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By Chris Newth, PWTorch.com Specialist Contributor

WWE Friday Night Smackdown
September 14, 2007
Upcoming PPV: Unforgiven (two days away as of airdate)

SMACKDOWN STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the third edition of Smackdown Storylines and Feuds.

For those wondering about the Intrigue Level system that I employ, you can refer to the numbers as follows:

10 (excellent), 9 (great), 8-6 (very good, good, pretty good), 5 (decent; has its good and bad qualities), 4-3 (needs work, poor), 2 (bad), 1 (terrible)

World Hvt. Champion THE GREAT KHALI (w/ Ranjin Singh) vs. REY MYSTERIO vs. BATISTA (3 weeks)

The story here is simple: Khali is a monster of a man who is using his seemingly indestructible nature to out-power his opponents with the crippling Vise Grip. The problem? That's all it is.

Batista, having had his shot at the World Heavyweight Title at Summerslam, was forced to sit back and watch Rey Mysterio take a turn at defeating the Punjabi Nightmare—that is, until the ill effects of Khali's newest finisher left Rey in a bloody heap last week.

Instead of suspending Khali immediately for his blatant and vicious attack on a weakened Rey Mysterio outside the confines of a sanctioned match, babyface General Manager Theodore Long altered the booking of the Unforgiven World Title match to a Triple Threat, throwing Batista into the mix.

So the Rey-Khali feud had some intrigue as WWE touted a modern day David versus Goliath bout. Batista's induced involvement wasn't necessarily a buzz kill; however, it certainly shifted the focus of the match's initial originality.

This week, Rey Mysterio was busy selling Khali's attack from the last episode of Smackdown, so the other third of the World Title picture became the fill-in. The overly-hyped "First Time Ever on Network Television" Batista-Khali match was, to put it mildly, a bust. The promotional factor is one of the weakest elements employed here.

If WWE is trying to build interest for something that they believe will be a true draw, then they should deliver above and beyond expectations (most of the time). People tuning into that match because of all the hype to see the epic battle between two of the biggest (in a literal sense) WWE Superstars were probably immediately disappointed. If Khali had the ability to put on a solid, compelling wrestling match but didn't do it often, that would be one thing. But when it's hyped as a big match and then everybody sees the true limitations of the champion, a problem emerges. Then again, people should know what they're going to be getting. The true issue here is the choice of champions.

Now, I generally approve taking risky business decisions such as placing Khali as the World Heavyweight Champion, at least temporarily. It's not hard to believe that a man like that, despite his limited fighting ability, could possibly win the title, maybe by fluke, perhaps by just being so strong. Of course, this blurs the line between storylines/characters and wrestling competition. WWE wants to push this monstrous man who happens to possess an abnormally large body type. If they want people to continue to perceive him as a credible threat, they have to do more than just shuffle him from brand to brand. "Why isn't this huge guy winning the championship?" an observant viewer may ask. "Because he sucks," another viewer may logically respond.

So, WWE opted to have story and character take precedence over the prestige of the title. If the reign is temporary, as it was proven to be at Unforgiven, this might not be a terrible idea. Khali, now having a title win on his resume, can appear even more credible. At the same time, the person that is able to beat the champion will achieve a great perceptual boost.

The bottom line is that Khali, as champion, decimated Rey Mysterio last week, resulting in the Dialer of the 619's absence this week. Then, the World Heavyweight Champion continued his gratuitous acts of violence against Batista, systematically taking him out as well. The effects of the Vise Grip allowed WWE.com to speculate as to whom, if anyone, would appear at Unforgiven for the Triple Threat match. The Champion had taken out both Mysterio and Batista, respectively, in the last two weeks. This series of events leading up to this PPV match has at least been slightly interesting, even discounting the uneventful main event on Smackdown.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5.5 [down 1 from last week]

Previous Feuds
Rey Mysterio: Chavo Guerrero
The Great Khali: Batista
Batista: Edge

MATT HARDY vs. MVP (11 weeks)

This entertaining feud rolls on this week as MVP and Matt Hardy share yet another new, fresh element in their moderately-friendly battle—revenge.

We start this week observing a game of chess. What a great establishing scene as WWE continues to feature these two constantly competing, even in small backstage roles. Nicely done. Also effective is that they've transitioned the rivalry itself from being all about competing in different events to focusing on the dynamic of the feuding WWE Tag Team Champions.

