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[GCW] Explosion - Eddie Guerrero Trib. - 11/16/05

Snabbit888Posted on 08/10/06 at 08:57:42

Greetings everyone and welcome to a very special edition of Wednesday Night Explosion. Tonight it's not about grudges or titles or ratings. It's about honoring one man, and that is the late, great Eddie Guerrero. Sadly, Guerrero passed away unexpectedly this past Sunday at the age of 38, and so tonight, the superstars of Global Championship Wrestling have gathered at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota to pay homage to one of the best this business has ever seen - Eddie Guerrero.


THE WRESTLERS ALL GATHERED FOR A TEN BELL SALUTE
The show started out with all of the wrestlers lined up around the entrance way and on the ramp as the Commissioner Tommy Dreamer stood in the middle of the ring. After giving a brief speech, Dreamer requested a moment of silence as the bell tolled ten times in honor of Eddie Guerrero. chants of "EDDIE! EDDIE!" echoed throughout the arena as we cut to pre-recorded comments.


REY MYSTERIO JR. REFLECTS ON HIS FRIEND
We first heard from Rey Mysterio Jr., a long time friend of Eddie Guerrero. Mysterio got pretty emotional as he talked about his fallen friend. Mysterio talked about how Eddie took care of them and how he was familia, and that he loved him and he would never forget him. In a final tribute, Mysterio removed his mask (though the camera did not pick up his face).


Match #1
D-Ray 3000 vs. The Blue Meanie
In addition to the tributes, we would have three matches tonight, including our main event which is a 30-man battle royal for the Eddie Guerrero Memorial Trophy. This match between D-Ray 3000 and The Blue Meanie was primarily a comedy affair, which was the type of thing that everyone could use right now. The match itself, admittedly, was atrocious, but it was fun. D-Ray had the obvious speed advantage on the pleasantly plump Meanie, and he used it to stay a step ahead and more than once, rub Meanie's belly. Da Blue Guy didn't enjoy all of these shenanigans, but nobody cares that much about Meanie's feelings as he fell to the Afro-Butt.

D-Ray 3000 pinned The Blue Meanie with the Afro-Butt in 0:04:31.
Rating: *

A good win for D-Ray 3000 and a fun way to get this tribute show kicked off. he fans pay D-Ray their respect as we cut to another pre-recorded comment.


WORDS FROM ONE OF GUERRERO'S BIGGEST GCW RIVALS
Next we heard from Eric Angle. Eric Angle first made his name in GCW by dressing up as Black Tiger, Guerrero's gimmick when he wrestled in Japan, Guerrero and Eric engaged in many brutal battles, including an eye popping Last Man Standing match at Glory 2004 which was considered by many people to be the match of the year. Eric Angle is a pretty soft spoken guy to begin with and kept this short and sweet. He thanked Guerrero for being such a great person and for giving him a career highlight and for teaching him a lot of things about wrestling and life on the road. He said that Eddie was one of the brightest and funniest men he had ever met, and that he will never forget him.


Match #2
The Basham Brothers (w/ Shaniqua & Daffney) vs. Anarchy
Our second match of the evening was a solid tag team affair as the Basham Brothers took on Anarchy. Neither of these teams are what you would call popular with the fans, but tonight wasn't about who was popular and who wasn't. It was about men doing what they do best and what they love, and that's wrestling, and that's just what we got here with this match. All four men wrestled a great match, wrestling a very technical "old school" type match that the fans were really eating up. We know that Doug Williams and Paul Burchill can go when it comes to the mat game, but Doug and Danny turned a lot of heads by keeping up with Anarchy hold for hold. This mat display from the Bashams definitely caught Anarchy off guard and they never seemed to fully cope with it as Doug Williams fell victim to the Ball and Gag Bomb.

The Basham Brothers (Doug Basham and Danny Basham) defeated Anarchy (Doug Williams and Paul Burchill) when Doug Basham pinned D. Williams after the Ball And Gag Bomb in 0:11:32.
Rating: ***

It won't be too often that you'll hear either of these two teams receive a round of applause, but that's exactly what the fans in Minneapolis gave them, and with good reason. A great effort from two great teams.


