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WWE Smackdown review
May 2, 2008
Taped 4/29/08 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Aired on the CW
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor

-WWE Open.

-With the arena dark, ring announcer Justin Roberts called Teddy Long to the ring. He said that the tag titles will be defended, as well as the U.S. title and the World title. Well, there’s a hook to get viewers to stick around.

-Smackdown Open.

-Michael Cole was in the ring. He brought out the new color commentator for Smackdown, Mick Foley. He was sporting the flannel and brought out a beat-up notebook with him. Ah, good ol’ Mick. Foley unleashed his first of what will no doubt be many shots at Coach.

1- JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs. JIMMY WANG YANG & SHANNON MOORE- WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH

They did the ring intros once both teams were in the ring. Wow, even treating the tag titles with prestige! Yang dodged a short clothesline from Miz and went to work with his feet. Moore tagged in and got a one-count. Miz and Morrison took control of the match soon after. Moore, though, did get a cross-body off the second rope. Morrison tried a sunset flip off the top, but couldn’t bring Yang down. Instead, he just grabbed his foot and pulled him off. Foley said Miz was once the most hated and least respected man in the locker room....but now, he’s just the most hated. Some double-teaming by the champs on Yang. Surprise roll-up by Yang got a two-count after Morrison whiffed on a knee-lift attempt. Yang tried to make a tag and missed with an enziguiri, but he finally got to Moore.

Moore got a near-fall after a hurricanrana. Morrison came back with a kick to the face. Miz went after Yang on the outside. Moore backslid Morrison after John tried a neck-breaker. Morrison then hit the Moonlight Drive neck-breaker for the win.

WINNERS: Morrison & Miz, at 8:00. Good match, but hopefully another team will be challenging the champs soon. Foley was solid on commentary, but Cole had to interrupt him a few times on pin attempts. Foley, to his credit, got the hint later in the match.

[Commercial Break]

-The special guest ring announcer was introduced: ECW General Manager Armando Alejandro Estrada.

2- COLIN DELANEY vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV

Estrada listed Delaney’s weight as 107 pounds. Apparently, Estrada will face Delaney next week on ECW. Delaney tried to go at the waist of Kozlov to take him down, to no avail. Kozlov kicked Delaney around the ring, then laid a shoulder into Delaney’s gut. He dropped Colin chest-first onto the top rope. In a nice move, he kicked Delaney in the stomach, which sent Delaney into the air and into Kozlov’s arms, then threw him over his head. Kozlov hit his finisher for the win.

WINNER: Kozlov, at 1:51.

-Backstage, Nunzio(!) Was lacing his boots up when Mark Henry came in. Henry reminded Nunzio who he was, then smiled, and wished him luck. Poor Nunzio.

[Commercial Break]

3- VICTORIA & NATALYA vs. CHERRY & MICHELLE MCCOOL

They showed clips of earlier today, Victoria and Natalya picking on Cherry until Michelle McCool came and made the verbal save. Natalya and Michelle worked to a stalemate, so Victoria tagged in. Mick told the story relayed to him by Natalya that her dad once showed up to her parent-teacher conference with no shirt on. Ugly monkey flip by Michelle, who tagged Cherry. Cross-body off the top for two. Spring-board into a roll-up by Cherry for two. Natalya tripped up Cherry in the ring, but Victoria couldn’t register the pin. Nattie tagged in and put the sleeper on Cherry. Cherry fought her way out of the heel corner to make the tag. Michelle took out both Victoria and Natalya. Neck-breaker by McCool for one. Victoria pushed Michelle off the top rope, allowing Natalya to get the pin while using the tights.

WINNERS: Victoria & Natalya, at 5:06. They smartly kept Cherry’s offense to a minimum, which made the match watchable.

-For the first time, Cole and Foley mentioned Undertaker would take on Khali for the World title. Highlights of Taker beating Edge at Backlash were shown. Foley questioned the mental well-being of Edge.

[Commercial Break]

4- MARK HENRY vs. NUNZIO

Nunzio came out from backstage, then motioned for someone to follow him. Big Show’s music hit and he joined Nunzio in walking to the ring. Nunzio tried to hit and run, but it wasn’t having much effect on Henry. It was obvious Henry was sending a message to Show during this match, constantly looking over at him after hitting a move. Henry won with the World’s Strongest Slam.

