Judgement Day Results

WWE Judgment Day
Los Angeles, California
05/16/04

We start out with a video package highlighting the feuds going on, mostly Guerrero-Bradshaw, Booker-Undertaker and Dupree-Cena. As always, the video package ruled. Also, wanted to touch on how WWE fixed up whatever hiccups they had in their webcast before because it’s working better than ever right now. Hope I didn’t jinx it!

Michael Cole and Tazz are the announcers as usual. Cole announced the crowd at being something over 18,722. I didn’t get the exact number. Looks full.

Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. The Dudley Boyz
My Pick: The Dudley Boyz

Mysterio comes out first. Van Dam is next. They go to the Spanish announcers. We hear some stuff, but I couldn’t make it out. Probably something about how those stupid wrestlers are always breaking their furniture. Dudleys come out next. Good choice for an opener, I think. It should have some decent action.

Bubba and RVD start us out. Bubba distracts the ref, D’Von comes in hits RVD from behind. D-Von tosses RVD into the turnbuckle. Tag to Bubba. Bubba chokes RVD over the middle rope. RVD comes back with a spin kick and a dropkick followed by a monkey flip. D-Von gets a back body drop, Bubba gets kicked. RVD jumps onto Bubba on the floor. Mysterio to the top, he jumps on D-Von. Hot start to the match. Back in, D-Von with a knee to the gut, RVD comes back with punches and another spin heel kick. He goes into the ropes, Bubba clubs him. Bubba holds him, D-Von’s fist hits Bubba. RVD into the ropes, Bubba pulls down the ropes and RVD to the floor. Bubba whips his head off of announcer table, then rolls him back in. Bubba tagged back in, tells the ref to look away and elbows RVD into the midsection. Into the top turnbuckle. Bubba stomps away, RVD blocks something, misses a spinkick, then hits a sweep kick. Tag to Mysterio. Seated senton on Bubba, decks D-Von. Mysterio hits a springboard crossbody for two. Bubba comes back with a fist. Into the ropes, Mysterio with a headscissors, then a dropkick. Into the ropes for the 619, D-Von grabs him. Mysterio kicks him off, springboard is caught by Bubba and he drops Rey throat first on the top rope. Tag to D-Von, he gets a slam, then hits a legdrop for two.

D-Von slows Rey down with a chinlock. Mysterio fights out, into the ropes, D’Von ducks something and hits a back elbow for two. Tag to Bubba, he trash talks Mysterio and slaps him around a bit. I like Bubba a lot more as a heel. Suplex by Bubba and a lot more talking follows. Phantom tag to D-Von, he pounds Rey down in the corner. Into the ropes, Rey springboards off into an awesome bulldog. They’re both down as ref Nick Patrick counts them. Bubba comes in just as Rey makes the tag, so the hot tag is stopped. RVD argues, Dudleys beat the hell out of Mysterio. Dudley slaps Rey hard on the ass. Yep, he just did. Why? I don’t know. Into the ropes, Bubba gets a spinebuster for two. Bubba sets up Rey on the turnbuckle upside down and chops him hard once. He goes for it again, Rey counters with something that sends Bubba down. It was like a neckbreaker. At one point Bubba had called him a piñata. Innovative, no? Mysterio hits a moonsault off the top for two. Tag to D-Von, tag to RVD. RVD hits a couple of spinkicks for two. Whip into the corner, RVD gets a back elbow and springboard kick. He decks Bubba with some kind of punch. Knocks D-Von down with a clothesline, hits the Rolling Thunder, but it’s broken up at two by Bubba. Mysterio charges at Bubba, but gets backdropped out to the floor. Bubba with a slam, Wassup Drop is blocked by Mysterio. RVD kicks Bubba in the face, which leads to Mysterio doing a broncobuster. D-Von set up on the top, Rey charges, RVD catapults him into the top rope hurricanrana for two as Bubba breaks it up. He tosses RVD out. They set up the 3D on Mysterio, but RVD enziguris Bubba. D-Von gets knocked down. Mysterio gets a double 619 on the Dudleys. Van Dam to the top, frog splash to D-Von and that’s it. Match went 16 minutes.
Winners: Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam

Analysis: **1/2 Really good at times, but really slow early on. The Dudleys used every heel trick in the book. They used them about four times each too. The team of RVD & Mysterio is electrifying, which made for a good finish.

