notice of outage: I'm skipping the Hall of Fame show, which preempts this show next week. If you have found memories of everyone involved, I hope you enjoy the show; I just wasn't watching then, so I'm lacking those memories. Plus, it's not like WWE's on a winning streak when it comes to award shows. (Never forget RAW X.) Unless my TiVo happens to grab it, I'm not sure I'd bother to even watch - so why recap it? Right.

The week after that is the three hour Ultimate Fighter finale, and they've not been clear on what'll happen with Velocity that week. My math says, if it's starting at 7, Velocity's on as normal, but who knows.

TV PG V CC entertainment open Rock - they're just waiting till the post WM/post trades to do a new open, right? I dunno. 

Barbarian Paul London (Austin, TX, 195 pounds) vs Spike Dudley (150 pounds) - sliii-roll roll stop. When Slides Go Out Of Control. Stop looking at me. Romero: "Josh, a man you and I have kept close eye the last couple of weeks" - and the way he's acting, that seems like a wise idea. Your ref is Charles. London still has the Cruiserweight Title Match at an indefinite time; lucky him, being the one cruiserweight left out of the big cruiserweight match last year, and then being in a decent position the year they decide they don't need to put everyone on the card. Circle, with London being a goof and annoying Spike into leaving. Announcers on ignore. Okay, Spike back in, circle, lockup, no Spike behind with a forearm. Back suplex looks awkward going up, but it actually works. Blatant standing choke. Josh, off ignore: "I like to call Paul London's offense Calculated Chaos." Good for you. Josh goes on to say London always knows what he's doing, but the tassels argue otherwise. Snap mare by Spike. Double foot rake. Spike, to a fan: "You can't spell SUCK!" I think they might have been spelling it with an F. Josh: "Yea, I can spell it - S T E V E! Hahahaha" In the meantime, London is powering up. Spike scared away, and time for the Stompy Dance and a chase around the ring. Spike can't lose him, maybe he should've left the ring. London with forearms, whip, hiptoss, hiptoss, hiptoss, Coconut Crunch jumping headbutt. One two no. We note the headbutt works against London as well. Whip, reverse, London shoulderblocks Spike down. London over, waved by and out by Spike, but skins the cat - or not, as Spike runs him over with a knee as he's hanging there! Always painful looking. Josh thought it was a dropkick, and I did too because it was the last time they did that spot. London out of it, back in the ring and dropped with a reverse neckbreaker. Regal Stretch? Yes! How odd. It's not quite it but close enough. London crawling, turning , crawling, getting his hair pulled, but grabbing the ropes with both hands. Spike throws a mini tantrum. Back over to London, his forearm is blocked, London's is not and Spike sells it like it's .6 Jindrak Left Hand. Another Forearm. Chop. Slap. Chop. Spike's clothesline misses, London hard kick to the shoulder doesn't one two no. London with a forearm, whip, Spike dives under the leapfrog (?), and turns right into the dropsault one two no. Josh explains Spike was going for the Battering Ram and London leapfrogged over it, ah. Whip, reversed, Spike charges into London's back elbow, then charges into the Mushroom Stomp. Stop charging! Belly to belly suplex one two no. Guess it was supposed to be overhead but didn't turn that way. London trying for the waffle face, but Spike blocking it, escaping the full nelson, trying for the Dudley Dog and shoved off. London with a hard corner whip, Spike going in chest first. London going up. Spike really close to the corner here. 450 KNEE TO THE CHEST. One two three. (5:21) Poor Spike. Josh: "The Futuristic Cavemen with a Cosmic Cyclone for the victory!"

Your announcers are Romero and - the FUTURISTIC WHAT? I think a need a moment to let that sink in.

Tonight: Funaki & Nunzio vs Akio & Kidman! Neat.

WM21: 8 Days Away.

Rey & Eddie discuss WM matches. If they don't break out the Halloween Havoc footage next week, I'll be sad. (3:03)

WM21: WWE Tag Team Champion Eddie Guerrero vs WWE Tag Team Champion Rey Mysterio 
They say 'for the first time in history, WWE Tag Team Champions go head to head', which is nice before you remember these belts are three years old. (I know what they mean. They don't.) Also, they've changed the music - this tune actually has lyrics.
WM21: Triple H (c) vs Batista for World Heavyweight Championship
WM21: Jericho vs Benoit vs Christian vs Edge vs Benjamin vs Kane in a Money in the Bank (Ladder) Match for a World Heavyweight Title Opportunity, time of their chosen. 
WM21: Trish Stratus (c) vs Christy Hemme for the Women's Championship
Christy's stuff now includes shots of her and Lita from RAW. 
WM21: Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Stone Cold Steve Austin in Piper's Pit
HOF: Sylvester Stallone Inducts Hulk Hogan
HOF: Class of 2005 Inductees
WM21: Akebono vs Big Show in a Sumo Match
WM21: Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle
WM21: JBL (c) vs John Cena for the WWE Championship
WM21: Undertaker vs Randy Orton

Tonight: Funaki & Nunzio vs Akio & Kidman!

