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Dark match — Jimmy Wang Yang vs Tyson Kidd — Crowd was really into Wang I guess because it was the first match and it’s the South. Big pop when he came out and big pop when he picked up the win. Tyson Kidd didn’t get much of a reaction at all.
ECW taping
John Morrison vs Evan Bourne — Best match of the night. John Morrison got a face pop and a sympathetic reaction when he was looking at the titantron of what happened on RAW. But crowd abandoned him when Bourne came out and was solidly behind him. People in my section really wanted to see the shooting star press. Was slow for a bit but got to where the crowd was into every near finish. Crowd was kind of lukewarm to the finish, seemed to not mind Morrison winning but would rather Bourne.
Vladimir Kozlov vs local guy — Crowd booed Kozlov. Short squash. Not worth mentioning, really.
Jack Swagger suggested a Q&A with himself on Superstars. Tiffany turns down the offer but schedules the finals of the ECW #1 contender chase at Superstars. She ended it by strangely teasing that she liked Swagger which brought catcalls from the crowd. This was weird.
Finlay vs Christian vs Tommy Dreamer in the second round of the No. 1 contender chase — Finlay and Christian got big pops, particularly Finlay. Tommy Dreamer got a mostly apathetic reaction, though a few sympathetic, lukewarm cheers rose up. He kept trying to appeal to the crowd though and the crowd didn’t really care. Match was long, especially compared to the short Finlay vs Christian match later, but good. Finish with the Celtic Cross Finlay on Dreamer with Christian tangled in the ropes.
Superstars taping
Shane McMahon vs Cody Rhodes — The crowd went nuts when Shane showed up. He got one of the biggest reactions of the night, and the crowd was really behind him. Match went longer than necessary, most likely. Shane got DQ’d when he went to set up the coast to coast with the trash can. Crowd went crazy for the coast to coast.
Finlay vs Christian — Short match. Christian hitting the unprettier on Finlay seemed abrupt, and it looked like Finlay would kick out considering how long Christian took to pin, but he didn’t.
Smackdown taping
Big Show vs Jeff Hardy — As soon as Big Show came out, we knew the draft was getting ignored tonight. Crowd was way into Jeff Hardy, who got one of the biggest reactions of the night. But the crowd stayed heavily into him as well. Several HARDY!! chants throughout. Typical long and boring Big Show match. It was saved by Matt Hardy coming out at the end. Matt tried to mess up Jeff but mostly failed. Jeff botched a whisper in the wind on Big Show and then try to go for it again, but this time Big Show failed to catch him. So two botches in a row. Immediately after the second botch, Big Show hit the KO PUNCH~! and it was over. Matt Hardy did a bunch of legdrops on Jeff after, and since it was on Jeff, Matt got major heat. Not really convinced that it would have been this level of heat if it wasn’t Jeff. But Matt’s crazy expressions and taunts definitely helped ignite the crowd.
Khali came out and his manager said he couldn’t wait until he got to kiss Santina next week. Crowd laughed at Raw recap and seemed to want Santina to come out but it didn’t happen. Local girl from the crowd kissed Khali. Probably went too long but crowd liked it because it was a local girl.
Gail Kim vs Maryse in a non-title match — Maryse was in good form tonight. She was tremendously goofy with every expression and taunt. Crowd did not care at all, especially for Gail Kim.
John Morrison vs R-Truth — Morrison didn’t get the same reaction as he did earlier in the night. Short match and did not compare to his match with Bourne. Crowd liked R-Truth’s entrance. I don’t know why. Morrison hitting the moonlight drive seemed too soon.
HHH vs Orton face-off. Crowd got into Triple H’s entrance and Orton’s as well but turned on Orton when they saw he wasn’t coming out. Orton talked for a long while, and it was mostly boring. These build-ups to Raw seem so awkward when you’re at a live event. It’s like they don’t care. But the street fight that Teddy Long announced off-air for the WWE Championship between the two redeemed them.
Undertaker vs Benjamin — Crowd popped when a graphic appeared right before the match that Taker would be in action. Crowd was into Taker’s entrance. It wasn’t as dark as you would think from seeing it on TV. This was a good match but not as good as their previous matches. Could have went longer too. They had a botch when Benjamin leaped to the top rope (in one jump) and Taker was to catch him for the chokeslam. He failed. But, like Show/Jeff, they just tried again and it worked the second time. Later Benjamin went for the tombstone but Taker reversed it. Crowd went nuts when Taker gestured with the crowd afterwards in the ring and on the ramp.
Teddy Long talked with MVP backstage. They also let slip that Dolph is going to Smackdown because Teddy said something to the effect of “Welcome to Smackdown, playa!” Teddy said he could help MVP meet someone from The View. Yawn. Crowd didn’t care.
Dolph Ziggler vs MVP — MVP got a moderate reaction but not compared to a lot of people on this show when he came out. Ziggler got no reaction. It was the worst of the night. Even Gail Kim and Maryse got more of a reaction. After the match, Ziggler got on the mic and said, “Now I have your attention,” and he got a moderate reaction from that, though. Match was OK, and Ziggler was good on the mic. Stunned that he beat the US champ here, though. I guess they are doing something with Ziggler suddenly? He probably needs promo time and to stop being a comedy character for this to work.
Batista vs Ted Dibiase — Batista’s fireworks are LOUD~! Crowd liked Batista and welcomed him back. Dibiase got not much of a reaction. Match was slow paced, and Batista CANNOT SELL. He practically did not move after Dibiase hit him. But Dibiase worked the legs for awhile and had some good ring psychology here. Batista won with the Batista Bomb, capping a match that would be a lame TV main event. Thank goodness the crowd wasn’t sent home with this. So now both Dibiase and Rhodes have been buried by the Triple H team tonight. Time to finish it off.
Dark match
Triple H vs Randy Orton in a Street Fight for the WWE Championship — I guess a street fight means you use like three weapons? That was the main difference between this match and a regular match. They didn’t fight outside all that much or go on the ramp or into the crowd. Very slow-paced match. Not as good as their WrestleMania match, and I didn’t even like that. But you have to give props to how they worked the crowd. Triple H teased hitting Orton with a trash can and crowd said no and he dropped it. He did the same for a chair. Then he picked up his trademark sledgehammer and went for the hit. Orton countered. Then he went for the punt and missed. Triple H hit him with the sledgehammer and pedigreed him for the win. After the match when Triple H left, Orton lingered and put his hands on the sledgehammer, burying his hands in his face. He then slowly walked away from the ring. He kept looking back at the strategically placed sledgehammer. Orton is so good at theater. This was a great finish, allowing the crowd to pile up into the front row and get some epic shots of him staring at the camera too.
Overall a great experience and a great wrestling-filled night, but I would have liked to have seen Edge, Chris Jericho or CM Punk tonight. You know, the Smackdown superstars.
