Okay I will give you this, there really is no major angle on Smackdown, the show consists of back to back to back matches, but some of those matches were just an absolute pleasure to watch.
I’ve said this many times and so have the majority of fans around the net, Raw is all about mic work and storylines while Smackdown seems to focus on wrestling. And that’s not exactly a bad thing. There were a lot of filler matches last night but thankfully there were a couple of really entertaining matches. And those matches put Smackdown over for me big time.
My match of the night? Without a doubt it was Undertaker and Kane vs. MVP and Matt Hardy. The pattern continued last night when Matt and MVP had another well done segment backstage. Yes these two have been working together for awhile, but the chemistry between them is just so damn hot that each one has brought so much to Friday nights, and their match against the Brothers of Destruction was just awesome. I love it when Kane and Taker team up. After all these years of being on their own it’s still very exciting to see them work as a tag team. I was just so pleased with the match, and I know this is silly but I really liked it when Kane and Taker stood on the ramp with their backs turned toward the crowd and they put their right arm up in unison I thought that was so cool. This was by far my favorite match of the night.
I was very happy with the main event. Also I thought Rey earlier in the evening during his interview finally showed some life in him. Since he’s returned from his surgery he just seems different not as energetic as he used to be with his actions. But last night he put a lot of emotion into his interview. Now as far as his in ring goes, he’s been doing a nice job. Now you put him up against Finlay for a rematch and you just know you are going to see a nice hard worked match. And that’s just what we got. While this was going on Batista the World Champion was sitting with JBL and Michael Cole to scout the talent in the ring. It was supposed to be the winner of the match would face Batista at Cyber Sunday. Well that’s when things kind of fell apart for me. We have this very good match going on and then we have a no decision because Mysterio and Finlay started brawling and they both knocked the ref down. Out of the blue the lights go off and Taker’s music hits and once the lights go back on there’s Taker in the middle of the ring and Finlay and Mysterio are down. And Smackdown ends with Taker motions for the belt, and Batista responds by holding the title up as to flaunt it at Taker.
My complaint about this was why have Taker and Kane tag team? And why have Finlay and Mysterio vie for the number one contender only to have both men taken out of the running? I felt terrible when Taker had to give up the belt back in the summer due to injury, but I just don’t get why he’s back in the title picture so soon. Especially when he’s not on Smackdown week after week. But that’s what we are getting for the next pay per view. So the two matches I just mentioned were my favorite matches of the night, but there was another match that I liked. That match would be Jesse and Festus vs. Conrad Carnes and Jay Adams. This was a lot of fun to watch. I don’t think I said anything about Jesse and Festus last week because I did my No Mercy predictions. So let me quickly say that I never thought much about all those long months of Jesse and Festus’s vignettes, but I am totally enjoying both of these guys since they showed up on Smackdown. This gimmick is working a lot better than I thought it would, and I like how Festus goes from being a big dope to becoming tough and changing his facial expressions once the bell rings to start the match. And what also makes these two guys fun to watch is that they both can wrestle, they do an extremely nice job in the ring. Two weeks in a row I have enjoyed watching Festus and Jesse.
I thought Jamie Noble and Vickie Guerrero had a nice little backstage skit. Last week I was very happy with Vickie’s toned down look and her interaction with Matt Hardy and MVP. And last night she did it again with Noble. Noble has been a breath of fresh air as far as bringing humor to Smackdown since his program with Hornswoggle. And last night he kept things going again when he was trying to get on Vickie’s good side by bragging about setting up Jimmy Wang Yang against Deuce. Vickie rewarded Noble by putting him in a match against Khali. Now Yang vs. Deuce was okay, but it was so short that it really didn’t make a dent on the show. And Khali vs. Noble was your basic squash. The opening match was Masters vs. Palumbo. It was a nice start to the show. I still can’t get into Chris Masters, however as much as I blasted Palumbo his in ring work as impressed me each week. The only match that really did nothing for me was Brett Major vs. Drew McIntyre. Okay so the match was blah, but I do like McIntyre’s look and I also like Dave Taylor accompanying McIntyre. McIntyre did a very short promo prior to the match about getting dual citizenship because he wants the fans to chant U.S.A. His promo came off pretty good and this guy definitely has possibilities.
Okay so maybe there were too many short matches that didn’t amount to much but with a strong main event and an excellent tag team match Smackdown came off like a winner. Before I forget I have to say I got a kick out of JBL working on the fans in hopes of getting them to vote for him for the referee job in the Batista vs. Undertaker match at Cyber Sunday. Of course his competition is Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin. And we all know that Austin is going to get the votes, and that’s what made JBL’s promo so good. As soon as he said Austin’s name the fans reacted with major pops. And while the fans were all for Austin, JBL smiled and acted like that ref job would be his. This was JBL at his best. Okay I will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday with my Raw thoughts. Raw this week will come from Birmingham, England. With Shawn Michaels now going against Randy Orton for the WWE title things should really start to pick up. I’m looking forward to Monday’s show.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
