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DETAILED REPORT FROM WORCESTER SMACKDOWN/ECW TAPING

WWE Smackdown / ECW Taping
Tuesday, September 12th, 2006
DCU Center * Worcester, MA
Att: est. 2,500

This was without a doubt one of the worst tapings WWE has ever held. It began at 7:30PM and didn't end until 11:21PM

Dark match
Sylvan def. Andrew Reichter

Smackdown

Fit Finlay came to the ring with the midget (whatever he's referred to as this week) under a sheet. He said he humbled Batista last week and we'd never see him again. Bobby Lashley made his way to the ring, followed by Teddy Long, who announced the two would face off in a number one contenders match for No Mercy later on in the show. Lashley pushed Finlay on top of the midget, and the midget attacked Finlay because he couldn't see out of the sheet. There was no explanation of why he had the hood on, unless he was getting ready to dress up as an Irish ghost for Halloween a little early.

After the break, William Regal asked Finlay what would happen if he wound up facing the king they loved at No Mercy.

WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
Gregory Helms def. Matt Hardy
Hardy ran through the crowd and attacked Helms from behind. Probably the best match on the show.

The Miz def. Scotty Too Hotty
Horrible match with a few missed spots. The finish was similar to a Honky Tonk Man shake, rattle and roll, only without the shake and rattle.

Brian Kendrick def. Kid Kash & Idol Stevens
The personification of "nobody cares." A diva that looked like Ashley came out with Kendrick and Paul London. Not a bad match, but nothing has been done to establish any of the three teams to the point where fans would have an interest in them.

WWE US TITLE MATCH
Mr. Kennedy def. Rey Mysterio
Lots of botched spots in this one, a surprisingly poor Mysterio showing. Finish saw Mysterio go for a springboard off the middle rope only to see Chavo & Vicki Guerrero and a little kid that may have been Rey's son Dominick at the entrance way. Kennedy rolled up Mysterio for the win.

MVP cut a promo backstage about how his agent is bending over backwards trying to work out a contract with Teddy Long.

Vito def. Sir William Regal
Regal was introduced as a Sir. Another brutal match, finish was an attempted sunset flip from Regal from outside the ring but Vito held onto the ropes and pinned up with Regal's face up his dress.

Sylvester Terkay def. Handsome Johnny via submission

Bobby Lashley def. Fit Finlay to face Booker T at No Mercy
Another nothing of a match. Crowd went back and forth from chanting "this match sucks" to "Yankees suck." Booker T, Sharmell and William Regal joined JBL and Michael Cole on commentary. The three joined Finlay in beating down Lashley after the win. Batista charged the ring in street clothes, followed by a ton of referees and officials. Finaly ran back into the ring and rolled out the other corner then to the back as the officials tried to block Batista. Booker T vs Lashley has buy rate written all over it, which they need, especially a few weeks after a Raw PPV with Hell In The Cell and a TLC match.

Following Smackdown was the most interesting part of the night, watching the crew change the set from Smackdown to ECW. It was amazing that they could get it done so quick and transform the arena into another set for TV like they did. The crew should be proud of their hard work.

ECW Taping for 9/19

Sabu & Tommy Dreamer & Sandman def. Test & Mike Knox & Matt Striker via DQ
Sandman was taken to the back early in the match after being pushed from the apron to the guardrail by Striker. Test pushed the ref and was DQ'd, followed by Sandman returning like he was Andre The Giant at MSG for the cane swinging save.

Kevin Thorn def. Balls Mahoney
Balls was managed by Francine, who most of the crowd didn't even know was under contract. After Thorn's vampire valet at ringside tripped Balls, Francine hit a Lou Thesz press off of the ring steps onto her. Thorn got the win with a razor's edge.

CM Punk def. Shannon Moore
The crowd took to Punk as a star, as he got one of the better reactions of the night.

There was a show long angle where Booker T & Sharmell were Paul Heyman's guests to add class to ECW. He introduced them to various wrestlers until running into RVD, who challenged him to an Extreme Rules Match for the main event.

The show went to hell from here, as Paul Heyman came out for a promo that went almost a half hour that doesn't appear to be airing on TV. He went on and on and on about basically nothing other than Booker T showed up and challenged RVD. He insulted the fans, threatened to throw them out. He saw a few fans wearing ECW original t-shirts, and he said after seeing them he was glad ECW went out of business in 2001. He loves ECW owned by Vince McMahon and that the McMahon's were going to kick DX's asses on Sunday. If this isn't airing until September 19th, I don't know how that part could air, or air at all without being heavily edited.

WWE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Booker T def. Rob Van Dam
Hardcore Holly interfered. What a surprise.

Dark Main Event
Batista & Bobby Lashley def. Booker T & Fit Finlay Quicky in just over four minutes. The crowd was pouring out after the RVD match.

Overall, just a long, boring show that was reminiscent of old WWF Challenge tapings (not a good thing if you never attended one). There were a lot of kids there that were attending their first event, so the main players were over big. That being said, why continue to push half naked diva's to eight year olds with parents that don't want them to see that kind of trash? If adult men wanted to see it, they could go to a strip club.

ECW desperately needs to be taped by itself, this event dragged and then some. The tapings could move faster if they edited the programs in-studio instead of going live to tape. Four hours on a school/work night is way too long, they would be better served to tape Sunday's on non-PPV weeks and start a little earlier to keep the crowd fresh.

On a positive note, the show seemed to draw better than the last event in Worcester (a Smackdown taping in July 2005 with Batista vs. Orlando Jordan as the main event along with the big return of Road Warrior Animal). The entire bottom section was open, while last year almost the entire side of the hard camera was blacked off.

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