WWE Smackdown TV taping report
March 9, 2010
Seattle, Wash.
Report by Travis Beaven, Torch reader

In attendance tonight is your iPhone and long term buddies at UIE, Travis, Ryan, Steve, Lance, and Jeremy. In general, the arena is mixed; camera pit is largely empty and a surprising amount of empty seats. Maybe things will change as people show up for the show they care about. Top tier is blocked off.

On the floor is the standard large collection of fans dressed as wrestlers - Bret, Savage, Flair, Undertaker, and for some reason someone who looks like Will Ferrell from Blades of Glory.

Dark Match: Jimmy Wang Yang beat Tyler Reks at 4:22. The crowd was giving the standard "hey, here are people" cheers. About this time, I discover the person next to me is a large woman who is far too into Yang and has hygiene issues. Sigh. Match is all Reks with little flurries of Yang offense. Yang starts to gain ground, hits some top rope moves, and eventually hits the pinfall. Line dancing by Yang to celebrate.

NXT live taping

-- Bryan Danielson is pretty over and the crowd gets that WWE is behind him. The crowd popped big for the submission hold on Truth. At this point, our Zach Galifianakis poster started getting airtime. However, immediately after the Danielson/Miz tag match, the WWE crew came and took it away. Ah, WWE, you could have had a really clever connection to one of the better Saturday Night Live episodes in a while. The irony here is that odds are he will be hosting Raw in a few months. I suspect they thought it was Foley; I mean, overweight white guy with a beard who looks homeless. Foley, right?

-- The crazy woman next to me dances at every entrance. Not a good dance, but a sweaty, ugly dance.

-- Carlito gets a loud "Sideshow Bob" chant. Not sure it was heard on TV, as the guy leading the chant gave up and started yelling at the crowd instead.

-- From the WrestleMania promos, it seems Edge and Undertaker are most over; modest pops for the Cena match and Bret. The tag title match had very little reaction. For some odd reason, Shamus gets a pop. Largest pop is for Austin hosting Raw, though.

-- Jericho gets something in his eye coming to the ring before the main event. He's hurting during the match; rubbing his eyes and bothered. Whenever the camera isn't on him, he's rubbing/checking his eyes with the ring crew. It seems serious in that he keeps going back for aid. (Torch reader Lane Harwood is also in the arena and noted Jericho was hit in the face with a beer.)

Overall: the problem with NXT is that, other than Danielson, the crowd really only cares about the "pros," with fans chanting for them during the match. Nobody around me could remember Jericho's "rookie" other than the guy with the fruity flower. Case in point: the crowd loved Jericho destroying Gabriel. The general feeling is that NXT is an improvement over ECW, but the live audience doesn't really care.

In comes Striker and Grisham. Time for Superstars and Smackdown...

Superstars taping for Thursday

-- SUPERSTARS SPOILERS from Monday's taping

(1) Dolph Ziggler beat Shelton Benjamin at 5:03. Dolph was met with an "oh no" from the crowd. "You're not Dolph" pop from the crowd for Shelton. Back and forth match; standard spots. It's strange; both men tried but neither could draw much attention. Ziggler is far crisper than he was this time last year. We started to contemplate during the match how great it would be if the ref just said "screw it" and beat down both wrestlers. There's an idea for you, Russo. Benjamin hit a body drop while Ziggler was twisted; it came off odd and seemed to bother Ziggler's shoulder. This slowed down the pace immediately. Ziggler then locked in a submission for the win. The crowd was not paying attention and there was dead silence after the bell as people tried to figure out what went on. Really odd end.

(2) Goldust beat Mike Knox at 2:47. Dammit! WWE took our Zach Galifianaki poster; is there any better poster for a Mike Knox match? Ugh. It's interesting that if you go to a WWE event and are trying to get photos, Mike Knox just stands completely still. You can shoot him for hours. The match is pretty much all Goldust with brief flurries of Knox power splashes, punch, kick, etc. Knox is basically absorb, absorb, hit punch, stroke beard, stand still, absorb more punishment. Goldust gets the pin and win.

There's your Superstars. Time for Smackdown.

Smackdown taping for Friday night

We get an immediate promise of Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel with guest star Edge.

Rey Mystero comes to the ring with his wife, son, and daughter. No way this can go wrong. Happy family. Rey is here to let the fans into his home. JBL could have done a super heel racist promo in response here. It turns out it's Rey's daughter's 9th birthday. Rey gets the crowd to chant Happy Birthday. Says he wants it to be a night she remembers. Well come on, that's just asking for it.

