By: Scott McCain, rajah.com reader

I attended the Smackdown taping last night and tickets were for upper deck. They reassigned us first level seats because the upper level was tarped off, along with the entire first level camera side. The Colonial Center was only at about a third of capacity if that much. I'd say the crowd was 99% mark and the folks around us did not appreciate us cheering for the heels.

Dark Match:
Brian O'Reilly (Columbia, S.C.) defeats Eddie Perez with a sunset flip out off the top turnbuckle.

Velocity taping:
The Dicks defeat Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki, pinning Scotty after their finisher in six minutes. LOD watched the match from the top of the ramp, but only a staredown following the match. Crowd was pretty into this match.

Simon Dean defeated Caprice Coleman in four minutes. Prematch, Dean talked about how he couldn't eat, sleep, or follow his regular workout schedule because he had been so tramautized by the Boogeyman two weeks ago.

T-shirt guy makes six fans happy and the other 3,000 pissed.

Paul London & Brian Kendrick defeat Vito & Nunzio in nine minutes. Kendrick gets the pin on Vito after the faceplant, getting extra velocity (no pun intended) on the move from a London kick to the back of Vito's head. Crowd was dead for what was probably the best match of Velocity.

Matt Hardy defeated Sylvan with the Twist of Fate in ten minutes after a missed legdrop from the top rope. Sylvan worked the female crowd well, inviting them to his room in broken English: "Marriott, room tir-teen sixty nine. Tir-teen sixty nine!" One of the better promos of the night, really, but Hardy got a huge reaction.

Smackdown taping:
JBL with Jillian Hall comes to the ring for the opening match before the Smackdown intro with a huge tape job over his eye. He says that he is overwhelmed by the support the fans have given him through his injury. Sugar Ray Leonard retired from boxing because of an eye injury that was not this severe, and his doctors had advised him to retire (pops from crowd). He could retire from wrestling today and live the life that the fans could only dream of. However, he would not deprive us from seeing what we had all paid to see -- a wrestling GOD. Rey Mysterio comes out and they start the match with Rey pretty much eluding JBL. At about the six minute marke after an exchange, JBL is draped across the second rope set up for the 619. As Rey runs to the opposite rope, Orlando Jordan runs down the ramp, dives under the bottom rope, and takes out Rey on his approach. DQ and beatdown ensues until Batista comes out for the save and clears house. As JBL and OJ back up the ramp, Theodore Long comes out and comments that it looks like JBL is getting his cabinet back together, and in that case, if they all want to fight tonight, they can do it in a tag match: Rey/Batista vs. JBL/OJ in the main event.

Next, Randy Orton with his papi come to the ring for a promo. Randy doesn't want to play games anymore. He doesn't want to fight. He doesn't want the match at Armageddon. He wants Taker now and is calling him out, sounding pretty desperate like Taker has gotten inside his head. Randy's video restarts on the big screen and then winds backwards, forwards. Randy talks more and we get the bell and blue lights, but no Taker. Quotes from Virgil, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Calvin, and Dante about hell appear on the Tron with the voice of Taker reading them, obviously referencing the Hell in a Cell match. Boos erupt from the crowd because Taker did not come out. Hard to tell if he was even present based on what happened later. I've determined that Randy Orton talks too long and is not really as gifted on the mic as JBL, Booker, or anyone on Raw.

Crystal knocks on Booker's dressing room door and Sharmell answers. Booker and Sharmell brag about how he's going to win tonight to go up 3-0. Get the brooms ready for a sweep.

Super Crazy with Mexicools riding on lawnmowers defeats Joey Mercury accompanied by -NM. Six minute match ended after the Super Crazy pin. Mexicools got a 3-on-3 beatdown after somebody I did not recognize came through the crowd and joined MNM for the beatdown. Crowd was hot for Melina's entrance and exit.

Jobber waiting in the ring coming out of commercial and we get Kennedy's music. Big pop, but Palmer Cannon came out and said Mr. Kennedy would not be able to compete tonight but he has found a more than suitable replacement--Boogeyman. Mist & pyros and the jobber in the ring was scared senseless. He got in no offense and Boogeyman won with his pumphandle slam sort of finisher. Boogey ate worms before the match and during the pin. After three was counted, he spit the worms on the face of the jobber he pinned. Really nasty.

