Before I get into my column, I want send my condolences to the friends, and family of Killer Kowalski. He passed away early Saturday morning. I knew of Kowalski way before I ever started watching wrestling. This man was a legend. If you check the sites you will find JR, Frankie Kazarian, WWE.com and others have posted their thoughts on Killer Kowalski. Okay, now onto this week’s Smackdown. When I read the Smackdown spoilers Tuesday I have to admit I wasn’t expecting too much. The spoilers that I checked out made the sow sound rather weak. Whoever sent them didn’t put the show over very well. I’m happy to say that the show came off so much better than that report, but then again that was his opinion and that’s how this fan saw the show. No it wasn’t an outstanding show, but there were two hot matches and some other highlights, which made Smackdown a very solid show. Let me start off with my complaints first, hey it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have something to complain about. But I’ll start out with the things I wasn’t crazy about and then the highlights of the show.
I said this last week but Smackdown is definitely missing its top heel Edge. With Edge out and not with Vickie anymore, Vickie’s character is really taking a hit. Most of you know that I have loved watching Vickie and Edge team up, and Vickie during all this time has done a hell of a job as the top bitch of Smackdown. But without Edge in the picture creative has let Vickie down and her character is going nowhere. Now Vickie was fine during the opening. We saw the Undertaker cut a promo on Vickie and it was a good promo. Taker said what needed to be said and that was it. He made it PERFECTLY clear that he wasn’t forgiving her for suspending him and that he was taking her soul and that she will burn in hell. I think Taker made his point, because as he was saying all of this Vickie, Chavo, Bam Neely, Hawkins and Ryder watched backstage and looked terrified. In fact they were all so terrified that everyone ditched Vickie as she continued to watch on TV. This was a nice way to get the show going and here Vickie was fine.
But it was throughout the show that we got a scared, paranoid Vickie, and while I understand Vickie being scared out her mind, we no longer have the conniving dominant GM, she’s now limited to screaming, and fearing Taker. With her “power” I don’t get why she doesn’t just fire Taker and get him out of her life. I really hate the way Vickie is being used lately. I think Vickie has shown us so much since she teamed up with Edge last November and I really wish they would get her back to the way she was because she gets some of the best heat which just makes her character even stronger. The only other segment that I wasn’t into was the women’s tag team match. I hate repeating myself but again Natalya is just there, I don’t think a push is in her future. And having Maryse and Maria wrestling each week just shows that the women’s division that looked promising a few months ago is going downhill fast. The match wasn’t bad, but I had a hard time really getting into it. Other than what I have mentioned the rest of Smackdown was quite enjoyable.
R Truth had another very solid vignette and his match against Kenny Dykstra came off okay. Today I saw where they edited this one because live it had a LOT of flaws. Well at least on TV it didn’t look bad at all. It wasn’t great, but it was a decent debut for R.Truth. I have to give it to Jeff Hardy. I really liked the way he came off when Eve was interviewing him. He seemed totally into what he had to say and I think the more we hear Jeff Hardy on the mic the more improved he comes off. And Hardy vs. MVP followed and this was one of the top matches of the night. I liked this one so much better than their match at Summer Slam. I was thrilled that Hardy and MVP were given a 20-minute match; they certainly used the time wisely. This was a fantastic match and I love having Jeff Hardy on Smackdown he brings so much to the shows.
I was so relieved that we didn’t get the Jesse and Festus vs. Hawkins and Ryder match. Hey we have seen it way too many times. Throwing Big Show in there to take out his frustrations played out very well. He’s still keeping that easygoing attitude, yet kicking ass because Vickie didn’t put him in the Championship Scramble qualifying match. The Big Show isn’t going to let that “oversight” pass. I liked the way Big Show was used during this segment very much. Okay so now we have a new diva, Brie Bella making her first appearance against Victoria. I can’t say that I loved what went on here, but you know me I’m very open minded (I wish) that I am willing to give this new diva more time, I want to see more of her wrestling, and I want to see if she can cut it on the mic. I kind of hate when they bring someone new out and they don’t introduce them or make a big deal about them; they just toss them out and expect the fans to get into them. That doesn’t always work.
KUDOS to The Brian Kendrick. Man I loved his backstage promo. This was one time when his character REALLY worked for me. I also liked Ezekiel in the background reading a book. And even though he seemed to be concentrating on that book, he was able to answer a question that Kendrick asked him. This guy Ezekiel is one hell of a character and put him with Kendrick and it all clicks, especially last night. And finally the match of the night and the match that got ripped by the fan that posted the spoilers was the main event with Shelton Benjamin vs. Triple H. I was under the impression that this match was bland and the fans were bored by it. Well this match was excellent. Triple H and Benjamin worked their Asses off and yes the Pittsburgh fans were rather quiet most of the night and at times during this match, but they still came up with Triple H chants on and off. Watching this match brought back some great memoires from a few years ago. I remember these two guys putting on a few five star matches on Raw and that’s just what they gave us last night. What a great main event, and it was a pleasure and nice change of pace to see a match like this end Smackdown instead of getting another non-wrestling segment. And even though I don’t want to see another Triple H vs. Khali match, I totally understood why Khali came out and destroyed Hunter. It was payback for the chair shot to his head last week. I’m just wondering if Khali will cost Hunter the title at Unforgiven. No matter if he does or not I liked Khali coming out on top last night.
I think WWE put on good shows this week, and with one show left from each brand before next week’s pay per view I can only hope that we get even better shows starting with Monday’s Raw. By the way, Smackdown and Raw will be taped tomorrow in St. Louis. And ECW was taped last week. I guess since its labor day on Monday they are giving the wrestlers and crew the week off. So of course it means spoilers, and of course I will be here waiting to read them as they come up. Look for me on Wednesday with my Raw thoughts. I won’t be around on Tuesday, so just like this past week I’ll be a day late with my column. The website forum TheWrestlingAsylum.com has recently just re-opened after some severe technical difficulties. If you’ve ever wanted to join an online community and be part of a wrestling forum, now’s the time to jump in. TWA is an acclaimed wrestling forum that has some of the best wrestling discussions out there in addition to many interactive features such as our matches of the week, wrestling pool, et cetera. Currently, TWA is holding an interactive feature where members will vote on their favorite wrestlers of all time and in the end, TWA will count down the top 100. People who participate in this contest will receive a free DVD-R of some famous matches of the top 10 or 20 wrestlers on the list. In addition to all of this, TWA also has a very active Off Topic section of the site for random discussion, movies, music, graphics, and of course, TWA has an ever-growing multimedia section on all wrestling and all other media as well. TheWrestlingAsylum.com is just waiting for you to make its mark on it, so why not join up today.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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