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By Greg Parks, PWTorch Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
July 25, 2008
Taped 7/22/08 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Aired on The CW
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor


-WWE Open

-Naturally, they started out with showing clips from the wedding last week…..first the good, then the bad.

-Smackdown Open.

-Jim Ross welcomed viewers to the show, then he and Mick Foley, on camera, discussed the fallout of the Vickie-Edge relationship. Mick passed on the rumor that Vickie will be at the show later on.

-It was time for the MVP Lounge. Montel was in his casual dress tonight. He went through his spiel, then introduced his guest as perhaps the most “controversial” guest ever on the Lounge. It turned out to be Jeff Hardy. MVP talked about tonight’s match to find out who will face Triple H at SummerSlam. Hardy took a crack at MVP losing the title to his brother. MVP talked about Jeff’s house burning down and Jeff half-answered it, then got angry for the question being asked. MVP said Jeff is wrestling with a lot of guilt over the loss of his dog in the fire. MVP called his behavior “reckless and irresponsible.” MVP went a step further and said Jeff was ruining his career because of that behavior and that he’s throwing his career down the drain. Porter accused Jeff of not caring about his career, that he’d rather do whatever he wants to do. At this point, MVP’s speech sounded like something management actually would’ve said to Jeff after his second Wellnes Policy strike. MVP told Jeff not to be so hostile, so Jeff gave him a shove and MVP ended up outside the ring. Porter took off up the aisle, leaving Jeff in the ring. Kind of an odd segment, where you could relate to what MVP was saying for much of the segment, until he started to go overboard near the end.

[Commercial Break]

-The announcers plugged Vickie’s arrival.

-They then plugged the Battle Royal for later tonight: MVP, Mr. Kennedy, Great Khali, Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Umaga all to face off to find out who will take on Triple H at SummerSlam.

1- Shelton Benjamin vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Shelton got on the microphone before the match to plug his title win this past Sunday. Shelton got a big boot for two once the match started. It was all Benjamin until Yang nailed him with an enziguiri. The two traded missed kicks but Shelton hit Paydirt for three.

WINNER: Benjamin, at 2:12. Good, convincing win for the new U.S. Champ.

-Edge looked nervous backstage when the new tag champs, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder walked in. Edge congratulated them, but the champs kind of brushed him off when he wanted to talk about last week, saying they had a match to get ready for.

[Commercial Break]

2- CURT HAWKINS vs. FESTUS

Festus came out firing on all cylinders, as per his usual. Hawkins had some success going after Festus’ legs, but Festus shoulderblocked him out of the ring. Jesse cut off Ryder from attempting to get at the ring bell outside. Back inside, Festus hit his finisher for the win.

WINNER: Festus, at 1:49.

After the match, the champs took care of Jesse, then gave a double Implant-DDT to Festus. I’m wondering if this attacking after the bell thing is going anywhere.

-The Generation Rescue Autism video from Raw aired, showing the benefit thrown at Jenny McCarthy’s house, and also plugging her appearance on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

-There was a camera stationed outside, anticipating Vickie’s arrival.

-The main event was plugged again.

[Commercial Break]

-Edge was talking to Alicia backstage. He told her to just blend in, then said they’d finish their conversation at the hotel.

3- STEVIE RICHARDS vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV

JR noted that Stevie made a challenge for this match, a re-match from a few weeks ago. Stevie hit a modified bulldog, but couldn’t even get a one count. Kozlov grabbed Stevie for an overhead suplex. Arm-bar by Kozlov, but Richards dodged a charge and Kozlov dove out of the ring. He was right back in, only to be dropkicked by Stevie for one. After a missed kick, Kozlov hit his headbutt to the chest out of nowhere to get the win.

WINNER: Kozlov, at 3:00. Another good showing for Stevie.

Kozlov went to the announce table and yelled at the announcers. JR said Kozlov wanted better competition.

-The Battle Royal, to find out who will face Triple H at SummerSlam, is next.

[Commercial Break]

-The Edge-Vickie wedding video from earlier aired again.

4- THE BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER OF THE SUMMER BATTLE ROYAL

Again, winner will face Triple H for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. Mr. Kennedy came out first, followed by Great Khali (with the returning Ranjin Singh), MVP, Umaga, Jeff Hardy, and Big Show.

Mr. Kennedy played the role of Matt, letting Jeff jump off his back and into Khali in the corner. Khali and Show met in the middle of the ring and exchanged headbutts. Umaga put them both down with a savate kick as the show went to break.

