by Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
October 16, 2009
Taped 10/13/09 at the University of Kentucky
Aired on MyNetwork TV


-“In Memory of Louis Vincent Albano: Capt. Lou Albano, 1933-2009.”

-WWE Open.

-Smackdown Open.

-Todd Grisham opened the show as the camera panned the crowd- he immediately plugged Batista vs. Rey Mysterio, as well as The Dirt Sheet with John Morrison and The Miz.

-Michael Cole was introduced as filling in for Jim Ross tonight. It’s Cole and his clone. Great. And the timing is awesome, since he just made a fool of himself on this show a few weeks back at the Tenth Anniversary Smackdown. It’s also interesting since they are trying to play up the Raw vs. Smackdown feud, with the announcers getting involved in the trash-talk, and here is a Raw announcer doing Smackdown.

-Teddy Long came out and talked about Bragging Rights. Specifically, the seven-on-seven main event. Long said he intends to uphold the show’s great heritage and will make sure Smackdown is seen as the dominant show. Long listed off Raw’s team members and then introduced team Smackdown captain, Chris Jericho. Jericho walked to the ring in suit and tie. Cole did apologize, in passing, for his behavior at the Smackdown Tenth Anniversary show. Jericho complimented Long, in a way, for naming him captain of team Smackdown. Jericho addressed the possibility of John Cena returning to Smackdown. His opinions on it are about what you’d expect. He said Cena will have to go through him to be the man on Smackdown, since he’s the leader of the locker room. Jericho talked about leading Smackdown to the promised land. He talked about Raw’s General Managers and held up their new book to get a nice cheap plug in. Jericho talked about them being more interested in pandering to the fans and plugging merchandise than doing their job. Jericho showed what he thought of DX, by pulling page after page out of the book until it was destroyed. He said that’s what he’d do to DX at Bragging Rights. Kane’s pyro hit and he and his music interrupted.

Jericho looked a bit intimidated as Kane questioned whether this was truly Jericho’s “team.” Kane said he is now co-captain. Jericho’s response: “Well of course you are Kane, I was thinking the same thing.” He said he was just going to announce that. Kane said as far as he’s concerned, the entire team Raw can go up in flames. Then he lifted his arms, brought them down and the fire flamed out of the ringposts. Cole said Kane and Jericho have certainly gotten the attention of team Raw.

-Grisham again talked Batista vs. Rey, which will take place tonight.

[Commercial Break]

1- FINLAY vs. MIKE KNOX vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER- TRIPLE-THREAT BRAGGING RIGHTS QUALIFYING MATCH

Ziggler tried to get Knox to team up with him on Finlay, but after a handshake, they didn’t even get one move in together, as Knox gave him a short-arm clothesline. Knox got taken to the outside right off the bat however. Ziggler clotheslined Finlay over the top and to the outside just as Knox was getting back into the picture. Ziggler was on the apron while Knox bulled right into him, knocking Ziggler to ringside. I guess they’re referring to the Smackdown guys as “The Smackdown Seven.” They’ve said it about a million times already. Finlay broke up a cover back in the ring, as Ziggler had Knox down. Not much of a crowd reaction here. Finlay fought off Ziggler and plowed him into the buckle. He placed Dolph on the top rope, but before he could executed a move, Knox came over and gave Finlay an electric chair. Ziggler came off the top and onto Finlay, then his pin was broken up by Knox. Dropkick by Ziggler, not one of his best, for two on Finlay. Finlay got his boot up on a corner charge and hit the rolling Samoan drop, then one on Knox as well, which got a rise out of the crowd. Or at least the audio sweetener. Knox crushed both Ziggler and Finlay in the corner. Finlay picked up his Shillaleigh and hit Knox with it. The ref’s view was obstructed and the object went under Finlay’s leg, so he didn’t see it. Ziggler broke up the pin and made his own on Knox for the win.

WINNER: Ziggler, at 5:58. No surprise they went with Ziggler here. Not these guys’ best work.

-The Dirt Sheet returns tonight, leading up to The Miz vs. Morrison at Bragging Rights.

[Commercial Break]

2- CRYME TYME vs. THE HART DYNASTY -BRAGGING RIGHTS QUALIFYING MATCH

AAAHHHH! NOT AGAIN! It’s the feud that won’t die! Or advance in any way. Both of the winners will be on the Bragging Rights team, for what its worth. David Hart Smith immediately cornered Shad, where Tyson Kidd illegally worked him over right in front of referee Aaron “Goose” Mahoney. Long and Jericho were shown looking on backstage. Smith worked the left leg of Shad. Ankle-lock applied, which will probably get him a talking-to from Batista backstage. Shad finally made a diving tag to JTG. Kidd came in for the first time as well. He took out Kidd and Smith, then hit his face-buster out of the corner (called “The Mug-Shot”). Smith distracted JTG, allowing Kidd to get a roll-up. But he pushed Kidd off into Smith, who was taken care of on the outside by Shad. Side roll by Kidd for two. Shad held onto Kidd’s legs on the apron on a springboard attempt. Kidd eventually attempted it, but the one second pause cost him, as JTG saw it coming and landed his finisher on Kidd for the win.

