WWE Velocity 1/18/03: Indy Invasion

I love this episode of Velocity, because it weirdly looked like the indy scene was doing a WWE invasion and being treated as equals. Bryan Danielson takes 70% of a match against Jamie Noble, Xavier gets long runs of offense against the much larger Chuck Palumbo, and Brian Kendrick wins in just his second televised match (without having his identity fully revealed yet). Kendrick was signed at this point, the other two obviously weren't. But all three of these matches were worked way differently than WWE typically treated guys who were working just one night. The night several of my favorite guys invaded Velocity!!


Jamie Noble vs. Bryan Danielson

ER: This was the first time this pairing happened. The two would later go on to be tag partners in New Japan the next year, then opponents in places like ROH and PWG the year after. This is Danielson's first match on WWE TV, and there weren't many people on the roster who were a more perfect match for Danielson than Noble. Danielson didn't work as anything approaching enhancement talent, he was clearly there to be Bryan Danielson. If you were watching for the first time you would have just assumed he was a guy already in WWE. He's wearing his dress whites (I remember around 2001 when he got new kickpads, and they were these big white shining things, an they would look like he was wearing snow boots) and goes right after Noble, the two of them working the same kind of match they would have worked on a 2003 indy card. This didn't feel like they were following any kind of structure, just going out and doing a bunch of cool things in 7 or so minutes (which is more time than I've seen given to almost any non-roster wrestler). It's way different from your typical WWE match from this era, as a lot of it is on the mat or worked around standing grappling. This kind of match would have played strong anywhere in current wrestler, nothing from it feels dated 17+ years later. Danielson throws a lot of kicks, to the leg, to the ribs, to the back, and the more he kicks the louder the fans react. He throws elbows (including a rolling elbow to the back of Noble's head) and really controls a ton of this match. I liked the ways Noble took over, especially his drop toehold that sent Danielson neck first into the bottom rope. They stay close nearly the entire match, as it's not based at all around taking tons of bumps. Even Nidia's interference looks good, attacking Danielson on the apron the one time Noble is away from him. Danielson's bridging German looked good (really, all of their offense looked good), and the finish was cool too: They lock up and twist out of standing go behinds, both squirming out of suplexes, until Noble hooks Danielson's arms and snaps him into a modified swinging neckbreaker. It was totally unexpected, and came off like a cool kill shot.

Chuck Palumbo vs. Xavier

ER: You know something is in the water when a big guy like Palumbo is giving a ton of openings to Xavier. Xavier kind of fell into that Mike Modest/Chris Candido size chasm. Compared to a lot of indy guys, Xavier looked big. Against Chuck Palumbo? Well, he looked bigger than Jamie Noble would have looked. This could have easily been a Palumbo showcase squash, and instead turned into a match that would have been a legendary Worldwide match. I thought this whole thing kicked ass. Palumbo overpowered Xavier to start, bullying him into the corner and getting loud reactions for his excellent right hand (always thought it was odd that Palumbo never went farther in WWE, as the way he moved in a ring always got a response). Xavier's comeback is cool, and reasonable, dropping Palumbo strike by strike, throwing a low kick to the knee, hitting a great muay thai knee once Palumbo is on a knee, and then throwing a low dropkick. We get what I assume is Palumbo wrapping things up by hitting a huge running buckle bomb and running yakuza kick, but instead we get a dynamite sequence: Palumbo goes for another powerbomb, Xavier slips over for a sunset flip attempt, Palumbo drags him through his legs and into a choke, and Xavier snaps off a rana. It was a super modern looking sequence, except it really didn't have the planned out feeling that a lot of stuff reeks of today. It was totally unexpected here, and I loved it. Xavier keeps Palumbo off balance, even gets to hit his awesome neckbreaker finisher, snapping Palumbo over his shoulder and setting up for a 450 splash. The finish is simple, with Xavier rolling through the 450, hitting an elbow smash and some punches in the corner, then getting plastered with a superkick while the ref was separating them. I was not expecting a couple of the twists this match wound up taking, as this kind of match is unheard of today (and wasn't very common then, either).

Shannon Moore vs. The Jet

ER: This was right before Brian Kendrick officially debuted, when he was doing a fun gimmick wrestling in non-descript pants and a mask, named after a local sports team. He was Diamondback in Arizona, he was awesomely the Rough Rider up in Saskatchewan, and here in New Jersey he's The Jet. The match was a really fun juniors match, with Moore working really stiff and Jet flying at him like the Energizer bunny. Moore keeps getting frustrated the more Jet fights back, even yelling "Who IS this guy?" at one point. The armdrag sequences really snap, Moore's forearms hit with a ton of force, and they manage to work a reversal heavy juniors match without it seeming entirely focused on obnoxiously rehearsed learned behavior reversals. The learned behavior stuff fits in well, like Moore whipping himself into the mat off a missed armdrag, leaving himself open for a roll up. But what really makes this match is how hard they lean into every strike, and how hard they bump into turnbuckles and into the mat. They use cool things like blocked strikes when that wasn't a super common thing in even American indies, let alone WWE TV. Seeing Jet knock down a Moore stomach kick is awesome, but seeing Moore drop Jet with a hard back suplex is awesome in a different way. Moore runs into the side of Jet's head with a hard knee, works a cravate over the top rope (which he calls back by going back to in-ring), and both guys make every single nearfall come off so damn close. Every pinfall came after something that looked like it could finish the match, even in a flash pin kind of way, but there were no wasted covers. There is just so much cool stuff packed into this match, and it never felt like either man was shrugging anything off. Both guys made each other look like stars, yet this never came off like 50-50 nonsense. Jet hits an killer short arm yakuza kick and knocked Moore for a loop with a springboard dropkick, and I'm continually impressed with how well each guy works around Irish whips and the ropes. The finish is quick and unexpected, a barely missed lariat getting caught by Jet and turned into the sliced bread. Awesome, totally breathless juniors match to cap off an all time great episode of Velocity. The night the indies were treated like they were on the same level as the big dogs.