World Wrestling Entertainment presents Velocity
Date: 5/3/2003
From: Manchester, NH
MATCH #1: JAMIE NOBLE VS. CRASH
NOTE: Crash has new theme song where his original song is slower and comes across darker to signify his heel turn.
FINISH: Late in the match, Crash hits Noble with his book and hit the Bottom Feeder (Styles Clash) for the win.
Bob’s Take: Noble goes after Moore on the floor and is met with a forearm by Crash. Looks like Noble is playing the face role in this match between two heels. Noble quickly gained control with a side suplex out of the corner. Crash regained control with strikes and sending Noble hard into the corner a few times. Noble cutoff Crash with a neckbreaker and a snap powerslam. Moore kicks Nidia off the apron causing Noble to hit a top rope crossbody to the floor on Moore. It’s a bit amazing to see Crash using the Styles Clash. This was fine for what it was, nothing too crazy.
Match Rating: **
In a “Velocity Exclusive”, we see video footage from Backlash highlighting the Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio match where they show Big Show winning by chokeslam, but we also see the stretcher incident when Show whacked Mysterio into the ring post while strapped onto a stretcher.
MATCH #2: RIKISHI VS. ARCH KINCAID
FINISH: Rikishi wins following a Bonzai Drop.
Bob’s Take: Kincaid is wearing headgear, which kind of stands out for an enhancement guy. Kincaid has some charisma and sells very well for Rikishi throughout the match. As expected, this is a complete squash for Rikishi. Simple and effective for Rikishi. I like to consider Rikishi the Jim Duggan of the 2000s as he’s always going to get a pop.
Match Rating: SQUASH
MATCH #3: TAJIRI VS. JASON PORCARO
FINISH: Tajiri powerbombs Porcaro followed by a kick to the head.
Bob’s Take: Tajiri’s kicks come across as lethal strikes, and if the WWE wanted to present him as a more serious threat, it should just be a focus on his kicks. Porcaro isn’t a complete squash victim as he gets a near fall on Tajiri after a swinging neckbreaker. Porcaro missed a top rope leg drop and it was downhill from there. Well, actually Porcaro still fought back with another swinging neckbreaker. Tajiri finishes Porcaro off shortly after that. Porcaro made this far more competitive and I thought this was a solid extended squash.
Match Rating: **
MAIN EVENT: A-TRAIN VS. BILL DEMOTT
FINISH: Late in the match, DeMott tries for the moonsault, but Train knocks DeMott off the ropes and hits the bicycle kick to win the match.
Bob’s Take: I’m intrigued by this to see DeMott in a match with a fellow bully after he’s been working Cruiserweights for a bit on Velocity. DeMott is positioned as the babyface here, which is an interesting dynamic change, but Train is a heel with some substance appearing on Smackdown fairly regularly. DeMott gets some steam at the start decking Train with a clothesline and kept control on the mat. Train works over DeMott with clubbing blows and a middle rope splash. DeMott shows some good fight refusing to stay down. DeMott fought back with a back suplex to drop Train on his head. DeMott actually kicks out of the Derailer, but is finished off moments later after being knocked off the ropes. DeMott played the face role well here, which is what he did back in the dying days of WCW. I’m sure DeMott will revert back to being a bully heel on Velocity soon enough, though.
Match Rating: **
Final Thoughts:
An easy hour of TV to watch this week. The enhancement matches were productive and I enjoyed them.
Thanks for reading.