Stew Style
WWE (Smackdown Brand) in Belfast (25/10/02)
10/25 WWE in Belfast
Odyssey Arena
Report by Stewart Allen of Pro Wrestling Press (http://pwpress.hypermart.net)
The WWE’s return to Northern Ireland after a break of about 8 years could hardly have filled management and talent with much in the way of excitement, being as how they managed to arrive on the day of a big bomb scare in Belfast. Having just been evacuated from my place of work around midday while bomb defusal experts dealt with the suspect device, I spotted WWE Cruiserweight champion Jamie Noble looking rather upset. Going across to talk to him I discovered that he had been hoping to get to the gym for a workout… but that the road to the gym was one of the roads that had been closed off by the security forces. Offering a lame apology and sensing that he probably wasn’t in the mood to answer any questions, I left Noble to walk off down the road, presumably back towards the hotel where they were staying to report back on the gym’s unavailability.
Several hours and one controlled explosion later, the WWE’s Smackdown brand presented their first ever card at the Belfast Odyssey Arena. I hope that management don’t decide on the strength of today’s bomb alert that Belfast should be skipped on future tours, because the sold out crowd was wholly appreciative of every match on the card.
(1) Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman beat Jamie Noble & Tajiri in a good energetic opener. No dissention was evident or teased between Noble & Tajiri despite Tajiri’s apparent face turn a couple of shows ago. No Nidia with Noble, by the way. Everyone hit their moves well, except for one Mysterio kick to Noble which missed by about a foot but was sold anyway… drawing some groans from the crowd. It struck me as I watched the match how much of a unique experience it seems to be in the WWE today to see Mysterio ‘slumming it’ with the Cruiserweights rather than working heavyweight main events or semi mains. The crowd were rabid to see a 619 and chanted for it throughout the match. On both the teased and the completed move, Noble missed being able to drop himself over the middle rope… both times having to pick himself up and drape himself over it for the move. Must’ve been the effects of not getting a proper workout, eh Jamie? Mysterio & Kidman won after Kidman elevated Mysterio into a top rope rana on Noble for the clean three count. Great fun though.
(2) Sho Funaki & Shannon Moore beat Bill DeMott & Crash. While he is no doubt a tremendous wrestler, it was amazing to see the perennially underappreciated Funaki looking like the star of the match. Of course, it’s amazing to think that his new cult status is all down to his announcing gig. People either didn’t know who Bill DeMott was, or they just didn’t care. To his credit though, DeMott looked in good shape and worked well. The match was played as light comedy for the most part, with Crash coming into his own in that case. While in the ring with Funaki, Crash delved into his trunks and pulled out a rising sun headband which he wore to demonstrate some ‘martial arts’ skill straight out of the Karate Kid movie. Funaki just punched him in the mouth. Simple but effective, I think you’ll agree. The match was thoroughly entertaining but still rather forgettable action, and was over when Moore rolled up Crash for the decisive cover.
(3) Booker T beat Matt Hardy. Hardy entered the ring first, wearing a new and rather swank looking “V1” T-shirt. He gets some heat with the crowd by cutting a quick promo taking credit for scaring the Undertaker sufficiently that Taker didn’t even make the European Tour and challenging any Smackdown superstar… no, just ANYONE in the building for a match. Raw’s Booker T made his appearance to an incredible pop, and the two worked an entertaining, if short, match. Matt Hardy was the star of the show though, with his heel tactics coming over so well. It’s incredible to think that the guy in the ring who was oozing heel charisma was not too long ago one half of the dull as dishwater babyface Hardy Boyz team… and while Jeff has done nothing to improve his game in the singles ranks other than smearing more glow in the dark body paint over himself, credit has to be given to the more studious and serious Matt, who has learned to work the crowd like an old pro and looks well on his way to becoming a huge name in the business. Ending sequence saw a Twist of Fate countered into an axe kick for the very popular 1-2-3.
(4) John Cena & Albert beat Chuck Palumbo & The Big Valbowski. Cena looks to be moulding himself into Matt Hardy, version 2.0… for want of a better term. What Hardy is doing with his indignant crowd interaction, cockiness and comedy moments, Cena is copying… and just as it is working for Matt, so it is having an effect on Cena. Cena was an effective enough at his job that he managed to get the crowd to turn against him simply by his body language. Apart from Cena, the rest of the match was pretty ugly, with Palumbo in particular looking a fair bit off his A-Game. The finishing sequence saw Cena push Valbowski off the top rope as he was attempting a Money Shot on Albert, leading to Albert hitting a Baldo Bomb to get the academic three count. Post match, Valbowski laid in the ring for a few extra minutes and seemed to be checking with Palumbo and the referee what kind of movement he had in his legs after the force of the Baldo Bomb on his back. It’s difficult to say whether this was Valbowski really putting over his opponent’s finisher through extended selling, or whether he actually did receive a stinger from the move.
