WWE Thanksgiving Memories
Highlights from Smackdown 11/23/00, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn, Intercontinental Title Match
- This match kicks off this week's Smackdown, and of course this is Thanksgiving night...Lawler & Cole have the call...the Radicalz have been barred from ringside...Eddie grabs a mic and cuts a promo on Gunn for stooging on him to Chyna, Gunn may want the belt but it won't be happening tonight...he offers his Latino Heat up for the ladies in the crowd and then tells Gunn to get out here so he can knock the bleach off his head...Gunn is out to his awesome "The One" theme song...Eddie meets Gunn on the floor and they start brawling around ringside...Gunn drops him on the barricade with a stun gun and then tosses him back inside...Cole & Lawler debate the genesis of this feud, with Lawler sticking up for Eddie...Eddie gets sent flying with a back body drop as the crowd is all over him...both men collide in mid air as Cole wishes us a Happy Thanksgiving...Eddie grabs the title belt, but Gunn fights him off...Tim White gets bumped, allowing Eddie to drop Billy on the belt with a DDT for a near fall thanks to White taking his time gathering himself...Eddie goes up top and drops the frog splash but Gunn kicks out, wow...Eddie stays on him, stomping away...I can't believe Gunn kicked out of the splash...Gunn eats a boot on a charge but catches a charging Eddie with a powerslam for two...Billy is bleeding from the head a bit as the two trade heavy blows...Gunn with a clothesline and tilt-a-whirl slam for another near fall...crowd is into this one...Billy whips Eddie to the corner and follows with a splash...he hoists Eddie up and drops him with a jackhammer...Eddie staggers to his feet but gets crushed with the Fameasser...Billy covers but Eddie barely survived...Billy can't believe it and it wasting time with White...he goes for another Fameasser, but Eddie ducks it and tosses Gunn into the ropes...both men are slow to get up, but Eddie is able to scale the top rope...Gunn recovers and catches Eddie in a sleeperhold coming off the top...he tightens his grip and slams Eddie to the mat to pick up the victory and the title to a huge pop from the fans...well, that was a tidy little match and Gunn was in the midst of arguably his best in ring stretch as a singles wrestler
- Backstage, Commission Foley is decked out as a pilgrim and is talking to his lieutenant, Debra, who is dressed as an Indian...they talk about Gunn's title win and then plan to recreate the original Thanksgiving feast...JR comes in with a roast chicken, plugs his BBQ sauce and tees up a breast joke from Debra...Foley plugs the WWF cookbook and we are out
- Later in the night, the dinner is ongoing as the Kat, Al Snow and Too Cool have joined the party...Foley tries his best to rap and be cool, but that fails...Debra calls him out on it
Val Venis vs. K-Kwik
- Steven Richards leads Val out, but he is limping after having gotten tossed through a table by the Dudleys on Raw...Val is in his all white getup...Lawler trashes Richards, calling him a nerd...Val refuses to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving because we are watching wrestling instead of being with family...Val should have changed his name for this gimmick...he calls the fans immoral scumbags and trashes the WWE programming...they would never do this sort of self-critiquing today...time to get rowdy as Road Dogg and K-Kwik are in the house...they are dressed like Kris Kross and rap nearly as well...Dogg looks really fucking stupid and pandering in this get up...the song is catchy, though...they sing the whole thing, firing up the fans and pushing CDs at the same time...bell finally sounds as Val kicks Kwick in the gut and then hammers away in the corner...Kwik fires back and takes Val over with a spinning headscissors takeover...he clotheslines Val to the floor and then flies out after him with a plancha...Val turns things around on the floor, hoisting Kwik up and dropping him on the barricade...back inside, Val continues to keep the pressure on...Kwik lands a boot and an elbow as Cole shills the WWF Cookbook some more...clothesline by Kwik, followed by a back body drop...he whips Val into the corner and nails him with a low dropkick...Kwik catches a back elbow on a charge and Val tries to use the ropes during his cover, but the ref sniffs that out...back to a stalemate, but that ends with a Val spinebuster...Richards shouts instructions from the floor and other side Dogg looks, I don't know, old...Kwik meets Val on the top rope and takes him over with a hurricanrana...King notes that this is Kwik's first singles match...Buchanan and Goodfather attack Dogg on the floor, giving Val an opening...Kwik blocks him and rolls Val over...Richards gets in the ring and drops Kwik with a DDT...Val covers and picks up the win...more RTC shenanigans gets them another W in the left column...Kwik showed nice fire and speed in this one and shone a bit more than Val...basic TV match but you can see why they saw something special in Kwik
- Back to the party, Funaki arrives and we get dueling "Wazzups" with the Dudleys...Funaki has brought Kung Pao Chicken, which makes sense...Foley makes terrible jokes and yuks it up with Too Cool
Rock vs. William Regal
