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The Classifieds: Smackdown 29/08/08
Greetings all, My name is Joey Class from the punk rock n roll band The Senton Bombs (Soon to be supporting Amy ‘Lita‘ Dumas Luchagors in Scunthorpe on October 3rs, immediate plug – forgive me). Welcome to the Classifieds. I’ve been a wrestling fan as long as I can remember and long before I was rockin’ and rollin’ I was a successful amateur wrestler with the hopes of one day becoming a pro.
I’ve been visiting the Balrog’s Layer for about 3 years now and thoroughly enjoy the writing from the likes of Lee Vox, Linda Robin, Eddit T etc. In fact, it is these writers that have inspired me to take some time during the week to report and comment on the latest WWE shows.
I will break the shows down starting with the most important part – The matches, complete with a personal rating out of ten. Then I will cover the segments (interviews, promos), the positives and negatives from the show and then finally ‘The Score’, rating the show itself. Without further adieu, here is my first Classified on TBL reporting on Friday Night Smackdown (29/08/08).
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THE MATCHES
TRIPLE H (world champion) vs SHELTON BENJAMIN (US Champ)
This was a solid main event for a pretty solid show. Billed as a champion versus champion match and Benjamin did more than hold his own on a show where he was arguably the standout performer. Not only had he earlier delivered his Pay-Dirt finisher to both Jeff Hardy and MVP but he also had a short pre-recorded video before his intro (which now includes gold pyro and immediate indication the WWE is putting some stock in him, see Kofi Kingston) where he announced himself as the WWE’s biggest commodity. He got a lot of air-time and followed up with an impressive performance where he pushed the near invincible Game to the limit.
The two traded control as the match moved back and forth with the crowd increasing in volume throughout. Benjamin ferociously attacked Helmsley in the corners having to be pulled away by the referee on numerous occasions. Helsmley sold throughout and really put, the now heavily pushed, Benjamin over in what must have been 15 minutes plus of quality action.
After a decent sequence of moves – The ‘Not so’ Great Khali’s music hit and he appeared on the ramp distracting the Game, Not long enough to prevent him hitting Benjamin with a weak looking pedigree for the obvious 1-2-3. A good TV match which really gave ‘The Gold Standard’, Once seemingly a mid-carder for life, A memorable main event outing.
WINNER: TRIPLE H (By Pinfall)
RATING: 7/10
JEFF HARDY vs MVP
The feud continues and what a feud it is becoming. Even with Jeff’s lackluster mic skills the verbal confrontations have worked well but it’s the in-ring action which is really elevating this battle. Just as MVP did last year with Matt Hardy, he’s playing the antagonist to Jeff perfectly only this time there’s less humor and better physical contests.
This match was billed as the Summerslam re-match and in my opinion it surpassed the original Summerslam match by far. There was some good technical work at the beginning with both wrestlers showing good timing and execution. The spots came at the right times with a high impact senton off the apron to the outside from Jeff and an evil top-rope chop-block from MVP blocking Jeff’s whisper in the wind and flipping him awkwardly onto his neck. Likewise, the knees-up from MVP to block the swanton attempt looked nasty as well, as these two built towards an exciting finish.
As the conclusion neared, you truly got the feeling it could go either way but once Jeff connected with his build-up moves it became obvious that Hardy was going to win it – and he did with his patented Swanton Bomb followed by a clean 3-count.
His celebration lasted all of 5 seconds before he was flat-out again following Benjamin’s appearance. MVP joined Hardy flat-out on his back as Benjamin finished him too. This gives me the impression that after Triple H retains at Unforgiven, we’ll be treated to some highly entertaining triple threat bouts for the US title. These 3 would give the title some real importance and competition that can only be good for Friday nights.
WINNER: JEFF HARDY (By Pinfall)
RATING: 8/10
R TRUTH vs KENNY DYKSTRA
The debut of R Truth, AKA Ron Killings, FKA K-Kwik.
Why the WWE insists on putting a letter in front of whatever name he’s using I don’t know because Ron Killings sounds like a pretty cool name to me. However, the R Truth gimmick seems like it will work. The honest, up-from-the-streets character, reminiscent of Ahmed Johnson, suits Killings and his highly acrobatic in-ring repertoire is a great addition to the Smackdown roster and he’ll no doubt be hit with the younger audience.