WINNER: Henry, at 1:19.

It looked like Henry was going to do some more damage to Nunzio, but Show stepped into the ring to stop him. Henry exited the ring as Show walked toward him. Show got on the mic and told Henry to pick on someone his own size next time.

-Coming up next, Matt Hardy faces MVP in a Backlash re-match, but this time, it’s Hardy defending the U.S. Title.

[Commercial Break]

5- MVP vs. MATT HARDY- U.S. TITLE MATCH

It would’ve been nice to hear from MVP following Sunday’s loss. Hardy worked a head-lock to start. Hardy clotheslined MVP, as it appears the champ has gotten out of the gate faster than MVP, one of the few times anyone has done that against the former title-holder. MVP came back and just pounded away with fists at the head of Hardy. Bulldog by Matt as the crowd seems a bit out of it, especially for a Hardy match. Hardy caught MVP with a back elbow and began choking MVP in the ropes. MVP missed his running kick but was able to recover and clothesline Hardy. Hardy got sent to the outside as the show went to break.

[Commercial Break]

MVP was continuing his assault on Hardy out of break. Hardy worked out of a submission hold and hit the Side Effect for two. Tornado DDT by Hardy for two, as Mick Foley committed the cardinal sin of announcing by predicting Hardy wouldn’t get the pin off the DDT. MVP recovered and hit the running kick in the corner. Back to the chin-lock for MVP, though it’s a bit more creative than Randy Orton’s version. Out of nowhere, Matt hit the Twist of Fate for the win.

WINNER: Hardy, at 16:19. Finish came out of nowhere, and they never even kicked it into another gear for the finishing sequence, as per the usual. That took some luster off the match.

[Commercial Break]

-In the ring, Mick Foley introduced his guest interview, Batista. Foley said he had a good match at Backlash, then showed clips of the ending of the match. Batista said he had no excuses for his loss at Backlash. Foley then threw it to clips of the Highlight Reel this past Monday. Foley asked Batista if he thought HBK was really hurt on Sunday. All Batista said was it would make him sick of HBK was faking it. He said if he sees HBK and he was faking it....he won’t be when Big Dave is done with him.

[Commercial Break]

6- JESSE & FESTUS vs. CURT HAWKINS & ZACH RYDER


Festus cleaned house to start, then tagged Jesse and slammed him on Hawkins. Hawkins & Ryder took it to Jesse, making sure he couldn’t tag Festus. Festus finally tagged in and took out both men. He splashed Hawkins in the corner, then nailed the sit-down splash, but Ryder broke it up. Hawkins clipped the throat of Festus and he tagged Jesse. Jesse missed a cross-body and Hawkins took advantage with a forward neck-breaker for the win.

WINNERS: Hawkins & Ryder, at 5:12. Pretty uneventful, but I liked the story of Festus still smarting in the throat area from Taker’s chokehold.

-Great Khali challenges Undertaker for the World Title tonight.

[Commercial Break]

7- FINLAY vs. JULIO DINERO

Finlay was squashing Dinero when he took him to the outside for a beating. Dinero began getting pulled underneath the ring, so Finlay pulled him back out, with Hornswoggle holding on to Dinero’s legs. Celtic Cross finished it for Finlay.

WINNER: Finlay, at 2:04. Like Umaga on Raw in the past, they don’t have anything for Finlay, so they just have him fight a squash to keep him in the public eye. Oh, and Hornswoggle hit a Tadpole Splash on Dinero after the match.

-A history of Taker’s new submission finisher aired.

-It’s Khali vs. Taker next.

[Commercial Break]

The Undertaker came out for the World Title match. Before Khali came out, Edge and Vickie Guerrero did. Vickie announced there wouldn’t be a World Championship match tonight. Vickie said Taker’s choke-hold is illegal. Vickie said it is her responsibility to look after the well-being of her superstars. Vickie then banned the choke-hold, saying it had nothing to do with what happened to Edge. She then stripped Undertaker of the World Title. She ordered him to walk the ramp and surrender the title to her. He refused, so she sent Khali to the ring to retrieve it. Taker laid the title on the mat. Taker kicked Khali in the face, sending the big man to the mat like a tree. Taker then applied his finisher on Khali, while Hawkins and Ryder came to the ring and made off with the title. Taker stared a hole through Edge and Vickie as they went backstage and the show ended.

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