By Greg Parks, PWTorch Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
August 31, 2007
Taped 8/28/07 in Albany, NY
Aired on The CW
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor

-WWE Open.

-Tonight: The Smackdown return of Rey Mysterio.

-We opened with Theodore Long, in the ring with World Champion Great Khali and his mouthpiece, Ranjin Singh. Long said tonight, we’ll find out who his opponent will be for the title at Unforgiven. We’ll get a “Championship Competition,” a series of matches determining the opponent. First off, Finlay faces Kane. The winner will face the winner of Batista vs. Rey Mysterio. Odd pairing there. Long wanted to start things off immediately.

1- KANE VS. FINLAY
Kane teased using the shillaleigh early on, then decided to throw it down the aisle. Hornswaggle, from under the ring, replaced it with a new one. Kane went to work early, hitting an uppercut and some kicks. Snap-mare followed by a dropkick on a seated Finlay. Kane began work on the left arm in the corner. It’s been all Kane in the first few minutes of action. To the outside, Kane kept working on the shoulder/arm of Finlay. Finlay went to the outside and Kane followed, but Finlay took advantage, shoving Kane into the ring-post, going after the already-injured ribs of the Big Red Machine. Finlay slowed the match down, but Finlay missed a splash, when Kane put his knees up. After almost running Finlay over, Kane went to the top and hit the clothesline. Chokeslam followed. He then picked the Irishman up for a tombstone, but Finlay took out the knee. Hornswaggle’s distraction allowed Finlay to use the shillaleigh to nail Kane, then scored the pinfall victory.

WINNER: Finlay at 7:12.

-Michael Cole and J.B.L talked about the upcoming tag title match, then showed highlights of the M.V.P/Hardy competition and subsequent attack by Deuce and Domino last week. The tag title match is next.

[Break]

-Jesse and Festus on: Going back to school.

2- M.V.P & MATT HARDY VS. DEUCE ‘N DOMINO- WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Hardy went after the champs on the outside before the bell, and after a pause, M.V.P went out too. Once the bell rang, it was M.V.P and Deuce in the ring. Porter looked good, but Hardy made the blind tag to enter. Domino tagged in and missed a clothesline. Hardy took advantage, hitting a hip-toss and bodyslam. Bulldog out of the corner by the former V1. The two enemies showed some teamwork early on, working on the left arm and making a couple quick tags. Two minutes into the match, J.B.L suggested that Hardy/Porter could be the best tag team ever. Deuce ‘N Domino tried a double-team, but they got an “F” as Hardy hit a double-clothesline. Elbowdrop to the back of the head by Hardy and as he was setting up for the Twist of Fate, Porter made a blind tag. Tag into Hardy again, and M.V.P held Domino for Matt to get a shot in. The champs took over control on a referee distraction, then we went to break.

[Break]

Hardy struggled to make a tag out of break, but the champs were doing an effective job of cutting off the ring. Matt hit a jaw-breaker to break free from a modified sleeper applied by Domino. Deuce tagged in and continued the punishment, though. Matt made it to the corner for a tag, but moments earlier, M.V.P left the apron to talk to Cherry. A cover by Deuce was broken up by M.V.P. Hardy was single-handedly taking on both tag champs at this point. Matt tried a tag as Deuce held his foot, but Porter didn’t reach out. Matt kicked away from Deuce and slapped Porter in. Matt hit the Twist of Fate, then was thrown out of the ring by M.V.P, who got the pin and we’ve got new tag champs.

WINNERS: M.V.P & Matt Hardy, new tag champs, at 14:39. M.V.P stood in the ring after the match, with both titles, as Hardy made his way up the aisle.

-Backstage, Vince McMahon was greeted in his office/lounge by Batista. Vince said his father spent a lot of time in Washington opening his first wrestling office, and Vince Jr. did as well. He thought maybe Batista was his son. Batista said he was raised by a single mom, and they were quite poor. Batista said if he found out Vince was his dad, and never helped them out with money when they were struggling, he’d beat Vince unmercifully. Vince backed off the comparisons.

-Still to come, Batista vs. Rey Mysterio.

[Break]

-The Smackdown audience was cordially invited to the wedding of Kristal Marshall and Theodore Rufus Long.

-Eugene was in the ring with the t-shirt gun. Mark Henry came out for some reason, and of course, was quite angry. Eugene accidentally shot the gun at Henry’s chest. Mark splashed him, then bear-hugged him. Henry said he bloodied Undertaker once, and he’ll do it again. As he described what he’d do with Undertaker’s carcass, another creepy Taker video aired.

-Batista vs. Rey is next.

