|
SMACKDOWN June 13th 2008-Fresno, California Pre-show run-through: This week, we continue the road to the Night of Champions, Batista continues his pursuit of Edge and his (pfff) world title, Edge & Vickie's wedding gets closer and more matches are to be made for the PPV. I advised people last week not to leave comments regarding Undertakers situation as his absence is only a storyline and getting all riled up is uneccessary! But all you fans of the Dead One decided to ignore my instructions and leave dozens of comments, so this week im taking a different approach.....leave comments about the undertakers "retirement" people. I bet none of ye will now...we'l see!
(opening video)
Lights, Camera, Action! But wait, there are no lights. The show kicks off in total darkness. Cue Vickie "The Chimp" Guerrero. The lights come on and Vickie is in the ring, for the official contract signing for the World Title match at Night of Champions. She introduces the challenger to the title, Batista, he gets a nice pop from the crowd but I suppose anyone in opposition of the chimp is gonna get a good pop, arent they? She then goes on to put over Edge, calling him the greatest champion ever yada yada & shows Batista that Edge has already signed, she then signs the contract herself as she is the G.M (unfortunately). The crowd then starts the first (and certainly not last) "You Suck" chant of the night directed at Vickie (who else?). The Chimp then says that she has made a new amendment to the contract.....Batista must be victorious in a match against The Great Khali in the maaaaaaain event tonight to get his title shot. Batista quickly agrees (Beat the useless Khali, piece of cake!), before stating that the only thing uglier than the beating Edge is going to receive at The Night of Champions is the woman that he is marrying. Ohhhh that was a harsh shot from the former sex addict!! Batista then signs and walks off, but Vickie mentions that she has added a second amendment, just a small irrelevant piece of information really.... Batista loses to Khali in the maaaaain event tonight and he is "banished" from the WWE like The Undertaker.(Cue lots of comments from angry Taker Fans.) This was a simple enough segment, a bit disappointing that Edge wasn't involved in some way, it also seems that the WWE are building to a "Vickie abuses her power" storyline which I am assuming will eventually lead to her being shown the door, I think it's a bit too late for it, she has been abusing it for months & nothing has been done about it. The booking is also pretty obvious and out dated concerning these two rivals, but without Batista, Smackdown doesn't have any real main event faces to challenge Edge, at least until the upcoming draft.
Match # 1- Finlay w/Hornswoggle Vs John Morrison w/ The Miz Before the match, we see a recap of last week, where Finlay & Hornswoggle told Miz & Morrison that they want the Tag Team Championship, throwing up the prospect of a tag match (or rather a handicap match really) for Night of Champions. During the match, Foley & Cole complain about The Chimp (Vickie), talking about how Smackdown will survive with her trying to banish all of Smackdown's top stars. This match was solid, with Morrison pulling off some nice technical & high flying moves, while Finlay relied on his brawling skills. Some decent spots in this match, with Morrison clotheslining Finlay's legs out from under him when he was on the apron, then hitting springboard baseball slide/dropkick. Hornswoggle makes an appearance, being used as a projectile when The Miz tried to get involved before scurrying back under the ring. Morrison hits a nice flipping kick on Finlay, while Finlay was on the top rope. The finish comes with Finlay gets distracted by The Miz trying to attack Hornswoggle & Morrison getting the pin with a roll up.
Winner Via Pinfall: John Morrison A nice match with some exciting & fun spots, setting up a possible tag team title match between these two teams at Night of Champions. *Flashback of Batista winning the 2005 Royal Rumble, as it seems the night is going to be filled with these flashbacks, just like the Undertaker had before he was banished.*
(ads)
*Eve interviewing Edge about Batista's upcoming match tonight. Edge hopes Batista wins, because a loss for Batista means that it's a loss for Smackdown, and that he would like to beat Batista again at Night of Champions. Hmm this cant be Edge can it. Edge then mentions how he is responsible for the Batista highlight, just like he was responsible for the highlights shown of the Undertaker a few weeks ago before he was banished. Before Edge can continue, he is interrupted by "Mr Money in the Bank", Crazy Mariachi (Sorry Glide lol) Punk, who says that he is a hopeless romantic & wishes Edge & Vickie good luck for their wedding. He then mentions how anytime & anyplace he can cash in his title shot, and he might do it at Edge's wedding! This was a great segment, certainly got me anticapating the wedding!!
