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TV Reports
WWE SMACKDOWN ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 6/26: Hoops, Mezzera, Parks rate and review Jun 29, 2009 - 1:18:08 PM
Smackdown was another awesome TV show, except for the segments with Vince McMahon. Please, please Mr. McMahon, stay on Raw and leave ECW and Smackdown alone. I also didn't care for the Cryme Tyme-Jesse skit, to me it was a waste of time. The matches delivered though. Killings-Benjamin was a decent opener, but nothing special. The same goes for the women's match. Morrison-Punk and the cage match were great matches for free TV. Smackdown is a heavy wrestling broadcast and great alternative to the Raw brand. The McMahon stuff cost a full point this week though.
Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (9.0)
This was a great episode of Smackdown. Smackdown has been very good for the most part the last few months and this was possibly the best episode in that stretch. There were only four matches, but three of the four were at least two segments.
R-Truth vs. Shelton Benjamin was a good 11 minute match which had a nice set up with the promo from Benjamin. This was better than their matches were when they had a short feud awhile back. The Women's tag match was good. Gail Kim needs to be more of a focus as she showed her great talent in the ring during her brief appearance in the match. The build for Michelle McCool vs. Melina has been well done. John Morrison vs. CM Punk was a great 16 minute match. I could go on and on with the superlatives, but for now I will just say that this is the third very good match that Morrison has had with top Smackdown wrestlers lately (after Chris Jericho and Edge) and I was glad to see him get the surprise win over Punk. Punk's GTS and surprised / disappointed look afterward were great. The Rage in the Cage suffered from silly rules (it should have been all four men in the ring at the same time), but it delivered a good 20 minute tag team main event. So, I certainly can't complain about the wrestling content.
I didn't love everything with Vince McMahon and Teddy Long, but I liked enough of it. I was happy to see McMahon make a rare appearance on Smackdown for a change. The opening segment was OK, but I enjoyed their backstage encounters with Mysterio, Punk and Jeff Hardy. The notion that Long still has to prove himself has some potential.
My only real complaint was the lame Word Up segment. I haven't been a fan of this particular wwe.com show. I used to say that ECW should feature The Dirt Sheet each week, but I don't need to see Word Up as a regular feature on Smackdown. But, that is a pretty small complaint in an otherwise great show.
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.5)
All the McMahon stuff, from his long pause to "smell" the fear of the fans, to his backstage stuff with Teddy Long, was really bizarre. It came out of nowhere with Long being put on probation and I'm not sure what the point of it all was. It was nice to see McMahon on what he views as the B brand, but Smackdown has enough going for it where it doesn't need to be another playground for McMahon and his family.
R-Truth vs. Shelton was fine and I'm kind-of surprised they put Truth over. Every time it looks like they're ready to push Shelton seriously, they pull back at he last minute. The women's tag match was OK, but I'm disappointed to see Gail Kim relegated to such a non-factor in the division. Her few seconds of ring action in the match were the best of the match.
I could do without Cryme Tyme's "Word Up" segment, but hey, at least it got Eve on TV. Morrison vs. Punk was just a great match. These two really work well together and Morrison has really shined in these long match opportunities on Smackdown. The steel cage tag match was pretty formula, but it was put together nicely. The cage didn't seem to be much of a factor overall.
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