by Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
July 24, 2009
Taped 7/21/09 in Richmond, Va.
Aired on MyNetwork TV


-WWE Open.

-A video package of the tag-team main-event from last week opened the show. More specifically, Jeff Hardy throwing Ziggler at C.M. Punk, who was guest commentator for the match, and Punk retaliating.

-Smackdown Open.

-Jim Ross opened the show by plugging a champion vs. champion match, C.M. Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, for later on tonight.

-Jeff Hardy came out for his match and grabbed a mic. Crowd chanted his name before he even spoke. Hardy reminded fans that Punk told him he’d wind up as a “statistic” last week, and how he despises the example Hardy sets for the WWE Universe. Hardy said Punk will despise it a lot more when he becomes World Champion. He said he’s sick of Punk shoving his “straight edge” lifestyle down everyone’s throats. After Night of Champions, he said fans would be living for the moment like he does. Hardy turned his attention to tonight’s opponent, Chris Jericho. Hardy said Jericho should focus on him, not finding a partner for the PPV. He told Jericho his walls would come crumbling down tonight.

1- JEFF HARDY vs. CHRIS JERICHO

Hardy went right after Jericho and the fight immediately spilled to the outside, as he threw Jericho into the railing twice as a repercussion for what Jericho did to him last week. Jericho got a few kicks in, but Hardy was back on offense with a headscissor take-over, followed by a clothesline of Jericho over the top rope and to the outside. Hardy tried to dropkick Jericho through the ropes, but Jericho caught him and pulled him out, with Hardy landing on the back of his head. They went to break less than two minutes into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Jericho was in control out of break, and had Hardy grounded. They waited until the crowd got into it, and Hardy worked his wa to his feet. Cross-body by Hardy got two. Enziguiri put Hardy back down. Hardy missed a splash in the corner and Jericho followed with an elbow off the second rope for two. Hardy made his comeback, including most of his signature spots. Swanton missed and Jericho got the upper-hand with a Lionsault for two. I’m surprised they haven’t re-named that one since his time in WWE. He tried to lock in the Walls, but Jeff powered out. He tried again, but Hardy countered with an inside cradle. Corner dropkick was blocked and Jericho caught Hardy in position for a Walls, which was applied successfully. Hardy reached the ropes and referee Scott Armstrong called for a break. Catapult attempt didn’t work for Jericho and Hardy hit Whisper in the Wind for a near-fall. Looked like Hardy’s foot came right down on Jericho’s head. Codebreaker out of nowhere by Jericho, that caused Hardy to flop around ‘til he was out of the ring. Jericho was dumbfounded by not being able to find where Hardy was in the ring, until he realized he went outside. Jericho dragged the limp Hardy to his feet and pushed him into the ring. Could only get two on the pin though. Jericho kicked at Jeff in frustration, but Jeff landed the Twist of Fate, and Hardy looked to make his way to the top for the finish. Hardy got to the top, but Jericho popped up and hit the top rope, crotching Jeff. Jericho attempted to suplex Jeff off the top, but Hardy knocked him off. Hardy then hit the Swanton for the win.

WINNER: Hardy, at 15:11. Good back-and-forth match; your usual solid TV performance from these two. I thought Jericho might get the win, but unlike ECW, Smackdown seems to want to keep at least one of the contestants in the brand’s title match strong heading into the pay-per view.

-Michelle McCool was getting make-up done backstage, bragging about herself to the make-up woman. She name-dropped Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, Sherri, Lita and Trish.....Stratus, putting herself above them. Melina walked up and said she came to congratulate McCool on being the biggest phony in WWE history. She said she invoked her return match, so the title will be back around her waist at Night of Champions. Melina then threw make-up in Michelle’s face. Already seen it with Layla and Eve not that long ago.

-Another plug for Punk vs. Mysterio later on tonight.

[Commercial Break]

-A video package aired hyping John Morrison.

2- THE GREAT KHALI vs. MIKE KNOX

We have a Mike Knox sighting. Knox got a kick to the gut and a few punches, but Khali pushed him into the ropes and landed a forearm. Khali cornered Knox with the Kevin Nash repertoire, including elbows, knees and a chop. Then, Kane’s music hit and the fire went off. Kane walked out to the stage and slowly made his way down the aisle. Knox took advantage of the distracted Khali. Nope, Kane is still standing on the stage. Knox took Khali to one knee, but that didn’t last long. Standing boot to the face by Khali, then a clothesline as Ranjin Singh cheered on from ringside. Chop to the head, then a Punjabi Plunge finished Knox.

