WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th March 2009

After some good segments on Raw I was hoping that Smackdown could do its job to entertain and further the storylines ready for raw next week.

Good Points

Michaels shows he isn’t afraid of The Undertaker

The ending to Smackdown was great this week. We had an Undertaker style entrance with druids coming out and smoke filling up the arena but when the character we thought was the Taker came in to the ring in a white version of the Taker’s outfit it was HBK that revealed himself from under the hat. HBK proceeded to quote the bible before The Undertaker appeared from below the ring pushing his way up through the canvas to try and get to HBK before HBK could run for safety. I can’t wait for this match at Mania.

Gail Kim returns

Was great to see the return of Gail Kim to the WWE as she interrupted the Divas title match between Michelle McCool and Maryse leaving them both lying and holding the title aloft. Gail is now my pick for the Miss Wrestlemania match.

Bad Points

Still not pushing the Hardy feud right

This week we saw a pre-recorded video from them both and we saw Matt Hardy in a match. Both videos could have been so much better Matt just tried to be cocky and a bit weird and we had one of these arty, dark sets for Jeff’s interview reminiscent of what they were doing with him last year. They need them both in the same place at the same time to build this feud.

Money in the Bank

Instead of developing intriguing feuds between some of the competitors the WWE keep putting them all in a match together. Looking around I think this could be the weakest MITB match in its short history.

Push for title matches

This week we had neither champion on the show. Big Show was left to compete against Jesse and Festus whilst Cena and Big show also provided a comedy moment in the ring. This isn’t good enough for less than two weeks before Mania.

Overall

Undertaker and HBK stole the show but besides from that there was hardly any storyline development going on which is crazy considering Mania is just around the corner.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th March 2009

After an ok episode of Raw it was time to see if Smackdown could deliver with their 500th episode as we now only have a fortnight to wait until the grand daddy of them all.

Good Points

Love Triangle

I’m loving this storyline on Smackdown at the moment it is playing out so well. This week we went back and forth between backstage segments involving Vickie, Edge and Big Show leading to our final segment which saw them all in the ring together. After Edge speared Big Show on the last show this week Edge accidentally speared Vickie after she had called for a truce.

Push for Taker

After being made to look a fool on Raw, Taker was rebuilt with a strong promo on HBK and a victory over JBL. HBK also got a very rare Smackdown outing winning his match against Kane. This match should be one of the undercard fights of the night.

MVP new US Champ

After months of having wasting away with his terrible losing streak angle finally MVP dug himself out of it and won the US Title. Ok the belt may not mean much these days but hopefully it is a sign of better things to come for him.

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

This week nothing has really been done to push what should be a heated feud and match between Jeff and Matt Hardy. This week Jeff won a throwaway match and Matt was nowhere to be seen.

Triple H reduced to a bit part player

HHH kicked the show off with a great promo which you thought would be a sign of things to come for later in the night but instead they had him compete in the first match against Kozlov and then after that wasn’t seen again.

Overall

Usual Smackdown trying to concentrate too heavily on one storyline which you can get away with for a small PPV but not for Mania. The love triangle may be great but Wrestlemania needs a whole four hours of great matches and storylines.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th March 2009

After an abysmal Raw I was hoping for better things from Smackdown and hoped they could end the week on a high.

Good Points

Pushing Brother vs. Brother for Wrestlemania

Was great how they continued to the build for these two. First we had Matt Hardy losing clean to MVP and getting embarrassed in his MITB qualifying match. Then Matt not being able to take losing then had to go and cost Jeff his MITB match getting Jeff disqualified by hitting his opponent Shelton Benjamin. They are building this at a nice pace and can’t wait to see next week.

Three Way for the title

After Raw’s announcement of Big Show being put in the main event against Edge at Mania thy followed it up with a clear sign that Cena was going to be added to the mix as he gate crashed the contract signing for the title match leaving them lying and then whispering in to Vickie’s ear. Was also good how now Edge is beginning not to trust Vickie.

Bad Points

Killing Orton and HHH

After Raw’s mess thy followed it up with a mess on Smackdown as after only a few days earlier both parties saying they weren’t going to hit each other Orton with the help of Legacy laid the beat on HHH. This helped nobody it made Raw look stupid and both of them look weak.

Lack of content

The only reason I have less to criticise Smackdown about is because it is so content light. Only four matches and only two major storylines developing there just really isn’t anything to talk about.

