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WWE Smackdown review
June 13, 2008
Taped 6/10/08 in Fresno, Calif.
Aired on the CW
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor

-I’ll be out of town next week, on vacation and to my cousin’s wedding, so no report next week. I’ll try to catch Raw so I can join James Caldwell for our regularly scheduled Raw Audio on Monday night.

-WWE Open.

-The show opened....and the arena was dark. Michael Cole welcomed us to the campus of Fresno State University as ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced G.M. Vickie Guerrero. Looks like a contract signing. And it is. Batista was introduced first. He looked quite intense. Vickie said she was looking forward to the title match at Night of Champions, because Batista is facing the greatest World Champion ever, Edge. She said Edge has already signed the contract, so Vickie signed her name as G.M. Apparently, Batista’s lawyer looked over the contract and didn’t like it, so Vickie put another clause in the contract that Batista has to beat Great Khali tonight to get his title shot at Night of Champions. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Batista said he beat Khali once and he’d do it again. She then said he added another amendment, that if Batista loses tonight, he’ll be banished from WWE. Nothing like making the outcome too obvious.

[Commercial Break]

1- FINLAY vs. JOHN MORRISON

When did Finlay turn from a bad-ass to a guy who carries around a blow-up hammer and smiles all the time? And now we get a tag feud featuring Hornswoggle as one of the partners. Finlay got the advantage, but made the mistake of following Morrison to the outside, where John tripped Finlay up on the apron. Finlay literally threw Hornswoggle into Miz on the outside. Roundhouse kick by Morrison nailed Finlay, who was sitting on the top rope. Finlay tried to get back into the match, but Morrison put him down with a neck-breaker. Dropkick (!) from Finlay for a two-count. Miz attempted to pull Horny out from under the ring, which distracted Finlay and allowed Morrison to get the roll-up and pin.

WINNER: Morrison, at 5:24. Pretty entertaining TV match.

-Clips aired of Batista (with hair) winning the Royal Rumble in 2005. He has to beat Khali tonight to keep his spot on the Smackdown roster.

[Commercial Break]

-Backstage, the World Champ made his first appearance of the show, being interviewed by Eve Torres. Edge said he wouldn’t mind if Batista won tonight, because he’d like to beat him again. Edge brought up how he rid WWE of the Undertaker. CM Punk interrupted and congratulated Edge on his pending nuptials. He also reminded Edge that he is the holder of the MITB title shot.

2- MARK HENRY vs. TOMMY DREAMER

They showed a Henry interview from earlier in the evening, where Henry showed off what Show looks like now (one bad eye) and then showed what he’d look like when Mark is done with him (two bad eyes). Henry used his massiveness to his advantage early on, then stepped on Dreamer near the ropes. The first mention of McMahon’s Millions was by Cole, 30 minutes into the show. I think that’s a sign that it wasn’t a success. Dreamer got a boot up on Henry in the corner, and pounded away with fists. He couldn’t DDT the big man though, and Henry just slammed him down and picked up the “W.”

WINNER: Henry, at 2:31. Does Dreamer have any credibility left in the ring?

-Alicia Fox, Vickie’s wedding planner, was showing Vickie some things in a magazine when Edge stormed in and said Punk threatened to cash in the MITB on their wedding day. MVP then walked in and demanded a contract re-negotiation. Last week, he watched the show from a luxury box and it was obvious he was better than everyone. Edge took exception though. Vickie said she’d re-negotiate as long as MVP took care of the CM Punk problem.

[Commercial Break]

3- MARYSE vs. CHERRY

Cole said Vickie will be scouting the divas closely in the next few weeks, to find an opponent for Natalya for the Divas title. Cherry showed some spunk with some punches, then by scraping Maryse’s face into the mat. Maryse worked the neck, using what I believe to be the only rest-hold she knows (based on past matches, anyway). Cherry came back with a DDT and picked up the victory.

WINNER: Cherry, at 2:42. These matches are meaningless even by storyline terms, since Vickie will pick who she wants anyway. And how come Natalya had to earn the win in a match, and her opponent doesn’t?

-A video package aired on Khali in preparation for his match with Batista tonight.

-MVP was backstage, getting blinged up, ready to face CM Punk next.

