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Best of WWE Smackdown!- Disc Three (2009)

by Scrooge McSuck

- Part Three of Three from the Best of WWE Smackdown (1999-2009). Last time, we counted down moments 69 through 40, highlighting a Steel Cage Match between JBL and Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio winning the Cruiserweight Title from Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle and the Undertaker taking each other to the limit, and the on-going saga over how disgusting Debra's cookies were.

- Michael Cole and Matt Striker are still here to count us down. Lucky us, Disc 3 is a little more than three hours long, while Discs 1 and 2 were around 2 hrs. 40 minutes. I know it's not too much, but we also have 40 moments to count down compared to 30 on the other discs.

39. From the 3/23/00 episode - Stephanie McMahon bitch-slaps her own mother. The first time the female members of the McMahon family got physical with each other.

38. From the 2/19/04 episode - Eddie Guerrero celebrates his World Championship victory from No Way Out over Brock Lesnar. It's cool, but I thought his celebration after winning the match was good enough.

37. From the 9/9/04 episode - Big Show interrupts a mediocre Lumberjack Match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle and proceeds to clean house, dishing out Chokeslams to anyone who dared get in his way. Whatever, Big Show's on way too many of these selections for my taste.

36. From the 3/24/05 episode - Kurt Angle is doing a "Blast from Shawn Michaels Past" thing. The week before he wrestled Marty Jannetty. This week, he dresses up as Shawn Michaels and brings out Sensational Sherri to help sing his entrance music: Sexy Kurt.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match:
The New Age Outlaws © vs. The Rock 'n' Sock Connection:

(Road Dogg & Billy Gunn vs. Mankind & The Rock)
Moment #35, From the October 14th, 1999 episode. This is the absolute last time we will see Rock and Mankind team up as the Rock 'N' Sock Connection, which usually means they'll win the titles. This was released before the removal of blurring the WWF logo, so Mankind's TIE (covered in WWF logos) is given the blurr effect. Rock starts with Gunn and quickly grabs a headlock. Whip to the ropes, and Rock comes off with a shoulder block. Gunn with a drop toe hold, and Rock retaliates with a clothesline. Gunn ducks a second clothesline and takes Rock down with a neck breaker for two. Gunn goes for the Fame-Asser, but Rock counters with... something. Ugly spot. Rock Bottom time, but Road Dogg interrupts. Mankind comes in to complete the bedlam. Road Dogg pounds away on Mankind while trying to take off his RnS Connection jacket. Mankind returns the favor and charges into the corner with a knee to the face. Mankind with jabs, not unlike Road Dogg's, complete with REALLY bad shuck 'n' jivin'. Dogg goes low and goes through the move himself. He connects with the knee drop, but Rock interrupts a pump-handle slam with a clothesline. Whip to the ropes and Rock with an elbow to the face. Mankind tags in and we get a double clothesline spot for the heck of it. Gunn tags in and connects with a piledriver, but it only gets two. Dogg with a dropkick to the back of the head. Gunn with a series of rights, but his dive into the corner misses. Mankind with a bulldog, and it's hot tag time for the Rock. He lays into both Outlaws with rights and plants Gunn with the Rock Bottom. Mankind with the double-arm DDT, but only for two. Mr. Socko comes out and he slaps it on Road Dogg. Ref' bump, Fame-Asser hits. Crash Holly runs in and screws up attacking Gunn, but Hardcore Holly runs in, too, and KO's Gunn with a tag belt, and Mankind covers for three at 8:31. New Champions, what a shock. Looks like they'll have to team up at least once more... when they job the belts to the Holly's on Raw the next week. Solid match, but nothing spectacular.

34. The Houdini of Hardcore. Various clips of Crash Holly's infamous reign as Hardcore Champion, when he declared he would defend the title 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Remember when he fought off the Headbangers in Funtime USA? Or the Mean Street Posse at a laundrymat? I don't know if these all really happened on Smackdown, but it was a memorable time for a less than memorable championship.

33. 7/25/02 - Rey Mysterio, who made his WWE Debut earlier in the show, runs in to save Edge from a Un-American beat-down following a Cage Match with Chris Jericho, with a high cross body from the top of the cage. That is definitely a memorable Smackdown moment... at #33. Okay. Yes, at this point, it's easier to criticize placement.