Overall

Better than Raw although that wasn’t hard. With the cross branding at the moment Smackdown could have so much more content and should have.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 27th February 2009

With Cena promising to turn up on Smackdown and the development of the Hardy Brother feud on paper we had what looked like a promising night of action ahead of us.

Good Points

Old storyline but with a twist

Now the brother feud storyline has been done before in the WWE like with Bret and Owen Hart. This time round it is the Hardy Brothers who are feuding and this week on Smackdown used the age old formula of having one brother wanting to fight the other but the other that being Jeff backing down from any confrontation. Of course Matt playing the heel is doing all he can to bait Jeff in to a fight but being a good guy Jeff will never fight his brother. Like I say this is old but the way that Jeff played at the end getting the fans to get on their feet to applaud his decision was something different. Normally the fans want to see the heel get taken down a peg or two so are annoyed when the face won’t fight so it’s a nice little twist.

Cena on Smackdown

Was great to see Cena on Smackdown after two years away from the show and he cut a nice little promo to kick off the show talking about how things have changed since he last was on the show. In typical cowardly heel fashion Edge won’t fight Cena but by using Vickie Guerrero as the one to block any match between the two it keeps Edge strong. In the main event we had Cena vs Big Show in which Edge distracted Cena so the Big Show could win but Cena still looked strong. This was good oslid booking by the creative team.

Bad Points

Giving away matches before Mania

Having Kozlov fight Undertaker when next week he is going to be on Raw fighting for the right to face Undertaker at Mania made no sense. With Kozlov picking up the win against Taker it now looks like it will be Kozlov vs Undertaker at Mania as now Taker has something to avenge.

Four matches is not enough

On a two hour show you should be getting in at least five matches, the matches were good and I enjoyed them but needed one more. Two matches continued on smackdown storylines that being the hunt for the US Title and the tag team feud between both tag champs but these are feuds which probably won’t even get a match at Mania. I thought it would have made more sense to have like on Raw a qualifying match for Money in the Bank.

Overall

Was a good show by Smackdown standards at least now with all the cross brand storylines it is helping the quality and big name draw power on Smackdown.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 20th February 2009

After all the developments from Raw it was now Smackdown’s turn to build their feuds for Mania.

Good Points

Jeff and Matt get ready to get it on at Mania

After a little lull in the Matt screwing Jeff storyline this week Edge was used as the decoy to push the feud. All show had been building the main event between Edge and Jeff after Jeff teased Edge about beating him in three minutes. After a solid main event Matt came down and got the match thrown out after he delivered a Twist of Fate to his brother and left him lying. The way they used Edge in this storyline makes me think he will on his way to Raw in the draft.

HHH shows the Smackdown crew about intensity

His pre-recorded interview with JR only lasted one question and a couple of minutes but HHH showed intensity on a crazy level which made the storyline fee believable. These two could tear the house down at Mania. The thing now is that with the level of intensity HHH has set they now need to maintain it five or six weeks.

Booking for next week

I liked how they started hyping matches for next week’s show on this episode of Smackdown the build also involved some hilarious segments which were filmed at the valentines date with The Miz, Morrison and The Bella Twins.

Bad Points

Kozlov in the Undertaker mix

On Raw both JBL and HBK were touting themselves as opponents for The Undertaker at Mania but this week Vickie said it was going to be Kozlov who gets the nod. All I can say is that I hope isn’t going to be Undertaker vs. Kozlov as rumours have it as Kozlov should be no where near Mania or no where near doing a programme with Undertaker. I think he needs to go to ECW.

Not much wrestling

Like Raw not much wrestling again this week with the only thing decent besides the main event being the US title feud match. To have only four matches in two hours is unacceptable to me as a wrestling fan.

Overall

Unlike Raw this show featured on two storylines and built them well which I found more interesting to watch than Raw’s scattergun approach. The only thing with the whole Orton / Stephanie thing is the fact that HHH is champion has been overlooked.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 13th February 2009

After Raw’s limp effort earlier in the week and with the poor use of Christian in his return on ECW this week I was hoping that Smackdown could do something to get me excited for No Way Out.

Good Points

Push for the chamber

Was great to see a whole show geared around the Elimination Chamber something that Raw should have been doing this week. The show started with Edge talking about the chamber and then Big Show telling him he wasn’t going to walk out of it with the title. Then we had HHH doing a backstage interview talking about his experience in chamber matches and the show ended with a Fatal Four Way featuring four of the combatants in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber which ended with Edge getting involved and causing the match to be thrown out.

