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Sunday 24 July 2005

WWE The Great American Basn 2005 - TV Review

It’s that time of the month again, as WWE inflict another pay-per-view offering upon us, this time with the Smackdown brand presenting The Great American Bash.

To start off with, Paul London takes on Nunzio in a Cruiserweight title match on Heat. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it affair, with London pinning Nunzio after a shooting star press. These guys should have been given longer.

On to the main show itself, as MNM defend their tag titles against Animal and Heidenreich. It’s great to see Animal back, even though he doesn’t look right without Hawk by his side. It’s a match of speed against power, and despite putting on a few pounds, Animal looks good. A good, if somewhat short opener as Animal and Heidenreich pin Mercury after the Doomsday Device. Afterwards Animal dedicates the match to Hawk. A show of class here.

Backstage, Josh Matthews talks to Eddie Guerrero. He’s got a new stipulation for his match - Rey has to bring his son Dominic to ringside for their bout. Could we be seeing Raven v Sandman II here?

Booker T and Christian then renew their rivalry on Smackdown, having feuded a couple of years back on Raw. While not the best match between the two, this was certainly not the worst, and was quite enjoyable. Some good exchanges between the two, which eventually saw Booker get the pin after a scissors kick off the second rope. Looks like Captain Charisma’s push is over for now.

Backstage, Steve Romero tries to interview Melina. Usual hype stuff for the bra and panties bout.

Promo for Summerslam. Lots of bikini clad divas washing a car and…..

Back on topic, Orlando Jordan defends the U.S. title against Chris Benoit. I have to admit that for some unknown reason I’ve never been a fan of Orlando Jordan, but this was probably the best match I’ve seen from the man. Mind you, you probably have to give a lot of the credit to Benoit here. The end came when Jordan barged Benoit’s head into an exposed turnbuckle. Afterwards, Benoit received a standing ovation from the fans. I wonder if the creative team were listening?

Then it’s on to perhaps the most controversial bout of the night, as Muhammad Hassan takes on the Undertaker in a number one contenders match. It’s the first time I’ve seen the controversial footage from Smackdown. I have to admit I have mixed feelings after seeing it. But as for the match itself, it’s literally a massacre, and not a very good looking one, as the Undertaker pins Hassan after a choke slam. What happens afterwards seems to last longer than the match itself, as the Undertaker single handedly takes out all of the henchmen, before Hassan himself is power bombed through the metal stage. A promising career is killed in the process.

Backstage, Steve Romero interviews Torrie Wilson. Guess we’re gonna see some flesh tonight guys.

As Hassan is carted away in the meat truck, the Mexicools go up against the Blue World Order in six man tag action. What could have been a comedy goldmine probably suffered because of it’s placement on the card. There just seemed to be something lacking in this match. The end saw Psicosis pin Big Stevie Cool after a top rope leg drop. Could have been better.

Next up, possibly the feud of Smackdown’s year so far, as Rey Mysterio takes on Eddie Guerrero, with the big secret on the line. With Rey’s son Dominic sitting at ringside, this match had a great deal of drama surrounding it, and a great deal of action in it. Guerrero’s cockiness proved to be his undoing. After connecting with a frog splash, Mysterio scored with a roll-up after Guerrero’s lax cover. The secret was safe, for now.

Backstage, Josh Matthews interviews JBL, who is still dressed up in his Uncle Sam outfit. Usual hyperbole stuff here as once again Bradshaw tells us of his godlike status.

Then it’s time for the eye candy, as Torrie Wilson takes on Melina, with Candice Michelle as guest referee, in a bra and panties match. Usual stuff here, which sees Melina defeat Torrie. Needless to say all three women eventually end up disrobed. On a pure skill rating this just about makes zero.

Then it’s time for our main event as Batista defends his World Heavyweight title against JBL. What you’ve got here is two guys who have had tremendous matches with other top stars over the past year, but just didn’t seem to click with each other. Basically, it just wasn’t that good. The end came when Batista was disqualified after using a chair that Orlando Jordan brought into the ring.

In conclusion - despite a couple of good matches, this was a decidedly average show from the Smackdown crew, certainly not one of the best efforts of the year, and certainly not helped by a very poor main event. Hopefully things will get better by the time Summerslam rolls around. Match of the night goes to the scorcher between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.

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