WWE Smackdown taping and dark match results
March 25, 2008
Fayetteville, N.C. at the Crown Coliseum
Report by Patrick Harris, PWTorch VIP Member

DARK MATCH

(1) Ron Killings defeated Kenny Dykstra Killings received a nice reaction when you consider how long he's been out of the WWE and instead stuck in TNA purgatory and also AAA. There were plenty of responses to his WHAT'S UP yells. He pins Dykstra with an axe kick.

SMAKDOWN TAPING

(1) Mark Henry defeated Kane, Chuck Palumbo, and The Great Khali in a four-man battle royal.

Chavo Guerrero is introduced at the start of the show and does guest commentary. Match itself is rather short. Kane is eliminated first and followed by Chuck Palumbo (both by Khali, I believe.) Henry and Khali trade chops and punches for a bit, then Henry lifts up Khali for a body slam and throws him over the top rope. Henry receives a face pop for his disposing of Khali.

Chavo sneaks into the ring after the match and takes out Henry at the knees. He works on him for a bit before Henry comes back and gives Chavo a bodyslam and splash.

Teddy Long is backstage with Eve, Cherry, and Michelle McCool. He announces that Eve has been eliminated from the Diva competition. Maryse and Victoria show up and start arguing with everyone. Teddy says the only way to settle this is with a ‘Diva Super Soaker/Water Balloon Tag Match' or whatever the hell he called it. Yikes.

Promos are shown throughout the night for Edge's funeral ceremony to commemorate the ending of Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak.

(2) C.M. Punk defeated John Morrison. This was a solid match that was given about ten minutes and was similar to their summer matches for the ECW title. The highlight was Punk giving Morrison a frakensteiner off the top rope. Finish comes when Punk reversed Morrison's corkscrew neckbreaker finish into the GTS.

(3) Jesse & Festus & Kofi Kingston defeated Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch & The Miz. The heels work over Jesse until he makes the hot tag. Everybody is on the outside brawling when Kofi hits a spinning roundhouse kick on (I think) the Miz for the pin.

(4) Batista defeated Snitsky. Spear. Spinebuster. Batista Bomb. Pin. Match lasted 60 seconds tops and was a total squash. Batista grabs a chair after the match and gives Snitsky another powerbomb on the chair.

(5) Michelle McCool and Cherry defeated Victoria and Maryse w/ Eve as special referee in the "Diva Super Soaker/Water Balloon Tag Match." This was basically soft-core porn. Buckets of water and water balloons are in each corner with super soaker guns. Victoria had the humorous moment when she came out with goggles, a snorkel, and those toddler arm floaters. They throw balloons around for a bit and end up hitting Coach, Michael Cole, and even a few made it into the front rows. McCool hits some type of suplex on Victoria for the pin. Maryse looked like a girl who's been hysterically crying because all of her eyeliner was streaking down her face. Eve poured a bucket of water over her after the match to top it all off. They went with this instead of getting Flair on TV one last time? Please.

(6) Chris Jericho defeated MVP via DQ. There's a bit of a delay while the ring crew switches out the mats. MVP comes out while the ring is still being switched and he gets on the mic and works the crowd for a few minutes. He also walks over to the announce table and mouths off and berates Michael Cole. I doubt that will air, however.

This was another enjoyable match. Jericho seems to be finally finding his stride again and MVP's potential is through the roof. Jericho reverses a Playmaker attempt into the Walls of Jericho and MVP is able to escape and scurry out the ring. He grabs the belts and runs into the ring to get DQ'ed. Jericho ducks the hit and gives MVP the Codebreaker on the US title.

Funeral Ceremony: The ring is set up with full funeral arrangement garb and resembles a wake. The black flowers and wreaths are present, along with a picture of the Undertaker and a podium for Edge to speak. A casket is in the middle of the ring. Edge and his entire posse are present in formal attire. Edge gives a eulogy on the Undertaker, covers his accomplishments, and lists his Wrestlemania opponents. He comments on how that time has now come to an end.

Vickie interrupts and says she has a gift for Edge. It's a video in the style of a movie preview promoting Edge as a superhero for conquering the Undertaker. When Edge starts a final prayer, the lights go dark and Undertaker's music and video plays. The casket opens and Taker ambushes Edge. He assaults him in the corner until Edge is able to escape. The tapings end with Taker posing in the middle of the ring.

Note: Someone screwed up during this segment and really exposed the product. When the lights dropped and the music/video started, it seemed to go on longer that what you'd normally expect. One of the producers who had been outside on the corner ring steps for the entire segment then literally jumped onto the apron and banged on the back of the casket in plain sight. He hopped back down and the casket opened. I was just a few feet away from this since I was sitting 3rd row floor on the TV side. All of us in the area looked at each other literally dumbfounded since it was painfully obvious. I understand this type of segment isn't necessarily ‘believable' to begin with and it's nothing that will show on TV, but it kills any type of suspension of disbelief that the crowd needs to have to be fully invested with the product. I can't possibly believe that's how it was designed in the first place. It definitely looked amateurish.

DARK MATCH

(1) Ric Flair & Batista & Undertaker defeated Edge & Big Show & MVP

The crew clears the ring again and everyone comes out for the dark match. This match was fun and resembled what you'd see at a house show. The heels stalled and argued with each other throughout. Flair and MVP started the match off, and the heels worked over Undertaker for most of the match. Finish comes when all six men are fighting and Taker simultaneously hits a tombstone on Edge while Flair gets MVP to submit to the Figure Four.

Post-match, the faces are in the ring celebrating for several minutes. Batista grabs the mic and thanks Flair for being a friend and an integral part of his professional and personal life. Flair speaks and thanks Fayetteville for supporting him throughout his career. He says that if this Sunday is truly the end of the line, he's glad to have performed here one last time. Taker doesn't speak but embraces Flair and motions to him. All three walk out together to end the show.

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