Dangerous Incorporated
10-02-2006, 06:16 AM
SMACKDOWN IN JONESBORO, ARKANSAS LIVE REPORT: LASHLEY VS. BOOKER, BATISTA VS. FINLAY, FAN HITS THE RING & MORE
WWE SmackDown Live!
Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006
ASU Convocation Center
Jonesboro, AR
Crowd was probably around 1,250-1,500. That is significantly down from the last time a WWE branded event was in town. Last September, a WWE Raw house show featuring a main event of John Cena vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Title drew around 3,500-4,000 fans.
I think one factor that could've contributed to the attendance could be the fact that I don't think SmackDown is available on cable systems in Jonesboro, unless something has drastically changed. For the longest time, the local system didn't carry a UPN affiliate. Don't know if they picked up a CW this fall or had added UPN prior to its merger with WB. If that is the case, I wonder why they even booked a SmackDown event with no TV penetration in the city? Who knows.
Show opened with Tony Chimel coming to the ring. He did the usual intros and then asked everyone to rise for the national anthem. The anthem started, but was quickly stopped when Sylvan's music started to play. Here was the scary thing about that. Most fans remained standing and looking at the flag with caps off and hands across the heart while Sylvan's music blared. Kind of funny.
Sylvan ripped on America, Jonesboro, etc. and challenged anyone to come meet him. Out comes Teddy Long. They have a verbal exchange and Long tells Sylvan that he is suspended tonight. Sylvan then says he doesn't mind beating up Long, to which Long responds and asks "Jonesboro's finest" to take care of the situation. A handful of Jonesboro Police and Craighead County Officers get Sylvan down and cuff him. Good pop for local law enforcement officers, something I'm sure they'll talk about tomorrow morning over coffee.
First match saw Batista vs. Finlay. Batista had a good time with one fan at ringside who was giving him heel heat. Fun match with Finlay focusing on the left arm of the former World Champion. A few false finishes involving the leprechaun eventually led to Batista hitting the Jackhammer for the win.
Next up was a triple threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Out first was Champion Gregory Helms. After Helms entered the ring and mouthed a few fans, one fan jumped the rail and got in the ring only to have his butt handed to him by the Cruiserweight titleholder. Police and Chimel jumped in on the situation and the guy was escorted out. This actually looked a little worked as the guy walked up to the security guy at the ringside rail and slid past him and hopped the rail. The security guy more or less let him. I'm still assuming the deal was a shoot, but I think it could've been headed off a little sooner if it was. As for the title match, Helms defended against Jamie Noble and Jimmy Wang Yang. Helms rolled up Noble and used a handful of tights to retain the strap.
Third match featured Sylvester Turkay with Elijah Burke against Tatanka. Decent match. Burke got a lot of good heat at ringside and the crowd popped well when Tatanka finally got his hands on the manager. While Tatanka was attacking Burke, Turkay set up the spinning heel kick for the win.
A triple threat match for the WWE Tag Team Title was next on the card. Brian Kendrick and Paul London defended against Chavo Guerrero and the Miz & KC James and Idol Stevens. Miz and Chavo were first eliminated as Miz tried to steal Chavo's thunder by tagging himself in only to be rolled up by London. Finish saw a tag team move of London hitting a shooting star press off the back of Kendrick, who was on all fours on the mat, onto Stevens. Kendrick made the cover and got the victory.
In an entertaining bout, Vito defeated William Regal. Priceless is the best word I can use in reference to Regal's facials throughout this one.
Match six on the card was a bout for the U.S. Title as Ken Kennedy faced Matt Hardy. Funny start saw Hardy pull his shirt and do the around the ring gimmick of asking which side could be the loudest to get his shirt. Kennedy tried to do the same, but nobody wanted his shirt. He started to give it to a fan at ringside and then pulled it away from him and left in on the ringside floor. After the match started, Chimel came and gave the shirt to the fan. Back and forth match ended when Kennedy hooked Hardy with a backslide and got the 1-2-3 with his feet on the ropes.
In a "SmackDown Diva Best Body Contest," Ashley beat Jillian Hall and Krystal Marshall. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this. They were nice to look at and I'm sure the groundskeepers at the Convo Center had to wipe a lot of drool off the arena floor, but other that than it was just filler before the main event.
In the Main Event, Bobby Lashley defeated King Booker by disqualification in a match for the World Heavyweight Title. Booker retains the belt. Nothing real special here.
Notes: Show was enjoyable, but like I said Jonesboro may not even get SmackDown right now and, unless it was added at some point during the last year or two, the city has never gotten the show.
Ted DiBiase was one of the agents at the event and watched from near the entrance way.
