WWE Smackdown/ECW TV taping
June 24, 2008
Houston, Tex. at Toyota Center
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

Late-arriving crowd tonight with the Astros playing down the street and traffic a mess. We'll see how well the arena fills up by the end of the night.

Dark match - Tommy Dreamer beat Kevin Thorne in 6:00. Thorne has completely changed his look from a generic vampire to a generic Lance Cade. Dreamer with a DDT for the win. Totally fine. (*)

Crowd demo analysis: Just like the February SD/ECW taping here, plenty of kids dragging their parents to the arena. Very much a casual fan audience.

Tazz came out first with Mike Adamle representing the ECW announce crew.

Prior to the ECW intro, GM Teddy Long came out to the ring. The opening video package focused on the McMoney giveaway the past three weeks before it all fell apart at the end of Raw last night. A lot of puzzled looks from the kids sitting in the area. Long addressed the accident and said McMahon's health is private, so he won't provide a health update. Long gave the "show must go on" line, then he brought out Matt Hardy as the newest member of ECW. CM Punk then came out unannounced as his tag partner for the opening match.

(1) U.S. champion Matt Hardy & C.M. Punk vs. WWE tag team champions Miz & Morrison. I believe non-title here. Heels worked over Punk for a good five minutes before Hardy took the hot tag to a strong reaction. Match broke down and Hornswoggle jumped out a little before cue to distract Miz. Hardy finished off Morrison with Twist of Fate for the win. WINNERS: Hardy & Punk in 9:00. Fine match. Crowd was hot for the babyfaces, especially Hardy. (*3/4)

Note: You have to love the fact that the first match following the Draft is a Raw brand star, Punk, still on ECW. That's how little star power the ECW brand has.

(2) Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston in Extreme Rules. Compared to the February show, Kofi is much more over tonight. Slow and steady progress for young Kofi. Shelton quickly introduced weaponry into the match. He obviously didn't practice his trash can blows ahead of time, as it looked pretty weak. Not the most-seasoned hardcore brawler. Really slow the first seven minutes before it picked up at the end. Kofi with a huracanrana into a trash can before hitting the buzzsaw kick for the win. WINNER: Kofi in 9:00. (*1/4)

Tonight it's ECW champion and Raw star Kane vs. Mark Henry. Again, nobody left on ECW.

Backstage: They showed Kane laughing maniacally before becoming serious.

(3) Evan Bourne vs. Mike Knox. Knox predictably grinded the match to a halt in the opening minutes. Bourne came back with a missile dropkick, but Knox finished him off with a spinning facebuster for the win. WINNER: Knox in 4:00. Nothing to see here. Decent reaction for SydalBourne when he came out, but nothing for Knox. (3/4*)

Big Show came out to comment on the main event of Kane vs. Henry. I'm despondent not to be able to hear this epic exchange between Adamle and Show. Sign of the night ringside: McKane for President. Say it out loud.

(4) ECW champion Kane vs. Mark Henry. Caldwell: "What brand is Henry on?" Jason Hess, sitting next to me: "All of them." Wasn't there just a draft last night? Four ECW matches tonight and three non-ECW wrestlers. Kane tried to climb up top, but Henry caught him with a powerslam for the surprise pin. WINNER: Henry in 4:00. That was odd. Show just walked off afterward. (1/2*)

ECW taping ended about an hour and ten minutes before airing on Sci-Fi, so plenty of time to post-produce Adamle on commentary.

SMACKDOWN TAPING

Surveying the arena, over 10,000 in the building tonight. Just about the size of the February taping. Mick Foley came out first for the SD announce crew. They showed a random video package of people slapping each other over the last 15 years on Raw TV to plug the Raw DVD. Long pause with no sign of Jim Ross.

The live taping started with a video on the Draft lst night. They cut to Vickie Guerrero backstage. She talked about the McMahon injury last night before they showed clips of the end of Raw. Back to Vickie, who extended well-wishes to the McMahon family. Vickie went to the positives, such as her wedding to Edge. (Boos) She hyped up Smackdown's draft success before introducing Ross to the announce position.

Triple H then came out to start the show. Significant reaction for the WWE champion, who came out in street clothes. Hunter said Vince is still crazy, but he probably won't be giving away money anytime soon. Hunter turned to Ross and Foley and said he has some familiar faces on Smackdown. He put over Ross with a significant complement. Nice to see that. Hunter continued his state of the union address talking up the match vs. Cena at the PPV. Big boos for the Cena mention.

