Smackdown was slightly better than last week’s show. There was almost enough to keep me interested. However, I have to be very honest with you. I have a lot to complain about. Unfortunately this isn’t going to be as positive as I wanted it to be. But I’ll start with what I wasn’t thrilled about on the show and trust me it’s going to cover quite a bit of this column. But then I will try to end with several bright spots. The bright spots though few helped get me through the show. I think I’ll just make the first part a bitch-fest, so here I go.
Last week I talked about Smackdown basically burying Christian, and I will get to Christian in a little bit. But what I failed to mention last week was another guy that seems to have gotten totally lost since he was drafted to Smackdown. And Chris Benoit is the guy that I’m referring too. Now I’m not about to complain about his match with Booker against MNM. No that’s going to be one of the bright spots of the show. But I have a BIG problem with this one time World champion not being in a major feud. I don’t know what the hell is going on. Well I think I do know what’s going on. And I want to talk more about that in Sunday’s column. I’ll give you a clue, I think the problem is a lack of wrestling on both shows. But hang on and Sunday believe me I’ll have more to say. I’m just put out by Benoit being a mid carder, and I think because of that Smackdown is suffering big time.
Also I don’t get the whole ridiculous mole thing. It’s another miserable gimmick; in fact I rate it right up there with Matt Morgan’s stuttering gimmick. This stinks, and it’s also kind of silly to put Jillian Hall with a team like MNM who were doing a terrific job without adding another person to this trio. I have read some very nice things about Jillian as a wrestler, but God for bid Vince would show the fans what she can do in the ring. Nah, he rather have the lame Diva contest and all the eye candy he can put it out there, even when we have a diva that was given a piece of rubber to pass off as a growth on her face. And to make matters worse we had to hear her explain about that “tragic” growth. It was one of the most ridiculous segments of the show.
Okay it was another week for Heidenreich to get a makeover. And while many of you feel this man is a fan favorite, for the 50th consecutive week I find him still a bore. Maybe that’s because instead of putting him out there in matches, that wonderful creative team feels we will all enjoy watching Animal make Heidenreich a new Road Warrior. Then we get back to back tag team matches with Smackdown’s tag team champions taking on jobbers and Michael Cole reminding us just how “HOT” these champions are. Well they better be on a roll it’s two jobbers they keep facing. Please, I would prefer Cole and whoever is feeding him this crap to just knock off these moronic comments. For all you Road Warrior fans I’m not even having a problem with Animal. It’s just knowing that Heidenreich wrestling is so poor, yet Vince continues to push him to the sky.
Now listen right off Eddie Guerrero is doing a fantastic job playing Smackdown’s top heel. And yeah I believe Eddie has by passed JBL. And Rey Mysterio’s has shown some very effective mic work during this soap opera about Eddie wanting his son Dominick back. But I have to tell you, I’m tired of this. While I’m thrilled that Eddie is in the limelight, this soap opera theme is another topic that I plan to talk about on Sunday. I just feel that Guerrero’s in ring ability is being wasted by not having him wrestle each week. As I said it’s hard to bash this angle, but I really need less talk and more wrestling.
If I see one more contract I’m going to pull the hair out of my head. Okay maybe that’s a little extreme, but Raw gave us two contract signings with Batista and Triple H, and believe me one was enough. I’m really sick of these segments. I will say that JBL again did a nice job. He certainly plays the part of an obnoxious heel well. Batista was okay, very soft spoken, but again that’s his character and that’s what I like about him. But the segment really didn’t do much for me to get me ready for their rematch at Summer Slam. At least it’s a No Holds Barred match that should make things a little more exciting. But let this be the last contract signing on any WWE show for a long long time. Now this next complaint is minor very minor. Christian gets to host his own show on Smackdown. The ever famous Peep Show. Now we all know how funny this show was years ago on Raw. And we also know how good Christian is on the mic. Yet last night even though Smackdown debuted with the Peep Show we really weren’t treated to Christian’s humor. While I definitely wouldn’t call this one of Smackdown’s failures last night, I hope there’s more of the Peep Show to come and we get to see Christian tear it up on the mic.
Okay I think I’ve depressed you all enough. So on to what I liked about the show. Having Randy Orton return was a really good thing at least for me. Sure he’s done promos like that before, but just having him on the show, brings a fresh face and top talent to Smackdown. I am looking forward to his match at Summer Slam against Undertaker. Even though I’m not happy that Chris Benoit is part of a tag team, I loved the opening match with Benoit and Booker T., against MNM. I thought this was a very strong match, and a very entertaining match. MNM showed that they are too be taken seriously as far as their in ring work goes. I thought all four men did a super job and this is what both shows need, matches that deliver. Matches that make you want more.
I also liked the main event. While I hated seeing Christian job again this time to Rey Mysterio, I still felt this match was a good one. The more I see Rey out there the more I love what he has to offer. And Christian did all he could against Mysterio. Like Rey, Christian has a lot to give in the ring and I really wish they would use him properly. But these two matches came off well, especially the tag team match. As I said along with Randy these three things kept me interested in the show.
On Sunday I will talk about the lack of wrestling that both shows are putting it out there. Also how the “entertainment” factor is taking away from what I believe most of us wrestling fans watch Raw and Smackdown for. So I hope you will check it out. Now I want to mention that if you go to WWE.com there’s a picture of Vince McMahon and Bret Hart shaking hands, with the heading, Bret Is Back! It seems like both men have patched up their differences, so check that out. Also I would love it if you read the following and definitely check out Bang TV on Aug. 10th.
!BANG! TV Goes 24/7
On Wednesday August 10th at 6:00pm emanating from our web site, www.dory-funk.com, the Funking Conservatory will present a two hour special on streaming video of !BANG! TV’s production of “Red White and Blood.” (Seven Matches plus wrestler interviews) Video broadcast of !BANG! TV on the web offers our students the unique opportunity to have their matches viewed by promoters, family and friends throughout the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Wrestlers appearing the show will include, Carlos Colon, Eddie Colon, Johnny Magnum, Dory Funk Jr., The Claw, Lexie Fyfe, Missy Hyatt, Marc Nulty, “Body by Joe Timlin, The English Prince, Reece Royal, Blain Rage, Lonnie Valdez, Super Paul, The Great White Butcher, Rich O’Reilley, Big Bank Barfield, Jackknife Ben Guest, Murder One, Big Mike Hall, The Lost Soul with A T Wrong and Manik
email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