[Commercial Break]

All six were still in as the show came back from break. Jeff eliminated MVP at just under the seven-minute mark. About 1:30 later, Show tossed Umaga. Show fought off Hardy and Kennedy, then grabbed KK by the throat and threw him out. Umaga came back in and hit Show with a Samoan Spike, then Jeff jumped off the top and into Show’s arms. He used Show’s leverage against him to eliminate the big man. It was down to Khali and Jeff Hardy. Jeff hit the Swanton on Khali, but all it took was a chop to the head from Khali and Jeff was dead weight enough to be eliminated.

WINNER: Khali, at 10:25. Below-average battle royal.

As Khali celebrated, Triple H came out. He entered the ring and stood toe-to-toe with the giant. Singh convinced Khali to back off and they left HHH to pose in the ring.

[Commercial Break]

-A video aired of some of North Carolina’s not-so-nice neighborhoods. In a voice-over, Ron Killings said that is where he grew up, and talked about his childhood. He was also shown on camera. “R-Truth” was spray-painted on a wall and the graphic noted that he was coming to Smackodwn.

5- MICHELLE MCCOOL vs. MARYSE

Maryse got a take-down, then made the mistake of dancing. Dropkick to Maryse, who went to the apron. She pulled Michelle out of the ring and did some damage using the apron. Michelle landed on her feet on a second-rope moonsault, then locked in the heel hook for the submission.

WINNER: McCool, at 2:03.

-The camera guy must be bored….still no sign of Vickie Guerrero’s arrival outside the arena.

[Commercial Break]

-The Raw Rebound aired.

-JR and Foley talked about Trips defending the title at SummerSlam against Khali.

-Outside, Vickie was being wheeled into the arena by Chavo. Bam Neely met them and asked if they’d heard what Edge said. Chavo looked miffed that Bam brought it up and told Vickie they’d talk about it in her office.

[Commercial Break]

-Another video aired hyping Maria’s Smackdown debut. It’s set for next week.

-Neely came up to Edge backstage and told him Vickie had arrived. Edge said he needed to apologize to Vickie in public. Bam said he’d tell her.

6- BRIAN KENDRICK vs. SHANNON MOORE

JR said Kendrick reminded him of Brian Pillman. Yeah, but 75% less crazy. Kendrick got the mic(!) and told the fans they should feel privileged for witnessing the fastest, most intelligent (doesn’t HHH have that trademarked?) wrestler in WWE. He said if anyone was delusional enough to try to touch greatness (i.e. him), they’d have to deal with Ezekiel. Not a bad job for a guy who never got mic time.

Kendrick worked over Moore’s ribs with kicks and knees. Once Moore got the advantage, he got distracted by Ezekiel. Kendrick hit his finisher, re-named The Kendrick, for the win.

WINNER: Kendrick, at 1:45. I like this new Kendrick.

-Bam Neely relayed Edge’s message to Vickie and Chavo. Well, kind of….he couldn’t remember if Edge wanted to apologize, or if he wanted Vickie to.

[Commercial Break]

-Ben Stiller plugged Jenny McCarthy’s appearance for the Autism benefit on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

-Edge came out. He was not his usual cocky self. He said he wanted to apologize to his wife, in public and face-to-face. He asked Vickie to come out. She was wheeled out by Chavo, with Bam Neely at their side. Once in the ring, Vickie told Chavo and Bam that she could handle things herself, so they left.

Edge knelt down in front of Vickie, drawing lots of boos. He looked at the crowd with contempt. Awesome. Edge asked Vickie to hear him out. He said the video HHH showed didn’t show how many times he told Alicia now. He said she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Edge said he stayed to hammer out the details of their wedding, because he knew it meant so much to Vickie. He said he can’t live without her love.

Vickie said she understood, and they hugged. But Vickie turned away before they could make out. She said Edge needs to understand that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She said when she was mad, she did something Edge may not like. She said she re-instated Undertaker. Edge tried to control his shock, fear and anger. The crowd chanted for Taker. Edge finally said it was good business to bring him back and that while he and Vickie go on their honeymoon, HHH and Taker could destroy each other. Vickie said she’d already scheduled a SummerSlam opponent for Taker. Of course, it was Edge. Vickie cackled as she told him it would be Hell in a Cell. Edge sat in the ring looking up at Vickie in amazement as the show ended. Great segment that took the crowd on a roller-coaster ride. Edge was superb in his role, especially with his body language and facial expressions.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since February of 2007. You can also hear him every-other-week in the post-Raw audio show Monday nights in the Torch VIP audio section. Comments or questions can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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