By Lee Stevens, PWTorch specialist

Thank you for joining me as we put Smackdown "Under The Microscope." For new readers, this is not a complete recap of the shown. This is a closer look at the broadcast, from what was heard to what was seen and anything that crosses my mind during the broadcast. We could go back into wrestling history or we could go in a completely random direction which has nothing to do with the business. I will be serious when needed, but in most cases, let's just have some fun.

Mother Superior

If your holiday dinner was stressful this weekend because of a certain relative, at least you don't have the same conflict as the Hardys. Matt and Jeff continued their battle with a stretcher match, but not before Matt proclaimed that his victory over his brother at WrestleMania was the greatest WrestleMania moment of all time.

He also staked his claim as the "superior" Hardy. Although his argument has merit in that he holds the most recent win in his head-to-head battle with his brother, we haven't included all of the possible candidates for the title of "Superior Hardy."

Oliver Hardy-- Provided the first half of the legendary comedy team "Laurel & Hardy." He was the heavyweight of the duo. Stan Laurel was the cruiserweight.

J.J. Hardy--Shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers and a 2007 All-Star.

Thomas Hardy--English author who is known for many varied pieces of work, but more interestingly, likely coined the phrase "cliffhanger," as he finished a novel with the main character literally hanging from a cliff. So when your favorite show ends without a conclusion and forces you to "tune in next week," blame Thomas.

Joe & Frank Hardy--The original Hardy Boys, please notice no "z" at the end of their name. Amateur detectives who solved various cases including The Secret of the Old Mill, The Clue of The Broken Blade and appropriately enough for this website, The Flickering Torch Mystery.

Antonio Hardy--The birth name of Big Daddy Kane. He gets the job done. No word on whether he can do a Swanton.

Welcome back

Teddy Long returned to the Smackdown stage as General Manager, proudly proclaiming, "Living large and in charge." He reminded us that this wasn't his first reign as G.M. of Smackdown. He first took over in 2004 after Kurt Angle was fired as the General Manager. In case you don't remember, Angle was serving as G.M. after struggling with actual neck pain after his 2003 surgery, but it was explained on-air as resulting from a chokeslam by The Big Show.

Welcome to a new kind of tension

I like Edge's new t-shirt design, but I thought I had seen something similar before. Does this make him a Canadian Idiot?




What is taking you so long?

Please excuse Gail Kim fans if they start to get impatient as she has been back in the WWE for almost a month and she still doesn't have a championship. As Jim Ross and Todd Grisham correctly added, Kim won the Women's Title in her debut match in the WWE in 2002. She won a seven person Battle Royal, eliminating Victoria to take the match and the belt. Jazz entered the match as the champion and she was joined by Trish Stratus, Ivory, Molly Holly, and Jacqueline.

Reunion

The latest episode of "The Cutting Edge" not only gave us another chance to watch Edge verbally spar with John Cena, it also brought together three of the top federations in the history of wrestling, if you were looking closely enough. In the WWE ring, John Cena wore his t-shirt which uses the old AWA logo as inspiration. As Edge talks, if you look in the crowd, one fan is wearing a classic NWA shirt, bringing together the legendary promotions. Granted, the t-shirt in the stands had nothing to do with Lou Thesz, Ric Flair, Harley Race, or Dusty Rhodes. Instead, it was Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and M.C. Ren, but I still saw the NWA. Plus, Harley Race has often been mistaken as being straight outta Compton, so the comparison works.

Meanwhile

While I was picturing Lou Thesz in baggy jeans and a black White Sox hat, Edge and John Cena were reminiscing. Cena is apparently not as nostalgic as some, as he asked "how long have we been doing this?" I believe the answer is a little more than three years.

Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase against Cena at New Year's Revolution, giving Cena a pair of spears and Cena gave Edge the belt. Edge's victory party the next night on Raw included the "Live Sex Celebration" with girlfriend Lita, which also helped to promote his new nickname of "Rated-R Superstar."

When Cena mentioned that their feud had included "wives, girlfriends, managers, lackeys, and my dad", Vickie is the wife, Lita is the girlfriend, plus for this circumstance, I believe Lita also counts as the manager. Although Edge has been managed by Gangrel and Terri Runnels, it was long before his battles with Cena. As for lackeys, I believe Chavo Guerrero qualifies for our purposes and playing the role of John Cena's dad is John Cena's dad. Bingo! Please hold your cards until we check for a winner.

Edge not only cashed in the first MITB contract, he also contributed to the second as he helped Rob Van Dam defeat Cena the following year. Edge beat Mr. Kennedy for the contract and later defeated The Undertaker for the title. Last year, Edge was defeated by Money in the Bank winner CM Punk, so either Edge or Cena has been involved with the cashing in of the briefcase in some way. Last week on Raw, C.M. Punk shared a few knowing glances with Cena, so the trend could continue.

Before we continue

Full credit and perhaps even bonus points awarded to WWE this week for two small moments of detail. Before Kofi Kingston went to the ring, he was interviewed about his focus going into the match with The Big Show. It not only made me feel like it was an important match, but it also made Kingston look like he was a major performer on the show. Granted, the match did nothing to forward those thoughts, but I appreciated the effort with the interview segment.

Also, credit to Grisham for taking a minute to explain the rules of the Stretcher Match. Granted, most longtime fans know the ins and outs of just about every stipulation, but they made a big deal about this being a first on Smackdown, so we can't assume that everyone watching has a long history with this type of competition. Great job with the explanation and it's something that probably should be done more often. With the six-man tag match at Backlash coming with unique title stipulations, that seems like another great chance to take a moment to make sure everyone understands what is at stake.

Finally

During Edge's diatribe directed at the new champ, he insisted "I hate you. I hate your hat. I hate your t-shirts. I hate your wristbands," among other things. Cena followed those words by removing his hat, t-shirt, and wristbands and angrily throwing them into the crowd. Thankfully, Edge never said he hated Cena's shorts. Thank you, Edge.

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

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