Backstage, Josh Matthews interviewed Booker T., who basically said he’s got the power to get by the Undertaker. He held that little black bag.

Kurt Angle’s music came up next. Luther, Angle’s bodyguard, pushed down this big box and stood at ringside. Angle appeared at the top of the box in his wheelchair. Luther’s looking back to the entrance way while Angle berates the crowd. He calls the LA crowd “lazy, incompetent dreamers looking for their big break that will never come.” He sees “an overrated basketball team whose star player won’t be in the Olympics this summer because he’ll be on trial.” He continues, “Worst of all, you idiots, I see fans and supporters of Eddie Guerrero.” Angle says if Eddie didn’t cheat to beat him at WMXX, he’d be defending the WWE title. “When JBL beats Eddie for the title, I expect you fans here in LA to do what you do best: riot. Which is why when this show is over, I’m getting the heck out of this town because when I’m gone I hope you people get the biggest earthquake in history.” I think he got about as much cheap heat as you could get in Los Angeles. In that sense, good job Kurt.

He says he’s not here to berate Eddie Guerrero. He’s here to talk to the person who is responsible for him being in a wheelchair: Torrie Wilson. He demands she comes out, so she does. She’s in her pink wrestling gear looking apprehensive. She goes to the ring. He says that since she’s responsible for his career being over, she’ll be responsible for her own career. He says that if Torrie loses to Dawn Marie, she’ll be fired.

Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie
My Pick: Torrie Wilson

What is Torrie’s career anyway? Wrestling once every few months and posing for Playboy every year? What does she do anyway? Cole basically says if she loses she’s gone from WWE forever. Yeah, forever. I wish Al Wilson wasn’t “dead” in WWE world. He ruled.

Lockup to start. Torrie shoves her back. Torrie does some offense like a neckbreaker, but Dawn counters with some kind of suplex and Torrie rolls her up for two. Couple of clotheslines for Torrie. Dawn whips her into the ropes, Torrie avoids something, gets to the top and misses a crossbody. Dawn stomps at her. Dawn chokes her over the apron giving the cameraman a shot to show Torrie’s cleavage. Dawn kicks on her on the mat outside the ring. Torrie slides in, Dawn dropkicks her back out to the floor. Legdrop on the floor. Back in, Dawn gets a two count. Cole tries to sell Torrie’s career, but I just laugh at it. Dawn’s weak chokehold is countered by a clothesline and a neckbreaker. Dawn charges, Torrie ducks and hits a sunset flip for two. Schoolgirl for Torrie, she pulls the tights and Dawn’s undies actually break a bit. Her ass creak is showing. Get me more shots of Dawn! Can’t even be repaired. Dawn gets a facebuster type move. Torrie kicks out, rolls her up and gets the win after about 7 minutes.
Winner: Torrie Wilson

Analysis: 1/4* It was nice to see Dawn’s cheeks. That’s for damn sure. Match was the usual amateurish quality from these girls.

Backstage, Bradshaw cuts his usual promo ripping on the LA crowd. Angle already covered it. He then talked about Eddie. He likes English, people don’t have “eight or nine greasy kids” as he puts it. Tonight, Eddie’s reign will be over. He guarantees that he will be victorious.

Mordecai vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
My Pick: Mordecai

Scotty comes out first to signify squash time. Mordecai gets the lights off and some props for his entrance. It’s pretty cool, but the crowd doesn’t react much. He’s dressed in all white. He’s about 6’5” 280 pounds says Cole. Mordecai drops Scotty on his face to the start. He rams him shoulder first into the turnbuckle, then chokes him a bit. He whips him shoulder first into the other post. He then chokes Scotty between the ropes. So far we know he can throw him into the ropes and choke. Boot to the face. Scotty tries to come back with fists, but he just eats a knee to the gut. Into the ropes, superkick for Scotty. Bulldog. Mordecai blocks the worm with by dropping Scotty on the middle ropes. Clothesline by Mordecai. He sets Scotty up in the powerbomb position, then hits the Razor’s Edge/Crucifix Bomb for the victory after three minutes. He celebrates by looking up. He appreciates the lighting!
Winner: Mordecai

Analysis: ¼* This was a WWF Superstars type squash. Scotty did two moves. Mordecai looked like he could do the basics. Better than Nathan Jones at least.

