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WWE Smackdown review
January 9, 2009
Taped 12/30/08 in East Rutherford, NJ
Aired on MyNetwork TV
Report by Greg Parks, Torch Team Contributor


-Cold open to Jim Ross and Tazz who alerted us to a WWE.com story that Jeff Hardy and his girlfriend were involved in a hit-and-run accident; we’ll get police footage as well as comments from Hardy via satellite later on in the show.

-Smackdown Open.

-Triple H has Triple Jeopardy tonight, as he will compete in a Tables Match, Handicap Match and Last Man Standing Match. Did they really have to use the universal handicap logo next to “handicap match”?

1- TRIPLE H vs. JOHN MORRISON -TABLES MATCH

During HHH’s entrance, they showed the comments he made to Vickie last week that led to these matches this week. Thirty seconds into the match, Trips clotheslined Morrison over the top rope and to the outside, where tables were lined up against the barricade. He set one up at ringside after throwing Morrison into the ringpost. Triple H tried to suplex Morrison off the steel steps and through the table, but Morrison backed out of it and pulled HHH’s leg out from under him, sending The Game face-first into the stairs. Morrison then set up a table against the buckle in the ring. Morrison almost ran himself into the table, but he came back with a springboard kick. Morrison avoided getting back-dropped over the top and to a table at ringside. In the ring, HHH hit a spinebuster. He set up a table in the ring. He tried to suplex Morrison off the top and through the table, but couldn’t. He recovered in time to throw Morrison off the top and through the first table he set up at ringside.

WINNER: Triple H, at 4:23. I don’t think this loss will hurt Morrison’s momentum. Match was fine but even with Morrison’s push, there was a sense that HHH wouldn’t lose since he does have two other matches tonight. If he loses at all, it would likely be the last one. At least, that’s what wrestling history has taught me.

After the match, Miz distracted Triple H, who was then attacked by Chavo Guerrero and put through the table set up in the corner. Vickie looked pleased watching backstage.

-Up next, Undertaker will take on Shelton Benjamin.

[Commercial Break]

-Triple H was walking backstage after his match when he ran into Vickie Guerrero. Vickie taunted him that he has two more matches left and sarcastically wished him luck.

2- SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. THE UNDERTAKER

Benjamin used his speed to try to hit-and-run. He was able to corner Taker a few times and pound away with fists. Taker turned the tide and went to work on the left arm/shoulder of Shelton. Taker went Old School on the arm he had been working on of Shelton’s. Crowd finally popped for that after being dead for much of the show thus far. Taker clotheslined Shelton over the top rope as they went to break.

[Commercial Break]

Undertaker continued his work on Shelton’s arm out of break. Snake Eyes by The Deadman, but he missed the running boot and Shelton wisely took out the leg of Taker. He writhed on the mat in pain. Benjamin showed his aggressiveness in punching away at Taker as well as working on the leg. Taker grabbed Shelton by the throat out of nowhere, but he couldn’t hit the Goozle; Benjamin went back to work on the leg. Shelton put Taker’s leg on the rope so he could work on it more, but Taker, from the floor, pushed Shelton over the top rope with his OTHER leg. Taker gained control on the outside, but Benjamin put a stop to that with another shot to the leg. Benjamin did the ten-punch count in the corner, but Taker walked out with Shelton in the Last Ride position. Shelton squirmed out and DDT’d Taker. He got two. Blinger Splash in the corner, but the second one was blocked by a Taker chokeslam for a near-fall. Overhand rights by Taker. Shelton tried to hop over Taker in the corner, but The Dead Man caught him and gave him a Tombstone for the win.

WINNER: Undertaker, at 12:34. Good match: Shelton’s athleticism gelled well with Taker’s ground-and-pound style.

-Next, the exclusive footage from a police cruiser of the Jeff Hardy hit-and-run accident.

[Commercial Break]

-JR and Tazz said despite the accident, Jeff still intends to defend the World Title at the Royal Rumble. We’ll hear from Edge later tonight, then they showed the footage from the police cruiser. Jeff’s car looked pretty roughed up. Beth (not the “actual” Beth, according to Jason Powell at prowrestling.net) was kind-of frantic and Jeff seemed more perturbed. Apparently, somebody side-swiped him. They refused ambulance treatment after the policeman asked him about the situation, then they went back to the squad car to fill out paperwork.

