By Lee Stevens, PWTorch Specialist

Thank you for taking the time to go "Under The Microscope" again this week. I jumped into the fray several weeks ago without a formal introduction, so before we take a closer look at Smackdown, let's put me Under The Microscope.

Who do you think you are?

My name is Lee Stevens and although I'm not new to pwtorch.com, I am new to Smackdown. As a result, please excuse me if I mention something that you already noticed from a show several months ago. This does not mean that I am a stranger to WWE. I have been watching for the better part of 25 years, with some of my favorite memories coming from the old "Superstars" shows. I still remember when a chair shot involved a wooden piece of furniture and I can still see Captain Lou Albano wrapping one around the head of The Wild Samoans costing them the title.

I do my very best to see things that you may have missed, but I can't promise to catch everything. Also, a wide range of fans visit this website. From the very new to the cagey veterans who not only know the wrestlers real names, but also their favorite colors and what is in that person's refrigerator. If I write something and you already knew it - congratulations! That's not a bad thing. Please allow us a few paragraphs from time to time as we try to catch up.

This will not be a recap and it won't be a scathing critique of the show. I try to not be cynical and I don't pretend that I know more than the WWE staff. If something is missing, I will comment on it, but I will not "blast" the show. If you don't like something, why torture yourself by watching? I enjoy looking for funny signs, interesting references and sometimes we'll have a running theme. Maybe you'll learn something, perhaps you'll get confirmation that you heard something correctly, or sometimes we'll just have ridiculous fun.

Regardless, thanks for reading.

Single H

Although this isn't a recap, we start at the beginning with a recap of last week's "Beat The Clock" challenge. It would have been easy to gloss over this as a rehash of last Friday's festivities, but I noticed great emotion from Triple H upon winning his match in time to qualify for a championship shot. The Game frequently treats his wins as something which was expected and the celebration is one of cockiness and not excitement. His reaction made us feel that he genuinely cared about winning and wanted his title back, instead of feeling that it was a mere formality.

The early moments of the show also featured Vickie Guerrero calling the former champ a name you rarely hear. Hunter. Granted, we all realize that the first "H" in Triple H stands for Hunter, but he's generally referred to as Triple H or The Game. I'm not calling Vickie out on a mistake. Actually, I enjoyed it as it gave an air of realism to the proceedings. When I go in to work on Monday, nobody will call be "Big Daddy" or "The Recycler" even if I asked them. His name is Hunter.

Just for a case study, during the Tag Team Gauntlet later in the show, Jim Ross and Tazz referred to him as Triple H 30 times and The Game a total of 24 times. Next week at work, they will call me "Big Daddy" a total of 0 times.

Signs, signs everywhere signs

If you were paying attention to last week's show and didn't know that they had taped two episodes on one night, the first sign of repetition could have come from the crowd. Didn't that same guy, in the same place hold the same ZZ Top-related sign about Edge? Yes, he did. Also seen this week was a sign celebrating a certain character's love of Divas. "It's a Diva's match Giggity, Giggity." obviously referencing Quagmire from "Family Guy." Not so obvious, was the drawing of the eyes and smile of Brobee from the kids show "Yo Gabba Gabba." The Microscope thanks my nine-month-old son for the research he put in for this week's Smackdown.

We're #2! We're #2

This week's special information announced that the WWE was second in Yahoo! searches for 2008, which is a remarkable feat considering that it wasn't limited to TV shows or cable. This was a second place finish among all searches for the soon to be ended year. Number one for 2008 is someone with ties to WWE as Britney Spears will hold the title. Her ex-husband Kevin Federline spent some time in a WWE ring earlier this year feuding with John Cena.

Hurricane Downgraded

Welcome back to Gregory Helms as he made his return to televised action this week. We had been seeing him for the past several weeks, so we knew how his face would look, but we hadn't seen him from head to toe. Obviously he has long since put aside his "superhero" aspect of his character. He actually moved away from that before the injury, but now it's even more apparent as he wore baggy shorts and longer hair. If you have been watching Raw lately, you may have noticed that the ring attire worn by Beth Phoenix is more similar to Hurricane's old gear. Also, if you're used to hearing "Stand back! There's a hurricane coming," you may have noticed that Helms starts his walk with the words, "Listen, it's time." It was good to see Helms back in the ring. Now, I'm waiting for Rosie to make a comeback.

We're going streaking!

Helms was the latest to keep MVP consistent as the former United States Champion remains winless since August 29. Before his match, Montell Vontavious Porter made an unlikely connection to the country classic Hee Haw by insisting that "if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." Seasoned veterans of corn-fed classic TV will recognize the words from a running sketch on the show hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens. Four characters would lounge around their moonshine jugs and comfort each other with reflections on how bad their respective lives were at the time. They would open the same way every week, with the lyrics:
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!"

I would like to imagine a world where MVP was sitting around the TV in his living room just waiting for the opening credits. Until you get back to your Hee Haw roots, the losing streak will continue.

The Academy Award For People With The First Name Of Mister...

Mr. Kennedy certainly deserves recognition for starring in a movie, regardless if it's opening directly on DVD. If you don't think this is impressive, please tell me which movie you've starred in and I will understand. Also, Kennedy is continuing the series started by an Oscar-winning actor. Gene Hackman starred in the first Behind Enemy Lines movie along with Owen Wilson. The second movie in the series started the direct to DVD trend, with Kennedy's version continuing the tradition. This third version of the film is co-produced by WWE Studios.

XOXOXO

The Great Khail has enjoyed an interesting character switch with the lovable giant just looking for someone to smooch. Khali's kiss cam seems to have plenty of audience support and it was a pleasant switch to have him end up with someone a bit more attractive than his usual selections. Veterans of WWE programming could easily see a case to be made for a Mae Young appearance at some point in the process.

7 Seconds

That's how long Edge and Vicki Guerrero kissed. Yes, it seemed like an eternity, but it took only seven seconds for you to feel that way. If you watched the entire time, I salute you. Going "Under The Microscope" isn't always an easy task.

Lee Stevens goes "Under The Microscope" for Smackdown and Raw. You can leave comments for him below or e-mail him at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com

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