By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
OCTOBER 17, 2008
TAPED IN LAS VEGAS, NEV.
AIRED ON MY NETWORK

[Q1]

-A clip aired of the end of last week's Triple H vs. Big Show match with Vladimir Kozlov attacking Triple H at the end of the show followed by a Jeff Hardy run-in. Very well produced segment with great musical accompaniment, adding drama and gravitas to the angle without going overboard. Good close-up on on Vladimir's menacing face to close the clip.

-After the Smackdown opening Jim Ross and Tazz introduced the show. Ros hyped Carlito & Primo Colon vs. Zach Ryder & Curt Hawkins, plus Jeff Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov, billed as "for the first time ever."

-The Big Show and Chavo Guerrero walked to the ring. Tazz said Big Show did what nobody has done - dominate the Undertaker. Show said things are going very badly for one individual. He said he questioned Undertaker's resilience and the strength of his chin, but not his intelligence. "I never thought of you being foolish - until last week," he said. He asked if his fist knocked Taker stupid. He said the difference between he and Taker is he knocked him out when he tried to hit a defenseless woman whereas he interfered in his match against Triple H as he was about to become WWE Champion, so things are going to work out badly for him. He said he understands that Taker wants redemption. He broke into an Undertaker impersonation and said he knows he wants him to "burn in hell." He told Taker to be careful what he wishes for because "this giant might just give it to you." He said at Cyber Sunday he is booked to face Undertaker and all of his "precious" fans can vote for the method of his demise. He said Taker is going down and the punchline is the fans will decide how that happens. He listed the options. He said Last Man Standing is a test of heart. He said an I Quit match is Vickie Guerrero's favorite. He said Taker has never uttered those two words. He said the third option, a Knockout Match, is his personal choice. Big Show said just so there's no confusion, because voting this time of year can be confusing, he's got three wrestlers in the back waiting to demonstrate each match.

A wrestler walked out. Jim Ross said he has no idea who this wrestler is walking to the ring. The bell rang and Show clubbed him to the mat with forearms. He knocked him out in seconds. The ref called for the bell, but Show dragged him to the floor. The wrestler fell to the mat knocked out and limp. A second wrestler walked out. Tazz wondered if he weighed a buck-fifty with a brick in his pocket. The wrestler threw a dropkick at the bell. Show swatted him away easily and then locked on a cobra clutch. He demanded the wrestler say I-Quit. The wrestler muttered that. Show called for the third wrestler. They went to an inset interview with Hurricane Helms. He asked the wrestler, who had sideburns, "Hey, Sideburns, did you see what happened to the first one? I'm just sayin'." Ross said this would be a demonstration of a Last Man Standing match. Chavo slid a table into the ring as Show chopped Sideburns in the chest. He gasped for air, probably legit, and ten absorbed another slap to the chest. Show and Chavo set up the table. Show chokeslammed him through a table. He didn't get up. The ref called for the bell. Chavo held a mic for Show afterward. He asked, "Are there any questions? I didn't think so." Then he left the ring. Ross plugged the WWE.com poll for selecting the stip. They went back to the ring where a wrestler being put on a stretcher in a neckbrace by medics. Another jobber was shown still knocked out on the floor at ringside. Good segment to get across Show's ruthlessness and power.

-They showed Carlito and Primo preparing to head to the ring.

[Q2]

[Commercial Break]

1 -- PRIMO & CARLITO COLON vs. ZACH RYDER & CURT HAWKINS - WWE Tag Team Title match

WINNERS: Primo & Carlito in 4:00 to retain the tag titles.

STAR RATING: * -- Okay action. Pretty basic stuff. Utterly forgettable, though, and not really worthy of a tag team title match. Title matches shouldn't last four minutes and should seem more important than this did once it ended out of nowhere with a Primo top rope dropkick.

-The Cena-is-Totally-Awesome video package aired that first aired on Raw earlier in the week.

-Eve interviewed MVP. She pointed out his recent losing streak. MVP said those tag matches he was forced to be in don't count because he's a singles wrestler. He also touted being the longest-reigning U.S. Champion ever. And he constantly beats up "everybody's favorite, Matt Hardy." He said he's getting a "W" against R-Truth. He said one more victory and his incentive clause kicks in. He said he'll be all over the casino after his win.

-Ross plugged the Hardy-Kozlov main event coming up later.

[Q3]

[Commercial Break]

-Ring intros took place for MVP, and then R-Truth, who made his way through the crowd. He got fans to chant "What's up?" with him as he tried hard to keep up with his own song. He's getting better at actually being on beat. I still think they should just remix the song 10 percent slower so R-Truth can keep up with it without it seeming like such a struggle. Another commercial? That may be a record for shortest time between commercials on Smackdown.

