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WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS 8/21: Caldwell and Parks analyze the go-home show for Summerslam

Aug 23, 2009 - 5:52:58 PM
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James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (7.5)

Good show to complete the build-up to Summerslam. I thought they pulled it off well despite C.M. Punk taking the Twist of Fate in the promo segment with Hardy and taking the same Twist of Fate from Matt Hardy in the main event to take the loss. Punk didn't exactly have a good night at the office and they didn't put Hardy in jeopardy of losing the World Title at the PPV. However, you don't always have to put the babyface in jeopardy to sell a PPV. Creating several "feel good moments" and letting the main eventers talk the audience into spending money can also work. Case in point: the Hardy-Punk promo exchange was very well done and conveyed every element of the feud to get the audience hyped for Summerslam. Just the little mannerisms and facial expressions from both men were spot on.

Speaking of mannerisms and facial expressions, the highlight of the night for me was C.M. Punk post-main event slumping against the announce table with this look of exasperation. He had this look of "why can't I just get my message across?" after taking his second "defeat" of the night. It was just a little thing, but so great. As for the main event, very good six-man tag match that took us back to those great six-man tags on Raw during the Chris Benoit era in 2005. WWE would regularly book those multiple-man main events that hyped the crowd and got people genuinely excited about the product. Fit the theme of WWE trying to create excitement to sell the PPV on Sunday.

The opening match six-man tag had a big match feel and all six competitors came out looking strong, I thought. I wasn't taking any notes on the ring intros, but there was something about Shad's walk to the ring and the confidence he exuded that stuck out in my mind. Down the road, I believe he can be an effective singles star on Smackdown. I saw the "it" factor on this show and his interaction with Big Show during the match was a nice tease for a future program. They laid the foundation during the Shaq Raw and there could be something down the road. I have concerns over that being a watchable match-up, but you never know. The finish with Dolph Ziggler scoring the pin on Rey after Show's KO punch was a nice touch to for Summerslam. Nice incorporation of two title matches at the PPV in one match the crowd appeared to be really into.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Good final offering before Summerslam. Both six-man matches were solid, and doubled as previews for matches at the PPV. The explanation Matt Hardy provided for his sudden babyface turn was alright. I've certainly heard worse, and it's good that they came up with an explanation that made sense and didn't have to end with "if you fans don't get it, then you're stupid," as TNA has done. I like the mid-card feud of Mike Knox and Finlay, and I could see them feuding over the I.C title at some point.

The TLC interview segment was one of Jeff Hardy's best to date. Punk's interview certainly planted seeds for Jeff leaving, and Matt eventually taking his place in the feud. The Women's tag match just showed how many light years ahead of the other women Natalya is as far as being a worker goes. Matt pinning Punk was an interesting result, and something you probably wouldn't see happen on the Raw brand, especially with the guys on that brand and how protected they are.


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