Original Airdate: Thursday, February 3rd, 2005
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
John Cena's music hits and he arrives to a nice pop. He talks about the controversial finish in the Royal Rumble. Teddy Long is now on his way to the ring. Teddy Long says he doesn't have time to wait for Batista to make up his mind on which title to challenge for, so he is setting up an 8 man tournament to challenge the WWE Champion at WrestleMania. If Batista ends up deciding to pick Smackdown, the match at WrestleMania will be a triple threat. Here comes JBL down the the ring and immediately starts yelling at Long. His complaints get him nowhere and Long announces that next week in Japan Orlando Jordan will face John Cena in a tournament match. JBL is now okay since Orlando is in the tournament. JBL tells Cena that he isn't that league and Cena promptly gives him the FU.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Nunzio
Before the match, Angle says that the Royal Rumble was satisfying because he made Shawn Michaels suffer. Next week, he will take on Rey Mysterio in Japan as his first round of the tournament. Nunzio makes his way down. He says he came out here because Angle stole his spot in the Rumble and he wants to redeem himself. Angle tries to cheap shot him with the microphone, but Nunzio ducks. Nunzio gets a nearfall with a couple of roll ups. Angle catches Nunzio and does a wheelbarrow suplex and then hits an Angle Slam. Ankle lock is in, but Nunzio gets to the ropes. Angle yanks him from the ropes and Nunzio taps. Fast and furious, but good fun for a 2 minute match.
Match Rating: *3/4 (out of 5)
Angle is backstage with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak. Jindrak is facing Mysterio tonight and Angle wants him to soften him up. Reigns lets Angle know that he will face the winner of Rene Dupree and Undertaker.
Carlito walks into Long's office. Carlito lets Long know that he sent in his petition and that he will no longer be the commissioner. Boy, was he wrong.
Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Jindrak
Mysterio uses his speed early on to avoid Jindrak. Springboard crossbody by Mysterio, but he then gets hit with a boot to the face. Mysterio hits a drop toe hold and goes for the 619, but Jindrak catches him and slams him down. Jindrak does the Rick Rude hip swivel and yeah, he's terrible. Mysterio now fights back and hits a springboard seated senton by Mysterio. Jindrak catches him for a popup backbreaker for a 2 count. Jindrak goes for a splash, but Mysterio moves and then kicks him in the gut. Mysterio sets him up for the 619 and this time he hits it. He gets a flying leg scissors and that gets the win. That was probably one of the best Jindrak matches I have seen.
Match Rating: **1/4
Amy walks into Joy's locker room and hands her a receipt for her laundry bill. Both women are pretty terrible actresses
Big Show vs. The Basham Brothers
There is no better way to bury your tag team champions than to have them lose to one person. We'll see where they go here, but guessing based on the quality of tag teams on the roster, they aren't winning here. Big Show is dominating early until one of the Bashams gets his boots up. The Basham's offense doesn't last long and we're back to your typical Big Show match. Doug goes to hit Show with a chair, but it doesn't work out and next thing you know it's a chokeslam and a victory for Big Show. I don't hate him winning, but why not try a little harder to give him someone else to beat.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They announce some Hall of Fame entrants: Paul Orndorff, Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Bob Orton and Jimmy Hart.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
Rene Dupree vs. The Undertaker
You can mark this one down as matches I wish I never saw. Undertaker with a big shoulder tackle that sends Dupree out of the ring. Jindrak and Reigns are down at ringside and we go to commercial. Taker hits Old School and gets a 2 count. Taker gets distracted and Dupree sends Taker out of the ring. Taker has both Reigns and Jindrak by the throat but Dupree dropkicks him from behind. Taker is back in control and hits a legdrop on the apron. He goes for a boot to the corner, but Dupree moves and Taker is stuck on the top rope. Dupree begins to work on his knee. This match has been much better than I have expected and Taker is giving Dupree way more offense than I ever would have imagined. Taker hits the chokeslam and follows it up with a triangle choke. Reigns distracts Taker and Jindrak grabs Dupree and pulls him out of the ring. Taker throws Dupree into the steel steps. Taker tries to break the count, but Reigns grabs his leg and the match is a double countout. That was a fairly entertaining match that was ruined by a flat finish. After the match, Taker Tombstones Dupree.
Match Rating: **1/2
Josh Matthews is with Big Show and Amy. Show tries to sell how brutal the barbed wire steel cage match is going to be at No Way Out. If Batista jumps to Smackdown, he says he'll take care of him.
Booker T is getting ready for his match and Eddie Guerrero walks in. Booker T plans on headlining WrestleMania and he won't let Eddie lie, cheat and steal.
We get a new WrestleMania spoof commercial and it's Triple H doing Braveheart.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
Booker T vs. Eddie Guerrero
Seeing how popular Guerrero was at this time, it makes it even more surprising to me that they turned him heel later this year. I'm guessing it was him who pushed for it. They start shoving each other a little to begin. Booker grabs the early advantage with some standard stuff. One thing that bugs me is when guys lazily apply submission holds and Booker right here has a super loose chinlock on Eddie. Eddie fights back and climbs up top, but Booker rolls out of the way. Feels like a great time for a commercial break. Eddie with some elbows and a body slam that leads into a hilo and a 2 count. Booker turns the tide and hits a superplex and both men are down. Booker gets Eddie into a sleeper hold and again it doesn't look that convincing. Eddie battles out of it and ducks under Booker's kick and hits a nice dropkick. Eddie charges at Booker but he ducks and Eddie flies over the top rope. Booker immediately slams Guerrero into the steps and throws him back in for a 2 count. Book End by Booker T, but Eddie gets his foot on the rope. The crowd didn't really buy that as a false finish. Shoutout to the guy in the crowd wearing a Barry Sanders jersey and Lions hat. 2005 wasn't exactly our year. Eddie hits another dropkick and is calling for the Three Amigos and he hits them all. Eddie goes up top, but Booker moves out of the way from the Frog Splash and both are down again. Booker does the spinaroonie and goes for a kick, but Eddie ducks and Booker hits Nick Patrick. Scissor kick by Booker, but Patrick takes awhile to get to the count and it's only a 2 count. Booker is pushed into Nick Patrick and Eddie falls to the ground grabbing his knee. The announcers seem shocked that he is doing this. Eddie continues to grab his knee and Eddie attacks him from behind, but Booker is watching on the big screen and rolls up Eddie and gets the victory. Smart finish there, but the match was pretty meh. Booker seemed as if he was pacing himself for a 40 minute match, rather than a 20 minute match. Booker moves on to take on John Cena or Orlando Jordan. I wonder who will win that one?
Match Rating: **1/4
Never in a million years did I think the Dupree/Taker match would be the highlight, but here we are. I liked how they went right ahead and moved on with the two main matches at No Way Out and that it actually makes sense. Not really a good episode, but an effective one as it set up a lot and I'm pretty pumped to see Mysterio/Angle on the next episode.
Overall Rating: 56%
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