There was enough on Smackdown last night to keep me interested. For the most part I really liked the show but there were three BAD segments that I just don’t get. Thankfully a super promo that opened the show, a fabulous match in the middle of the show and a nice little brawl made Smackdown a success. Tell you what let me hit you with the three things that either rubbed me the wrong way or just totally bombed, and then I will try too keep the rest all nice and positive.
I’ll start with John Heindenreich. For several months this guy has been a psycho and at one point it looked like Heidenreich had some “special” plans for Michael Cole when he kidnapped him. Then the creative team decided to make Heidenreich a face. The guy is looking for friends, he’s kind of the whacko version of Raw’s innocent Eugene. As you know heel or face this guy does nothing for me because his in ring work is sub par. So last night he has a match with a jobber, oh wait it was Spike Dudley. I guess I forget since Spike didn’t get introduced or come out to his music. So there’s Spike waiting for Heidenreich. Before the match Heidenreich is looking for a friend and he brings out a boy from the stands to accompany him to the ring. So here’s a guy that has been portrayed basically as a pervert and now in order to really become a face the creative team feels that by having him with children it will cement Heidenreich as a face. How ridiculous. It’s time for Vince to realize that this character is going nowhere, send the guy back to OVW, and if and when he’s ready to come back then he will need to be repackaged. By the way not only did this thing with the boy bug me but Heidenreich also squashed Spike in no time. It’s sad when a Dudley has less importance than a Heidenreich.
My guy Carlito was back hosting Carlito’s Cabana. I know most of us have enjoyed this, but last night was a total dud. And again I blame this on the writing team. Big Show was Carlito’s guest, and the whole time CCC was interviewing Big Show you could hear a pin drop in the arena. There was nothing funny about Carlito’s Cabana last night and “poisoning” Big Show because he refused to be Carlito’s bodyguard rates right up their with Kurt Angle shooting Show with a tranquilizer gun. It was just horrible, and after watching this I’m so afraid that Vince is going to wreck CCC. You have no idea how wrong I hope I am about that. Finally this is what disturbed me the most. After a year of Kurt Angle being just about unwatchable on Smackdown, the man made a super comeback and brought back the Angle that we all love to hate and love to laugh at. Kurt has been doing a great job not only in the ring but he’s back as the bragging spoiled brat former Olympic champion. His comedic timing has been just about perfect; it’s been a total thrill having this Kurt Angle back.
I guess kind of like Carlito the creative team decided to ruin a good thing. And kind of like Heidenreich, they decided to make Kurt a pervert. That’s right you read that right. Kurt was creepy looking talking about having vices and one of those vices being into gutter sluts. And that reference was for Booker T’s wife Sharmell. Wait this gets worse, he then talked about wanting to have sex with Sharmell, bestiality sex, perverted sex. Listen this was just total crap. This is so out of character for Kurt. Kurt can not do characters like that. He bombed as Smackdown’s General Manager; he didn’t have it when he was the top guy over Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak. You saw Kurt in the parody When Harry Met Sally. He shined in that commercial. That’s Kurt Angle. A heel with humor. He doesn’t purposely put that humor out there, but it just flows with anything he says as he puts himself over time and time again as the best in the business and the only wrestler to have won gold medals. I am disgusted by what they did with Kurt last night. And I do not want to even believe that this will continue next week. If they don’t bring back the Kurt that we have seen in the last few weeks then Kurt again is going to become the guy that does nothing for Smackdown. What the hell is going on with Vince and his team?
Okay now thankfully Eddie Guerrero came to play last night. His promo which opened the show up was so damn amazing. He came off as a very sick man. A man that can’t see right from wrong. I got goosebumps the way he went on about Rey stealing his energy, but now Eddie has that energy back and likes how he’s feeling. Eddie blamed Rey (whom by the way was not there) for beating him up last week. Rey made him do that. So there’s Eddie talking to Rey and telling Rey that last week he had his blood on his hands, and if he shows up at Judgment Day he will have Rey’s life. A very eerie yet an outstanding promo and a fabulous way to complete that heel turn for Guerrero. Without a doubt Eddie was the star of last night’s show. Also Eddie has new entrance music. The fun song and the low riders are no longer, at least for now.
