Smackdown
January 23rd, 2003 (taped January 21st)
Pepsi Arena
Albany, New York
 
Note: The scheduled match between B-2 and Redd Dogg was not aired due to time constraints
 
Dark Matches:
 
1. Rob Beeghley defeats Dave Danger.
2. Aaron Stevens defeats Sly.
 
1/25 Velocity taping:
 
1. Chavo Guerrero forces Funaki to tap out at 5:01.
2. Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) pins Jeff Starr at 3:03.
3. Chuck Palumbo pins the River Rat at 5:48.
4. Billy Kidman defeats Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore) by disqualification at 5:50.
 
Actual Show:
 
Stephanie McMahon says that tonight is a special edition of Smackdown because one of the greatest Superstars in history returns to Smackdown in the Undertaker, and she says that if Eric Bischoff wants to drop a bombshell by inviting Steve Austin back to RAW, she has one of her own which is a big surprise.
 
We see the opening video for Smackdown.
 
Your hosts are Michael Cole and Tazz.
 
1. Chris Benoit pins Charlie Haas (w/ Shelton Benjamin) with a small package at 9:01.
 
Analysis: We kick off this edition of Smackdown with a pretty interesting matchup. Benoit came close to winning the WWE Title a few days ago and looks to get back on track here against Haas, who had a good showing in the Rumble and looks to take out Benoit here for Kurt Angle. Benoit gets a big pop from the crowd while Haas had solid heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Benoit hitting an armdrag on Haas and they lock up again with Benoit working on the arm, but Haas turns it around until Benoit trips him up and hooks a submission on the leg until Haas hits a drop toehold. He floats over into a front facelock only for Benoit to escape and he goes back to the arm as Haas turns it around and goes behind Benoit, and Benoit hits a back elbow on Haas and hits another armdrag as Haas recovers in the corner and they lock up with Benoit going back to the arm. Haas hits a drop toehold and works on the leg until Benoit escapes with a headlock before going back to the arm, and Haas takes Benoit to the mat and goes back to the leg until Benoit takes control of Haas’ leg before going back to the headlock. Haas whips him off and Benoit knocks him down as they lock up with Benoit going back to the arm until Haas turns it around, and Benoit counters a whip with a short clothesline and Haas rolls outside to regroup as Benoit goes outside as well and pounds on Haas. Benjamin distracts Benoit and Haas gets a shot in as he rams Benoit’s arm into the steps and throws him back into the ring, and he slams Benoit’s arm into the mat and drives his knee into it twice as he hooks a submission on and continues to work the arm. Benoit escapes with a rollup for a two count and Haas hits a low dropkick as he drives the knee into the arm twice and goes back to the submission on the arm, and he pounds on the arm until Benoit escapes with an armdrag though Haas kicks at the arm and goes back to the submission on it. He rams Benoit’s arm into the buckle and wraps the arm around the rope as Benoit kicks at Haas repeatedly and tries to battle back, but Haas ducks a shot and snaps Benoit to the mat by his arm as he goes back to the submission before turning into a pin for a two count. He drives the knee into Benoit’s arm again and goes back to the submission as Benoit fights to his feet and rams the knee into Haas’ back repeatedly, and he pounds on him and gets a kick in as he hits a DDT and then he hits a pair of back elbows and a backdrop on Haas. He hits a German suplex on Haas and goes up top as he hits the diving headbutt on Haas and Benjamin gets on the apron, and Benoit scares him to the floor and takes Haas to the mat as he hooks the Crossface on though Haas escapes by pounding on the arm. He hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Benoit and then he looks for a German suplex though Benoit counters with a rollup 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. Benoit was hitting his stride by this point while Haas was getting into a groove as well, and they had good chemistry as Benoit outworks Haas to get the win. The crowd was into the match and popped for Benoit when he won. Benoit gets the win over Haas and this issue isn’t over yet. Grade: 3
 
We see the Undertaker arrive to the arena.
 