(5) Rikishi beat D-Von (w/ Ron Simmons). D-Von & Ron make some comments pre-match, including Simmons telling D-Von that there are no black people in the audience, and that he might just stay around here and start up a new race of people. Rikishi comes out for the rebuttal in arguably the biggest pop of the night. Rikishi makes mention that if Ron Simmons will be at ringside, that he had a surprise too, bringing out Northern Ireland’s own Dave “Fit” Finley to be his cornerman. The match was short, with Rikishi actually pinning D-Von after the Rikishi Driver, despite the Tombstone embargo. Post match, both D-Von & Ron got stereo stinkfaces from Rikishi & Finley Before ‘Kish asked Finley to dance… something that he wouldn’t do just yet, preferring to introduce the Belfast Giants (the local Ice Hockey champions) who came in the ring and did something vaguly resembling dancing.
(6) Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle beat Los Guerreros to retain the WWE Tag Titles. I love Eddy & Chavo, and their pre-match promo just underlined that love a little bit more. Eddy turns on the fake charm, telling us how nice it is here, and how he’ll have to tell all the ‘familia’ in Texas what a great place “Dublin, Ireland” is! A quick whisper from Chavo sets Eddy back on the straight and narrow… and connects Belfast with the place where they built the Titanic. Chavo counters with a sarcastic “Nice workmanship…” line. As for Kurt Angle, I love the fact that the crowd like to sing “You suck” at appropriate points during his entrance music, yet cheer him like crazy for the rest of the match. Angle was definitely considered the star of the match, which lasted about 20 minutes (which is over double the length of the acclaimed match the two teams had on Smackdown last week). The extra time allowed the guys to work a little bit more, and extend out the periods of the match. Benoit & Angle worked over Los Guerreros for almost 10 minutes before Chavo’s clothesline to the back of the head of Benoit turned the tide for an extended heat sequence on Benoit. As the match broke up into the end sequence (which was chocked full of near falls, as you’d expect), we saw some terrific action, such as Angle countering Eddy’s Frog Splash attempt with a frighteningly fast top rope belly-to-belly suplex and a couple of attempted Crippler Crossfaces. Benoit, Angle and the referee had a coming together at one point, which seemed to give Los Guerreros the chance they needed, but Kurt reversed out of Eddy’s Lasso from El Paso into an ankle lock. Eddy had to tap out. Awesome match as you’d expect out of these guys, but definitely not on the level of the PPV match from Sunday when Benoit and Angle beat Mysterio & Edge. Post match, Benoit and Angle have a staredown which erupts into violence, with Benoit locking Angle in a Crossface until Angle could reverse out of it into another ankle lock. The champions put aside their differences to twart Eddy & Chavo’s attempts to steal the title belts, however, and shook hands afterwards.
(7) Torrie Wilson beat Dawn Marie in a Bra & Panties match. Standard T&A fare here… not that there’s anything wrong with that. Torrie looks even hotter in real life, I think. Amazing.
(8) Brock Lesnar beat Edge to retain the WWE Title. This match was like taking a peek into the future, since not only was Edge competing in the main event for the WWE Title, but Brock Lesnar actually busted out some wrestling, as opposed to the brawling monster style he’s been lumbered with. No Heyman with Brock either. The match revolved around Brock working over the injured shoulder and arm of Edge with a number of painful moves… most notably the old Anderson hammerlock bodyslam. Edge worked very well as the sympathetic babyface, and he tailored his offence to desperate rollups and sunset flips for the most part… only to see Brock once again kick out and take him down again. Brock received some great heat from the crowd too… who were excellent throughout, meaning every time he’d cut short an Edge comeback, he’d incite the crowd to more boos. When Edge finally did start hitting the trademark moves, the falls were near enough that the fans were actually buying a title change, which can only be a good thing for Edge’s future career as a main eventer. A great reversal at one point near the end saw Edge land an Edgecution DDT as a counter for the F5. At that point, I believe the referee had taken a bump, rendering the cover useless. Brock rallied and caught Edge with another F5 for the 3 count. Well, it wasn’t what you’d call PPV main event calibre match just yet… but the two worked sufficiently well together that I’m convinced that giving them a chance on a US PPV main event would not be a mistake.
All in all, a most entertaining house show, in my opinion… The fans were great, and the action continued the recent tradition of great Smackdown branded shows. They’re off to Manchester tomorrow (for the UK PPV, which now apparently also features the top two matches of Angle & Benoit v Los Guerreros and Lesnar v Edge) and Sheffield on Sunday to complete the tour.