Good Jeff Hardy promo

Was great to see Jeff back in the ring giving a promo verbalising what has been happening lately. He sent an emphatic message to Matt and the entire audience that he will be winning his title back.

Bad Points

No Matt Hardy

With the return of Jeff it would have been great to see Matt somewhere on the show to build that storyline. Also I would have put in the chamber with Jeff so they could have teased what their in ring feud may be like but not throw it away too quickly as there are so many other people in there.

No lower card match

Now I loved the time that was given to the chamber but there were three matches on the show which had no bearing on No Way Out. I think Smackdown could have done with having one undercard match as they have built a nice programme with Shelton Benjamin, Chavo Guerrero and MVP or another match could have been Carlito and Primo against Miz and Morrison so there were options there.

Overall

Best show of the week for WWE by far and it has got me excited for their chamber match as I could actually see Edge losing his title but on the Raw chamber I don’t think Cena is any danger of losing his belt.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 6th February 2009

With things really hotting up on Raw could Smackdown deliver this week? I missed last weeks episode so was looking forward to see what was happening in the Hardy storyline.

Good Points

Stacked main event

It was great to see such a stacked main event with Edge and Big Show going against HHH and The Undertaker. There was also a nice little twist with Big Show punching out his tag partner to let HHH and Undertaker pick up the win. It looks like they are building Big Show vs. Edge for Mania.

MVP back on the winning streak

After months of going on a losing streak MVP is back to winning ways. It looks like he is going to be pushed for the US title after beating Shelton in a non title match. Now I would have preferred for him to be given a bigger push and not just back to the US title but I am just happy to see him winning again.

Bad Points

Jeff gets another week off

Since becoming champion in December and then losing it Jeff has hardly stepped foot in to the ring. This week he was absent again and it was up to Hurricane Helms to stand up for Jeff and fight Matt only to come out on the losing end. This could be the biggest feud at Mania but at the moment all they seem to be doing is killing it.

Kozlov gets another push

Kozlov won himself a space in the Elimination Chamber and after stinking up one PPV main event match he has the chance to ruin another although at least this time there are five other people who can save it so it shouldn’t be that bad.

Overall

Smackdown desperately need an injection of talent and good storylines as at the moment it is a million miles away from Raw.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 23rd January 2009

With it being the last Smackdown before the Rumble it was time for the Smackdown crew to hype the Royal Rumble as much as possible but did they manage to get the fans excited about it.

Good Points

Edge doing his best

Edge is doing his best without the champion on the show to build their match at the Rumble with him still maintaining that he had nothing to do with all the incidents that have happened to Jeff Hardy. He then did the only thing he could do without Jeff there and that was wrestle his brother as Matt came to stand up for his brother.

Great Tag Team match

Was great to see both sets of tag champs Miz/Morrison and Carlito/Primo go at it. These two teams are the tag team division for the whole of the WWE and I wouldn’t mind seeing them go at it on a PPV.

Bad Points

Use of Jeff Hardy

Jeff hasn’t wrestled on Smackdown for age and has barely appeared in the arena. This week they did a pre-recorded interview with Jeff which I think would have made more sense to do in the ring. I know they are trying to do something different with Jeff but if the fans can’t see him they are not going to be able to get behind him.

The Triple H storyline

This week HHH ended up wrestling Kozlov and the Big Show in a handicap match after a streak of upsetting the odds he lost. However because there was no build up on the show for the match it had no heat whatsoever and had diddly squat to do with the PPV. Your last segment before a PPV should always be about promoting a match at the PPV which this show didn’t do.

Overall

Like Raw no promotion for the actual Rumble match itself but to add to it Smackdown have a poorly developed build for their title fight. My reckoning is that we may see the return of Christian at the Rumble as the man behind all these attacks to Hardy but we will have to wait and see.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 16th January 2009

I have recently been reading news on ratings success for Smackdown but as of late I have found the show has been some what lacking at times but as always I go in to every show with optimism that it can prove me wrong.

Good Points

Good build for Triple H

The creative team are building Triple H’s feud with Vickie quite well as she keeps setting obstacles that he has to overcome before he gets to the rumble. This week MVP had to fight for him in a last man standing match against the Big Show and if MVP lost Triple H would lose his spot at the Rumble. Expect more hurdles for Trip H to jump over next week.

