Wow, what an outstanding Smackdown Friday night. Was it because Vince/Lashley/Shane and Umaga didn’t show up? I think that helped but it was the solid wrestling that we got and I do mean solid especially by one of the best in the business taking on a guy that is really now an up and comer, and a beautifully booked main event that really had me wanting more. This by far was the best Smackdown in quite a while and one that I just could not wait to write about.
Before I get into the show I just have to say something about JBL. And believe me this is a compliment. He did such an awesome job last night. He wasn’t arrogant, loud, obnoxious oh yeah and LOUD, no he was extremely well behaved and he seemed to be more into what was going on in front of him that about making everything about JBL. I was so impressed by him last night; I just fear that this was a one time thing. I sure hope not because for a change I thought Cole and JBL handled things very well. On to the opener. I was really into the soft spoken apologetic Mr. Kennedy….Kennedy. I thought his interaction with Finlay came off well, and Kennedy acted somewhat of a baby-face in this one and he played it so well that I think I could really get into a face Kennedy. I’m a big fan of Finlay’s and this segment really appealed to me. While I could have done without Teddy Long making another tag team match with Batista and Taker teaming up again, little did I know that this main event with Taker/Batista vs. Finlay and Kennedy would win me over in such a big way.
The first match of the night was with London and Kendrick vs. Deuce and Domino. This was one very good match. This match had so much energy throughout. I thought both teams worked very hard out there and the ending while not the best was no surprise to me because I figured they wouldn’t want London and Kendrick to beat Deuce and Domino again, and I also figured that Deuce and Domino will win the belts at Backlash so a win for them last night wouldn’t be the way to go. As I said this was an excellent match and we finally got more than wrestling from D&D. I was very happy to see them storm in and let loose on Long about the way their match ended. It’s about time that these guys had more to do that just wrestle.
I know I admitted last week that I was wrong about MVP. And last might MVP reminded me again jus how good he is. Chris Benoit vs. MVP was not only THE MATCH of the night, but it was also good enough to be a pay per view match. Benoit brings so damn much to Smackdown and he again showed last night why Vince needs to focus so much more on him. MVP? Well he performed brilliantly out there with Benoit and without a doubt this was a must see match. I think what also made this so great was that it wasn’t rushed; this was a lengthy and a very entertaining match. You can bet that Backlash will have a Benoit/MVP rematch. If not that would surprise me very much. Okay Kane vs. Daivari. I can’t say too much about this one since it was nothing more than a squash, but I do find this whole Regal/Taylor attack on Kane kind of intriguing. I’m not sure how this will play out in the weeks to come but right now I’m finding this all very interesting.
And now to what I thought was one very cool main event to watch. Let me tell you why this main event really appealed to me. As I said at the beginning of this column the thought of Batista and Taker teaming up again kind of left me blah, but for once creative came through and this team worked the match just the way I hoped they would. They showed nothing but disdain for each other and unlike Shawn Michaels and John Cena that worked so well together all these months. Batista and Taker from the start showed that they were not going to help out each other. Also watching Batista on the outside showing absolutely no emotion while Taker was in there and getting beaten up was done perfectly. And then you would have each guy making blind tags and both men just starting to piss each other off. I loved the interplay between Taker and Batista and Kennedy and Finlay also came through.
This was just a terrific show and with Backlash just two weeks away and Long announcing that Batista vs. Taker’s rematch will be A Last Man Standing Match it really makes me look forward to the last two Smackdown’s before the pay per view. Okay now we all saw Jillian “injure” Ashley last night. Well if you go to WWE.com they are using the angle to play up surgery that she will be having to repair the screw that was put in her ankle a year go. You can read the article on the site. Raw will be taped in Milan, Italy Monday. I cannot wait to see this one. I have a feeling that the Milan crowd will be a very boisterous group and very appreciative that the show is being done there. Cena vs. RKO is already scheduled and unfortunately for me so is an appearance by Vince McMahon. But what the hell maybe his angle with Lashley will work better this Monday night. So look for my column on Tuesday with what I hope will be filled with very positive thoughts.
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