Original Airdate: Friday, March 17th, 2006
CenturyTel Center
Bossier City, Louisiana
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Money In The Bank Qualifying Lumberjack Match
Finlay vs. Lashley
These two have had a nice beginning to a feud and this is a good way to continue it. Finlay gains control after he pushes Lashley into the ring post. Lashley eventually falls outside and the heel lumberjacks stomp away before throwing him back in. Lashley avoids Finlay in the corner and he hits the ring post with his shoulder. Lashley hits an impressive one armed vertical suplex and then picks Finlay above his head and throws him onto a bunch of lumberjacks. He attacks some of the lumberjacks before going back in the ring. Sylvan goes into the ring with a chair, but Lashley hits him with a spear. Finlay then hits Lashley in the head with the shillelagh and steals the victory. This was pretty good by lumberjack match standards.
Match Rating: **
MNM are looking at Vince McMahon's photo spread in Muscle & Fitness, but Melina grabs it and they are looking at Candice Michelle's Playboy magazine. Melina takes the Vince spread because of course she does. She then goes up to Kristal and she tells her that she's the top Diva. Now here comes Paul Burchill and he pulls out his sword on MNM.
Mixed Tag Team Match
William Regal & Jillian Hall vs. Paul Burchill & Kristal
The women start the match out and Jillian hits a handspring elbow in the corner. Kristal hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and now the men are in. Burchill hits a back body drop, but when he goes for a monkey flip, Regal slams him on his back. Burchill comes back and hits a standing moonsault for a 2 count. The women run in and Kristal moves out of the way and Jillian is through the ropes and to the floor. Burchill hits Walk The Plank and that is all. I still stand by my opinion that Burchill's gimmick was good.
Match Rating: *
Sharmell is freaking out backstage and Booker is trying to calm her down. She then comes out to introduce Booker in a beekeeper's outfit.
Booker T vs. Jeremy Young
Booker is destroying Young, but Sharmell is still all worried about Boogeyman coming out. Booker makes quick work of Young by hitting the Scissors Kick for the victory. As soon as they are about to celebrate, Boogeyman's music hits. Boogey doesn't come out and Booker is looking for him. They go under the ring to look for him and out comes Boogey. Booker and Sharmell retreat, naturally.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Next up is a live sit down interview, with Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton in separate studio spaces. Orton sort of runs the segment, first poking Angle for his health and then says that Mysterio doesn't belong in the main event. Before Mysterio can even say anything, Angle comes to his aid. This wasn't perfect or anything, but I liked that it was different than what we usually get heading into a WrestleMania main event.
The Miz is coming.
Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Animal vs. Matt Hardy
It's really hard to believe that this match took place in 2006. They go right at it and then Hardy goes up to the top. Animal kicks the top rope and crotches Hardy. Hardy battles back and hits a Side Effect for a 2 count. Behind the referee's back, Animal puts on brass knuckles and hits Hardy with it to pick up the victory. When Charles Robinson raises his hand, he sees the brass knuckles fall out of his hands and reverses the decision. Animal gets in his face and nails him with a right hand. So that happened. I'm not really sure I understand what they were thinking here.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They announce a battle royal for the last Money In The Bank spot for next week.
Orlando Jordan vs. Chris Benoit
JBL is out as the guest announcer. It's too bad Benoit didn't beat Jordan in 3 seconds this time. Benoit hits two of the Three Amigos and then hits two of the three German suplexes. Jordan tries to do something, but Benoit turns him over into the Sharpshooter for the victory. After the match, JBL hits Benoit in the back with his cooler. They are just sprinting through everything tonight.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mark Henry cuts a promo on his upcoming Casket Match at WrestleMania. He says he's supposed to fear the casket and the streak, but he fears nothing. He says that tomorrow on Saturday Night's Main Event, he's calling Undertaker out.
MNM & Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio & Randy Orton
It really is kind of remarkable how important MNM was to the SmackDown weekly programming, but they were unable to give them a match at WrestleMania. It actually could have been kind of cool for them both to be in the Money In The Bank match. Randy Orton slaps Johnny Nitro and then lets Angle start. Once Mysterio comes in, the pace quickens, but it doesn't last long. Henry is tagged in and steps on Mysterio. Henry misses in the corner, but they are still able to keep Mysterio isolated. Daivari grabs Mysterio and Melina gets a couple of slaps in. Mysterio finally gets in the tag to Angle, who hits a series of German suplexes and the straps are down. He hits the Angle Slam on Mercury, but the pin attempt is broken up by Henry. Mysterio hits a 619 on Mercury, but then Orton tags himself in and picks up the victory. That was the only time Orton was in the match. This was an okayish main event here.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was one of those episodes that didn't have anything stand out on it, but it was an easy episode to watch. It's just hard to recommend this show that felt like nothing really important happened outside of the qualifications for the Money In The Bank.
Overall Rating: 57%
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