Jack Swagger on Smackdown

A lot of internet wrestling fans are saying this guy is one to watch. After winning the ECW title this week he followed up with a tag appearance on Smackdown. Was hard to judge him in the match but I look forward to seeing him at the Rumble.

Bad Points

Weak card

I counted only four matches on the show and neither featured a Smackdown champion. On top of this the three main stars HHH, Edge and Jeff Hardy did not compete. If Smackdown wants to compete with raw it has to have the guys wrestling on a regular basis.

Stupid Jeff Hardy storyline

After the hotel and the hit and run this week the show went of air with Jeff Hardy getting caught with some misfiring pyrotechnics during his ring entrance and having to be stretchered to the back. The Jeff storyline is like car crash but in the wrong way. Storylines which try to push that it is real and when it involves the so called suffering or personal problems of someone it always ends up badly.

Overall

A poor show with only one good thing going for it. I don’t know whether the viewers are watching the same programme as me if the ratings are actually going up.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 19th December 2008

With 2008 drawing to end Smackdown couldn’t forget that tonight they needed to start building for Royal Rumble. With the Smackdown title match being the highlight of Armageddon would Smackdown continue this momentum in to their weekly TV shows.

Good Points

Jeff gets his moment

Was great to see Jeff being introduced to kick the show off with a huge pyro and confetti entrance as he got the chance to address the fans. It looks like they are building him vs. Edge for the Royal Rumble which will be a good new feud to kick off 2009 with.

Use of Matt Hardy

Great to see Smackdown weaving Matt Hardy in to the storyline of his brother as champion. Last week they had Matt Hardy and Edge disputing who was the one to beat up Jeff in the hotel and this week they had a one on one match on th show in where Edge got some revenge for his lost at Armageddon.

Bad Points

Hardly any HHH

HHH made an impact at the end of Smackdown by coming on to save Jeff from an attack from Edge and Kozlov but outside of those few minutes he was nowhere to be seen. With no good undercard feud at the moment on Smackdown they need HHH to start a feud to be the second main event.

No tag team scene

The tag belts on Smackdown are worthless. Not only are they not defends on PPV’s but they don’t ever seem to be defends on Smackdown these days, if you aren’t going to use the belts your only degrading them by not using them.

Overall

Smackdown have on great feud that could steel the show at the Rumble, but outside that they have nothing.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 12th December 2008

After a three hour special episode of Raw and with this being the last show before Armageddon it was Smackdown’s turn to put the last things in place before the PPV.

Good Points

Triple Threat feud

HHH and Jeff Hardy have built an intense feud over the last few months and have been holding Smackdown together. As Edge’s in ring work has been limited due to injury these two hav stepped up to the plate whilst the creative team have tried to keep Edge involved as much as possible. To have Hardy and HHH fight the main event in a knock down drag out affair before Edge speared them both causing the match to be thrown out was a great way to set up the PPV.

Hurricane Helms

Helms is looking great since his return and securing a non title win over Benjamin has really pushed him in to the mix. I think Helms will dominate the midcard at Smackdown given the chance.

Backstage love

Now to me weekly wrestling shows are suppose to be about entertainment so I liked the segment backstage where the Bella twins were talking to Primo and Carlito before The Brian Kendrink came in with his bodyguard which lead to a confrontation. You can’t every storyline being about I hate you there has to be a mix of things happening.

Bad Points

Not many Smackdown matches on the main event

You know you’re in problems where there are two ECW matches on the PPV and only one Smackdown match and only four Smackdown guys on the entire card. After their cage match on Smackdown Undertaker an Big Show were nowhere to be seen which has left Smackdown short of big names and main event talent.

MVP and R-Truth lost in the mix

Both of these guys promised so much when they broke in to Smackdown but both seem to have already gone stale with no consistent push given to either of them. The only thing interesting about their match on Smackdown was wondering which guy thy were going to give the win to.

Overall

For what they had Smackdown produced a good show but due to lack of matches on the PPV most of the show was taken up with feuds an storylines not connected to the PPV.

WWE Smackdown Review - 5th December 2008

With Raw picking up since the in ring return of Cena and Orton it’s now time for Edge to pick things up on Smackdown following his in ring return at the last PPV.

Good Points

Huge Main Event

The Big Show / Undertaker feud is really going the distance and following their Casket Match they engaged in a cage match to headline Smackdown. To have such a big match on a weekly TV show is a rarity and really showed that the creative team are trying tp ush the boat out.

