WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 22nd August 2008

Fter Raw was a bit of a mess I hope the Smackdown brand could do a good job with their first show since the PPV. Would the Undertaker appear? Who will be HHH’s next challenger? And is it the last we have seen of Edge?

Good Points

The Undertaker speaks

Was great to see The Undertaker rock up at the end of Smackdown after being promoted heavily during the show. The two lines Undertaker delivered were awesome and showed everyone else that it’s not about how much mic time you have when you deliver like he does. After getting his revenge on Edge Undertaker also got the chance to get revenge on the family as he left them lying in the ring to end the show.

Use of Big Show

Big Show was overlooked for the qualifying matches to see who would be involved in the title match at Unforgiven. He played the angle well having words with Vickie and then clearing house during a ten man battle royal that he wasn’t even a part of. I just hope they put him in a programme with Taker as both don’t yet have a match for Unforgiven.

Nice Unforgiven Promo

Really like the promo vid for Unforgiven. A real push for Batista as he alludes to thing he has done in his life for which he will be unforgiven.

Bad Points

Copying Raw

Smackdown will have the same title match as Raw for Unforgiven that being the 5 man scramble. There were some interesting inclusions in the match with The Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin, MVP and Jeff Hardy all getting a chance to take HHH’s belt. It doesn’t look as good as the Raw five man but am happy MVP is getting the push. The match was announced with little fanfare as if the fans already knew what the main event was going to be. If you truly want to build two brands then you need to act as if the fans only watch your show and not the other.

Use of Kenny Dykstra

Now I like Kenny I think he has some potential but he is being pushed in a stupid way. First they bring him back to be squashed in a title match by HHH with no build and then on this week’s Smackdown he had to interrupt HHH’s in ring promo just to get pedigree’d right away. It’s good to see him around the main segments but it is doing him no good in the long run.

Overall

More good than bad which is more that can be said for Raw. The one thing Smackdown needs to do is develop another strong mid card talent. Benjamin Kendrick and Hardy are good wrestlers but not the best on the mic. With it being a five man main event for Unforgiven I can only see Smackdown putting two matches worth seeing in to Unforgiven that being the five man and an Undertaker match as there is no other real talent or feud which you would pay to see.

Wrestlemania: My Thoughts So Far

As we are now under four weeks away from the “Granddaddy of them all” I thought it was time to give you my thoughts on the way it is shaping up match by match.

Here are my thoughts on the confirmed matches so far and what the WWE could do with them:

Inter-Promotional match – Umaga (Raw) vs. Batista (Smackdown)

I can’t say that I am all that excited about this match because there is now back story to it and the only back story can be made in the next few weeks. These two guys have never feuded before and have no logical reason to fight each other. Last year at Wrestlemania Umaga had a prime match which was given a storyline thanks to the McMahon / Trump feud as there was no real feud between Umaga and his opponent Bobby Lashley. This is also a step down for Batista who last year lost out in his championship defence against the Undertaker. The way Batista has been pushed over the last few years it would make no sense for him to lose the match unless they were planning a Umaga / Batista long term feud.

Money in the Bank

After two great annual ‘Money in the Bank’ matches I didn’t rate last year’s that much. I think this year it will be much better as you have two guys who would make sense to come out as winners. First off is Kennedy, although not my pick the way they have been building him on raw recently it would be a knock to his character for him to come up short. Kennedy is a main eventer in waiting but after his win in this match last year I think winning this match could also damage his standing as it would prove his career is going round in circles. I think from a storyline point of view it would make sense for Jeff Hardy to win and then cash in his slot against Edge on Smackdown where he has a ready made back story thanks to his Brother’s feud with Edge and it would be a good chance experiment with him as champion on Smackdown to see if he is ready to be a regular Raw main eventer.

Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather

The build up for this has been great as they have made many non or casual wrestling fans that now think this feud is for real in real life. In wresting any match that is pre-advertised will always been a work regardless of how much they make it look like a shoot. Due to the size difference and Floyd’s lack of ring experience I don’t see this being an exciting match by any means but that’s not its job on the card. This match is designed to get non wrestling fans to buy the PPV and it will be the other matches and wrestlers which they will get entertained by. With Floyd’s ego I am sure they have booked him to win against the big Show in this David vs. Goliath attraction.


Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels – Retirement match

Last year Ric came out and said he wanted to end his career with a main event match at Wrestlemania after not making the televised card of Wrestlemania 23. When he said this most including myself thought he was crazy and that his ego had got the better of him and not many people could see this happening after he wenton a brief hiatus from our screens. However it may not be a main event but he has has got his Wrestlemania wish. In all fairness I have enjoyed Ric’s run since it was announced that as soon as he lost a match he would be fired. It would be one of wrestling’s great swerves if Ric did beat HBK but for his character I think it is only fitting that he bows out at Wrestlemania. I just hope that the match will be a fitting send off for him.


Edge vs Undertaker

This is a great feud between a young brash fast talker against a member of the old guard who lets his actions speak louder than words. Although last year Batista and Undertaker surprised me with their title fight last year with how good it was I think this match could be even better. Some of Undertaker’s greatest matches of the modern era in my opinion have been his bouts against Shawn Michaels and I think Undertaker is great at working with people that are smaller and that have great athleticism. I would like Edge to win as it would push him and solidify him and his position of champion however with Undertaker’s backstage power and his Wrestlemania record I think it would be a brave move for the creative team to book an Edge win. I want to see this and I think it makes more sense but I am not holding my breath.

Randy Orton vs. HHH vs. John Cena

It has been a couple of years since we last had a triple threat title match at mania and a couple of years since HHH last headlined so I am looking forward to this one. If it was anywhere near as good as the triple threat title match from Wrestlemania 20 I will be happy. Now from a booking point of view it is quite interesting what they could do with this one. If the WWE are playing safe they will put the belt back on Cena as he is supposedly their most popular star. With the push they have been giving him and his rush back from surgery it would make for him to win. However it has been a long time since HHH was champion so I think viewing ratings would go up with HHH as champion. The reason HHH has been away from the title is because he is part of the booking team and it is an unwritten law that when you are booking you don’t book yourself on top but I don’t think anyone would begrudge HHH a title run. The only thing left off Orton’s resume is a win in a world title fight at Wrestlemania but I think the WWE are going to commit to a change of direction on Raw after mania as Orton has now had the belt for some months.

Still to be scheduled

There is still some space on the card to be filled so here are some other matches I think may happen. It has been reported that Matt Hardy is back after a recent appearance at a WWE live event so I would expect to see him re-ignite his feud with MVP for the US championship. With the poor state of the tag division I’m not sure if it is worth putting a match on the card if anything I would do a Raw Champions vs Smackdown Champions match. On top of this there will be a match in the storyline between JBL / McMahon / Hornswoggle and there might be an ECW title match.

Rumours

There are always a lot of rumours around Wrestlemania time some prove to be true but most don’t. Rumour is at the moment is that the Rock could make an appearance. He is going to be at the Hall of Fame inductions the night before and recently John Cena has badmouthed the Rock in the press to throw further fire on this rumour.

Overall

I am looking forward to Mania after a spate of disappointing Mania’s I think there are enough good quality wrestling matches and enough points of interest and possible entertaining moments to make this a memorable event.