32. 9/26/08 - The Undertaker's Revenge. I guess Vicki Guerrero had screwed him over, which is good enough for Undertaker to give her a Tombstone Piledriver. I think enough has been said about the poor treatment of Vicki Guerrero over the years.

31. The never-ending problems between Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon. He wants a divorce. Yawn.

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle:

Moment #30, from June 27th, 2002. Vince McMahon cuts a promo to open the show, brings out Kurt Angle, who cuts a longer promo. He finally ditches the dumb wig look, which stopped being funny after the first week. Cena interrupts with "Ruthless Aggression", bitch slaps Angle, and clotheslines him to the floor. Cena with rights, followed by a back drop. Cena with clotheslines and a dive into the corner for two. Angle goes for the Ankle-Lock, but Cena counters and connects with another clothesline. Angle grabs the ankle again to no avail, but a German suplex is successful. Cena counters another with a victory roll for two. Angle puts the boots to Cena in the corner and bitch slaps him as payback for the beginning of the match. Angle with a suplex for two, then grabs a front headlock. Cena mounts a comeback with rights. Whip to the ropes and he connects with a diving forearm. Cena with a spinebuster for two. Angle goes to the eyes and Angle-Slam, but Cena counters with a DDT for another two count. Cena covers again, for two, and again, for two. Whip to the corner, Angle posts himself on a charge, and Cena rolls him up for two. Small package for two. Cena with a powerslam for two. Angle takes Cena down and cradles him for three at 5:42. Cena offers a handshake, but Angle laughs it off. Wow, remember a time when Cena did clean T.V. jobs and wore real wrestling gear? All joking aside, a good debut and match. Too bad we didn't see Cena in his green trunks, a look that gave me inspiration to call him Little Mac for the month or so he wore them.

29. 8/8/02 - Hulk Hogan earns a shot to wrestle Brock Lesnar and challenges him to put up the SummerSlam championship shot. Lesnar destroys Hogan and busts him open, then smears the blood across his chest like some kind of warrior. This marked Hogan's last appearance before his 2003 return. Too bad WWE blew it on free T.V. instead of on a PPV. That's WWE for you, though.

28. 4/13/00 - Get in my belly! Big Show's impression of Fat Bastard, or whatever the character is called. Not a fan. Next.

27. 6/13/02 - Angle's wig is removed by Hulk Hogan and Triple H. We've just established the hair thing in the match against John Cena, but for all intents and purposes, this was the first time someone took it off, and yes, it was kind of funny.

26. 4/8/04 - John "Bradshaw" Layfield, in order to prove who the greatest American is, does border patrol and kicks out illegal immigrants trying to jump the border. This was the beginning of the improbable and unwanted JBL push that concluded with a World Title reign lasting damn near a year.

Zach Gowen & Stephanie McMahon vs. Big Show:

Moment #25, from July 3rd, 2003 episode. For those who weren't in the wrestling loop in 2003, Zach Gowen was a one-legged wrestler and... that was pretty much it. He was immediately thrown into a program with Hulk Hogan as his mentor and hero, but then Hogan turned into his old 'self and was shown the door, and Gowen's ego got the best of him, and by year's end, was released as well. My first time watching him was on a weekly NWA-TNA PPV, and to say I couldn't believe what I was seeing would be a huge understatement. Show easily shrugs Gowen off and Lucha-Stephanie hops on his back from the apron, no doubt the highspot of the match. Show snapmares her off, bringing the match up another notch, because Stephanie taking a beating is always a plus. Gowen surprises Show with a dropkick through the ropes, but a body press is caught. Show throws him back in over the top rope (from the floor), and does the same with Stephanie, just a bit more gentle. Gowen takes a cheap shot at Vince and saves Stephanie from certain doom with a dropkick to the gut. Show with a clothesline, followed by the Chokeslam. Someone's due for a run in, and yes, it's Kurt Angle. He goes low on Show and slaps on the Ankle-Lock. Vince with a chair shot on Angle to interrupt. Here comes the pain, but Show punts Lesnar in the stomach as he was going to give Vince an F5. Show gets the chair kicked into his face, Angle-Slam and F5, and Gowen comes off the top with a moonsault for the three count at 4:45. Over-booked stupid WCW style nonense... except the BABYFACE won. I'm not saying I agree with it on a regular basis, but if you're going to overbook things to hell, give it to the face/person fans don't hate more.

