Original Airdate: Friday, May 18th, 2007
1st Mariner Arena
Baltimore, Maryland
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22
We get a lengthy recap of the Batista/Undertaker/Edge situation before being forced to listen to the awful SmackDown intro music. Edge's inaugural address is tonight. Why not?
Matt Hardy vs. MVP
I have a feeling we'll see more of this down the road. MVP dominates the early going and hits the first big move of the match with a kick to the head that knocks Hardy out to the floor and into the commercial break. MVP continues to work on Hardy after the break with the announcers selling Hardy's toughness. Hardy tries to climb the ropes, but slips to sell his injuries. He is able to fight off MVP and hits a second rope elbow drop for a 2 count. Hardy goes for a Twist Of Fate, but MVP lifts him up and drops him face first into the top turnbuckle. He hits the Playmaker and that's all for MVP. MVP needed the momentum heading into his third attempt to win the United States Championship, so no surprise on the booking here. The match was fine.
Match Rating: **1/4
Michael Cole interviews MVP in the ring after the match and he talks about beating Benoit twice in one night to solidify him as the US Champion.
We get an Edge vignette hyping up his career and Rated R Superstar moniker.
Now we get an Undertaker video package featuring the attack by Mark Henry and Taker being carried away. This era (not just WWE, but TV in general) had such an ugly look to it.
Chavo Guerrero, Deuce & Domino vs. Jimmy Wang Yang, Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Just like every Cruiserweight Champion before him, Chavo has done nothing with the belt after the initial shock of him winning it. I'm really just surprised they kept around as long as they did. Most of the match consists of JBL and Cole talking about London and Kendrick's masks. The faces are on offense most of the match. Yang starts climbing the ropes and London runs to keep the other opponents out of the way. This allows for Yang to hit the moonsault on Chavo and pick up the victory. That was short and not quite as energetic as you would expect.
Match Rating: *1/2
We get a vignette of Mark Henry saying that this isn't a graveyard, it's a jungle and he's a silverback.
Mark Henry vs. Funaki
Funaki apparently is still on the active roster. Funaki builds up some momentum off the ropes and tries leaping at him, but gets the brick wall treatment. Funaki goes off the top rope, but Henry catches him an hits the World's Strongest Slam for the easy win. This is what it was supposed to be.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get the same Lashley/McMahon video from ECW and then see Chris Benoit heading to the ring.
Chris Benoit vs. Finlay
Getting closer and closer to the tragedy makes it harder for me to watch these Benoit matches. What feels like absolutely nothing happens for about 5 minutes and then we get a commercial break. More of nothing happens until Hornswoggle enters the ring. Benoit attacks him and Finlay tries to attack him with the shillelagh. Benoit sees it coming and slaps on the Crossface. Out comes MVP and we have a DQ finish. Finlay then hits Benoit with the shillelagh, taking him out. MVP hits Benoit with a boot to the face and continues taking it to him. This match was as dull as they come.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Backstage they show Jillian Hall trying to walk out with Ozzy Osbourne and being held back.
Ashley is brought out to introduce Ozzy. Ozzy performs "I Don't Wanna Stop".
We get another Edge hype video of him being the most watched champion of the last 5 years. What a strange thing to brag about.
Miz vs. Christian York
Miz dominates and hits the swinging neckbreaker for the easy win. Great commentary by me on this episode.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kristal thanks Teddy Long for giving her best friend Vickie Guerrero an interview. In comes Vickie and she's very cordial and appreciative. Teddy is skeptical because she's a Guerrero, so she changes the subject to how much Kristal talks about him.
Kane vs. William Regal
Why do they enjoy torturing me? To make things even worse, Boogeyman and his smaller friend are out to watch. Regal actually gets in a little bit of offense today, hitting a suplex and a knee to the throat. God forbid that last, so Kane hits one of the worst looking top rope clotheslines you will ever see. Dave Taylor throws Little Boogeyman into the ring. Regal tries to throw him around, but Kane hits a chokeslam and wins. Boogeyman then crawls in the ring and pulls out he worms. Regal rolls out and heads to the back. I'm sorry, but how did anyone who came up with this idea think that this was good?
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Teddy Long is out to introduce the World Heavyweight Champion, Edge. He does the whole "I beat everyone on Raw" stuff, which no one cares about because it's all the same. Teddy reminds him of his match with Batista on Sunday. He brags about being the only one to win his championships from John Cena and Undertaker. Out comes Batista and he says that title belongs to him. He grabs his hand and won't let go as we go off the air.
2007 me was very much into the product, but even I was looking forward to Judgment Day when it happened. I am looking forward to it even less this time around and it's because the build has either been poor or just features things I don't care about. This episode started off promising and just got worse and worse, culminating with Kane continuing to just be one of the worst characters in WWE history. He's also a terrible mayor.
Overall Rating: 35%
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