By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

WWE Friday Night Smackdown
September 19, 2008
Upcoming PPV: No Mercy (third-to-last episode before PPV)

SMACKDOWN STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the fifty-second 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)


WWE Champion TRIPLE H vs. JEFF HARDY vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV (5 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Jeff Hardy cut a promo before his matchup by briefly talking about how some people criticized his past and his risky in-ring style. He enthusiastically credited Triple H for motivating him, but Kendrick interrupted before he could talk about his issues with Vladimir Kozlov.

-Kendrick fought Hardy one-on-one, and the match ended when Jeff reversed Kendrick's finisher into a backslide pin for the win.

-After the match while Hardy was celebrating on the stage, Vladimir Kozlov floored him with a forceful kick to the chest.

-In Smackdown's main event, Triple H defeated MVP after delivering the Pedigree. After the match, Kozlov arrived to make another statement. The Moscow Mauler felled Triple H with his headbutt to close the show.

Analysis:

Hardy's promo was pretty good. He didn't really say anything new, but he sounded a lot more pumped up than usual. "[Triple H] was trying to motivate me. He was trying to change me. He was trying to make me better," Jeff said. This is a good strategy to use for this feud considering that it's made up of two babyfaces. The other guy in the equation is Kozlov, who WWE is clearly ready to push into a main event spot. Part of the intrigue here is that we haven't seen him compete much against anyone at the top of the card. Now it's pretty evident with his multiple attacks against both Jeff Hardy and Triple H that he's going to be involved in this rivalry at least until No Mercy. Whether he'll be officially added to the PPV title matchup is still uncertain, but the story seems to be about a disgruntled and bitter guy who believes that he's not getting the right competition, so he's decided to pick a fight for himself.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 8.5 [same since last week]

Previous Feuds
Triple H: King Booker, Umaga, Jeff Hardy, Orton & JBL, Randy Orton, John Cena
Jeff Hardy: Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, Triple H, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, MVP

THE UNDERTAKER vs. Smackdown GM VICKIE GUERRERO & THE BIG SHOW (12 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Vickie Guerrero and Big Show sat comfortably in the GM's office chatting about their new working relationship. Eve then stopped by to ask if she could get a chance to wrestle on Smackdown, a notion that was cruelly laughed off by Vickie and Show.

-Later in her office, Vickie told Show that she's going to make Undertaker apologize; Show reminisced about his attack on Undertaker at Unforgiven before replaying the PPV footage.

-In the back, Vickie spoke to the camera as if it were the first-person viewpoint of Undertaker, telling him to kiss her feet and apologize. It was soon revealed to be Chavo Guerrero pretending to be Undertaker; he even dressed up in Taker's clothing (which may have been authentic because they were about five sizes too big on Chavo).

-After that scene, Big Show played the Unforgiven footage for a third time on the show.

-In an even odder scene later in the show, Chavo Guerrero asked Hawkins, Ryder, and Bam Neely to leave the room so that he could watch the Unforgiven footage. After it aired, Undertaker's frenetic montage played on the TV; then Chavo Guerrero turned around to find Undertaker, who choked him.

Analysis:

The Vickie/Show combo is an interesting new duo on Smackdown, and it will be nice to hear Big Show get more time to talk at a conversational level during this rivalry. As I noted last week, I think WWE could have done without Big Show's overly heavy explanation last week during a promo. This week's various backstage scenes would have sufficed, and viewers would have gotten the same idea. It's intriguing to consider where Edge might fit into all of this upon his return because Vickie and Show seem to have a pretty safe nonromantic relationship. "You humble [Taker], and I'll break him," Show suggested to Vickie as they cohesively devised their plan. Also, it was interesting to see WWE use the same first-person technique for two scenes in two different ways. In the first, we (the camera) saw through Chavo's "eyes" as he pretended to be Undertaker. Later in the show, we actually got the point-of-view of The Undertaker himself. Just an interesting thing worth noting.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 8.5 [same since last week]

Previous Feuds
Vickie Guerrero: Undertaker, Batista
Undertaker: Mark Henry, Batista, Big Daddy V, Edge
Big Show: Floyd Mayweather, The Great Khali

WWE Divas' Champion MICHELLE McCOOL vs. MARYSE (4 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-In what would be the first Divas' Title Match on Smackdown, reigning champion Michelle McCool retained her title by beating month-long rival Maryse after hitting a move called the Wings of Love.

