I’ve always really enjoyed the idea of a holiday based wrestling event. Sure WCW’s Halloween Havocs were unintentionally scary, but I guess the idea of people dressing up and such really broke up the monotony of regular PPVs. Sadly WWE did not continue the Halloween Havoc tradition, even though the Great American Bash was first picked up last year. That isn’t to say that they haven’t had the occasional Halloween based show. There was the immortal Saturday Night’s Main Event from 1985. And then there was the 2002 Smackdown Halloween Party. Complete with Stephanie revealing her true colors and a return of a WWE legend. Plus there’s a Brock Lesnar/Rey Mysterio match. Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get reviewing.

And of course, I will be using the click here system. As its been a while since my last wrestling review, you may want to bone up. Ha, bone! Woooo Halloween!

The show opens up with a Halloween party in the back. Faarooq is dressed as a pimp!. Eddie is here, and dressed as Zorro. Tonight he’s going to carve his initials on Kurt Angle’s gold metals. Elsewhere, Tajiri would make Mike Awesome proud, dressed as a disco dancer. Stephanie arrives, dressed as a witch (surprise, surprise) and announces that Rey Mysterio will fight Brock Lesnar tonight in a non-title match!

Edge vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit is one half of the first Smackdown Tag Team Champions, while Edge is two years away from tagging Lita. They lockup to start and perform some chain wrestling. Edge starts working on the arm, but Benoit works him into the corner. Benoit with a headlock takedown, Edge sends him into the ropes and delivers a knee. Edge takes Benoit into the corner, but Benoit chops back. Edge reverses the Irish whip, and sends Benoit chest first into the turnbuckle. They battle to the outside, and Edge slams Benoit into the barricade. Back in the ring, Benoit chops at Edge, but Edge counters into a suplex, dropping Benoit onto the top rope, ribs first. Benoit lands on the outside, and Edge goes for a baseball slide, but misses, and Benoit sends Edge onto the ground. Benoit then clips Edge’s shoulder with a dropkick into the stairs. Benoit goes for a pin, but Edge grabs the bottom rope. Benoit goes to work on Edge’s shoulder, and Edge is bleeding from the nose! Drop Toe hold by Benoit, followed by a sliding dropkick into Edge’s shoulder. Benoit with a suplex that gets two. Benoit whips Edge into the corner, but Edge stuns him with an elbow. Edge gets caught on the second rope, and the two men exchange blows before Edge lands a huge facebuster off the second rope. We go to commercial, but thankfully I edited out the commercials. Edge is on the top rope , but misses a dropkick. Benoit goes for the crossface, but Edge reaches the ropes. Three German suplexes by Benoit, and he’s going for the headbutt! He dives, but nobody’s home. Both men are down and the ref starts the count. They start choping at each other, but Edge lands the Edge-O-Matic for two. Edge with a face plant that gets two. Edge lands a flapjack and signals for a spear. Benoit moves! Crossface by Benoit! Edge rolls, but Benoit will not let go. Suddenly Kurt Angle pulls Benoit out of the ring. Benoit yells at Angle, and Edge baseball slides into Benoit, who runs into Angle! Edge goes to the top rope and dives onto Angle! Benoit comes back into the ring and gets speared by Edge for the three count! Angle walks to the back, and Benoit scowls back at his partner. I love the idea of tag team champions hating each other! 4 Kamalas!

Backstage, John Cena is dressed as...well, I’m not sure. But he starts rapping, which I believe was his first time on TV. Good thing for him too, because his "heel turn" on Billy Kidman and wussy "not my fault" promos were going nowhere. He raps at some fat lady, and the other superstars boo him. Tajiri starts hitting on Torrie, but spots an even hotter woman at the bar. It’s Mae Young, dressed as Marilyn Monroe. Poor Tajiri. Elsewhere, Dawn Marie arrives with Al Wilson. Oh boy!

Back from commercial, Benoit comes to the Halloween party looking for Angle. Some pretty good costumes here too. I think I saw an Incredible Crash Dummy. Anyway, Benoit leaves, and Angle reveals himself as the killer from Scream. Why did he kill all those kids? I never saw that coming.

Elsewhere, Mark Lloyd asks Brock Lesnar what he’s supposed to be. Brock responds that he’s supposed to be the WWE Champion! Man I miss that guy. Anyway, he goes into the locker room and sits down with Paul Heyman. He compares the Thrilla In Manilla to the recent Hell in the Cell Match between Brock and the Taker. Paul doesn’t think that Brock is the same man anymore. He doesn’t think that Brock can beat the Big Show. I remember laughing pretty hard when Paul said that. After all, Big Show hadn’t been a contender for over two years at this point. Paul says that Brock won’t be able to manhandle, suplex or F5 the Big Show, so he won’t be able to beat the Big Show. And he was right! I never saw that coming!

