Category: Smackdown 2006 Project

This might just seem like random pairing for the KOTR tournament, and it is, but Angle has vowed to take out his frustrations from losing the WHC at WM out on Orton. With Angle being a fucking lunatic, I would not want to be Orton :P.

Orton knows this, so he tries to stay away from Angle by backing into the corner a couple of times and getting the ref to keep Angle away… but he quickly walks into a clothesline and a belly to belly. We are about a minute into the match, and out comes the Ankle Lock! Actually makes sense to be done this early, so well done Angle! 🙂

Of course, Angle’s intensity and aggression from the get go ends up being his downfall, as he ends up shoulder first into the ring post, and this can begin a control segment from Orton who works over the now injured arm.

Angle is still just a pissed off motherfucker though, and he finds an opening for another Ankle Lock, but a kick to the injured shoulder breaks the hold and Orton is back on top. I’m guessing Orton called this match lol, because he is grounding Angle’s lunatic offence, and creating openings for him to land a move or two before being grounded again instead of them going balls to the walls with moves like Angle would probably do all the time if he could (which he pretty much does in TNA these days lol, aside from the odd match with the right opponent).

Holy crap, did Angle just SELL the injured arm when he hit a European Uppercut? He did! Bloody hell!

Angle’s big hope spot is nice, as he reverses a suplex attempt on the apron, and sends Orton to the floor. Angle continues to sell the arm, and really well too… until Orton gets back in the ring and out come the Germans ( lmao at that lol)! Orton counters the Angle Slam and nearly gets the 3 count in a really nice cut off spot, and then Angle counters the RKO really nicely into an Ankle Lock. Angle quickly drops to the mat and grapevines the leg, no doubt to make up for his injured arm (more selling!), and Orton taps! It ain’t over though, as Orton ends up getting another Ankle Lock, and SNAP! There goes his Ankle, aka SUSPENSION!!!

Wow, this was a GREAT 10 minute match. Angle sold his arm really well, and Orton controlled Angle and his offence incredibly well. Everything just seemed to click, and the only thing really done wrong was Angle hitting 3 German Suplexes in a row with the injured arm, but he did sell it again after those, so all is forgiven. One of the better “make Angle look less like a retard” matches I have seen.

Rating: ***3/4

A WM rematch! Liked their match at WM, thought it was a hell of a lot better than it should have been given the fact JBL was involved.

Long comes out before it starts and announces that it will be a CAGE match!

Didn’t think this “feud” was ready for a cage match just yet, but WWE was about to start using the cage as often as a singles match (after they had kinda cooled down with them since the Attitude Era where we would have one every couple of weeks 😛 ), so I guess it doesn’t matter too much. Benoit takes it to JBL straight away, and Bradshaw has to brawl his way back into control, and once he takes down Benoit, he quickly tries to climb out. Benoit drags him off, and tries to climb out himself, which honestly doesn’t bother me too much since I didn’t think their were in a heated feud. Benoit pretty much wants to beat JBL to win the US title, not necessarily maim him… but if he has to do that to win, then he’ll do that.

We get a couple of medium sized cage spots, with a back suplex from the top rope (in the middle of the ropes, not the corner), and Benoit launched off the top rope when they were battling in the corner to escape.

Plenty of stiff shots from both guys too a you would expect. They don’t like each other so they do want to inflict damage, but overall I believe I am right in saying that both men simply want to win rather than destroy each other; destroying each other just helps with the winning lol.

Off topic here… never been a fan of Jillian in terms of looks… but those tits and THAT top… yum.

Both men end up exhausted, and JBL takes full advantage of this by locking in a sleeper hold, hoping that Benoit is already worn down enough for this hold to be used as a viable finisher for the first time in years. Surprise surprise though, its not over with a sleeper, instead it begins the Benoit comeback.

All through the match, any of the big spots (aka from the top rope) have been taken by Benoit, so when he finally gets to make his big comeback at the end, he makes damn sure JBL takes a bump too, and he busts out a top rope German Suplex! Looked AWESOME considering a guy the size of JBL took it.