Booker defeats Benoit after 19 minutes. Book takes out the ref after Benoit ducks a high kick. Benoit locks in the crossface and Book taps but no ref. Sharmell pushes Tony Chimmel out of his seat, takes the chair and enters the ring. Benoit breaks the hold and goes after Sharmell but Book clubs him in the back of the head. A single shot with the chair across the back sealed the win as the ref came to with Sharmell's help. Crowd was way into this match.

Lashley defeated Regal with Paul Burchill in two minutes. Squash match. Most exciting part of the match was watching the MIY (Men in Yellow) confiscate a yellow "WWE fears TNA/TNA is better" poster from the third row. He's sitting behind the corner at about the third row of floor seats.

Three Randy Orton segments that happened in this order, but I can't say between what matches.
#1 - Randy is washing his face in the locker room (presumably in the Colonial Center but could be anywhere). Camera moves so that you can see behind Orton through the mirror. Taker is standing behind Orton but when he spins around and camera spins around, no one is there, giving you the impression that we are imagining what Orton is seeing, not what is really there.
#2 - Cowboy Bob comes in to talk to Randy. Camera cuts to Randy as he is in total shock at what he sees. Cut scene and a "second" camera is on Cowboy Bob and his head is all busted open. Shot goes back to Randy and pans back to Bob and everything is normal--no blood. Dad tells Randy he is too stressed out and he should get going for the night.
#3 - Bob & Randy take their stuff to the car and put it in the trunk. Randy goes to get in and the doors are locked. He asks his dad if he has the keys and the car pulls off by itself (well, with really good tinted windows). Josh Matthews comes to interview them about the match at Armageddon and in mid-sentence his eyes roll back and he shakes a little and then starts "channeling" Undertaker. Good voiceover and lipsync by Matthews. After he finishes, he flips back to his normal self and then says, "Any thoughts?" which elicited great laughter from the crowd. Ortons are freaked out big time.

Batista/Rey Mysterio defeated JBL/OJ. Jillian got in the ring to hit Rey with her clipboard. JBL came after Rey at the same time and almost hit Jillian. Rey runs behind both, hits the ropes, and dropkicks the pair into the ropes for the 619. At the last second, JBL pushes off the ropes using Jillian. She takes the 619, staggers and falls. JBL looks mildly concerned and when he turns around, Rey is about to jump off the top rope for a springboard. JBL backs up and trips over Jillian's body and sells a knee injury, which means he is going to walk out on a match for the second week in a row. 16-minute match OJ gets doubleteamed and is pinned after a Batista Bomb.

No dark match after the main event. I was hoping to see a house show special between RKO and Taker or a run-in from RAW.

Biggest pops:
Batista
Rey
Matt Hardy (go figure?)

Biggest heat:
Booker T
JBL
Undertaker's non-appearance
Simon Dean

Report by: Michael Jones, rajah.com reader

Here are the quick results from the SmackDown Tapings from Columbia, SC.

Dark Match
Brian O’Riley defeated Eric Perez

Velocity
The Dicks defeated Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki

Simon Dean defeated Caprice Coleman

Paul London & Brian Kendrick defeated Nunzio & Vito

Matt Hardy defeated Slyvan

SmackDown
Rey Mysterio defeated J.B.L
*Orlando Jordan came out and interfered, Theodore Long came out and made
tonights main event – J.B.L & Orlando vs. Rey Mysterio & Batista

*Randy Orton comes out and begs The Undertaker to come out. Undertaker
never comes out, a video played, Orton begged Undertaker no to have Hell in
a Cell match.

Super Crazy defeated Joey Mercury

The Boogeyman defeated Unnamed Jobber
*Was supposed to be Ken Kennedy vs. the Jobber, but the network guy came out
and said he was injured and he had a replacement, the Boogeyman.

Booker T defeated Chris Benoit to go up 3-0 in their series.
*Booker T used a chair, then hit Benoit with the scissor kick for the win.

Lashley defeated William Regal

Batista & Rey Mysterio defeated J.B.L & Orlando Jordan
*Towards the end of the match, JBL goes to the back leaving Orlando alone.
Batista Bomb 1-2-3.

**They did segments all night where the Undertaker was playing mind games
with Randy Orton. This included some horrible, yet funny stuff. Example
being Randy talking to Bob Orton and all of a sudden Bob’s face is full of
blood and the next second there’s no blood at all. And in the parking lot,
Randy is leaving and Josh Matthews goes up to him for an interview and the
Undertaker’s voice starts coming out of Josh’s mouth. *Attendance was
horrible. Entire upper level was tarped off as well as 3 full sections in
the lower level.