by Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
May 15, 2009
Taped 5/12/09 in Dayton, Ohio
Aired on MyNetwork TV


-WWE Open.

-Smackdown Open.

1- JOHN MORRISON & CM PUNK vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN & CHARLIE HAAS

Apparently, earlier today on WWE.com, Benjamin and Haas challenged Morrison and a partner of his choosing to this match. Disappointing- the heels came out to Shelton’s theme instead of the old WGTT theme.

Haas and Punk started the match off, with Punk getting in a few of his trademark kicks. JR kept talking up Haas’ apparent new-found aggression. Benjamin tagged in when Morrison was in peril, but it didn’t take long for Morrison to get on the offensive, and he and Punk even did some double-teaming. Punk came in and was able to keep Haas grounded. Punk struggled, then got Haas up for the GTS. He let Haas down when Benjamin came in and Shelton went up on Punk’s shoulders. The faces ended up clearing the ring of the heels as the show went to break.

[Commercial Break]

Morrison slung Haas across the ring with a deep arm-drag right out of break. Benjamin kicked Morrison in the face as the ref’s attention was occupied by Haas, giving the former tag champs the advantage. They were able to cut off the ring nicely with Morrison in there. Morrison made a comeback and the crowd began to pick up. Morrison rolled out of a backslide and tagged Punk. Punk appeared to barely tap Benjamin with a kick, but he made a blind tag to Haas. Punk hit the running knee in the corner on Shelton, but Haas took over on offense. Haas slowed things down against Punk, then tagged Shelton. At 15:00, Punk flipped out of a suplex and made the tag to Morrison, who cleaned house on Haas. Sunset flip by Haas, but Morrison ended up kneeing him in the face. Shelton tried to get involved, but Punk dispatched him. Morrison hit the Starship Pain (split-legged corkscrew moonsault) on Haas and the match was over.

WINNERS: Morrison & Punk, at 15:40. Fantastic match. I love Haas & Benjamin together and Morrison is coming along as a face.

[Commercial Break]

-Chris Jericho came out. He was in his wrestling gear. He talked about his plans for Judgment Day, then insulted the fans. Jericho said that since he’s been on Smackdown he’s been disrespected and cheated on (really?) and then he insulted the fans some more. He talked about his rapture beginning at Judgment Day. He called himself the destroyer of hopes and dreams. That is a sweet proclamation, actually. Smackdown is Jericho’s show he said. So then.....would that make it “Smackdown Is Jericho?” Y2J turned his attention to “that minuscule piece of trash, Rey Mysterio.” He blamed Mysterio for costing him a shot at the World Championship last week, so now he’ll become the IC Champ for an unprecedented ninth time. Jericho guaranteed that fans won’t see a 619 this Sunday, but WILL see an Intercontinental Champion named Chris Jericho. Since he allegedly runs the show, he didn’t want to wait ‘til Judgment Day, and demanded Rey come out now. But instead, World Champion Edge came out.

Edge said it’s been only a few weeks since the draft, yet he’s already sick and tired of hearing Jericho’s voice. Edge said the entire locker room is out to get him, not Jericho, since he’s World Champion. He even accused Jericho of being out to get him. Edge saw Jericho’s nine IC Titles (provided he wins Sunday) and raised him nine World Championships. Edge said he wants to call out Jeff Hardy. He did, but Jericho interrupted and said Edge has been supplanted. This is great, they’re acting like a couple of high-schoolers. Instead of Hardy or Rey, Teddy Long entered the arena. He said it was neither Edge nor Jericho’s show. It was the WWE Universe’s show! Long proclaimed Jericho vs. Edge for tonight. The two men suspiciously looked at each other in the ring.

-Jeff Hardy was walking backstage. He’s in action next.

