By: Bothell Iannone Baker Michael, rajah.com reader(s)

Just got back from the Target Center for a special Sunday night taping of
Smackdown and ECW. The Arena was half full, with the upper deck completely
tarped off. ECW Kicked off first at 7:30pm Central.

Dark Match: Festus and Cletus ??? Def. 2 Local Jobbers

Dark Match: Jimmy Wang Yang Def. KC James

Start ECW

-Armando Estrada tells the fans to welcome the new ECW Champion, CM Punk. Punk
comes out to a good pop. Cuts a really boring promo on how Armando is a CM Punk
fan and should wear his Shirt. Eventually Elijah Burke comes out and Armando
Informs us that it will be Punk Vs. Burke at Unforgiven. Punk doesnt like what
Burke has to say, gives him an insugri kick, next segment.

-Matt Striker (w/ Big Daddy V) Def. Nunzio, Match Rating:(1/8*)
In literally 15 seconds with a roll up. Big Daddy V then beats up Nunzio, cue
Boogeyman Smoke and instead we get an on screen promo saying hes coming to get
Big Daddy V.

-The Miz (w/ Extreme Expose) Def. Tommy Dreamer, Match Rating:(1/2*)
Couple of alright spots the match goes about 2 mins tops.

-Backstage Promo Balls tells Kelly Kelly she looks good and gives her a stuff
animal.

-Mike Knox Def. Balls Mahony w/ a roll up. Match Rating:(1/4*)
Balls got distracted by the Miz, Mike Knox from behind with a roll up. I yelled
to balls as he was walking off the ramp "At least your getting a push", and he
smiled and gave me a thumbs up while laughing.

Main Event
-CP Munk & Stevie Night Heat (Stevie Richards) Def. Mordecai (Thorn) & Elijah
Burke. Match Rating:(*)
They work over Stevie then he gets the hot tag to CM Punk, who clears house and
gives Thorn the Go to Bed, Thorn proceeds to go to bed and Punk quietly pins
him.

15 Min Intermission for Smackdown change

Chimmel tells us Pyro for Smackdown so stand up and cheer.

-Victoria (W/Dykstra) Vs. Michelle McCool (Chuck Pulambo) ended in a no contest.
A lot of brawling with Chuck and Kenny and Ref Jimmy Cordaris declares a Mixed
Tag.

-Pulambo and McCool def. Kenny and Victoria, via Chick Kick from McCool. Match
Rating: (1/2*). Somewhat entertaining match to kick off smackdown.

-We get an AD saying Batista Vs. Kahli for the first time on Network TV Tonight.

-There are about 4 Backstage promos throughout the night about Krystal and
Teddy Long's Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. Cameos by: Sgt Slaughter, Ron
Simmons, the Major Brothers, Greased up Fat guy, Someone who looked just like
Norman Smiley. Basically it all leads up to Simmons going "Shucks!"

-Shannon Moore of 3 Count Def. Jamie Noble Match Rating: (*1/2), They play
the "Is Little Bastard under the ring?" angle with Noble. A nice suicide dive
from Moore from the top rope to the floor. Ends with roll up after Noble is
worried a midget could be under the ring.

-Mizark Henry comes out in an Undertaker esque Cloak, and no one seems to know
who it is, until Mark tries to disrobe the cloak and he has trouble. Turns very
funny and it takes Mark about 30 seconds to rip off the cloak. Anyway he says
he isnt afraid of mind games, cue GONG!, Video Package, Road crew sets up a
Taker Symbol in the entrance, the exact one Austin was hung on back in 1999.,
back to the entrance where a Symbol magically appears. BOOM! Pyro and its on
fire, Mark Henry is scared.

-MVP and Matt Hardy are playing chess in the back, Matt has MVP beat but MVP
Sneezes and whoops lost all the pieces. Anywho They say how they have a match
against the greatest gimmick tag ever, Deuce n Domino @ Unforgiven. Matt booked
MVP A match against Domino. MVP isnt even ready yet.

-Domino (w/ Deuce and Cherry) Def. MVP (W/ Matthew Hardy) Match Rating: (*)
Domino who is driving the car to the ring tonight has trouble driving the car
to the ring as the tire gets stuck, so he barley inches out of the back and
gets out of the car. They have a good little match with MVP in street clothes.
Matt Hardy tryes to help MVP by chanting M-V-P on the Mic, by the fans respond
with Sucks, therefor hurting MVP, That hardy is so cleaver. Anywho Domino wins
with the 5th roll up of the night.

-Finlay Def. Kane in some sort of Irish Street fight gimmick match. Match
Rating: (**) Basically just a no DQ match. Kane comes out first and Finlay
attacks from behind. A lot of brawling some chairs and stairs. A nice little
gimmick match, Finaly wins with his finish The Celtic Cross, looked good since
Kane was a bigger guy.

-Commercial for the Marine and See no Evil. WM 24 Tickets on sale November 3rd.

-Main Event
-Batista Def. The Great Kahli via DQ. Match Rating (1/2*)
Really Really short match, Noteworthy things, Batista spinebuster on Kahli,
actually lifted him up got a huge pop. Kahli hits Kahli Chop!, Kahli Applies
Death hand hold on Batistas head like on rey last week and he wont let go even
though Batista is on the ropes. Batista starts to shiver like D-von Dudley and
oversells. Kahli walks off and end Taping.

No Mysterio tonight.

Funny sign in crowd: "Send Kahli to OVW"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


9/9 ECW & SMACKDOWN Taping - Minneapolis, MN
By: Tony Lang, rajah.com reader

Dark Matches:

2 unknowns vs Jesse & Festus

Unbelievable pop for Festus. Jesse & Festus win.

