Smackdown
July 25th, 2002 (taped July 23rd)
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana
 
Dark Matches:
 
1. Sean O’Haire defeats Funaki.
2. Torrie Wilson and Victoria defeat Molly Holly and Dawn Marie.
 
7/27 Velocity taping:
 
1. Billy and Chuck defeat the Hurricane and Shannon Moore.
2. Tajiri pins Mike Awesome.
3. Hardcore Holly pins Rico.
4. Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) pins Billy Kidman.
 
Actual Show:
 
We see the opening video for Smackdown.
 
Your hosts are Michael Cole and Tazz.
 
1. Mark Henry defeats Kurt Angle by disqualification at 2:58.
 
Analysis: We kick off this edition of Smackdown with a pretty interesting matchup. Henry was cruising in the midcard and looks to get a huge win here over Angle, who was coming off a tough loss at Vengeance and looks to get back on track here. Henry gets a good pop from the crowd while Angle was red hot as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Angle trying to back Henry into the corner only for Henry to shove him to the mat, and they lock up again with Angle going behind Henry who blocks a German suplex and he hits a slam on Angle. They lock up a third time with Angle tripping Henry up and he hooks a front facelock on as Henry powers him up and puts him on the top rope, and he pats Angle on the head and Angle flips out as he gets a kick in and pounds on Henry who reverses a whip and he hits a back elbow. He hits a press slam on Angle who avoids a charge with Henry hitting the corner and Angle hits a back suplex on Henry for a two count, and he pounds on Henry who hits a pair of clotheslines and he whips Angle into the corner only for Angle to nail him coming in. Henry hoists Angle onto his shoulder and hits a running powerslam as he splashes Angle in the corner, but then Brock Lesnar runs down to the ring and nails Henry from behind which draws the DQ and he wins the match. The match itself was basically a squash as Henry dominated the whole match until Lesnar got involved. The crowd was into the match and Henry, but are not happy with the ending. Henry gets the win over Angle by DQ and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
After the match, Lesnar hoists Henry onto his shoulders and hits the F-5 before heading to the back with Paul Heyman as Angle chases after them, and Angle catches up to them backstage as he asks Lesnar what he’s doing and Lesnar says he wanted to help Angle out. Angle asks who the hell Lesnar thinks he is and Lesnar says he’s the one facing Rock at Summerslam as Angle blew it at Vengeance and the pressure must be getting to him, and he says Angle’s days of being the No. 1 guy on Smackdown are over as Angle storms off.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Stacy Keibler go into Stephanie McMahon’s office and she says that when Vince McMahon left, he told her he didn’t need her services anymore and Stephanie says Vince might be getting serviced elsewhere, and Keibler says she’ll help with anything as she goes to the door and brings in a bouquet of flowers. Stephanie reads the card and then she has Keibler read it as they find out they are from Eric Bischoff and Stephanie throws them aside.
 
2. Val Venis (w/ Hardcore Holly) pins Rev. D-Von (w/ Batista) with a back suplex powerbomb at 3:06.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty basic matchup. Venis has been teaming up with Hardcore recently and looks to get a win here over D-Von, who has been cruising in the tag division and looks to get back on track here. Venis gets a decent pop from the crowd while D-Von had decent heat as a heel. Venis ducks a shot and pounds on D-Von to start the match as he rams him into the buckle and continues to pound on him in the corner, and he whips D-Von into the other corner and splashes him as he hits a back elbow and a slam before dropping a knee on him for a two count. D-Von catches him with a jawbreaker and Venis hits a big boot as he hits a crossbody that sends both men over the top to the floor, and Batista helps D-Von back into the ring and Venis rolls back in as D-Von pounds on him and hits a jumping back elbow. He pounds on Venis in the corner and chokes him with his knee as he hits a snapmare and a neck snap on Venis for a two count, and he hits a slam on Venis and goes up to the middle rope only to miss the elbow and Venis ducks a shot as he hits a clothesline on D-Von. He fires up on him and hits a backdrop as he gets a kick in and hits a fisherman’s suplex on D-Von for a two count when Batista breaks it up from the floor, and Hardcore attacks Batista as Venis escapes a hold and hits the back suplex powerbomb which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a basic match. Venis was hitting his stride by this point while D-Von was hitting his peak as a singles star, and they had decent chemistry as Venis gets the clean win. The crowd was into the match and popped for Venis when he won. Venis gets the win over D-Von and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
After the match, Hardcore gets in the ring and celebrates with Venis until Batista gets in the ring and hits a clothesline on Venis, and Hardcore pounds on Batista who reverses a whip and he hits the spinebuster on Hardcore.
 
