Reported by Keith Vinciguerra of WrestleView.com
» On Saturday, March 1, 2003 at 11:22 PM EST

We’re coming off a solid week of WWE television, so hopefully Velocity will continue the trend. I didn’t see the PPV but both Raw and Smackdown were entertaining (in the same week) for the first time in months. Before we begin, I would just like to say that if we have to see Bill DeMott vs. Funaki for the third week straight then I am going to punch myself in the beanbag until I pass out. That way I’ll have a viable excuse for not recapping the match. Let’s hope that’s unnecessary ....

VELOCITY RECAP

Billy Kidman vs. Bill DeMott

Well that didn’t take long to settle. DeMott is not wrestling Funaki again. Kidman tries to take control early with some headlocks and a kick but gets knocked down by a DeMott shoulder block. Bill slows things down by applying a chinlock while lying on Kidman’s back. He counters a Kidman sunset flip attempt by kneeling down on his head. The former cruiserweight champ fights back with an ensuguri and some dropkicks. He tries a springboard bulldog, but DeMott lands on his feet and powerslams Kidman. Then we see the exciting bear hug for a few minutes. Kidman breaks out of it with a flurry of punches and nails a second rope dropkick before getting ramshackled by a clothesline. Bill hits a power bomb for the win.

Winner by pinfall: Bill DeMott

Flashback to Smackdown

They show Brian Kendrick requesting a match against Kurt Angle. Then we see the five minute match that Angle won just in time to keep Kendrick from getting a job with the WWE followed by the vicious beating after the match.

Johnny the Bull vs. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo starts off hot with a back suplex and some boots to the face. He ties up Johnny’s legs in the corner and hits a dropkick. The Bull takes the momentum by throwing Chavo high in the air and slamming him down to the mat. He chokes Chavo in the ropes and then hoists him up for a vertical suplex but drops him over the top rope instead. Johnny keeps trying to get a pin with his legs on the ropes, but the ref sees it every time. Chavo tries to fight back but runs into a kneelift. The Bull throws Chavo into the corner so hard that he falls to the mat. He then slaps on a chinlock and tries to use the ropes for extra leverage again. Chavo finally gets to his feet and hits a back suplex followed by a jumping knee to Johnny’s head as he was draped over the ropes. The Bull catches a charging Chavo with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but then gets rolled up. Chavo has a handful of tights and gets the pin.

Winner by pinfall: Chavo Guerrero

Flashback to Smackdown

We see Paul Heyman complaining about Brock Lesnar getting to pick any member of Team Angle to face him in a steel cage next week. Then they show Brock vs. Team Angle and Lesnar choosing Heyman to be in the steel cage match.

Flashback to No Way Out

They show “highlights” of Hogan vs. Rock II and Vince gloating after the match.

Rey Mysterio vs. Shannon Moore

Mysterio starts off with some quick counters and a bridge pin attempt. He leg scissors Shannon over the top rope and then tries a high cross body off the apron, but gets dropkicked in the stomach. Back in the ring, Shannon hits a back suplex, a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a snap suplex. He locks on a surfboard submission but Rey powers out, slides out of another tilt-a-whirl attempt and floors Shannon with a kick. He hits a few of his standard moves like the springboard plancha and bulldog. Shannon is able to knock down a charging Rey and hit the Halo. He makes the mistake of trying a 6-1-9 and Rey catches him with a leg scissors that sends Shannon down across the ropes. Mysterio nails the 6-1-9 and West Coast Pop for the win.

Winner by pinfall: Rey Mysterio

VELOCITY REVIEW

Billy Kidman vs. Bill DeMott

Let’s hope this isn’t the future for Kidman. He got in as little offense as a one show jobber against DeMott. First he loses the cruiserweight title, then his woman poses in Playboy, and now he is getting squashed by the B-Train. Poor Billy.

Spanky’s 5 Minutes

Wow, the fans were way into this match. Great idea by the WWE to put Spanky against Angle because with his heat he could get anyone over. The champ worked the clock perfectly and that added tons of drama. We saw enough of Spanky’s offense to make us want to see more and it will be very interesting to see what he does next to try to get a job in the WWE. I just wish he had hit his finisher on Angle even though the champ would have kicked out. I love that move!!

Chavo vs. The Bull

This was a decent match, but I was expecting better from these two. The Bull had a few great matches on Heat where he combined his power moves with some high flying offense, but he didn’t do that here. I did like how he kept trying to cheat, but got caught every time, and then Chavo showed his superior cheating skills to get the win. A match that actually tells a story that makes sense in the context of the two participants? What a novel idea!!

Brock vs. Team Angle

Now I’m not normally one to predict matches or angles and brag about how I was right (probably because I’m wrong a lot), but I thought it was fairly obvious that Brock was going to choose Heyman. Brock vs. Angle in a steel cage just doesn’t make sense at this time. Anyway, this feud is progressing nicely and I can’t wait for their match at Wrestlemania. Oh yeah, how great was Angle’s smirk when Brock announced that he wanted Heyman instead of him in the cage?

Hogan vs. Rock II

Like I said, I didn’t see this match on Sunday. I’ve only seen the lowlights on Smackdown. Why do we have to see it again? Does the WWE really think there are people that watch Velocity but not Smackdown? Well, maybe in non-UPN markets I guess. I’m sure the fans in Montreal must have suspected something was up, especially when an unknown ref showed up to call the main event of a PPV. On a side note, I am so sick of seeing wrestlers try to punch Hogan while he is hulking up and looking totally shocked that the punches have no effect. Don’t they know by now that you can’t hurt the Hulkster when he’s hulking up? I’d leave the ring for awhile until he cooled down or maybe try to distract the ref so I could kick him in the sack o’ plenty.

Rey Mysterio vs. Shannon Moore

This was a good match, standard Velocity quality. Is it just me or is Rey getting stale? Watching his matches, you can predict exactly which moves he is going to use and when. Sure you can do that with a lot of guys, but a high flying cruiser should show more creativity and spontaneity. I know he has the skills. Maybe he’s not trying as hard because he’s stuck on Velocity?

Overall, Velocity was decent. We got two solid matches but the first match was boring and we had way too many flashbacks. Maybe if someone hadn’t seen Smackdown, then this show would be a winner, but it’s just not acceptable when half the show is recycled material. And there’s no excuse for only having three matches when it’s not a pre-PPV show.