Backstage, The Chavos get interrupted by Jacqueline. She gives him a gift. He opens it. Inside the gift are women’s panties. That’s supposed to be funny. In the background, Chavo Classic measures how the women’s clothes would look on him. That was pretty funny actually.

WWE Tag Titles: Rico & Charlie Haas w/Miss Jackie vs. Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly
My Pick: Haas & Rico

Haas & Rico come out first. Gunn and Holly come out next to absolutely zero heat. Neither guy wants to start against Rico. He gooses (grabs the ass) of both of them. I think I’ll be using the word goose a lot in this one.

Haas starts out with Holly. They take a while to grapple, feeling eachother out. Holly with a shoulderblock, into the ropes, arm drag for Haas. Rico tags in by hitting Haas in the pecs. Rico has some fun in the waist lock. Holly tags in Billy Gunn. More head games from Rico. Headlock by Gunn, Rico grabs him in the ass. I thought his name was Mr. Ass, shouldn’t he be okay with that? Rico trips him down, then rides on his back. Into the corner, Rico gets his series of kicks. Gunn comes out, his heard right near Rico’s crotch and Rico starts to dance in celebration of that position. Gunn comes back in, gets a hard punch on Haas. He then decks Rico. Holly comes in, clotheslines Haas on the back. I guess they are the heels. They have no heat. That’s why they’re the perfect team. They both suck. Holly with a suplex, tags in Gunn. Gunn kicks him down in the corner a bit. Tag to Holly, he gets a boot to the midsection, then grabs a headlock. Nice shot of Jackie banging on the apron. That’s been the best part of the night so far.

Back up, Haas elbows out of it. He goes into the ropes, Holly hits a pretty dropkick. They boo, sort of. Tag to Gunn, Haas fights back, charges in and Gunn boots him in the face. Tazz wonders how Haas has anything left. What have they done? A clothesline and dropkick? Holly drapes him over the ropes, and then kicks him in the abdomen for a two count. Haas fights back with punches, Holly kicks him in the gut, bodyslam, to the top and some kind of move eats boot as Haas gets his foot up. Double knockout spot. Holly tags in Gunn, Haas makes the lunging tag. Rico in, inverted atomic drop, clotheslines, whip into the rope, Haas makes a blind tag, Famouser on Rico, release German suplex for Haas on Gunn. Tag to Holly. He goes for the Alabama Slam, he turns to face Rico, Rico boots him in the face with a superkick leading to Haas rolling him up for the three count. Match went 11 minutes.
Winners: Charlie Haas & Rico

Analysis: *1/4 Not horrible, but nothing close to average either. The whole point was to show that Haas & Rico can work together despite being so different. There was very little heat in the match, except for Rico’s spots.

Backstage, Undertaker and Paul Bearer are shown. Paul tells Booker that he’s not the best on Smackdown. He says other stuff that I missed. Undertaker ended it with the “Rest in Peace” line that is the same he’s used forever. Big pop for that.

Cruiserweight Title: Jacqueline vs. Chavo Guerrero w/Chavo Classic
My Pick: Chavo Guerrero

They show a couple clips highlighting this “feud” between them. Chavo comes out first. He gets his left arm tied behind his back by Charles Robinson. Jacqueline is next. I don’t hear any cheering. I’m not cheering either. I think you could say I’m cringing.

Chavo whips Jackie into the turnbuckle, and then hits some shoulderblocks. He does some backbreakers over his knee. He stomps her on the back. Jackie gets a leg scissors, then the momentum takes Chavo right shoulder first into the turnbuckle. He misses a clothesline, she goes for a sleeper, he drives her back first to the corner. Still no heat. Kicks to the gut by Jackie send him down and that gets her two. Chavo Classic on the apron, she knocks him down with a kick. She turns around, Chavo decks him with a clothesline. Ref goes to Classic, she hits a lowblow for two. That almost had heat. On the floor, Chavo Classic unhooks him. He slides back in, pretending like his arm is still tied. Jackie goes to hit him, he blocks her with his right arm, Classic to the ropes, big clothesline. More interference, so Chavo drops her over the top rope. Chavo Classic grabs a chair, ref yells at him. Gory Bomb by Chavo. That gets a three count. Match went five minutes.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero

Analysis: *1/4 Good. I hope this angle is over now. Send Jacqueline away again. Nobody in the crowd cared one bit about it. I can’t say I blame them.

