STW - Judgment Day 2005 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Judgment Day 2005

Judgement Day 2005 took place on May 22nd, from the Target Center, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was also the home for SummerSlam 1999. It drew 9,500 for about $500,000. It got around 220,000 ppv buys for about $21.6 million in revenue.

In the weeks leading up to this event, we started seeing something that we hadn't seen in his about 10 years in the WWE, JBL getting a main event push, to where he'd challenge WWE Champion, John Cena for the title on this event. We did a show on JBL in the past

Chris Candido passed away on April 28th 2005. He broke his ankle during a match in TNA and had to have surgery. He later developed a blood clot which he passed from. He was wrestled as Skip in the WWF and even teamed with your brother, who was Zip. What was your reaction when you heard Chris passed?

Keller reported - There were some changes with the WWE creative team last week. Brian Gewirtz, the senior writer on the WWE creative staff, is taking a leave of absence from wrestling shows to script a movie for WWE. Gewirtz had worked closely with Vince and Stephanie McMahon on the scripting of Raw and oversight of Smackdown. He is said to be in great standing with management and this time off is a chance for him to take a breather from the week–to–week grind of writing Raw and produce a script for a future WWE movie project. 

Gewirtz, by all accounts, is loved by the McMahons due to his dedication, accessibility, and long hours fulfilling the McMahons’ vision for Raw and Smackdown each week without making waves or contradicting their concepts too often. Larry Molin, meanwhile, is the latest addition to the WWE writing team. His TV writing credits date back to 1977. He has scripted episodes of CHiPs, Knight Rider, The Practice, Beverly Hills 90210, Leap Years, and other less notable TV series. 

He was also a co–executive producer of Beverly Hills 90210 in 1990, and previously a consulting producer and supervising producer from 1993 through 1997. He also appeared as himself in “The E! True Hollywood Story” on Beverly Hills 90210 produced in 2001. 

Keller reported - John Laurenaitis is no fan of Jim Cornette and hasn’t been for a while. Cornette gave Laurenaitis the excuse he needed to suspend him for five weeks from any involvement with Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE’s developmental territory affiliate. There is speculation that Cornette won’t be brought back, but that depends on a number of factors. At this point, the booking and TV writing duties have been taken over by Tommy Dreamer, and he has been told not to change things too much from the direction Cornette set. Cornette has a well–earned reputation for being a hot–head and not playing the political game with the WWE front office well. 

There have been numerous times over the years that political forces within WWE were so anti–OVW or anti–Jim Cornette, that there was consideration given to pulling the plug on the affiliation. Pro–Cornette and pro–OVW forces convinced Vince McMahon to stay the course. At the May 4 TV tapings, in a dark match, Kevin Fertig (a/k/a Mordecai) wore a baseball cap to the ring for a tag team match where he teamed with Daniel Puder against Kenzo Suzuki & El Diablo Negro (Ken Dohne). During the match, Cornette noticed that Fertig was wearing the cap backwards on his head. Backstage, Cornette said that it looked stupid and sent word for him to take it off. Fertig did. But then during the match, Fertig took a sombrero from a fan and wore that, perhaps as a way to get under Cornette’s skin.

It worked, as Cornette blew up backstage afterward, chewing out Fertig. Cornette has a history of blowing his temper and threatening people, including after a recent Dudleys match in OVW where they put Jillian Hall through a table. He was upset because he considers a woman being driven through a table the type of angle that would require her to be off TV and injured for weeks, if not months, to properly sell it. He didn’t confront the Dudleys himself, but he was upset about it happening. Al Snow will be taking over on commentary for the TV shows and Dreamer, with assistance from Lance Storm, will be scripting the TV shows. 

Keller reported - WWE sends wrestlers back to coach for overseas flights in future WWE sent a memo to all talents that they are no longer paying for business–class or first–class seats for overseas trips. It’s purely a budget cutback at a time when WWE is touting publicly the massive success of its recent all–sold out tour in Europe and profitable trip to Australia. Wrestlers, needless to say, aren’t thrilled with the move, and point out the hypocrisy of talent relations director John Laurenaitis forcing wrestlers to dress and act like businessmen because of the image it projects to those who see them outside of arenas and at airports, but now having them fly in coach on long flights. 

“John should know better because he was a wrestler who took those killer long flight when he worked in Japan,” says one wrestler. “But here he goes now, asking us to cram ourselves into coach for a 12 hour flight after wrestling for five straight days. Everyone is going to find a way to be sure WWE pays for this in other ways. This is a morale buster that tells everyone here they care more about their stockholders than treating us as professionals.” Says another wrestler: “You just don’t trim that area of the budget. You take care of your guys.” 

Keller reported - . UPN moves Smackdown from Thursdays to Fridays this fall In a move that blindsided WWE, UPN announced last week that come this fall, Smackdown will be moved from Thursday nights to Friday nights. Friday is considered a weaker night because overall viewership is down. WWE, though, may be the type of product that has a loyal enough folllowing that its viewers will find it and still watch no matter what night it’s on. Another up side is that Smackdown no longer will go head–to–head with some of the toughest prime time programming competition out there, including CSI, The Apprentice, The OC, and Will & Grace. 

