WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 23rd May 2008

Smackdown

After an ok Raw this week I can’t say I was expecting much from the Smackdown crew. With only two Smackdown’s before One Night Stand though they needed to pull their fingers out.

Good Points

Solid Opening

With the first show after a Pay Per View I always feel that it is best to start with a segment which sets the wheels in motion for the next main event and this was they did. Edge and Vickie Guerrero came to the top of the ramp to announce that Edge would be facing The Undertaker at ONS in a TLC match which is great idea as the World heavyweight title has never been contested for in this manner and Edge has a good history in these matches.

Nice ending

They ended the show well with Chavo going up against the Undertaker. This was seen as punishment for Chavo but the family and his bodyguard came down to the ring to make it an interesting main event which made The Undertaker look strong as he still managed to pick up the win.

Bad Points

Everything in the middle

If something goes right on Smackdown it is usually the beginning and the end but if they want the fans to keep watching until the end they need to sort out the middle. In this day and age and on an entertainment TV station just trying to do a wrestling show doesn’t work you need backstage segments, strong storylines and to give characters time on the mic everything which Smackdown is light on.

Links with ECW

It seems that on the whole Smackdown does more work to link with ECW. The problem is now they are not just bring ECW wrestlers on to the show but thy are now carrying ECW storylines across to ECW. For those fans that don’t watch ECW it just becomes confusing.

Weak storyline of the week award

Goes to Smackdown this week. Teddy Long was a guest on the VIP Lounge and after being berated by MVP Batista came to leap to his defence to set up a match between MVP and batista for later in the show. Now MVP and Batista hav no major history together, Batista and Teddy Long have no real history and Batista is in the midst of a programme with Shawn Michaels. Great logic WWE creative team.

Overall

As expected not really much going on this week. They’ve got the wrestlers to entertain but until they get better writers and a better grip on what the brand should b then Smackdown will always be referred to as throw away TV.