Finish is pretty great, with Benoit crawling out of the cage and Jillian trying to ram the door into his head. The ref stops her, and while she gets rid of him, JBL shoves Benoit of of the way and is about to leave… but Jillian slams the door into HIS face! Ha! Crossface is locked in, and JBL taps out! Only Jillian makes up for what she just did by distracting the ref inside the ring when she tried to climb in.

JBL reverses the Crossface into a pin like at WM, but Benoit kicks out this time. They then fight to get out of the door, but a low blow puts Benoit down and JBL picks up the win.

Really enjoyed this match, maybe not enough to add it to my final list, but will be put into consideration. I liked how they worked with the cage stip, given where their feud was. It wasn’t a blood and hate filled feud, though both guys don’t like each other at all, its about the title (for this match, anyway. Benoit wants revenge for WM by winning back the belt). So they don’t work this cage match like they want to kill each other, they try to win. And like I mentioned, trying to destroy each other helps them on their way to winning. So considering all of that, I thought they worked this cage match better than most people have in the last 5 or so years (HHH/Flair is the only one I can think of that was worked better).

Rating: ***1/2

Nitro wants revenge for last week when Londrick beat MNM in a non title match, and Kendrick wants to prove that their win last week wasn’t a fluke, and that any combination of Lonrick can beat any combination of MNM.

Before Nitro became Morrison and turned his singles matches in spot fests (before finally getting grounded a bit and turning pretty good), he was actually pretty good, and it showed in this match. His beatdown in this match, as short as it is, is really, really good.

Like last week though, Melina inadvertently costs her team (well, just Nitro this week), the match, with Kendrick doing a repeat of London last week by getting a surprise roll up pin!

No doubt all of this is just leading to a nice big tag title match with a decent amount of time to it. So while this was short, it probably served a purpose, and was good for the time it got as well.

Rating: *1/2

A WrestleMania rematch here (so sad that this match happened at WrestleMania lol). Henry cuts a promo about how he passed out and almost passed on when he got stuffed in the casket at WM. When they opened the casket, he had a vision and saw The Undertaker’s future, and how it would never be the same.

Undertaker begins the match with his massive rights and lefts, but the massive Henry puts a stop to those with one huge clothesline. They keep going back and forth, with Undertaker using his punches and experience to take down Henry, and Henry using his power to counter ‘Taker as often as possible.

The match ends up on the outside, and Henry is getting his arse handed to him. Before he can try to finish the match, The Great Khali makes his debut by walking down to the ring, having a stare down with ‘Taker, then destroying the Dead Man in typical early 90’s fashion lol.

This match was actually starting to look good, but they only got around 4 minutes to work with before The Great Khali shows up and ruins everything, much like he would do in every match he is involved in lol.

Rating: *

The winner of this gets to decide how the other dresses next week (something like that, anyway).

Stiffer than their previous bout, and Burchill is a lot more aggressive too. Loved their battle of Elbows to the face and then European Uppercuts. MANLY~!

Regal throws out a half nelson suplex, and I mark. That’s the most “technical” move so far in this match (might have been an arm drag earlier as well), everything else is just stiff uppercuts, elbows and knees.

Knee Trembler is avoided, and Regal takes a C4 from Burchill to lose the match.

Better than their first encounter, probably because it was just more hard hitting and vicious. Not on the level as the Benoit/Finlay/Regal matches, but nearly as fun as those and more interesting than a lot of the stuff going on in WWE at the time.

Rating: **3/4

This is Rey’s first title defence, and he only won the belt 5 days ago. Instead of Angle getting the first title shot since he is the former champion and never got pinned… Orton, the man who DID get pinned, gets the shot. Ummm… why exactly? 😛

Strange to see Rey taking things slow and going for a headlock early in the match, but it makes perfect sense. This is Rey’s first title defence, defending the title that was no doubt a dream of his to win. So he wants to take things slower than usual, be extra careful so he doesn’t make any mistakes early on that Orton can capitalise on.

Orton too doesn’t want to rush into anything. After losing at WM, a loss here might put an end to any title shots for some time, so he really needs to get the victory.

