Smackdown

Card Information:
 Held in: ROBERTS MEMORIAL STADIUM
Location: INDIANA, UNITED STATES
          on April 2005 at 8:00pm

Cage Match:
Val Venis pinned Lance Storm with the Money Shot in 0:06:05.
Rating: *** 3/4

Val Venis further proved his superiority over his former partner by defeating
him inside of a steel cage.


Interview:
Intercontinental Contender...
Click here to see highlights.

Goldust speaks on his IC title shot at Backlash.


[2 Months vs 6 Months]:
Jamie Noble pinned Marty Jannetty after a tiger driver in 0:00:37.
Rating: *

Noble got a surprisingly quick victory, which now means that both he and Marty
will be suspended for two months, rather than being banned from title shots for
6.  After the match, Shane McMahon sent security down to the ring to escort
both men from the building.


Goldberg pinned Scott Steiner with the Jackhammer in 0:18:53.
Rating: **** 1/2

In an incredibly good match, Goldberg defied the odds to pick up the win.


Interview:
Farewell from Goldberg?
Click here to see highlights.

Goldberg announces that he is leaving WWE, only to take one last RKO from Randy
Orton.


[Contenders Tournament - Final]:
Steve Austin pinned Vader with the Stone Cold Stunner in 0:16:30.
Rating: ***
Click here to see highlights.

Illness prevented Shane O Mac from refereeing this match, but in the end it
was Tim White who counted the fall to make Stone Cold Steve Austin the number
1 contender to the WWE title.


Matt Hardy, Shannon Moore, Billy Kidman and Dean Malenko defeated
Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Brian Kendrick and Ultimo Dragon when Moore defeated
U. Dragon by countout in 0:03:57.
Rating: ** 1/4

A disappointing match, considering what it could have been, as Ultimo was
counted out.


Interview:
Benoit looks ahead...
Click here to see highlights.

Ready to fight William Regal, Chris Benoit is hoping to get to Stone Cold at
Backlash.


Chris Benoit made William Regal submit to the Crippler Crossface in 0:26:11.
Rating: *****
(Chris Benoit retained the WWE Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

An amazing 5-Star match saw William Regal briefly win the WWE Title in a dusty
finish, only for the match to be forced to continue, after Earl Hebner saw
that Regal had used brass knux to get the pin.  Eventually, Benoit came out
victorious, and will go to Backlash to face Stone Cold.  But this will not be
the last we hear of William Regal.



Card rating: *** 1/2


Match observations: 

Truly an amazing main event, the kind of title match that would take pride of
place in any wrestling video collection.  Chris Benoit survived a brief scare
to retain the WWE Championship.  After Regal thought he'd won the match after
a three count following a brass knux shot, it was Earl Hebner who found the 
knux, and then ordered the match to continue.  A groggy Benoit was able to
survive the Regal Stretch on a couple of occasions, before finally busting out
the crossface for the win.  It'll now be an even tougher challenge of Stone 
Cold Steve Austin at Backlash for Benoit.

Also tonight, we witnessed the end of Goldberg in WWE, as he went out with a 
big win over Scott Steiner.  I bet Steiner wishes he'd accepted the two month
suspension now.  Randy Orton got the last laugh though, as he nailed Goldberg
with a farewell RKO.

We learned tonight that Goldust will challenge Booker T for the IC title at
Backlash, but how will Booker react to having to face his friend?  And on the
topic of titles, who will be named the first challengers to Shawn Michaels and
Cactus Jack's tag gold?  We may well find out on Raw.

Marty Jannetty and Jamie Noble will be suspended for two months now, after the
match between the two of them ended with a Noble victory.  Jannetty was said
to be less than happy with the outcome though, as he didn't expect to get any
title shots in the next six months anyway.

Next Show: Raw