Edge and Vickie running the show

Was great to see these two baack as the evil couple ruling Smackdown unfairly. The only problem is with Edge booking himself in to easy matches the fans aren’t seeing the best of him and isn’t developing his worth whilst HHH and Jeff Hardy put in quality matches and develop their feud.

Bad Points

Khali kiss segments

The quicker Khali’s contract expires the better. I think WWE would be better off buying Khali out of his contract because his segments are terrible.

MVP under used

Since getting involved in the Scramble title match a few PPV’s ago MVP’s career has taken a nose dive with loss after loss and not having the VIP lounge segment any more to develop his character. They could use him to do so much more and could be a bigger player on Smackdown given the right push.

Overall

When Edge gets himself more involved in main events and quality matches then Smakcodnw will be hittting them out of the park. Good to see both Raw and Smackdown ending the yeaar on a high.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 22nd November 2008

After a good Raw showing it was up to the Smackdown crew to show what they had in the last episode before Survivor Series. Not only was the show the last before Survivor Series it was extra special as it came from Manchester England.

Good Points

Proper push for Jeff Hardy

After pushing Hardy to main event status but not spending much time on his character development many thought that Hardy would slip away from the main event scene. But now they have changed his make-up and given him some fresh and exciting promos which are filmed completely different to everything else. His out of control character is very believable and for the first time I am buying him as a possible champion.

Good build for Undertaker / Big Show casket match

I am looking forward to the return of the casket match. WWE put some good video packages together and a great last segment to the show which even saw Vickie Guerrero getting stuffed in a casket.

Bella Twins

It’s good to see a good storyline in the divas division. After weeks of Brie Bella going under the ring during her matches and then ending up winning it was finally revealed last week that she has a twin under the ring. Even though they have been uncovered they are still using their twin thing to win tag matches which is great to see.

Bad Points

Lack of good matches

Despite the HHH vs. Jeff Hardy match the card was full of below standard matches which saw Primo and Carlito losing and rehashes of matches which have been seen before.

Wrong guys getting pushed

MVP over the last few months has been reduced to bit role and since the championship scramble Brian Kendrik has been slid back in to the mid card. When most of your best talent has been used up in the first match then you know you are in trouble.

Overall

The show lacks quality and good storytelling at the moment. Smackdown seems to be stuck between not being a house show and not really being a TV show in its format and layout. The card at Survivor Series doesn’t lie with both Survivor Series tag team matches having Raw superstars as captains and the main event being the Raw title match.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 31st October 2008

After a better than usual Raw I was looking forward to see how the fallout from Cyber Sunday was going to develop on Smackdown and what direction they would be going in towards Survivor Series.

Good Points

Kozlov calls out HHH

It looks like the Smackdown title match for Survivor Series is going to be Kozlov vs. HHH after Kozlov . Personally I would have done this first at a smaller monthly event to see how the fans were going to react o it but it is good to see the Smackdown team trying to change it up and they are doing their best to put Kozlov over as a believable threat.

Casket Match

It’s not often we are given a casket match on Smackdown but as it was Halloween we got a treat. Undertaker beat Chavo Guerrero in the match and fended off the interfering Big Show to continue on his roll since Cyber Sunday but I’m sure this feud isn’t over yet.

Bad Points

Khali Kiss Cam

I think the quicker that Khali’s contract expires the better. After not being successful in the main event scene and having no one to work with in the mid and under card Khali is not relegated to comedy and cringeworthy moments through feuds with the Jackass guys and now in each week coming out to kiss some fans that they deem to be the leat attractive.

Jeff Hardy pushed to the side

So not only did Jeff suffer a succession of clean defeats to HHH but now he has completely been pushed to the side as tonight his only involvement as in a six man throwaway match. His time in the main event scene could have been handled so much better just like his exit from the main event scene.

Overall

Nowhere near as good as Raw this week, after the draft Smackdown looked like the strong brand but the card and booking is making it to start to look weaker than ever and that is with HHH.

After a below standard Raw I was hoping Smackdown could provide some light at the end of a dismal week to get us hyped for Cyber Sunday. With a huge main event I was interested to see what the show was going to be like.

Good Points

Main Event Push

I thought it was great that they made the main event HHH vs. Undertaker as that is a huge match that gets people interested and it provided scope for various run ins as these two are in separate matches at Cyber Sunday. The match was one of the longest Smackdown main events in some time and although the ending was predictable it did what it needed to do for Cyber Sunday.