[Commercial Break]

2 -- MVP vs. R-TRUTH

After the break, R-Truth was still rapping. Ross said this should be a tremendous one-on-one contest. He said Truth is about truth and MVP is about money. They showed Shelton Benjamin watching backstage on a monitor while rolling two golden pinballs or two nuggets of gold in his hand. After brief action at ringside, MVP settled into a chinlock. Truth did the splits mid-ring to avoid an MVP charge at 3:00 and then hit the scissor's kick. Here is a good example of how to hit the scissor's kick without that awkward few seconds where a wrestler unnaturally bends over for it. In this case, Truth caught MVP as he was standing up. It was good enough for the three count.

WINNER: Truth in 3:00. That was short. At least they're playing up MVP's losses as part of the storyline where he's jinxed because he's one win away from his incentive bonus.

-Backstage Vickie Guerrero, with Big Show, grabbed her neck and talked about how much pain she's in. She said she's tired of sitting in the wheelchair, too. There was a knock on the door and Funaki entered in a karate outfit. He said, "My name is Kung Fu-Naki!" Vickie ordered him to leave. Maurice walked in dressed up in a revealing Halloween costume. Tough to tell the costumes from the regular WWE Diva outfits. She asked why she has to take part in the Divas Las Vegas match later. She said she beat Michelle McCool two weeks ago. Vickie said: "Putting fuzzy dice on top of a pole is the perfect way to find an opponent for Michelle McCool's Divas Championship match. After all, we are in Las Vegas." She then ordered to leave. In walked Runjin Singh and the Great Khali. Vickie said Khali s such a dominant man that she's quite impressed. She said tonight she's selected a match where he can showcase his dominance. Singh translated for Khali. Khali asked whom he'd be facing. Vickie said The Undertaker. Khali fraked out. Can anyone translate? Singh claimed that Khali said he's not a puppet for Vickie to manipulate. Show got in Khali's face and said he and Vickie came to him out of respect and he demanded that he follow her orders or she could make his life very difficult. He talked softly and in an intimidating fashion.

[Q4]

[Commercial Break]

-Did You Know: For the second straight week, Smackdown shattered the MyNetworkTV record for the highest rated show in history.

-Kizarny spoke in carny talk at a carnival. This is one of the strangest gimmicks ever because it's so going to be over people's heads and even those who know where his name comes from still don't know what his character is about.

-The Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson walked out. Kendrick said he had "grave news." He said he has a tickle in his throat and has been diagnosed by WWE doctors that he has a "severe infection." He said it's so serious he was told not to compete. He said he was chomping at the bit to smack Super Crazy around, but tonight it's not in the stars. He said the good news is Crazy saved himself the embarrassment of being beaten up by The Brian Kendrick, but the bad news is he must face Ezekiel, who was already wearing wrestling trunks.

3 -- EZEKIEL JACKSON vs. SUPER CRAZY

Ezekiel overpowered Crazy right away, dropped an elbow on the side of his head, and then one-arm chokeslammed him for the win. He's a cross between Bad News Allen Coage (Brown) and Mr. Hughes. Kendrick delivered The Kendrick (Sliced Bread #2) afterward, then danced to his music with a smile.

WINNER: Ezekiel in 1:00.

[Commercial Break]

[Q5]

-Eve interviewed Triple H backstage. She threw right away to a clip of Vladimir attacking Triple H last week. Triple H said that footage reminds him how much guys want to make an impact and get at the champion. He said the fans will decide who gets that title shot. He said either way his opponent or opponents will find out why they call him The Game. "It's because I am that damn good."

4 -- UNDERTAKER vs. THE GREAT KHALI (w/Runjin Singh)

Khali won a test of strength, sending Taker to the mat. Khali then applied a side headlock. Then came a bodyslam and a legdrop for a two count. Then Khali applied a nervehold. After a chop to Taker's head, Khali scored another two count. He put Taker in the Khali head vice. Taker struggled to break free. He finally did, and then hit a flying clothesline. Big Show ran to the ring and went after Taker, prompting a DQ. Taker grabbed Show by the throat, but Show chokeslammed him.

WINNER: Undertaker via DQ in 3:00.

-Show brought a chair into the ring. He asked Khali take the chair. When Khali hesitated, Show called him "stupid!" Khali chopped the chair out of his hands and then walked away. Ross said Show was trying to bully and manipulate Khali. Taker, meanwhile, sat up and grabbed the chair and smashed Show in the back with it. Show tumbled over the top rope to the floor. Good basic angle. It took another step toward turning Khali babyface by putting him in a position to stand up for himself in an admirable way. It also built Taker-Show by having Show get hit with the chair he brought into the ring. Overall, a good basic well-done segment.

[Commercial Break]

[Q6]

-Did You Know? Raw was the most watched entertainment show on cable last Monday for the third straight week. Are NFL games not "entertainment"?

