Monday, May 16th, 2005
Qwest Center
Omaha, Nebraska
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chris Jericho
Both teams go right at it before the bell rings. Double Stinger Splash by Benjamin and then they hits clotheslines followed by a double crossbody to the outside. Daivari causes the distraction and Hassan is able to turn things around for his team. Jericho makes a nice burst of offense hitting a lot of his signature moves. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick on Daivari, but Hassan then hits him with his finisher and they get the victory to the shock of the crowd. As far as 6 minute tag matches go, that was pretty good.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
Jericho walks to the back alone while Shelton looks confused.
Chris Benoit is talking to Tajiri and he tells Tajiri that Paul Heyman has invited him to One Night Stand and Tajiri says that he was too. Benoit challenges him to an ECW Rules match tonight. In comes Regal and tries to stop Tajiri, but he eventually gives in.
Coach comes running into Bischoff's locker room while he is talking to Ric Flair. Flair wants Bischoff to call Triple H, but Bischoff lets him know that if he wants to talk to him, he's going to have to call him. Flair walks out and sees Batista. He tells him everything wrong in his life and in sports entertainment is all because of Batista. Batista says that he owes a lot of his success to Flair and that he respects him, but Flair is wrong.
Ric Flair vs. Christian
Christian hits a shoulder block and does a little strut. Flair slaps him, but Christian takes him down with a right hand and a back body drop. Flair trips him up and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes. Flair tries to do his usual over the top turnbuckle bump, but can't get over and Christian has to clothesline him over. Flair fights back with some chops and fists and Christian does Flair's face first bump. Tomko hits Flair with a right hand and Christian rolls him up but the ref catches him using the ropes. This allows Flair to reverse it and use the tights to get the victory. After watching that, it's kind of amazing that Flair wrestled for almost 3 more years in WWE.
Match Rating: 3/4*
After the match Christian and Tomko double team Flair until Batista's music hits. Batista takes care of them both and gives them both Batista Bombs. Flair and Batista make eye contact as Batista walks to the back.
Lita and Christy are backstage until Edge interrupts. Edge tells Lita to tell Kane that what he did to Shawn Michaels last week was nothing compared to what he will do to Kane tonight.
Christian and Tomko are backstage complaining about their match. Maria comes up and asks them if they are hurt and Christian sends her packing.
Chris Masters comes out sporting a black eye. We get another Master Lock Challenge. He picks a guy in a Batista shirt. Not that the shirts that WWE have today are amazing, they are light-years better than this era. The ref rings the bell almost instantly. Out of nowhere, here comes Stevie Richards and he attacks Masters. Masters retreats once he sees him grab a chair.
Edge is backstage and Kane comes in and chokes him. He said that if he ever talks to his wife again, he will end him.
ECW Rules Match
Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri
We are getting close to the first One Night Stand. Tajiri immediately gets Benoit into the Tarantula. It's kind of crazy that 14 years later Impact is still using a handful of the ECW stars. Jerry Lawler is going way over the top on trying to explain what an ECW Rules match is. Benoit takes out a ladder and sets Tajiri on a table. He climbs the ladder set up in the ring and is about to hit a headbutt to the floor but Coach is out and orders him to come down to some big boos. Bischoff's music hits and says that he is officially ending the match to some big boos. He says that he won't sanction an ECW match because it is pure garbage. He is banning ECW from Raw. Bischoff announces that he's going to take a group of Raw volunteers to One Night Stand to stop ECW.
Match Rating: N/R
Lingerie Pillow Fight
Christy Hemme vs. Candice Michelle
Both ladies throw off their robes and go for the pillows. The pillows are gimmicked to shoot feathers with any blow. Christy leaps over Candice and does the splits on the top rope and then rolls her up for the quick victory. This was obviously not meant to be a quality match. The ladies embrace and out comes Viscera. He lets them know that he is turned on and they both run to the back. Viscera then turns his attention to poor Lilian Garcia. He then kisses a plant in the crowd and then walks Lilian into the ring. The amount of time they are spending on this character that is clearly never going to get a push is just ridiculous. Seriously, this continues to be insulting. To those that think TV-PG is the problem, I present to you Exhibit A.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Kane wants Lita out at the ring to see him beat Edge tonight. They then make out. God, make it stop.
They show a highlight package of every match from the Gold Rush Tournament.
Shelton and Jericho are talking about their loss earlier. Jericho says that he's been the undisputed champion before and a loss doesn't mean much to him at this point in his career. He then hypes his radio show and gives Shelton a copy of Fozzy's new CD.
World Tag Team Championship Match
The Hurricane & Rosey vs. Simon Dean & Maven
Stacy Keibler is now with the champions dressed in superhero attire. Simon Dean holds Maven's feet as he does crunches after hitting a double suplex on Hurricane in a fun spot. Hot tag to Rosey and he hits a few power moves on the challengers. Stacy distracts them and Rosey and Hurricane hit their double team for the victory. This was just fluff, but at the same time I feel like I may the biggest Simon Dean fan left.
Match Rating: *
The SmackDown Rewind shows the saga of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. King and JR hype up the Diva Search.
Out of nowhere, here comes Randy Orton. He's in full heel mode and he says that he hopes Batista is still the champion when he comes back so he can take it back from him on Raw. Well, spoiler alert. None of this happens. Just about as Orton is to head out of the ring, Mr. McMahon is out. Vince legit tells Orton that he looks anorexic. He then goes on to make fun of his haircut. He reminds Orton that he is eligible for the draft and the draft begins in three weeks from Orton's hometown. Vince tells us that the draft will take place over an entire month.
Gold Rush Tournament Final Match
Kane vs. Edge
Edge tries to go after Kane with fists, but Kane isn't having any of that and quickly turns it around. Edge is able to hit a low blow while the ref wasn't looking. Edge begins working on Kane's left knee. I would say this is not the best match that these two have had. Edge hits a DDT, but Kane kicks out at 2. Kane sidesteps a spear and then hits a sidewalk slam. Edge shoves Kane and he hits the referee. Edge hits a spear, but there is not ref to count. Lita grabs the briefcase and slides it to Edge when Kane is climbing to the top rope. Edge hits Kane on his way down with the briefcase. Lita helps roll the ref and Edge now has two championship opportunities. It kind of feels like the whole reason this tournament was created was to tell the story of Edge and Lita and that's okay. This would go on to be the moment where Edge finally started getting real heat. However, this wasn't a very good match. It came off flat and uninspired.
Match Rating: *
Edge and Lita begin making out at the top of the ramp as Kane watches on from inside the ring as we go off the air.
The first half of this show flowed really well and I was ready to give this show a thumbs up. However, once the pillow fight started it was all downhill. The show ended with a hot angle, which is always a plus but there's no way to make up the time I have lost by watching this whole Viscera character introduction for the second time in my life.
Overall Rating: 58%
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