SmackDown! Live
03/29 - Houston, TX [SD!]
04/03 - Los Angeles, CA [WM21]
04/05 - San Diego, CA [SD!]
04/08 - Melbourne, Australia [SD! WM Revenge Tour]
04/09 - Perth, Australia [SD! WM Revenge Tour]

WWE Slam of the Week, brought to you by, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, is Big Show tipping over the jeep.

Doug Basham (245 pounds) vs Mark Jindrak (Atlanta, GA, 263 pounds) - how can this be? Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas were on the big show. Oh, singles. Oh, they don't have a hometown as a unit any more because they don't have it as a singles. Who've I forget - oh. Oh. You know, I don't know about you, but I never tracked down a complete Velocity/SD! spoiler report this past week, for the first time in forever. (Normal procedure has me reading the spoilers on Tuesday, then forgetting most of the details come Saturday/Sunday.) I dunno that it's better, it's just odd. Anyway, it gives me some hope for Doug here; I'd already know my guess of finish was correct if I got to read them. No leader of a faction has cared less about the faction being broken up than Kurt. Circle. Lockup. Doug with a waistlock, Jindrak with a switch, Doug rolls to the ground and to the ropes. Josh discuss things Japan has: "Kawasaki's. And Ninjas!" "Ninjas - and sushi!" Back up, Doug with a kick, release Northern Lights suplex. Doug's driving his knee into Jindrak's left elbow, going after the arm of might. Armbar, leaving himself wide open for Jindrak forearms. Doug stops that by kicking the arm. Off the ropes, run over by Jindrak. Corner whip, Doug turns around to face out to set up Jindrak's next spot, Jindrak with a slingshot next snap, taking him all the way the floor. I swear - I start to think "wow, that's a lot of risk - jumping out of the ring and landing on your feet (killing your knees), for a move that's not flashy unless people oversell it like Doug just did", and after Doug stops flopping around, the camera looks back at Jindrak - who is on floor and clutching his knee. Unfortunately, the announcers are too on the ball in pointing out Jindrak being hurt, making me think I'll get fooled if I believe he's really hurt. Not that Jindrak's moans aren't horrible on their own. Jimmy Korderas is not letting Doug out to attack. Waiting for it as Jindrak rolls in - and yea, Danny is over to smash the back of the knee into the mat. Danny tries it again, but he's caught, and he's gone. Doug argues, than realizes he's still got a man to pound. Stomp. Slam - dropping Jindrak so his legs hit the ropes on the way down. And again! That's a smart man. Well, not when he's posing like that. Now covering, one no. Stomping. Working over the left knee in the corner, but Jindrak's fighting back with axhandles. Jindrak uses the left hand for a punch without thinking about it and Doug doesn't die - I guess he didn't get all of it. Then he tries to use the left leg to kick, and hurts himself. Doug stomping him down. Kneeling kneebar, Jindrak down for one. Jindrak tries to kick Doug away with the other leg, but Doug hold on. Another, still holding on. Now Jindrak's scissoring Doug's head - headscissors from the mat to get free. (Not quite Santo.) Doug runs into a big clothesline, a big elbow, and a big inverted atomic drop - oh, dummy used the bad knee. Doug still charges into a backdrop anyway. Doug does manage a single leg takedown, but Jindrak kicks him away as he's going for a figure four. Doug staggers into a (right) knee lift one two no. Doug begging off, then getting the double leg, double feet on the rope spot, but Korderas catches it at one. Doug settles for a kick to the ribs. Knee to the back of the knee. Slam, Jindrak lands behind - sorta, doing a lot of yelping. Never might, left hand. One two three. (4:42) So Jindrak can hurt himself, spend half the match compounding the injury, and still win. Romero: "If you're counting at home, and I'm sure some of you are, that's four weeks in a row Jindrak has knocked out his opponent." My standards are higher than that, Romero! Only slightly, but still.

Up Next: Heidenreich. 

WM Recall, sponsored by Snickers Cruncher: WM IX highlights. 