[Break]

3- BATISTA VS. REY MYSTERIO

The two shook hands and hugged before the match began. Batista used his power to his advantage at first, then Rey used some speed, showing the contrasting styles. Rey kicked the legs of Batista, but Batista shrugged him off. Mysterio came back with a flying headscissors, but the big man caught the little man with a clothesline as Rey was coming off the ropes. After recuperating on the outside, Rey missed a flying bodypress. Batista then grounded Mysterio. Rey came back, once again going after the legs of Batista. Batista chased Rey to the outside, and Rey hit a dropkick through the ropes from back inside. Batista hit a boot to the face, then held his head in fear, worried that he hurt Rey. He decided that the title meant more, and tried to hit the Batista-Bomb, but Rey grabbed the ropes and hit the West Coast Pop. He followed that with a try at the 619, but Batista caught him and threw him down. As Batista was hulking up, Finlay entered the ring with a chair. Batista got him out of there, but also shoved referee Mickie Henson down in the process. This got Batista disqualified.

WINNER: Rey Mysterio at 5:56. Batista hugged Rey after the match.

-Raw Rebound aired. Most of it was the Triple H/McMahon segment. Anywho, Vince is coming up next!

[Break]

-A preview of Ashley on “Survivor: China” aired.

-Vince and Coach walked to the ring. Vince called Triple H a “wisenheimer.” That’s it, end the show now, it ain’t getting better than that. Vince bragged about his sexual prowess and Coach said he wanted to prove tonight that Vince hangs out with better ladies than the ones Triple H brought out on Raw. The first lady Coach brought out was “Cheryl,” whom Vince was with after a night at MSG. Did this REALLY go over so well on Raw that we needed to see another version of it? Coach asked if there was anything she wanted to stay to Vince. He was the best lover she ever had, apparently. The next woman he brought out was from New Haven, New Year’s of 1977. Which, apparently, was also when he first met Howard Finkel. Theresa, Elizabeth and Spice came out. They look good for having been with Vince in 1977. This was a menage a trois plus one. Thanks to Vince, they brought in the new year with a “bang.” Their reading of that line was just awful. Mary Katherine’s night with Vince changed her forever. It’s Sister Mary Katherine now. She even had harp music to come out to. M.K came out in a nun outfit and a yardstick. She said they made love in the Parking Lot of the Cape Cod Coliseum in ‘81. After one night with Vince, she could never be intimate with another man, which turned her onto God. Coach and Vince thanked the ladies for the trip down memory lane, and Vince suggested he and the ladies could make another memory later tonight. After the women left, Vince turned his attention to Raw this coming Monday. He hoped his family would embrace his bastard son this Monday, and show him the love of a family. The first part of the segment was pretty pointless, unless it was meant to show Coach sucking up to Vince.

-Next, Chuck Palumbo takes the MasterLock challenge.

[Break]

-Chuck Palumbo came out for the Master-Lock challenge. Before Masters could apply it, he cheap-shotted Palumbo from behind. Palumbo, though, got the best of the exchange and stood alone in the ring as Masters quickly scampered up the aisle.

[Break]

-Jamie Noble talked to a stage-hand backstage when Shannon Moore appeared to wish Noble luck in his battle with Hornswaggle next week. Noble seemed quite paranoid. Moore seemed particularly encouraging, until Noble turned around- Moore put a sign on his back that read “I love Leprechauns.”

-Rey vs. Finlay is next.

[Break]

4- REY MYSTERIO VS. FINLAY, WINNER TO FACE GREAT KHALI FOR THE WORLD TITLE AT UNFORGIVEN
Finlay took Rey down with a shoulder-block to start. Rey went to work with kicks, then a bulldog for two. Finlay came back with a short-arm clothesline to put Rey down. Finlay missed a charge on Rey and went over the top rope. Rey went to the outside as well, but Hornswaggle tripped him up from under the ring, giving Finlay the advantage. Break time.

[Break]

Finlay had a rear chin-lock applied on Rey upon return. Finlay worked the back and knee of Mysterio, putting the former champ in a half-Crab. Rey worked his way back to his feet and hit an enziguiri. Rey got a few near-falls. Rey put his head down and got kicked, but Rey hit a 619 to the back of Finlay, who was reclined on the middle rope, then hit a sunset-flip after jumping off the top, and was able to hold on for the pin.

WINNER: Rey Mysterio at 8:27.

-The win brought out The Great Khali. He got in the ring and they stood toe-to-toe, with Rey reaching MAYBE Khali’s breastbone. Khali shoved him down by the head and wanted to go for the claw, but Batista came out to prevent it, knocking Khali down for Rey to hit the 619. Batista followed it up with a spear. Khali retreated as the show ended.

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