WINNERS: Cryme Tyme, at 3:30. Decent enough match, but I’m bored to tears with these four.

-Another reminder of Batista vs. Rey still to come.

[Commercial Break]

-Jericho was talking to Michelle McCool with Teddy Long and Jericho said everyone needs to know how important Bragging Rights is. He said it’s important for McCool to watch the qualifying matches with him. He also said he can’t count on John Morrison to beat the Miz, so can he count on her? McCool said he sure can, because she makes history. She said he can beat any Diva on any show at any time. Mickie James then walked in and said she was excited that Long traded for her to come to Smackdown. She told Jericho that if he’s looking for someone to beat the Raw Divas, he should choose someone who has already beaten all the Divas on Raw. McCool took exception to this and started to walk out, but walked right into Beth Phoenix. She told Michelle not to plan on keeping that title for long.

-Mr. McMahon was backstage on his cell phone when C.M. Punk’s appearance interrupted it. He complained to Vince that the Fatal Four-Way that Long has put him in at Bragging Rights is ridiculous. McMahon said Long is still on probation. He then said Punk’s idea of a submission one-on-one re-match was a good idea, as was him conspiring to screw Undertaker at Montreal. “I wish I had thought of that.” Vince didn’t pull the Four-Way, but granted Punk his re-match, with Scott Armstrong as ref and Teddy Long at ringside, for next week’s show.

[Commercial Break]

-Vickie Guerrero was introduced prior to the next Bragging Rights qualifying match. She did her “Excuse Me” routine. She introduced her new boyfriend, Eric Escobar.

3- ERIC ESCOBAR vs. MATT HARDY

This should be interesting. Matt fed him some right hands off the bat. Backslide by Hardy in the first minute for one. Escobar tried a suplex, but Hardy with an inside cradle got two. Back elbow by Escobar was his first sustained offense. Rear chin-lock by the heel. Bodyslam by Escobar, but he missed a back-splash. Escobar walked right into a Side Effect for two. Second-rope elbow landed by Hardy. Vickie got up on the apron and complained of an ankle injury. The ref of course checked on her and Escobar shoved Hardy off of him and nearly into the ref. Hardy stopped short, but Escobar capitalized by throwing him into the ring post and rolling him up for the pin.

WINNER: Escobar, at 2:40. Escobar didn’t show much in this one, but didn’t really have a chance.

-The Dirt Sheet returns next.

[Commercial Break]

-The Fink’s voice-over brought us the Dirt Sheet. The Miz was introduced first. John Morrison was next. Miz had an incredibly smug look on his face as Morrison entered the ring. Morrison poked fun at Miz’s championship, asking him if he got it on WWE.com. Miz talked about Bragging Rights determining which show is superior. Except ECW; they’re not in the running. Morrison added that the PPV would find out which tag team partner was superior. Miz claimed he was the star of the tag-team. He talked about the break-ups of past tag teams and one going onto success while the other languished in obscurity. Miz gave an example of Mork and Mindy and a picture went up on the Titan-Tron to no reaction from the crowd (probably no one knew who they were). They also talked about Regis & Kathie Lee, Bill & Ted and The Rockers. Miz said he’d prove he’s the Shawn Michaels and Morrison is the Marty Jannetty. Ah, I was hoping for a Jannetty cameo here. Morrison said Jannetty never had cool merchandise like he does. Morrison said Miz and Jannetty would make a great tag team- Mizzy Jannetty and Marty Jannetty.

Morrison then made fun of Miz for not having a girlfriend. Morrison said the only thing Miz has done is conform- he had the courage to be himself and at least dress like a loser; now, he’s just a strange mixture of Michael Phelps, Mr. Ed, Pink and Big Dick Johnson. Miz responded by saying he looks good in trunks. Morrison said he looked “husky.” Miz said he wasn’t, but the crowd seemed to agree with Morrison. He said he’d prove at Bragging Rights that he’s better than his former partner. Morrison asked him to prove it now. Miz said he wouldn’t do it on a second-rate show. Morrison said Raw is only a cheap version of SNL these days. He asked who would be hosting next week, Big Bird? They shouldn’t let him make such salient points about the product. Morrison accused Miz of being boring, which he took offense to. He said he was the reason people watch Monday Night Raw, then shouted that he carried the tag team for two years. Morrison said talk is cheap, and he’s not going to let Miz talk about what he’s going to do, so he challenged him to stand up and actually do something. Morrison tried to knock Miz out of his chair, and they stood toe-to-toe, Morrison daring Miz to take a shot at him. The crowd actually chanted “husky” at Miz. He left before the two could come to blows. Good hype for the match next Sunday and it’s also good that they’ve kept these two apart for so long so the match actually feels fresh. Morrison told “Jannetty” he’d see him at Bragging Rights.