[Commercial Break]

4- MVP vs. CM PUNK

Match started off with some mat wrestling, and settled into MVP using the same neck vice Maryse did. Both men went with the ground-and-pound strategy when they were on offense. MVP worked the arm of Punk, including using the Fujiwara arm-bar. These guys appear as if they’re going at half-speed at times. Punk missed a charge and his injured shoulder went right into the post. Ever the heel, MVP brought Punk out of the corner, only to shove him shoulder-first into the post again. And a third time. We’ll see if Punk can survive, after break.

[Commercial Break]

MVP continued working on the arm of Punk out of break. After a few minutes of that, MVP set up for his running kick, but he ran right into a clothesline. Punk slid to avoid being Irish whipped, and began using his educated feet to take MVP down. He tried a pin, but only got two. Hurricanrana by Punk for two. Punk went to the top, but MVP dropkicked the top rope to crotch Punk. Punk was able to fight away, but went to elbowdrop MVP and landed on Porter’s knees. Montel took off the top corner pad, which Charles Robinson put back on. While he was doing that, MVP grabbed the briefcase and Punk kneed the briefcase into MVP’s face, then grabbed it. Robinson turned around to see Punk with the briefcase and called for the DQ.

WINNER: MVP, via DQ, at 18:42. I was underwhelmed. And hasn’t the rule always been that if the ref didn’t see it, he can’t call for the DQ? Although I seem to remember, on Raw I believe, a chair being brought into the ring and the ref immediately calling for the bell.

-Two weeks ago, Edge beat Taker to send him into early retirement. Will the same thing happen to Batista?

[Commercial Break]

-Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely were in the ring. Chavo reminded us that he’ll be Edge’s best man for his wedding with Vickie. Chavo then introduced his opponent for Night of Champions, Matt Hardy. Oh, I guess Matt has a match.

5- MATT HARDY vs. CHUCK PALUMBO

Matt went to the middle rope, but Chuck knocked him off and out of the ring in the first high-impact move of the match. Neely and Chavo were watching from ringside. Short-leg clothesline by Palumbo. Hardy came off the ropes and hit Chuck with a Side Effect for a near-fall. Twist of Fate hit and Matt got the pin.

WINNER: Hardy, at 3:28. I thought for sure Chuck was going to get out of at least two more Twist of Fates before Matt got the win.

-At WrestleMania 21, Batista beat Triple H for the WWE Title. He faces Khali for a chance at Edge tonight.

[Commercial Break]

-Clips aired of McMahon’s Million Dollar Mania from Raw. See, this is the problem. Even if it was a success, the Million dollar giveaway is only a short-term solution. Eventually, you have to start building new stars or at least giving fans something they can tune in to over the long-term....if you watch Smackdown tonight, you have no idea what happened between the sports-entertainers on Raw, the guys that WWE is banking on you being entertained by if you get hooked by Vince’s Millions.

-Uh-oh....Eve was backstage with Vlad Kozlov. He spoke in Russian (I think), then said “thank you” when he was done.

-Batista vs. King Booker from Survivor Series ‘06 was shown as another Batista Moment. Another plug for Batista vs. Khali.

[Commercial Break]

6- JESSE & FESTUS vs. DEUCE ‘N DOMINO

Festus had to be held back to start, then Jesse went at it with Deuce. No explanation as to where Jesse and Festus have been the last few weeks. Domino tagged in and threw his shirt at Festus, raising the big man’s ire. The heels continued beating down Jesse and staying away from Festus. Festus finally got the hot tag (giant crowd pop sold separately) and went to work. Domino rolled Festus up, but Festus kicked out and hit a monster uppercut. Thesz press by Festus, he hooked both legs, and got the win.

WINNERS: Jesse & Festus, at 3:57.

After the match, Deuce and Domino had a “spirited conversation” according to Cole. Domino swatted at Deuce, then both me started brawling.

-Great Khali was walking backstage, heading to the ring to face Batista.

[Commercial Break]

7- BATISTA vs. GREAT KHALI

Vickie and Edge came out on the ramp to watch the match. Batista dodged a Khali chop in the corner in an ugly spot, and Khali got a boot up on a charge by Batista off the ropes....it looks like they tried a different camera angle to hide the fact that it wasn’t even close, but you could still tell. Batista ended up outside the ring thanks to a Khali headbutt, and Khali went after him. Double-handed chokeslam only got two for Khali. Vickie showed a look of concern. A nerve hold was then applied by Khali. Batista blocked the big chop, only to get thrown across the ring. Batista came back with a spear and a pin.

WINNER: Batista, at 5:13. Bowling-shoe ugly, but it wasn’t about the match.

Batista and Edge jawed with each other from afar as the show ended.

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