Its great to actually enjoy a headlock in 2006. Orton is one of the few people these days that has that ability. Being against Rey and having a hot crowd for the match certainly helped, but the way he worked the headlock was just fantastic. And the way he would release it and do some more damage to Rey before locking it back in again is great. And the dropkick to Rey while Rey is trying to springboard back into the ring is awesome as well.

Plenty of nice hope spots for Rey, and even better cut offs from Orton. Had to laugh at Rey countering an elbow from the ropes by Orton by putting his feet up, and Orton landing head first on them. Not sure where he was planning to elbow Rey :P.

Great finish to this great match too. 619 using the ring post, which makes Orton go loopy and fall onto the ropes at the other side so Rey can get another 619, and then hit the springboard legdrop!

Should have happened at WM. Would have been a great WM moment for Rey to win the title in this match, as well as defeating Orton on a big stage for everything Orton had done to Rey and had said about Eddie.

I definitely enjoyed the match more on this watch. Not by much, but a little. However, I still don’t think its as good as NWO.

Rating: ***3/4

LMAO at London and Kendrick sneaking up on Melina from behind and grabbing her while she is in mid entrance.

Kendrick start the match off in control, but then Melina gets revenge for earlier and causes Kendrick to lose control of the match for his team. I’ve mentioned in a past SD 06 review about Melina probably being the best booked Manager/Valet in years, and its things like that (revenge spots etc) that are the reason.

MNM do a wonderful job working over Kendrick and making the Southern Tag Formula as interesting as they can given the fact they are working in WWE. Loved how Kendrick nearly got over to his partner only to be stopped by Nitro, who hits a fancy spinny leg drop thingy on him and makes a cover, all the while staring and smiling at London because he knows MNM is in control.

The hot tag is teased numerous times, and even happens at one point but behind the refs back. It FINALLY happens, and London comes out on fire. MNM try to cheat their way to another victory, but London kicks out and nearly wins the match for his team! The last couple of near falls are well done and are all believable as finishes for the match.

Melina gets involved again, but her interference bites her team in the arse, and Londrick get the win!!!

Really enjoyed this one, much better than their previous match from…. whenever it happened before :P. MNM’s control segment was fantastic, and the finishing stretch was really nice too without going crazy or anything.

Rating: ***

Gotta admit, not looking forward to this match. I currently have it at ***1/2 or ***3/4, but given the fact my tastes have changed so much since I last watched it, I don’t imagine thinking its very good.

Well, its at least starting good. Orton attacks Angle and sends him out of the ring, which gives us some more Orton/Rey which is pretty much what this match was based on. I agree with whoever said Angle had no place in this match other than the fact he was the champ.

The triple German suplex, while essentially meaningless, is still fucking AWESOME. A couple more pointless but cool moves (all Angle pretty much), and then it starts to become a singles match, first with Orton/Angle and then Rey/Angle. Rey tapping out to the Ankle Lock while Orton distracted the ref pissed me off. I agree with Andy when he talks about heels getting the “phantom win”. It just makes the babyface look weak and like they are cheating the heel out of the victory if they win in the end. Doesn’t work quite the same here I know, but when he makes Rey, the ultimate babyface tap out and NOT get the win, then it does fit here imo.

Speaking of making people look weak… Angle is just throwing both guys around like they are nothing. He’s already made Rey tap, and holy fuck he’s just made Orton tap while Rey distracted the ref! No wonder the fans are pissed off when anyone does anything to Angle. He should have won TWICE now.

So yeah, Rey wins. And who does he pin? Orton of course! Now, I both like and hate that at the same time. Like, because he beat ORTON for the belt, the guy who nearly took his WM title shot from him, and made all those comments about Eddie. Hate, because Angle still ended up looking like a fucking beast because of how much he dominated and the fact he didn’t get pinned to lose the belt… plus he made both opponents tap out. Add to that, the fact that this was only followed up on SD with Angle getting a title shot (as did Orton, which made the Angle title shot seem like they were just giving them out for the hell out it). Had it been done on PPV, with Angle saying how he never got beat etc etc and they made a program out of it, it might not have been bad.