Commercial break
 
2. Rikishi pins Bill DeMott with the Banzai Drop at 4:17.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. These two men fought the previous week with DeMott getting the win and now Rikishi comes here looking for revenge. Rikishi gets a good pop from the crowd while DeMott had tepid heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with neither man gaining an edge and they lock up again with DeMott getting a knee in, but Rikishi throws DeMott into the corner and pounds on him until DeMott rakes the eyes and rams the shoulder into the ribs repeatedly. He chokes Rikishi and kicks at him repeatedly as Rikishi gets a knee in and rams DeMott’s arm into the buckle, and he splashes DeMott in the corner and snaps his arm off the top rope as he stomps on the arm repeatedly and hooks a submission on it. DeMott fights to his feet and breaks the hold until Rikishi gets a shot in and he snaps DeMott to the mat by his arm, and he slams DeMott’s arm into the mat twice and hits a legdrop on the arm as DeMott battles back until Rikishi gets a shot in on the arm. He hits a clothesline on DeMott who catches him in a spinebuster though Rikishi fires up on DeMott and whips him into the corner, and he splashes DeMott who gets a kick in and he whips Rikishi into the corner only to miss a charge and Rikishi hits a superkick. He drags DeMott to the corner and goes up to the middle rope as he hits the Banzai Drop which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was pretty much a squash as DeMott got a few shots in, but Rikishi gets a pretty easy win in just over 4 minutes. The crowd was into the match and popped for Rikishi when he won. Rikishi gets his win back over DeMott and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
We see a vignette for Nathan Jones.
 
Commercial break
 
Josh Matthews attempts to interview the Big Show only for Show to grab him by the throat and pat him in the face before walking away.
 
We see Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore walking down the hallway as Matt says that Moore keeps screwing up though he admits he saw some hope in him this past Sunday, and he says that Moore helped him plenty of times except for when Brock Lesnar sent him over the top with the F-5. He says that Moore has a lot more lessons in Mattitude so he wants him to get jacked up and give Nunzio a Mattitude adjustment, and Moore walks away as Matt walks up to Nunzio working out and says that he wants to teach Moore a lesson as Nunzio shares a story about his cousin and Matt says that he would be happy with Moore getting a Mattitude adjustment.
 
We see the Undertaker backstage getting on his motorcycle.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot outside the Pepsi Arena.
 
The Undertaker comes down to the ring and says that it’s been awhile as he won’t waste time talking because there’s too much talking going on, and he says that he’s been at home for the last 3 months thinking about nothing but an ass-kicking and he has one thing on his mind which is revenge. He says that he has bad intentions on his mind and there’s one guy that he will get some of as he plays the footage from 3 months ago, and Taker says that there’s an old saying in that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger as he will give Show the chance he didn’t give him. He says he wants Show to come down to the ring and get his ass kicked though he will go back here if he has to, and the Big Show comes out on the stage and says that he could go down to the ring and give Taker a beating that makes what he did 3 months ago tame. He says that Taker knows if he comes down the ramp, one of them won’t come back up and just in case that person is him, he has a contingency plan and he could come down the ramp though he won’t and instead the challenge will be answered by A-Train.
 
3. The Undertaker forces A-Train to tap out at 5:41.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. Taker made his return at the Rumble and wanted to get his hands on Show, but Show backs out and instead A-Train steps up to face Taker. Taker gets a big pop from the crowd while A-Train had decent heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Taker hooking a headlock and A-Train whips him off as he knocks Taker down, and he taunts Taker who gets a shot in and A-Train reverses a whip into the corner as he splashes Taker and hits a clothesline for a two count. He kicks at Taker and hooks a bearhug on as Taker fights out of the hold and pounds on A-Train who gets a knee in, and the two men trade blows until A-Train gets a knee in and Taker ducks a shot as he hits the flying clothesline on A-Train. He hits a big boot on A-Train for a two count and A-Train rolls outside to regroup as Taker goes outside as well and pounds on him, and he rams A-Train into the announce table and throws him back into the ring as he drapes him across the apron and drives the elbow into his throat twice. He gets on the apron and hits a legdrop on A-Train as he rolls back into the ring and splashes A-Train in the corner, and he whips him into the other corner and splashes him again as he grabs the arm and goes up top before hitting Old School on A-Train. He grabs A-Train by the throat and hits the chokeslam for a two count as he sets up for the Last Ride only for A-Train to escape with a backdrop, but he misses a big splash and Taker pounds on him as A-Train ducks a shot and grabs Taker by the throat. He hits the Derailer on Taker for a two count and pounds on him in the corner as he whips him into the other corner, and he hoists Taker onto his shoulder though Taker slides off and sends A-Train into the corner as he hooks the Dragon Sleeper on and A-Train taps out to give Taker the win. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a basic match. Taker was getting back into a groove since returning while A-Train was getting into a groove as well, and they had decent chemistry as Taker gets the clean win. The crowd was into the match and popped for Taker when he won. Taker gets the win over A-Train and both men move on. Grade: 1.5
 
Commercial break
 
We see a vignette for Sean O’Haire.
 