-Ross announced Triple H vs. Undertaker will take place next week on Smackdown. That's just ridiculous. The epitome of spending one of the few fresh WWE main eventer vs. main eventer match-ups out there in a free situation with only one week's build. Whatever they do to get out of it via some sort of angle with various people interfering doesn't matter as much as they've defined down how big of a deal it is for Triple H and Taker to be in the ring again at the same time one-on-one. Wow. Ever heard of that story of the kids in a room with a cookie. They were told they could eat the cookie now, but if they waited five minutes, they could have three more cookies? The kids' lives were followed and a few decades later the kids who waited for the three additional cookies had something like triple the income of those who didn't wait and ate the first cookie right away? There's a lesson there for WWE and the way they've operated lately. (The sad part is, the kids who waited for the three cookies were heavily invested in the stock market, and as of last week they're all broke, while the kids who ate the one cookie right away are all renters and aren't stuck with a house worth less than the mortgage, but that's another story!)

5 -- MARIA vs. MARYSE vs. NATALYA vs. VICTORIA vs. BRI BELLA

A minute into the match, Maryse was alone in the ring and she climbed the turnbuckles. Other women intervened and battled to climb the corner. Baryse tried again. Bri pulled her off onto her shoulders. Maryse threw her shoulder-first into the ringpost. At 3:00 Maria yanked Maryse to the mat and climbed to grab the fuzzy dice for the win.

WINNER: Maria in 3:00.

[Commercial Break]

-They showed an aerial shot of today's Las Vegas strip at night, then Ross threw to another Cena video package.

[Q7]

6 -- RYAN BRADDOCK & KENNY DYKSTRA vs. JESSE & FESTUS

After an early headbutt by Festus on Braddock, Tazz said, "He has a head like a stop sign." Jesse went to work on Braddock including an aggressively applied headlock. An inset aired of Helms saying: "Dykstra, you lose almost as often as MVP. Almost." Festus tagged in at 2:00. Braddock broke up a pin attempt on Dykstra by Festus. Festus finished Dykstra a minute later with the one-man flapjack finisher.

WINNERS: Festus & Jesse in 3:00.

[Commercial Break]

-Another Kizarny vignette aired with him at a carnival. The whole thing is just creepy weird and I'm already scared to ever go to a fair or carnival again because of him.

-Maria told Michelle McCool she's excited to get a title shot. McCool patronized her by pinching her cheek as she said it'd be an honor to defend against her. Jesse and Festus walked up to her. Jesse said Festus has a gift for her. He gave her a flower while staring at her longingly. Maria got creeped out. Jesse said they had tickets to Wayne Newton and had to get going.

-Ross pushed the launch of tickets sales for WrestleMania 25 in Houston, Tex. For the record, the 26th event is technically the 25th Anniversary show, unless WrestleMania 1 was the first anniversary of WrestleMania, that is. Ross and Tazz plugged text message voting for various matches.

-Triple H's ring intro took place so he could watch his two potential challengers face off against one another.

[Commercial Break]

[Q8]

7 -- JEFF HARDY vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV

Triple H joined Ross and Tazz at ringside. Triple H said Hardy pushed him to the limit in their match. Hardy came out first, then Kozlov. An inset soundbite aired with Kozlov, who said fans won't vote for him because they are afraid he will beat Triple H and become champion. Hardy charged at Kozlov. Kozlov kicked him in the chest to stop him in his tracks. When Kozlov charged Hardy in the corner a minute later, Hardy caught him with a knee. Kozlov shoulder checked Hardy to the mat, then set him on the top rope and delivered headbutts. Kozlov hit Hardy with a running powerslam for a two count at 1:00. Kozlov threw Hardy shoulder-first into the ringpost twice. Triple H said nobody should count Hardy out. They cut to an early break at 2:00.

[Commercial Break]

Triple H said Hardy is a shoe-in for fan voting, but he said if he had his way, he'd step into the ring with Kozlov. He said he wants to see what he's got and see him at his best, when he's undefeated and has the utmost confidence. Triple H said if fans vote for Hardy, he'll face him again and beat him again. Kozlov settled into a keylock on the mat. At 7:00 Hardy made a comeback with two forearms and a Whisper in the Wind. Vladimir went down and showed his first vulnerability. He followed with another Whisper followed by a leap off the top rope which Vladimir ducked. Vladimir then gave Hardy a battering ram to the chest to drop Hardy for a clean three count. Triple H said he's more impressed by Kozlov every time he sees him.

WINNER: Vladimir Kozlov in 8:00.

STAR RATING: **1/4 -- I love the push of Kozlov this year. It's just so basic and well-done. It's a relatively slow build where Kozlov is more impressive in matches than his push for a while, and fans see him as a threat before he's pushed as a threat. They also don't sacrifice him before getting a money match out of him.

-Triple H stepped into the ring and went forehead-to-forehead with Kozlov as Ross plugged Triple H vs. Undertaker next week, then the show ended.

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