We see Stacy Keibler meeting with security as she tells them that Stephanie McMahon wants them to let her know of anything suspicious, and she sees Edge walk by and she tells security to stop him as she calls Stephanie and says that Bischoff may have taken Edge from them.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Lance Storm and Christian in their dressing room as Storm says despite all odds, they are the tag champions and Christian says they did it the Un-American way by earning it as Storm says they need to make a statement tonight against Rock and Hogan. Christian says that Hogan is a typical American in that he is lazy, arrogant, and thinks everything revolves around him, and Storm says that this is why they need to make that statement because it does matter what they think and they’ll be champions a long time.
 
We see Edge flanked by security as Stephanie McMahon walks up to him and asks if Edge is going to sign with RAW, and Edge says that he’s a Smackdown guy as he trusts her and her vision as he says he has something to show her. He takes her to the production truck and he hands a tape to one of the crew members who plays it and it shows a clock, and he says the clock represents the time left in the show where he will get Chris Jericho in a cage and beat his ass.
 
Commercial break
 
We see an ad for Summerslam.
 
We see Kurt Angle leaving the arena talking to someone on the phone as Marc Lloyd comes up for an interview, and Angle tells “Eric” to hold on and says he’s on the phone before walking away.
 
3. Rikishi pins Albert with the Banzai Drop at 2:45.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. Rikishi has been dealing with Lance Storm, Christian, and Test though breaks from that to face Albert, who was floating in the midcard and looks to get a win here. Rikishi gets a good pop from the crowd while Albert had tepid heat as a heel. Albert wastes no time and hits a pump kick on Rikishi to start the match as he stomps and pounds on him in the corner, but Rikishi ducks a shot and pounds on Albert in the corner though Albert turns it around and stomps on Rikishi in the corner. He pounds on him and continues to stomp on him as he splashes him twice and continues to pound on him, but Rikishi ducks a clothesline and pounds on Albert who hits the clothesline as he goes up to the middle rope and hits a springboard splash for a two count. Albert misses a charge in the corner and Rikishi gets a kick in as he hits a DDT and then he hits a Samoan drop, and he splashes Albert in the corner and gives him the Stinkface as he hits a superkick and goes up to the middle rope before hitting the Banzai Drop which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a pretty basic match. The crowd was into the match and popped for Rikishi when he won. Rikishi gets the win over Albert and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
After the match, Rikishi heads up to the stage and does a dance for the crowd.
 
We see Stephanie McMahon talking to Marc Lloyd about what Kurt Angle said earlier and Stephanie makes a phone call to Angle, and she leaves him a voicemail advising him to not join Eric Bischoff without listening to her.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a vignette hyping the debut of Rey Mysterio tonight.
 
4. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan and the Rock defeat Lance Storm and Christian (w/ Test) by disqualification at 9:13; Storm and Christian retain the WWE Tag Team Championships.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is our lone title match of the night. Storm and Christian won the tag titles from Hogan and Edge at Vengeance and now look to have a successful defense here against Hogan and his new partner Rock. Hogan and Rock get a big pop from the crowd while Storm and Christian were pretty hot as heels. Hogan starts off the match with Storm and they lock up with Hogan shoving Storm to the mat as they lock up again with Storm raking the eyes, and he pounds on Hogan and hits a clothesline which Hogan no-sells and he pounds on Storm before hitting a clothesline. Hogan and Rock pound on Storm until Rock tags in and he fires up on Storm as he hits a clothesline and suplex for a two count, but Storm catches him with a jawbreaker and tags Christian as they stomp on Rock in the corner and Christian chokes Rock with his boot. Rock fires out with a clothesline and Christian catches him ducking with a kick only for Rock to hit a belly-to-belly suplex, and he pounds on Christian who reverses a whip and Storm gets a shot in from the apron only for Rock to knock him to the floor. Christian hits a spin kick on Rock for a two count and pounds on him on the mat as Storm tags in and he kicks at Rock, and he chokes Rock with his boot and pounds on him until Rock reverses a whip and he hits a Samoan drop on Storm. Christian comes in and Rock sends him over the top to the floor as Test gets on the apron and Rock knocks him to the floor, and he hits the spinebuster on Storm and looks for the People’s Elbow only for Test to pull the top rope down as Rock tumbles over the top to the floor. Christian throws Rock back into the ring and Storm gets a two count as Christian tags in and pounds on Rock, and he stomps on Rock repeatedly and chokes him on the mat for a two count as Rock battles back until Christian gets a shot in. Rock catches him ducking with a swinging neckbreaker and Christian reverses a whip as Test trips Rock up and pulls him outside, and he pounds on Rock and hotshots him on the announce table as he continues to pound on him and Storm throws Rock back into the ring. Christian gets a two count and tags Storm who drops an elbow on Rock for a two count and he pounds on him in the corner, but Rock battles back until Storm counters a whip and blocks the Rock Bottom with a series of back elbows as he hits a clothesline. He hits the superkick on Rock for a two count as Hogan breaks it up and he knocks Christian down until Test pulls him off the apron, and Hogan stalks him as Rock kicks Christian to the mat and dives to the corner though there is no one to tag and Storm pulls him away before Hogan can get there. Rock gets a kick in and hits the DDT as Hogan finally gets the hot tag and he fires up on both men before ramming their heads together, but Christian ducks the big boot as he and Storm hit a double back suplex on Hogan only for Rock to fire up on both men. He hits the Rock Bottom on Storm as Test gets in the ring and Rock pounds on him before knocking him over the top to the floor, and Christian hits the inverted DDT on Hogan for a two count as Hogan starts to hulk up and he no-sells Christian’s shots. He pounds on Christian and hits the big boot before hitting the legdrop only for Brock Lesnar to run down to the ring and he nails Hogan which draws the DQ and Hogan and Rock win the match. The match itself was good as both teams worked hard and put on a solid title match. Storm and Christian have been gelling well as a team while Rock and Hogan looked good as a team, and they had good chemistry as Lesnar costs Rock and Hogan the titles. The crowd was into the match and Hogan and Rock, but are not happy with the ending. Rock and Hogan get the win over Storm and Christian by DQ as Storm and Christian escape with the titles as both teams move on. Grade: 2.5
 