-Batista vs. Rey Mysterio will happen later tonight.

-The outside of the Rupp Arena on the University of Kentucky was shown.

-They showed a video package of Drew McIntyre making a name for himself at the expense of R-Truth.

-Truth was walking backstage....he’ll face McIntyre for the right to fight at Bragging Rights. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

-Tonight, we’ll get a message from the Undertaker about his match with C.M. Punk next week.

4- R-TRUTH vs. DREW MCINTYRE- BRAGGING RIGHTS QUALIFYING MATCH

Truth was aggressive against McIntyre in the early going. High hip-toss by Truth, then a dropkick that sent McIntyre to ringside. He dove over the top and onto Drew at ringside. They went to break about a minute into the match.

[Commercial Break]

McIntyre had Truth on the mat in a chin-lock out of break. He took control during the break on the outside, by throwing Truth into the steel steps. Truth again was able to throw McIntyre out of the ring and perhaps off his game. Truth’s back was slammed into the ring post as McIntyre was in the ring and Truth was on the apron. Bodyslam by McIntyre. He went to the middle rope, but came down on Truth’s foot, which the former K-Kwik stuck up in the air. Standing side kick from Truth as his comeback began. Axe kick missed and McIntyre set up for his finisher, but Truth backed him into the corner. Clothesline over the top by Truth. Truth had McIntyre by the hair, but McIntyre took out his legs and Truth landed back-first on the steel steps. He could not beat the count back into the ring.

WINNER: McIntyre, by count-out, at 8:35. Solid enough match, better than their PPV encounter. With McIntyre and Escobar on the team at Bragging Rights though, Raw’s has so much more star power. But props to Smackdown for putting new faces in a big spot.

-Batista and Rey were backstage and they shook hands. Batista said he doesn’t feel right facing Rey. They joked around and Rey said brothers fight all the time. Batista reminded Rey how much the World Title means to him and Rey said he felt the same way about it. They talked about the Bragging Rights match and Rey said he plans on walking out as champion.

-Up next, a special message from The Undertaker.

[Commercial Break]

-Cole thanked Maylene and The Sons of Disaster for providing “Step Up (I’m On It)” as the official theme to Bragging Rights.

-A video package profiled the Cena vs. Orton match at Bragging Rights.

-The announcers ran down the Bragging Rights card.

-Cole and Grisham talked on camera about the Submission match from Breaking Point and the controversy surrounding it. A video package aired on the subject.

-Undertaker did a promo backstage with some music in the background. He talked about Punk trying to wrest the Holy Grail from death’s grip. He said once you enter Hell’s Gates, there’s no turning back. Taker told Punk that he will take his soul at Bragging Rights. And next week, he’ll give Punk his last rites. They then plugged Taker vs. Punk for next week.

[Commercial Break]

-The announcers plugged WWE.com to check out what the guest hosts on Raw were up to.

5- REY MYSTERIO vs. BATISTA

Rey tried a cross-body and Batista looked a bit bemused, tossing Rey back to his feet rather than actually powering him down. Batista threw Mysterio under the ropes and Mysterio flipped to avoid getting hurt. He went right back in the ring as the two men circled each other as they went to break.

[Commercial Break]

The men were smiling at each other, all friendly-like, after Batista shoved him off and to the mat in the corner. Batista used his power to shove him off again. Rey didn’t seem happy, so he went after the legs of the big man. He dropped Batista onto the middle rope, but Batista ducked the 619. They had a small argument and Batista kicked Rey in the mid-section. Rey came off the ropes and Batista speared him. Rey was taken to the outside and finally made it in at the count of nine. A cover by Batista got two. Shoulders to the gut in the corner by Big Dave. Knee-lift nicely done by Batista for two. Bear-hug applied by Batista. He took Rey to the mat with it and Mysterio tried to elbow out. He did and followed up with an attempted sunset-flip. He avoided pain and Rey went to the legs again. 619 connected as Cole shouted “Mysterio is going to do it!,” so you knew he wouldn’t. Soon after, Mysterio took Batista down and hooked the legs for the one, two, three. Or did he?

WINNER: Mysterio, at 9:00.

Batista argued that he got his shoulder up in time, and Cole thought he did as well. Batista shook hands with Rey and raised his arm after the match, despite not being really happy with the result. Looked like Batista got the right shoulder up upon replay. As Batista cheered on from the stage, C.M. Punk came out of the crowd and attacked Rey with the GTS. He left the ring (and hilariously gave Batista the double guns hand signal) before Batista could get in to help. Batista got Rey to his feet as the show ended.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also read his frequently updated blog in the VIP forum. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Also, look for his Tuesday chats with James Caldwell each Tuesday afternoon on the Torch. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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