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WWE Recaps
WWE SmackDown! House Show - June 18th, 2005
By AARON MYKYTA
Jun 19, 2005 - 6:42:00 PM

David Long sent this in:

WWE Summerbash Tour from RDS Arena, Dublin. June 18th.

Show started at 7:30pm with a 20,000 plus crowd on hand, the largest ever crowd for a wrestling event in Ireland. Vince McMahon spoke to the Irish fans via satellite from WWE HQ in Connecticut. He thanked the fans for showing support to the WWE and mentioned that the McMahon legacy began in Ireland and spoke Irish to the fans "Eireann Go Brea".

Match 1: WWE Cruiserweight Championship Paul London v Billy Kidman

I had awful seats and couldnt see enough for my liking. Some nice moves in this one. Paul London chants and "Kidman sucks" chants were to be heard as London took the action to the outside. The finish came when Kidman missed the Shooting Star Press and London hit one of his own to pick up the victory.

Match 2: Carlito v Big Show
Carlito was accompanied to the ring by the awful Matt Morgan and was sporting a new T-shirt. Crowd went nuts for Big Show and he didn't disappoint, delivering huge chops and a chokeslam for the victory.

Match 3: Chavo Guerrero v Funaki
This match sucked beyond belief. Chavo isn't over at all and Funaki has gotten years out of that awful gimmick being "SmackDown!'s Number 1 Announcer" which is pretty easy to do when Michael Cole is number 1. I moved to the upper tier seats so I could watch the rest of the event. Funaki got the victory

Match 4: Heidenreich v Orlando Jordan for the US title

Heidenreich is the wrestler I hate the most and he didn't do anything to stop my hatred towards him when he read out a crap poem about Ireland. Orlando Jordan came out and had no video which doesn't say much for his US title reign. He is a terrible champion and this was a terrible borefest. Heidenreich was posing for ages doing that stupid walk and he grabbed a builders hat and looked ridiculous. The match went on for far too long. Jordan stole it in the end by holding onto the ropes but Heidenreich wasn't done torturing the Irish fans. He looked for friends and brought three Irish kids into the ring, put on the builders hat and brought in the Irish flag. Most of the fans lapped it up. I just think Heidenreich is a Eugene ripoff and a poor one at that.

Match 5: MNM v Booker T and Hardcore Holly for the Tag Team Titles

Booker T and Hardcore Holly got a great reception. There were plenty of Booker T chants and also to my surprise Holly chants. They worked the crowd well, grabbing the belts off MNM and posing with them on the turnbuckles. This was the first match where the action spilled to the outside and plenty of cheating went on. MNM used the snapshot finisher to beat Holly and Booker T but the fans were delighted when Booker T did a Irish spinarooni. Cameras flashed. Holly signed autographs for fans at ringside.

Torrie Wilson came out to a thunderous ovation and started throwing Tshirts into the crowd when she was interrupted by Melina of MNM. Slut chants were directed at Melina and a catfight soon emerged and Torrie hit Melina with a DDT. Torrie then took her own T-shirt off and threw it at a lucky Manchester United fan. She then introduced the SmackDown! GM, Theodore Long who got a great reaction and asked the fans if they were having a good time and if they were say Holla Holla Holla. I shouted it but I wasn't having that good a time. He announced the Wrestlemania 21 rematch between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio and the main event with Stoine Cold Steve Austin as special ref. The fans went nuts at the mention of the Texas Rattlesnake.

Match 6: Eddie Guerrero v Rey Mysterio
This new heel Eddie is great, sticking up the middle finger at the Irish fans. Rey Mysterio got a great pop and it was a decent match with Eddie using the chair on Rey. Rey won with the 619 and the West Coast Pop. Eddie attacked Rey afterwards but Rey fought back and attacked Eddie with a chair as they fought up the rampway.

Match 7: Matt Morgan v Mark Jindrak
Just when I thought all the bad matches were over with, but I was wrong. I hate the way Morgan uses the music off the ECW Rise and Fall DVD. He doesn't deserve it. He tried to cut a promo but the mic blew and we didn't get to hear him stutter, thankfully. Jindrak got on the mic and said "If you don't like Ireland, you can leave it". That was such a ripoff of JR's comments to Mohammed Hassan.

Match was terrible, Morgan won but nobody cared. His gimmick is going nowhere. What a loser.

Main event time. No Tony Chimmel doing the ring announcing, it was the guy who did RAW when Viscera took Lilian away. He thanked everyone for coming and thankfully didn't announce any future dates for SmackDown!.

Place went completely nuts when Austins music hit. He got a thunderous response. Austin chants for ages.

JBL came out to a chorus of boos and got on the mic saying that Ireland was England's bitch and that we were lucky to be witnessing JBL and Austin in the ring at the same time because they were two legends. He called himself a wrestling God and told all the Irish fans to pucker up and kiss his ass. Quite entertaining and his comments really annoyed people.

Kurt Angle was next to a chorus of You Suck chants and then cheers. The fans had huge respect for the Olympic Hero.

John Cena came out to a great reaction but I'm not that big a Cena fan. Little kids were chanting for Cena and if that's his fanbase, he's in trouble.

Plenty of good action in this one with Ankle Lock, FU and Clothesline from Hell all getting interrupted. The big drama came when Angle clocked Austin with the title belt by accident. Fans weren't happy and Austin chants echoed the RDS arena. Austin got revenge and gave Angle the stunner and the place went crazy! Cena then hit Bradshaw with the FU for the victory. The real drama came afterwards when Austin and Cena were celebrating with beers and Austin STUNNED Cena to my delight. It was a priceless moment and it shut the Cena fans up. Austin went on to drink two crates of beer then got the mic and talked about it being his first time in Dublin, Ireland and how he was going to drink 17 pints of Guinness. He was superb and made this event worth seeing. Without him it would have been very average.

Biggest Pops
1. Austin
2. Cena/Angle
3. Booker T/Rey Mysterio
4. Big Show
5. Hardcore Holly

Biggest Heat
1. JBL for his Anti Irish promo
2. Angle when he hit Austin
3. Eddie Guerrero

None of the other SmackDown! heels were effective and it's so good that Orton has gone to SmackDown! because they badly need good heels.
Matt Morgan, Chavo Guerrero, Orlando Jordan, Kidman and MNM arent going to cut it. The fans chanted boring when they were in the ring.

RAW is badly needed in Ireland. SmackDown! is the minor leagues and needed a RAW guy (Austin) to save the event from being a total disaster. I'd say Cena and Angle are thrilled to be on RAW, it's where the big boys play.

Hulk Hogan T-shirts were on sale and they were by far the biggest sellers I was told.
Other top selling T-shirts
Austin BYOB
Cena
Mysterio
Summerbash T-shirt with Irish Shamrock


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