By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

WWE Friday Night Smackdown
September 26, 2008
Upcoming PPV: No Mercy (second-to-last episode before PPV)

SMACKDOWN STORYLINES AND FEUDS

Welcome to the fifty-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)


WWE Champion TRIPLE H vs. JEFF HARDY vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV (6 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-In Smackdown's opening contest, Triple H and Jeff Hardy defeated MVP and The Brian Kendrick when The Game delivered a Pedigree to Porter for the victory.

-After the match, Hardy brought the WWE Title from ringside into the ring and handed it to Triple H personally. They shook hands signifying mutual respect.

-Vladimir Kozlov fought The Great Khali one-on-one, but before the match could finish, Triple H made an appearance to face off with Kozlov. Eventually, Kozlov and Khali teamed up against The Game, causing Jeff Hardy (and the use of Triple H's sledgehammer) to finally chase the heels away.

Analysis:

Nothing changed this week in terms of Kozlov's involvement. It just seems like WWE is adding a heel dynamic to the mix in order to get a better story. The shame is that a Hunter-Hardy face-face (friendly) rivalry could have made a fine match at No Mercy. It's important to note that WWE doesn't often use the face-face format in storylines. Plus, they already have a heated Michaels-Jericho WWE Title Match slated for that night. So why not put the focus solely on Hardy and Triple H? Throwing Kozlov into the fray isn't a bad idea—for one thing, it's the beginning of the growth of a new character in the main event—but there's no doubt that it's transferring energy that should be dedicated to the Hardy-Triple H story at the moment. And now that we've seen two episodes of Friday Night Smackdown featuring Kozlov being heavily involved in segments with Jeff and Hunter, it isn't too farfetched to assume that he's going to play some kind of role in their PPV match Sunday.

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 (13 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Chavo Guerrero warned Vickie backstage that The Undertaker promised to go after her next. She had him retrieve The Big Show for protection.

-Chavo pessimistically talked about how nervous he was about Undertaker's threat. Big Show tried to quell his fears by replaying that same footage from Unforgiven that we've seen four times in the past week.

-Chavo beat Jimmy Wang Yang in singles competition. He nervously surveyed the arena for signs of The Undertaker after the match was over because the lights went off momentarily.

-In the final segment of the show, Vickie, Show, and Chavo called out Undertaker. The lights then went out, and Chavo was missing when they came back. Big Show then left the ring to save Chavo from a beating by Taker that was happening in the back. The lights then died again, and Undertaker was found in the ring with Vickie alone. He Tombstoned her to close the show.

Analysis:

WWE handled the mystique of The Undertaker quite well this week. Instead of using smoke and lightning and fire, they simply focused on the fact that he seems to be everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. People can't find him; they're always cautiously awaiting his arrival. Characters who are afraid of his threatening and unapologetic retribution tactics constantly "feel his presence" but never quite know what's going on. This week, Chavo tried to get into the Undertaker's mind and figure out what he was doing, but it was to no avail.

It's actually getting across on television pretty well. Undertaker is a strong babyface character who doesn't need help, who's threatening and frightening to his enemies, and who can handle groups of heels without a problem. He single-handedly tricked Chavo, Vickie, and Show this week even though they strategically stuck together. He separated them and then finalized his revenge with a Tombstone Piledriver. By the way, does this mean we'll see a return of the neck brace and wheelchair for Vickie? Also, what does this do to the Vickie-Show alliance? If Show can't protect her (which may not be all his fault because she is the one who ordered him to the back to help Chavo), what good is he to her? And here's one gap in logic: Why can't Vickie, the GM of the brand, just hire a team of security to protect her at all times? Isn't that the first logically move a person would make in her situation?

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 9 [up 0.5 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 (5 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

Nothing happened between these two this week, and neither woman showed up on Smackdown.