Match #2: Mark Henry Vs Tommy Dreamer Before the match, we see some footage recorded earlier with "The worlds fattest man" Mark Henry talking about how The Big Show better not cross him. Ooooh. He then shows a picture of the Big Show, currently with his black eye, he then says that if Big Show crosses him, he will end up worse. He then shows a second picture of the Big Show, with 2 black eyes.Genius Henry. This match was nothing more than a squash match, which is pretty much what most Tommy Dreamer matches are nowadays unfortunately. Dreamer got in very little offence as the announcers put over his heart. Mark Henry dominates Dreamer, taunting and slapping him around as he continues to beat him down. Dreamer manages to get in a punching combo on Mark Henry, and attempts the Dreamer DDT, but Mark Henry reverses it, picks up Dreamer & hits the World's Strongest (Fattest) Slam for the pin.
Winner Via Pinfall: Mark Henry Just a glorified squash match, with another ECW original being the body for the beat down. This was done to put over Mark Henry as a big unstoppable force, which we already knew, just a waste of time in my opinion & as much as I am a fan of Tommy Dreamer, if this is all the WWE is going to do to him in the ring, he might have been better off working backstage.
*Backstage we have Vickie with her wedding planner Alysha Fox, going over invitations when Edge storms in. Edge starts complaining how C.M. Punk got in his face and threatened to cash in the briefcase at the wedding. Wah Wah. MVP makes his way in to talk about his Smackdown contract & renegotiating the terms(isn't he already the best paid guy on Smackdown?) Saying he deserves more money as he is the most talented wrestler etc. Edge takes offence to this, claiming he is the best because he is the champion, obviously. MVP says that he might become champion if he was actually given a title shot! MVP & Edge start bickering with each other. The Chimp calms it down by saying she might look at MVP's contract if he does a favour for her, which turns out to be him taking care of the "C.M. Punk problem". * A decent segment, bringing C.M. Punk back into possible main event status & making him seem like a threat to Edge (Even after his losing streak since King of the Ring) as well as giving MVP something worthwhile to do. I also noticed then when Vickie was talking to MVP; it seemed as if she was reading her lines off a prompt card behind MVP....gonna look into that.
Match #3: Maryse Vs Eye Cherry I guess this is the blow off to the feud between these two, with Cherry seeming more confident in the ring as opposed to her normal shy/scared mannerisms. Cherry beats down on Maryse; wanting to get some matter of revenge on Maryse after all she has done to her. Maryse then gains control of the match by locking in a sideways headlock, but Cherry soon fights her way out of it with some stiff right hooks. The match ends with Cherry hitting what I assume is her finishing manoeuvre, a hammerlock DDT that has yet to be named.
Winner Via Pinfall: Cherry I'm not sure if this is the end of the feud between these two, but while not a diva's classic, both girls showed a bit of promise in the ring. Oh and a side note, both girls looked stunning!
*We are then shown a video package of the Great Khali, reminding the fans what a monster he is, and how destructive he is. It was a nice video package that almost made me believe that Khali was a competent wrestler ...... almost.*
Match #4: MVP Vs C.M. Punk An amusing little argument broke out between Cole & Mick before the match started, with them both talking about how they could be on different announce teams after the draft. Mick Foley mentions how he wishes he could be on an announce team with J.R., but when Cole mentions that Foley could end up on ECW with "The Adamle", Foley simply replies, "no". This was a good match with two excellent ring technicians. Lots of mat wrestling, lock ups and a lot of reversals. MVP dominated for most of the match, using a variety of headlocks and arm bars, as well as working on the 'supposed' injured ribs of Punk. Punk tries to make a comeback, but his arm got the better of him, as he was unable to use it to gain any momentum in the match. Punk eventually regains a bit of control, using his feet and kickboxing background to get MVP down. He then hits his corner shining wizard & a standing hurricanrana before getting a two count. Punk then heads to the top rope, but before he can get up fully, MVP dropkicked the ropes, knocking Punk down. Punk manages to get MVP back down and tries to hit an elbow drop but MVP manages to get his knees up and hits the ribs of Punk. The finish comes when MVP takes off a corner pad and attempts to slam Punk against the exposed turnbuckle, as the referee tries to put the pad back on, MVP grabs Punk's briefcase, only to have Punk hit a shining wizard on MVP using the briefcase. MVP crumbles to the ground as the referee turns around and sees Punk with the briefcase & disqualifies him.How convienient.