And, yes, here's C.M. Punk and crew. Our "Obey" Punk poster is well positioned here.

C.M. Punk makes Rey's daughter cry and challenges Rey to a match at WrestleMania, and a match right now. Punk cuts a great promo here and offers a present of letting Rey's daughter shut her eyes while he makes Rey cry and squeal like a pig. Then, he goes after his wife. Rey doesn't want to fight in front of his family, and so Punk offers to get down to his size and gets to one knee. Rey eventually takes off with his family as Punk sings "Happy Birthday." Rey holds his head, and it's promo gold.

Eventually, Punk leaves the ring. Great heat and the match at Mania is set up. Meanwhile, the crowd suddenly notices that Serena is, in fact, pretty stacked.

Miz comes to the ring with Daniel Bry... whatever. No, Big Show. Miz takes the mic and says he is set to respond to the beating he took on Raw. Lots of use for the word "really" here. Miz announces a match with Truth now, and Show vs. Morrison later.

Truth comes out with Otunga in tow. The crowd is a little less enthusiastic about 'what's up' this go around (we just had it for NXT), except for the woman next to me who is dancing. Classy and smelly. Turns out Truth knows what city he's in.

(1) R-Truth beat U.S. champion The Miz in a non-title match at 4:24. Miz with offense early, then Truth does the Matrix dodge and takes over, tossing Miz from the ring. The crowd starts a "Daniel Bryan" chant. Back in the ring, Miz slows the pace down into a resthold. Truth breaks out and the momentum runs back and forth. Several nearfalls before Miz tries to use the ropes for the pin, but Danielson pushes him off. Crowd pops, Miz is distracted, and Truth picks up the win. Storyline of Miz/Danielson is really on a different level from anything else in NXT and largely eclipsing the Show/Miz teaming.

They showed clips of Seattle's Pike's Place Market. Apparently we are all about people throwing fish around. Microsoft, Amazon, Real, Boeing, Cobain shooting himself...nah, we are all about throwing fish.

The Undertaker-Michaels promo is shown with the Johnny Cash theme. The woman next to me is doing the slow dance and touching herself. Everyone is disgusted. Yes Shawn "Sexy Boy" Michaels, this is your fan base.

The Money in the Bank case drops above the ring. Drew McIntyre is stopped by Teddy Long, who pesters him about his losses. McMahon has hand-picked Drew's opponent for tonight in a MITB qualifying match. Teddy notes that he's adding the IC Title to the match in a "winner take all" stipulation. Aren't all the MITB spots taken? I dunno, but that's the way it is playa.

Is it too much to ask for the opponent to be Santino and for it to be a win for the Italian Stallion? Unlikely.

We get Luke Gallows vs. Kane tonight apparently.

Drew McIntyre comes to the ring for the MITB match and has to watch his losses. Seems cruel. His opponent is Aaron Bolo. Apparently a Seattle native, he's introduced as a Washington state wrestling champ. Hometown doesn't do him any favors, and Seattle looks like the home of fish throwing and tiny lame jobbers.

(2) IC champion Drew McIntyre beat Aaron Bolo at 0:22 to retain the IC Title and qualify for Money in the Bank. Yeah, Aaron was demolished. Drew points to the WrestleMania sign and Big Show is shown walking backstage. Walking!

So there are nine wrestlers in Money in the Bank now. Big Show comes to the ring and he's facing Morrison now.

(3) Big Show beat John Morrison at 5:41. Morrison is super over with the women. Brief offense from Morrison, then lots of clubbering by Big Show and a loud, sick wet chop that gets a big crowd reaction. Minor offense from Morrison with a dropkick, but it's really all Big Show. Morrison attempts a flip off the ropes, but it's into a fist and a pin. It seemed like there was a commercial in there. A decent match that I suspect won't come off as well on TV, though. Show plays to the crowd more than others do and he's in a good pairing with Miz.

Hart Dynasty comes to the ring for a match. Meanwhile, we learn Tiffany is talking to Teddy. In comes Vickie Guerrero, who doesn't want Tiffany to take her job. But, turns out Tiffany is here to be a Diva. That means the promise of McCool vs. Tiffany later.

