By Shane McKinley, PWTorch Specialist

Wrestling fans are sometimes easy to impress. "Hey, tune into Smackdown to see Edge's new beard! Brian Kendrick's new coat!"

Anyways, Edge goes on an anti-Jeff rant. From the looks of it, WWE is playing both sides. They are highlighting the fact that Jeff made mistakes ("Jeff has a history of letting people down") while they are also having J.R. and Matt Hardy talk about Jeff being attacked in Boston. Who did it? Yes, it was Cena all along. Vince gave Cena orders to take out that "rainbow haired weirdo." That's because Cena and Vince are going to reform The Corporation.

And Edge and Christian are going to reform too! JoMizzy ripped off these dudes! 5 second pose! (credit to i257.photobucket.com for pic)

At least Jeff was not written off TV. Somebody could make a lot of money if they made a wrestling DVD that explained all of the "unsolved mysteries," like who attacked Vince during the million dollar giveaway, etc. They do that from time to time. They just let storylines die and never go back to them.

Trips hit Jeff from behind. Crowd cheers. Yay! Take that, you dumb face painted bastard!

Still no word from Jeff about what happened in Boston. They are having Jim Ross and Matt explain the whole "Jeff Injury." A bit odd.

The Beat The Clock Challenge could have been fleshed out more with Kendrick or Shelton getting "bonuses" from Edge and Vickie if they could weaken the opponent. Good stuff by Kendrick here with his match with Jeff.

Looks like they are wrapping up this feud with Show and Taker. Damn you casket match for ruining this feud.

Had a feeling they would replay that DX commercial. Three times in one week. Wow.

Hurricane Helms is looking to steal MVP's gimmick. Damnit, it was supposed to be MVP in Kozlov's place! Don't crack jokes about WWE's Wellness Policy, I guess.

The whole "Beat The Clock Challenge" made for some riveting television. Yeah, I'm lying. Yes, it was a game of cat and mouse. Wrestlers running away from each other like school children. It was pretty bad to watch. It doesn't matter if you are Matt Hardy, if you are saddled with this lame gimmick match, it is bound to suck. Jeff vs. Kendrick and Matt vs. Kozlov were pretty bad to watch. The payoff was Trips vs. Benjamin, but fans don't tune into Smackdown to see their time wasted. It was unique, but frankly it failed.

Sometimes this "beat the clock" psychology by the wrestlers worked, but Hardy playing "defense" and Kozlov looking as dumb as a rock (although a bit more animated) didn't help.

And hey, Kozlov gets to keep on that "unpinned" moniker WWE thinks is so important to have.

I wonder what is going through the minds of wrestlers when they do a stare-down with each other. I would be uncomfortable in that spot. What tricks do they use?

Good comedy bit with "Ringing The Bell With Festus." Crowd liked it too with chants of "one more time."

Mr. Kennedy, your new backstage interviewer? I got to remember to change the channel or something when Trips does a promo. Trips reminds me of people who crush bugs while they walk to their mailbox. Not because they need to or want to, but they don't think anything of it. Mocking/burying somebody to Trips is as easy as breathing (credit to facite.com for pic).

While that "Kennedy Election video package" wasn't really all great, having a wrestler mock it just looks bad. If Trips thinks it was crap, then maybe perhaps he thinks the rest of the last Raw was crap. If the Kennedy video package sucked, then why was it put on the air in the first place? And if the Kennedy Election bit was boring, then by comparison Trips staring at cleavage for 2 minutes and making jokes about pearl necklaces is? Are backstage bits just supposed to be great due to the people involved in them? I don't think so.

So after Trips makes the "riveting" remark, Kennedy follows up with "it's some of my best work." You know, Kennedy is a chump.



Now that's riveting.

(credit to moviesmedia.ign.com for pic)

I try to figure out why Trips does it. One could argue that he is staying with the current tide by expressing what the fans think. This wasn't an overwhelming feeling. It's too much "inside jabs." I had forgotten about that Kennedy package. Most of the times Trips is just going in what his gut tells him.

Maybe it's a way of "keeping people in their place." People have to "prove him wrong." But it works both ways. I don't see any other wrestlers mocking Trips for the DX commercial that will seemingly play on every WWE show for the month of December. Not even Edge will point out in just how frankly bad his formulaic promos have been lately. But ooh we can mock him for his huge nose. Uh huh. I am in the minority of how much Trips promos are bothersome. I love to see him wrestle, but I don't get his style of promos or why he feels the needs to take that approach.

Maybe there's a Triple H character in the movie "The Wrestler."

Heh, I'm too hard on him. So I'll avoid his promos like they were jock itch. I'll just change the channel or fast-forward through it.

Back to the show. Shelton lands a great DDT. Trips and Jeff make the pin at the same time. Kind of intriguing here with the "instant replay". Next week it will be Trips vs. Jeff in some fashion. Frankly I have seen enough triple threat matches.

Is Jeff still crazed, or does he merely have a new look? How will WWE handle this Jeff-Trips-Edge bit?

POSITIVES

-- WWE is going with "Jeff being attacked" storyline so far
-- Brian Kendrick
-- The return of Edge and Vickie, potential winners in the Absurd Couple of the year
-- Cage match next week for Show vs. Taker
-- Trips vs. Benjamin
-- "Ringing The Bell With Festus" with JoMizzy
-- Interesting finish to show. "Does WWE still love Jeff?" was going through my mind.

NEGATIVES

-- Beat the clock challenge matches dragged on, not what people tune into for
-- Replaying of DX commercial in actual show
-- Matt vs. Kozlov
-- What was the intended effect of Kennedy/Trips promo? It just left me annoyed
-- A good deal of tonight was dragging, somewhat painful to watch

VERDICT: Very Absurd

Email is mckinley.torch@gmail.com

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