You can say what you want about Smackdown, but damn I saw three matches that really put the show over. And to top it off I got to watch two of the three matches again last night during the one hour show on WGN. And for those of you that are in my viewing area I think you will understand when I say that watching WWE on WGN was such a weird thing for me. It’s just something I never thought I would see. Let me get right to Smackdown. This was one show that I really liked the other night.
It would be very easy for me to talk about how MIZERABLE I think the Miz is. You want to talk about someone whose actions are going to get old real fast, you’re looking at him. But I’ll be a lady and just go on from there. There was one positive going on during the match, and maybe you’ll all think I’m way off here, but Tatanka finally had me interested in his character. Maybe I should at least thank the Miz for that. This is the first time that I thought Tatanka not only did a good job wrestling but to go along with that I finally saw some personality in the man. I actually got into what he was going through with the obnoxious one. So I can’t say this was all bad. As far as Tatanka was concerned it was all good. Now I liked William Regal vs. Vito probably not because of the wrestling but because of Vito’s actions in his dress and Regal’s reactions because of that dress. For the short time this went on it came off well.
But my three favorite matches of the night were the following. Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms. I mean come on you have to figure that these two whom are known for their high flying moves and speed would give us something good and that’s just what they did. I liked the way both men looked out here and what I liked even more was that this match was given plenty of time and not rushed like so many cruiserweight matches are. I have to laugh when Michael Cole and JBL are told to sell Helms’s lengthy title reign, I laugh because how often is he out there to defend that title? Not often since that division is focused so inconsistently. Anyway both of these men should be proud of what they put on out there and here’s hoping that we now can watch Helms and Hardy feud on a WEEKLY basis.
My second favorite match was the tag team title match with Kendrick and London taking on the Pit Bulls. This was a hot match and one that just got better as it went on. And how many of you felt that this is what a tag team division should look like after watching Idol Stevens and K.C. James run in? I’ll tell you I did. We got to see all three tag teams out there beating the crap out of each other? I’m watching the new guys interfere and along with the Kash and Noble attack the tag team champions, and then the heel tag teams have a stare down with each other. It was like wow this division is alive and well. You have four young guys out there that can wrestle and work fast paced matches. This isn’t like watching a Cade/Murdoch or Duggan/Eugene match. I am just so thrilled about what Smackdown is giving us, of course in the back of my mind I figure when things are going so well you can always rely on Vince McMahon to do something to ruin the division. But for now I’ll just enjoy these guys and you know just like the Cruiserweight division we don’t get the tag team champions on every show, but I would love to think we will now, thanks to what this group has shown us.
My match of the night was the Triple threat match for the U.S. Title with Mr. Kennedy….Kennedy vs. Finlay and Bobby Lashley. Did you guys notice the reaction the fans gave Lashley when Theodore Long announced him. Of course Long put a lot of enthusiasm into the announcement but Lashley has definitely gained a lot of fan support. I think I liked this match the most because of the participants, and of course the Little Bastard showed up so what more could you ask for. I couldn’t have been happier by the way each man performed out there and had I not read the spoilers believe me I would never have expected Kennedy to win, especially since during the show he was so very confident that he would be the new U.S. champion. This was a solid match and giving the title to Mr. Kennedy….Kennedy says a lot about the way WWE feels about him. I would say right now things are looking very good for this guy and hopefully this title is just the beginning for Kennedy.
Now let me end with a few non wrestling segments. I have yet to say anything about Montell Vontavious Porter. It’s not because I don’t like the character it’s because I forget to mention him. I like what I’m seeing so far. MVP is so full of himself that on the mic he’s doing a very nice job. This is a character that might turn out to be not only good on the mic but in the ring, and I for one can’t wait see his in ring debut. Now from day one I have said that bringing in Eddie Guerrero’s name in a storyline is just wrong and very uncomfortable to watch. And then bringing in Vickie a few months ago was again something that bothered me. What I am going to say could surprise you. Now that she is a character on the show, a heel character I am more than willing to see how things go. Sometimes I feel she needs to be a part of the business to stay close to Eddie and if that’s the case making her Chavo’s business manager could work out. I can’t say I hated her interaction with Rey because I didn’t. No it wasn’t the smoothest but hey she’s new at this and it wasn’t horrible. I say let’s give her a chance and see just what she can bring to this feud. The other part to this is, Chavo is in a top feud getting focused on and that I like a lot. So I’m okay with things as of now.
I was also VERY okay with the main event. You know the never before contract signing. Seriously I did like it. I didn’t go for King Booker with the British accent at Summerslam. But Friday night I was laughing not only with the accent but also with his facial expressions the things he was coming up with like calling Theodore Long Thaddeus and just talking and really saying nothing. I thoroughly enjoyed King Booker and Sharmell very much. But I also enjoyed Batista. I watched his reaction to the things Booker was saying and I would wonder at times how he didn’t crack up laughing. Then I remembered that these two guys aren’t exactly buddies. But Batista did smile every once in a while and putting Booker through a table twice with the Spinebuster was a perfect ending. I even liked the royal wave Dave gave the royal couple as he left. Booker is a riot to watch and Batista seems more into this than what we saw and Summerslam. And because of all of that I’m more anxious than ever to see this rematch next week on Smackdown.
I thought this was one of the best Smackdowns in a while. As far as Tuesday goes, I won’t be doing a Raw column. I won’t be around much that day. But what I am planning on doing is a joint ECW/Raw column on Wednesday. I haven’t said too much about ECW in a while so I would like to get some of my thoughts about that show out there as well.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