CHRIS BENOIT SPEAKS ABOUT ONE OF HIS OLDEST FRIENDS
For those of you who regularly watch GCW television, you know that Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero had been involved in a heated feud for the past few weeks. In reality though, the two have been great friends for a long time, spanning all the way back to their time in Japan over ten years ago. Benoit could barely get through this speech as he spoke of how close he and Eddie were, and talkd about their time in Japan all the way up until their time in GCW. Benoit said that when Eddie was on, there was nobody better and how he lost one of his best friends. A side of Benoit you don't often see, but it shows just how much Guerrero meant to him.


MORE COMMENTS, THIS TIME FROM AN UNEXPECTED GUEST
Our final video on Eddie Guerrero came from a man we haven't seen for a few months, one of Guerrero's biggest rivals, Shawn Michaels. Michaels sent out his condolances to the entire Guerrero family, especially to Eddie's wife Vickie and his three daughters. Michaels spoke of their time as both partners and rivals in GCW, and how much fun he had on the road travelling with Eddie. He spoke of how they were both men of faith and how this brought them together instantly as friends. He said that wrestling has lost one of the truly good guys and that Heaven is a little bit better today because Eddie Guerrero is there.


Match #3
MAIN EVENT
For the Eddie Guerrero Memorial Trophy
30-man Battle Royal
Thirty men were all vying to win this battle royal and take the first annual Eddie Guerrero Memorial Trophy to honor the great man. With so many wrestlers in the ring, you knew eliminations were going to come fast and furious in the early goings. Within the first minute, the first man was gone as CM Punk threw out Chuck Palumbo. Not too long later, Punk's most hated enemy, Christopher Daniels, continued to show the wear and tear on his body as Kid Kash planted him with a tornado DDT before putting him out of the match. Rob Van Dam's troubles with Shelton Benjamin would continue with his elimination from one half of the World Tag Tea champions. Punk made his second elimination of the night when he hit a huge backbreaker on AJ Styles and put him out. Styles' opponent at Glory would soon join him on the floor as he fell victim to the World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

Eric Angle's GCW career basically mirrors Eddie Guerrero's as you can't talk about GCW without mentioning their Last Man Standing match last year, and he would have loved to win this battle royal. It wasn't meant to be though as Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt were working together and they worked to put Eric Angle out of the match. Two more big names were taken out next as the World's Greatest Tag Team joined forces to put out Monty Brown. A few seconds later, Rey Mysterio Jr. put an end to Punk's night with a headscissors that brought him over the top. The numbers were thinning at a rapid rate as Kid Kash continued his unexpected dominantion in this battle royal (having Hoyt in there to help him didn't hurt) as he caught Ken Doane with a low blow and put him over the top. On the other side of the ring, Abyss was desperately trying to get Randy Orton out of the ring, but in his aggression to take out Orton, he stopped paying attention to the rest of the ring as he was dumped unceramoniously from behind by both members of MNM. MNM would continue to work well as a team as they next got their hated rival Booker T out of the match.

We weren't even seven minutes into the match and already we had 11 eliminations, and they continued to come at a furious pace. Brock Lesnar began to kick things into overdrive and take control of this match as he clotheslined Randy Orton out over to the floor. Lance Storm tried to get the jump on him, but the Monster From Minnesota shook it off and double underhook suplexed Storm over the top to the floor. Meanwhile on the other side of the ring, Hardcore Holly was completely in his element in this kind of match as he was hitting everything that moved. He even punched Johnny Nitro so hard that it sent him flying over the top to the floor. MNM would get some revenge though as Joey Mercury would low blow Holly a bit later, allowing Kid Kash to hiptoss the Alabama Slamma to the floor. Kash continued though as Lance Hoyt kept doing his dirty work for him as he power bombed Bryan Danielson, which let Kash eliminate the American Dragon. Kash picked out Frankie Kazarian as the next victim, but Kazarian had other ideas as he fended off Hoyt and caught the big man by surprise with a dropkick that sent him toppling over the top rope to the floor.