UPN is shifting Smackdown to Fridays and replacing it with a block of half–hour comedies starring Chris Rock ("Everybody Hates Chris"), Shannen Doherty ("Love Inc."), and Denis Richards. There is some speculation that Vince McMahon may adjust his plans for the draft—which is a well guarded secret among a small inner–circle at this point (even Kurt Angle has said he doesn’t know where he’ll end up). McMahon may choose to shift some bigger names toward Smackdown to strengthen the show, yet he also wants to impress USA Network with strong ratings, so he’s being pulled in two directions.

Another potential problem is that Smackdown will face more preemptions for local sports games on Friday nights. Because Friday was such a weak night for network TV, many Smackdown affiliates have agreements with local sports teams to air games on Friday nights. This includes baseball games in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia. Smackdown already faced preemptions in many markets due to local sports, but will face more on Fridays than Thursdays 

Even though we're covering mostly Smackdown on this show sicne Judgement Day was a Smackdown ppv, on the May 23rd Raw, the night after Judgement Day, we saw an in ring confrontation between Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff, with Vince in the ring also. This was pretty historic with Heyman owning ECW, of course Eric's ties to WCW and how he raided a lot of Paul's guys in the mid 90s and of course Vince. What was your thoughts on that famous segment?

The first ECW One Night Stand was coming up a few weeks  after this ppv. What's your memories of the preparation for that event?

Keller reported - Former MLW promoter Court Bower, 27, was hired to be part of the creative team this month. Bower booked and operated Major League Wrestling in 2003, gaining regional clearance through the Sunshine Network in Florida where his upstart promotion was based. His program had a look and feel similar to ECW right down to the announcer, Joey Styles. Baurer ran into financial difficulties and shut down early in 2004. 

Vince McMahon’s usage of a private jet was scrutinized by a Wall Street Journal article last week. “(T)here’s the tiny World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., which last year started allowing its CEO, Vince McMahon, to take personal trips on its $20 million company jet in part for his ‘personal safety.’” In McMahon’s defense of having the plane in general, he does hold booking meetings between Raw and Smackdown with others in his inner–circle, and doing such on commercial flights would be difficult. 

His time, given his tight schedule on consecutive days holding TV and PPV events, is extremely valuable, so avoiding the time standing in line at airports seems reasonable. That doesn’t excuse use of it for personal reasons at the expense of stockholders, though, which was the thrust of the WSJ article. “These are people most able to afford it themselves, so why are the stocholders subsidizing their lesure time?” said Paul Hodson of The Corporete Library. 

The article noted that many companies larger than WWE don’t allow its CEO usage of the company plane for private trips. Most company CEOs are not as publicly known as McMahon, though, so “security” may be a defendable issue. It is the same reason used by other CEOs, though, who are not as well known publicly as McMahon. 

Keller reported - WWE is also interested in “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Sources believe that WWE’s interest will be stronger in signing available free agents if TNA gets a national TV deal, but if TNA’s deal seems to be faltering, they may hold out to save the money since the wrestlers at that point would have nowhere else to sign for potentially lucrative deals.

Former WWE announcer Kevin Kelly made several negative remarks about Vince McMahon, Triple H, and the WWE during an interview with the “Voice of Wrestling” radio. Kelly mentioned that, “Triple H is going to make sure no one gets over more than him,” and “If you don’t have the right political clout in that company, it’s going to come back to haunt you” 

That takes us to the PPV

MNM (Mercury & Nitro w/Melina) beat Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas at 8:02 to retain the WWE Tag Titles. The finish came when MNM gave Haas their double team “Snap shot” maneuver. (*1/2) 

MNM beat Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio for the tag titles when Eddie walked out on Rey, which set up their match later in this show

Carlito (w/Matt Morgan) beat Big Show at 4:40 when Morgan hit the F–5 on Big Show while the referee was down. Prior to the match, Carlito said he talked to former Minnesota Vikings receiver Randy Moss, who told him that people in Minnesota aren’t cool. (3/4*)

Backstage, Sharmell was ranting about Kurt Angle’s disrespectful treatment the previous few weeks. Sharmell received a gift of lingerie, which she thought was from Booker T. 

Booker said it wasn’t from him, then Sharmell pulled a pair of handcuffs out from the gift bag. Enraged, Booker said he would take care of things 

Paul London beat Chavo Guerrero at 10:41 to retain the Cruiserweight Title. The finish came when London blocked a top rope move by Guerrero and connected with his 450 splash. Above–average match, but, at just ten minutes, not long enough to really be a stand–out, memorable match. (**1/2) 

Booker T was shown walking through the backstage area of the Target Center trying to find Kurt Angle. After many unsuccessful attempts trying to get information about Angle from various wrestlers, the camera went back to Booker’s locker room where Kurt Angle snuck up behind Sharmell and told her she could find him anywhere. Angle’s music came on the PA system preventing further advancements by Angle 

The next match was Kurt Angle vs Booker T

On the April 28th Smackdown, Angle, Booker T, Big Show and JBL took part in a Fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship, which JBL won. 