4. Edge pins Shelton Benjamin (w/ Charlie Haas) with the spear at 5:42.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. Edge has been helping Benoit against Team Angle for the last month and he faces Benjamin here. Edge gets a big pop from the crowd while Benjamin had solid heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Benjamin going behind Edge and he takes him to the mat as he hooks a front facelock, and Edge fights to his feet and escapes the hold as he works the arm and he goes behind Benjamin who hits a drop toehold. He hooks a headlock and works the arm as he goes behind Edge who hits a back elbow and then he hits a spin kick, and he gets a kick in and hits a swinging neckbreaker on Benjamin for a two count as he stomps and pounds on him in the corner. Benjamin counters a whip and hits a German suplex on Edge as he goes outside and he wraps Edge around the post, and he rolls back into the ring and hits a double underhook suplex on Edge for a two count as he trips Edge up and then he takes him to the mat again. He grabs him by the arm and takes him to the mat again as he spins around on top of him and Edge escapes a hold, and he hits the Edge-o-Matic on Benjamin and gets a kick in though Benjamin escapes the Edgecution and hits a short clothesline for a two count. He hooks a submission on Edge who fights to his feet and escapes the hold by snapping Benjamin to the mat and he hits a belly-to-belly suplex, and he pounds on Benjamin who reverses a whip and Edge ducks a shot as he hits a flying forearm on Benjamin. He hits a clothesline on Benjamin and ducks a shot as he hits the modified facebuster for a two count and whips him into the corner, and he hits a flapjack on Benjamin and looks for the spear as Benjamin leaps over him and Edge avoids hitting the corner. Haas gets on the apron though Edge blocks a shot and hotshots him on the top rope as he catches a superkick attempt only for Benjamin to hit a spin kick for a two count, and Edge reverses a whip into the corner and Benjamin leaps up top as Edge avoids him and hits the spear which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was good as both men worked hard and put on a decent match. Edge was hitting his stride by this point while Benjamin was getting into a groove as well, and they had good chemistry as Edge gets the clean win. The crowd was into the match and popped for Edge when he won. Edge gets the win over Benjamin and this issue isn’t over yet. Grade: 2
 
Commercial break
 
We see Team Angle in their dressing room as Kurt Angle says that they represent him when they compete as he is an Olympic Gold Medalist, and he says that being on Team Angle comes with responsibilities which doesn’t include losing. He says that Team Angle stands for intensity, integrity, and intelligence as Haas showed no intensity against Benoit, and he says that Benjamin didn’t show intelligence in losing to Edge and all they have to do is win. He says that they will not go 0-3 tonight and he wants them to stay here and watch him on how to get the job done, and he says that he’s ashamed of them and they should be ashamed of themselves as it would be embarrassing for him to lose to Rey Mysterio.
 
