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Well, to say last night's taping at the Arena at Harbor Yards was interesting would be an understatement.
Let me start by saying that the place was at near capacity. I think between nine and ten thousand fans.
Thanks to the lousy Department of Transportation and just plain stupid people driving, I did not arrive until 7 p.m. for a 6:45 bell time so I missed the dark match, which was the former Low Ki defeating Paul Burchill.
ECW taping started with Zack Ryder with Rosa Mendes cutting a promo stating that in tonight's #1 contenders match for ECW title he will be victorious.
After the pyro, we start with Zack Ryder vs. Shelton Benjamin. Excellent match back and forth ends when Shelton lands his finisher on Zack for the win. As soon as match ended, Christian came to ringside and said all about ECW title not being defended on the last 2 PPVs. He feels that ECW needs to steal the show at TLC. He challenged Shelton to a ladder match for the ECW title which was later accepted by Shelton.
Meanwhile in the back, William Regal was talking about taking the next step towards going for ECW title with Kozlov and Jackson, saying he will beat Yoshi Tatsu tonight.
Next match was Vance Archer (former Lance Hoyt of TNA) beating local jobber Ellis Wells.
Next was the Abraham Washington show (Gee, make this man wrestle PLEASE!) with guest Matt Hardy. Matt brought up the appearance of SyFy's Scare Tactics next week and when Abraham asked Matt what he was scared of, it was Abe who was scared when Tony Atlas came from behind and spooked him, which caused the end of the segment.
Main event for ECW was Regal vs. Tatsu. Quick match ended when Yoshi hit flying leg kick and pinned Regal which shocked him. Post match, Regal berated Kozlov and Jackson for not helping him win the match. Regal had a few choice words for Ezekiel Jackson which lead to Jackson turning babyface by chokeslamming both Kozlov and Regal. End of ECW
Superstars taping had Kozlov first taking on Goldust. A solid match ends when Kozlov hit his choke slam onto Goldust for the pin. After match, Regal gave a knee to Goldust.
Main event for Superstars was R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler. In my opinion was the best match of the night, R-Truth came off the ropes with a flying spinning elbow to pin Ziggler.
Smackdown began with Chris Jericho coming to the ring and proclaimed that at TLC he and the Big Show will end DX in the TLC match. Jericho also proclaimed that he should be in the #1 contender's match tonight and demanded a title shot which brought Teddy Long to the arena. Long gave him his wish however it was a one on one versus the Undertaker
1st match was Cryme Tyme vs the Hart Dynasty. An OK match ended when David Hart Smith used an overhead belly to back suplex on Shad to pin him.
We go to the back where Teddy was talking to John Morrison asking him about potential challengers when Vickie Guerrero and Eric Escobar came in and demanded a title shot versus Morrison tonight. Long agreed but told Vickie that it would be Eric's only chance.
CM Punk comes to the ring with the now former Festus now being called Luke Gallows and talks about the teaching of the straight edge philosophy and about how on December 1st a new disease will be unleashed onto the public ( the new Jeff Hardy DVD release date) which brings Matt Hardy to the ring. Matt and Punk get into a heated debate which lead to their match which ended when Luke grabs Matt from behind and yanks him down causing the DQ. Post match sees Punk and Gallows double team Matt and lays him out.
Josh Matthews next talks to Mickie James about video made Michelle McCool last week and Mickie promises fans that she is not leaving Smackdown and that she will get revenge.
Next was Kane vs. Batista in a #1 contender's match. Throughout the match, Batista worked over on Kane's knee. Back and forth action ensued which lead to both athletes being outside the ring. The match ends when Batista was over the rail and when Kane went to attack was greeted to a chair shot to the leg and Batista wins via countout.
Next was Morrison vs. Escobar with Vickie in his corner for IC belt. Decent match with Morrison hitting Starship Dreams and winning the bout. Afterwards, Vickie had words with Eric then proceeded to slap Eric. After the break, Eric and Vickie talked in the back and Eric told Vickie that every time he was with her, it made him sick and decided to break up with Vickie.
Main event was Undertaker vs. Jericho with Batista doing commentary at ringside. Back and forth action with Taker going for choke slam then Jericho escapes and his lionsault onto Taker. Taker recovers and hits choke slam and then goes for tombstone when Batista came into ring and clips Taker's knee causing the DQ victory for Taker. Smackdown will end as Batista used a steel chair onto Taker while Jericho hit the code breaker and left Taker on the floor.
Off air sees Jericho call out Punk to unleash a triple team on Taker only to have Kane come out for the save leading to the Brothers of Destruction hitting choke slams to Punk and Jericho as Batista escapes. No dark main event occurred and the Brothers of Destruction leave the ring together and the show ends.
Overall, a decent show not a great show ( not one diva match and only a brief appearance by Mickie in the interview and Natalya with Hart Dynasty). Hopefully the next time they come back home that the show would be better.
Pops:
1. Undertaker
2. Jeff Hardy chants
3. Eric Escobar for dumping Vickie
Jeers:
1. Batista
2. Chris Jericho
3. Vickie Guerrero
Also, Nick added this:
I know it is going to be airing on Thanksgiving, but the R-Truth v. Dolph Ziggler match on Superstars is worth checking out. It is a really good match and was the best match last night.
