By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
JUNE 15, 2008
FRESNO, CALIF. AT FRESNO STATE UNIVERSITY
AIRED ON THE CW

-Vickie Guerrero opened the show mid-ring and announced a contract signing for the Night of Champions of Batista challenging Edge. Fans have been waiting years for this one! Batista came out to his full ring intro first. Vickie told Batista at Night of Champions, she's looking forward to seeing him face the greatest World Champion ever, Edge. She said Edge has already signed the contract. She pointed it out to him. She said it's now her turn to sign the contract. She said she is aware that his attorney reviewed the contract this morning before they went on the air. She said she took the liberty, as G.M., of adding an amendment that said he must be victorious in one more match tonight to be confirmed the no. 1 contender. He asked against whom. She said The Great Khali. She said the only thing uglier than the beating he's going to give Edge at Night of Champions is the woman he's married. He signed the contract and left the ring. Vickie yelled at him and said she has added another amendment stating that should he lose tonight against Khali, not only won't he be no. 1 contender, but he will be banished from WWE. Batista stared intensely back at her. She said, "Thank you, you're dismissed."

[Commercial Break]

-Coming back from the break, a graphic said: Did You Know: WWE is watched by more than 15 milion people every week in the U.S.?

-They showed a clip of Hornswoggle laughing at Miz & Morrison backstage last week, then Finlay walking up and saying they want the tag titles. Miz said, "No offense, but you're going to come up a little short."

1 -- FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) vs. JOHN MORRISON (w/The Miz)

At 4:00 Miz tried to drag Hornswoggle out from under the ring. That distracted Finlay, and then Morrison schoolboyed Finlay for the three count.

WINNER: Morrison in 5:00.

STAR RATING: *

-A clip aired from Royal Rumble 2005 of Batista eliminating John Cena. Cole then said tonight "it's literally do or die" when Batista faces Great Khali. Literally do or die.

[Commercial Break]

-A commercial aired for WWE's new DVD release on The Rock.

-In a backstage promo, Edge said he hopes Batista can pull off a win tonight. He said it would be Smackdown's loss if he lost, plus he wants to face him at Night of the Champions. Edge said he wants to honor Batista's career just like he did "what's his name" a few weeks ago. He said he was wondering how The Dead Man was liking retirement the other day. C.M. Punk interrupted and wished Edge luck in his wedding on July 11. Punk held up the Money in the Bank briefcase and smiled and said he can cash it in anytime, including maybe at his wedding. Cole said, "He wouldn't, would he?" Foley said, "I think he would."

-A pretaped promo aired where Mark Henry showed a large image of Big Show with his left eye black and swollen shut. He showed another image of both of Show's eyes shut and said that's what Show will look like if he crosses "The World's Strongest Man."

2 -- MARK HENRY vs. TOMMY DREAMER

Cole plugged the Million Dollar Mania registration. Henry methodically battered Dreamer for a few minutes, including taunting him with, "Come on Tommy Dreamer! Come on Mr. ECW!" Dreamer teased a comeback at 2:00 when he caught a charging Henry with a big boot. Henry powerslammed him shortly thereafter out of nowhere for the win.

WINNER: Henry in 3:00.

-Edge walked up to Vickie backstage and complained about Punk threatening to try to win his title at their wedding. Vickie, who was looking through a wedding magazine with their wedding planner, was outraged. MVP barged in quickly and said he wanted to talk to Vickie about his contract. He said he wants to renegotiate it because he feels his talents are being wasted. He said he watched the entire show from the skybox and realized he is by far the most talented star on the entire roster. Edge objected. Vickie said for a favor, she might be inclined to look at his contract. MVP asked what kind of favor. Vickie suggested he take care of Punk tonight. MVP said that's fine, but keep that in mind when his agent calls her. After MVP left, Edge said to Vickie, "Some people."

[Commercial Break]

3 -- CHERRY vs. MARYSE

Before the match, Foley and Cole seemed to be blaming Maryse for being too rough with Cherry when she kicked Cherry in the face. Just because it was an overly stiff blow, somehow that was crossing the line. Foley said, "She could have been badly injured. It seems it was intentional." It's wrong that a move that doesn't "look fake" or "actually hurt" is crossing the line, but all of the other supposed attempts to hurt opponents in the course of the worked match are fair game. It's just a strange logic because why isn't a clothesline an equal attempt to hurt an opponent? Foley said he misses Michelle McCool this week. He said Maryse reminds him of all of the girls who were mean to him in high school. Maryse filled the bulk of the time with a chinlock. Cherry finished her, though, with a moldified DDT shortly thereafter. Foley said he didn't even know what to call the move, but described it as a hammerlock into a DDT.

WINNER: Cherry in 3:00.

-Cole and Foley were shown on camera the first time in the show. They recapped the ramifications of Batista vs. Khali in the main event later. They went to a video package on Khali.

[Commercial Break]

-A commercial aired for the three-hour special Raw in two weeks featuring the draft. Cole said everybody is eligible for the draft, including announcers. Foley said he and Cole might be broken up. Foley pretended to fantasize about working with a Hall of Famer, good ol' J.R. Cole replied, "Or you could go to ECW and work with Adamle." Foley snapped back immediately: "No!"

