WWE Judgment Day 2006 Review

Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championships - MNM (c) vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
These guys had countless matches back in the day on SmackDown but I don't recall any of them being as good as this one. Really good and fast-paced match to open up the night with Melina doing everything in her power to have her team in MNM secure the win. Melina was so good in her role, it was pretty hilarious to see her break up a pin attempt by sliding in the ring and screaming at the referee. Paul London & Brian Kendrick were really coming into their own as a team at this point as their chemistry was as good as any other established team on the roster. After some miscommunication from MNM, London & Kendrick pick up the win and capture the gold as they embrace each other afterwards. Then, Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury begin to argue as Melina screams down at Mercury which caused the team to explode as they beat in to each other. Great match and a great way to disband the team of MNM.
Winners: Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Chris Benoit vs. Finlay
This is a rematch from contest they had weeks ago on an edition of SmackDown in the 1st round of the King of the Ring tournament. Two veterans going at it in a regular match with no stipulations, what more could you ask for? While it is certainly tough to watch Chris Benoit matches, I am still able to appreciate good wrestling and good technique in the ring. It's almost crazy how good these two were back in the day, as if they were on a completely different level. They slowly built up the match with sweet submissions before escalating things with moves that others may call casual like a suplex before finally putting into play their finishers. Eventually, Benoit caught Finlay with a Crippler Crossface to score the win. Good stuff.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: Jillian Hall vs. Melina
Before the match, Johnny Nitro accompanies Melina to the ring before getting kicked out by the referee. I love Melina and she did a great job in her role here as her whole world was seemingly coming down on her. Unfortunately, her match here with Jillian Hall was a typical Divas match with no substance. Just a few basic moves and some annoying screams tossed in there. Hall rolls up Melina to score the win as the referee didn't catch Melina grabbing the bottom rope. At least we got a finish that made sense. What didn't make sense was having Krystal come out after to have a few words with Melina. Melina attacked Krystal before Krystal turned the tables on here. Moving on.
Winner: Jillian Hall
Rating: 3/4*

Match 4: Cruiserweight Championship - Gregory Helms (c) vs. Super Crazy
Back in 2006, Gregory Helms was actually being booked like a real champ and was doing a great job in his role as the Cruiserweight champion. Almost as if turning heel was a career renaissance for him. Decent match here that felt more or less like Helms was just being fed another random contender to boost his stock. You get your cool dives from Super Crazy and you can call it a night. Using leverage with the ropes, Helms is able to successfully pin Super Crazy to score the win and to retain his belt.
Winner: Gregory Helms
Rating: *3/4

Match 5: Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle
The two have been feuding for months on SmackDown with their first match being at the Royal Rumble in the main event. However, they rekindled their hate for each other after Mark Henry cost Kurt Angle the World Heavyweight Championship and slammed him through a table on two separate occasions. Henry has the huge advantage here as Angle is nursing injured ribs which allows Henry to take advantage of. Henry takes the fight outside and crushes Angle against the post before the referee counts out Angle. Henry looks to attack Angle afterwards until Angle turns the tides and eventually hits an Angle Slam on Henry atop the announcers table. The WWE was really high on Henry at this time, it's almost as if he was the Braun Strowman of 2006 with better skills on the microphone. Regardless, this was a fine match to have both guys on the card and protect them from suffering legit losses.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **

Match 6: King of the Ring Tournament Finals - Booker T vs. Bobby Lashley
Loved how they brought back the King of the Ring in 2006 and of course, they were spot on with the winner. It all came down to this, Booker T going up against Bobby Lashley with the winner earning the crown and title of the King of the Ring. Pretty good match here with Lashley doing his best to fight off both Booker and Sharmell. Also helped that the crowd was pretty hot for this one. Lashley finally got an advantage but Finlay appeared out of nowhere and knocked Lashley out with a shillelagh. Booker took advantage of the opening and finished off Lashley to become the 2006 King of the Ring. Afterwards, Lashley Spears Booker through the throne. Great ending to the revitalization of the tournament with Booker scoring the huge win which would eventually lead him to perhaps the biggest run in his career.
Winner: Booker T
Rating: ***

Match 7: The Great Khali vs. The Undertaker
Remember when The Great Khali debuted in the WWE? I was in the 7th grade and had no idea who or what this guy was and was in awe of how small he made The Undertaker look. This is the infamous match that saw Khali not only beat The Undertaker clean, but also had him score the pin by placing one boot over his chest. I just want to know what was going through The Undertaker's mind when this happened? I guess it shows how devoted he was to the company. Regardless, this match gets a bad reputation for that and is basically remembered as a squash match. However, I disagree with that notion. Sure, the match was pretty bad but credit to The Undertaker for getting in a good amount of offense and making this match tolerable. I'm not saying this is a match of the year by any standards, but I don't think it is as bad as people make it out to be. Of course, Khali wins the match and wins the World Heavyweight Championship a year later when the entire SmackDown roster went down in flames. As for The Undertaker, he would later get his revenge. But the match did its job, it got people talking. Whether they were mad or well, mad, everyone had to voice their opinion on it and at the end of the day, that is exactly what Vince McMahon wants.
Winner: The Great Khali
Rating: *1/2

Match 8: World Heavyweight Championship - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. JBL
After Rey Mysterio captured the coveted World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22, his first PPV defense was against JBL himself. If you recall, they quickly booked Mysterio to be a chump as the build for this match saw Mysterio get beaten down week after week. Surely we're supposed to believe that JBL has this in the bag, right? Right? JBL is such a great heel, really knows how to make the crowd hate him and his gimmick works so well against the lovable Mysterio. To nobody's surprise, much of this match saw JBL dominate as Mysterio once again had to embrace the underdog role. Blood began to leak underneath the mask of Mysterio as JBL started talking trash to Mysterio's family who were sitting ringside. JBL pulled out all the heel moves to win the match including tossing the referee in harm's way and striking another one. Eventually, Mysterio was able to hit a 619 and a Frog Splash in honor of Eddie Guerrero to secure the big win. Certainly not the strongest main event match ever but it more than served its purpose and gives Mysterio a needed victory.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This is exactly why the WWE did away with these brand-exclusive PPVs. The quality just wasn't there and it's hard to constantly recycle the same matches and keep people interested in purchasing these expensive shows. The worst part of this, this wasn't even the worst PPV offering of the year.
Rating: 5.5/10