Reported by Keith Vinciguerra of WrestleView.com
» On Saturday, February 15, 2003 at 11:25 PM EST

I’m not expecting a great Velocity this week because we are getting close to the PPV. Usually that means only three matches and lots of long flashbacks to Smackdown. It’s cool that Johnny the Bull will be on Velocity soon (now that he is part of Nunzio’s family) but that probably won’t happen for another week at least. And when are we going to see Brian Kendrick wrestle again?! Anyway, on to the show ....

VELOCITY RECAP

Bill DeMott vs. Funaki

Funaki gets in a few punches before DeMott throws him into the corner and mauls him for awhile with punches and chops. Bill misses an avalanche in the corner and gets rolled up for a two count. Funaki floors DeMott with an ensuguri but gets squashed by a standing body block (Bill basically walked into him and Funaki collapsed). The Tough Enough trainer takes the match to the mat with a chinlock, but Funaki fights back with a chinbreaker and a bulldog that gets him a two count. He then walks right into a nasty clothesline and gets pinned.

Winner by pinfall: Bill DeMott

Flashback to Smackdown

They show Kurt Angle trying to put the moves on Stephanie, Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena, and the confrontation between Brock and Team Angle after the match.

Shannon Moore vs. Mike Knox

Shannon starts off hot with a multitude of forearm smashes, a dropkick to the stomach, and a hurricanrana. Knox is able to take control with a back suplex, then nails a backbreaker and some elbows to the back. The newcomer locks in a surfboard submission, but Shannon manages to get to his feet and hit a few spinning heel kicks. He gets thrown into the corner and counters with a springboard high cross body. Knox once again throws Shannon into corner and charges headfirst into Shannon’s feet. The MF’er hits a spinning neckbreaker off the second rope for the win.

Winner by pinfall: Shannon Moore

Flashback

We see Rock vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania followed by a recap of their recent encounters.

Billy Kidman vs. Jamie Noble with Nidia – Cruiserweight Title Match

The two wrestlers grapple a bit until Kidman hits a flying elbow. He follows it up with a head scissors that sends Noble to the outside. Nidia drags Noble out of the way as Kidman tries a high cross body. Back in the ring, Noble slows things down with some brawling. Kidman is set up perfectly for Noble’s hangman legdrop, but he slides out at the last second. Noble still maintains control with a neckbreaker and some odd ground submission holds. Kidman is able to hoist Noble onto his shoulder and nails his death valley neckbreaker. We go to a commercial .... and we’re back. Kidman is on fire with a back body drop and a dropkick. Noble tries for a Tiger Bomb, but Kidman counters into a rollup for a two count. Noble catches a charging Kidman with a powerslam. Kidman tries a springboard bulldog but Noble lands on his feet and hits a back suplex. He tries another Tiger Bomb and this time it gets countered into a sit out power bomb. Nidia jumps up on the apron to keep the ref from counting the pinfall. Kidman attempts a backslide, but Noble rolls out of it and finally hits the Tiger Bomb but can’t get the three count. Kidman catches a Noble kick, throws him to the mat and then nails the Shooting Star Press for the win.

Winner by pinfall: Billy Kidman

VELOCITY REVIEW

Bill DeMott vs. Funaki

Oh great, like it wasn’t bad enough seeing Albert beat on Funaki for four weeks straight. Now DeMott is taking over Albert’s role as the “bully” (yes, the announcers are even calling him a bully now). The match was really short, maybe shorter than it was supposed to be. DeMott looked like he was going to do some more damage, but realized Funaki was out of it and just covered him. The replay showed that the clothesline whipped Funaki’s head back and then it slammed off the mat, so maybe he really was out. I can’t think of another reason why they wouldn’t have DeMott use his powerbomb or moonsault.

Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar flashback

I remember back when Angle was trying to get with Stephanie the first time. It’s nice to see that the WWE actually does remember some old storylines. Remember when Rikishi ran over Steve Austin because he wanted to help Rock? Me either. Cena vs. Brock was fairly entertaining, although I’m not sure why Brock didn’t get DQ’d after the ref saw him tear off the turnbuckle cover and then purposely ram Cena’s head into it later in the match. Anyway, this flashback was looooooong. At least ten minutes.

Shannon Moore vs. Mike Knox

Not an interesting match. The two wrestlers’ styles didn’t mix well at all and Shannon just doesn’t have the lightning quickness needed to make a win over a big guy believable. Knox only got in a few moves and the fans weren’t really into the match.

Hogan and Rock

Didn’t we just see this exact segment on Smackdown? I understand that the weekend shows rely on footage from the big shows to keep people interested since the average fan isn’t into jobber matches anymore, but this is ridiculous. We’ve had about 5 minutes of wrestling so far and there’s less than 15 minutes left in the show. Anyway, I’ve said it before, I find Rock to be terribly stale these days and I am not looking forward to this match at all. It would be really cool if the fans just sat there when Rock came out .... no cheers, no boos, nothing .... just to show him that we don’t appreciate him showing up every six months to sell a few extra PPV buys.

Billy Kidman vs. Jamie Noble with Funk Nasty

If Jamie is Nunzio’s cousin, how come he doesn’t have the “family” to back him up? Or did the WWE forget about that cousin thing already? Nice to see the fans giving Kidman some applause. Maybe the Cruiserweight Title will mean something again. The match was good, definitely Velocity main event quality. The two wrestlers worked well even though their styles are different, Kidman being a traditional high flying cruiser and Noble using more brawling.

Overall, Velocity was not good. We only got three matches, two of which were short and uninteresting. The flashbacks totally dominated the show, taking up at least 25 minutes. If I wanted to see Smackdown more than once, I would tape it. The show probably won’t improve much next week as the PPV draws closer.