Though his tag team partner had already been eliminated, Joey Mercury still had his eyes on winning this battle royal. Mercury got the better of a good exchange with Petey Williams, sending him to the floor. A little bit later, it looked like his time in the battle royal had come to an end when Rhyno got a hold of him, but as Rhyno set him up for the Gore, Mercury ducked out of the way. Rhyno's momentum kept him going and thanks to Melina low bridging the top rope, Rhyno flew out of the ring and out of this match. A bit later, Kid Kash accomplished what he had tried earlier by eliminating Frankie Kazarian.

This brought us down to the final ten, and no one had more of an advantage than the Corporation, as JBL, Haas, and Benjamin were all still in the match. Also in the ring were the World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Cruiserweight champion Shark Boy, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio Jr., Edge, Kid Kash, and Joey Mercury. The heels outnumbered the faces and it was obvious that they were all joining forces, hoping to eliminate Lesnar, Benoit, Mysterio, and Shark Boy, and then were going to duke it out on their own. Mysterio had other ideas though as he seemed invigorated for the final stretch of this match. As all the heels jumped the faces, Mysterio showed that his size doesn't necessarily have to be a disadvantage in a battle royal as he out quicked everyone, using it to eliminate Joey Mercury. Edge would be the next to go after him, but he surprised the Rated R Superstar with a Hotshot and an exit from the match. This plan by the heels wasn't working out the way they had anticipated thanks to Mysterio's unexpected in-ring dominance. The Corporation banded together though in hopes of regaining control, but they suffered a major blow when Mysterio caught Benjamin off guard with a leg lariat and one-half of the World Tag Team champions was eliminated!

The Corporation took a blow by losing Benjamin, but Charlie Haas helped the Corporation's chances when he backdropped Shark Boy to the floor. An impressive showing by Shark Boy who has had the month of his wrestling career. This left only six - JBL, Haas, Kash, Lesnar, Benoit, and Mysterio. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Kid Kash, who not only lasted far longer than anyone would expect, but also had the most eliminations in this match with six. His night would come to an end here though as Benoit got a hold of him and sent him out of the match. This left JBL and Haas all alone against Benoit, Lesnar, and Mysterio. The Corporation went to get the jump on their adversaries, but that turned out to be a poor decision as the faces each took turns punching away at JBL and Haas, much to the delight of the fans. As JBL and Haas scrambled to find any sanctuary they could, they were met with clotheslines from Lesnar and Benoit respectivefully that sent them out of the ring, leaving us with the final three!

The crowd was on its feet as we were left with Lesnar, Benoit, and Mysterio. The three all looked at each other, hit fists in the middle of the ring, and it was on. Benoit and Mysterio knew that they were at the disadvantage thanks to Lesnar's power and size, so they joined forces to try to eliminate the World champion. They were having a great amount of success as whenever Lesnar would fire back on one of them, the other would come in and pick up the slack. It got to the point where Lesnar had just been hit by Mysterio's 6-1-9. Mysterio was fired up, but before he knew it, Benoit grabbed him from behind and tossed him out of the ring! Mysterio questioned Benoit over it, but the Crippler just smiled and smacked his fist to his chest, just like Eddie Guerrero used to do. Benoit had pulled out a move Eddie would have done, and Mysterio just smiled before pointing up to the sky in respect and heading for the back. This left Benoit and Lesnar, who were also the final two in this year's Deadly Draw, which was won by Lesnar. Though the Monster From Minnesota regained his composure from the two-on-one attack he had been put through, he couldn't seem to get Benoit out of the ring. Benoit seemed to be highly motivated and nothing was going to put him out of this match. Lesnar tried everything he could, but he couldn't get Benoit's body over the top rope and out of the ring. He became frustrated and foolishly went up top, but Benoit caught him and crotched him on the top turnbuckle. He brought Lesnar back in with a superplex and followed up with the swandive headbutt. Lesnar got back to his feet though and Benoit tried to whip him into the turnbuckle, but it was reversed. Lesnar charged in at Benoit, but Benoit moved out of the way, gave Lesnar a shove, and eliminated him from the match! We have a winner!