Following a well-put together vignette, Truth appears doing some of the worst dancing I’ve ever seen. Lukewarm reaction from the crowd, mostly down to the embarrassing foot-work and head-bobbing they were witnessing.
I couldn’t help but laugh when Kenny Dykstra came out and started complaining. Dykstra started out in the WWE getting his ass handed to him weekly by D-X whilst performing as a male Cheerleader in the truly awful Spirit Squad where as R Truth appears has been a built-up baby face and is instantly credible. Kenny labelled him a convict and claimed he doesn’t understand why the company puts stock in people like Truth.
This was a nice build for the match and though fairly brief, the action was good on the whole. Some innovative offense showed what Truth is capable of and Kenny worked well with him. I doubt this is going to turn into a feud because although it wasn’t a squash, R Truth dealt with Kenny pretty quickly and convincingly.
A flying elbow where Truth must have rotated 3/4 times – looked amazing, Finishing with a modified Booker T axe kick.
WINNER: R TRUTH (By Pinfall)
RATING: 5/10
MICHELLE McCOOL & MARIA vs MARYSE & NATTIE NEIDHART
After Maryse claimed that McCool’s women’s title would look better on her, which I happen to agree with, in that lovely French-Canadian accent – you just knew these two were going to go at it ‘cat-fight’ style at some point in this match.
It wasn’t a long match, with a few moves here and there for each woman culminating in Maria eating a DDT from Maryse for the pin, strange how the Raw & Smackdown woman champions always lose in tag bouts.
McCool came in to check on Maria and we got our cat-fight as Maryse jumped back in the ring. A rough looking scrap was broken up when Nattalia leveled McCool and Maryse KO’d her with a forearm. Nice build for a women’s title feud but not much else going on here. Michelle McCool is quite over with the fans though and she seems to be doing a good job with the new belt.
WINNERS: MARYSE & NATTALIA NEIDHART (By Pinfall)
RATING: 4/10
VICTORIA vs BRIE BELLA
Who thinks of these Diva names?
Kelly Kelly, Cherry, Brie Bella?
Anyway, a zero-hype debut for Miss Bella wasn’t much to talk about. Victoria was delivering some stiff kicks and a nasty looking back-breaker, Brie countered with some handy looking snapmares before she cowardly tried to hide under the ring. The ever-vocal Victoria pulled her out and threw her back in. The crowd was flat and if you looked closely you could see many fans silently mouth the words “small package” because it seemed ultimately obvious that was the way this one was going.
Brie Bella picked up the cheap debut pinfall and then stood looking pretty… well… pretty hapless at the bottom of the ramp, flicking her hair and jumping up and down.
WINNER: BRIE BELLA (By Pinfall)
RATING: 2/10
JESSE & FESTUS vs HAWKINS & RYDER (Tag Champions)
This one was a non-starter really. Good reaction for Jesse & Festus during their intro. The bell rung and Festus transformed, well really he just stopped putting his tongue on his bottom lip but we can suspend our disbelief. The tag champs took a couple of bumps before the Big Shows music hit.
He headed down and cleaned house causing a DQ victory for the champs. Festus didn’t take on Show because he’d reverted to his oblivious face when the bell hit for the DQ.
Big Show deliver a laid back yet meaningful promo stating that he is being overlooked and that Vickie Guererro will NOT overlook him again. Since carrying Mayweather to a credible bout at Mania, Show has been floating between Smackdown and ECW doing nothing really. He’s not in any of the Championship scrambles and doesn’t look to be heading in any direction even though his new smiling, relaxed character seems popular. Interesting to see what will happen from here on.
WINNERS: HAWKINS & RYDER (By Disqualification)
RATING: 1/10
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THE SEGMENTS
TAKER – VICKIE
The show opened with Undertaker making his slow journey to the ring and informing the crowd that he is not the forgiving kind and Vickie Guererro was going to burn in hell. La Familia was watching this backstage with Bam and Chavo selling Takers promo with terrified facial expressions. They all left, leaving Vickie locked in her office which was very family-like of them. Why someone didn’t go and let her out when they could see she was hysterical on the titantron I don’t know.