24. 6/27/00 - Triple H shows Trish Stratus some certain moves, but Stephanie McMahon walks in Trish practicing a counter to a hammerlock. Triple H's facial expression is classic.

23. 5/11/07 - The Undertaker defends the big gold belt against Batista inside of a Steel Cage. It ends in a tie, Mark Henry lays the Undertaker out, and Edge cashes in the Money in the Bank contract to regain the World Heavyweight Championship.

22. 9/18/03 - Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle wrestle the first ever free-T.V. Ironman Match. I remember it being pretty good, but I've honestly only seen it once. Lesnar gets intentionally DQ'ed, then gets two quick falls with an F5 and the Ankle Lock. F5 on the floor, and it's a count-out to give him a 3-1 lead. Angle with the Angle-Slam and pin to make it 3-2. Brian Hebner with the greatest over-sell from a referee. Lesnar KO's Angle with the belt and gets another pin to make it 4-2. Super-plex and it's 5-2. Angle with a top rope belly to belly to cut the lead with 10-minutes to go. Angle with a victory roll into the Ankle-Lock, and a tap out makes it 5-4. Angle grabs the Ankle again and grapevines the leg, but time expires, and Brock regains the WWE Championship, winning 5 falls to Angle's 4. I know the length would make it hard to feature on the DVD, but I want this match.

21. 4/27/00 - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin makes a surprise return and destroys the DX Express. Other than appearing at Backlash for a run-in, he didn't make his REAL return until September, at Unforgiven.

20. 1/13/06 - Batista forfeits the World Heavyweight Title. Seems like in 2006-07, a lot of people went down with untimely injuries. At least it was a REAL injury, not a phony Shawn Michaels lost smile kind of injury.

19. 9/30/99 - The Rock gives Davey Boy Smith the GREATEST PEOPLE'S ELBOW OF ALL TIME. Okay, sorry, here's the set-up: Rock is doing special referee duty for a Triple H/Bulldog title match, screws them both over, gives Bulldog the Rock Bottom, then gives him the people's elbow, gliding halfway across the ring in the process. It has to be seen to be appreciated.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
Chuck & Billy © (w/ Rico) vs. Edge & Hulk Hogan:

Moment #18 from the July 4th, 2002 episode. This match has made it's way to DVD sets of Hulk Hogan and Edge, but it's a classic moment, so no big deal. WWE audio tinkering renders things pointless, as Hogan was exclusively using Voodoo Child at the time, but for this show, came out to Real American for the first time since King of the Ring 1993. Let's just say the mark-out juices were flowing hard. Oh, and Edge's theme by Rob Zombie is dubbed with his classic theme... no big deal, that theme sucked, anyway. Billy and Chuck might as well be called former Champions, there's no way they're winning this one. Hogan and Chuck start. Lockup, and guess who wins that one. Chuck with a knee to the midsection, followed by rights and a slam. Hogan pops up and lays into Chuck with rights of his own. Whip to the ropes and Hogan with a clothesline, followed by elbows and a rake of the eyes. Gunn tags in and gets his clock cleaned, too. Edge tags in and connects with a reverse neck breaker for two. Edge with mounted punches, but a distraction from Chuck allows Gunn to take him down with a clothesline. Edge and Chck trade blows until Chuck takes Edge over with a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Billy with a suplex for two. Chuck with a slam and jumping elbow drop for two. Edge offers a comeback, but gets dumped to the floor. Rico and Billy have heel miscommuncation, but Edge still ends up tasting the steel steps. Billy tags in and grabs a front headlock. Edge battles his way to the corner, but gets taken down before he can tag. Chuck tags in and gets a face plant almost immediately. Hogan gets the hot tag, and unloads with rights and clotheslines. Double noggin-knocker! Whip to the ropes and a boot to Gunn. He goes the leg drop, but Chuck interrupts with a super-kick. Whip to the ropes and Hogan comes back with a double clothesline. Edge gets another hot tag and comes off the top with a double clothesline of his own. Edge with the DDT on Palumbo. Rico interrupts a spear, so Hogan runs out and takes care of him. Back in the ring, Edge takes Gunn down with a Spear for two. Hogan and Edge with a double boot on Chuck, followed by a pair of leg drops, and we have NEW Champions at 10:03. Talk about a mark out moment. Match was good enough to not find anything to really complain about, but it was definitely very fun.