Winner Via DQ: MVP This was a good match yet the live audience was pretty dead for most of the match, which I guess is to be expected as not everyone is appreciative of mat wrestling. I like how this built up both combatants, as it made them both look credible (which Punk needs), and also showed that Punk is not willing to go down without a fight, doing everything possible to stay in the match, even with his injured arm and shoulder.
(ads)
*Chavo Guerrero is in the ring, talking about how he is going to be Edge's best man for the wedding on Smackdown. Where is your pride Chavito? He then announces that at Night of Champions, he will be facing Matt Hardy for the US Title, which then leads to Matt Hardy coming out with a surprised look (same as myself il admit) as Chavo & Bam Neely leave the ring. Emmmm what the heck just happened?*
Match #5: Matt Hardy Vs Chuck Palumbo Chuck Palumbo comes out on his bike, complete with his top hat & sunglasses that makes him almost look like a Slash wannabe (for all those Guns'n'Roses fans out there). Matt Hardy takes control early in the match, with the fans really behind him, as Palumbo eventually uses his power advantage to dump Matt to the outside. At first it seems like Bam Neely is going to attack Hardy, but Chavo calls him back. Palumbo gets Matt back into the ring and uses his strength advantage to beat down Matt Hardy as Chavo & Bam look on. Hardy manages to regain control when Palumbo goes to the second rope and misses a senton allowing Hardy to hit the side effect & the twist of fate for the 3 count.
Winner Via Pinfall: Matt Hardy After the match, Chavo gets on the mic and announces, the loser of the U.S. championship at Night of Champions, Matt Hardy. Funny Guy. Simple & effective, but I am still not buying Chavo as a serious title contender for any title at this point in time. They just pushed him to fast with no real build and in my opinion has ruined what could have been a very effective push.
*We are then shown another highlight of Batista's career, with him winning the World Title from HHH at Mania' 21*
(ads)
*Vlad Kozlov in an interview. Yesss, hes actually going to speak. He talks entirely in Russian, until the end when he says thank you. This was pointless, as they have built Kozlov as a monster, then this interview comes off as comedic, it's the opposite of what they have been doing with him.*
Match #6: Jesse & Festus Vs Deuce & Domino This is the first time either of these teams have had a decent tag team match, which itself is annoying as both teams are very good. The match was a standard tag team match, with Jesse getting beat on by the the D's and double teamed until Jesse makes the hot tag allowing Festus to come in and dominate and eventually win the match.
Winners Via Pinfall: Jesse and Festus After the match, Deuce & Domino ended up arguing with each other which leads to a brawl between the two. I hope this is not the end of this tag team as I think they could have been used a lot better than they have been.
*Ads for the Draft. Lets hope Smackdown dont get another raw (pardon the pun..again) deal this year.*
The Maaaaaain Event!: Batista Vs The Great Khali Only Moments into the match Edge comes out with The Chimp to watch this match from the entrance ramp. This match consisted of Khali dominating Batista for most of the match, using his strength advantage to stop Batista gaining any kind of momentum. Batista managed to kick out of a Khali bomb (why am I not surprised?) towards to end of the match, much to the annoyance of the Champ and the Chimp. The Match ends with Batista ducking a clothesline from Khali, bouncing off the ropes and nailing a spear for the 3 count. Obviously it would be very difficult for Batista to hit Khali with a Batista Bomb so the finish was modified somewhat.
Winner Via Pinfall: Batista So the obvious booking in this match had Khali continue to look like a monster for most of the match, and Batista not getting banished, which I doubt anyone saw as a legitimate possibility right? I expected Edge or La Familia to try and get involved, as opposed to just watching the match. This match helped build Batista up, showing that he will overcome any obstacles Edge & Vickie put in his way.
OVERALL ANALYSIS Overall this was a very enjoyable edition of Smackdown, with a lot of story continuation and decent in ring action. More matches have been made for Night of Champions, Matt Hardy Vs Chavo Guerrero for the U.S. Title & possibly Finlay & Hornswoggle Vs The Miz & Morrison for the WWE Tag Team Championship. They promised every title would be on the line. And WWE never breaks its promises right;) I would say Smackdown! was better then the "A" Show,Raw, this week as it had no boring Million Dollar Mania segments slowing it down!
Overall Show Grade: C+ (same as last week...this show is on a steady par) Thats me for this week. Hope you all took the chance to read my report as well as enjoy it. Im hoping to keep delivering reports and articles on smackdown like this every week so your feedback is essential and comments are much appreciated, be they positive or negative! Thanks Again Curtis Kash
Views: 1,249
|