During the match, Angle hit Booker T with a chair to eliminate him. Booker came back and hit Angle with a chair to cause him to be eliminated. The following week, Angle challenged Booker T to a match at Judgment Day, which Booker accepted. Prior to that, Angle had insulted Booker T's wife, Sharmell, which led to Booker T attacking and accepting Angle's challenge.

On the May 12th Smackdown, Angle admitted he would like to have "perverted sex" with Sharmell. That same night, Angle and Booker T were scheduled in a match, which led to Angle leaving the ring and going backstage to Sharmell. Booker T went backstage and found Sharmell on the floor crying. This led to Angle attacking Booker T from behind and pushing him towards a pair of steel lockers.

The following week, Long was scripted to suspend Angle and demanded that Angle apologize for his actions. Angle apologized, but admitted that he actually kissed Sharmell and let her fondle his "private parts" before Booker T made his way to the locker room. Booker T, while watching the interview kicked a television monitor down and broke it. 

Booker T beat Kurt Angle at 14:11 with a small package that came out of nowhere. After the match, Angle attacked Booker and tried to handcuff Sharmell to the ropes. However, Booker prevented the deed and handcuffed Angle to the ropes. After building up anticipation, Sharmell slapped Angle over and over until she finally kicked him in the crotch. Angle sank to his knees and cried in the corner. Very good 14 minute match. (***1/2) 

Orlando Jordan beat Heidenreich at 4:52 to retain the United States Title. The finish came when Jordan pinned Heidenreich following a DDT. After the loss, Heidenreich was consoled by his friend, Alex, who sat ringside during the match. Passable action. (3/4*) 

Josh Matthews interviewed JBL backstage. JBL said he would take care of Cena then run for office because Minnesotans will vote for anyone 

The next match was Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio, which was a rematch from their WrestleMania match, which Rey won

In the weeks that followed, Guerrero and Mysterio were challenged by MNM for the Tag Team Championship, which Guerrero and Mysterio accepted. MNM defeated Guerrero and Mysterio to win the tag team titles after Guerrero walked out in the middle of the match.

On the April 28th Smackdown, Guerrero and Mysterio were given a rematch for the Tag Team titles. During the match, however, Mysterio accidentally performed a flying body press on Guerrero which led to Guerrero abandoning Mysterio, but returned as the fans urged Guerrero to come back. MNM retained the belt after pinning Mysterio for the win.

The following week, Teddy Long booked a Street Fight between Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. Mysterio won the match. After the match, Mercury and Nitro attacked Mysterio, which prompted Guerrero to come out and clear the ring. Guerrero, however, attacked Mysterio. The assault led to Guerrero lifting Mysterio off the ground and driving Mysterio's back on the ring steps, which was Eddie's heel turn.

Rey Mysterio beat Eddie Guerrero via DQ at 18:35 when Eddie hit Rey with a chair. After the match, Eddie attacked Rey with repeated chair shots before leaving the ring with an icy stare into space. Great match. The finish wasn’t great, but for a first grudge match between these two, it’s not bad booking. (****) 

When was it decided that Vickie and Rey's son, Dominic were going to get involved with this angle, was that planned already at this time?

The next match was the I Quit match for the WWE Title, John Cena defending against former champion, JBL. Cena won the title from JBL at WrestleMania a few months earlier

On the April 7th Smackdown, Theodore Long scheduled a series of number one contenders matches, after JBL, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, Booker T, and Kurt Angle all demanded a WWE Championship match

The first match was JBL vs Rey Mysterio. Mysterio was DQ'ed, after Eddie Guerrero interfered and attacked JBL, which resulting in JBL winning the match.The following week Guerrero and Kurt Angle were scheduled for the second contender's match. Angle won & advanced to the finals

Later during the program, Cena unveiled a spinner version of the WWE championship. 

Talk about the idea for that? Be honest, you thought that ridiculous, like most fans did, right?

On the April 21st Smackdown, Booker T and Big Show were double Dqed in their match, so Long booked JBL, Angle, Booker T, and Big Show in a Fatal Four-Way match for the following week. JBL won the match, after he pinned Angle and got the rematch with Cena at Judgement Day

On the May 5th Smackdown, Cena said that he would defend the championship against JBL in an "I Quit" match. 

This wasn't a match that we often saw in the WWE. Why was this decided to be an I Quit match?

John Cena beat JBL at 22:40 in an “I Quit” match to retain the WWE Championship. The finish came when Cena stalked JBL with an exhaust pipe prompting JBL to quit the match. For good measure, Cena used the pipe to throw JBL through the Judgment Day set, finishing off the challenger. Cena began bleeding very heavily at the beginning of the match. JBL bled later in the match after going headfirst through a TV monitor. Very entertaining, realistic brawl. They used the props in a realistic, not sensational manner. (****1/4) 

On the June 6th Raw, Cena would be drafted to Raw and Batista who was the World Champion was drafted to Smackdown, so the titles switched with them. Raw had the WWE Title and Smackdown then had the World title

On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate Judgement Day 2005?