Edge then interrupted and the champions met face to face in the ring. They stood silent as fans cheered loud for Hunter. Edge, with his dry humor, said this is so special. He said they can definitely co-exist. Hunter begged to differ. Edge got serious and tried to put Hunter in his place on "his show." Batista interrupted, however. Edge wanted a piece of Batista, but Hunter dumped him to the floor and Batista speared Edge. In the ring, Hunter and Batista held up the two World Titles to a huge reaction. Edge was the star of this with a great heel promo to establish himself as the measuring stick on SD.

Rey makes his final appearance on Smackdown tonight.

(1) ECW champion Kane & Big Show vs. MVP & Mark Henry. Too soon for this. Still digesting the ECW main event. One thing to take note of is that MVP is going to be a top babyface eventually. There was definitely a babyface vibe for him coming to the ring here. Good vibes didn't last long, as MVP tried to bail from the ring, but Henry threw him back in. Kane then scored with a chokeslam for the win. WINNERS: Kane & Show in 6:00. Nothing here other than MVP being the easy fall guy. Disappointing. (*)

Backstage: Vickie was checking out bridal magazines when Edge stormed in complaining about the big bad Batista stealing his title. Vickie calmed him down and said he'll get his title back tonight.

In ring: Mick Foley surveyed the signs in the crowd. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing," he said. No cheap pop, unfortunately.

(2) Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. Hawkins & Ryder. Kids jumped up and down for Horny coming out. Everyone groaned when the generic twins came out. Finlay with Celtic Cross and Horny with tadpole splash on one of them for the easy win. Miz and Morrison then came out on stage to show off the tag belts. WINNERS: Finlay & Hornswoggle in 3:00. Oh the generic members of La Familia. Short and to the point. (n/a)

Today's fact: Morrison won the ECW Title exactly one year ago in this building when he took Benoit's place for Benoit's final advertised appearance.

(3) U.S. champion Matt Hardy vs. World Hvt. champion Edge. Paging Lita. This is one of those matches that could have used a few weeks to build up the history of before giving it away on free TV. Nice match here. Good nearfalls at the end after Hardy missed with the best bow-legged moonsault ever. Edge then avoided Twist of Fate and nailed the spear for the win. Strong match that made Hardy look good despite losing. WINNER: Edge in 11:00. (**3/4)

Notes: Rey final SD appearance tonight and Jeff Hardy debuts next week. Also, Mark Henry has been added to the ECW Title match making it Kane vs. Show vs. Henry.

(4) Kelly Kelly & Michelle McCool & Cherry vs. Maryse & Victoria & Natalya. Tons of peroxide blondes in this one. Not a bad match actually. Fundamentally sound, then it turned into a pier-six brawl. In the confusion, Maryse rolled up Cherry for the win. WINNERS: Heel blondes in 7:00. (*1/4)

Mr. Kennedy debuts on Smackdown next week.

(5) Koslov vs. Domino. Mass exodus here as it was the popcorn and bathroom break match all rolled into one. Domino with his first pop ever on a nearfall. Koslov came back with a blockhead headbutt to the gut for the win. (n/a)

Rey Mysterio gve his farewell speech to Smackdown in English and Spanish. Basic deal talking about his journey continuing on Raw. Batista then came out with World Title in hand and thanked Rey for his contributions to Smackdown.

(6) Batista vs. Umaga. Basic sports entertainment match with Batista in peril. Batista wanted the Batistabomb, but La Familia ran in for a DQ. Umaga laid out Batista, then he went for a top rope splash, but Hunter ran out to make the save. Hawkins and Ryder were the sacrificial lambs for the Pedigree and Batistabomb. Hunter and Batista then stood tall to close the show. WINNER: Batista via DQ in 8:00. (*1/2)

Post-taping: After Hunter did a victory lap around ringside, Batista took the mic for his farewell to Smackdown. He said he was a little bummed out when he first came over, but he fell in love with Smackdown. He put over Rey, then said Smackdown is still in good hands with Hunter on the show. Hunter put over Batista, then he told the fans to continue suppoting WWE whether on Monday or Friday night. Sorry, ECW, you don't count. Hunter thanked everyone then left with Batista.

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