Hello everyone! I would like to send out my thoughts and prayers to all the people affected by the tragedies of September 11, 2001. I would also like to say to the rest of us, who are still here to praise our fallen heros, that love and peace are the strongest weapons of mass destruction in this world. Use them. Do your part, whatever it is.
WWE presented that one show they like to call SmackDown this past Thursday night. Because it was a one-and-a-half-hour program this week, it kind of went down from the current success the show has been, but without a doubt, I enjoyed SmackDown a lot. The final rating is in, and the show scored a 3.5, while The Mullets that followed after, did a rather poor 2.4 number.
The highlight of the night was the Parking Lot Brawl between Latino Heat, Eddie Guerrero, and John Cena, two of the top guys on SmackDown at the moment, in my humble opinion. Going into this match, a lot of people were anxious to find out what WWE has come up with this time around, and if they’ll be able to use the concept of a parking lot fight well. It’s been done before, with the last match being years ago where Ken Shamrock battled Steve Blackman. It wasn’t that good to be honest. Well, Cena and Guerrero took it to another level. Their match was booked perfectly, with the spots being well thought-out, and executed to perfection. Big props to both guys for putting their bodies on the line! I also thought that Chavo’s return was done very well, and it was the right time to do it. It couldn’t have worked out any better.
After about a year now, Brock Lesnar continues to be the #1 guy wherever he is. WWE is currently going in a new direction they haven’t gone in before with Lesnar. He’s a wimp, who at times is turned into a monster in the hands of Vince McMahon. I’ll be honest with you — I don’t like it that much. I’m pretty much sick of seeing Brock Lesnar at this point, and instead of find more depth to his character, WWE makes him a puppy doll for Mr. McMahon. I don’t know how it’ll go from here on, but it’s not too late to save the situation. However, knowing their logic, I just can’t see it happening. As far as Angle goes, his character looks a bit pale too, though he makes the best of it. I think there’s something WWE just can’t get through their heads — There’s other people on SmackDown besides Angle, Lesnar, Show, and ‘Taker who need to be in the main event. Guys like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, Rhyno, and Matt Hardy should be getting huge pushes right now. They’re the future.
I enjoyed the APA match this week. Hardy and Moore are a great duo as it is, but this week they looked even better. I also give credit to WWE for doing the segment backstage with Bruce and Moore, as they wanted to clear the air and show they meant nothing bad or racial the previous week. I’m really starting to like Bruce as a character, actually. I find him hilarious. The APA is in their place as well. Like I said last week, there should be more backstage vignettes and gimmicked segments with them, rather straight-up wrestling. That’s a very smart way to use them, since they’re veterans. I also give kudos to WWE for their acknowledgement of September 11, both in the opening of the program, as well as in the APA segment where the two had a toast.
I don’t think there’s been a better cruiserweights feud on SmackDown than Tajiri-Mysterio. Wow! These guys are just amazing. The tag match of the cruiserweights was another great highlight from the program. It’s also very good to see Nunzio back in action and wrestling in a match where he can display all his abilities, rather take a beating from someone much bigger than him. I’m looking forward to a Mysterio-Tajiri feud, and I hope they’ll work that rather Kidman-Mysterio. Then, they could somehow add Kidman to the mix, maybe. We shall see.
Shaniquah looks great. Her gimmick is finally doing something for me. While she’s far from being as serious and solid as they push her to be, it’s really nice to see them come up with something and actually go along with it for once. I think they should keep working on the current storyline they have. It’s also great to see Dawn Marie back and that was the way to do it.
Benoit and Rhyno had yet another good match. I’m actually not against Benoit fighting A-Train sooner or later, because they tend to work well together, but if it’s at No Mercy, I would rather see Matt Hardy or Rhyno get a spot on the card, and not A-Train. It’s nothing personal against him, I think he’s an “okay” performer, it’s just that those other guys really need a spot on a PPV!
Overall, I thought it was a good SmackDown. It wasn’t anything overboard, but it did the job for me. They did a very good job of pushing the Iron Man Match for next week, and I can’t help but believe there’ll be a title change in that one. The other possible endings seem to be interferences from Big Show and Undertaker, but I think that won’t do them any good, and it will kind of take the heat off the gimmick of the match. I hope they go wtih a straight-out bout, and I am really excited to see how it’ll work out!
WWE presents RAW this upcoming Monday. It’s the last show before Unforgiven, and there’ll certainly be a lot going on. What do I expect to see? Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels have had only one altercation with each other, so I’m pretty confident that these two will cross paths somehow. I’m looking forward to Molly and Gail’s “plan” on ending Trish’s career as well. Elsewhere, I don’t know what the plan for Goldberg and Triple H is this week. I hope it’ll be Goldberg getting the better out of H, because if they do another segment like last week, they’ll absolutely kill the storyline. It’s barely hanging right now, and they have one last chance to make things right. On the bizarre end of things, I think Shane will get a quick one on Kane before being destroyed at Unforgiven. I still can’t believe how much better this storyline could have been, but I’m still going along with it, somewhat.
I hope to return next week, sometime after RAW, with my thoughts on the show and Unforgiven predictions. Until then, have a good day, and be proud of who you are.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