Analysis:

I assume nothing happened because both Michelle and Maryse participated in a rare divas' match on ECW last week, but it would have been nice to see some kind of scene backstage with one of them to keep them on TV and to keep their story on viewers' minds.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6 [same since ECW]

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

WWE Tag Team Champions CURT HAWKINS & ZACK RYDER vs. CARLITO & PRIMO (2 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-In a WWE Tag Team Title Match, Carlito and Primo defeated Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins when Carlito hit his Back Stabber finisher for the win. The brothers celebrated after the match.

Analysis:

There probably shouldn't be too much surprise here. Perhaps the only surprising element was that the title switch happened so soon. Hawkins and Ryder have been stale and tepid tag team champions. That problem is partially their fault, partially the writers' fault. Branching them off from Edge under the same role of carbon copies didn't do them much good. It was easy to forget who the champs were during their title reign. Now the big question is whether WWE continues the story between these two teams. My bet is that this one will continue for a while since there really aren't many other teams on the brand and since they now have a built-in extra element of the title switch to help fuel the story from here. Hopefully we get to see more time devoted to the personalities of Carlito and Primo as WWE Tag Team Champions. It would just feel more meaningful if WWE gave them more time to talk and interact with other wrestlers and each other.

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

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

United States Champion SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. R-TRUTH (2 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Shelton Benjamin cut a promo in center ring to state that, unlike himself, R-Truth has no standards at all. He even mocked R-Truth's "What's up?" line.

-R-Truth cut Benjamin off in mid-sentence as he sang his way to the ring amongst enthusiastic fans. Truth simply walked up to Shelton and said, "What's up?" Benjamin left the ring and headed to the back without saying a word.

Analysis:

There is some nice, intriguing tension here between Shelton Benjamin and R-Truth. Benjamin's reasoning for this rivalry isn't great, but it's something. There's obviously jealousy existent somewhere, perhaps because of how quickly and naturally R-Truth seems to have connected with fans or how he's so charismatic and upbeat. Benjamin's line about how he's the Gold Standard and Truth has no standards was good. Even better was Shelton's facial expressions. There was a look of disdain and contempt on the part of Shelton Benjamin when he glared at R-Truth this week. WWE is onto something here.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 6

Previous Feuds
Shelton Benjamin: Kane, CM Punk, Money in the Bank, Kofi Kingston
R-Truth: n/a

VICTORIA & NATALYA vs. BRIE BELLA & MARIA (5 weeks)

Summary Quick Shots:

-Maria teamed up with Brie Bella to face Natalya and Victoria. The match saw Brie dart under the ring again, but this time her sister jumped out the other side before Brie even got completely through the ring apron.

-The match ended when Maria landed a crossbody from the top rope on Victoria for the win.

Analysis:

Well, the surprise was revealed this week. Although the announcers didn't explicitly say it, it is clear that Brie has a sister who hides under the ring and helps her win matches. To viewers it was obvious. But the fact that it wasn't stated outright and that both women didn't appear at ringside at the same time does leave WWE some options from here. Instead of simply having Brie and her sister explain themselves, I can see WWE taking a few more weeks to explore the story about how Victoria and Natalya will have to be more aware of their surroundings. Perhaps in the next few weeks, Victoria will have to play a little game where she checks under the ring or even takes a trip down there to investigate the situation and prove that Brie does indeed have a sister. But they could always simply move on quickly from here to the next stage where Brie and her sister start competing together legitimately against Natalya and Victoria. It will be interesting to see what WWE chooses to do. In any case, it was the right time to forward the story.

Intrigue Level (out of 10): 7 [up 0.5 since last week]

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


CONCLUDED FEUDS

(1) Michelle McCool vs. Maryse?
(2) Carlito & Primo vs. Hawkins & Ryder?


POTENTIAL FEUDS

(1) Jesse & Festus vs. Ryan Braddock & Kenny Dykstra
(2) Jesse & Festus vs. Hawkins & Ryder
(3) Hurricane Helms vs. Chavo Guerrero
(4) The Great Khali vs. Vladimir Kozlov
(5) Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Great Khali


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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