Chavo gets on the mic, says that nobody can laugh at him again because he’s once again the cruiserweight champion. Chavo Classic wants to humiliate Jackie, so she kicks her in the gut. Again, little heat. I don’t know who in WWE thinks that this would be better than a contested cruiser match between Chavo and a guy like Shannon Moore or Paul London. This division is a disgrace right now.

United States Title Match: John Cena vs. Rene Dupree
My Pick: Rene Dupree

Video package to start. Cena is out first, sporting the James Worthy jersey. He asks for some crowd noise, so they give it to him. They sounded asleep for a couple matches now. Not their fault. They were hot. “Dupree beat me? There ain’t no chance. I’m going to beat that bitch and send him back to France.” Good line as he cracked a joke about how Rene will be walking with his head down like a “San Antonio Spur.” Cena’s rap gets cut off by Dupree’s music. He comes out with the French flag, but no Fifi! I guess Fifi demands a bigger salary to appear on PPVs. Can’t say I blame Fifi. Time check is it’s now 9:25pm with only three announced matches next. I’m guessing these guys get at least 15 minutes.

They lock up, Dupree to the floor, Cena chases him in and Dupree tackles him. Into the corner, Dupree boots him in the face. Cena reverses, driving the knees to the gut. Into the corner, back bodydrop and clothesline over the top is screwed up. Dupree rolls out. Cena clubs him on the head, then hits a headbutt. Dupree grabs his arm, then pulls him into the post, hitting Cena’s head into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Dupree chokes him over the bottom rope. Headfirst into the turnbuckle, Cena fights out with kicks, Dupree takes the Flair flop over the corner buckle. Cena charges in, Dupree ducks and Cena goes straight to the floor. Haven’t seen Cena take too many bumps like that. Nice to see that kind of effort. Dupree with a big chop, then he tosses Cena back in.

Dupree with some punches to the back of the head and a backbreaker gets two. Bearhug by Dupree. It lasts about a minute. Dupree shouldertackles him into the corner, then grabs another bearhug. After another minute, Cena punches out, hits a jawbreaker, more punches and a big clothesline. Back elbow, flying shoulderblock, sidewalk slam. Cena signals for the five knuckle shuffle and misses it. Dupree with a spinebuster. French Hop! French Hop! Elbow misses. Cena off the middle rope, blocked by Dupree, who gets a DDT. He waits for Cena to get up. Cena counters, rollup misses, kick to the gut, FU is countered into a neckbreaker by Dupree for two.

Dupree sets him up for a powerbomb, but Cena counters with a back body drop, he covers for two. Backslide gets two. Dupree kick to the gut, into the corner, he tries to leap over Cena. Cena catches him on his shoulders, hits the FU and wins it. Match went 10 minutes.
Winner: John Cena

Post match, Cena hands the Worthy jersey to a fan. He celebrate with the crowd.

Analysis: *3/4 It was decent. I wish they got more time. I don’t know why they didn’t. There’s over an hour left for only two matches. I liked the effort of both guys. I don’t think this feud is over. I guess we’ll find out soon.

The Undertaker vs. Booker T.
My Pick: The Undertaker

We get the video package to start. Booker comes out first with his little brown bag that has some of recipe in it. Yeah, it’s called crap. Undertaker is next along with Paul Bearer. Cole goes on and on about how it’s a privilege to see this guy. I agree. Paul Bearer has a wonderful voice. Oh, he meant Undertaker. Same thing. Booker stands in the corner holding the little brown bag in front of him. Hey Booker, say goodbye to credibility, my friend. You’re in for a squashing, or maybe a cheap victory due to interference. This is 2004 and we’re supposed to believe a grown man holding a bag is a threat to win a match? Why? Undertaker taking off his hat got the biggest pop of the night so far. Undertaker’s getup is the same as it was at WrestleMania. Great sign in the front row that says: “Booker Shango.”