4 -- MVP vs. C.M. PUNK

Cole said MVP hasn't been the same since losing the U.S. Title. Foley said he has a renewed sense of aggression, but he is also suffering from a loss of identity since losing the U.S. Title. Cole said he has ego issues and perhaps confidence issues. Cole noted he's been left off a recent show. Cole said a recent WWE Magazine, he was named Jerk of the Month and a shameless self-promoter. Foley said good things can happen to those who help Vickie Guerrero. Foley said the fact that MVP is the highest paid athlete on Smackdown doesn't sit well with some of the other superstars. Foley said when he heard that, he wished he had a better agent back in the day. He said MVP doesn't just wrestle for the love of competition, but he does it for the cash. Cole said he does it to be recognized and patted on the back, too. After a Punk kickout at 4:00, MVP did something I've never seen before. Without getting up, he head butted Punk and then gave him a hard elbow, then went for another cover immediately. Punk kicked out again. Almost 100 percent matwork exchanges in the first five minutes. Foley said, "When it came to his own money, Teddy Long used to throw nickles around like they were manhole covers. A little but on the tight side, something I know a little bit about." At 9:00, at the very top of the second hour, they cut to a break. Bad timing. MVP threw Punk shoulder-first into the ringpost as they went to break.

[Commercial Break]

MVP continued to control the match after the break. At 16:00 Punk made a comeback with some kicks and knees while continuing to sell his arm that MVP worked on for a long time. Punk hit a spin wheel kick, then a high series of roundhouse kicks for a two count. MVP blocked a running knee in the corner, but Punk took MVP over with a hurancanrana leading to a two count. Punk continued to favor his arm as he climbed to the top rope gingerly. MVP knocked him off balance and then set a superplex. Punk headbutted MVP off the ropes and then went for an elbow. MVP lifted a knee. MVP removed a top turnbuckle pad. Ref Charles Robinson noticed and refastened it. Meanwhile, MVP picked up the MITB briefcase. Punk kneed the briefcase into MVP. The ref turned around and assumed Punk used it and DQ'd him.

WINNER: MVP via DQ in 19:00.

STAR RATING: **1/2 -- Clever finishing sequence. Solid match without anything wrong other than the first 15 minutes were pretty much in first gear with only a couple surges into second gear. The matwork was well done, so it's a big issue, but it could have used a few more faster paced exchanges just to break things up early on.

[Commercial Break]

-Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely stood mid-ring. Chavo said he's going to be best man when Punk marries his aunt, Vickie. He introduced Matt Hardy as his opponent for the U.S. Title at Night of Champions. Foley: "I'm really taken with Bam Neely sporting the latest in wife beater t-shirts."

5 -- CHUCK PALUMBO vs. MATT HARDY

Palumbo rode his bike around ringside while wearing a top hat with a skull and crossbones figure in front. Chavo watched the match from ringside and enjoyed when Hardy was getting beaten up. Out of nowhere Hardy hit a Twist of Fate for a clean win at 3:00.

WINNER: Hardy in 3:00. Palumbo must've rubbed someone the wrong way given his strong performances in the Jamie Noble feud and now jobbing out in match after match. It's not as if WWE is deep on big experienced heels right now where they can afford, without good reason, to extinguish the type of credibility he had built up earlier this year.

[Commercial Break]

-A "Did You Know?" graphic said: "WWE broadcasts in 23 languages to more than 130 nations worldwide."

-A video package aired on the McMahon's Million Dollar Mania fiasco on Monday. They managed to make McMahon seem something less than a senile bumbling rich fool. They went to Cole and Foley at ringside and went through the tired bit of Foley registering and Cole saying he can't win because he's a WWE employee.

-In a backstage interview, Vladimir Kozlov spoke in Russian, then finished by saying "Thank you" in English.

-A clip aired of Batista at Survivor Series 2006 beating King Booker. Cole plugged what could be "Batista's last match ever." You gotta love these major, major stips added on a whim to a show with zero notice.

[Commercial Break]

6 - JESSE & FESTUS vs. DEUCE & DOMINO

Cole built up the transformation of Festus once the bell rings. Jesse bled from mid-forehead early in the match from a stiff jump sidekick by Deuce. Deuce settled into a chinlock early, then tagged in Domino. Jesse lifted his knees on a Domino splash, then hot-tagged Festus. Festus escaped a sloppy sunset flip atttempt, then finished Deuce with a butt splash. Deuce and Domino got into a brawl afterward, upset with their loss.

WINNER: Jesse & Festus in 3:00.

-A clip aired from September 2007 of Khali squeezing Batista's head.

-They showed Khali heading toward the entrance tunnel for his match against Batista.

[Commercial Break]

7 - BATISTA vs. THE GREAT KHALI

Foley said these ridiculous stipulations make him wonder why she still has a job. The bell rang with seven minutes left in the show. Khali lifted his boot and Batista ran into it, then fell backwards out of the ring. Vickie and Edge watched smiling from the stage. When Batista tried to return, Khali head-butted him to the floor. Batista flat-backed off the ring apron to the floor mat. Khali threw Batista back into the ring, then stood on his chest for a near two count. After a legdrop, he scored another two count. Khali gave Batista the Khali Bomb. Cole declared, "This is! Batista's career is over!" Then Batista kicked out and Cole wondered "how in the hell" Batista kicked out. Vickie didn't like the kickout. Khali applied a nerve hold. Batista escaped, but Khali clotheslined him. Khali waited for Batista to stand, then went for his big chop. Batista blocked it. Khali used one arm to flip toss Batista off of him. Batista fired back with a spear and scored the pin. Edge and Vickie were shown reacting with dismay on the stage. Cole said Batista has conquered another hurdle.

WINNER: Batista in 6:00.

STAR RATING: * -- All things considered, a passable match between these two. They've learned what not to try and what they can pull off in a six minute setting.

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