I can’t compare last night’s Smackdown to last week’s Smackdown which might be a good thing. But I really liked what I saw last night. The negatives were very few and the main event was something that I had been looking forward to since I read the spoilers. Trust me I wasn’t disappointed when I finally got to see it. The Toronto crowd was exceptionally good and I think the show did a very good job building up Summer Slam. Sunday’s pay per view is one that I now really look forward to watching. And I say this because weeks ago I wasn’t sure that I wanted to order it.
I think most of us are tired of the continuing custody battle between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero for Dominick. But as I’ve said many times Eddie has done a bang up job with his acting skills. And Rey? I feel he’s shown a lot as well when it comes to a non wrestling role. But I’m hoping that after Sunday this storyline is finished. While I thought Eddie’s promo which opened the show was a strong one, I could have lived with them cutting it down by at least 10 minutes. But other than the length I will say that Eddie came through. The first match of the night was a match loaded with energy. Joey Mercury and Melina took on Booker T and Sharmell. The Toronto crowd, seemed to really like this match and as I’m watching this I’m thinking Mercury and Nitro should be showcased each week with the tag teams titles. Unfortunately that isn’t going to happen for awhile.
But MNM are a joy to watch and Booker again seemed full of life. I really liked what I was watching and Sharmell and Melina just made things more fun. I will admit that when Sharmell lost and they came back from the break with Sharmell bitching at Booker for not having her back, it made me wonder if maybe Booker will eventually turn heel and maybe go after Batista for the title or Benoit for the U.S. title. And yes I’m thinking post Summer Slam thoughts. But again I give this baby big thumbs up. While I feel like Orlando Jordan really hasn’t blossomed on Smackdown, his interaction with Chris Benoit over their title match came off very well. Jordan seemed relaxed during this segment and that got me thinking that maybe he has more to offer to the fans. Maybe if used differently Orlando would be worth watching each week. I don’t know but at least with Benoit he came off well. So even though this segment was short, it gave the U.S. title some importance. And when Benoit told Jordan he’ll make him tap on Sunday, I have a feeling that’s just what’s going to happen.
Let’s see in another Heidenreich makeover episode. But Animal came up with one of the most ridiculous comments I have ever heard. As Animal is giving Heidenreich a pep talk he tells him that they have won all of their matches. Well God I hope so since they have faced jobbers every week in 25 second matches since they won their tag team titles at GAB. My God talk about insulting the fans intelligence. That creative team is really on the ball aren’t they? And seriously, since I’m not a LOD fan, only because I came in when they were out, I just couldn’t believe that they would keep using Hawk’s name and saying how proud Hawk would be with their performance. I doubt that would be the case. And again that tough tag team faced, YES jobbers, but this match was long oh yeah it lasted I believe close to a minute and this wonderful tag team won another one. It’s a sad thing when they continue to push this, and even worse when Heidenreich week after week just shows how WEAK he is in the ring.
I’m going to give it to JBL and I mean that as a compliment. His interview with Funaki was very effective, especially calling Batista the million dollar body and the five cent brain. But even more effective was his squash over Funaki in JBL’s street match. JBL took all the time he needed to show Batista just what would happen to him on Sunday. Of course Batista is a lot bigger than Funaki and there’s no comparison but this all played out beautifully. This was a no contest but JBL was able to do a lot of damage to Funaki that is until Batista ran in and went after JBL. While Bradshaw was able to duck the first chair-shot, Batista hit him with a spine- buster and then cracked him over his back with a chair. While the Eddie and Rey saga as really been the focus of Smackdown, last night’s segment with JBL and Batista heated their feud up for Summer Slam nicely. I honestly didn’t feel the Simon Dean vs. Rey Mysterio match was bad. It was quick and at the beginning Simon was able to get some nice offense in. As I said it was fast yet with Rey in there it entertained me. Now tell me why John Heidenreich seems to be the “chosen” one and Christian seems to be the thorn on Vince’s side? I’m reading yesterday that fans that attended the Smackdown taping couldn’t find any Christian Tee-shirts. Then there was an item up on the sites that Captain Charisma merchandise is gone. In fact WWE’s Shopzone says that the merchandise is no longer available. What the hell has happened to the guy that had most of us in the palm of his hand on Raw during the spring? While many of you have emailed me in the past saying Christian isn’t main event material, and I can understand that, I feel he deserves to be on top just like Edge is on Raw, or maybe more so. Having Christian get beaten up during his Peep Show by the Mexicools was okay, since I believe it had to do with Christian reportedly breaking his nose during one of last weekend’s house show. So I’m thinking having Juvi, Psicosis and Super Crazy gang up on him, might be a way to keep him off for a short time to recuperate. But I am concern that with his merchandise over with, that Christian’s days are numbered. And that would be the worst thing that Vince could allow to happen. This man offers a lot he’s so worth watching in the ring and out of the ring he’s got IT. I guess we will see what happens next week on Smackdown. If they will use an injury angle to keep this man out for awhile.
And finally I can’t tell you how great it was to see a really really good wrestling match. And I’m talking about the main event. Watching Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton was like a novelty. It seems like this type of match is rare these days. We seem to get rushed matches or matches with jobbers. So the last 25 minutes of Smackdown meant a lot to me. It’s great having Randy back in the ring. I have really missed him. And it’s always awesome for me to watch Benoit in their. He always manages to work his ass off and give the fans something so positive to talk about. This was without a doubt the match of the night. And I really wish we would get more of these matches on both shows. That’s what lacking on Raw and Smackdown, decent matches. Randy won, but it was Undertaker that won when he showed up in the ring. He surprised Orton, and left Randy on the mat thanks to being choked-slammed. As the show ended a serious Taker walked up the ramp, but we saw Randy Orton look at Taker with a weird grin on his face. A super ending to a really good show.
Sunday it’s time for Summer Slam. Keep sending me your predictions and I’ll have mine up on Sunday. I’m looking forward to talking about the upcoming matches. Okay, again so many of you came through for one of my readers about a video game question he had. Today I’m hoping you can help another reader with his question. And please email him and in advance thank you. He would like to know where you can get Wrestlemania 16, 17, and 18. Royal Rumble 2000, and 2002 and Armageddon 1999, and 2000. Please put WWF/WWE for the subject and email degenerationx07@yahoo.com. Okay I’ll be back on Sunday with my Summer Slam picks.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