After the match, Lesnar hoists Hogan onto his shoulders and hits the F-5 before heading to the back as Rock checks on Hogan.
 
Commercial break
 
We see the steel cage hanging above the ring.
 
We see Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in the garage as they walk up to a limo and the driver says the limo belongs to Hulk Hogan, and Lesnar gets in his face and says it’s his limo now or he’ll beat the driver’s ass as they get in the limo and it drives off.
 
John Cena says that Test is a tough guy and talks a lot of trash about America because Canadians may get free health care, but not dental when looking at Test and he looks like a crazy Canadian woodchuck as Test walks up to him. He says that Cena’s a funny guy and he may have ruthless aggression as he slaps him in the face and calls him a punk.
 
We see Stephanie McMahon walking down the hallway as she runs into Chris Jericho and she says she knows he has a lot to think about, but she says that he’s one of Smackdown’s biggest stars and asks if he’s happy as he says Fozzy’s new album comes out this week and he will leave Edge in a pool of his own blood which makes him very happy.
 
We see Rey Mysterio getting ready backstage.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot outside the Conseco Fieldhouse.
 
5. Rey Mysterio pins Chavo Guerrero with a springboard hurricanrana at 5:52.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card sees a big debut in action. After weeks of vignettes, Mysterio finally makes his WWE debut and looks to make an impact here against Chavo, who was cruising in the midcard and looks to spoil Mysterio’s debut. Mysterio gets a big pop from the crowd while Chavo had decent heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Chavo going behind Mysterio and he takes him to the mat only for Mysterio to escape as he works the arm, and Chavo takes control only for Mysterio to flip over though Chavo gets a kick in and he hits a monkey flip on Mysterio as they lock hands. Mysterio leaps onto Chavo’s shoulders and hooks a sunset flip for a two count as Mysterio ducks a shot and Chavo blocks a rollup attempt, and Mysterio leaps onto Chavo’s shoulders and hits a headscissors as he pounds on him in the corner and Chavo reverses a whip into the other corner. Mysterio catches him with a back elbow and flips over Chavo as he hooks another sunset flip for a two count, and Chavo reverses a whip and keeps Mysterio from sliding under him as he hits a release German suplex on Mysterio. He hoists Mysterio up for a suplex and drops him on the top rope as he rams him into the buckle and rams the shoulder into the ribs in the corner, and he pounds on Mysterio and hooks an abdominal stretch on only for Mysterio to flip over on top of him for a two count. He ducks a shot and Chavo blocks a monkey flip as he puts Mysterio on the top rope only for Mysterio to kick him away, and Mysterio comes off the middle rope only for Chavo to catch him with a dropkick for a two count and he sends Mysterio to the outside. Chavo goes outside and rams Mysterio’s back into the apron as he throws him back into the ring and hoists him onto his shoulders, and he hits a gutbuster on Mysterio for a two count only for Mysterio to catch him with a dropkick and then he hits a low dropkick that sends Chavo to the outside. Mysterio hits a slingshot spinning crossbody onto Chavo on the floor and throws him back into the ring as he goes up top, but Chavo nails him first and goes up himself only for Mysterio to knock him to the mat as he sets himself on the top rope and hits a seated senton on Chavo. He hits a low dropkick on Chavo who counters a whip and gets a knee in as Mysterio escapes a suplex attempt and Chavo catches him with a back elbow, and Mysterio trips Chavo up and hooks a rollup for a two count as Chavo gets a kick in and Mysterio leaps onto his back. Chavo blocks the sunset flip and hits the Gory Bomb for a two count as he stomps on him and whips him into the corner, and he pounds on Mysterio and whips him into the corner as Mysterio catches him with a boot to the face. He hits a drop toehold that sends Chavo into the middle rope and hits the 619 as he hits a springboard hurricanrana which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was good as both men worked hard and put on a solid match. Mysterio looked good in his debut while Chavo was getting into a groove, and they still had good chemistry as Chavo got some shine though he puts Mysterio over strong in the end. The crowd was into the match and popped for Mysterio when he won. Mysterio gets the win over Chavo in his debut and both men move on. Grade: 2
 
