1. John Cena def. Orlando Jordan
Cena went for the cheap heat coming out in a Larry Bird Celtics jersey. He said he will be main-eventing at Wrestlemania XX. He mentioned how it was one year ago when he answered Kurt Angle's challenge for a rookie to take him on. Cena decides he's going to do the same. This brings out Jordan, whom Cena called "a Billy Banks look-a-like bitch." He ripped on New York, and the match was on. This was really sloppy, as Jordan is no 2002 Cena, and Cena is no Angle from any year. Cena reversed a cross-body and held the tights for the win. He then hit the F-U for good measure. Undertaker biked out to, but Cena bailed before a confrontation. Taker gave Jordan a pat on the back, but the crowd didn't pop for it at all. Jordan is not ready for any kind of push. Without any delay (though I assume they'll be a commercial break) we head to.......
2. Undertaker & APA def. FBI
A pretty dull, uneventful match. Nunzio is by far the best worker on the FBI, but since he's playing the cowardly heel who only attacks when the team has an advantage, he was rarely ever in the ring. The end came with the now typical everyone beats up everyone else until Bradshaw pinned Stamboli with the Clothesline from Hell. The APA got a good "we remember you" pop coming out, but the match has no heat. Taker gets his usual big pre- and post-match pop.
We got a brief Ultimo Dragon clip, and are told he debuts TONIGHT.
In one of those "earlier today" vignettes, Jaime Noble and Nidia are outside the arena when an attorney approaches Noble and tells him his Aunt Lucille just died. Noble says he doesn't have an Aunt Lucille, but the lawyer says she left him a lot of money (I think over $300,000) in her will. He and Nidia are excited, and if I heard correctly decided to go celebrate at Applebee's. Oh, and the lawyer got a big wet one from Nidia.
Backstage, Sable tried to hit on Vince, but he wasn't interested tonight
3. Matt Hardy def. Rikishi in a First Round match for the U.S. Title (still no brackets were given)
Hardy was very over with the crowd, and was probably getting the better reaction during the match. He also came out by himself. About what you'd expect from these two (translation: eh). Hardy hits the Twist of Fate, but Rikishi kicks out. Hardy gets mad, removes the top turnbuckle, and eventually Rikishi hits the "exposed steel" before falling victim to a second Twist of Fate.
A Confidential promo aired hyping various wrestlers talking about the lure of Madison Square Garden
We also got a Vengence promo, but only some clips of Angle were shown. No matches announced.
4. Guerrero & Tajiri def. O'Hare and Piper
Piper got a a very nice reaction coming out. A blah match with O'Hare doing power moves, and Piper was in for maybe 30-60 seconds. Finish saw Tajiri blow the green mist into Piper's face, leading to a Frog Splash from Guerrero on Piper (yes, Piper) for the pin.
And now, the continuing saga of Vince, Stephanie (looking very large) and Zach Gowen. McMahon calls out Stephanie and Zach, and wants to talk to both of them. Zach brings the cane with him again. Vince first tells Stephanie she was "always the apple of my eye", and admits he used her to "close business deals". He acknowledges to her "I stole your innocence from you" and it was "as if I personally deflowered you." He hopes she will forgive him, though he won't be able to forgive himself. He then tells tells Zach "I want to be Zach Gowen", even though he's a billionaire (does his accountant keep lying to him?). He admires how Zach has "looked death in the eye", and asks Zach to forgive him. Zach refuses. Vince then says he "demands" Zach forgive him, but Zach even more emphatically refuses. When Vince hints that perhaps Zach is intimidated by Vince, Zach snaps back. "You think you intimidate me? Look me in the eye, you son-of-a-bitch!" Zach lashes out some more, and says if Vince wants to give him something, give him a WWE Smackdown contract. I want to say Zach did a great job here, and showed good fire in this promo. Vince says he'll give Zach a contract....if he joins the Kiss My Ass club. After conferring with Stephanie, Zach looks like he's going to join, but low-blows Vince instead. This got a good pop, but once Zach and Steph left, something felt flat. Vince mocked Zach by walking with the cane, and then shattering it. Unfortunately, the remnants hit someone in the audience, but they seemed to be O.K. Didn't stop New York from starting a "lawsuit" chant.
Before the next match, Josh interviews Kidman in the crowd. We didn't get audio, but it was likely about Ultimo Dragon. Kidman had a hot girl with him, but I didn't recognize her.
5. Ultimo Dragon def. Shannon Moore
Rey Mysterio did color, and Kidman was shown in the crowd watching the match. Dragon has a cool entrance with lots of fire effects. Decent but somewhat sloppy match, as they both seemed a little nervous, especially Shannon. This hurt the impact of Dragon's debut, but the crowd popped for his finisher. Rey congratulated him in the ring afterwards. Kidman was shown giving grudging applause. While not shown on camera, he left after this match.
Before the main event, we get to see that great Kurt Angle video.
6. Big Show, Haas & Benjamin def. Angle, Lesner and Mr. America.
All 3 faces got great reactions. Haas and Benjamin were not introduced with a new name (no mention of The Best Damn Tag Team Period). This was a decent match since Show was rarely in. Brock did not look any worse for wear from the injury this past weekend. Towards the end of the match, only Hogan and Show were left. Hogan pulled up the mask to show the crowd it was him (no, really? That's Hogan?). He gave Show the big boot and was going for the legdrop when Vince came out dragging Zach by the neck. Vince had a mike and got Hogan's attention. Hogan was distracted, which allowed Big Show to hit the Chokeslam for the win.
Smackdown ends with Vince beating on Zach, as Hogan lies out of it in the ring. Stephanie comes out and puts her body over Zach to stop Vince's assault. Vince says Zach can get a WWE contract if he wins a match, though it wasn't clear if this match was for next week or at the PPV. Either way, it'll be a handicap match with Zach and Stephanie against the Big Show. Cameras end here with Stephanie looking frightened.
Once the cameras stop - Hogan gets up, slams and legdrops Show. Haas and Benjamin attack Hogan, but Lesner saves and gives them both F-5's. During all this, Angle went to the back, and did not join in the save. He was walking slowly, which led many of us to think he got hurt. I sure hope he's OK, and was just selling from the match. Hogan and Lesner posed for a bit and left. Once Lesner went to the back, "Real American" came on and Hogan went back to the ring to give the fans a posedown.
Overall, Velocity looks pretty good (hey, Benoit and Rhyno on a B-show is a treat). Smackdown felt like a filler show. There were no stand-out matches, and it was still the Vince, Steph and Zach show.
Credit: wrestlingobsever.com