I enjoyed Chavo mingling with MNM and telling them that Eddie’s viciousness last week totally shocked him. MNM looked a little scared as Chavo talked about Uncle Eddie. This was just another way to get the message across about the new and cruel Eddie Guerrero. MNM and Chavo were up next and faced Charlie Haas, Bob Holly and Paul London. Let me tell you this was my match of the night, this was excellent. MNM week after week is making the tag team division on Smackdown look like something special for a change. Chavo and Bob Holly looked sharp, and two of my favorites Paul London and Charlie Haas added to all the excitement. This match moved so fast, there was never a dull spot. Everyone gave their all and I can’t tell you how much I loved it. JBL was next with a decent promo. He was plugging the re-release of his book from a few years ago. He compared his book to John Cena’s CD. JBL’s book is the best book written since the bible, and Cena’s CD would tear down society. JBL went on about the I Quit match against Cena at Judgment Day, saying he would make Cena yell I quit, and then Cena came out. And this I liked a lot. He made his entrance and immediately hit the ring and took down JBL, and here comes the brawl. As both men were going at it, Orlando Jordan and the Bashams ran out to help JBL. This brought out many of the faces from backstage, like Funaki, Jindrak and Nunzio. They tried holding back JBL then Cena. This was done perfectly. Cena didn’t speak a word, he just came out and did what he had to do and it was something that the fans totally got into.
When Eddie came out at the beginning of the show, he had Mysterio’s mask in his hand. Well that mask accompanied him to the ring to face Jimmy Jacobs. Let me tell you, Eddie went ballistic during this match. He totally brutalized Jacobs. The more he attacked Jacobs the more nuts Guerrero became. At one point Eddie put Rey’s mask on Jacobs and started yelling “why did you make me do this?” Again Eddie showed the wicked side of his character, and Jimmy Jacobs was left lifeless in the ring. Eddie continued to kick Jimmy and finally ended things by yelling that if Rey shows up at Judgment Day, Mysterio’s kids will not have a daddy. Another terrific segment with Eddie. Matt Morgan vs. Funaki was what you would expect, Morgan totally dominated Funaki. While I didn’t list this above as one of the worst segments of the show, the stuttering HAS TO GO!
The main event with Kurt Angle vs. Booker was a preview of what the fans will see at Judgment Day. I will say this match had a lot of promise, Booker was moving very well, Kurt was on, and all looked good. But this ended abruptly when Kurt decided to go visit Sharmell in the locker room. And again things went downhill. You see Kurt with that weird look as he is trying to find out where Sharmell is. Then he finds her and she panics and he closes the door. And then it’s nothing but screams from her. It’s Book to the rescue. As he goes to his wife, Kurt attacked him from behind. Angle threw Book into the lockers a few times yelling that he wants his wife. Kurt leaves and Sharmell goes to Booker. I can’t say this ending was appealing because it wasn’t, but there’s always next week and hopefully Kurt will be out of this character and back to his old form.
So this wasn’t the best Smackdown but Eddie and six man tag team match saved the show. Sunday I will be back and I think I will talk a little about the upcoming draft. I see from the feedback I’m getting the draft right now is a hot topic. So Sunday I will tell you who I would like to see moved from one show to another. And I would like to end with a message from Ahmed Johnson’s agent. Tony appreciates all the support he has gotten so far but if we want to get him back, we need more names. Tell your friends, family and fellow wrestling buddies to get their voice heard. You never know, you might get a response from Tony himself!!! Be sure to add your first name, city and state when you write Carol at cmojala@oberon.ark.com
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
