I couldn’t be happier with Friday’s Smackdown. You know I have to give it to Smackdown for putting on another very entertaining and strong show. The show did a really nice job building up Wrestlemania. In fact his show came off so well that there were only a few things that did nothing for me. Let me tell you what I didn’t care for, and then I can’t wait to talk about some of the hot matches that we got to see.
I am a big fan of Batista’s, but it pains me to see how Vince seems to be protecting him. Granted Batista hasn’t been as good as he was before he was injured back in January 2006, but it really bothers me that he’s not defending the title on Smackdown week after week and that all they have him do is come out for a few minutes and that’s it. As much as I love his calm good natured attitude, and I always have, I thought he was just a little to subdued at the broadcast booth watching the Taker vs. Booker T. match. Dave was so soft spoken and at times so monotone that I would have preferred having Batista off camera then on. They need to put some life into his character and really get the fans psyched to see him and Taker get it on at Wrestlemania. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want a jumpy wild Batista but I want one that has some fire in him and talks loud enough and with a lot of feeling so that we can get behind him. I have been disappointed with the way they are handling Dave and Friday night didn’t make things any better.
I’m still not quite into MVP. I don’t dislike him and I’m not crazy about him, I just can’t get into the character. His little squash match against El Grande Latte (I did like the Latte part it gave me a chuckle) but this little match did nothing for me. However I will say that he did a nice job on the mic when he demanded that he get that U.S. title shot against Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania. Of course it was also good to see Benoit make his way out and go after MVP. Maybe this match and working with Benoit will show me another side of MVP one that can work a good match, so I will keep an open mind and see how things go on April 1st. Kane vs. Daivari was nothing special, yet I’m still liking Kane on Smackdown and Kane carrying that chain with the hook certainly appeals to me as well. But everything else just flowed so well on the show. Like the Tag Team match with London/Kendrick and Ashley vs. MNM. Ashley and Melina kept their wrestling to the bare minimum, and because of that, having the four guys in there just made for one very good match. MNM and London/Kendrick are probably two of the best tag teams WWE has had in a long time and because of their consistency you just know that when they are out there you are going to get a 5 star match.
Another match that I liked very much was Matt Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy. At first the match was a little slow getting started but once it did it turned out to be a very hard worked match by both guys. Matt Hardy is another guy that is so consistent in the ring. Mr. Kennedy looked very good out there and as of right now, and don’t hold me to it, I’m picking him to win the MIB match. Of course I’ll have more to say about when I do my predictions for Wrestlemania. But his was a very good match, and a very solid one. The main event with Booker vs. Undertaker was good but I happened to like Finlay vs. Taker better. This still came off okay, and while I wasn’t too thrilled with Batista on the mic, I did happen to really like when after the match Taker was attacked by Finlay and then took Finlay and threw him onto Batista. That was cool and I loved Batista’s reaction, we finally got something from Dave, the IF LOOKS COULD KILL reaction. That was just a great way to end the show.
I feel we got two good shows this past week but I will give Smackdown the edge. Well I’m all set for tomorrow night’s Raw and HBK vs. JBL and Chris Benoit vs. John Cena. Also tomorrow night Lashley is going to take the Master-Lock challenge. Either he is going to break that Master-Lock, and I would think that’s what’s going to happen since he’s getting such a major push, OR Umaga will interfere and that damn gimmick will continue. I will be back on Tuesday with my thoughts on Raw and a side note about Mick Foley.
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