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WWE Smackdown/ECW TV event
April 22, 2008
Greensboro, N.C. at the Coliseum
Report by Patrick Harris, PWTorch.com reader
ECW NOTES
My "FIRE ADAMLE" sign got confiscated during the show. I snuck it in and since my seat was visible in the hard camera angle. It was visible for a solid 20 seconds before the main producer spotted me from the announcer table and started walking toward me. It was hilarious sequence of events because when I tried to hide it, I looked back toward the table and saw him snap his head in my direction and point directly at me. He then climbed over the barrier and talked to the floor security trying to find me since I was then keeping a low profile. He climbed over more rows of chairs to locate me and told me to give up the sign.
I joked with him that "You guys are fast." He then smiled and said "Yeah, even though I agree with you, we can't have that on TV." That's a direct quote straight from him. I couldn't believe it. If the head TV producer is saying that to a random fan, I can't imagine how much resentment there is toward Adamle backstage.
The ironic part is that they completely edited out the entire footage of my sign, which was during the mixed tag match. I didn't get the opportunity to show off my BATISTA ISN'T 6'6" sign either because of it. Priceless memory, though.
(1) Dark Match: Funaki defeated local jobber. I didn't catch a name since I was still filing in. It might have been Cam. The arena was seriously hot throughout the night, and Funaki received a great ‘first guy out' reaction. People cheered anything he did almost sarcastically. I forget how Funaki actually won. Chuck Palumbo comes to the ring right after the match and ridicules Funaki for his win. He says the crowd is reacting as if he won the heavyweight title, and that he has a chopper in the back waiting for Funaki if he can beat him right now.
(2) Dark Match: Chuck Palumbo defeated Funaki. They showcased this as the little man trying everything in the book to beat the big man. Funaki gets in lots of offense, but I believe gets caught in mid air and Palumbo hits the Full Throttle for the pin.
SMACKDOWN TAPINGS
The entire Familia (Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Zach Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Chavo Guerrero, Bam Neely, and Teddy Long) comes to the ring to start the show. Edge runs his mouth a bit about Batista and the Undertaker and announces that Vickie Guerrero has made their showdown tonight a No Disqualification match.
C.M. Punk's music hits and he appears on the walkway. He teases cashing in the MITB contract soon, and says how he's not worried about Edge because he knows in his heart he can beat him. Edge and Punk talk junk a bit and agree to a match later tonight.
(1) Shannon Moore (w/ Jimmy Wang Yang) defeated The Miz (w/ John Morrison). It was a solid enough match, but the crowd was a little flat for this since we saw basically the same thing a half hour before on ECW. Shannon Moore reverses a maneuver into a backslide pin.
(2) Natalya Neidhart (w/ Victoria) defeated Cherry (w/ Michelle McCool). Neidhart plays and toys around with Cherry for a few minutes. Cherry acts like she doesn't know what to do or how to fight throughout the match. She trips up Neidhart at some point, slaps her a couple times, and looks around confused. Neidhart kicks out of a rollup and throws on the Sharpshooter for the win.
Michael Cole introduces Matt Hardy for an interview. Footage is shown from five months ago of MVP turning on Hardy and attacking his knee. Cole asks Hardy about his condition and Matt responds that he's 100 percent and ready to take the US Title. MVP interrupts and comes to the ring. They argue back and forth for a bit about who's jealous of who. MVP claims he's the one who made Matt an eight-time tag champion and tried to be his friend. Hardy says that it's jealousy that caused MVP to attack him. MVP retorts that the only jealous one is Hardy. Hardy claims he sees fear and doubt in the eyes of MVP. MVP blindsides Matt after that and stiffs him hard with the US Title. This segment really carried over great with the live crowd.
(3) Edge defeated C.M. Punk. Enjoyable match. Both men stall a bit and work the mat with some submissions and rest holds, but picks up quickly with some aerial moves. CM Punk took a nasty spill to the outside during a spot when they were both on the top rope. Edge was attempting a superplex when Punk fell to the floor after pushing Edge to the mat. I couldn't get a clear look and tell if that was planned or not. They trade more power moves and near falls. Edge hits a sweet DDT after lifting up Punk halfway up for an apparent suplex. Finish comes when Punk hits Edge with his running knee and GTS. Edge kind of stumbles out the ring and looks like he'll get counted out. Punk grabs Edge and throws him back in when Ryder (I think) runs out to interfere. Punk starts toward Ryder only to have him scamper back and crawl away. Punk climbs back into the ring and receives a spear from Edge for the win.
(4) Vladimir Kozlov defeated Marty Garner. I really dig the spotlight/no music entrance. The arena was amped enough tonight to carry enough heat for his walk. He throws his opponent around for a couple minutes then defeats him with some type of inverted Scorpion Death Drop.
A backstage segment is shown with Vickie Guerrero and Batista. Batista thanks Vickie for the chance to face the Undertaker for the title, but already knows her underlying motives. He knows she wants them to beat the hell out of each other so they're softened up for Sunday. He says he'll defeat Taker and then defeat Edge at Backlash.
(5) Undertaker defeated Batista to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. This was a PPV level main event match and very enjoyable to watch. It might translate differently on television, but the fans ate everything they did up. It could've been even better had they gone another 5-10 minutes. Both men start out and trade power moves. Taker teases an Old School before Batista reverses it. They fight outside and Taker gets slammed into the steps. They're back in the ring and hit all of their high spots and trade plenty of near falls. It included Taker hitting an Old School, followed later by a Batista spinebuster. Batista is on the top rope hitting the Undertaker in the corner. Taker grabs him and hits a Last Ride. Undertaker goes outside and throws the steel steps into the ring. He hoists Batista up for a piledriver on the steel steps until Batista breaks free and gives Taker a spinebuster on the steps. It was awfully brutal looking in person. The finish comes when Batista amps up and looks to go for the Batista Bomb. The back of the arena is then spotlighted and HBK walks out from the arena rear. He jumps the barricade and lands a superkick on Batista. Undertaker recovers and pins Batista with the Tombstone Piledriver.
NOTES: I thoroughly enjoyed the show tonight. I've been to several recent WWE events, but this one stands out all in due to the two main matches. A charged up crowd really adds to the atmosphere.
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