Undertaker shoves Booker off, Book grabs the bag in his corner, then rolls to the floor. Booker with some punches to the face. Taker reverses, kick is no-sold, clothesline by Taker. Cole says he has an innate ability to block pain. In other words, the guy doesn’t sell stuff during the match. Just tell it like it is, Cole. Taker whips him into the turnbuckle, Booker bounces out and eats a sidewalk slam. Legdrop gets two. I guess he doesn’t have the power of Hulkamania. Clothesline to the floor. Booker drops his neck onto the top rope. Missile dropkick gets two. Nobody believed that was it. Booker pounds on him in the corner. More pounding in the corner. He goes back to his bag, just to hold it. They exchange blows in the center, knee by Book, whip in, sidekick is ducked and a flying clothesline by Undertaker. Old school top rope clothesline. Undertaker gets a flatliner. Kanyon is fired, might as well use it. He gets some kind of arm/head submission, but Booker gets ropes. He signals for the Last Ride, Booker countered by getting over his head, knocking the ref down.

Booker goes to the bag, then tosses the dust (Fuji Dust!) into the eye. Undertaker isn’t affected by it. Clothesline in the corner. He charges him, running boot misses, draping Undertaker’s leg over the top. He wraps Undertaker’s left knee around the post. He whips the leg into the steel steps. Forearm off the apron to the floor. Elbow to the face by Undertaker. Back in, Booker gets a jumping sidekick for two. Again, nobody really believed that was it except Cole and Tazz. Booker slows it down with a headlock. Undertaker fights out, Booker with a sidekick for two. Undertaker sits up. Boot to the face. Chokeslam. Throat slash gesture. Tombstone. One, two, three. Match went about 12 minutes.
Winner: The Undertaker

Analysis: *1/2 Well, at least it wasn’t a big time squash. Undertaker did sell for a few minutes. Cole tried to put over Booker’s performance, but really, nobody thought the guy would win. The crowd was into all the usual Undertaker spots, which isn’t surprising at all. If you’ve seen the spots, though, it’s nothing new.

WWE Title Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield
My Pick: Eddie Guerrero

I think if Eddie loses this match I will set the record for use of expletives immediately following a championship match. Long video package. Bradshaw comes out first. He cuts a promo. He says he’s talking in English, so if you don’t know English, find an English speaking person near you. He tells them that after tonight they can take Eddie Guerrero back on the boat with them to Mexico. After he wins the match, Eddie’s mom can be his maid. Congrats to the crowd on being able to see it. He guarantees us that he’s going to win tonight. He’s got blue tights and black boots on. Eddie comes out next in the lowrider. It’s 10:12pm as the match begins. Should get twenty minutes or so.

Very long staredown to start. Eddie charges, they exchange blows with Eddie knocking him down. He tosses him into the barrier. Whip knee first into the steps. Bradshaw walks away, Eddie tosses him into the post. Headfirst into the Spanish announce table, which Cole says is appropriate due to JBL’s comments. He chokes him with a cable. Back in the ring, Eddie pounds him enough that JBL rolls out to the floor. Bradshaw goes up the aisle. Eddie clubs him in the back. He brings him back to the ring. Punch to the face by Eddie. He steps on JBL’s face a bit. Tosses him through the ropes again. Whip in, Bradshaw reverses and Eddie goes shoulder first into the steps. Bradshaw throws him headfirst into the Spanish table. He pounds Eddie in the face. He rolls into the ring, breaking the count. Yeah, because the count is relevant. Eddie fights back with fists, JBL gets a big boot to the face. Elbow gets two.