Analysis:

This section is where I was originally going to discuss how this feud is almost certainly over. After all, Michelle McCool defeated Maryse at Unforgiven for the title, and she just retained it once again after beating Maryse for a second time this week. However, after watching ECW on Tuesday, it seems like WWE might be about to extend the rivalry a bit longer. Maryse's clean win against McCool one-on-one on ECW suggests a continuation from here. The heelish Canadian diva is benefitting from the prolonged exposure as the consistent number one contender. She's slowing defining herself to viewers as the weeks pass. As for Michelle, she seems like a solid champion but lacks a lot of much-needed talking time.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [up 1 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Michelle McCool: Victoria, Chuck Palumbo
Maryse: Cherry

WWE Tag Team Champions CURT HAWKINS & ZACK RYDER vs. CARLITO & PRIMO (1 week)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Carlito hosted Carlito's Cabana alongside his brother Primo. They talked about how the competition on Smackdown is easy and how it won't be long before they can get tag team gold.

-Hawkins and Ryder interrupted the show, cutting off Carlito. However, Carlito and Primo mocked them, pretending to not even know who they were. A match was set for next week for the WWE Tag Team Titles.

-After the Cabana ended, Carlito called for someone to clean up the set in the ring. Jesse and Festus answered the call with bubble wrap in hand. Of course, a fight broke out with the babyfaces getting an upper hand.

Analysis:

It was nice to see a little (probably) harmless sibling rivalry ingrained in the Carlito/Primo team. Having Carlito sound a little uncomfortable with Primo using his catchphrases and considering himself a co-host for the Cabana is a smart and subtle move. This isn't a means for WWE to plant seeds for a possible tag team implosion storyline since the team has just debuted on Smackdown; however, WWE can always go back to that point long into the future if they ever wanted to give a reason for a disbanded tag team. Hawkins and Ryder seemed dull and unoriginal in their presentation and their promo this week. It feels like a version of the cookie-cutter arrogant heel tag team. And as for Jesse and Festus, they've been desperately trying to fit somewhere in the show, but it hasn't quite happened yet. Who knows what they will ultimately be doing a few weeks from now?

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 5

Previous Feuds
Hawkins & Ryder: Jesse & Festus
Carlito & Primo: n/a

VICTORIA vs. BRIE BELLA (4 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Brie Bella met with Maria backstage; they chatted about Maria's love for fashion. Brie asked Maria if she could design an outfit for her but with an identical extra to go along with it (in case of snags).

-Victoria and Natalya then barged in to make fun of Brie and Maria. The heels had a suspicion that something's going on with Brie and her frequent trips under the ring during matches. They then challenged Brie and Maria to a tag team match next week.

Analysis:

Well, it started with the announcers curiously wondering why Brie always heads under the ring during her matchups with Victoria. WWE then threw in another clue this week about identical wrestling gear. Plus, Victoria and Natalya surmised that Brie's fascination with going under the ring has to do with Hornswoggle, again hitting home the point that going under the ring is something the viewers should be focused on. I'm not here to ruin surprises, so I'm just going to follow this slow unveiling as it happens. However, it does seem pretty obvious at this point. Anyway, the real question will be whether it's revealed next week or later. Waiting too long could be problematic, but once this secret is out, the storyline will probably have to change dramatically. It's been about a month now, so I'd suspect it will be uncovered in the next two or three weeks.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6.5 [up 0.5 since last week]

Previous Feuds
Victoria: Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool & Cherry
Brie Bella: n/a


CONCLUDED FEUDS

(1) R-Truth vs. Chavo Guerrero

POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Jesse & Festus vs. Ryan Braddock
(2) Jesse & Festus vs. Hawkins & Ryder
(3) Shelton Benjamin vs. R-Truth
(4) Hurricane Helms vs. Shelton Benjamin
(5) The Great Khali vs. Scotty Goldman
(6) The Great Khali vs. Vladimir Kozlov
(7) Vickie Guerrero vs. Eve


Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com. I greatly appreciate all the feedback that I receive, and I will respond to every email. Please insert a word in the subject line that deals with a wrestling topic or write something such as "WWE," "feud," or "Funaki" so that I know it's not junk mail.

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