Throughout the show we continue to see Vickie shaking, throwing the dead-phone against the wall and at the very, very end of the show the lights go out and she screams and shrieks like she is being violated. Scary!
MARYSE – McCOOL
Whilst McCool was posing for photos with the belt when Maryse approached and told her the belt would look better on her, as mentioned earlier. McCool informed her that although she ‘looked’ like a diva, she was missing one of the main criteria to be champ – Talent. Maryse touched the belt and McCool got defensive, this was a decent transition into the following match.
THE INTERVIEWS/PROMOS
Kenny Dysktra’s promo was my personal favourite as you could tell he probably meant the majority of it. Whether this mic-time means they’re going to start using him more often is debatable but he sounded confident and self-assured in the time he had.
‘The’ Brian Kendrick continued to impress with his cocksure backstage interview detailing the ‘art of war’ book he is currently reading. He made the fair comment that the competitors of the scramble are risking injury by competing and he was happy to sit in the back and read with big Zeke. JR’s call that he’s similar to Pillman is on the money, he’s got a bit of crazy ‘Loose Cannon’ gaze going on. It works.
Big Show’s interruption of the tag match was noted earlier. My guess is that Show is going to start ruining matches until he starts getting the upper-card matches he’s used to, in storyline of course. Bizarre the way he’s been used since the return.
Jeff Hardy’s interview with Eve was typical of Jeff. He got a loud pop and started talking before it had faded so we missed the first couple of lines. He promised to leave MVP flat on his back with his ego and attitude – and he did just that.
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THE POSITIVES
1) Hardy – MVP is really moving up a gear and as they’re both in the Championship Scramble though it may be their rivalry that costs them the title but for the most part – this is an entertaining feud solidified by the match of the night.
2) Shelton Benjamin’s push. From the days of Team Angle through his various storylines to his current US Title reign, there has never been any doubting Benjamin’s athleticism and wrestling prowess. It’s his personality that he’s struggled to get over. Now, as an arrogant, grinning, cat marking his territory (as JR also called) he seems to have found his rhythm and a decent main event outing with The Game only further established that.
3) The debut of R Truth. Solid opening match from a wrestler who, if given the chance, could very well rise through the ranks and hold down the upper mid-card with the likes of MVP, Jeff Hardy and Benjamin. Some potentially great feuds on the horizon.
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THE NEGATIVES
1) Triple H – Great Khali. Do any of us want to see anymore of this feud?
After their abysmal outing at Summerslam, must we endure further?
Khali is not going to be getting another run as champ, at least not in the near future. I’m not a fan of Triple H, not due to politics or him being the Tony Soprano of the locker room, more down to the fact that I sometimes find him quite average in the ring and although he can have a good match with most people – He struggled with Khali and will continue to do so. Please – No more Khali-Game.
2) Edge & Kennedy M.I.A. Edge currently having a well deserved break and Kennedy injured(?). These two are very charismatic and if featured on the show alongside Taker, Triple H, Hardy etc – would make Smackdown truly star-studded. It is a negative that they’re not currently featured although it does allow the new blood and younger talent time to shine.
3) This was a tough one. I was going to go with Brie Bella but that’d be a little unfair. I’m going to go with Taz saying ‘Fustrated’ throughout the Hardy-MVP match. There is an ‘R’ in Frustrated Taz. Also it’s either cooking on gas or firing on all cylinders –not- Cooking on cylinders. This from the guy who rips Adamle.
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THE SCORE
Match of the Night: JEFF HARDY vs MVP
Star of the Show: SHELTON BENJAMIN
Smackdown rating: 6.5/10
Overall it was a decent show that I enjoyed watching whilst getting over an evil red-wine hangover. There was enough build-up to keep me excited for Unforgiven and although I am essentially a Raw-man, there was enough to convince me that Smackdown is worth a watch since the whirlwind-like draft.
Cheers for taking the time to check this out. It’s my first report so I can only aim to improve. If you want to drop me some feedback, questions, suggestions then you can contact me at: roguestyle@hotmail.co.uk
If you’d like to check out The Senton Bombs you can find us at: www.myspace.com/thesentonbombs
Have you’re all having a good week,
I’ll be back soon with thoughts on Raw and Unforgiven,
Joey
