Original Airdate: Friday, January 6th, 2006
Wachovia Arena
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Just like with Raw. New year, same crappy song.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
JBL vs. Matt Hardy
JBL opens by cutting a promo through the crowd. Matt meets him out there and they start brawling. They move on top of the announce table and Hardy sets JBL down and the table explodes. Not sure what he was going for there, but it didn't look like that was the move. JBL takes a chair and uses it on the back of Hardy. Hardy fights back and hits a dropkick that sends JBL back out of the ring. Hardy launches himself over the top rope and gets a 2 count. Hardy pulls out a ladder from under the ring and uses it on the mid-section of JBL. JBL reverses a bulldog by throwing him into the metal barricade. Hardy is able to sneak in a trash can lid to the head on JBL. He lays JBL out on the hood of his limo and starts climbing the ladder. Jillian Hall grabs the leg of Hardy, allowing JBL to grab the trash can and Hardy comes crashing on the hood of the limo. Somewhat surprisingly, JBL wins off of that and Hardy continues to get buried for no reason whatsoever. Out comes the Boogeyman from the limo. Why wouldn't he have cost JBL the match? He grabs Hall as she is trying to escape and stuffs worms in her skirt. The match felt like it was just getting going and then it abruptly ended. This feud just really did nothing for either guy.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
Three-On-One Handicap Elimination Match
Gus Harlacher, Jon Troske & Rob Eckos vs. Mark Henry
Henry tosses Troske and he slides right into the ring post. He puts him in the Torture Rack and Troske is gone. I completely forgot that Melina was ever with Henry. Henry pulls the next guy in the ring and hits a chokeslam into a face-first slam to eliminate Harlacher. In comes Eckos and he destroys him with a clothesline. Henry hits a second rope drop to the back of Eckos and then the World's Strongest Slam for the final victory. This was an impressive squash and reminded you that Henry was a monster.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Melina says that Henry is here for her protection because she is the victim.
Booker and Sharmell are with Randy Orton. Booker says that it wasn't supposed to happen like it did last week. Orton blames Sharmell and he tells Booker to trust him in that ring. Orton says that he's going to get the victory and hand deliver the United States Championship. Orton reminds Booker that he's going to owe him one though.
Out for the first time in weeks, it's Mr. Kennedy. After doing his schtick, he joins the announce crew.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Kid Kash vs. Juventud
Juventud starts off hot with a dropkick and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He sends Kash to the outside and Juventud hits a diving somersault off the top rope to the floor. Juvy then hits a springboard elbow drop back in the ring for a 2 count. Juvy goes up to the second rope again, but this time Kash grabs his leg and pulls him face-first to the mat. Kash misses with a springboard moonsault. Juvy blocks the Dead Level and hits Kash with a bunch of knees to the head. Juvy hits a spin kick, but is selling the leg injury. Juvy counters a sunset flip into a pin attempt and nearly gets the victory. Kash locks in the Half Crab on the injured leg, but Juvy crawls to the bottom rope. Juvy knocks Kash off the top rope and hits a top rope hurricanrana for another nearfall. They battle up again at the top rope and Juvy wins the battle. He goes for the 450 splash, but Kash rolls out of the way and hits the Dead Level for the victory. They only got 6 minutes, but they worked hard and delivered a good match in that time.
Match Rating: ***
Booker T is with Kristal and she asks him if it's hard being married while on SmackDown. In walks Orlando Jordan and he lets him know that he made a mistake not picking him last week. They laugh at him again.
They go to Batista in the locker room for a press conference where he states that he is innocent. Mark Henry walks in and questions if Batista is sick inside. Batista asks him to get out of his face.
Match Six In A Best Of Seven Series For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton
Booker is up 3-2 in the series. Booker and Sharmell come down to join as guest commentators. Sharmell trips Benoit with Booker's crutch early on and Orton asks Nick Patrick to be sent to the back. Back in the ring, Orton hits a standing dropkick and quickly goes on the attack. Benoit gets dumped over the top rop going into the commercial break. When we come back, Orton has his third chinlock on Benoit. Benoit makes his comeback and hits the Three Amigos. He hits the top rope headbutt and gets a 2 count. Benoit gets the Sharpshooter on, but then switches it over to the Crippler Crossface. Orton is able to grab the bottom rope to break the hold, but Benoit goes right after the lower back. Benoit misses Orton in the corner and gets hit with his signature inverted backbreaker. Orlando Jordan comes down and grabs the crutch from Booker. He uses it on Benoit, giving Benoit the victory, leaving Orton and Booker furious. Talk about things that I have no recollection of, this is definitely one of them. I liked this match a little better than some of the others in the series because it was quicker and it forced them to work a quicker pace.
Match Rating: ***
Finlay is coming.
Out comes Simon Dean on the Dean Machine. He's not calling out just one superstar, he is challenging two to answer his physical challenge. Out come Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Dean then announces his new tag team The Gymini. London and Kendrick leap onto them and London accidentally takes out one of the Gymini. He still gets up and they act like everything is fine and dandy. London and Kendrick get destroyed as Dean celebrates outside the ring. You have to love how Gymini became nothing and London and Kendrick became the best tag team of the year.
Lashley gives a pretty lame promo about being in the Royal Rumble. They follow it up with a highlight package.
Steel Cage Match For The WWE Tag Team Championships
MNM vs. Rey Mysterio & Batista
This is a main event that I can get behind. These four have good chemistry and you don't see a lot of tag team cage matches. Cole and Tazz have reminded us that this is the first such instance of one in six years. Batista throws Nitro off the top rope and then Mysterio hits a top rope bulldog on Mercury and also hits a leg drop on Nitro at the same time. Mysterio then gets back body dropped into the cage. Nitro hits a missile dropkick on Batista to take control. MNM hit a double slingshot on Mysterio into the cage. I love the dedication to double teams by both Mysterio and MNM. Mysterio climbs to teh top of the cage and hits a crossbody on Mercury, but Nitro breaks up the pin attempt. MNM once again double teams Mysterio, but this time Batista is ready. Batista has Nitro up for a powerbomb, but Mercury grabs Nitro's arms. He brings Nitro over to the ropes and crotches both of them. Batista hits the spinebuster on Nitro and out comes Mark Henry. He then breaks open the chain on the door in one of the more legendary internet stories. This took a lot longer than what was shown. Whoever was in charge of gimmicking the door, forgot to do so and Henry had to legitimately break the chain. Anyway, Batista destroys the challengers with the cage door and places Mercury on top of Mysterio for the victory. Henry climbs to the top of the cage to end the show. The match was a lot of fun and it put over Henry in a big way.
Match Rating: ***1/4
This was a great start to the year for the blue brand. Both shows this week in 2006 were very focused and really made a statement. Obviously it's nearly impossible to keep this up for 51 more episodes, but it's nice when everything comes together and clicks. There were a few dud moments, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.
Overall Rating: 76%
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