Two banners promoting the Marine were hung near the entrance.
It should be interesting to see when WWE returns to Jonesboro and with what brand.
WWE SmackDown Live!
Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006
ASU Convocation Center
Jonesboro, AR
Crowd was probably around 1,250-1,500. That is significantly down from the last time a WWE branded event was in town. Last September, a WWE Raw house show featuring a main event of John Cena vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Title drew around 3,500-4,000 fans.
I think one factor that could've contributed to the attendance could be the fact that I don't think SmackDown is available on cable systems in Jonesboro, unless something has drastically changed. For the longest time, the local system didn't carry a UPN affiliate. Don't know if they picked up a CW this fall or had added UPN prior to its merger with WB. If that is the case, I wonder why they even booked a SmackDown event with no TV penetration in the city? Who knows.
Show opened with Tony Chimel coming to the ring. He did the usual intros and then asked everyone to rise for the national anthem. The anthem started, but was quickly stopped when Sylvan's music started to play. Here was the scary thing about that. Most fans remained standing and looking at the flag with caps off and hands across the heart while Sylvan's music blared. Kind of funny.
Sylvan ripped on America, Jonesboro, etc. and challenged anyone to come meet him. Out comes Teddy Long. They have a verbal exchange and Long tells Sylvan that he is suspended tonight. Sylvan then says he doesn't mind beating up Long, to which Long responds and asks "Jonesboro's finest" to take care of the situation. A handful of Jonesboro Police and Craighead County Officers get Sylvan down and cuff him. Good pop for local law enforcement officers, something I'm sure they'll talk about tomorrow morning over coffee.
First match saw Batista vs. Finlay. Batista had a good time with one fan at ringside who was giving him heel heat. Fun match with Finlay focusing on the left arm of the former World Champion. A few false finishes involving the leprechaun eventually led to Batista hitting the Jackhammer for the win.
Next up was a triple threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Out first was Champion Gregory Helms. After Helms entered the ring and mouthed a few fans, one fan jumped the rail and got in the ring only to have his butt handed to him by the Cruiserweight titleholder. Police and Chimel jumped in on the situation and the guy was escorted out. This actually looked a little worked as the guy walked up to the security guy at the ringside rail and slid past him and hopped the rail. The security guy more or less let him. I'm still assuming the deal was a shoot, but I think it could've been headed off a little sooner if it was. As for the title match, Helms defended against Jamie Noble and Jimmy Wang Yang. Helms rolled up Noble and used a handful of tights to retain the strap.
Third match featured Sylvester Turkay with Elijah Burke against Tatanka. Decent match. Burke got a lot of good heat at ringside and the crowd popped well when Tatanka finally got his hands on the manager. While Tatanka was attacking Burke, Turkay set up the spinning heel kick for the win.
A triple threat match for the WWE Tag Team Title was next on the card. Brian Kendrick and Paul London defended against Chavo Guerrero and the Miz & KC James and Idol Stevens. Miz and Chavo were first eliminated as Miz tried to steal Chavo's thunder by tagging himself in only to be rolled up by London. Finish saw a tag team move of London hitting a shooting star press off the back of Kendrick, who was on all fours on the mat, onto Stevens. Kendrick made the cover and got the victory.
In an entertaining bout, Vito defeated William Regal. Priceless is the best word I can use in reference to Regal's facials throughout this one.
Match six on the card was a bout for the U.S. Title as Ken Kennedy faced Matt Hardy. Funny start saw Hardy pull his shirt and do the around the ring gimmick of asking which side could be the loudest to get his shirt. Kennedy tried to do the same, but nobody wanted his shirt. He started to give it to a fan at ringside and then pulled it away from him and left in on the ringside floor. After the match started, Chimel came and gave the shirt to the fan. Back and forth match ended when Kennedy hooked Hardy with a backslide and got the 1-2-3 with his feet on the ropes.
In a "SmackDown Diva Best Body Contest," Ashley beat Jillian Hall and Krystal Marshall. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this. They were nice to look at and I'm sure the groundskeepers at the Convo Center had to wipe a lot of drool off the arena floor, but other that than it was just filler before the main event.
In the Main Event, Bobby Lashley defeated King Booker by disqualification in a match for the World Heavyweight Title. Booker retains the belt. Nothing real special here.
Notes: Show was enjoyable, but like I said Jonesboro may not even get SmackDown right now and, unless it was added at some point during the last year or two, the city has never gotten the show.
Ted DiBiase was one of the agents at the event and watched from near the entrance way.
Two banners promoting the Marine were hung near the entrance.
It should be interesting to see when WWE returns to Jonesboro and with what brand.