-Earlier tonight, Tazz talked to Edge about the accident. Edge said the black cloud hanging over Jeff’s head has followed him into 2009. Edge said these things happen and that he’d keep Jeff and his girlfriend in his prayers.

-The Bella Twins were walking backstage, headed to the ring for some tag-team action. I’d....well, nevermind.

[Commercial Break]

3- MICHELLE MCCOOL & VICTORIA vs. THE BELLA TWINS

They showed clips of the evolution of Michelle’s heel turn. Michelle did the classic heel tactics such as jumping-jacks and push-ups after taking one of the Bella Twins down. Flying mare and another by one of the Bellas after the other tossed McCool back in the ring when she tried to goad the twin in the ring to come outside. Victoria came in and worked over both Bellas. Samoan drop into a sidewalk slam by Victoria. She missed a moonsault and the other Bella tagged in, got an Oklahoma roll and picked up the pinfall.

WINNERS: The Bella Twins, at 3:27.

Michelle attacked Victoria after the match, an attack that included a Styles Clash.

-Triple H’s handicap match is next.

[Commercial Break]

4- TRIPLE H vs. THE MIZ & CHAVO GUERRERO- HANDICAP MATCH

Miz went to work early on Triple H’s left arm, which he was favoring on the way to the ring, despite what Tazz said about it. Chavo tagged in and Triple H fought off some shenanigans by the heels. Miz tagged back in (by slapping Chavo on the butt after Guerrero went shoulder-first into the post) and he continued work on the arm. Lots of tags by the heels; Miz got a running clothesline on Trips in the corner. As Miz went for a tag late in the match, Chavo jumped off the apron and looked as if he wanted nothing to do with HHH. Miz turned around and walked right into a Pedigree.

WINNER: Triple H, at 4:18. Odd finish; I would’ve expected things to go the other way around with Miz letting Chavo eat a Pedigree. At least, that’s the way they’ve been building those two thus far, with Miz far higher on the food chain than Chavo.

Vickie came on the big screen and told Triple H he’ll face Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match.

-Also, we’ll have an update from Jeff Hardy himself tonight on his condition and about the accident.

[Commercial Break]

-A training video featuring Vladimir Kozlov aired. He’s still waiting for competition, in case you were wondering. It was short, but at least they’re trying to do something with Kozlov to get him more over.

-Time for the MVP Lounge with Montel Vontavious Porter half-heartedly going through his spiel. His guest is someone who has been running his mouth at MVP’s expense lately: Mr. Kennedy. Kennedy brought a mic down from the rafters for his part of the interview. Kennedy complimented MVP’s lounge as a few fans started chanting “MVP.” You can tell it’s the same crowd from last week, because the same few guys did the same chant. Kennedy tried to tell MVP that Porter wasn’t mad at HIM, he’s mad at himself. Kennedy claimed he was trying to inspire MVP; inspire him to stop whining, complaining and losing all the time.

MVP was offended that Kennedy would make jokes in his lounge. A bunch of guys came into the ring and started taking MVP’s furniture out of his lounge. One of the guys said they were just doing their job in repossessing everything. They should’ve brought Repo Man back for this one. He could take things from out of the ring without MVP knowing, then MVP turns around and finds everything gone. Or something like that. Kennedy had a parting shot for MVP, then left. The Boogeyman’s music hit and he came into the ring. Kick to the gut, pump-handle slam for MVP. Kennedy looked on from the ramp-way as MVP high-tailed it before Boogeyman could do the worm thing.

-Up next, Carlito & Primo defend their tag titles against The Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson. Why is this the first I’m hearing of this match tonight?

[Commercial Break]

-The Raw Rebound aired.

