There is no doubt in my mind that Smackdown was a much better show than Monday’s Raw. But then again most of the roster for Smackdown was there. However I am wondering has anyone seen Finlay lately? I think Smackdown is missing the boat by not having him in on week after week. But back to the show, for the most part it was good and as usual the show gave us some excellent matches. There really was very little that didn’t appeal to me, so I will start with what I didn’t care for and believe me the list is very short, and then I can’t wait to talk about the rest of the show and my highlight of the night. I’ll end my column with a rumor about what we will get when Vince returns to Raw on Monday night.
Could someone please tell me why we they had two promos with Chuck Palumbo the bike builder? I’m sorry the guy does nothing for me and one promo is more than I can handle. I might be totally over reacting but as I have said before I don’t feel this guy has much personality and I just don’t get this “push” that they seem to be giving him. There are so many other guys that I would rather see getting this spot than Palumbo. Believe me I have no interest in Palumbo the motorcycle guy or the wrestler. Of course I say that about a lot of the talent and then I find myself not only being totally surprised by how well they turn out, but also apologizing for being to quick to write them off. You never know maybe that will happen with Chuck, hmmm but then again I doubt it.
Palumbo was my main complaint of the show. The opening with Theodore Long and Krystal announcing their wedding date was fine and Khali interrupting Long was also fine, but what I didn’t get was while Khali was in there ranting and raving Kane suddenly appears. So I am thinking that Kane and Khali are going to have a match, but Khali turned into Chris Masters and it’s Masters vs. Kane for the opening match of the night. So this was a little weird for me but you know what? I liked the match. I thought this was one of the best matches Kane and Masters have been in. I was very pleased and again it worked because Master’s and his Master-Lock were not the focus. It’s a pleasure not to have to hear Masters speak or watch him beat someone in 30 seconds with his signature move. This match came off very well and it got Smackdown off to a good start. While the Mark Henry match did nothing for me, the video of him taking the Undertaker out was fine because I guess Taker will be returning soon and will face Henry and hopefully put Mark Henry in his place and then become World champ again. I really was excited about his title reign until he got injured.
The highlight of the night for me was all in one segment. It was the arm wrestling contest with Matt Hardy and MVP. And then it was their very solid match that took place immediately after MVP lost to Hardy in the contest. But it was also watching Matt Hardy. In the last few weeks Matt Hardy’s maturity has really caught up with him. For a guy that used to sound extremely uneasy on the mic, he has really become quite the natural and relaxed speaker. Not only is there a big improvement with his speaking but when I watch his facial actions and even his body language I am looking at a guy that seems to be ready for a hell of a push. There is something so different about Matt. And what makes Matt such a star to me is that he’s consistent. It seems like from the time Matt started with WWE he showed his passion for the business, and that passion has never died. I loved this segment and don’t think for one minute that I’m not thrilled with MVP. He’s another guy that I’m very pleased with.
Jamie Noble is playing his part very well as the embarrassed and bitter cruiserweight courtesy of Cruiserweight champion Hornswoggle. We got a very good match between Noble and Shannon Moore. Before the match I liked the teasing that Noble was receiving from Moore. The segment was short but it worked perfectly. It was just another way to see how Noble’s loss to Hornswoggle the previous week is taking a toll on him. The match as I said was very good and then to top it off we got Hornswoggle humiliating Noble with a pie in his face. The Phoenix, Arizona crowd was extremely into all of this as was I. And the matches continued to entertain. There was Kenny Dykstra and Victoria at his side vs. Jimmy Wang Yang with Torrie. It’s nice to see Yang out there each week. You can see the chemistry between Yang and Dykstra. That’s why they work with each other so well. Plus Torrie and Victoria bring just a little extra to Yang and Dykstra’s feud and to their own feud as well.
The main event with Ric Flair and Batista vs. Deuce and Domino along with Cherry was good, but before I get into it I wanted to tell you how much I laughed earlier in the show when Cherry walked out of Batista’s dressing room. The part where Batista was set to enter his dressing room, and Flair walked out with a big smile on his face was GOLD. The main event was good, however no matter how hard Deuce and Domino work and believe me they work very hard, that gimmick is just bringing them down. The crowd was loud when it started and toward the end but during the match you could hear the crowd quiet down more and more. I wish Vince would just dump the gimmick and give these three a gimmick that the fans can relate too just a little bit. Batista again looked sharp out there and I am hoping that he regains the title from Khali at Summer Slam, but as of now I’m not so sure that’s going to happen.
As you can tell I liked Smackdown very much and now with Vince McMahon returning Monday night on Raw a new rumor came out today. Before I go into it I am glad he’s returning, but with this new rumor I’m afraid he’s going to again dominate the show week after week and that’s something I am dreading. Please remember this is only a rumor. The limo angle LIVES! Gee I’m not so sure that’s what I want, but I will see how it works out on Monday night. Maybe creative will write something good and Vince’s return will turn out well. I will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday with my Raw thoughts, my very happy Raw thoughts I hope. I would love to see Raw start picking up major momentum going into Summer Slam.
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