Bradshaw chops him in the corner, and then clubs him on the back. Hard whip, Eddie bounces out of the corner. Bradshaw grabs a headlock, Eddie gets up, into the ropes and Bradshaw hits a shouldertackle, then another side headlock. Crowd is chanting for Eddie quite a bit. Eddie gets up, into the ropes, arm drags by Eddie sends Bradshaw to the floor. Over the top, Eddie with a crossbody is caught. JBL with the Fallaway slam on the floor. That’s about the biggest spot you could have in a Bradshaw match. Eddie wins a chop fest on the floor. Eddie charges, JBL backdrops him onto the Spanish announce table. Table doesn’t break. Eddie goes back in the ring quicker than he should have because of the ref’s count. Swinging neckbreaker gets two for Bradshaw. Little heat for that. They exchange blows, which Bradshaw wins thanks to a knee. Eddie charges, backdrop by JBL. Eddie tried to flip out of it, but fell. Slightly botched spot there. Bearhug by Bradshaw. Great, put us to sleep even more.

Eddie breaks with thumb to the eyes, hard whips into the corner and a clothesline. Eddie feels the heat of the crowd with a big yell. Into the ropes, Bradshaw pushes him off, Eddie hits a dropkick. Love that spot. Eddie hits two rolling suplexes about as slow as you could imagine. Bradshaw breaks with a kick, Clothesline from Hell is reversed by Eddie. He sets up a powerbomb, Eddie fights out. Eddie charges into the ropes, but runs right into Brian Hebner, knocking him out. Eddie backdrops Bradshaw to the floor. Eddie whips Bradshaw off the English announce table. Eddie walks over, Bradshaw gets a chair and absolutely KILLS Eddie with a chair. Damn, that was nasty. Eddie turns around and blood is everywhere! It’s all over his face and down his chest. My God! I think he got a vein good. Huge gusher. This is nasty.

Eddie staggers around on the floor, Bradshaw drills him in the face with the steel steps. Back in, Bradshaw celebrates. The crowd boos him like he wishes he could always be booed. Straight punch to the face. Wow, Eddie’s cut is massive. The blood is all over. He picks Guerrero up, charges into the ropes and hits the big Clothesline from Hell. Bradshaw waits for a ref, it’s Charles Robinson. He counts and it gets two. There was about a 45 second wait after the clothesline. There’s a huge puddle of blood in the ring where Eddie was lying. Eddie up, Bradshaw charges, hits the ref. Powerbomb by Bradshaw. Brian Hebner up. One…two…no! That was close. Another cover, another two count. Into the ropes, JBL grabs a sleeper. Wow, look at Eddie’s face. You can’t see anything by blood. It’s all over his arms and chest too. My God. Blood is all over the ring like I’ve rarely seen before. Eddie with a back suplex.

Bradshaw starts pounding on him a bit, Eddie gets an adrenaline rush, dancing around. He’s hulking up! He pounds him down. Into the ropes, Bradshaw catches him in the Fallaway slam position, Eddie counters into a tornado DDT. Awesome counter there. Eddie rules. He struggles to the top. Bradshaw isn’t too far away. Frog splash misses as Bradshaw rolls out of the way. Another huge pile of blood where Eddie landed. Bradshaw to the floor, he grabs the WWE title and a chair. He’s got the title behind his back. Tosses the chair in, ref takes it out. Eddie with a low blow, ref didn’t see it. Eddie drills him in the head with the title. Ref disqualifies him at 23 minutes.
Winner: Bradshaw by DQ, Eddie retains the title

Post match, Eddie beats him up some more. Refs come in, he pushes them off. He beats him with the title a couple of times. Bradshaw is bleeding now too. Eddie grabs the steel chair. He drills Bradshaw STIFF in the head with the chair. Damn. That was payback. Back in the ring, Eddie drills him with ANOTHER stiff chair shot to the head. Eddie to the top and a frog splash. Crowd is going apeshit. With good reason. Bradshaw gets out down the aisle. Eddie chases him in the aisle, pounding on him. They get broken up, he goes back in the ring and poses with the belt as the show comes to an end at about 10:40pm, which is the usual time for PPVs ending.

Analysis: **1/2 Bradshaw guaranteed victory and he won…sort of. It was about what I expected. I assume the DQ finish will lead to a rematch, probably a street fight type match, at the Great American Bash in June. Bradshaw was decent, but nothing more than I expected. His limited offense was exposed and since the crowd hasn’t seen much of him in the ring, he didn’t get booed as much as you’d like from a top heel. I liked everything after Eddie got busted open. As I said, it was a massive cut. All over his body. The intensity from there picked up. The DQ finish killed what would have been a strong finish had Eddie won clean. Good match, but for a main event? Well below the average.

