To be quite honest “SmackDown” this week will probably do a terrible rating, though that isn’t their fault. There were quite a few people sitting in a theatre watching ‘The Dark Knight’ not sitting at home watching a “white” wedding. If Triple H and Edge drew like Christian Bale and a deceased Heath Ledger the E’s problems would be solved for years to come. Onto “SmackDown” though, in a show that had the potential to be one of the biggest clusters in the history of wrestling I was pleasantly surprised. Of course Vickie and Edge were on stage throughout the night and we didn’t get that many “excuse me’s” from Vickie. Vickie did however provide some entertainment.
To start the wrestling we got to see Hawkins and Ryder, in wedding garb take on the family Finlay. Edge was a special referee and it was actually quite funny. Of course Hawkins and Ryder got the win, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The one thing about that match though was Mick on commentary. He actually said, “Me so horny.” I don’t even know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Big Show then interrupted Edge and Vickie’s first dance so he got a four on one handicap match. The number one contender to the United States Championship Shelton Benjamin teamed with MVP, Vladimir Kozlov and the not-so-Great Khali. Of course there could be no clean finish, so we got a schmoz which I liked.
It doesn’t make sense to have Show lose, but it also doesn’t make sense to have Benjamin lose while he’s building momentum finally. Kozlov isn’t going to lose for a while, Khali doesn’t lose much and MVP just doesn’t mean to lose. The post match beat down of Big Show took some steps as further establishing these guys as heels, which needed to happen.
The bouquet throwing segment was one that I wanted to turn away from until I saw Cherry grab it. The match featuring her and Nattie was quick, but the sharpshooter on Cherry allowed us to see more of Cherry than we have, and that was quite enjoyable. Vickie got a useless win that served no purpose, and while it didn’t really bury Cherry it didn’t elevate Vickie, so I don’t really get that.
So Brian Kendrick’s gimmick isn’t that much of a gimmick, but it is something. Kendrick is another product of Shawn Michaels’ Texas Wrestling Academy and when paired with London he was awesome, but alone he’s always been above average as well. Hopefully they’ll give him and Ezekiel a set of legs to stand on and Kendrick can climb the card.
Here’s an idea though, Hornswoggle is out of the Cruiserweight Division, so bring that belt back. Gregory Helms is on his way back, you have Shannon Moore, Jimmy Wang Yang, fresh off suspension and since the “Raw” /ECW merger has now been pushed back to 2009, and they’ll also have Evan Bourne. Give the belt some time and some storylines and fans will become interested in it again.
I know that some people refer to Kennedy as a “One trick pony” but it’s hard to deny that he’s over. He probably isn’t going to be in a main event anytime soon, but in the upper mid-card he can do some damage. His match with Umaga was damn good and while he put Umaga over he gave a good showing against someone being built back up as a “monster.”
Jesse and Festus, who will be involved in the fatal four way with their opponents, MnM, Hawkins and Ryder and Finlay and Hornswoggle, ate the pinfall in their “SmackDown” match with MnM. This Sunday at the Bash I see a title change or two, and this is one of them. While I wanted there to be a real story when MnM lost the straps, I’d rather see this than Finlay and Hornswoggle with them. Actually I wouldn’t mind Finlay. It’s the Horny part I don’t dig.
Matt Hardy against Jeff Hardy is a dumb idea. As a feud it people will hardly ever buy it, but in a match like this where you know the ending will not be a clean one it’s ok. The match itself would have been pretty decent but then of course we got La Familia beating down both Hardy’s which set us up for the big finale to the show.
La Familia in the ring celebrating the wedding or whatever it was. It just wouldn’t be a wedding without Triple H would it? To be completely honest though, I’d have rather him have revealed that he was secretly married to Vickie Guerrero than what went down. The "putting the moves on the other chick" gimmick was lame even though Alicia Fox was much hotter than I originally thought.
