WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 18th April 2008

It was time for the second TV show in a week from the UK as Smackdown like raw came to us from the O2 Arena in London. After a terrible show last week I wasn’t expecting much from this one.

Good Points

Use of Chris Jericho

Ok he may have been mishandled since his return and he may have been bumped in to a non wrestling role as special guest referee for the HBK / Batista match but he is running with it. He is getting good TV time with his Highlight Reel becoming a semi regular segment of Raw and Smackdown. Twice in the space of one week Jericho was left laying as he has now been on the receiving end of both HBK and Batista’s finishers.

Big win for Hornswoggle

Hornswoggle has to go down as the most successful midget in WWE history. After being pushed in to major storylines the fans have really taken to him and this week he registered a big win against Matt Striker.

Using all the big guys in one match.

As you know I’m not a fan of Khali or Mark Henry but the way in which WWE are using those two and Big Show all in the same segment of Smackdown is good to see as it’s not wasting other precious segments and to his credit Big Show is making his feud with Khali a little bit interesting.

Bad Points

No Edge again

For the third week running Edge didn’t have any in ring action which is crazy. After seeing him perform on a house show this week I know he isn’t injured and with backlash just round the corner he needs to be in the ring. This week his involvement was saved to a crazy ending segment.

No Natalya

After two weeks of involvement for the latest WWE Diva Natalya Neidhart she was nowhere to be seen this week. This seems to be the WWE pattern this year with new guys is to use them for a couple of weeks in throw away segment and then not use them for a few weeks.

Crazy ending segment

With a strong main event booked as Batista vs. Undertaker I was really looking forward to seeing these two guys go at it again. They had a nice little match when at the end all hell broke lose with Edge and his team of cronies interfering in the match to make it a no contest. Undertaker and Batista cleaned house to leave a good ending to Smackdown as Edge and his cronies scampered back up the aisle. Instead thy ruined this moment with Vickie Guerrero coming out to announce that next week ordering a title rematch with the winner facing Edge at Backlash. Ending the show on an announcement leaves the audience flat instead of excited which they should be. Add to this it was the most stupid announcement anyway as we already knew Edge was going to be facing the champ at Backlash.

Overall

Again another week goes by of terrible TV. I think I enjoyed the Smackdown House Show I saw more than this.