Category: Smackdown 2006 Project

20 Man Battle Royal – WHC – Smackdown January 13th 2006

As mentioned in my previous review, Batista had vacated the WHC earlier in the night, so this match was set up to decide a new World Champion. 19 men enter the ring, leaving one more, and its… KURT ANGLE! Angle was a Raw superstar, but had jumped to SD apparently.

Love how this thing starts, with JBL telling the rest of the guys to “leave Angle to him”. JBL has always thought of himself as the face of SD, so it made sense that he would want to take out the “Raw” superstar Angle. Unfortunately for JBL, Angle is fired up and quickly eliminates the Wrestling God! Vito is next to go, then the rest of the SD stars decide to gang up on Angle!

Typical battle royal stuff, with people fighting everyone and guys going over left and right. We then start to get a story between Angle and Henry, when Henry knees Angle in the back and sends him out of the ring (under the ropes), and then slams him through the announce table. With Angle out of the match, or so it seems, Henry is now considered the favourite alone with the young powerhouse Bobby Lashley.

Henry and Lashley go head to head while the rest of the superstars watch, which makes what is essentially a small face off in reality, something really big. Henry gets the better of Lashley, and continues to be the favourite to win the title now.

Final four is Henry, Mysterio, and MNM. MNM both get eliminated by Mysterio, who is fighting for his fallen friend Eddie. Once Rey eliminates MNM, he realises what stands before him, and so does the crowd. Some actually Royal Rumble matches don’t capture the feel of this match when its down to the final two lol, which should give you an idea of how good this match is turning out to be.

Rey fights with everything he has got, 619’ing Henry over and over, but not being able to send him over the ropes. He goes all Benoit in 04 on Henry, trying to headlock him over the ropes, but the power of Henry sends Rey to the floor. New champion? Nope, ANGLE is still in this thing!

He’s back up now, and pissed off. Angle is a fucking lunatic normally, but when he’s pissed off? I wouldn’t want to be Henry lol. But as pissed as he is, Henry is still a monster of a man, and his awesome power quickly comes into play.

They go back and forth in the ring for a little while, with Angle nearly eliminating Henry a couple of times, but Henry is still too strong, so Angle has to wear him down some more. Henry’s powerbomb to Angle is markout worthy too. They don’t take their time with this finish either, and in a lot of ways its similar to Benoit/Big Show in 04, with how they have plenty of time to really build to the smaller guy finally taking out the bigger, stronger opponent. Just like in 04, the smaller guy wins, and as such, Angle becomes the NEW WHC! The finish was almost fucked up though as Angle landed on the floor too .

Now this is a pretty great battle royal, right up there with the 2004 Raw one probably. The start is great, with Angle and JBL, then the story of Henry in the middle is really good, and the battle between the final two is better than most Royal Rumbles tbh. Yet another match to add to my ever growing list of matches that could make my list lol.

Rating: ***3/4

Chris Benoit Vs Randy Orton – Smackdown January 13th 2006

Last week, Benoit got a DQ win over Orton who replaced Booker T in the best of 7 series for the US Title. That win for Benoit made it 3-3, so this would be the final match. If Benoit wins, he gets the US title. If Orton wins, then BOOKER wins the US Title.

Should also be noted that Batista gave up the WHC at the start of the show after Henry injured him. Orton wanted in the Battle Royal to get his shot at the WHC, but was forced into this match as he has already agreed to replace Booker. So Benoit would be fighting for the US Title, while Orton would be fighting for pride and to prove that he is one of the best, and no doubt to gain momentum going into the Royal Rumble which is a couple of weeks away.

They spend the opening few minutes just fighting for control, and you really get the sense that both men are doing their absolute best to fight for that position. This is an important match for both men, and for different reasons; Benoit wants the title, Orton simply wants the win for bragging rights (and no doubt to prove to Teddy Long that he should have been in the WHC Battle Royal).

Benoit ends up on the outside, and sees Booker T coming towards him with the crutch. So what does he do? Channels Eddie Guerrero of course! He holds his knee and tells the referee that Booker hit him with the crutch, and Booker gets sent to the back! Smart by Benoit to get any outside party sent away so he can be fully focuses on Orton, who he knows CAN beat him, as he proved in 04 for the WHC.

With Booker gone, and a commercial break, nothing has really changed in the ring. Both guys are still fighting for control, and its probably done in a way that Andy would describe as “gritty”, so you know its probably good lol.

Benoit turns things up a notch when he gets tired of fighting with Orton on the mat, and just chops the fuck out of him. Orton’s facial expressions when he gets chopped are just priceless too, which makes his attempt to stop Benoit even more meaningful.

Even with Orton in control of the match, he has to fight with Benoit every step of the way to keep control, and sometimes very nearly loses it. Benoit has to be right up there as one of, if not THE best opponent Orton has ever had. Its basically a lite version of the Benoit/Regal and Benoit/Finlay matches, so I think its safe to assume that everyone on here will pretty much adore this match.

Benoit’s big “comeback” spot is awesome too, something that you probably wouldn’t see from ANYONE else; its a headbutt while both guys are on the ropes, and Orton gets headbutted off the ropes to the guardrail. Its probably one of the best comeback spots I have seen lol.

I’m struggling to think of something to say now lol, without going all play by play . I guess its best to just reiterate what I have already said; this match is a fight. You can tell who has control of the match, but there is never a part of the match where someone is completely dominating as the other guy is constantly trying to fight out of whatever hold he is in. Screw calling this a lite version of Benoit/Regal and Benoit/Finlay, this is pretty much the full thing now.

I think highly of a small handful of Orton matches, but I don’t think I have seen anything quite like this from him before, even with Benoit. Most likely Orton’s best singles match, and probably his best match singles or otherwise.

My ONLY complaint with this match is the ref bump and interference. Orlando showing up was pointless (like always, even when he has a match), and with the performance Orton put on for this match, I think it would have been better for him to win this one clean rather than with Booker’s help. Everything else before that though was fan-fucking-tastic. This is going to make my top 50.

Rating: ****1/2