Original Airdate: Friday, August 11th, 2006
Gaylord Entertainment Center
Nashville, Tennessee
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Oh, cool. We're starting off with Undertaker and Great Khali. Khali and Daivari talk some trash and then Taker comes down to attack him. He hits a chokeslam on him and that's it. At least it was short. I kind of forgot that these two didn't end up even facing each other at SummerSlam. JBL then compares that chokeslam to Hulk Hogan slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III.
They show Vickie Guerrero asking why Chavo Guerrero is doing what he is doing. Chavo is accusing Rey Mysterio of trying to steal the Guerrero name.
Tatanka vs. Gregory Helms
They just won't give up with Tatanka, will they? JBL goes on overdrive with talking about how great Helms is here. Tatanka fights back and hits some big chops to the chest. He hits the top rope chop for a 2 count. Helms is able to sneak in a reverse neckbreaker and then hits the Shining Wizard for the victory. Tatanka's leg was under the bottom rope, but the referee didn't see it and sticks with Helms as the winner. This was actually a lot better than I was expecting. Tatanka argues his case after the match and it was clear enough for even JBL to agree.
Match Rating: **
Daivari is furious backstage with Teddy Long. Long says that Khali won't fight Undertaker tonight, but he will next week in a Last Man Standing Match. Get those VCRs ready.
KC James & Idol Stevens vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
This is a non-title match, so you can probably guess what's going to happen here. The new team gets to dominate the early going until Kendrick gets a hot tag. Kendrick reverses out of a double suplex and London hits a top rope clothesline. James hits a kick to the jaw behind the referee's back and they are able to pick up the victory over the champs. Bad night for the referees tonight so far. I never really love this style of booking and they love to do it with the tag teams. The match was decent, but didn't get enough time.
Match Rating: **
Ashley is back talking to Luke Perry and is interrupted by Kristal. This was a pretty weak usage of a celebrity.
It's Diva Search time and they are all dressed in costumes for a talent contest. Miz brings out Luke Perry and is actually happy to be here. Jen uses some guy from Nashville to show off her kickboxing or something. This is horrible, as she is done with 43 seconds left and then dumps beers down Stone Cold style and then talks on the mic. This was really bad. Layla is up next and she's dressed as a cop and is going to dance. She almost slips because of the beer and her heels. You can tell she can actually dance, but it quickly turns into a striptease. Layla and Jen then they kind of sort of start fighting. Milena is next and is going to do karate. She throws Josh from Nashville. She has 50 seconds left and just stalls. Who thought 60 seconds was the right amount of time? JT does freestyle rapping or something if you want to call it that. This is horrible. Jen acts disrespectful again and throws her off. Luke Perry turns it to the crowd to crown the winner and Layla is the only one who gets a pop. I can't believe I just typed that many words about the Diva Search or that they gave this over 10 minutes of air time.
Vickie Guerrero begs Rey to end the dispute with Chavo by going into stuff that feels way too soon for her to have to deliver.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Rey Mysterio
You would think you would want to advertise this match, as it is an actual fresh matchup. Kennedy counters a hurricanrana and rams Mysterio gut-first into the turnbuckle. Kennedy seems to be one step ahead of Mysterio, but when he goes for the Green Bay Plunge, he is able to counter it into a hurricanrana. When we come back from commercial break, Kennedy is able to dump Mysterio outside the ring and then drives Mysterio into the ring apron. Mysterio rolls through on Kennedy's sunset flip attempt and hits him with a seated dropkick. Mysterio sets him up for the 619, but Chavo comes out. They start fighting and Rey runs into Vickie Guerrero, knocking her down. Chavo kicks him away and checks on her, as Rey is full of emotion. Vickie shoves Chavo off and then starts screaming at both of them. This is the first glimpse we ever got of what was to come with Vickie. We go to commercial with no official announcement from the ref. The match wasn't bad, but it was just waiting for the Chavo interference.
Match Rating: **1/4
King Booker is backstage doing what he does best, which his talking nonsense with Queen Sharmell.
Sylvan vs. Vito
Two of the great in ring performers of our time going at it here. Sylvan goes for a sunset flip, but freaks out once he looks up Vito's dress. Sylvan hits a Rock Bottom, but Vito kicks out. Sylvan misses a splash in the corner and Vito hits a modified DDT/suplex. He puts on his finisher and Sylvan quickly gives up. So much for Sylvan main eventing WrestleMania.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Sylvester Terkay vs. Dustin Starr
Elijah Burke introduces Terkay and then asks Starr what his name is. Terkay of course attacks him before he can answer and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. After getting the sweat wiped off his face by Burke, Terkay hits a spinning backhand and then puts on his submission for the easy victory. After the match, Terkay holds Starr up to let Burke get in a few cheap shots.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Teddy Long walks into MVP and his big spread backstage. MVP still hasn't signed his contract and Long wants to negotiate. MVP tells him his agent will call him.
Regal and Finlay are arguing backstage about their battles.
The Boogeyman is coming back.
Finlay & William Regal vs. Bobby Lashley & Batista
King Booker is here for guest commentating. After a hot start for the powerhouse team, Finlay pulls down the top rope when Lashley is running the ropes and then throws Hornswoggle on top of him before throwing him back in the ring. They continue to use heel tactics to stay in control and Finlay throws Lashley's shoulder into the ring post. I'm not really sure why Finlay and Regal didn't get a proper tag team run because they are great together. Batista gets the hot tag and explodes for a clothesline that Finlay has to break up the pin attempt. Batista and Lashley hit a double Spear and Batista hits a spinebuster on Regal for the victory. The match was pretty standard, but Regal and Finlay elevated it.
Match Rating: **1/2
After the match, Batista grabs the mic and thanks Booker for holding his title for him, but at SummerSlam he's going to be needing it back.
This was one of the easier SmackDown's to watch in the last few months. All it really lacked was a standout match or moment, but overall this was a good show heading into SummerSlam.
Overall Rating: 62%
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