Heidenreich (New Orleans, Louisiana, 285 pounds) vs Robert Adams (Memphis, TN, 220 pounds, already in the ring) - Romero: "You know, next week, you and I will - not be here." If only the arrangement could be more permanent. Highlights - Josh makes Heidenreich/Drago comparisons and Romero doing the worst Dragon impersonations. Bossman Slam. (1:41) COSMIC CYCLONE what?

John Cena and JBL have a meeting of the minds. Romero: "Let's talk you back to SmackTALK at SmackDown!" Let's take you to shut up. Why is he 54? (3:18)

WM21: JBL (c) vs John Cena for the WWE Championship

Tonight: Funaki & Nunzio vs Akio & Kidman!

Boot of the Week, brought to by Lugz & Birdman: Chokeslam for Dupree. That's what you get for DCO'ing him!

Nunzio & Funaki (395 pounds) vs thug life Billy Kidman (w/jacket) & Akio (405 pounds) - Nunzio's entrance. Funaki sadly does not get to make Italian gestures. Kidman's music. What is he trying to grow there? It's not working out. The international thug unit seems as confident as ever. They had the makings of a fun team until Kidman suffered that injury so dire, they were afraid to mention he was even hurt, lest they all suffer the same fate. Or whatever happened there. I just wanted to use 'lest' this week. Funaki and Kidman to start. Circle. Lockup, no, Kidman with a knee. Forearm. MOCKING FUNAKI. Slam, Funaki slips behind, Funaki right, right, right, whip, reversed, Kidman hiptoss blocked, Funaki with a shot to the gut and reversal into a headscissors. Funaki waits for Kidman to get up, monkey flip try, Kidman turns it around and puts Funaki on the top rope, Funaki slaps him. Waiting for Kidman to turn around - second rope cross body, one two NO. Front facelock, tag to Nunzio. Josh lists Jake Roberts among those "defeated by Randy Orton", which is a broad standard for defeated. Double whip, double back elbow, Akio charges in to a double hiptoss, dropped on Kidman! Nunzio adds the dropkick to Kidman's head. One two NO. "C'MON!" Nunzio picks up Kidman, but gets his face raked. Tag to Akio. Akio stomping Nunzio down. Chop. Turnbuckle smash. Announcers forgot whatever they're supposed to be talking about instead of this match. Corner whip, wait no normal whip now, Nunzio with the bodyscissors, into a slightly less than perfect small package one two no. Nunzio charges right into Akio's boot, which is always a bad idea. Kick. Corner whip, Akio somehow moves across the ring without having moved (clip?), kick, knee, whip, Nunzio with a spinning headscissors. One two no. Armbar, tag to Funaki, holding Akio open for a right. Whip, Funaki puts his head down too soon and gets it kicked. Kick. Powerbomb? Funaki armdrags free on the way up. Akio runs, and right into another armdrag, armbar. Akio using a hairpull to back Funaki towards Kidman. No tag, and as the hold is broken, Funaki fights his way out of the corner with right hands and back elbows. I have no idea what Nunzio could possibly be arguing with Brian Hebner here - complaining about a tag doesn't make sense, but he's acting that way - but it allows Kidman to stop Funaki's run with a hairpull. Akio recovers, stomps, and tags. Kidman with  lots of stomps. Knees to the back. Snap mare, spine kick one two no. Facelock, tag to Akio. Akio stomping. One two NO. Side backbreaker, and stretching him out. Crowd loud for Funaki, but he gets an elbow to the chest. Akio stomping, tagging. Kidman picking up the stomping. Kneeling surfboard. Funaki rallying back up, kicking free, reaching for a tag and Kidman catches him short. Funaki fixes that with a kick catch enziguri. Why aren't we getting the hard cam now? So annoying. Crawling for a tag. Tag to Nunzio, we can't actually see if there's a tag to Akio, but it looks no. Nunzio ducks a Kidman clothesline, elbow for Akio, clothesline for Kidman, clothesline for Kidman, Swinging neckbreaker for Kidman. Akio charges into a flapjack. DDT for Kidman, one two Akio breaks it up. Funaki waiting for Akio to get up while we finally get back to the normal camera angle, punches in bunches to take Akio down. Hebner orders Funaki out at as Kidman and Nunzio reverse corner whips, Nunzio finally going in first, but Kidman charges into a knee. As Nunzio sets up for the Sicilian Slice, Akio tries to break it up but gets punched away - but Kidman moves out of the way! Kidman with a waistlock, Nunzio to the ropes, right close enough for Akio to nail him with a big swinging kick. Kidman pulls the tights just to be sure, one two three. (6:04) Funaki still isn't sure what happened -he was a bit slow breaking it up, but Akio had him cut off anyway. Winners are happy, except for Kidman's neck.

That's it.