5. Nunzio pins Shannon Moore (w/ Matt Hardy) with the springboard armbar DDT at 3:39.
 
Analysis: Our last match before the main event is a pretty interesting matchup. Moore was being put in this match by Matt as punishment for not helping him at the Rumble and Nunzio looks to get a win here. Neither man get a pop from the crowd as both had decent heat as heels. The two men lock up to start with Moore going behind Nunzio who turns it around and Moore takes Nunzio to the mat, and they lock up with Nunzio tripping Moore up for a one count and Moore trips Nunzio up for a one count. Nunzio gets a kick in and pounds on Moore as he whips him into the corner and catches him on a leap, and he hits a flapjack on Moore and rolls outside as he rams Moore’s arm into the post twice and rolls back into the ring. He hits a snapmare on Moore for a two count and hooks a submission on the arm as Moore reaches the rope to force a break, and he stomps and pounds on Moore as he ducks a shot and gets a kick in only for Moore to reverse a whip into the corner. Nunzio catches him with a knee and goes up to the middle rope as he hits the Sicilian Slice for a two count and he hooks another submission on, and Moore again grabs the rope to force a break and Nunzio hits a snapmare before hooking another submission on. Moore escapes the hold and gets a shot in only for Nunzio to get a kick in and he whips Moore into the corner, but Moore catches him with a back elbow and hits a springboard side kick on Nunzio who recovers first and pounds on Moore. Moore ducks a shot and hits a flying forearm on Nunzio as he hits a side dropkick and a modified neckbreaker for a two count, and he whips Nunzio into the corner and Nunzio backdrops him over the top with Moore landing on the apron. He yanks Nunzio to the mat by the hair and goes up top as he hits a twisting senton on Nunzio and he looks for the Twist of Fate, but Nunzio counters it with the springboard armbar DDT 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. Moore was getting into a groove by this point as was Nunzio and they had decent chemistry as Nunzio gets the clean win. The crowd was in and out of it for the match and are not happy when Nunzio won. Nunzio gets the win over Moore and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
After the match, Matt gets in the ring fuming and chases Moore to the back before returning to the ring and he shakes Nunzio’s hand.
 
We see highlights from the Royal Rumble.
 
Commercial break
 
Brock Lesnar says he’s accomplished a lot so far in WWE and he is very goal-oriented as he had a goal to become NCAA Champion, a goal to make an impact the night after WrestleMania, a goal to become King of the Ring, and a goal to beat the Rock at Summerslam to become WWE Champion. He says that he also had a goal to beat the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell and he accomplished all of them until Survivor Series when he was screwed by Paul Heyman, and he says that since then he added two more goals to accomplished which were to beat Big Show and win the Rumble which he did both. He says that he has two more goals now to accomplish with the first being to F-5 Paul Heyman, and he says the second is to beat Kurt Angle for the WWE Title at WrestleMania.
 
We see Rey Mysterio walking down the hallway as Shannon Moore runs past him and jumps into a trunk, and then Matt Hardy appears yelling for Moore as he says that running will only make things worse.
 
Commercial break
 
6. Kurt Angle (w/ Paul Heyman) pins Rey Mysterio with a rollup at 7:19.
 
Analysis: After a fairly quick and interesting night of wrestling, we come to our main event. Angle barely survived at the Rumble to retain the WWE Title and he looks to get another win here over Mysterio, who had a decent showing in the Rumble and looks to get a big win here. Mysterio gets a big pop from the crowd while Angle was red hot as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Angle hooking a front facelock and they trade momentum on the arm until Angle gets a knee in, and Mysterio hits a headscissors on Angle and pounds on him in the corner as he whips him into the other corner and hits a spin kick. He hits a drop toehold on Angle and ducks a shot as he hits a dropkick and pounds on Angle who reverses a whip, and Mysterio flips onto Angle’s shoulders only for Angle to hit a sitdown powerbomb for a two count and then he hits a back suplex for a two count. He chokes Mysterio on the ropes and knocks him down as he hits a short clothesline for a two count and pounds on him, and he stomps on Mysterio and goes outside as he drapes Mysterio on the apron and drives the elbow into the back of Mysterio’s head. He rolls back into the ring and hits a German suplex with Mysterio landing on the top of his head in a nasty spot for a two count, and he hooks the front facelock back on Mysterio who fights to his feet and escapes the hold with a release Northern lights suplex. He fires up on Angle who reverses a whip and Mysterio hits a springboard crossbody as he ducks a shot and hits a spin kick, and he pounds on Angle in the corner and Angle reverses a whip into the other corner as Mysterio catches him with a boot to the face. He slides under Angle and kicks him into the corner as Angle catches a kick attempt only for Mysterio to hit another dropkick, and he charges at Angle who launches him into the corner as Mysterio lands on the middle rope and hits a springboard headscissors. Angle falls to the outside and Mysterio looks to dive out onto him only for the ref to stop him though Mysterio hits a slingshot somersault senton onto Angle, and he throws Angle back into the ring and gets on the apron as he hits a springboard legdrop to the back of Angle’s head for a two count. He pounds on Angle in the corner and Angle reverses a whip into the other corner as Mysterio flips to the top rope while Angle rams his shoulder into the post, and Mysterio sets himself on the top rope only to miss a slingshot moonsault and Angle hooks the Ankle Lock on until Mysterio kicks him away. Angle catches him in a belly-to-belly suplex on Mysterio who counters the Angle Slam with an armdrag and he hits a drop toehold that sends Angle into the ropes, and Angle blocks the 619 by catching Mysterio and putting him on his shoulder though Mysterio escapes a move and lands on his feet. He ducks a shot and hits a springboard wheelbarrow bulldog on Angle for a two count as he goes out to the apron, and he attempts a springboard hurricanrana though Angle blocks it and hotshots Mysterio on the top buckle before hitting an electric chair into a rollup 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 was hitting his groove by this point while Angle was hitting his stride as well, and they still had great chemistry as Angle gets the clean win over Mysterio. The crowd was into the match and Mysterio, but are not happy when Angle wins. Angle gets the win over Mysterio and both men move on. Grade: 2.5
 
