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No Way Out was live from the Staples Center and is the last PPV
before WrestleMania. There was a major change of the card this week when the tag
team match went from London/Kendrick vs. Deuce/Domino to another ladder match
with London/Kendrick, MNM, The Hardys, and Regal/Taylor back to the original
plan.
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CHRIS BENOIT/the HARDYS v.MNM & MVP
Added Saturday morning long after the TV tapings were done this match was
one of the best on the card. MVP isn’t going into a program with Benoit but it
wouldn’t be a bad idea since Benoit can carry him for a while. Since the events
of Armageddon’s ladder match the heat between the Hardys and MNM is off the
charts with Joey Mercury still wearing the protective nose covering. Vince seems
to drift between leaving both teams separate then coming to his senses and
putting them back together to save his PPV’s. During the match we saw something
I had never seen before-a double German suplex from Benoit to both members of
MNM. The finish was set up by Mercury taking everyone’s finisher then getting
put in the crossface and taping like a drunk man to Benoit. JBL is way over the
top during the match but as the show continued he needed to be. The only thing
that would have made this better would be a ladder.
In the first of a series of interviews Krystal Marshall interviewed Vickie
Guerrero who said she had a big announcement on Friday’s Smackdown. I have a
feeling that she and Krystal have been setting up Teddy Long for a sexual
harassment suit that will make Vickie GM of Smackdown, we'll see this Friday.
We then get a vignette with the Little Bastard and Finley. Little Bastard is
scared of Little Boogeyman and Finley sticks him in a dumpster where the Little
Boogeyman comes out.
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CRUISERWEIGHT
INVITATIONAL TITLE TOURNAMENT:
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY v.DAIVARI v.GREGORY HELMS v.FUNAKI v.SHANNON MOORE v.JIMMY WANG
YANG v.JAMIE NOBLE v.CHAVO GUERRERO
The rules in the match have contestants coming out one at a time until only one
is left. The first two out are Scotty 2 Hotty and Davari and Davari pins him.
Helms comes out next and he pins Davari with a knee to the head. Funaki comes
out next and he is eliminated quickly. Moore is next out and he and Helms go at
it for a while which makes sense since the two train together and were part of
the horrible WCW bit 3 Count. Moore is also eliminated by the knee to the head.
Jimmy Wang Yang is next and he eliminates Helms. After looking shocked Noble
comes out and the former Young Dragons go at it (Noble was the masked member
Jamie-San) pretty well. Noble is eliminated by Yang time, a flying moonsault. We
think the match is over but Chavo Guerrero comes out as a surprise contestant.
After a bunch of flying moves by Yang (the man can get up in the air) Chavo wins
using Eddie’s moves and leaves to mostly boos from the crowd. Not a bad match
and the surprise contestant gimmick actually worked this time.
Krystal interviews John Cena who sells a script someone wrote for him pretty
well.
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FINLAY/LITTLE BASTARD v.BOOGEYMAN/LITTLE
BOOGEYMAN
Once again Finley was given the task to make someone look good while he teaches
him how to wrestle as he did with Lashley. Both Boogeymen came out and did the
smashing clock thing. Surprisingly the Boogeyman wasn’t horrible and actually
did some wrestling moves. For some reason Finley beat the living snot of out
Little Boogeyman instead of having the mini’s hook up. Little Bastard escaped
into the crowd but not before handing Finley the shillelagh which was used to
clock Little Boogeyman.
Krystal then interviewed HBK who said he was going to watch Cena’s back until.
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KANE v. BOOKER T
An incredibly physical match that had Kane go over to keep the feud
started at the Royal Rumble going. Michael Cole had a cold and here is where his
voice starts to go. The only shocking thing here is the limited interference by
Sharmell.
Krystal interviews Batista afterward and he sort of gives away the ending of the
main event.
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WWE TAG TEAM TITLE
MATCH:
PAUL LONDON/BRIAN KENDRICK v.DEUCE & DOMINO:
The Deuce and Domino gimmick is getting
over but the team is a bit limited. They had beaten London/Kendrick in non-title
matches the past few weeks on Smackdown so you would have thought that
London/Kendrick were going over and you would have been right. They had Deuce
and Domino sell moves here and they weren’t bad doing so. London and Kendrick
were allowed to do most of their flying moves but Deuce and Domino teased the
old Road Warriors Doomsday Device finisher before Kendrick got the pin. You
would assume the feud here will continue but there is a good chance that Rob
Conway will arrive here and reform LeResistance with Sylvan to make Smackdown
where the real tag teams work. Cole’s voice is almost shot during this match.