Use of Primo and Carlito

It’s great to see WWE really pushing this team. Carlito has had to put up with a lot over the last few years but this brother tag team was worth the wait. They scored a good win over Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neeley as well as getting some backstage segments of them goofing around. With these two at the helm Smackdown could have a good tag division again.

Bad Points

Jeff left out in the cold

I think WWE are really trying to get people to vote for Kozlov as they are really going out of their way to push Jeff to one side. Jeff is such a fan favourite I don’t think it matters but this week to open the show he was pedigreed by HHH and then didn’t get involved in the run ins at the end of the main event or have his own match on the card.

Khali Kissing segment

This is cringeworthy TV and a reason why people are scared to tell their friends that they are wrestling fans. I hope this idea gets killed really quickly as at the moment it is just more ammunition for the anti wrestling brigade.

Overall

A much more exciting show than Raw although that wasn’t hard. Had some lulls during the show and maybe had some of the wrongs guys used for matches but the right stuff got pushed and the ending was effective.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 17th October 2008

After a fairly poor Raw I was looking forward to see what the Smackdown crew were going to produce this week. With viewing ratings being considerably low even by Smackdown’s standards since the switch to MyNetworkTV would WWE be working hard to get those ratings back.

Good Points

Undertaker on Smackdown

It was good to see Undertaker in ring action this week against Khali. The match kept his feud with the Big Show going nicely as it gave Big Show the chance to interfere only for The Undertaker to get the last laugh. Next week’s main event is Undertaker vs. HHH which could be the biggest main event in Smackdown history and is being hyped as such.

Nice title feud

Slingshotting Kozlov to the top has added some extra spice to the title scene. Now we have Jeff Hardy the fans favourite wanting another crack at the belt but then we have Kolov the guy that the fans hate but seems to be an unstoppable force at the moment.

Bad Points

Kizarny

Two vignettes were played for this new character which reminded me a bit of Michael PS Hayes back in the day. His character a make up wearing either Carnival worker of Carnival enthusiast didn’t do much for me. When I see characters like this it gives me awful memories of WWE in 1992/1993 with characters like Papa Shango an Doink.

Another John Cena video

Ok I understand the WWE promoting John Cena on Raw but we don’t need it on Samckdown as well where he isn’t on the roster. Also WWE seem to be playing the same two videos over and over again. If it was a new video every week I could understand but it is getting a bit repetitive now.

Overall

A great episode of Samckdown two great main event feuds which should deliver at Cyber Sunday, can’t wait for next week’s episode.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 3rd September 2008

It was a special Smackdown tonight not only was it the last Smackdown before No Mercy but it was also the first Smackdown on the new network and to start with a bang on the new network the card was stacked.

Good Points

Stacked card

The show kicked off with an eight man tag that went half an hour which included Batista, Rey Mysterio, jeff Hardy, JBL and others. Then all through the night we had mix brand matches followed by an awesome champion vs. champion triple threat main event.

Good build for Big Show vs. Undertaker

Undertaker may be having problems with his knee but he has still managed to put on a good package with Big Show. This week Undertaker’s music hit whilst Big Show was in the ring then when Big Show went up the ramp the Undertaker appeared in the ring.

Bad Points

Not much storyline development

Because it was a mixed brand show there was little storyline development besides from Undertaker Big Show which was a shame just before No Mercy.

Use of Kozlov

Kozlov isn’t on the PPV but again he was put over as the top dog after laying out HHH following his main event. It may be that he will get involved at No Mercy but at the moment it makes no sense.

Overall

Match quality was great but there was little in the way of backstage segments and in ring promos so it had a feel of a house show at times.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 19th September 2008

After a decent enough Raw it was Smackdown’s turn to see how they were going to build for No Mercy. Would The Undertaker show up and what would they do with Kozlov this week.

Good Points

Good build for Undertaker / Big Show

Smackdown did everything they could to build the feud without having Undertaker on the show. They built it well with Big Show and Vickie having many backstage segments including Chavo impersonating The Undertaker and then later on getting choked out by what we assume was The Undertaker as we didn’t get chance to see who it was.

Primo & Carlito

It’s good to see these two together and given some mic time as they had the funniest segment of the night as Primo co hosted or should I say guest appeared on Carlito’s Cabana. The segment also served to set up a tag title match as Hawkins and Ryder came down to interrupt the segment.

