Smackdown

Card Information:
 Held in: THE SCOPE
Location: VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
          on August 2005 at 8:00pm

Interview:
Cactus Jack is going for the gold...
Click here to see highlights.

Cactus Jack celebrates his victory on Raw, but is soon brought back down to
earth by a business-minded Shane McMahon, who sets up a big time main event for
the evening.


Edge and Val Venis defeated Test and Scott Steiner when Venis pinned Test after
a fisherman suplex in 0:04:22.
Rating: *** 1/4

Venis got the win over Test, thus gaining a spot of revenge for Test jumping
him a few weeks back.  However, things don't seem to be over yet between those
two.  Venis and Edge will return later tonight in the main event of the show.


Rey Mysterio pinned Dean Malenko with the West Coast Pop in 0:01:19.
Rating: **
(Rey Mysterio retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.)

Short but sweet, Mysterio took Malenko by surprise to win the match.


Interview:
Orton and The Game...
Click here to see highlights.

Randy Orton doesn't want to team with Triple H, but the Game shows him the 
error of his ways.


Chris Benoit and The Rock defeated Randy Orton and Triple H when Rock pinned
Orton with the People's Elbow in 0:15:50.
Rating: **** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

Fantastic tag team match, with The Rock getting a pinfall over the WWE Champ.
With Rock already holding one elimination chamber win under his belt, this has
got to make him a major favourite for Summerslam.


Eddie Guerrero pinned Chavo Guerrero with the Frog Splash in 0:10:47.
Rating: *** 3/4

Good match, with Eddie emerging as the victor.  Eddie finally gets back to 
winning ways, after all his losses against William Regal.


Interview:
The return...
Click here to see highlights.

A vignette airs for an apparently returning superstar.


Billy Kidman pinned Steve Austin with the Shooting Star Press in 0:10:17.
Rating: *** 3/4

Stone Cold came looking to whoop some ass, but got more than he bargained for
with Billy Kidman, as the former cruiserweight champ shocked the Rattlesnake.


20-Man Tag Team Battle Royal:
Edge and Val Venis won a 10-team Battle Royal:
         x Bubba defeated Michaels (partner: Cactus Jack) after a splash in
           0:03:34
         x Michinoku defeated Grandmaster Sexay (partner: Scotty Too Hotty)
 after a German suplex in 0:03:49
         x Bubba defeated Funaki (partner: Taka Michinoku) after a Hotshot in
           0:03:52
         x JBL defeated Tazz (partner: John Cena) after a jack-knife power bomb
 in 0:05:24
         x Danny defeated Bubba (partner: D-Von Dudley) after a clothesline in
           0:08:54
         x Edge defeated Haas (partner: Shelton Benjamin) after the Edgeacution
 in 0:13:04
         x R. Dupree defeated Danny (partner: Doug Basham) in 0:14:12
         x Angle defeated R. Dupree (partner: Sylvan Grenier) after a powerslam
 in 0:16:11
         x Venis defeated JBL (partner: Kurt Angle) after the Money Shot in
           0:16:41
Rating: ** 3/4
(Edge and Val Venis won the WWE Tag Team Championship.)
[Shaniqua interfered against Rene Dupree.]
Click here to see highlights.

Despite a clear bias in the elimination of the tag team champions at the start
of the match, and a series of dubious three counts that saw Too Cool, Kaientai
and Thug Life eliminated, Val Venis and Edge managed to survive the match and
finally become the tag team champions.



Card rating: *** 1/4


Match observations: 

After a reign of over four months, Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack finally lost
the Tag Team Titles here tonight.  Shane McMahon clearly sent his hired hit
teams, the Dudleys, the Bashams, La Resistance, the Great Americans and the
World's Greatest Tag Team out to the ring with a plan, to make sure that the
champions didn't leave with their gold.  With Nick Patrick counting the falls,
there was no way that couldn't happen.  However, the plan backfired somewhat,
as Val Venis and Edge, wrestling their second match of the night, employed a
never-say-die attitude, and managed to escape with the belts that they have
been vying for over the past few months.

Also tonight, we saw The Rock earn a major pinfall victory over Randy Orton, in
a superb tag team match.  Triple H promised Orton that he was watching his back
here tonight, but did very little to prevent the pinfall from being counted.
Rock has struck a major claim to the title here tonight, and will be looking to
once again take the gold come Summerslam.

Disappointing showing from Dean Malenko tonight, as Rey Mysterio pinned him in
just over 2 minutes.  It seems as though Mysterio's new found attitude is a big
help in him gaining match focus.  Clearly this is rubbing off on Billy Kidman
too, who gained a major upset victory over Stone Cold Steve Austin tonight.

Next Show: Raw