropped a bunch of knees and kicks and just laid into Vito. Regal went for a Sunset Flip and Vito sat down. It was fun to watch Regal on offense. I still think that Vito’s gimmick is just about the worst in the WWE right now.

Dude, look at that Zord.

MVP looks like a Power Ranger. That’s what the crowd was chanting. His outfit is lame, but that’s an easy fix. Remember Farooq’s original ring attire? MVP had to face Kane. Kane tossed him around a bit, but MVP got to the eyes and then ran off to avoid Kane. An interesting concept for the gimmick actually. It makes him into a coward and that can be made into money, if they just get new trunks on the guy. I think they should give him one of Barry Bonds’ atomic elbow protector.

Jamie Noble and Rey Mysterio wrestled. Chavo and Vickie Guerrero came out. It was a decent match, not wonderful but decent. There was a wonderful part where after Rey hit a seated senton, and while that usually leads to the finish, Noble hit a Powerslam. Rey did come back and hit a 619 and Springboard Legdrop for the win. Chavo then challenged Rey to an I Quit match. That should be interesting.

In a fun little match, Jimmy Wang Yang, Paul London and Brian Kendrick beat KC James, Idol Stevens and Sylvan who had Michelle McCool with them. She is so damn hot. JBL picked up on that too, as he referred to her as the next Misses Layfield. Ashley’s hot, too. Really hot. If only the two of them were drunk at a Frat Party one night… Sorry, enough of that.

Didn't he have a Charlton comic book in the 70s?

Yang is way over with the crowd and he plays his role really well. This was a fast match with lots of dives from the faces. Brian Kendrick was about to go for his own dive when Sylvan clotheslined the hell out of him. Kendrick and London managed to get the others out and Jimmy Yang Wang gave Sylvan a giant Moonsault and got the win. Good stuff.

Batista, Lashley and Finlay had their number one contender match. Batista didn’t look like a Number One contender, but Finlay made the match into something pretty watchable. Batista and Lashley collided hard in the middle of the ring. Booker was on commentary and you could tell he thought they had knocked each other out. Booker and JBL were both great on commentary. JBL is a big announcing talent. Lashley was about to pin Finlay, but the Little Bastard came into the ring and tackled the ref.

There was a nice segment outside the ring, including Lashley and Finlay putting Batista through the table. It looked like he took a lot of the impact when he half-slid to the floor. Lashley was about to hit a Press Slam, but he got speared by Batista. Batista ducked a shillelagh shot and got the Spinebuster and DemonBomb for the win. Not bad.

OK show, but I’m wanting more from SmackDown! right now.

NEWS
Psicosis was arrested for stealing a car. He was also drunk. Odds are that’ll cost him his job.

1990s jobber Joey Maggs passed away. He wasn’t very old, maybe 40. He worked Memphis and a number of other territories for a good long time.

Gunner Scott and Francine were both released this week. Francine wasn’t going to last long since Vince only brought her in so that Kelly Kelly would have someone to play off and now there are enough women to play that role. Gunner hasn’t been on TV in a while and his release was expected too.

The WWE also re-signed The Boogeyman. That’s a surprise, but they’ve signed him to less money and sent him to Booker T’s school in Houston. He’s a great performer, just a bad wrestler.

That’s all for today. More on Thursday!

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Chris Garcia