WINNER: Khali, at 2:13. Poor Knox.

Kane advanced toward the ring after the match. He got to the apron, and walked over the top rope, but then thought better of it and backed down. Hey, at least they’re keeping them apart until the big match; if only they could do that with the main eventers.

-Apparently, C.M. Punk will be issuing a challenge to the WWE Universe later tonight.

[Commercial Break]

-This week’s installment of “Word Up” aired. I liked this better on WWE.com, when I wouldn’t have to watch it. Anyway, today’s word: “goat”: an acronym for the Greatest of All Time. Of course, it also means someone who makes a bad play at a critical time, but they didn’t mention that. Then they went into plugging the Allied Powers tag team DVD. The Hart Dynasty came up to them and started a war of words until Jesse came in and said he’s like the Freebirds because he’s from the Badstreets of Atlanta, Georgia. Natalya said she’d see Cryme Tyme and Eve in the ring tonight and Jesse better not show his face around.

-Dolph Ziggler and his main squeeze Maria came to the ring, as Ziggler had a match. He got the mic and said fans know him as Dolph Ziggler, but he’s not one for big introductions. After Night of Champions, everyone will know him as Dolph Ziggler: Intercontinental Champion. He’s in action next.

[Commercial Break]

3- DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. FINLAY

I was hoping Finlay would change his theme back to the original one after Hornswoggle left, but no dice. Hair pull by Finlay took Ziggler to the mat, but Dolph got into the ropes. Finlay missed a shoulder in the corner and hit the ring-post. Ziggler took advantage, pulling the shoulder again into the post. Ziggler attacked the shoulder and upper-arm area. Good clothesline put Finlay down for a one-count. Finlay got Ziggler up on his shoulders three minutes in, but Ziggler got down and Finlay kicked him into the announce table on the outside. Maria tended to Ziggler after Finlay tossed him into the table again. Finlay backed away, not wanting to involve Maria, and tried to get back into the ring. Ziggler popped right up and gave his finisher to Finlay outside the ring. Ziggler went back into the ring and won by count-out.

WINNER: Ziggler, by count-out, at 4:18. Another good win for Ziggler heading into Night of Champions.

-Backstage, Chris Jericho was talking with Kane. No audio, but the announcers speculated it could be about being Jericho’s partner on Sunday.

-C.M. Punk challenges the WWE Universe next. The details are unknown, but we’ll find out after break.

[Commercial Break]

-C.M. Punk came out to the ring. He said he came out to challenge the WWE Universe into seeing things his way. He also preached learning how to just say “no.” He said the people who cheer for Jeff Hardy are slaves to the “living in the moment” feeling. He said he feels bad for the fans, walking around blind, wearing their prescriptions on their sleeves, as if they were badges of honor. Punk said there’s not a person besides him in the arena that hasn’t abused prescription medication or used recreational drugs. He said it’s difficult being him. Not a ton of heat for him. Punk said no one in the crowd knows the long-term effects of alcohol use. People think its fun, until they have to drink to feel normal. Then he turned his attention to smokers. He said he doesn’t know if its more disgusting knowing what the smoker is putting in his or her body, or listening to them say they can quit anytime they want to. As he was lecturing the crowd, a “Hardy” chant started up. Punk said the chances are slim that anyone in the arena will get that monkey off their back. Punk said it starts with learning how to say “no” to temptation. He told fans to learn how to control yourself. This PSA brought to you by WWE. Then Jeff Hardy’s music interrupted and he came down.

Hardy said Punk has a lot of nerve. He said what Punk doesn’t know about people could fill a book. He said people make mistakes and those people can change. Punk interrupted and said the people SAY they can change. He said he wasn’t going to enable Hardy right now and didn’t even want to be in the same ring as him right now. He said he’s going to do what Jeff should’ve done a long time ago: Just say no. Punk then left the ring and headed to the back. OK segment, but I wasn’t really into the Punk promo. Going above and beyond the “wrestling world” like he did...I don’t know. Obviously, it was done to get heat, but he didn’t get a ton of it.

[Commercial Break]

4- EVE TORRES vs. NATALYA

Both tag teams were at ringside with their ladies. After a break in the ropes, Natalya pushed Eve away. Eve then got a headlock take-over. Eve was on the second rope, but she jumped right into Natalya’s arms and she slammed her down for two. Natalya pounded away at Eve’s head on the mat. Natalya put Eve in a surfboard. She missed a legdrop and Eve came back with a clothesline and a dropkick. Eve walked into another spinning clothesline. Eve got into the ropes though and Eve again hammered away. The Harts implored Natalya to finish her. She put Eve on the top rope, but Eve knocked her down, then moonsaulted onto Natalya for the win.