17. 8/24/00 - Kurt Angle kisses Stephanie McMahon. Worst excuse for a payoff ever: Triple H remains heel, pins Angle clean, and nothing changes.

16.2/15/05 - JBL vs. Dollzilla - WWE did a couple of days worth of taping in Japan for Raw and Smackdown. Other than a few really good matches, this definitely stands out: JBL fighting a blow-up doll of Godzilla. This was to build a title defense against the Big Show that no one cared about.

15. TLC III - The name "Chris Benoit" is never mentioned, and other than one shot to open the montage and the closing shot (of his back) winning the match, all the clips highlight everyone else possible. I know this DVD came out in 2009, a mere two years after, but if you're not going to mention someone by name that WON the match, then why fucking bother? The match was pretty good, and being the first TLC Match on television, something exciting.

14. 11/11/99 - Arnold Shwartzenegger shows up for whatever reasons. His appearance wasn't just for show, as he ran interference later in the show and clobbered Triple H, before everyone hated his guts (Triple H, not Arnold, although Arnold did just do Batman and Robin a year earlier, so who knows).

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Triple H © vs. Jeff Hardy:

Moment #13, from the April 12th, 2001 episode. This is definitely one of more memorable Smackdown matches, and not for good reason. We'll explain at the end. No water spitting tonight. Hunter quickly goes to work on Hardy, pounding away with rights. Hardy comes back with a spinning head scissors, followed by a pair of dropkicks. Hunter with a boot to the midsection and sets for the pedigree, but Hardy sweeps the legs and connects a dropkick to the face for two. Mounted punches in the corner until Triple H throws him off as if he were Andre the Giant fighting Little Beaver. Hardy with Whisper in the Wind out of nowhere for two. Charge attempt is side-stepped, and Hardy goes flying through the ropes. HHH follows, and counters the security wall dive with a powerslam. Whip to the wall, and Hardy comes off the apron, only to be powerslammed, again. Way to repeat the spot, just slightly different location. Hardy gets whipped into the steps, then back in the ring, with Hunter knocking Hardy in the face with a running high knee. Triple H with mounted rights, followed by choking across the middle rope. Hunter with more choking in the corner, along with some trash talking. Whip across the ring, with the impact sending Hardy to the canvas like a sack of potatoes. Whip gto the ropes, and it's Main Event Sleeper time! Hardy escapes with a jawbuster and takes Hunter down with a russian leg sweep. He heads to the top rope, but HHH throws the referee into the ropes, crotching Hardy across the top rope. Hunter's argument with the referee isn't enough to buy Hardy time to recover. Suddenly Matt Hardy runs in and KO's Helmsley with a chair. Senton Bomb, and it's over at 8:07. So Triple H squashes Jeff for the majority of the match and shrugs off all his signature stuff, then does the screwjob finish. It wouldn't be too bad, except he REALLY squashed Jeff on the following episode of Raw to regain the title. Talk about a pointless switch.

12. 9/16/99 - Vince McMahon wins his own company's World Championship. And people complained about WCW doing that stuff with David Arquette. Thankfully the title was vacated almost immediately instead of Vince defending it for a few weeks.

11. John Cena's Thuganomics. After his debut as a plucky, aggressive rookie, and before becoming the face of WWE, he was a white boy rapper who made fun of his opponents and wore throwback jersey's of the local sports teams. What a kiss ass.

10. Tribute to the Troops. Since 2003, the WWE annually hosts a show around the Christmas holiday for the Troops. The first few years were filmed overseas in open air surroundings, but in recent years, they've started filming events in local arenas. Still a great thing, and the earlier shows were home to some interesting settings.