5- PRIMO & CARLITO vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK & EZEKIEL JACKSON- WWE TAG-TEAM TITLE MATCH

Primo struggled in there with Ezekiel to start so he tagged his older brother. He didn’t have much better luck, though he and Primo did catch Zeke with a double springboard shoulderblock. It only registered a one-count. Zeke got the advantage in the heel corner and Kendrick tagged in. It appears that many people left after the first show was taped, because I don’t remember the crowd being darkened as much as it is this week. Primo tagged in and got a near-fall. Kendrick got Primo to chase him around ringside, then he tagged Ezekiel while Primo wasn’t looking. The results were not pretty for Primo. Jackson got Primo in a bear-hug. After a slam, Kendrick yelled for a tag, but he didn’t get one, at least immediately. Once in, Kendrick tried to wear down Primo some more. Colon eventually got a big belly-to-belly suplex and tagged Carlito. Knee-lift followed by a clothesline, then a springboard back-elbow. Carlito went for a cover after a sit-down spinebuster, but Jackson interfered. Primo low-bridged Jackson, but Kendrick pushed Carlito into Primo and rolled him up...for two. Wow, I thought that was it. Carlito came back with a Back-stabber for the win. “Sham-Wow, I get it right!” exclaimed Tazz, who predicted the champs would retain.

WINNERS: Carlito & Primo, at 6:08. Good little match; these are two teams worth building a tag division around, if WWE were so inclined. Which they aren’t. Again, lack of crowd heat hurt the match a little.

-We’ll hear from Jeff Hardy coming up next.

[Commercial Break]

-JR showed exclusive cell-phone footage of the accident from last night. Good follow-up, as the officer did mention a cell phone video guy in the previous video. Did this person voluntarily give the footage to WWE or what?

-Jeff Hardy talked, courtesy of “MY RDC,” whatever that is (MyNetwork affiliate?). Hardy appeared to be favoring his right side a bit. He talked about what happened to lead to the accident and said he and Beth are a little banged-up (left shoulder for him), then he said he would be in action at the Rumble against Edge.

-JR and Tazz previewed the Royal Rumble, as the official theme (or at least the one they used here) is apparently “Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf. Rarely do I recognize songs they use as “official” ones for PPVs. Good choice this month though.

-Big Show came out for the Last Man Standing Match, which will be next.

[Commercial Break]

6- BIG SHOW vs. TRIPLE H- LAST MAN STANDING MATCH

Show went right at, guess, Triple H’s shoulder and arm. Punches by Trips had little effect, as Show just batted him away. Trips did his oversell of being thrown into the corner and ended up outside the ring as Show patiently waited inside. It seemed like they were going to break, but after a pause, JR and Tazz started talking again, then they went to break after Show chopped Trips back into the ring.

[Commercial Break]

Triple H got chopped in the chest by Show in the corner as the show returned. Show picked Trips up by the arm and tossed him down. He followed it up with another one. Big headbutt put Trips down, then he was thrown into the steel steps on the outside of the ring. Triple H came back with a DDT inside the ring and both men were down for an extended period. Show speared HHH, who got up at seven. Show put him back down again almost immediately after The Game got up. Crowd finally started to come alive as Trips got up at eight. A triumvirate of headbutts by Show, but Triple H crotcc-chopped Show in the corner and was able to hit a Pedigree out of seemingly nowhere. Show got up at nine. He missed a bunch of rights and lefts, perhaps still reeling from the Pedigree. Triple H countered with punches of his own, then he went for another Pedigree. Show picked Trips up instead and pretty much landed back-first on him. Triple H made it up at nine, then fell through the ropes and to the outside. On the outside, Big Show caught Triple H jumping onto him off the apron and chokeslammed him onto the announce table, which didn’t break. Trips got off the table and onto his feet just in time to beat the count. Show was there to greet him with a straight right hand, which put him back on the table. He couldn’t get up from that.

WINNER: Big Show, at 16:26. A match suited for Big Show’s pace, so it worked in that way. Lots of drama, as usual, near the end.

Vickie looked on from the ramp with Big Show, pleased at the outcome of her scheme.

What was your opinion of tonight’s show? Share your thoughts below in our new instant reader comment section!

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also hear him every-other-week in the post-Raw audio show Monday nights in the Torch VIP audio section. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback is welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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