Jimmy Wang Yang vs KC James
Jimmy Wang Yang gets the pin, and James for some reason kept doing Ric Flair
impressions.

ECW:

Armando Estrado comes out and congradulates CM Punk, who then give an
autographed T-shirt to the GM. Punk demanded he put it on, which he did
over his suit. Then it's announced Elijah Burke is Punk's opponent at
Unforgiven. The two push each other around. And CM throws him out of the
ring.

Next is Matt Striker vs. Nunzio in a very short bout. Big Daddy V helps out
Striker of course. Then after the match is done crushes Nunzio. I hope my
sign makes tv, "Big Daddy Double D's". I'm sitting 2nd row so there's a
good chance.

The Miz vs Tommy Dreamer
Boring and kind of short match. Miz gets the win.

(Video segment backstage showing Balls giving Kelly Kelly a stuffed animal)

Mike Knox vs Balls Mahoney (not sure if this match is on TV)
Good match. I thought maybe Knox was dead haven't seen him in so long. (I
guess I'd hide too if Kelly Kelly wasn't my "girlfriend" anymore) Miz comes
out near the end of this match to distract Balls so Knox gets the pin. No
Kelly Kelly after the Balls loss.

CM Punk & Stevie Richards vs. Elijah Burke & Kevin Thorn
Decent match. Richards really took most of the punishment in this one.
Coolest part of match is where Thorn puts Richards over his sholders and
does the old Lex Luger move. I hope this continues to be a trademark move
of his. CM Punk does his patented set of finishing moves and gets the pin.

SMACKDOWN:

Michelle McCool vs Victoria
Match was boring and Victoria is wearing a t-shirt and pants that have a
see-through section that show off her butt, no idea who dresses her. Match
is ended early when at one point Kenny and Chuck are fighting in the ring.
Ref calls for Double Elimination.

Chuck Palumbo & Michelle McCool vs Kenny Dykstra & Victoria
Then ref announces mixed tag match. Chuck vs Kenny to start off. At one
point when Kenny is getting destroyed he tags Victoria quickly and so it's
Victoria vs Chuck. She jumps on him. He carries her over to his corner and
tags in Michelle. Chuck at one point fights Kenny of on the side and
Michelle gets the pin.

-Mark Henry comes out in an Undertaker-esque Cloak, and no one seems to know
who it is until Mark tries to disrobe the cloak and he has trouble. Turns
very funny and it takes Mark about 30 seconds to rip off the cloak. Anyway
he says he isn't afraid of mind games, cue GONG! Video Package, road crew
sets up a Taker Symbol in the entrance, the exact one Austin was hung on
back in 1999. Back to the entrance where a Symbol magically appears. BOOM!
Pyro and its on fire, Mark Henry is scared.

MVP and Matt Hardy are backstage playing chess, MVP cheats, then Matt lets
him know he setup a match for him against Domino tonight. MVP is all
dressed up in his suit and not ready.

Shannon Moore vs Jamie Noble
Boring match. Moore fakes out Noble making him think Hornswaggle is under
the ring and gets the pin. Hornswaggle never shows up in this match.

Jesse and Festus are put in charge of Teddy's Bachelor party by Ron Simmons.
Teddy's son is there, Sgt. Slaughter, the Major Brothers (who don't wrestle
this night), and of course lots of ladies. Kristal is also surprised by the
Divas who throw her a bachelorette party. She's some white lingerie.

MVP w/ Matt Hardy vs Domino w/ Duece & Cherry
Boring Match. Domino dominated most of it. During the match Matt gets on
the mic and chants MVP while the crowd replys with sucks. Also a chant of
"Domino Sucks but Duece Swallows" was started in the crowd, great stuff.
Domino wins the match. MVP is upset with Matt. Then Matt says "tonight
shows why you are the Captain of this team". MVP walks out pissed.

More of the Bachelorrete Party. Kristal gets a large pack and who's
inside..BIG DICK JOHNSON!!! It was funny, crowd loved it. Then Teddy who's
only wearing a tie and boxers gets locked out of his dressing room where the
party is. Kristal comes by and is upset when a bunch of girls come out of
his party then Dick Johnson comes next Kristal, then both parties come out.
It's capped by Ron Simmons finally appearing between Kristal in her lingerie
and Teddy half naked....DAMN!!! Never gets old.

Kane vs Finlay
They fight was no DQ and they gave it some kind of Irish name but couldn't
hear. Anyway, by far the best match of the night. They fought all around
the ring. Used a chair, steps, announce table, steps, and even the
Shillelagh. Finlay ends it with the Celtic Cross on Kane. It was very
impressive to see this short guy do this to Kane. After that move Finlay
gets the pin.

Then out of nowhere between matches, Hornswaggle runs out from under the
ring and attacks Michael Cole and then runs to the back.

Batista vs The Great Khali
Horrible match, especially after the great Kane, Finlay match. Ends with
Khali getting DQed after "crushing" Batista's skull. Horrible over acting
by Batista.

That's it. They had promoted a Rey & Batista vs Khali & Finlay. NO idea
what happened to that match.

Pops:
1. Festus
2. Batista
3. Balls Mahoney

Heat:
1. Khali
2. MVP
3. Elijah Burke

I have some video clips I'm going to put on YouTube today. Best clips is
of Festus in action. Let me know if you're interested and I'll email you
the links.

Pops:
1. Chimmel announcing
2. Batista
3. Jimmy Wang Yang

Heat:
1. Kahli
2. Kahli
3. Kahli