Kurt Angle again shined on last night’s Smackdown. There were a few other things that I totally enjoyed but it was Kurt’s segment that pleased me so much. Before I get into the show, I would like to plug something that I am very proud of. I have always felt that I was so lucky to be able to write columns and talk about whatever is on my mind. This week my luck got even better, when I was given the opportunity to interview with Rob Van Dam. Rob was kind enough to take time out of his very busy schedule for the interview. It was done through email, and I am very proud of the way it came out. I want to thank Rob so much for making my first interview with anyone in the business a dream come true. You will find the interview at www.prowrestling.com, click on editorials. I hope you will all check it out. Okay now it’s back to Smackdown.
There really wasn’t anything that terrible on the show. Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns match might not have won you over, but Jindrak looked the best that I’ve seen him look in a long time. And while John Heidenreich hasn’t shown me much in the ring, last night’s street fight match with Booker was good. Making the match a street fight and not a true wrestling match is why he worked so well. Also I forgot to mention Taker’s Dirty Harry commercial in Tuesday’s column maybe because I blocked it out. I can’t say this was a commercial that impressed me and truthfully the only two that appealed to me were Basic Instinct and Braveheart. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Dirty Harry out of all of them is the worse. What made Braveheart, Basic Instinct and to some extent Forrest Gump worth watching was that they took so much from the movie yet added humor and made you want more. So watching Taker recreate the Dirty Harry scene left me feeling if the Wrestlemania commercials are going to take this route than I think I have had enough.
Now let me get back to everything that worked last night on Smackdown. JBL (along with his cabinet) came through with another good promo. When JBL speaks people listen, at least I do. JBL again came off as Mr. Superior talking about how he and Orlando Jordan, now known as OJ, would win the titles from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Then JBL and the cabinet would have it all. This stable has really worked out well, the Bashams are like two big dummies that will do anything they are told to do by their boss JBL, and OJ is getting a nice rub from the top guy and it all seems to blend very well. I enjoyed watching JBL destroy John Cena’s U.S. title, it was JBL’s way to really get under Cena’s skin. I found the opening to be a good one; the fans seemed very into JBL’s B.S.
Here’s where things get very interesting. John Cent later in the show came out swinging. Like Triple H, Cena had his own little buddy with him, a steel pipe. Cena was out for JBL and the cabinet’s blood. He definitely wanted to even things up after Cena lost his U.S. title to OJ, thanks to interference by JBL. Now this Cena was not the nice sweet guy we have been used to seeing. Cena was the total opposite that character, he was all business, totally serious and did not inter act with his chain gang. I found his character last night very appealing to watch. While I love that he goes out and stands with the fans and talks to them, there was no rap, no silliness, he was just totally angry and focused on JBL and taking care of him. What did surprise me was Cena giving Theodore Long the F’U. Did you all notice that when it happened the crowd wasn’t exactly cheering Cena? A few things crossed my mind, when Cena treated Long like that; I immediately saw shades of Steve Austin in him. Cena’s the guy the fans love yet he’s got a little heel in him when it comes to authority. Also the way the crowd reacted to Long taking the F’U., shows just how far Teddy has come with the GM role. He may not be OUT THERE but when the cameras are on him Long comes through and I think he’s really become a fan favorite. This was a very strong segment and certainly made Cena look like he belongs in that main event at Wrestlemania with JBL.
Smackdown found a great way to build up the Kurt Angle/Shawn Michaels match last night. Kurt showed footage of the first ladder match with Shawn and Razor Ramon. It was a nice way for fans that didn’t see the match when it happened to get a little glimpse of it. And with Kurt on the mic keeping his promise to do all that Shawn achieved in just a matter of weeks was great. Kurt was going to have his own ladder match and put Shawn’s performance to shame. His gold medal would be hanging on a rope, and his opponent would be Mike Heywood the local guy. Poor Mike didn’t stand a chance, Kurt jumped him immediately. Let me tell you Mike’s screaming was so torturous that he made his beat up from Kurt extra good. Mike never made it to the ladder, but Kurt did. Yeah he took his time and climbed to the top sat down, pulled his gold medal from the rope and smiled and said that the didn’t need to use the ladder as a weapon because he is the weapon and then said he could beat Shawn in a ladder match without breaking a sweat. This feud is the best thing that Kurt could have gotten involved in; it’s nice to be able to say the OLD KURT ANGLE is back. Before he was finished, he then came up with something really neat. He had them run footage of Shawn’s first Wrestlemania appearance with Marty Jannetty. They were known as the Rockers. Then Angle called Marty the backbone of the duo and that next week Jannetty would be there and Kurt would be facing him, and Marty would teach Shawn how to tap out. I never expected this, what an original idea; I cannot wait to see just what will transpire during this segment. Another outstanding night for Kurt.
My boy Carlito was good for laughs last night. Long’s assignment for Carlito was to find Undertaker and get his answer about Randy Orton’s challenge. Immediately you could see that Carlito was dreading this and there was a funny segment when he was in the back calling Taker and the lights went out. He let out a very high pitched scream only to find out it was a maintenance man that turned the lights out. Carlito also got spooked by Torrie Wilson. When all of this seemed to be too much to handle Carlito hit the ring and called Taker out. Taker did show up and grabbed Carlito’s neck and while holding on tight to it said that many men have tried to make a name for themselves at Wrestlemania at his expense. And then Taker said Randy Orton like them would rest in peace. I liked this a lot. It’s been a long time since Taker has really done any mic work. He came off creepy, and eerie and also tough, the tough part came after he tombstoned Carlito. And next week Randy will be on Smackdown for the contract signing. This is another feud where I feel Taker is going to benefit just as much and Randy. Taker has been in a hold pattern with Heidenreich for so long and JBL that this is going to refresh his character a lot. I am looking forward to next week’s signing.
The main event with Eddie and Rey taking on OJ and JBL was good. It had enough to keep me interested. Rey seemed to get the worst of it, when he took some major bumps, which definitely added to this one. Of course Eddie and Rey won and with that they got a beating from JBL, the Bashams and OJ. This brought out John Cena who was able to take out the cabinet. JBL escaped but OJ did not and another Cena F’U was given. A good main event and a good ending. The show heated up two main feuds, the HBK/Angle feud and JBL and Cena feud. And I think the Taker/Orton feud got off to a good start with Taker’s reaction to the challenge. I really don’t know what to say about the Sumo style match between Big Show and Akebono. Truthfully I’m not exactly embracing that one, but other than that I thought Smackdown was a good show.
I can’t believe that Wrestlemania is 23 days away; the time is just flying by.
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