[Commercial Break]

2- JEFF HARDY vs. RICKY ORTIZ

They did an inset interview with the ever-optimistic Ricky Ortiz. He was literally begging the fans to Rally Up for him during his match with Jeff. Ortiz got the early advantage on Hardy and hit a nice beal. JR brought up what would be a better gimmick than this, where Ortiz is a motivational speaker. That could work as a heel. He got a near-fall on Hardy after a knee-drop. Headbutts by Ortiz as about 1:45 in, it’s been all Ortiz. He tried a splash, but Hardy got the knees up. Ortiz nailed a bodyslam for two. Jeff worked out of a side-headlock and hit a clothesline, then a mule kick. Corner dropkick by this Sunday’s World Title challenger. Whisper in the Wind, Twist of Fate and Swanton ended it.

WINNER: Hardy, at 3:34. Well, Ortiz got a lot more offense than I expected. They really need to flesh out his character if they want him to be a substantial player on the Smackdown brand.

-Todd Grisham said we’d get a word from Hardy after the break.

-JR plugged Jericho vs. Edge as the main event tonight.

[Commercial Break]

-They showed Hardy picking up the win prior to the break.

-Josh Mathews was in the ring and he asked Jeff about his momentum heading into Judgment Day. Someone must’ve yelled “you’re the greatest,” because Hardy pointed to a fan and said “you’re the greatest.” Hardy said that when he wins the title on Sunday, it’ll be for the fans who have always supported him being himself.

-The Raw Rebound aired.

-JR and Grisham briefly touched on Batista vs. Randy Orton, slated for Sunday.

-Alicia Fox and Michelle McCool were stretching backstage. They face Gail Kim and Melina next.

[Commercial Break]

3- MICHELLE MCCOOL & ALICIA FOX vs. GAIL KIM & MELINA

Melina was all over Michelle at the outset, then they just stared across the ring at each other and McCool appeared to not want anything to do with Melina, so she tagged Fox. Snap-mare by Melina, then a tag to Kim. Gail hit a back-elbow, then a hurricanrana on Fox. Diving mid-section attack by Kim, then she took out McCool on the apron. The ref’s back was turned, and McCool pulled Kim’s foot off the apron and Kim took a spill to the floor in a nasty-looking spot. McCool tagged in and took over offense on Gail. Reverse suplex by Michell, and apparently, it did damage to Michelle too. Both women were down and eventually, Melina tagged in. Melina was very aggressive (and loud) in attacking Michelle. Roll-up by McCool, but Melina was under the bottom rope. Melina set up for a move, but Fox broke it up. Kim took care of Alicia and Melina hit her version of the Code Red for the win.

WINNERS: Kim & Melina, at 4:28. Nice to see a women’s match get more than three-and-a-half minutes.

-Jericho vs. Edge is still to come, and it’s the main event tonight.

[Commercial Break]

4- JIMMY WANG YANG vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER

Yang got the dreaded “currently in the ring” treatment. Ziggler was insulted by Yang not shaking his hand. Yang kicked it away and hit an arm-drag. Ziggler suplexed Yang and splashed him in the corner. He applied a chin-lock less than two minutes in, then followed it up with a series of elbowdrops. Another rear chin-lock, that at least Ziggler wrenched in. Some bad-mouthing from Ziggler ensued, even when he applied a full-nelson as the announcers seemed to run out of things to talk about. Yang made a comeback. He was short on moonsault but landed on his feet, and Ziggler was right there to nail him with what appeared to be a reverse paydirt move for the pin.

WINNER: Ziggler, at 4:00. Really slow match.

The Great Khali came out after the match. He got on the apron and Ziggler tried to attack. But Khali grabbed him by the throat and brought him from inside the ring to the floor. Ziggler crawled back up the ramp.

[Commercial Break]

-Cryme Tyme was talking to Eve Torres backstage and they talked to her about Layla jumping her from behind twice. Shad even said she’s been talking about Eve’s mom. They then pointed out Layla down the hall and encouraged Eve to confront her. Layla was in makeup and sitting in the chair when Eve came from behind and poured something all over her head. The two ladies started brawling all over the cosmetics table until Cryme Tyme finally broke it up.

