Original Airdate: Thursday, January 13th, 2005
St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkingTheNetwork2
Kurt Angle is walking backstage and asks Big Show if he can talk to Joy, who is hiding behind Show. Angle says that last week was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life and apologizes. Big Show tells Angle that he doesn't like Angle, but he admires that he apologized to Joy. He then says that if JBL doesn't apologize tonight as well, he's going to beat it out of him.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. Eddie Guerrero & Booker T vs. Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs. The Cabinet
RVD has a knee injury which I believe kept him out of WrestleMania. Eddie and Jindrak start things out. Jindrak is your typical guy who looks like a million bucks, but lacks the skills to back it up. One of the Bashams is pulled out of the ring by Rey, who then hits a 619 on Jindrak and Eddie pulls Basham on top of him and Jindrak is gone. Eddie is tagged in by one of the Basham and he and Booker keep going back and forth tagging each other until Eddie finally gets in there. He and Rey go for something cool, but it doesn't work out. Even when they mess up, it's entertaining. After a nice exchange, Mysterio hits a hurricanrana for a pin on Eddie. Apparently that is the third week in a row that Rey has pinned Eddie. I guess that's the downfall of starting randomly in a year. Booker and Eddie argue on their way to the back. So yay, it's the Bashams. If you were even slightly generic looking, it was like you were automatically sent to Smackdown. Raw seemed to always get the guys with more defined characters. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out with Basham is which. One of them hits RVD's injured knee with the steel chairs. Extra refs are sent down to check on RVD. The stretcher is out now while Rey is going at it alone in the ring. There are few guys that are better equipped for this story than Rey. Mysterio hits the 619 and is going for a springboard, misses and the Bashams swap with each other and get the pinfall victory. One of the most forgotten tag teams of the millennium wins the Tag Team Championships. Fun match though. After the match, JBL, Orlando Jordan and Amy come out to celebrate.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Josh Matthews is backstage with Kenzo Suzuki. They say some stuff, none of which matters. I did not realize that he and Hiroko are actually married.
JBL, Amy and OJ are saying tonight will be the greatest night in the Cabinet's history. JBL says Jordan's time is coming. He runs into Big Show. He tells JBL that the only thing that will prevent him from ripping his head off is an apology. JBL complies and Big Show says he wants one from Amy too. Amy says that Joy enjoyed running around naked backstage because she needs to be the center of attention and then calls her a word that would never fly in 2019 WWE. Joy goes after Amy. Well, what do you know? Teddy Long just happens to be right there. He says that tonight we are getting Amy vs. Joy and everyone is not allowed at ringside. Smell that $$$$$$$$$.
We get the same Japan announcement that they showed on Raw.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Roderick Strong
This is quite the segment. Not only do we get a Roderick Strong match, we also get MVP as one of Angle's security guards. Angle asks Strong what his chances are and Strong slaps him. Angle chases him around the ring and hits Strong with some stiff shots. I'd love to hear Strong talk about this experience. Strong gets a roll up for a close count, but is leveled by a clothesline. Angle hits a German Suplex and the ankle lock for the win. That was pretty fun.
Match Rating: *1/2
United States Championship Match
Kenzo Suzuki vs. John Cena
It's fun to see Cena come out and get a 100% positive crowd reaction. He comes out wearing the classic creamsicle Doug Williams Bucs jersey. Kenzo comes out firing and backs Cena into the corner. Cena then comes full steam ahead and is laying into Kenzo. Cena hits his bulldog and then a 5 Knuckle Shuffle. Cena pumps up his Pumps and hits the FU. That was a complete burial of Suzuki, who did nothing of note after this.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show some clips promoting their house show in Orando and Jacksonville.
JBL and Amy are backstage and Amy is crying because she is not a wrestler. Heck of a performance. Not to be outdone, Joy is just as bad and gives Big Show a kiss.
Highlight package of Undertaker and Heidenreich. Like I have said before, the WWE during this era always did an incredible job with these. You actually care about this terrible storyline.
Amy Weber vs. Joy Giovanni
Amy walks out petrified. Joy's music hits and she is nowhere to be found. Amy is announced the winner as a result of a forfeit.
Big Show goes to Teddy Long where Joy is. Teddy says he will get to the bottom of it. Skinner, Finlay and Charles Robinson are on the case. Heidenreich then walks in and wants the casket match stipulation to be removed. Teddy disagrees. In walks JBL and he is forced to plead his case as to why he wasn't behind Joy's disappearance. Long threatens to strip him of the WWE Championship.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Funaki vs. Nunzio
You can always tell when a match is only getting a few minutes by the way they rush at the beginning and this one is no different. Nunzio hits a nice dropkick to the midsection as he came off the second rope. Both of these guys were always very reliable in ring performers. Funaki nails Nunzio in the jaw for a 2 count. Funaki hits a tornado DDT and gets the victory. That was good for a short TV match.
Match Rating: **1/4
Carlito is the next to be in Long's office. Carlito says he has nothing to do with Joy. Carlito says this is another reason that Long should no longer be Commissioner. Long throws him out and in walk Torrie and Jackie. Torrie says she saw Orlando Jordan following Joy to the ring. Teddy says to bring Orlando to his office.
Orlando is there and he says that he admits to seeing Joy. He told her Amy was going to kick her butt. In comes Big Show and he threatens him. This is the greatest whodunit in the history of television.
B. Gordon Allensworth, the "president" of the Florida Agricultural Group, introduces JBL. JBL's entrance theme is still really underrated. As is his limo. With that being said, The Cabinet is probably the worst faction that featured a main event talent. This truly is an interesting choice as a main event segment. After what seems like an eternity, Kurt Angle finally comes out and tells JBL to shut up. Kurt Angle gets the keys from the limo driver and opens the trunk and there is Joy, all tied up. Out comes Big Show. Show comes in to attack JBL, but the Cabinet comes in to distract him while JBL and Amy run away. Big Show fights them off and he stares down JBL. They then show Kurt Angle with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak laughing at what happened. Angle said he loves when a plan comes together. Maybe not so smart to say it in front of a TV camera? Just my opinion.
This was an entertaining enough of a show, even if the ending was pretty lame. The tag team match was good and the rest was passable. At the very least, the show had a nice flow and didn't feel like it was dragging until JBL opened his mouth.
Overall Rating: 50%
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