Original Airdate: Thursday, February 24th, 2005
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
We get a paid spot courtesy of JBL boasting about his victory at No Way Out and the longest title reign in ten years. Tonight there is going to be a celebration in his honor.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero vs. Basham Brothers
These two teams had a solid match at No Way Out, let's see what they can do here. The champs use a lot of quick tags in the beginning to work on Danny Basham. Doug Basham hits a spinebuster off the second rope in a unique spot and it looks like he may have hurt himself a little bit on that one. Back from the break and Mysterio is laying on the floor, leaving Eddie to fend for himself. During the break, Danny slid under the ring and attacked Mysterio from behind. I'm not really quite sure why that would have happened during the commercial break on a taped show. Eddie looks to make a tag, but Rey is still not ready. Rey is finally up in his corner and Eddie comes close before Doug Basham clubs Mysterio. Mysterio finally gets the hot tag and hits a springboard moonsault for a 2 count. Three Amigos by Eddie and he sets him up for the 619. Basham moves and Mysterio hits Eddie Flying headbutt by Basham goes for the pinfall, but Eddie breaks it up. Rey sends Danny Basham over the top rope and hits Doug with the 619. Frog Splash by Eddie and Rey picks up the pinfall. The Bashams actually wrestled a smart match there and the champs looked good. You can't go wrong with Rey and Eddie.
Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)
Michael Cole and Tazz recap the Kurt Angle/John Cena match from No Way Out.
They show all of the women back in the locker room and Orlando Jordan walks in. He invites them to JBL's celebration of excellence.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Martel
Angle cuts his announcement short and says he isn't in the mood. Martel is Matt Striker. Martel asks Angle how it felt to lose the #1 contenders match to John Cena. Angle then clubs him with a clothesline and we are underway. Angle hits a couple of suplexes and the Angle Slam, but lifts up Martel's shoulders to dish out more pain. Angle gets him in the Ankle Lock and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Tazz goes into the ring to interview Angle. They show the clip of Shawn Michaels challenging Angle at WrestleMania. Angle then walks to the back with no response.
They show limos arriving for JBL's celebration.
Josh Matthews is back with Heidenreich. Heidenreich reads a poem about his match with Booker T. I can't imagine why this guy didn't get over.
Cole and Tazz recap the barbed wire cage match.
JBL and Orlando Jordan are talking backstage. JBL runs over his injuries from No Way Out.
The celebration of excellence is getting ready. There is champagne and violin players. Orlando Jordan and the Bashams introduce JBL. JBL is out limping to the ring. JBL says hi to every single person out there. If you think the Undertakers entrance is long, he's got nothing on this one. They unveil a painting of JBL and for some reason that's a big deal? JBL rambles on seemingly forever and is interrupted by...Big Show? He trashes the decoration and beats up a few of the guests on his way down. The Bashams and OJ eventually get Big Show in the ropes and out comes Cena. Cena cleans house and then smashes the painting over JBL's head. Now here comes Teddy Long and he naturally makes a tag team match of JBL and OJ vs. John Cena and Big Show.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Chavo Guerrero vs. Funaki
Chavo attacks Funaki as soon as he enters the ring. They must only have 3 minutes. Funaki does a unique spot where he has Chavo upside down over his back and smashes him into the turnbuckle, but then Chavo turns it into a Gory Bomb and gets the victory pretty much out of nowhere. I'm not even sure if they hit 3 minutes.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Paul London then comes out of nowhere and attacks Chavo. The editing team didn't even seem to bother adding in cheers and boos to that match including the post match stuff.
Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs. Undertaker
Why not just make this the match at No Way Out? Undertaker destroys Jindrak from the get go. Jindrak tries to make the tag but Reigns walks away. Not even a minute later, Taker puts Jindrak in a triangle choke and gets the victory. Jindrak was treated basically the same as Simon Dean is over on Raw, minus having a goofy jobber gimmick.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match, Reigns and Jindrak argue, leading to Reigns pushing Jindrak down. Jindrak then attacks and gets the better of him for the better part of the fight. I smell a WrestleMania main event here. All of the officials are out to break them up.
Teddy Long is now back again, this time to find out what his fate is as SmackDown GM. Carlito then comes out to talk some trash. Long then introduces Linda McMahon who is live via sattellite. She announces that Long will remain GM. Long tells Carlito he has a lot in store for Carlito
John Cena & Big Show vs. JBL & Orlando Jordan
The match starts while on commercial break and Big Show is beating on Jordan. Big Show tells Jordan to tag JBL, but JBL wants nothing to do with him. Cena is in and the heels start to get the advantage. Hot tag to Big Show and he takes care of both men. Who are they grooming for WrestleMania again? Cena hits the FU to Jordan and the Five Knuckle Shuffle for the victory. That was a post TV taping match in terms of quality. I'm not entirely sure why they made Show look like the threat here though.
Match Rating: *
This episode felt like it lasted forever. It started off good enough, but everything else pretty much just dragged after the Angle Invitational. Hopefully next week the WrestleMania hype starts a little bit as two big matches haven't started their storyline quite yet.
Overall Rating: 39%
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