Other than a few (and I mean a FEW, not many at all compared to what I remembered) awesome looking SPOTS~!, this match is pretty bad. Angle throws moves left right and centre, looks the better of the three, and doesn’t help make them look good AT ALL. Rey winning the belt felt like the biggest fluke ever rather than what it should have been; an emotional battle where he really looked like the winner in the end.

Rating: *

The Undertaker had a pretty good year overall in 2005, thanks to his feud with Randy Orton. His 2006 started off good too, as he had a near 5 star match with Kurt Angle at No Way Out for the title. Then it went downhill, starting with this match. Henry had cost The Undertaker the WHC in a rematch with Kurt on Smackdown, so this match was made, and for some reason it was turned into a casket match. There is no hype video, and I forgot most of what happened in 2006 lol, so I have no clue if there was a legitimate reason for it being a casket match. The only video they show for this match is how Henry cost The Undertaker the title on Smackdown a few weeks earlier lol.

This match didn’t have the best of feuds behind it, but at least they did a good job of building Henry up as a decent threat (though nobody in their right mind thought he would win lol), having him beat Angle in a non title match, put Angle through a table, take out Batista, and even put The Undertaker through a table. So at least they were half trying :p.

‘Taker does a good job of selling for Henry, really putting over his strength. The theme of the match seems to be “can The Undertaker knock Henry down?”, as he keeps hitting big clotheslines, and even Old School, but fails to take down the World’s Strongest Man.

Fun spot with Henry going for his Body Guillotine, where he goes through the ropes too, but The Undertaker moves and Henry goes right through the ropes and lands in the casket! He looks terrified at first, but gets his bearings and drags The Undertaker in the casket, and they have a brawl while being inside the casket.

Impressive spot with The Undertaker hitting his corner Last Ride spot, finally taking Henry down, which causes Michael Cole to bust a nut. This is then followed by an even more impressive spot, as The Undertaker hits his signature top rope drive, clearing the casket too, and landing on Mark Henry!

The Undertaker then shows us HIS strength, as he picks up Mark Henry and Tombstones him! All that’s left for him to do is roll Henry into the casket, and this one is over.

Like the majority of WrestleMania 22, this is an extremely fun match. It’s not one of his best, but it’s still got “watchablilty”, and a number of memorable spots. The match told a nice simple story, with The Undertaker trying to overcome the power of Henry and just take him off his feet.

Rating: **1/2

2 guys known for being pretty stiff in the ring. Usually ends up being pretty awesome :D.

Benoit goes for a Crossface early, and it was great to see JBL try to counter it by locking his hands together, only for Benoit to smash the fuck out of them with his fist. I dig shit like that, in case you didn’t know by now :P.

JBL seems to be focused on the back of the head and the neck of Benoit, which will no doubt help him to set up the Clothesline from Hell as well as take advantage of Benoit’s previously broken neck. JBL’s punches are epic too. Nothing fancy, just a big fat man throwing his fists into someone else’s face as hard as he can.

Nice to see some similarities between the Finlay/Benoit/Regal matches here as well, mainly with the stiffness that I already mentioned, along with how everything they do feels like they really had to fight to do it. One instance is a superplex by JBL. Before he is able to hit it, Benoit tries to headbutt the fuck out of him first to get him away, but in the end JBL is successfully in hitting it.

Pretty funny to see JBL hit the 3 Amigos (which in Keyfabe was disrespect, but in reality was nothing but respect for Eddie, as JBL was a friend of his), and then great to see Benoit bring them out as well to show JBL how they are REALLY done.

More of the “fight to do anything” with JBL making sure Benoit doesn’t hit another German suplex on him, followed by the Clothesline from Hell being reversed into a Crossface which is reversed into a roll up (with ropes for leverage)! JBL beats Benoit, and becomes the greatest technical wrestler of all the times!!!

Really liked this first time around, and I still really like it now. Plenty of what I like in a match, and hell, I’m even upping my rating a little!

Rating: ***1/4