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Updated Monday, June 23, 2008 - Roundtable review of June 20 edition of WWE Smackdown

Smackdown was bad. There were no good matches, and no good segments. Vickie Guerrero has done a good job getting over as a wicked General Manager, but she was too annoying this week. Her line reading isn’t natural. She comes off as too scripted, especially when week after week she gets interrupted, then repeats the first half of her line verbatim. That isn’t how people really talk. She needs to work on being more natural on the mic. I am tired of hearing her say “excuse me” about a thousand times per show.

This week was bad as it didn’t sound like the fans were booing her as much as usual, but she still said it like they were. I’m also not interested in her feuding with a heel like MVP. I’m also not interested in her feuding with a referee. Referees should not be involved in storylines, nor should they wrestle. Mick Foley said it best when he said that fans tune in to see wrestlers competing in matches, not referees.

As far as the matches themselves, Foley may be right, but WWE didn’t deliver good wrestling action. Bam Neely vs. Matt Hardy was the worst match. It was very boring with far too many chin locks in such a short match. Other than the main event, the other matches were all o.k., but none were good. Really, there wasn’t much wrestling at all.

The main event was tribally booked. Edge as special referee should have wanted to keep the match going as long as possible so that Chavo Guerrero could dish out more punishment on Batista. Instead, Edge was an idiot and did a fast 10 count to give Chavo the win. Who cares if Chavo won? The point was to soften up Batista. It is a case where the writers had Edge do the usual thing, in the wrong situation. If it was a title match and having Batista lose was the objective, then it makes sense. Also, WWE missed out on a great opportunity to elevate Matt Hardy by having him try to make a save on Batista. This could have been so much better.

The reason I am giving such a bad show a 2.0 instead of a 0.0 is because of the greatness of Mick Foley. He made this terrible show watchable. He has come into his own as a color commentator. His line about Vickie Guerrero changing her name to Vickie Edge was the funniest line in wrestling so far this year. Foley’s verbal sparring with John Morrison was very good as well.

***

James Caldwell's reaction. Smackdown has been quite forgettable over the past two months. The ship has been ordered to stay steady in the water during Michael Hayes's suspension, which has led to some by-the-book material that hasn't excited audiences.

With the addition of Jeff Hardy as the top Smackdown draft pick, there should be an instant breath of fresh air on the show. Especially considering how tight Jeff is with Michael Hayes, we should be getting a heavy dose of Hardy in main events on TV. Hardy doesn't have a track record of carrying a brand, and he may not be asked to do just that, so it will be interesting to see whether his strong crowd reactions will translate into better TV ratings.

The addition of Jim Ross to Smackdown presumably gives the show more credibility behind the mic to sell characters and stories. Hearing Michael Cole trying to sell Chuck Palumbo over and over might have grown thin on audiences. Ross might be able to give viewers a new angle to appreciate one-dimensional characters.

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