FINAL THOUGHTS
On the 1-10 scale I’ll give Backlash a: 2 (That’s probably generous too.)

Best Match: Mysterio/RVD vs. Dudleys - ***

Worst Match: Mordecai vs. Scotty 2 Hotty – ¼*

Judgment Day was one of the worst PPVs I’ve seen in many years. I don’t discredit the wrestlers for any of it. I blame the writing more than anything. They are putting people in positions where they can’t possibly live up to the standards that have been set by the Michaels, Benoits, Angles and so on. I really hope that this show turned on a light switch for the Smackdown writing because if they do another PPV as bad as this one again I’m going to be very worried, even more than I already am, for the Smackdown brand. I also feel bad for the LA crowd because they were hot for most of it, but there were so many parts that were boring that I can’t blame them for not making more noise during those matches.

Eddie is certainly worthy of where he is, but Bradshaw should not be the number one contender for the title. His limited work sticks out like a sore thumb. Guerrero tried his damndest to carry that match. He certainly made it watchable. He made Bradshaw better than anybody could. Didn’t make the match good though. It was average at best. Don’t let the crowd noise fool you. Bradshaw’s ring work is nauseating. Eddie is the reason the crowd was hot. He’s over huge. I just wish he had a heel to work with that could match that. Too bad Lesnar isn’t still around and Angle can’t work. They really miss those guys.

I’m sure people liked Undertaker’s work. It was fine. However, being a fan for two decades now, I’ve seen his act so many times that it’s past the point of “cool” to me. Booker T. needed a win. He could have been a guy to challenge Eddie in the future. Instead, he loses and is back to midcard hell where he was on Raw anyway. All Undertaker did was beat a Raw midcard guy. Why build somebody to kick the feet out of them before they can even walk? I don’t get the logic at all.

Dupree-Cena should have got more time. I liked what they were doing. I just wish they had more of a chance to have a real match.

The opening match is match of the night…by default. It was nothing more than okay. It would have been forgotten on a good PPV like last month’s Backlash or the first Smackdown PPV of this year, No Way Out.

Everything else was below average and not PPV worthy. The Smackdown brand is in trouble. Big time.

Judgment Day Three Stars
This is where I honor the three best performers on the show.

3. Rey Mysterio - His energy helped that opening tag big time. There is nobody like Rey Mysterio. They need to capitalize on his abilities. I would be all for seeing him wrestling heavyweights more often in the future.

2. Chavo Guerrero - I loved everything he did tonight. The guy is really on. I wish he had a real feud to sink his teeth into. Also, Chavo Classic adds so much greatness to his act. I love watching them.

1. Eddie Guerrero - No doubt about it. The champ is the star of this show by a mile. His blade job was massive tonight. He was bloody all over. Sometimes people only get cut on the head, but his was EVERYEWHERE. He generated huge reactions from the crowd. He’s the shining star in a pile of shit right now.

2004 PPV Rankings
1. WrestleMania XX (Review coming soon)
2. Backlash
3. No Way Out
4. Royal Rumble
5. Judgment Day

This was a very forgettable show. If you missed it, you missed nothing. Don’t go out of your way to see it. Like I said before, whoever came up with the majority of these matches and thought it was good needs to get their head examined.

If you’re one of those people that wants to complain to me about how I’m bitter, I got news for ya: I’m not. I’m being honest here. I am a very passionate wrestling fan who calls it like I see it. When I see greatness, I tell you. When I see shit, I tell you. This was shit. From start to finish, one of the worst PPVs I’ve ever seen from World Wrestling Entertainment.

I felt ripped off, and I doubt I’m the only one.



thanks to rajahwwf.com for these results

[og caffeine]

i just got back from staples center.... tonight event was okay i was dissapointed with eddie/bradshaw DQ

[Stigmeta]

Yea...I watched it...

Nothing special.

i don't watch smackdown events because i don't get upn but good shit with the details

[PhilNYCE]

Smackdown pay per views, dont even feel like a ppv