The video that Triple H aired was funny, and the granny panties thing was riotous. I actually did like most of it, but sometimes they tend to go long with it. I think everyone knew what was coming as soon as we saw Alicia Fox as a key part of the video. Vickie’s screaming is unreal. I mean that is nerve grinding stuff.
It was a damn good ending segment to set up for the Great American Bash, because now the intrigue lies in whether or not Edge walks away with the WWE Championship. Before this week’s “SmackDown” I was really leaning towards yes, but now it’s up in the air. Though I would like to see Vickie cost H the title and give Edge a two woman entourage.
Tha Results…
*Hawkins & Ryder def. Finlay & Horny
*Big Show def. Kozlov-Khali-MVP-Benjamin via DQ
*Natalya def. Cherry
*Vickie Guerrero def. Cherry
*Brian Kendrick def. Jimmy Wang Yang
*Umaga def. Mr. Kennedy…Kennedy
*The Miz & John Morrison def. Jesse & Festus
*Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy ends in No Contest
5 comments: on "Friday Night Fallout: Tha Dark Night"
i say triple h keeps the title
The last thing that Gregory Helms wants is for the CW title to comeback. It'd be a shame for him to be trapped in that loop again. Besides, from what I've heard he's gained quite a bit of muscle, so he might not even meet the cruiserweight "restrictions".
Kendrick looks much more "hate-able" with the new gimmick. Curious as to where it will go.
I say H keeps the title, but i wish Edge would win it at TGAB.
I dunno what will happen with Kendrcik's "gimmick". I think JR said he had the look of a young HBK from when he 1st turned heel, which i can buy. I dunno how far Kendrick would go though. But id tell u what id like to happen, but prob wont, is Kendrick and his bodygaurd gonig back ot RAW and to be on team jericho with Y2J, Cade, ad newly aquired London, reform London/Kendrick as a heel tag team. i doubt this would happen but it makes perfect sense since all of Y2J's group are students of HBK (im sure london was too, but im not sure)
I thought the show was good excluding the Hardys' match. And people are calling Kennedy a "one-trick" pony? WWE fans need to appreciate someone with Kennedy's talent, because you could easily have another useless russian running around with a headbutt, or another Khali. Kennedy is good on the mic, great in the ring, learn to love him, folks.
Kendrick has always been money as a heel (if you watched him in the indies), and I think he can go far with this new look. I only fear that since he's in WWE, the land of stereotypes and tunnel vision, he will not be looked at as someone who can one day be a high mid-card or top tier guy. Same applies to Helms.
Is WWE just setting up Hardy to lose the US title? Because Benjamin is the #1 contender, but there's been no progress in he and Matt feuding.
Lastly, WWE, stop shooting yourself in the foot. Notice how no one is missing Ashley? Too many skinny, white blonds in the WWE with no real unique quality to separate them from the other skinny white blond chicks. Trish, Torrie, and Stacy all had things that set them apart from each other, these new girls don't have that. Do something about it, before you end up accidentally hiring an escort.
I dont know whether its good or bad that they changed kenrick to a heel. One thing i do know, is that they did it in classic WWE fashion, which means making a complete gimmick change come out of knowhere, with no explination whatsoever. One week, hes in blue tights, the next week hes got a leather jacket and a new attitude. We dont get anything to explain it. The least they couldve given us was a promo, but why couldnt they have built this split. They had something going a month or two ago when he waked out on his partner when they faced umaga, but then they were teaming up again the next week. They couldve built on that and eventually had him turn on London by throwing him through a barbershop window or something, have him work heel for a week on raw, then ship him to smackdown in the draft. I have huge issues with these gimmick changes that just happen, and then the announcers are stuck with the job of trying to explain it wiht some cheesy line like "this kid's been acting totally different backstage." SHOW US HOW HES BEEN ACTING DIFFERENT.
Now that thats off my chest, I gota actually commend the E for what they did with the wedding reception. I'm just so glad they didn't do another wereltsing wedding, and tried something new. Whether it worked or not is irrelivent, but the idea of the wedding recpetion on tv, instead of the wedding, is innovative, and less stale.
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