9. 12/13/01 Supermarket Brawl. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin beats the crap out of Booker T in a supermarker. That's all you need to know. It's awesome, look it up.

No DQ Match: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero:

Moment #8, from the September 26th, 2002 episode. I honestly don't know the set up to this, but this was around the time of the "Smackdown Six", as they were known, where random combinations of the Guerrero's, Angle, Benoit, Mysterio, and Edge were tearing it up on Smackdown. Lockup into the corner, Eddie pounds away and puts Edge down with an elbow. Criss-cross sequence ends with Edge throwing Eddie across the ring with a monkey flip. Edge grabs a hammerlock but Eddie quickly rams him into the corner and rams a pair of shoulders into the midsection. Guerrero with a cover, with legs on the ropes for two. Whip to the ropes, and Edge takes Guerrero over with a back drop. Edge with a dropkick, followed by a slam. He comes off the ropes with an elbow drop and covers for two. Guerrero fights out of a hammerlock and lays Edge out with an enziguri. Guerrero measures Edge up with rights and takes him down with a suplex for a two count. Eddie slaps on a chinlock and mouths off to the crowd... I'm guessing he's the heel. Edge back to his feet with axehandles to the midsection. Whip to the ropes and Edge takes Eddie over with a powerslam. Edge to the top rope, but Eddie quickly cuts him off and takes him down with a super-plex. Eddie eventually covers, but only for a two count. Eddie with forearms across the back of the head. Whip to the ropes, Edge drops Eddie across the top rope, and sends him to the floor with a clothesline. He follows and looks under the ring, pulling out a LADDER. He charges at full speed and accidentally rams the ladder into the face of the referee. Guerrero looks for toys and blasts Edge across the back with a chair. Back in the ring, chair in hand, and Eddie slams the chair across the back one more time. He heads to the top rope, only to miss the Frog Splash. I guess Edge wasn't too hurt after all.

We come back from commercial, with Eddie pounding away on Edge like a man posessed. We have a new referee in the ring, with the original still selling death on the floor. Whip to the ropes and Eddie slaps on the sleeper hold. We get a replay of that ladder shot as more referee's come down to take him back to the locker room. During the commercial, Edge hit the spear, but the new referee took too long to get to the ring. Back from the replays, and Edge lays Eddie out for a two count. Edge to the top rope, but Guerrero cuts him off and takes him down with a head scissors for a two count. Eddie with blows to the elbow, followed by roundhouse rights. Eddge walks the ropes for a head scissors, but Edge counters with a powerbomb. Edge brings the ladder into the ring, and hopefully won't KO another referee. Instead, Eddie dropkicks it back into his body. Eddie goes under the ring and pulls out a second ladder. Eddie lays out Edge with an uppercut, laying him across the ladder. Eddie puts the second ladder across his chest, and comes crashing across the entire stack with a somersault senton from the apron. The Anti-Eddie crowd is starting with Eddie chants. Eddie covers, but only gets two. Eddie sets up a ladder in the corner and starts climbing. Edge climbs up the opposite side, and it's a slugfest. Eddie slams Edge's face into the top of the ladder, then sunset flips over into a powerbomb! Someone check Edge's pulse. Eddie with the slow crawl, and somehow Edge kicks out at two. The ladder gets proped up against the corner. Eddie charges and ends up taking a back drop across it, folding himself over like a pretzel. Edge climbs another ladder (don't ask why), and Eddie follows. This time it's Edge getting the upperhand by repeatedly ramming Eddie into the top of the ladder, and connects with the Edge-ecution DDT. That's more than enough to get the three count at 16:33 (minus one commercial break). Started off slow, but gradually picked up pace and into an incredible finish. Not an all-time great match or anything, but definitely one of, if not the best match featured on this DVD set.

7. The Rock Says... montage of the Rock cutting promos. Personally I would say Rock's short comeback in 2003 as a dickhead heel was way better than any of his babyface promos, other than that one leading up to Armageddon 2000, making fun of all his opponents. That happend on Raw, though, and thus doesn't count.

