-- 7/31 WWE Smackdown Reax

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (9.0): Best: Hardy vs. Morrison (and post-match mayhem). Worst: Khali vs. Haas. Raw and TNA, what has become of you two? They may not be (or be treated as) the biggest shows, but ECW, Superstars, and Smackdown are showing wrestling fans what a good show can look like the past few weeks. I'm still baffled by Khali's wrestling uselessness and WWE's insistence he be on the roster while Kendrick gets kicked to the curb. The Divas tag match left some to be desired but it wasn't all bad. There was an incomplete mention of the temporary face turn by Layla, stopping short of the why (doing her dance for the Miami crowd). Michelle was attempting to steal another finishing move (Widow's Peak, which looks nothing like the Faith Breaker/Styles Clash, Sir Ross). Cryme Tyme gets a tag title shot. How many is it now? This one, though, may finally get to the end game. There was the nice promo exchange post-match that almost got Jericho and Show's heat back after Shaq ran them over on Raw. Dolph looking pissed when he came out told me he was doing the job. Why? Dolph's push suddenly feels derailed. Resigned sigh if it is. The match did have that crazy cool blindsiding Knox crossbody onto Rey, one of many new spots showing up in the ring during the night. I mentioned in my review of Night of Champions that Punk was a "Jeritron move" away from shifting from the preachy annoying heel to the heel deserving of a whooping. Ask and we shall receive. He took longer to destroy Hardy, but that delay spoke a different volume that Jericho slamming Michaels into the Jeritron. These two were dealing with different approaches to frustration stemming from the same source (delusions of misguided fan adulation). But unlike Edge who would whine but ambushing his opponents, Punk lulls then attacks. Beautiful. Before that happened, Hardy and Morrison turned in a PPV-quality match on free TV. With Punk vs. Hardy coming next week and not at Summerslam, there is a door open for a possible three-way involving Punk, Morrison, and Hardy. The quality of promos and matches these three are doing right now, Punk-Morrison-Hardy for the World Title would be a three-way I would pay to see.

Adam Colgan of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland (9.5): Best Match: Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison. Worst: probably Khali vs. Haas. Another great Smackdown show this week but that's what's expected now isn't it. Almost gave it a ten, but just a few things dragged it down. Namely Khali, Hardy's cringe worthy mic skills - seriously, is it just me or does it sound/look like he's stoned when he does these, - and Morrison's promo wasn't great either. Other readers will be harsh here, but for me, his actions in the ring speak way louder than words. Big Show has upped his game since becoming Jericho's partner and I take my hat off to him a great promo from these two. I don't particularly care for Cryme Tyme, but I do care for the fact that they Rated RKO'ed their theme musics. Here's hoping this is a sign of a long tag team reign. As long as Jericho and Big Show are tag champions, I care for the tag division. A very good Finlay/Rey vs. Dolph/Fort Knox match. Way better than expected and I really liked that running crossbody by (Fort) Knox. How can you not love Finlay's "Smash Mouth" (trademark JBL) style. What I'm not loving is the fact that WWE has JR say "Irishman." How many times do I have to say it that he's from Northern Ireland, so therefore he is a Northern Irishman and British? ... Anyways, Morrison and Hardy can only be defined by one word AWESOME! I loved that match especially the crouched- on-top rope Flying Chuck Combo, the Moonsault Plancha, and Morrison kicking out of the Swanton Bomb. Too bad Hardy retained, but I was in stitches after Punk said "Well, Jeff, over the last couple of..." boom! microphone to the face and then the brutal attack. That was a pure genius great heel turn and that made me a happy camper. Boomer Sooner!

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