5- R-TRUTH vs. MIKE KNOX

This is a re-match from last week. Truth knocked Knox off his feet and the big man rolled to the outside. Truth came over the top rope and right onto Knox at ringside. Back in the ring, Knox hit a bicycle kick on Truth. Boot to the face by Truth after taking Knox’s offense, then he used his unorthodox offense on Knox, including a corkscrew elbow. He went for the pin, and got it!

WINNER: R-Truth, at 2:51. Surprised he got the pin off that move. Good to see Truth pick up the victory.

-Jericho squares off against Edge later in the show, but next, we’ll hear from Rey Mysterio.

[Commercial Break]

-Backstage, Josh Mathews was joined by Rey Mysterio. Rey said he heard what Jericho said earlier and called Jericho arrogant and egotistical. He said Jericho needs to earn respect. Rey spoke in Spanish a bit and said at Judgment Day, Jericho won’t have to worry about a conspiracy; only about the 619.

-JR and Grisham stood in center ring to preview the Judgment Day card.

-Edge came out for the main event. His match against Jericho is next.

[Commercial Break]

6- EDGE vs. CHRIS JERICHO

Jericho is looking a little soft around the mid-section. Just an observation. Jericho and Edge jawed back-and-forth in the middle of the ring and the two ended up slapping each other. Jericho tackled Edge and both men rolled around the ring, ending on the outside where Edge was thrown face-first into the barricade and apron. JR called Jericho “studiously sadistic.” They took things slowly back in the ring, pacing for a longer match. Edge choked Jericho on the middle rope after taking some abuse from his fellow Canadian. Jericho himself the used the ropes for the advantage, and hit a baseball slide on Edge, sending the champ out of the ring. Edge whipped Jericho into the steel ring steps on the outside. Jericho and Edge both met on the middle and top rope about five minutes in, and they sent each other crashing down to the mats on the floor.

[Commercial Break]

Back to the show, Edge suplexed Jericho and got a two-count. Y2J was whipped into the ropes and met Edge with a one-arm DDT. Hammerlock slam by Jericho. Jericho yelled “Whose show is this!?” at Edge as he beat him up. Whip into the buckle by Edge, but Jericho rolled him up and put his feet on the ropes for leverage. Referee Scott Armstrong saw it and admonished Jericho. Edge rolled Jericho up and did the same thing, with the referee once again catching it. Jericho came back and hit a face-buster on Edge. He missed a Lionsault, landing on his feet, but looked like he tweaked a knee. Edge applied a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Jericho got out, and inside cradled Edge for two. Then he put Edge in the Walls of Jericho. Edge got the bottom rope, like Jericho did, to break the hold. Jericho argued with the referee and turned right around into a spear by Edge. Jericho’s momentum took him out of the ring. Jericho grabbed a chair from ringside. Edge met him with a big boot to the face as the ref called for the bell, disqualifying Jericho for bringing the chair into the ring.

WINNER: Edge, via DQ, at 14:33.

After the match, Jeff Hardy came out and dodged a chairshot. He hit Edge and was going to go for the Swanton, but Jericho distracted him and he ended up jumping on him at ringside instead. Then CM Punk’s music hit, and he brought a ref down to the ring. He wanted to cash in his MITB opportunity, but Umaga came out again. Punk nailed Umaga with the briefcase and they spilled to the outside. Then Hardy went back on a tear against Edge, and they ended up going into the fans and up the stairs. Umaga and Punk were also fighting in the crowd. With Jericho’s back to the entrance, Rey came out and attacked him. They went back-and-forth showing all three battles as the show closed.

-A final plug for Judgment Day aired.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also hear him every-other-week in the post-Raw audio show in the Torch VIP audio section and read his all-new blog in the VIP forum. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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