We get the first part of the four part Bobby Lashley vignette to continue the
plan to get Lashley "super-over" by Vince. That led to the final Krystal
interview with Kennedy that had him insult the crowd and get major heat. Out of
nowhere Lashley walked up, said little and decked Kennedy.
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ECW TITLE
MATCH:
BOBBY LASHLEY v.MR.KENNEDY
This match was created during the Smackdown taping to add to the card. Lashley
came out first and Kennedy did the Pearl Harbor deal and tackled him as Lashley
walked to the ring. The match was a slow deliberate one that had Kennedy work on
Lashley’s legs with a series of moves including a cool new version of the Indian
Death Lock. The crowd started to turn on the match and JBL insulted the crowd
for doing so. It was actually a good match that ended when Kennedy brought in a
chair while the ref was down. He got a shot at Lashley then Lashley got the
chair and got DQ’ed when he used it on Kennedy. The crowd hated the finish but
that changed when Lashley followed Kennedy and just kept hitting him in the back
and arm over and over again at the entrance ramp. We got road agents and refs
out but Lashley just kept hitting him until the ECW chant started. The finish
kept both strong and was actually the only ending you could have used. Lashley
has been rumored to be a part of the Trump/Vince feud as well as Trump’s
wrestler which would turn Lashley heel. That was to have been Hulk Hogan’s spot
until he revealed the list of Hall of Fame candidates on the radio.
We then got to see the trailer for the Steve Austin film the Committed. The plot
has Austin and others as killers who are taken to an island where they will be
hunted as part of a televised game (remember Schwarzenegger's "Running Man"?).
X3’s Vinnie Jones is in the film and was in the audience to be interviewed by
the failing voiced Michael Cole. If you didn’t know any better you would say
that a Jones/Austin match will be part of WrestleMania. Of the three WWE films
this has been rumored to be the best and after the first ten minutes is action
piled on top of action.
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DIVA TALENT COMPETITION:
The Miz came out and led us into the talent competition. The first contestants
were Kelly, Layla and another Diva Search loser Milena in an Extreme Expose
dance contest. All three can dance and the T&A portion of the show was off to a
good start. Jillian from Smackdown was next and she stalled the killing of some
cats with her singing by insulting her fellow contestants. That led to the rest
of the Divas running out and getting into a catfight that was unfortunately
broken up by the refs. Suddenly Ashley came out and showed us the cover to
Playboy before taking off her top and showing her chest covered by hand painted
bunnies. The last time we saw this was when Sable stripped and showed her boobs
painted years back. Naturally (well as natural as Ashley’s boobs can not be)
Ashley won the talent contest.
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MAIN EVENT:
BATISTA/UNDERTAKER v.JOHN CENA/SEAN MICHAELS
Shawn was out first followed by Cena, Batista and then Taker. Now you
could wonder why Taker came out after the champion but the entrance was set on
fire and you had to do that last. Cole’s voice was gone at this point and JBL
had to do the match by himself. Something must have gotten into Batista because
he was breaking out moves he never used before. All four men had their working
shoes on and got the crowd geeked up with each move. There was little blood here
but Batista did get poked near the eye and bled a bit. This was a tightly worked
match that had Batista give 'Taker a spine buster to pay him back from getting
choke slammed 2 weeks ago at Raw. He left the ring and watched Taker get super
kicked then F-U’d before being pinned by Cena. JBL sold that Batista was pond
scum as Batista entered the ring with the belt, stood over Taker then made his
way to the back as Taker recovered and glared at Batista. As he did this Batista
yelled at Taker from the entranceway “Payback is a bitch”. This was one hell of
a main event.
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All in all, not a bad show. The Finley match wasn’t as bad as it could have been
and no one really embarrassed themselves. The Diva contest was a bit long but
was saved by the finish. JBL did a hell of a job covering for his sick partner
here and I hope Cole recovers for this week’s Smackdown. |
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Photo ©
2007 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2007 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
