"SmackDown!" Presents BattleBowl 2007

A few weeks ago, I was chillin' by Big Daddy Donnie's crib when we threw on his WWE 24/7 On Demand channel to check out what was available for viewing.

After perusing through the surprise offering of Unforgiven 2006 (and paying special attention to Trish Status' entrance where Donnie was clearly shown holding my "Thank You Trish" sign and the moments before the main event when the camera panned up to Theodore Long sitting in the box seats...but not before showing me and my "I Wish King Booker Was Here" sign), we checked out an event that I personally didn't remember even existed.

WCW's BattleBowl. In this case, it was the 1993 edition (with Jesse Ventura and Tony Schiavone on commentary) of this special and unique pay-per-view. For those who may not be familiar with this event or don't really remember it (like I didn't), WCW had 'Mean' Gene Okerlund and Fifi (some chick he was strangely trying to seduce all night long) select wrestlers 'at random' to compete in tag-team matches throughout the night.

Cameras were set on a babyface locker room (which included such superstars as Ric Flair, Ron Simmons and Sting) and a heel locker room (consisting of dudes like 'Stunning' Steve Austin, Vader and Booker T, who was known as "Kole" - one half of Harlem Heat at the time).

Interestingly, tag matches were made that sometimes created heel/face combos to face other mixtures of never-been-together-before teams. Some matches - predictably - even pitted current tag team partners against each other. Inevitably, the winners of each tag match would go on to compete in the "BattleBowl" final - a Battle Royal that completed the event to determine the "BattleBowl Champion" - who on this night would be Vader, the then-WCW Champion.

I remember Big Daddy remarking that if WWE were to utilize this concept today - only making it better (and a lot less cheesy) - it could make for a really cool event.

No sooner than we spoke of this possibility came the "Beat The Clock Sprint" on "SmackDown!". Although different from BattleBowl for obvious reasons, the "Beat The Clock" concept has been overwhelmingly successful. Similar to BattleBowl, this type of tournament 'randomly' pits one superstar against another in an effort to find a number one contender to Batista's World Heavyweight Championship.

The idea works on so many levels. First, and most importantly as far as I'm concerned, it makes for AWESOME wrestling. The last two weeks of "SmackDown!" have been nothing short of friggin' amazing. Match after match has a had a classic-type quality to it. Even those matches that have not been part of the tourney have impressed.

As Ben Boudreau mentioned in the latest edition of "Talkin' Smack", the tag-team title match between Paul London & Brian Kendrick and Dave Taylor & William Regal this past week was phenomenal. 'Real' pro wrestling at its best - what more can be said? (A young Regal participated in BattleBowl 1993 as well).

Secondly, it provides some extremely fresh match-ups and potential angles. Who would have thought we'd see a Kane VS. Chavo Guerrero match anytime soon? Or Brian Kendrick VS. Paul London? Even Tatanka and Jimmy Wang Yang were impressive. Seriously, "SmackDown!" has returned to a form that is simply embarrasing the current product on "Raw". After a week where "Raw" was a travesty - especially due to a match between characters we will no longer mention on this site - "SmackDown!" has proven to be an awesome show.

Third - the "Beat The Clock" concept is a great tool for suspense. Considering that say - unlike the "King of the Ring" tournament - wrestlers do not have to move on in brackets but instead simply win a match against a random opponent in the quickest time possible, it allows for just about ANYONE to potentially win.

I am, however, happy that Mr. Kennedy will be the recipient of a World Title match at Royal Rumble - he's a wicked talent and deserves it, although I'm not convinced Batista will drop the strap to him yet.

I truly hope that the past two weeks of "SmackDown!" are just small tastes of what we can continue to expect from this show. Each superstar has shown up with their game face on. Look at how amazingly MVP sold his back's burn injuries this past week. From his walk to the ring to begin the match, throughout the match and at the end after the steel ring steps bump, MVP was a selling pro. Man, he could teach John Cena a thing or two. His injury seems so legit.

Speaking of which, as always - in my opinion - the commentary has also remained solid. I swear, there were certain times that I thought Michael Cole and JBL were creating real heat between the two. They're back and forth debates-turned-arguments are classic.

The concepts are very similar. But this isn't 1993 and this isn't BattleBowl. It's "SmackDown!" in 2007 and it's O-riffic! Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. I'm hoping that's a very long time.

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