ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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After a long recap of last week, JBL is in the ring to talk about it. He says what Teddy Long did to him, makes the Montreal screwjob look like a parking ticket. As he begins talking about his match at Great American Bash, his own music hits and the limo comes out. The bWo comes out of the limo in what has to be one of the more bizarre moments of this era. The Blue Meanie is introduced as John Blue Lamefield, Nova as Bash Me and Stevie is Bluewheat. They ramble on and the crowd is semi into it and it leads to Blue Meanie challenging JBL to a match. Meanie then spray paints bWo on his limo.
#1 Contender Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Benoit backs Booker into the corner and starts chopping. Benoit hits a snap suplex and then goes for a Sharpshooter, but Booker kicks out. Booker hits a hot shot on Benoit and then goes with a heel kick to the chin. Booker hits a superkick for a 2 count. This is a match that we'll be seeing a lot of coming up in the fall and Michael Cole made mention of their best of 7 series in WCW. Benoit avoids a Scissors Kick, but Booker still hits him with some knees to the head. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits three German suplexes. Benoit goes up top, but Booker runs over to stop him. Booker hits a superplex, but Benoit kicks out at 2. Benoit rolls under a kick and goes for the Crippler Crossface, but Booker counters it into a submission, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit counters a suplex with the Crippler Crossface and Booker taps pretty quickly. These two typically did work well together and even though this one was short, it was pretty good. After the match they show Sharmell backstage watching and Orlando Jordan scares her away.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
They show a recap of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio segment from last week. Rey is then shown walking into Eddie's locker room. Rey asks Eddie to reconsider and to please stop with his family. Eddie says that Rey is going to be his partner to take on MNM tonight. Rey said he doesn't want to be his partner, so Eddie says that he'll go by himself and that he'll tell everyone their secret. Rey begs him not to do it. Eddie tells him that he'll see him out there.
Muhammad Hassan is complaining to Teddy Long. He says that he deserves to be the #1 contender since he was never pinned or eliminated. Long says that Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan will take place at the Great American Bash and the winner will be the #1 contender.
No Disqualification Match
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
JBL immediately hits Meanie with a big boot. JBL hits him with right hands and then dumps him to the outside. He slams him into the announcer table and steps. JBL mocks Meanie's dance, which begins a short-lived Meanie comeback. JBL turns his attention to Nova and Richards. He knocks both of them out and throws a chair and Richards in the ring. Meanie distracts JBL, which allows Richards to nail JBL with a sickening chair shot. Meanie goes up top and hits a moonsault, but JBL kicks out. JBL is busted open. JBL hits a Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is in the ring and hits a spinebuster. Meanie rolls onto JBL and gets the victory. I will chalk this up to probably the strangest moment of SmackDown in 2005. The match was pretty short, but it did it's job.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Rey gets the best of Joey Mercury and then forces Rey to tag in. Rey hits the low dropkick and then tags in Eddie. Eddie hits the Three Amigos on Mercury and then throws Nitro out of the ring. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Mercury, but Eddie pulls himself off of him at 2. He tags in Rey and he goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Rey hits a dropkick to the back and tries going for the 619, but Eddie grabs him and throws him down while he's running the ropes. Eddie walks to the outside and sits down by Tony Chimel. MNM takes advantage, but goes for the Snapshot and Rey counters it. He hits a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana and then follows up with a 619. He hits the springboard leg drop, but Eddie breaks up the pin. He attacks Mysterio and then sits up in the ropes. Mercury hits a clothesline and then they hits the Snapshot for the victory. This was obviously much more of an angle than a match, but it was still well worked and the story was strong.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and after a long pause, asks Rey if he is hurt. Rey is holding himself back from hitting Eddie, but Eddie tells him that he'll tell the world their little secret. Rey starts to head back, but Eddie yells at him and tells him he didn't say he could go. He pushes Rey insultingly in the head and tells him to open the ropes for him. Rey reluctantly does it and Eddie heads to the back.
Christian is in back and says he was born a main eventer. He main evented Raw and SmackDown both in the same week. He takes on Batista tonight.
They once again hype up the BLOCKBUSTER trade, which is classic WWE. As soon as Regal is introduced, the Mexicools music hits and they come out on their tractor and surround Morgan. They attack Morgan, as Regal watches from the outside. Charles Robinson even takes a bump. They then cut a terrible promo and insult Japanese people at the same time. This was absolutely embarrassing. This era was classic for having a good show and then throwing out a segment that is completely stupid with such ease.
Speaking of which, Muhammad Hassan tells Daivari backstage that he will be a sacrifice that helps the greater good tonight.
Daivari vs. Undertaker
Daivari gets thrown in the ring by Hassan. Taker grabs him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. Taker hits the Tombstone all while looking at Hassan on the entrance ramp. Taker gets the easy victory. Hassan laughs and goes down on his knees. Men in masks come down and start attacking Taker. Yes, this is the infamous segment that aired right after the terrorist attacks in London. The attackers choke Taker and this is another instance of him having no friends in the back who will come out and help him. Hassan walks in the ring and puts Taker in the Camel Clutch. This was the beginning of the end for Hassan. The attackers carry Daivari to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Christian vs. Batista
Christian throws some right hands, but they have little effect and Batista clotheslines him. Batista throws Christian out of the ring as we go to commercial break. Back from the break, Batista is taking it to Christian. Back on the outside, Christian is able to hit a drop toe hold on Batista into the steps. Christian hits a DDT for a 2 count. Batista battles out of a headlock, but eats a missile dropkick from Christian. Christian goes for the Unprettier, but Batista hits an electric chair and both men are down. Batista drives Christian into the corner and catches Christian off the ropes and hits a front powerslam. Batista catches Christian again and hits a running powerslam. Batista hits a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb for the victory. Well, it's easy to see why Christian wouldn't stick around much longer. If there was anyone who should have benefited from a move to SmackDown, it was him and it just didn't happen. The match was just okay. After the match JBL and Orlando Jordan come down and attack Batista. However, Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Orlando Jordan as JBL heads to the back.
Match Rating: **
Well, this show hasn't aged very well. Between the bWo, the Mexicools and the masked attackers this had a lot of negatives. The main event under-delivered in my opinion and the Eddie/Rey storyline seems to be going off the rails. Heading into the Great American Bash, SmackDown doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Overall Rating: 39%
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