By Lee Stevens, PWTorch specialist

Thank you for joining me as we put Smackdown "Under The Microscope." This is not a complete recap of the show. Instead, it's a closer look at some of what we saw, what we heard or what we thought as we watched the show.

One more time

As Edge proudly displayed his new found gold, he reminded us that he is now an eight time champion. He's held the WWE title four times and the World Heavyweight Championship four times. Many readers have expressed strong opinions about the number of reigns for Triple H, with 13 combined with both belts, but Edge is now just five back of The Game's number. The strong opinions generally come from Ric Flair's 16 World titles, but as with any record, the numbers are up for debate as many argue that Flair's total should be higher.

As it stands now with active WWE wrestlers and their World title histories:
Triple H--13
The Undertaker--6
Batista--4
John Cena--4
Chris Jericho--4
Shawn Michaels--4
Randy Orton--3
Kizarny--0

Sense of Hiz-umor

The Microscope was thankful for a Scotty Goldman sighting and a Kizarny appearance on the same show, even though both were treated rudely. Goldman was on the receiving end of an Umaga beating just before being released from the WWE and Kizarny barely had time to introduce his knock-knock joke before being pushed aside. Perhaps I'm too cynical, but I'm worried that the only reason Kizarny hasn't been released is that they are still trying to figure out how to express the sentiment so that he would understand. We wish him well in his fiz-uture eniz-deavors.

Awkward

I'm glad Jim Ross referenced the uncomfortable pairing of Maryse and Michelle McCool, because I thought I had forgotten something. It was just two months ago that Maryse upset McCool for the Divas Championship. Since then, McCool has taken an aggressive attitude against many, including Friday's opponents, Maria and Eve. Apparently she's a bit more forgiving to the woman who actually took her belt. Although they weren't friendly, I was surprised that there wasn't even more tension to kick-start the feud that had to be put on ice with Maryse's knee injury.

Twins

As Primo and Carlito Colon (accent on the second syllable, please) discussed the quality of their disguises, Carlito insisted that he looked like a young Brad Pitt. At first, the comparison is ridiculous, especially if your vision of Brad Pitt is during the "Fight Club" years or even more recent years. I think Carlito was hoping to reach a "Legends of the Fall" comparison, circa 1994. I spit in the face of those who force me to look up Brad Pitt pictures.

Funk me? Funk you too.

We discussed the Funk's nomination for the WWE Hall of Fame with the Raw Microscope earlier this week, but Smackdown provided more opportunities to celebrate the brothers. Ross noted that it was a good night for West Texas State as The Funks would be inducted by Dusty Rhodes, with all three playing football for the college now known as West Texas A&M University. Terry, Dory, and Dusty aren't the only ones making their college proud. Ted DiBiase Sr., Tully Blanchard, Stan Hansen, and Tito Santana all attended the school.

Terry Funk was also on the look back at WrestleMania XIV, unless you want to be technical about actual names. Funk wrestled under the guise of Chainsaw Charlie in a match with Mick Foley, as Cactus Jack, against The Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. The New Age Outlaws would lose their belts in a Dumpster Match to Funk and Foley.

On the heels of Shane McMahon and Randy Orton competing in an unsanctioned match this week, the lead up to WM XIV featured a match with similar rules. At "In Your House," eight men competed in an unsanctioned match with Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Chainsaw Charlie, and Cactus Jack competing against The New Age Outlaws, Triple H, and Savio Vega. If you think one of these things is not like the other and one of these things just doesn't belong, then you're paying attention. Vega replaced Shawn Michaels because of injury.

Excuse me

You may not agree with Vickie Guerrero's choice for The Undertaker's opponent, but she brought a small sense of logic to Smackdown when she reminded JBL and Shawn Michaels that they don't make matches for her show. I would still like to hear what The Dead Man says about all of this, but his silence could be the perfect reaction. A person who wins 16 straight matches at WrestleMania probably shouldn't get caught up in worrying about who is in front of him.

Mr. and Mrs. Game

Triple H had a decent interview to follow the Raw incident with Stephanie McMahon. I appreciate that they are finally acknowledging that the two are married and the parents of two children. They actually broke the news earlier by announcing the birth of their children on the website, but it took this long to catch up on-air. The key now is consistency with the family tree. I'll assume that Triple H never came to Shane's aid because he respected him enough to allow him to fight his own fights. Why didn't The Game care when The Legacy jumped Stephanie and Shane in the hallway?

I'm not going to go back in the archives to address past transgressions, since the on-air story had Triple H pushing a quickie wedding with a passed out Stephanie. That gives him permission to indulge in his juvenile humor with Shawn Michaels, specifically with tormenting Steph's father, Vince. Now, that has to stop. If the WWE wants to take a serious turn with the family battle with Randy Orton and The Legacy, they need to keep the proper tone throughout. When Triple H finally gets his hands on Orton, it can't be a match with hip tosses and body slams. If you decide to play the "mother of my children" angle, it needs to be serious throughout.

Last year, his frequent tag team partner Shawn Michaels was in the middle of a family crisis with JBL, yet just before the holidays, Michaels and Triple H were featured in slapstick ads for WWE merchandise. The commercials were fine and the feud was decent, if they were judged separately. Together, it affected the seriousness of Michaels's trials. I hope they don't make the same mistake twice. Kudos to Triple H for remembering that serious words need semi-serious expressions. He toned down the exaggerated expressions from Monday night giving his message a more realistic feel. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it wasn't as over-the-top as earlier this week.

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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