Big with for R-Truth

R-Truth got a big non title victory over Shelton Benjamin. On Smackdown with some of the guys that are and aren’t currently on TV they have the potential to have a great United States title division.

Bad Points

Use of HHH

No promo time for HHH this week just a quick instantly forgettable main event against MVP which was then overshadowed by Kozlov beating him down. I don’t know what this sudden Kozlov push is all about and to have him dismantle the champion and make him look week a couple of weeks before the PPV when Kozlov isn’t in the main event I think is a little crazy.

Jesse and Festus

It’s already getting stale, out of nowhere they turn themselves in to some form of package and delivery men and you know now that at the end of every match they are going to try and tape their opponent up.

Guys not getting a run

After appearing a few weeks on the trot there was no Kenny Dykstra this week on Smackdown and after not appearing for a couple of weeks Scotty Goldman was back jut to beaten in a Squash match by Khali. They need to give some of these guys a run and not bit parts.

Overall

Not as good as Raw but by far not the worst Smackdown ever. Although I don’t agree with how they are using Kozlov at least he is making it interesting at the moment.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 12th September 2008

After Unforgiven I was looking forward to how Smackdown were going to fair in comparison to Raw’s offering this week. Who is next for HHH and what’s going to happen between Big Show and Taker.

Good Points

Triple H built strong

Triple H cut a good promo to kick off the show putting himself over as the only champ to walk in and walk out of Unforgiven with his belt. All through the show he had backstage segments with the guys he beat at Unforgiven which also helped to put his competition over which was great to see.

Push for Jeff Hardy

He interrupted Triple H to deliver his strongest mic work yet in a war of words with Jeff Hardy which I was glad centred around things in the ring and now his personal life. Jeff went on to win the Smackdown main event to get a shot at Triple H at the next PPV.

Tag division getting better.

Was great to see a tag match involving the champs even if it was a non title match but even better to see the new Colon family pairing of Carlito and Primo. When the brand split first happened Smackdown was renowned for its tag team wrestling so hopefully they can get back to it.

Bad Points

Crazy booking

First we had a match with Festus and Kenny Dykstra which I think went to a no contest when Jesse and Festus taped him to a board, bubble wrapped him and took him to the back which was just weird. Then we had out of nowhere Kozlov attacking Jeff Hardy after he won the main event. The ending should have been Jeff’s moment and if they were going to do something with Kozlov they should have built it gradually not just all of sudden slingshot him to the top.

No Undertaker

After having Undertaker on the last few Smackdown’s it was a shame to see him not on the show. Big Show and Vickie did their best to put over the feud by delivering a couple of in ring proms but Samckdown needs to keep him on the show every week if it is going to continue to develop.

Overall

A solid episode which did the right thing and focusing on the title feud. All we need now is Undertaker back and some not so crazy booking and the show should be back up to where it was before Unforgiven.

WWE Smackdown Review - Friday 5th September 2008

With ir being the last Smackdown before Unforgiven and with some exciting storylines happening on Smackdown I was quite interested to see how tonight’s show was going to unfold.

Good Points

Structure

For one the champion HHH kicked off the show with an in ring promo about the main event this Sunday and the show ended with him in the main event. I think this is the first show that HHH has started and ended since he moved to Smackdown. I know HHH doesn’t need a push but your champion should always be the one you put the most time in to. Added to this there were a lot more promos and interviews on the show which was a good thing.

More great work by The Undertaker

Before the show started we saw a video package highlighting The Undertaker / Vickie storyline. Then early on in the show we had another awesome Undertaker promo which although not as good as last weeks was still the best promo of the night.

Good build for the Championship Scramble

We had a great push for The Brian Kendrik as he lead the beating on HHH in the first segment and then secured a big win over Jeff Hardy later in the show. Jeff Hardy although losing to Kendrik got a push of his own as he made the save for HHH early on and then at the end turned on him and left him lying in the ring after his main event and as the cameras stopped rolling.

Bad Points

Match Quality

There were some really good matches on Smackdown this week but the show was let down by the inclusion of a throwaway match that being Ryan Braddock vs. Super Crazy and by having two Diva matches. I’d prefer to see less matches than have these spoil to flow of the show.

Vickie Guerrero

Many people love Vickie but I think her promos need work as she is a great character but on the whole her promos go on far too long. When you’re in a programme with The Undertaker your promos need to be spot on which hers weren’t.

Overall

The bad points were only nit picks so again another great Smackdown, really liking what they are doing at the moment, roll on Unforgiven.