6. 11/11/99 - Funeral Crasher. Big Bossman pisses off the Big Show by interrupting the funeral of his father (kayfabe) and drags the coffin away, chained to the back of his car, complete with giant bullhorn attached to the roof. Coffin Surfing at the Olympics. Make it happen!

5. 7/12/01 - Austin and Angle Unplugged. Both men were nursing various injuries, so we get a bunch of backstage segments of the two of them sucking up to Vince McMahon, most notably by singing to him and playing the guitar.

4. 4/29/99 - The Pilot. Nothing of importance really happend, other than Owen Hart's one and only appearance on Smackdown as the Blue Blazer, but it's the show that got them on UPN and kicked off the entire series. Weird seeing it treated as "just another show" with a pilot episode.

WWF Championship Match:
Triple H © (w/ Chyna) vs. The Rock:

Moment #3, from the August 26th, 1999 episode, and I'm calling bullshit before we even watch the match. THIS is #3? I wonder what junk will be 2nd and 1st. This might be the first episode in terms of actual weekly broadcasts. Shawn Michaels is the special referee, making his random appearance of the month. Remember how much Shawn Michaels was loathed until about 2003? That seems like such a long time ago. Hunter won the title on Raw from Mankind for his first of many Championship reigns. Slugfest to start, with the Rock gaining the upperhand. They both tease going for their finishers, but are easily countered. Whip to the ropes, and Triple H connects with a clothesline. Chyna gets a cheap shot in and we get another slugfest. Rock tosses Hunter over the top, to the floor. Brawl up the aisle, and Rock takes him over with a suplex on the top of the ramp. Rock with a Russian leg sweep, and we finally take it back to the ring. Rock with a clothesline, sending the Game back out. Chyna with a blatant low blow, so Michaels sends her back to the locker room instead of calling for a DQ. I just noticed Shawn is wearing a shirt promoting his wrestling academy... just wanted to point it out. Back in the ring, Rock hits a DDT, but Shane is so far out of position, it only gets two. Helmsley with a running high knee, and suddenly Shane McMahon shows up. This one is just dragging. Helmsley with a suplex, followed by a knee across the forhead for two. CHINLOCK! CHINLOCK! CHINLOCK! Rock with a comeback and he hangs Hunter across the top rope. Rock with a swinging neck breaker and Rock Bottom. People's Elbow time, but Shawn Michaels SWERVES and lays him out with Sweet Chin Music. Triple H with the Pedigree, and it's over at 9:41. Wow, a 1-star match with a shitty ending, with a heel turn that went nowhere because Shawn Michaels vanished from television again until June of 2000. That's really the best match?!

2. 6/12/03 - Brock Lesnar super-plex's Big Show and the ring collapses beneath them. Really, can't and don't need to say more than that. It was an incredible moment and one of the most memorable in the history of Smackdown.

1. 9-11 Tribute Show - September 13th, 2001. I really don't know what to say about this one. I can't say I agree or not in making this #1, but one moment sticks out more than any other, and that is in the form of Stephanie McMahon comparing the Terrorist Attack to Vince McMahon being indicted by the Government back in the early 90's. Other than the tasteless aspect of that one lone comment, it was definitely a memorable show. I could've sworn Lillian Garcia's singing the National Anthem already made the list, though. After a quick search, I don't think it did, so I'm just going crazy.

Final Thoughts, Part 3: Some memorable moments featured, and one of the best matches in the show's history (according to this DVD set) between Edge and Eddie Guerrero, but two stinkers featuring Triple H either burying his opponent or just having a typical garbage match makes the list too. This disc seemed a bit harder to get through, possibly for having 10 more moments to count through than the other discs, and extending the length of time to get through it all.

Final, Final Thoughts: Other than completely ignoring one particular person from their history books, this isn't too bad of a DVD set. There's plenty of matches left uncut (except for obvious commercial edits), and a good majority of the clipped down moments are pretty entertaining. Smackdown might be the most worthless show this side of Thunder these days, but it did produce some memorable matches and moments, and if countdown sets are your thing, give this one a look. Might as well call it Best of Eddie Guerrero, too, with so many of his matches/moments filling the 100 spots.

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