Commercial break
 
We see Test walking down the hallway as he bumps into Rey Mysterio who walks away from him and Test grabs him, and he rams him into a garage door and tells him to go back to kindergarten before walking away.
 
6. John Cena pins Test with a sunset flip at 3:19.
 
Analysis: Our last match before the main event is a pretty interesting matchup. These two had a confrontation earlier in the night and now they face off here to settle their issues. Cena gets a decent pop from the crowd while Test was pretty hot as a heel. Test wastes no time and stomps on Cena to start the match as he rams him into the buckle and hits a series of back elbows in the corner, and he stomps on him repeatedly and throws Cena over the top to the floor as he scares the ref out of the ring only for Cena to get in the ring and hit a dropkick. He hits a running bulldog on Test and pounds on him in the corner as Test reverses a whip into the other corner and he splashes Cena, and he pounds on Cena and hits a slam only to miss the elbow and Cena battles back until Test gets a knee in. Cena ducks a shot and gets a kick in as he hits a DDT on Test and he avoids a charge from Test who hits the corner, and Cena fires up on Test and ducks a shot as he hits a flying forearm and a pair of clotheslines on Test. He splashes Test in the corner and Test ducks a shot as he gets a kick in only for Cena to escape a pump handle powerslam, and he hits a spinout powerbomb on Test for a two count and Test counters a whip as he gets a knee in and hits the pump handle powerslam for a two count. Test argues with the ref and they exchange shoves as Cena hooks a rollup for a two count and Test ducks a shot before getting a kick in, and Cena counters a powerbomb by hooking a sunset flip which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a basic match. Cena was slowly getting into a groove by this point while Test was hitting his groove as well, and they had good chemistry as Cena gets the shocking win over Test. The crowd was into the match and popped for Cena when he won. Cena gets the win over Test and both men move on. Grade: 1.5
 
After the match, Test hits the big boot on Cena and heads to the back.
 
We see the steel cage being lowered around the ring.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Stephanie McMahon and Stacy Keibler in Stephanie’s office continuing to try and get a hold of Kurt Angle as Stephanie leaves a message telling Angle to return to the arena and tell her his decision.
 
