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By Greg Parks, PWTorch Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
February 1, 2008
Taped 1/29/08 at Reading, Pa.
Aired on The CW
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor


-WWE Open.

-Teddy Long was in the ring, alone, as the show opened. He said Mr. McMahon put him in charge tonight since Vickie Guerrero was injured at the Royal Rumble. A video package aired showing highlights of the Rey vs. Edge match. Teddy said at No Way Out, there will be a new #1 contender: The winner of an Elimination Chamber match. Two on one show? That may be overkill. The participants: Batista, Great Khali, Finlay, Undertaker, MVP, Big Daddy V. Conspicuous by his absence: C.M Punk. The winner will face the champ at WrestleMania, while Rey will get a re-match with Edge at No Way Out. Edge ran down to the ring and grabbed a mic. Edge said he’d rather fight Khali or V than Rey. Teddy wasn’t having that suggestion, so Edge was left to make annoyed faces.

[Commercial Break]

1- RIC FLAIR vs. MVP, CAREER THREATENING MATCH

I’m going to guess Mr. Kennedy interferes to cost MVP the match, as HE wants to be the one to cost Flair his career. Hip-toss by Naitch, who did some strutting. Roll-up by MVP for two. Flair nailed some chops in the corner, but got back-dropped out of the corner. MVP hit a running kick for two. MVP worked the left arm of Flair, then got a backslide for a near-fall. Double-underhook suplex for two. Boy, Flair’s not even disguising himself as he calls the match. Big kick missed by MVP and Flair took out the leg. MVP countered the figure-four, but once Flair got under the ropes, MVP wouldn’t let go at referee Mickie Henson’s five-count, drawing the DQ.

WINNER: Flair, at 6:16. Decent match, but Flair looks a half-step behind now, and has for some time.

-MVP wrapped Flair’s leg around the ringpost and battered him after the match. He stuck Flair’s leg between the ring steps and the apron, the kicked the steps into his leg. After replays of that, Flair limped to the back with the assistance of the trainers.

[Commercial Break]

-Jonathon Coachman previewed the Raw Chamber match.

-Flair was getting worked on by the trainers backstage.

-Chuck Palumbo came out to the ring to speak. He said Jamie Noble stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and said it felt fantastic beating him up last week. He said what happened to Michelle was an accident. Cole said she suffered whiplash and a concussion. Palumbo said this stuff was all Noble’s fault and said he was fined $10,000 by WWE for hitting a ref. I like that, and they should emphasize that more often. They used to mention it back in the early 90s, but got away from it. It shows that there is consequence for hitting an official, as there should be. Chuck implored Michelle to come to the ring, as he wanted to apologize. She finally did. Chuck apologized but Michelle didn’t believe him. She slapped him and Chuck ran at her, but stopped short of laying a hand on her. Chuck then showed his true colors, blaming her for everything that has happened. He said Noble would pay for Michelle slapping him. I’m surprised WWE gave Chuck this much mic time. He was just okay, though.

[Commercial Break]

2- REY MYSTERIO & CM PUNK vs. CHAVO GUERRERO & EDGE

Punk came to the ring wearing a Mysterio t-shirt. After some back-and-forth action, Punk missed a knee charge in the corner, and flew over the top and to the outside. They then cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

Edge had Punk on the mat in a bear-hug upon return. Punk came back with an enziguiri on Chavo. Both men made tags and Rey came in and cleaned house. Springboard moonsault got two. Rey went to springboard off the apron, but Edge dropkicked him out. Chavo came in and worked Rey’s knee. The heels kept Rey in their half of the ring. Rey came back, taking on both heels. He finally tagged Punk, who was a house of fire. Springboard cross-body from Punk on Chavo for two. Very sloppy finishing sequence saw Punk avoid a spear by jumping in the air, but didn’t land on his feet. Then Edge had to stand and stare at Rey, waiting for Mysterio to springboard in and hit him with a hurricanrana to set up for the 619. Both heels were set up for it but Edge moved- after Rey nailed Chavo with it, he jumped onto Edge on the outside. Punk hit the Go To Sleep on Chavo for the win.

WINNERS: Punk and Rey at 11:09.