Big Show vs. Rikishi

Show isn’t even dressed for competition, so hopefully this means it’ll be a quick match. Show was in the beginning of a mega push since being traded from Raw. Rikishi starts with kicking and punching and the Big Show goes to the outside. Show sends Rikishi into the ringpost, and brings him back into the ring. Headbutt by Big Show. Huge clothesline gets two! Big Show takes the turnbuckles off and sends Rikishi into the exposed steel. Show picks up Rikishi with ease and powerslams him. Rikishi slowly gets up and gets chokeslammed down for the three count. Nice and short and established Big Show as a focused, motivated contender. That’s gotta be worth about 2 Kamalas.

Big Show gets on the mic, and says that what he did to Rikishi was just a taste of what Brock will get at Survivor Series. He challenges Brock to come down to the ring, and Brock is on the move Heyman reasons with Brock, and we go to commercial.

Big Show is still in the ring and waiting for Brock. Smackdown will not continue until he comes out. Just like when Stone Cold held Raw "hostage" back in the late Nineties. To pass the time, Big Show runs footage of him putting the Undertaker out of action last week with the old throwing him off the stage onto wires routine. If Stephanie wasn’t too busy stuffing her face with sweets in the back, perhaps Smackdown would continue. Show continues to gloat about taking out the Undertaker, and how he will beat Brock. FINALLY, Brock emerges, and we’ve got a staredown. Brock takes the mic, and agrees that Big Show is a giant. A giant piece of BEEP! He must mean shit. Show grabs the mic back and walks out of the ring. He has been advised not to beat Brock up until Survivor Series when he can take the Championship. Last week he did something that’s never been done before, and tonight, he’s going to do something to Brock that’s never been done before.

Backstage, Torrie is stretching for her no doubt grueling match with Dawn Marie.

We see highlights of Al Wilson and Dawn Marie making out last week. That’s not cool. And sadly the angle would get worse before it got better

Trick or Treat Match - Dawn Marie vs. Torrie Wilson

Basically they wrestle around in a pool of unknown brown liquid. They say its chocolate, but I’m not that trusting. Torrie picks up a pie and throws it in Dawn Marie’s face. Torrie then tackles Dawn into the unknown liquid pool, and the match is on. They roll around a bit and this is actually getting pretty hot. The ref gets pulled into the pool as well, and Torrie lands a suplex. Torrie strips Dawn of her cop outfit and starts strangling her. They exchange some blows and roll around again, this time over the ref. Dawn stumbles and trips out of the pool, and Torrie gets the pin. She then tosses Tony Chimel into the pool for good measure. Pretty good T&A match, so I’ll give a better rating than the last match. Besides I’d rather see dawn’s ass than Rikishi’s. 2.25 Kamala

Backstage, Tajiri is still stuck with Mae and Moolah. The lights go out, and Matt Hardy V1 comes in, with his music playing on a ghettoblaster. The party needs a dose of Mattitude. He saves Tajiri by explaining that they have a match tonight. Mae tries to stick up for her man, and gives Tajiri a kiss for good luck. Poor dude!

We come back from commercial, and Jamie Noble and Nidia are bobbing for apples! Now there’s a character that had potential! Eddie checks out Steph’s cleavage, and asks for a tag title shot for Los Guerrerros. Cena comes up rapping and explains that Mr. McMahon is in Steph’s office.

Tajiri vs. Matt Hardy V1

Today’s Matt Facts are: Matt always got more Halloween candy than his brother and Matt has seen all of the Friday the 13th movies! Me too brother! Matt celebrates after landing an arm drag. They lock up to start and Tajiri bridges out of a top wrist lock. Tajiri mocks the V1 pose. V1 does some more celebrating and Tajiri lands a kick to the skull, sending Hardy to the outside. Baseball slide by Tajiri, followed by an Asai Moonsault. Back in the ring, Tajiri flips, but gets caught in a side-effect for two. Hardy pounds on Tajiri in the corner, and lands some chops. Tajiri fights back, but Hardy goes to the eyes. Hardy places Tajiri in a necklock, but Tajiri channels the power of the crowd but gets sent down with an elbow. Slam by Hardy, and he goes up for the second rope legdrop. Tajiri rolls out of the way. They trade more blows, and Tajiri hits a dropkick to Matt’s face! Another stiff kick gets two. Springboard elbow by Tajiri, and another stiff shot gets two. The Tarantula gets countered by Hardy for two. Tajiri gets the Tarantula after all and goes for the Buzzsaw kick. Matt ducks, goes for the twist of fate, Tajiri reverses into a backslide, which Hardy reverses into a lowblow and twist of face. Fasted paced action all the way. 3.75 Kamala

Steph comes into her office to find somebody wearing a Vince McMahon mask. "Vince" explains that Scott Steiner will be going to Raw when he comes to the WWE. "Vince" unmasks himself as none other than Eric Bischoff. Steph goes to slap him, but Bischoff counters, and gives Steph a long kiss. He sure loves those McMahon women. Thankfully this angle really never went anywhere.

Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero

Sadly Eddie didn’t wear his Zorro costume, but he still has the mullet, so its a moot point. Chain wrestling to start, and the crowd is all over Eddie. Shoulder block by Angle, who is in total control. Eddie rolls to the outside and the ref starts the count. They lockup, and Eddie drops Angle into the corner, and starts punching. Angle recovers, clotheslines, sends Eddie into the ropes, and hits a flying forearm. Kurt runs into the turnbuckle, and Eddie lands a back suplex. Eddie starts choking Angle with his boots, a few elbows, and Eddie locks in a headlock. Angle comes to his feet and breaks the hold. Eddie lands another elbow, and puts Kurt back into the headlock. Kurt battles out again, and hits a powerslam . But Eddie comes back with a dropkick to Angle’s head. Eddie continues his assault on Angle in the corner, before suplexing him back into the ring. Back to the rear chinlock. Angle comes out, but gets hit with a knee. Eddie locks his legs around Kurt’s head, and uses the ropes for leverage. Angle’s arm comes down once, twice, but not a third time. Kurt reverses into the ankle lock, but Eddie reaches the ropes quickly. Eddie is back in charge, and puts Angle back into the corner. Kurt reverse and German suplexes Eddie onto his stomach. Both men are down! They slowly come back to their feet. They exchange blows and Kurt hits two big clotheslines and a back body drop. Kurt goes for a German suplex, but Eddie reverses. He charges back, and Kurt catches him with an overhead belly to belly suplex for two. Eddie goes for a vertical suplex, but Angle hits three German suplexes, but only gets a two count. Angle goes for the Angle Slam, but Eddie reverses into a cradle for two. Eddie gets thrown into the turnbuckle, and lands a tornado DDT for two. Eddie goes for the Laso From El Paso, but Kurt reverses into the Ankle Lock! Eddie reaches the ropes, grabs the ref, and hits a lowblow on Angle. Brainbuster by Eddie and he heads for the top rope. Kurt shoves the referee into Eddie! Chavo Guerrero comes out but gets nailed by Angle. Kurt goes for a top rope armdrag to Eddie but gets hit by Chris Benoit and his Tag Team Championship Belt! Eddie lands the frog splash and gets the three count! Benoit then nails Eddie and then Chavo on his way out. Another great match. 4.25 Kamala!

Back at the party, Angle is furious. Poor Shannon Moore gets thrown across a table. Nobody is going anywhere until he finds Benoit. The Scream Guy appears again, and Angle naturally assumes that it is Benoit, ripping his schtick off from earlier in the evening. He removes the mask, and it’s BROTHER LOVE!!!!! A true WWE legend! Brother Love loves Angle, and Benoit ambushes from behind. The two brawl, smashing tables and chairs that get in their way. Benoit goes for the crossface, and Angle reverse into the Ankle lock. Kurt hits an Angle Slam onto a table just as Benoit smashes a bottle across Kurt’s head. Both men are down and out!

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Mysterio slips through Brock’s legs and runs outside the run. Brock catches Rey in the ring and literally biffs him into the corner. Rey is on the run again, and manages to evade Brock. Mysterio comes out of nowhere off the top rope and lands onto Lesnar. Rey goes for a hurracanrana, but gets caught by Lesnar and smashed into the ringpost for a nasty bump. Rey crawls back into the ring and Brock walks around with Rey on his shoulders, before finally slamming him face first onto the canvas. Brock is just toying with Rey, picking him up by the throat and then giving him an overhead belly to belly suplex. Big shoulder blocks in the corner, but Lesnar takes too long and Rey goes to work with the dropkicks. Brock is in position for the 619! Rey goes for it, but gets caught by the Big Show!. Show throws Rey into the crowd. And Lesnar is on the attack. Big Show rams Lesnar into the steel post and drops him with a clothesline. Big Show picks Lesnar up, goes for a chokeslam, but turns it into a regular slam, sending Brock through the announce table. Big Show wants the belt! Its his and the show is over. 3.25 for the match, cause it was fun just to see Rey Rey get manhandled!

Here’s the thing:

An excellent card which showcased 4 great matches, some great backstage skits, and two decent matches that could have been much worse. And we got to see Brother Love. Clearly this was a time when Smackdown was the better brand , until they stacked Raw and gave us moronic storylines on Smackdown.

Overall Rating: 4.5 Kamala