Commercial break
 
7. Edge defeats Chris Jericho in a Steel Cage match by escaping the cage at 15:00.
 
Analysis: After a fairly quick and interesting night of wrestling, we come to our main event. These two men have been going at it for the last few weeks with Jericho costing Edge the tag titles at Vengeance, and now they face off here in the cage to settle their issues. Edge gets a big pop from the crowd while Jericho was red hot as a heel. Jericho tries to bring a chair into the cage only for Edge to kick the door back in Jericho’s face to start the match, and he brings Jericho into the cage and pounds on him though Jericho rakes the eyes and pounds on Edge who reverses a whip and he hits a flapjack on Jericho. He pounds on Jericho on the mat and Jericho crawls for the door only for Edge to stop him and Jericho blocks a ram into the cage, and he pounds on Edge in the corner and chokes him as he rams him into the buckle and stomps on him in the corner. He whips Edge into the other corner only for Edge to hit a clothesline and he pounds on Jericho in the corner, and he whips Jericho into the other corner as Jericho leaps up top and tries to climb over the cage though Edge grabs him and pulls him back down. Jericho kicks him away twice and tries to climb back up only for Edge to pull him back down to the mat, and he stomps on Jericho and pounds on him as Jericho reverses a whip and Edge catches him ducking with a kick with Jericho getting tied up in the ropes. Edge rams the shoulder into Jericho’s ribs only for Jericho to avoid a charge as he sends Edge into the cage and then he rams Edge into the cage twice. He pounds on Edge who is busted open and Jericho stomps on him in the corner as he rakes his face into the cage, and he chokes Edge on the ropes and slams down on his back for a two count as he pounds on him in the corner until Edge turns it around and pounds on Jericho in the corner. Jericho reverses a whip into the other corner and Edge catches him with a boot to the face though Jericho ducks a shot and hits a sleeper slam for a two count, and he pounds on Edge and ties him up in the ropes as he continues to pound on him only for Edge to avoid a charge and he sends Jericho into the cage. Edge hits a pair of clotheslines on Jericho who reverses a whip and Edge hits a flying forearm on Jericho, and he ducks a shot and hits the modified facebuster on Jericho for a two count though Jericho holds the ropes to avoid a dropkick with Edge hitting the mat. Edge gets his knees up on a Lionsault attempt and hits the Edge-o-Matic on Jericho for a two count as he climbs up top, but Jericho nails him and goes up himself as he pounds on Edge who blocks a superplex attempt and he hits a front superplex slam on Jericho for a two count. Edge gets a kick in though Jericho escapes the Edgecution and trips Edge up as he looks for the Walls of Jericho, and he slingshots Edge into the cage and crawls for the door though Edge grabs his foot and pulls him back in with Jericho bringing a chair into the cage. He hits Edge in the head with the chair for a pair of two counts though Edge ducks a second swing and hits the spear on Jericho for a two count, and Edge climbs up the cage only for Jericho to hit a low blow and he hits a bulldog on Edge off the top rope before climbing up the cage. He makes it over the top as Edge climbs up after him and pulls him in before putting him on his shoulders and he hits an electric chair off the top rope, and Edge climbs up the cage and gets over it while Jericho crawls out the door though Edge reaches the floor first and wins the match. The match itself was pretty good as both men worked hard and put on a solid match. Both men were hitting their groove by this point and still had great chemistry as Edge gets the win to end this feud. The crowd was into the match and popped for Edge when he won. Edge gets the win over Jericho and both men move on. Grade: 3.5
 
After the match, Lance Storm, Christian, and Test run down to ringside and assault Edge as they throw him back into the cage and get in themselves, and Christian rams Edge into the buckle and all four men stomp on him in the corner as John Cena runs down into the cage. He pounds on Storm until Test nails him from behind and they pound and stomp on Cena in the corner, but then Rey Mysterio runs out and climbs to the top of the cage as he hits a crossbody onto Storm and Christian. Test gets a kick in and looks for a powerbomb only for Mysterio to pound on him and he hits a hurricanrana, and Cena and Mysterio hit a double dropkick on Test which sends him out of the cage and then Cena hits a backdrop on Christian. Edge rams Storm into the cage and he crawls out the door with Christian while Jericho climbs over the top and drops to the floor, and they head to the back as Cena, Edge, and Mysterio stand tall in the ring.
 
We see Stephanie McMahon and Billy Kidman watching backstage as Stacy Keibler comes up to her and says Eric Bischoff is in the parking lot, and she heads out to the parking lot where a limo is parked and she demands Bischoff leave when he sticks his head out the sunroof. He asks if she got the flowers and that Smackdown’s loss would be his gain as he said he would knock her out, and he says he’ll see her on RAW as the limo pulls away and then Kurt Angle comes up behind Stephanie and asks what’s going on. She tells him what she heard and was trying to reach him as he says he was talking to his brother Eric and turned his phone off because he was mad about what Brock Lesnar did, and she asks if he wasn’t in the limo, who was as we go off the air.
 
Final Analysis: Overall, this edition of Smackdown was a pretty solid episode coming off of Vengeance and kicking off Stephanie’s tenure as GM. Obviously, most of the show was continuing the saga that had happened on RAW with whether Bischoff would poach someone from Smackdown, but the in-ring wasn’t too affected by it. We did have a title match as Storm and Christian still rule the tag division while Henry, Venis, Rikishi, Hogan, Rock, Mysterio, Cena, and Edge get big wins, and in terms of the matches the main event was easily the best while the highlight was Mysterio’s debut and his dive off the cage. 2002 has been an interesting year to this point as both RAW and Smackdown were in a state of chaos with anyone being able to jump, and we will see how long that lasts before they decide to lock the rosters down. As for this show, it is a pretty solid show carried by the cage match and Mysterio’s debut. Final Grade: B-