Smackdown was really good last night. There were very few things that I didn’t care for and I think the first negative that I will talk about might surprise you. As I said there was very little that didn’t work. We got another solid wrestling show. So let me get into Smackdown and then I would like to close with a few things about TNA. Yes you read that right, TNA.
It’s been a long time since I’ve complained about the announcing on Smackdown. Because for the most part I think Michael Cole and JBL have gelled very well together. In fact Michael Cole seems so much more relaxed and more natural working with JBL. And JBL for the most part has done a good job. The one thing that I absolutely hate his when he starts his racist remarks. They are entertaining. But I have a feeling that the remarks might be coming from JBL’s ear piece with Vince McMahon on the other end. Now that’s my feeling I could be way off by blaming Vince, but whether it’s coming from McMahon or JBL I hate them. Other than that JBL carries himself fairly well. But last night even though I enjoyed Smackdown, I was so fed up with the announcing. I feel that JBL was just so off his game, so annoying that any chemistry that he and Cole normally have was totally gone last night. Listening to these two guys was worse than having a tooth ache. As good as Smackdown was, that’s how bad the announcing was, and unfortunately it stunk throughout the show.
The London/Kendrick vs. Regal/Taylor match was slow. You have two high flyers in London and Kendrick going against old school wrestlers in William Regal and David Taylor and it took a long time for this match to get going. London and Kendrick should be working against the Hardy’s, Cryme Tyme and MNM which they did last week. This match was too long for me. Remember when I said I see a London/Kendrick split coming because of Ashley? Well it certainly seems to be the case. I thought the end of the match where Ashley was saved by London from Regal didn’t exactly play out well. I could see London coming to Ashley’s aid, however since Regal never laid a hand on her, it seemed a little ridiculous for London to stay with Ashley as long as he did outside of the ring while his partner got tossed back in and pinned by Taylor. It seemed like London could have checked on Ashley and gotten right back into the match. Of course this was all done to add tension between this tag team. I just hate to see London and Kendrick come to an end. On to Mr. Kennedy. As much as I liked Mr. Kennedy…..Kennedy’s opening promo, I have to be honest with you I could not get into his match with Kane. Now don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a bad match, but for some reason, I lost interest in it very fast, and honestly I couldn’t tell you very much of what I saw. I was up very early yesterday morning and maybe I just was getting tired by the time the main event took place. Also while I made sure to turn off the Miz’s entrance and it worked since I missed it all, I just can’t watch him. I think he’s a good wrestler, but he’s just so annoying and obnoxious that it’s very hard for me to keep my eyes on him. So other than what I just mentioned the rest of Smackdown was very good.
John Cena’s promo accepting Batista’s invitation to be his partner against Finlay and King Booker at Armageddon was done very well. He was focused and thankfully again he didn’t have to do any jokes written by that crack creative team. His promo was short but too the point and it came off very well. Excluding the Miz match and the tag team match I liked all the other matches that Smackdown gave us. Batista vs. Finlay was maybe a little too long, but it was still good and I like having Finlay in there against the World Champion. I think Dave works extra hard when Finlay is in there with him. Of course having a “small” appearance by Little Bastard is always a treat for me, but what I liked even more than the match was the beating that Batista took from Booker and Finlay. When Finlay used his shillelagh to pound on Batista’s surgically repaired biceps, I could feel Batista’s pain. Benoit vs. Sylvan was nothing more than a squash but this squash was done perfectly. We got to see one really pissed off Benoit take his anger out on Sylvan after Vickie Guerrero yelled at Chris and then slapped him for hurting her at the Survivor Series. The anger that Benoit showed during his match was just excellent. And finally Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Jamie Noble was my kind of match. You had two guys in there with the same style of wrestling and because of that you had a match that flowed and was filled with some really high flying moves.
Smackdown has become a show that I really look forward to watching. The rumor is that Michael Hayes is in charge of the booking and he’s the reason for the improved Smackdown. If that is the case I have to say THANK YOU Michael Hayes, it’s nice to be able to sit and watch Smackdown again and enjoy it. Now I want to end with a few thoughts on TNA. Well mainly Impact. I stopped watching Impact almost a year ago. And believe me I didn’t miss it at all. Two weeks ago, I happened to be channel surfing on a Saturday night and Impact was on. I thought I would just leave the show on for a few seconds. There was an X division match on and of course I can’t remember who the guys were but I liked it and I left it on. I noticed there was NO Jarrett and his very lame stable and that the production seemed a lot more professional. So I watched it and then checked it out last week and again I was impressed. I have always liked Chris Sabin and now he’s a heel and I think that’s so perfect for him. I am glad to see Tomko with a heel Christian, because in my books Christian was terrible playing a face.
Kurt Angle still looks bloated to me and I’m not quite into him being there, however I have to say his entrance is quite dramatic. And the whole VKM thing is rather silly. On paper the WWE invasion by Kip James and BG James always sounds so unoriginal and ridiculous. However, watching it on TV is a whole other thing. Their skits come off so silly that it actually means nothing to me and if TNA wants to go with it then I say who cares let them. I guess what I’m trying to say is I think I might start watching the Saturday night replays. I figure the stuff I don’t like I will turn off and just go back to it on and off. Without a doubt it’s a better show. Give me time because if I continue with it I’ll start getting something about them in my column. I guess as a WWE loyalist it still doesn’t compare to WWE but maybe in time TNA will turn out to be stiff competition against WWE. Right now I don’t feel they are but in the future you never know. Remember competition can be a good thing. With that said I’ll be back Tuesday with my Raw thoughts. Have a very nice weekend.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