- Regal is out first and his European title is not on the line here...King is pretty fired up about this one...Rock gets a huge pop as this is right outside his home town of Miami, natch...the one is all about pride, according to Cole...King is talking about pie, and I roll my eyes...Rock has had a wild week, coming off his match with Rikishi at Survivor Series...Rock is on fire off the bell, manically hammering away at Regal...he clocks him with a clothesline but Rock is finally slowed up as Rikishi emerges on the ramp...Rock still keeps control of the bout, knocking Regal to the floor with a clothesline, but he is clearly distracted...Regal takes advantage finally and is able to dump Rock into the fans...the brawl in the crowd as Regal is really coming across as vicious here...Regal goes to the eyes amidst a flurry of fists...he misses a shot with the chair but is able to ram Rock into the announce table...good showing by Regal here so far...back inside, Regal picks up a pair of near falls...Rikishi's outfit is so 2000 it may as well have NSYNC written across it...Regal shrugs off a brief comeback and takes Rock over with a back suplex for a near fall...Rikishi is still staring at the ring stoically...Rock starts to punch his way back, but Regal ducks a wild fist and just drills Rock in the back of the head, dropping him to the mat...that was a great spot...Rock catches Regal with his head down and lands a DDT...he follows with an overhead throw for two...Regal counters Rock by spiking him to the mat and then stomping away...Regal looks like a stud here and the announcers are putting him over big time...Rock takes Regal down with a leg whip and hooks the sharpshooter to force the tap out and win the match...Rock stares down Rikishi but nothing happens...that was a really fun match and Regal looked like he could hang with the big boys as a result...Rock really sold well for him and didn't swallow him up at all...Regal staggers up, grabs his European title but gets planted by a Rock Bottom by a stewing Rock
- Backstage, Foley is speaking Japanese to Funaki...Debra thinks they may need another turkey to satiate everyone here...Mideon arrives with a bowl of minestrone soup and pulls up a seat...Foley jokes about Snow bring peas
Tazz vs. Raven
- Tazz's entrance is still awesome and never mentioned in the great entrances debate...Cole reminds us that Tazz is his colleague on Sunday Night Heat...clips from last week, when Tazz and Raven were teaming against Too Cool...Raven turned on Tazz mid-match, cracking him with a DDT and giving Too Cool the win...they brawled after, leading to Raven taking Tazz off the ring steps and into a chair with a DDT...King & Cole still have no idea what is ever going on with these two...Tazz attacks Raven as he is climbing into the ring and chucks him back inside after a quick thrashing...Cole tells us that Triple H suffered no broken bones after his car was tossed from a fork lift at Survivor Series, but he may have suffered emotional trauma...sounds about right...Raven meets Tazz with a clothesline as Cole implores fans to contact their cable carries to pick up TNN...Tazz scrapes back into control, snapping Raven to the mat and screaming at him...he just keeps tossing Raven around, crunching him with a back suplex...Tazz kicks away as Cole plugs upcoming live events...Raven turns things around with a clothesline in the corner and a bulldog...Cole notes that Raw is coming to Iowa State University on Monday, sending King off on a celebration about the presence of coeds...Raven slugs Tazz down but a DDT is blocked into a northern lights suplex by Tazz...Raven gets an inside cradle for a near fall...King makes a gay joke about Al Snow, as he is on a roll tonight...Raven lands the DDT and picks up the win...wow, that was surprising as Tazz was dominating this one for the most part...Chyna is set to guest host Heat this weekend, so tune in for that
- We return to the party, where Debra goes to check on her pie...Foley chats up the Dudleys, who talk about their chicken dumplings...Foley is at his corny cheesy best throughout all of these...Dudleys threaten to put some jabrones through the table, but Foley cools them down
Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus
- Molly defeated Trish at Survivor Series as part of an intergender tag match, but Trish returned the favor on Raw when she cost Molly a shot at the women's title...Trish is out first and has on the iconic "T&APA" shirt...and of course it is hard not to stare at the logo...Molly confidently marches to the ring and this one gets under way...Molly takes control, working the arm on the mat...Cole tells us about how Molly has impressed since her debut...Molly takes Trish over with a hiptoss, but careens to the floor as Trish ducks a charge and yanks down the top rope...Trish follows her out and whips her into the barricade...Cole calls Trish a witch as she pitches Molly back inside...Trish takes Molly over with a suplex for two...Trish chokes Molly in the corner and you can see that even this early on Trish was starting to get it, just a bit...Trish hits a bulldog off the middle rope for a near fall...she slams Molly down and heads up top, but Molly meets her and slams her back down...Molly gets a northern lights suplex into a bridge for two...Molly gets dumped to the apron but she punches Trish away and heads up top...Trish knocks her to the buckle and tries a superplex, but Molly shoves her back to the mat and careens off the top with the Molly-Go-Round for the win...fine match that really showcased Molly's abilities
- And back at the party, Debra has returned with her pie as the guys like up to taste it...Funaki tells he "much like pie" and the room erupts
- Time for the final party segment...Lo Down arrives, but Foley basically tells them they weren't invited...they demand to be allowed into the party but an angry Tiger Ali takes the pie and chucks it...it happens to hit Steve Blackman, triggering a big brawl and food fight...Dudleys drop Tiger through a table with the 3D and the food is flying...fun, harmless segment that I always liked...I enjoyed how Smackdown always embraced the Thanksgiving shows and went all out...nice tradition and from what was shown, this was a solid episode of Smackdown with some pretty good matches...I recommend checking this out on WWE's YouTube channel if you have an hour to burn
Review Date: March 2013
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