WINNER: Eve, at 2:58. Moonsault looked good and the match was decent, thanks in large part to Natalya.

-Backstage, Ranjin Singh and Great Khali were just.....standing there. Chris Jericho came up to them and said there’s a lot of rumors about who he’s going to choose as his partner at Night of Champions. Jericho called Khali a “front-runner” to be his partner. Khali spoke and Singh translated, saying he takes it as an honor to be a champion of any kind.....but he wouldn’t want his partner to be Jericho.

-R-Truth is in action next.

[Commercial Break]

-C.M. Punk takes on Rey Mysterio in the main event tonight.

5- R-TRUTH vs. CHARLIE HAAS

Haas was already in the ring. Truth took Haas down, then Haas complained to the ref in an attempt to catch Truth off guard, but it didn’t work. Truth did one of his flips, but tweaked his knee. Haas went right after it, kicking it out from underneath Truth. He slammed the injured leg into the ring post. Todd Grisham hearkened back to Martin Gramatica injuring himself celebrating a field goal a few years ago. Haas even went the extra mile, pulling the jeans of Truth up and pulling down on the knee-pad and working over the injured body part. Half-crab, but Truth worked his way to the ropes. Truth kicked Haas away from him, then got a shot to the gut. He made a comeback and got two off a hip-toss. That didn’t deter Haas, who continued work on the knee until Truth hit his axe kick out of nowhere, spelling the end for Haas.

WINNER: Truth, at 4:36. Win didn’t mean much since Haas doesn’t have any credibility unless he’s with Shelton, but at least he beat a good technical wrestler and it’s a good sign for Truth.

[Commercial Break]

-JR and Todd Grisham were in the ring and previewed Night of Champions. When was the last time they did in-house music for a PPV?

-C.M. Punk came out for the main event. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

-They plugged Shaquille O’Neal as guest host for Raw this coming Monday.

6- C.M. PUNK vs. REY MYSTERIO

Mysterio gave his mask to a WWE Magazine contest winner, who got his name in chyron and everything. Punk took Rey down as the match began slowly. Rey rolled Punk up after jumping from his feet to Punk’s shoulders. Punk ended up throwing Rey shoulder-first into the ring post to finish an exchange. Punk grabbed a side-headlock. Rey had Punk’s hand and jumped to the top rope, but Punk pushed him off and Rey appeared to catch his arm on the top rope. Punk delivered a baseball slide to Rey on the outside. Almost four minutes into the match, they went to break.

[Commercial Break]

Punk had Rey tied up in the ring, working on the arm. Hard kick to the back by Punk, then a legdrop and a near-fall. Rey hit the ropes, but Punk landed a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker for two. Crowd chanted “619" as Punk had Rey in a hold again focusing on the arm. 11:00 into the match, Dolph Ziggler came to ringside to get a closer look at his opponent for Sunday. Rey got a springboard cross-body on Punk for two. Then he caught Punk in the jaw with a dropkick. Rey got a boot up in the corner, then a headscissors on Punk into the 619 position. Rey couldn’t get it, but he did drop the dime on Punk. Ziggler got knocked off the apron by Rey, and Punk caught him with a leg lariat. A beautiful knee in the corner by Punk led to Rey getting out of a bulldog and again putting Punk in position for the 619, but again Punk avoided it with a headbutt to the gut. He threw Rey to the outside under the ring and Rey flipped as usual so he didn’t get injured. Ugly bulldog by Rey where I’m not sure what Punk hit, but it wasn’t the mat. Rey connected on the 619, then hit the springboard splash, but Dolph Ziggler interfered, drawing the DQ.

WINNER: Rey, by DQ, at 14:37.

Rey set Ziggler up for the 619 after the match, but Punk pushed him down as he made his attempt. Punk left the ring, and Ziggler hit his finisher on Rey. And again. As Ziggler got Rey up again, Jeff Hardy ran out, pushing Punk (who was on the stage) out of the way, and ran Ziggler off. Then Punk followed him to the ring and hit the Go To Sleep on Hardy. Punk stood with his belt over his head at the top of the ramp as the show cut out.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also read his all-new blog in the VIP forum. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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