The Specialists
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 1/9 WWE Smackdown: Old School, Jeff Hardy's Car Problems, and This is Jeopardy!
Jan 10, 2009 - 4:46:00 PM |
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By Lee Stevens, PWTorch Specialist
Thank you for taking the time to join me again as we put Smackdown "Under The Microscope." For new readers, this is not a full recap. Instead, this is a closer look at the broadcast, including things you may have missed, deeper studies of ongoing themes or just random thoughts that come to mind.
Back to school
If you were scoring at home, I counted three references to "old school" on the broadcast from Jim Ross and Tazz.
When Undertaker walked the ropes --"old school"
Flying Mare during the Divas tag match --"old school"
Hair Pull during the same tag match --"old school"
"We're going streaking!" --also Old School, just not on Smackdown
This comes on the heels of Monday Night's Raw where "vintage" was the word of the night.
Crazy little thing called Edge
During Edge's backstage comments regarding Jeff Hardy's accident, I couldn't help notice his t-shirt, commemorating Queen's "The Crazy Tour." It was a short tour in the end of 1979 that visited England and Scotland and took its name from their song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," which had just been released.
Did you recognize the person's entrance music before they drove you off the road?
During Jeff Hardy's interview you probably noticed the letters MY RDC. Torch readers in the Tobacco Road region will have no problem identifying the meaning, but for everyone else, it's the local MY TV affiliate. The R is for Raleigh, the D is for Durham, and the C is for Chapel Hill.
I appreciated the irony at the end of the segment as Hardy did a nice job of conveying the seriousness of the incident and the dangerous possibilities of an out of control car careening down the road, only to be immediately followed by the graphics for the Royal Rumble, which feature an out of control car careening down the road. Vroom.
The Dead Man
The Undertaker has frequently been called The Phenom, The Big Evil, and The Dead Man. Jim Ross used one of the less frequent ones during Undertaker's slow walk to the ring, referring to him as The Demon of Death Valley. The name fits the overall mood of Taker, but he's not the only to claim Death Valley as his home. Death Valley also refers to the home stadium of Clemson University, LSU, and it's also the nickname of the large area in left-center field in old Yankee Stadium. If a certain former Red Sox outfielder is playing, you could conceivably have a Damon of Death Valley to go along with the Demon of Death Valley.
14 carat
Undertaker took care of "The Gold Standard," Shelton Benjamin, on Friday Night after a back and forth match. Despite The Undertaker wearing the golden belts for WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Tag team champion and even Hardcore champ, this isn't the first time he's had a problem with that metal.
-- In 1995, Kama Mustafa (The Godfather for those of you ready to board the Ho Train), stole The Undertaker's golden urn and melted it down and made a necklace out of his prized container.
-- In 2000, The Dead Man fought with gold medal winner, Kurt Angle, for the title, only to fall short because of outside interference from Angle's brother Eric.
-- He's also been divorced twice. The gold band strikes again.
Credit card company on line two
MVP's bad luck continues with the apparent repossession of his talk show set. His character was originally based partly on Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character from the movie Jerry Maguire. Take Rod Tidwell's "Show me the money" attitude and add more than a sprinkle of Terrell Owens and you have the basis for the character. MVP isn't the only one having a rough stretch, as Owens has been rumored to be on the verge of getting cut from the Dallas Cowboys. As of this writing he is still on the team, but if he goes, he wouldn't be the first high-priced distraction to be sent home as Dallas cut Defensive Back and former TNA special guest, Adam "Pacman" Jones earlier this week.
What is a pedigree, Alex?
Vickie Guerrero put Triple H through Triple Jeopardy on Smackdown, which, given the name, would obviously be more difficult than Double Jeopardy. For fans of the popular game show, Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy! is the second round in the classic quiz game with the dollar value doubling. Yes, you still need to answer in the form of a question, there are two Daily Doubles in the round, and if you have no money remaining or if you're in the negative numbers, you are eliminated before going into Final Jeopardy!, but at least nobody is going to put you through a table.
The show is popular for many reasons, but for me, I appreciate someone understanding their level of importance enough to put an exclamation point at the end of their name. My top five examples of random exclamation points.
5. Wham!
4. Jeopardy!
3. Yahoo!
2. Airplane! (...and don't call me Shirley)
1. ShamWow!
In the legal sense, double jeopardy is what prevents a person from being tried for the same crime twice. For example: if Triple H killed the reigning World tag team champions credibility by defeating them separately, including one in a handicap match with a new partner, yet wasn't convicted of the crime, you couldn't retry him for the same charges.
No word on any attempts at Quadruple Jeopardy, but ECW already topped all of them with Ultimate Jeopardy, events held in 1994, 1996, and 1997. In the 1994 version, Shane Douglas, Mr. Hughes and The Public Enemy beat Hawk, Kevin Sullivan, The Tazmaniac, and Terry Funk in the Ultimate Jeopardy Match. Funk's ECW title was on the line and Douglas won the belt by pinning the man from The Double Cross Ranch. "Who are Dean Douglas and Chainsaw Charlie?" "Correct" "I'll take random WWE gimmicks for $1,000, Alex."
Lee Stevens goes "Under The Microscope" for Smackdown and Raw. You can leave comments for him below or e-mail him at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com.
Comment on this Article Below
(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)
curtis setter
10 Jan 2009, 17:26
the only thing I didn't care about what the fact that you mentioned the
undertaker was divorced twice. to me, that is personal business and has
nothing to do with his character. so, please stick with the ring stuff.
joec
11 Jan 2009, 02:53
so explain why they thought it was so important to get jomizy tv time they
had to have them beaten by trips for ppl that right and script wrestling
you guys sure sure are lost on how to get ppl o sorry "SUPERSTARS" over
maybe u should have had someone else in the ring so they could get a slight
rub for going toeto toe with the game but in the end he can still llose but
at the same time get the rub for being able to stick it out with the king
of kings idk maybe that why I watch and don't right b y the way does
anyone else read these or no?????
povo
11 Jan 2009, 09:51
I read these things, and they're one of my favorite parts of this site.
Lee, great job as always. I despise HHH already, but even more so now that
he had to bury Morrison and Miz... they couldn't have found someone else to
throw in there? Trips would be a great wrestler and preformer if it wasn't
for his hero complex, always needing to look better than everyone else. I'm
so tired of it.
Jake
11 Jan 2009, 09:56
Hey, great column as usual. I just had one more to add to the list of
random exclamation points. Unless I'm completely mistaken wasn't Smackdown
referred to as "Smackdown!" once upon a time? If I'm right I'd have
thought that would made the list. Keep up the good work!
Joseph Bukosky
12 Jan 2009, 07:51
What about TNA IMPACT! It's just so unnecessary (not because the
exclamation point is gramatically incorrect, but for the fact that nothing
exciting ever happens on that show)
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