Matt Hardy has placed MVP into a singles match against Domino. A flustered MVP uses the entire Jamie Noble vs. Shannon Moore match to find a referee and complain that he's not ready to compete. In any event, Montel Vontavious Porter prepares for his match by taking off his business suit while approaching the ring. This realism should be appreciated. It's not like MVP came out dressed to compete after saying that he had no time. They could have gone that route, with JBL complaining for MVP that he barely had any time to get ready. Instead of telling us what was happening, they showed us; it's a lot more effective.

During the match, Hardy mockingly cheered for his tag team partner. The crowd got behind it, improvising their own version of the MVP chant. At some points, it was almost as if the crowd was rooting for the United States Champion to win; after all, he was facing Domino. However, at other points it was clear that the live audience wanted to join Hardy in jeering MVP.

The match resulted in a strong storytelling sequence, where Deuce went for the typical heel interference, only to be cut off by Hardy. MVP, unappreciative of the assistance, got caught off guard and lost to Domino via a rollup. Yes, this scenario plays out often in WWE; however, this time it meant something. Hardy showed that his true nature is to help his partner, while MVP is too proud to accept the help. In a moral-of-the-story fashion, MVP lost his match.

Each week, WWE is consistently building this strong feud more and more. The episodes have yet to be repetitive, with shifting focus and results. It's a commendable effort on the part of the writers and the performers to take these two characters, mold them meticulously each week, and provide new and interesting situations in which to interact. Well done.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 9.5 [up 0.5 from last week]

Previous Feuds
MVP: Ric Flair
Matt Hardy: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

DEUCE 'N' DOMINO (w/ Cherry) vs. MVP & MATT HARDY (4 weeks)

I've been doggedly defining this feud as not much more than an extension of the MVP-Hardy feud. It serves only as an auxiliary function for now. That isn't to say that it's bad. Deuce and Domino are doing a perfectly adequate job serving as the angry, bitter former champions. Their entrance this week displayed a good balance between cockiness and determination; they weren't overly celebratory, and they seemed to have their sights set on the current WWE Tag Team Champions.

The story here is about Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter. That is where the focus is, and that's who people care about at the moment. Deuce and Domino will likely get their gold back once the Hardy-MVP rivalry wears off (or at least transitions past the tag team phase). Until then, it's hard to become heavily involved when the spotlight is so clearly shining on the two people in Smackdown's best current feud.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [same as last week]

Previous Feuds
Deuce & Domino: Batista
MVP: Ric Flair
Matt Hardy: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

CHUCK PALUMBO & MICHELLE McCOOL vs. KENNY DYKSTRA & VICTORIA (2 weeks)

This new feud began last week when Chuck Palumbo faced Kenny in a one-on-one matchup. As random as it sounds, Palumbo was escorted to the ring by Michelle McCool because Victoria appeared in Kenny's corner. Their segment this week was surprisingly lengthy.

It began with a singles divas match between McCool and Victoria. With mounting interference by Kenny, Palumbo forced himself in to even the odds. After a quick commercial break, we were informed that the match had been altered to a Mixed Tag match between the two opposing sides. This was a good way to almost equalize the importance of the four participants here. The divas got a decent match in before it was changed to a tag match, so at least there's no blatant attempt to marginalize the women's involvement.

As for storyline, well, there doesn't appear to be one. This is another case of overlooking the lower-card and denying them stories on which to build character. We have an idea of who Palumbo is, but it's not nearly enough. Okay, he likes motorcycles. Why do I care? As for Kenny, he hasn't held enough footing to make any credible impact since being drafted from Raw. His gimmick change from Spirit Squad Member Kenny to Kenny Dykstra seems to have been a demotion of sorts, even though the Squad was buried by DX last year. At least he drew the ire of top-level guys then; now he's relegated to losing cleanly to Chuck Palumbo.

Maybe WWE feels that throwing a bone laced with storyline to the undercard is a waste of time, but those little things are going to be what character grows from. It's better than this match-only alternative. Granted, many stories are created initially via match. In-ring competition might fuel an entire storyline between two people for multiple weeks. My problem lies with lower-carders who don't seem to be given anything worthy to help them shape their character arc. I'm sure that if ideas were thrown to a lot more people, there would be more interesting and creative changes occurring. The stories don't even have to be that great; if you throw enough crap against the wall, something will eventually stick. Those few times are worth putting in the effort.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 4

Previous Feuds
Chuck Palumbo: Chris Masters
Michelle McCool: no notable feuds recently
Kenny Dykstra: no notable feuds since drafted from Raw
Victoria: Mickie James

FINLAY (w/ Hornswoggle) vs. KANE (6 weeks)

If anything was going to rejuvenate this rivalry, it was a solid in-ring match that would equalize these two. However, that isn't enough. The feud is still extremely underfunded in a narrative sense. It's dragging. Why are these two still fighting? Weeks have passed that have been practically inactive. I've already forgotten how this feud began in the first place.