[Eddie Guerrero Memorial]: 30-Man Battle Royal:
Chris Benoit won a 30-man Battle Royal:
x Punk threw out C. Palumbo after a cross-body block in 0:00:50
x Kash threw out C. Daniels after a tornado DDT in 0:01:33
x S. Benjamin threw out RVD in 0:02:08
x Punk threw out Styles after a backbreaker in 0:02:33
x Lesnar threw out Skipper after a facerake in 0:02:43
x Kash threw out E. Angle after a dropkick to the knee in 0:03:29
x C. Haas threw out M. Brown in 0:04:52
x Mysterio Jr. threw out Punk in 0:04:59
x Kash threw out K. Doane after a low blow in 0:05:16
x MNM threw out Abyss in 0:05:39
x Nitro threw out Booker in 0:06:26
x Lesnar threw out R. Orton in 0:07:15
x Lesnar threw out L. Storm after a double underhook suplex in 0:07:49
x H. Holly threw out Nitro in 0:08:15
x Kash threw out H. Holly after a hiptoss in 0:10:29
x Kash threw out B. Danielson in 0:12:37
x Kazarian threw out L. Hoyt in 0:13:37
x Mercury threw out P. Williams in 0:14:33
x Mercury threw out Rhyno after a duck-down move in 0:16:00
x Kash threw out Kazarian in 0:17:36
x Mysterio Jr. threw out Mercury in 0:19:41
x Mysterio Jr. threw out Edge after a Hotshot in 0:20:58
x Mysterio Jr. threw out S. Benjamin after a leg lariat in 0:22:34
x C. Haas threw out Shark Boy in 0:23:22
x Benoit threw out Kash in 0:24:38
x Benoit threw out C. Haas in 0:26:23
x Lesnar threw out JBL in 0:26:32
x Benoit threw out Mysterio Jr. in 0:29:36
x Benoit threw out Lesnar in 0:35:23
Rating: **** 1/4

Chris Benoit was almost in tears as he was presented with the Eddie Guerrero Memorial Trophy. Lesnar, Mysterio, and others all joined him in the ring to celebrate as our show came to an end.

Final card for Glory, November 20, 2005, from Rexall Place in Edmonton, Ontario, Canada:

World Heavyweight Title Match - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

North American Title Match - Lance Storm vs. Frankie "The Future" Kazarian

World Tag Team Title Match - The World's Greatest Tag Team (c) vs. Booker T/Rey Mysterio Jr.

Ladder Match for the new X Title - CM Punk (Television champion) vs. Shark Boy (Cruiserweight champion) vs. "The Notorious K.I.D." Kid Kash vs. "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels

Abyss vs. Randy Orton

"The Alpha Male" Monty Brown vs. "The Rated R Superstar" Edge

"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles vs. "Primetime" Elix Skipper

Rhyno vs. JBL's hand-picked wrestler
CarlzillaPosted on 08/10/06 at 09:05:13

A fitting tribute. A good card.

Is the Eddie Guerrero Invitational or Memorial or whatever it's been dubbed going to be an annual thing for GCW?
lazy_duckPosted on 08/10/06 at 09:10:52

good card great way to send Eddie out. I was going to ask the same question about the cup.
Snabbit888Posted on 08/10/06 at 09:12:24

Yes it will be.  I'm going to do a special show every November that's separate from Explosion of the PPVs and hold a battle royal for the Trophy.

I wasn't too happy with how this card came out, but given the circumstances, I guess it's good.  RIP Eddie. :(
kurropt_antagonistPosted on 08/10/06 at 17:56:21

I was curious as to how Eddie's death would be handled in a TNM circuit.  I was glad to see an Eddie Memorial match.  I believed the WWE should have done something similiar last year, HOWEVER, given that the upcoming PPV was inappropriately named, I can understand why there wasn't.