After the match, Angle stomps on Mysterio and hooks the Ankle Lock back on until Edge runs down to the ring and scares Angle from the ring, and Angle and Heyman head to the back only for Chris Benoit to cut them off and he pounds on Angle. He throws Angle back into the ring and Edge hits a clothesline as Benoit hits a German suplex on Angle and then Edge hits the spear, and then Benoit hits another German suplex on Angle as he and Edge put Angle in the ropes and Mysterio hits the 619.
 
We see Stephanie McMahon in her office as Funaki comes in for an interview and she tells him that the surprise is not a “what”, but a “who” though he’ll have to wait like everyone else and it is coming up next as she ushers him out and then looks at a poster of Hulk Hogan.
 
Commercial breaks
 
Hulk Hogan comes down to the ring to a big pop and the crowd gives him a standing ovation that lasts several minutes as Hogan takes it all in, and he says that the fans are his life and he came here tonight to make an announcement which is that he has signed a brand new contract. He says that he is back and Hulkamania will run wild one more time as he says that he has a lot of unfinished business, and he says that he has a lot of new business to take care of as well though this time he will do it the right way in the red and yellow and with all of the fans at his side. He says that they will march into battle together and it doesn’t matter how high the deck is stacked against them, he says that they will fight the forces of evil together and it doesn’t matter what it takes as they will come out victorious. He says that he’s going to be honest in that this may be their last journey together and he gives his word that he won’t let the fans down, and he says that if this is their final hour together, it will be the greatest of all as Vince McMahon comes down to the ring. He has a staredown with Hogan and says that he just got here as he was also curious as to what Stephanie’s surprise was, and he says that he speaks for everyone when he says he’s terribly disappointed and he gave Stephanie full power to run Smackdown only to be given this. He says that this isn’t 1985, it is 2003 and he doesn’t want to offend Hogan though he says that Hulkamania and Al Wilson have one thing in common in that they’re both dead, and Hogan says that Vince has given him an idea since this might be his last comeback and he wants to make sure he does things the right way. He says that the first Superstar that he wants to face in the ring and kick the living hell out of is Vince himself, and Vince asks Hogan who the hell he thinks he is and he doesn’t answer to him or the fans here tonight. He says that he doesn’t even answer to God as he only answers to one supreme being which is himself, and Hogan says that maybe this will help him make up his mind and he knocks Vince down as he heads to the back and we go off the air.
 
Final Analysis: Overall, this edition of Smackdown was a pretty solid show coming out of the Rumble as we really kick off the Road to WrestleMania. Even though we do have a show still to come prior to WM, this show did a good job in planting seeds for what was to come through the next few months on this road. We had no title matches on this show as Benoit, Rikishi, Taker, Edge, Nunzio, and Angle get big wins, and the matches were pretty standard as the big moment was the return of Hulk Hogan and his showdown with Vince. 2003 is already off to an interesting start as the Rumble itself was a pretty solid show and as we start building to No Way Out, we will see how both brands shape their cards for that show. As for this show, it is a pretty solid show with good in-ring action and laying the foundation for WM. Final Grade: B-