Again, the Belfast Brawl was a unique gimmick match (at least in name) that gave a much-needed win to Finlay. The conclusion of the contest saw Finlay take advantage of a ring strewn with weapons to eventually level The Big Red Machine with the Celtic Cross and pin him cleanly with the 1-2-3.

In order to go forward from here, there has to be some kind of storyline progression. WWE has to give us some reason to want to see Kane continue his quest to beat Finlay, and a loss in the Belfast Brawl Match is not quite enough. So this feud is still suffering. On a related note, Kane's aim in hurling the shillelagh at Finlay was impeccable.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 4.5 [up 0.5 from last week]

Previous Feuds
Kane: Batista and The Great Khali
Finlay: no notable feuds recently

THE UNDERTAKER vs. MARK HENRY (6 weeks)

There isn't much to say here. Mark Henry briefly poses as one of Undertaker's druids. Taker's video is shown again. The end.

WWE clearly was stretching one more week out of this one. There was, however, one interesting note. The way Henry discussed "powers" may have been hitting on something. WWE often likes to portray their wrestlers in that kind of light. They are Superstars. They aren't average people; they're people that can do extraordinary things.

To have Henry state that he doesn't need Undertaker's hocus pocus because he has his own form of power—in brute strength—is pretty unique. It almost gave the kind of feel that kids might interpret as two different superhero-type beings that are going to collide at Unforgiven. Of course, adults will simply look past this as a corny little promo line. However, there may have been value there, value that is analogous to how films like Shrek can appeal to both children and adults.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5 [same as last week]

Previous Feuds
The Undertaker: n/a
Mark Henry: jobbers for over a month

JAMIE NOBLE vs. Cruiserweight Champion HORNSWOGGLE (8 weeks)

Hornswoggle's absence in both the Jamie Noble segment as well as the Finlay-Kane match, although readily apparent, was logistically necessary due to the McMahon son reveal. Luckily, WWE has provided another character all along, presumably foreseeing the finite nature of the Hornswoggle storyline. That character is Shannon Moore.

We know that Noble's increasingly unstable disposition is a direct result of both Hornswoggle's tactics as well as his peers' taunting. Being teased since getting pinned by The Leprechaun, namely by Shannon Moore, has only worsened his condition. So, there has been some more edge to Noble's character, but it's still very thin. As for Moore, we only know that he is joking with Noble in a friendly way; he isn't out to crush Jamie's psyche by any means.

Last Monday's reveal proved that Hornswoggle is indeed the son of Mr. McMahon, which leaves many questions unanswered. Particularly curious is whether Noble's feud with the Little Bastard is in jeopardy. This week's booking on Smackdown, although mentioning Hornswoggle by name, could be the end of this rivalry. A shift to a feud between Noble and Moore may have begun.

The Noble-Moore match was interesting in that it played on the psychology pervasive throughout this rivalry. Noble is obsessed with finding and beating Hornswoggle, and Moore knows this, using Jamie's paranoia against him. Unlike formulaic distractions that turn into rollups for the victory, this one played out differently. Moore convinced Noble that Hornswoggle appeared from under the ring after getting the referee to look too. Once The Former Pitbull took the bait, Moore rolled him up for the quick win. Noble's basically loosing these matches because his mind is somewhere else. Moore, knowing this, capitalizes by not only getting Noble to look foolish backstage, but also to win matches over him.

So, assuming Hornswoggle doesn't reappear to conclude his feud with Noble, leaving us with just Shannon Moore, is there a storyline here? Well, yes, but it's a weak one. The key to that question—in deciding if there's something worthy here—is to ask a simple question: who are we rooting for? In the case of Noble-Moore, I'd have to guess Moore, but since he's the one who's initiating the jokes on Noble, it's a little difficult to rally behind him. Teasing somebody constantly won't be a long-lasting approach to building any credible babyface.

Next week's Smackdown might be the time to have Noble finally exact revenge with the help of Mr. McMahon. The occasion for having McMahon on Friday night? Teddy Long and Kristal's wedding. Ah, there might be some way to settle this feud after all (while simultaneously propelling the new Hornswoggle-McMahon one).

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5.5 [same as last week]

Previous Feuds
Jamie Noble: n/a
Hornswoggle: n/a

Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com. I appreciate all the feedback I receive.

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