So they bring Kurt Angle in, and you know what? It seems to have worked because I loved last night’s Smackdown. Now do I give Kurt all the credit? No, but with Batista gone having Angle there definitely helps. But what helped even more was the fact that there were some really good matches on the show. Now there were a few matches that I would have expected nothing special from but they turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Smackdown gets two thumbs up from me, maybe because it’s nice to see wrestling on a wrestling show for a change, and a lot less mic work, and by that I’m talking about Raw with Vince McMahon taking some precious time away from guys that could be wrestling. Now wait did I think everything was perfect? Hell no, but all in all this was dynamite show.
JBL vs. Bobby Lashley turned out be nice opener. I am SO glad that they put JBL with Lashley, this way Lashley for once had a decent opponent to work with. I found both of these men worked hard out there and gave the fans something to cheer about. Lashley looked very good out there and I just wish they would give him Paul Heyman as a manager and I really believe Lashley would be a top guy with Heyman by his side. Of course his mic work would have to greatly improve but I do believe he would benefit so much with Heyman teaching him the ropes. As I said a nice match, and I was also glad to see the Boogeyman show up at the end and distract JBL during the match giving the win to Lashley. I cannot tell you how much I love watching the Boogeyman get the best of JBL each week. This match and everything that came with it set the tone for this extra good Smackdown.
Okay now I was under the impression when reading the spoilers last week that Kurt Angle was now a face. Well even though the faces and a few heels were congratulating him backstage on being the new WWE champion, I didn’t really see Angle the face, I saw Angle the tweener but kind of leaning more toward a heel character. So that surprised me, I figured with Batista out Kurt would be a full fledged face. But the way he came off last night was fine with me, I liked his character very much. Another backstage segment that worked for me was poor Jillian complaining to Theodore Long about the bandage taking the place of her hideous mole. Jillian now is so self conscious that she can’t stand being stared at. This had me laughing; only because that so called mole didn’t seem to phase Jillian at all, no now it’s a bandage that’s getting the best of her. I also enjoyed watching JBL’s expression once Long made a match with JBL vs. The Boogeyman at the Royal Rumble. I have to tell you this is a match that I’m looking forward too.
Now this might surprise you because I am very surprised, but one of the matches that I expected very little from was Matt Hardy taking on Fit Finlay. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would even be interested in Fit Finlay’ character, but his was a match that turned out to be so damn good. And I like his character a lot. Finlay has this great attitude of doing whatever he wants in the ring and he doesn’t care what that entails. I thought Matt looked excellent out there, and it’s nice to see him dominating a match for a change, and as I said Finlay brutalizing Hardy and not showing any expression was just perfect. Okay granted last night was his first appearance but I’ll tell you I see a very appealing character in Finlay, and yes I definitely want to see more of what he has to give to the fans. Another match that I figured would stink but turned out to be quite entertaining was the number one contender match with Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry. Now many of you might not agree with me but this match was carried totally by Rey and because of his expertise Mark Henry looked good here. Whether I read the spoilers or not I knew there was no way Mysterio was winning, but this was booked so well that Rey had so much offense on Henry which in turn made this less predictable, well at least for me it did.
Another match that I figured would be fair but turned out to be a terrific match was Orlando Jordan vs. Randy Orton. Jordan and Orton worked very well together, and Randy not only brought out the best in Orlando Jordan but Jordan brought out the best in Orton. This match also did two things it finally gave Jordan some credibility after all the quick defeats he suffered from his matches with Chris Benoit. But for Randy it kind of showed me a few things, which I will get to further on. Also before this match I thought Jordan did a sweet job on the mic interacting with Booker T and Sharmell. I can see that Jordan is in for a push and I will be talking about that push tomorrow in my column. The main event with Kurt Angle vs. Daivari was the weakest match on the show, not that it wasn’t good but it way too short to really get going. So now let me give you my thoughts about things that I just do not like.
As happy as I was to have Mr. Kennedy….. Kennedy back last week, last night I found his appearance to be non effective. I really couldn’t even tell you what he contributed with Michael Cole and Tazz. I understand that Kennedy is fun to put on and I’m a fan of his, but either they give him a show like Carlito’s, Jericho’s or Edge’s or I say keep him off. He’s lacking something just bringing him out as they did last night. But my biggest complaint and it’s about the biggest guy on the Smackdown roster is giving Mark Henry such a huge push. I don’t know where to begin. I don’t like it that this man has been out for just about two years and in a matter of weeks and I mean short weeks he’s got a title match at the Royal Rumble. I don’t like this because Henry is no wrestler and if they want to use him then use him as a bodyguard but not as a main event performer. I do not like seeing Melina as his “manager” although now Daivari is claiming that role. When I see Melina I want to see Mercury and Nitro as well. I have yet to regain my feelings for Melina. She hasn’t been the same since they did the damn sexual harassment angle and having her come out with out the guys doesn’t make her character any more likeable. And all of this shows me that Randy Orton is not getting that title shot at Wrestlemania, and it shows me that Randy has totally lost his push to Mark Henry. Does this upset me? It sure does.
I’m speechless when it comes to this de-pushing of Orton. I don’t know why this has happened but it’s sad to replace him with a guy that can’t wrestle. The only thing that we are reminded of is that Henry is the World’s Strongest Man. Then I say have him continue to compete in that contest and keep him away from the WWE. As you can tell I do not like seeing wrestlers pushed so far when they have not been around like the others on the roster. Tomorrow that too will be discussed in my column. Hey tomorrow’s column is sounding really interesting isn’t it? Seriously this is not against Mark Henry this is against Vince for pushing someone that shouldn’t be pushed like this. Without a doubt putting Mark Henry against Kurt at the Royal Rumble is really a downer.
Okay other than my rant on Mark Henry, as I said earlier Smackdown was just an awesome show. So now I hope you will put up with one more column from me tomorrow. It’s kind of a rant column however I hope it will be done with kind of an upbeat type of theme; I don’t want to sound too whiney.
I will leave you with two requests from two readers. And as always thank you all for all the help that you give when I put these out there. A reader would like to know if anyone knows where he could purchase a video with TLC match on RAW (10/7/02) with Kane & Hurricane Helms vs. Christian & Jericho vs. Bubba and Spike vs. RVD & Jeff Hardy. And Kane wins the tag titles by himself. Email azzapelza@hotmail.com. And here’s the last request. Can you ask your readers about who the bands are that TNA keeps playing in their storyline recap videos? ddensonjr@yahoo.com