(4) Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & D.H. Smith) vs. Crime Tyme (Shad Gaspard & JTG) went to a No Contest at 1:56. Apparently Crime Tyme's music is also good to dance to if you're an out-of-shape woman with poorly done tattoos. Kidd takes control early, but here's The Undertaker's music. Lights go out, when they are back he's in the ring. Undertaker proceeds to f-up all four with his four finishers over the years. Crowd goes crazy for this. The No Contest mercifully ends a dull repeat in an endless series between the two teams.

Undertaker looks to the Mania sign and sends a clear message to Shawn Michaels: I can beat up two jobber teams at one time. Suck it, Michaels, who will have to respond by killing the teams of Santino & Masters and Carlito & Chavo on Raw.

Hey, there's a shot of the Space Needle. Suck it, America!

Michelle McCool comes out with Layla and Vickie. Here comes Tiffany in what can only be described as a Halloween Cheerleader outfit. McCool mocks Tiffany's outfit.

(5) Tiffany beat Michelle McCool via DQ. The match quickly goes outside where Vickie gores(?) Tiffany for a DQ. As McCool and crew threaten Tiffany, out comes Beth Phoenix, who destroys McCool and Layla. After teasing a clothesline on Vickie, she helps up Tiffany, and the two hold up arms. Yay for...something.

Backstage, Kane is walking! Did you know the WWE Magazine is the number one magazine in Walmart? Out comes Luke Gallows for his match with Kane, the society in tow.

(6) Kane beat Luke Gallows via DQ at 5:10. Kane's slow music is another opportunity for a gross dance. This match was just all Kane. Eventually, Gallows escaped to regroup. Kane continued the attack until Gallows took over with a methodical, clubbering offense. Kane had enough of this and hit the chokeslam. As he made the pin, in came Punk for the DQ.

As the Society beat down Kane, out came Rey Mysterio. They brawled to the outside and into the crowd until Dean Malenko held Rey back and C.M. Punk made his escape.

The stage crew then brings out the carpet and extremely expensive Jeritron 5000... or is it 6000 since the old one was broken? Who knows. The back says Panasonic. I'm going with extremely expensive Panasonic. Comedy ensues as the stage crew tries to get the hanging Panasonic leveled. Lots of miscommunication here.

Highlight Reel: Jericho introduces "a big liar," Edge. This is all about their WrestleMania match, with Jericho pointing out Edge is injury-prone. Edge responds that all he knows is taking risks, like diving off ladders (and Vickie) and going head-first into flaming tables (and Vickie). Jericho cites Vickie as Edge's key to success. Edge responds that everyone has a bad girlfriend they regret; for Jericho it was Big Show. (So Jericho was the beard?)

Edge continues to insult Jericho, who gets tired of it and decks him a microphone and then with a stool. Then, the other stool, and then in an odd choice, his jacket. With Edge reeling, Jericho prepares to send him into the extremely expensive Panasonic 6000, but Edge breaks free and decks Jericho. Just as he's about to hit the spear, Jericho decks Edge with the belt. With Edge down, Jericho chants "spear" over and over at the crowd, and then in Edge's face. For an awkward moment, it looks like Jericho is going to kiss Edge, but no, it's just an angry wrestler taunting the other wrestler.

Jericho poses with the belt over Edge, and we are done. Edge rolls out of the ring as the ring crew rolls up the carpet. Where does the extremely expensive Panasonic 6000 go from here? Nobody knows. This is the likely end of the show.

However, Teddy arrives to announce he is making a special dark match. See, there is a party going on in the ring and he's invited. It's a World Title match right now.

Post-SD Dark Match: Edge beat World Hvt. champion Chris Jericho via DQ at 5:08, Jericho retained the World Hvt. Title. It was odd that both were wrestling in their street (or dress) clothes. The bizarre woman next to me was grossed out by Jericho taking off his shirt. Really? Kane does it for her, but Jericho shirtless is gross? I dunno. Ever since Jeff Hardy left, nothing seems to make sense anymore. The match featured long restholds. Eventually, Edge went for the spear, but Jericho shoved Charles Robinson in the way and a DQ followed. Post-match: Jericho attempted another shot to the face with the belt, but Edge dodged it and hit his spear. The crowd goes home happy, presumably to throw fish.

Overall: a decent show, but WWE is missing something right now. The energy level, even from No Way Out last year, has decreased. Of course, Seattle never was the hottest venue.

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