-Still to come, Big Daddy V & Mark Henry face the Brothers of Destruction, Kane & Undertaker.

[Commercial Break]

-Backstage, Finlay and Mr. McMahon were talking. Vince was not happy with what Finlay did at the Rumble and said there is no such thing as loyalty.

2- FINLAY & HORNSWOGGLE vs. DEUCE ‘N DOMINO

The deconstruction of the former tag champs continues. Now they’re saying Finlay was DQ’d from the Rumble for entering before it was his time. After some brief offense, Finlay went outside to yell at Cherry for trying to trip him up. Hornswoggle came from behind and lifted up her skirt, then got on his hands and knees as she fell backward over him. Finlay took out both greasers and hit the Celtic Cross on Domino, then Hornswoggle got the pin with the Tadpole Splash.

WINNERS: Finlay & Hornswoggle at 1:49.

The winners danced in the ring after the match.

[Commercial Break]

-The Raw Rebound aired.

-The 2007 Diva Search winner, Eve Torres, was in the ring, and she introduced Batista. I miss Anastacia Rose. Eve asked Batista his thoughts on the Chamber match. Batista first welcomed Eve to the #1 sports-entertainment show, and punctuated his proclamation with, “that’s right, I said it.” Batista said he didn’t do as well as he thought he would in the Rumble, then he put over Cena and Triple H. Batista said he would walk out of No Way Out and walk into WrestleMania to re-claim his title. Your standard short Batista interview.

[Commercial Break]

-In a pre-taped vignette, Jesse said that Festus has been cured and next week, Jesse & Festus would be back, better than ever.

4- CURT HAWKINS & ZACK RYDER vs. SHANNON MOORE & JIMMY WANG YANG

Yang was snap-mared, but landed on his feet. He got some offense in and tagged Moore. A blind tag was made and Yang was clotheslined hard from behind. Hawkins & Ryder slowed the pace down by keeping Yang grounded. Ryder went for a cross-body off the top, but I think he thought Yang was going to do something as he seemed to land on his feet and just fall into Yang. A few moves later, he went for the same thing, but this time, Yang caught him in an atomic drop. I think that’s what he thought the first time around. Moore came in and missed a corkscrew moonsault. Hawkins finished things with a version of Goldust’s Curtain Call.

WINNERS: Hawkins & Ryder at 6:25.

-Kane & Undertaker vs. Henry & V is coming up next!

[Commercial Break]

-All four wrestlers in the main event were introduced….the match starts after the break.

[Commercial Break]

5- KANE & UNDERTAKER VS. MARK HENRY & BIG DADDY V

Match was joined in progress with Kane and Henry as the legal men. Kane came off the ropes and jumped onto Henry, who fell backward. Not sure if Henry was supposed to catch him or not, but it was ugly. Taker tagged in and Cole wasted no time getting out his “best pure striker in sports-entertainment history” line. Taker gave Henry a running boot to the face. Kane came back in and he got splashed in the corner. Big Daddy V came in for the first time and fought off Kane’s uppercuts. Kane fought back himself and tagged Taker. After a few minutes of action, Kane regained the advantage and hit a clothesline off the top onto Henry. A distraction by Matt Striker led to Henry taking over on offense. On the outside, V slammed Kane’s head off the announce table, and Henry did the same. V squashed Kane with a running splash in the corner. Henry then put The Big Red Machine in a bear-hug. Kane came back with a middle-rope clothesline on Henry and a tag to the Dead Man. Taker laid the wood to Henry and hit Old School and a DDT. V broke up the pin attempt though, and was given a double chokeslam for his troubles. Henry was chokeslammed as well and Taker locked in that mysterious finisher that felled V last week. Henry tapped and began coughing up blood. It kind of looks like a choke-hold, actually.

WINNERS: Undertaker & Kane, 10:42 shown.

-Replays were shown and the brothers stood victorious in the ring as the show ended.

Final Thoughts: Not a banner night for in-ring action, and the Smackdown Chamber match doesn’t look like a workrate dream. Still, you almost get the sense that something big is coming around the corner. The show felt fresh and the storylines are pretty good for the most part, so that has something to do with it. I’d say a 6.0 this week.

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