Smackdown TV Taping Report
October 20, 2009
Columbia, S.C.
Report by Justin Shook, Torch reader/Reax All-Star

Arena was two-thirds full. Not a bad turnout.

Jericho opened the show by coming out and cutting a great heel promo that drew tons of heat. Mysterio/Batista vs. Jericho/Kane was announced for later on. He was cut off mid-way by Cryme Tyme's music.

JTG came out solo to a nice crowd reaction. JTG made fun of Jericho for a comment he made earlier about "dominating" Mysterio/Batista. "Where's your partner JTG, in jail?" was Jericho's remark. Excuse me! Excuse Me! Out comes Vickie to introduce Escobar. Jericho, JTG, and Escobar argue. Out comes Dolph Ziggler and a Mr. Ziggles chant started. Ziggler made fun of JTG and said he's going pull the team to the win. JTG said he's lost four of his last title matches. "What do you know about winning? Maybe they should call you Mr. Loser (lame)." Out comes Drew McIntyre. He's very quiet live, couldn't hear much. Out comes Kane. Says no one is worthy to fight on his team. Jericho says a five vs. five match has been made to see if their team is worthy, but since Shad "called in sick" the match is now four vs. five ... If any member of Jericho's team is pinned, then all five of them are off the team and replaced by their opponents.

(1) Matt Hardy & R-Truth & Finlay & Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & JTG) beat JTG & Dolph Ziggler & Eric Escobar & Drew McIntyre when Hardy pinned JTG after Finlay struck him with the shillelagh. That means Team Smackdown is now Matt Hardy, Finlay, The Hart Dynasty, R-Truth, Kane, and Jericho. A much better line up. Maybe they realized how weak SD looked compared to Raw. Eight-minute match that was fun to watch. Crowd went wild for Matt getting the win.

Punk, Teddy Long, and Armstrong talked backstage. Armstrong said he would not be a part of this again. As he got up to leave Vince walked in. Armstrong looked nervous.

(2) Intercontinental champion John Morrison beat Mike Knox. Morrison got a fast win in about three minutes with Starship Pain. Knox had very little offense. He hit his brutal crossbody, but that was really it. Seems he may have been injured. Afterwards, Morrison cut a promo on The Miz saying while Miz is so worried about being HBK or Marty Jannetty, he is only worried about one thing ... and that's being the Friday night delight, the shaman of sexy, John Morrison.

Jericho met with his new team backstage. Truth quickly established that he doesn't like Jericho, but he certainly respects him. The team was in agreement that they would work as a unit come Sunday. Truth did his, "that's the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth" bit. The crowd did not follow. He needs a new catchphrase.

Note: They showed an updated graphic during the show that the new team is Finlay, Jericho, Kane, The Harts, R-Truth, and Matt Hardy.

Mickie was talking with Mae Young backstage before Michelle McCool interrupted. Beth and McCool then bickered and Beth said she was coming for the title. Mae Young said something so McCool slapped her! Strong women's segment. I see a triple threat with THE three major league women's wrestlers that the WWE has right now. That could be something worth seeing. Maybe it will get more then five minutes.

(3) Batista & Rey Mysterio beat Kane & Chris Jericho. Batista won with spear on Kane in about seven minutes. Mysterio caught a nasty chokeslam from Kane who then walked into a spear from Batista. Odd to have Jericho and Kane lose here. Nothing great about the match. Crowd was wild for Mysterio and out of control for Batista.

Backstage, Punk and Teddy were standing behind a conflicted Armstrong and Vince, who were sitting on a couch. Vince was promoting Mania and I believe said Armstrong's father "might" be up for consideration this year for the Hall of Fame if things go right tonight. Armstrong looked less conflicted. Crowd was still very loud so was hard to hear it.

(4) Mickie James beat Layla. Mickie with the chick kick in about three minutes. Standard divas match. Strong reaction to Mickie James, dead during the match, and strong again for the finish. It's like people know Mickie would be GREAT if given longer matches.

The Capt. Lou Albano video aired from Raw. Still sweet to see. It got a standing O from the crowd. That came off as very classy.

Punk, Teddy, and Armstrong all came out together to Punk's music. Punk cut a promo on Undertaker. Some dude behind me was sure he had seen Punk getting wasted like five years ago. He made sure that I, the crowd, and Punk knew it! Taker made his entrance. Amazing to see live, but not so much so on TV.

(5) World Hvt. champion The Undertaker beat C.M. Punk to retain the World Title. The match was going fine until Punk tried to use a chair. The ref didn't stop him, but Taker blocked. Taker then chokeslammed Armstrong and had a staredown with Teddy. Punk recovered and hit Taker over the back with the chair and then got a nasty shot to the head with the chair made everyone gasp. Punk made the cover but there was no ref. Teddy got another one down to make the count but Taker recovered and locked in Hell's Gate. Punk fought and fought. He nearly passed out, but hung on. He made it to the ropes and went on to cleanly beat Taker. Haha, yeah right. Taker locked in Hell's Gate and Punk tapped almost instantly. He looked weak and like he never stood a chance against Taker. The kids loved it, but it was not what I had hoped for. About a nine-minute match, that did nothing to make Punk look credible.

Overall thoughts: Fun show for the live crowd. I think WWE realized Escobar, Ziggles, and McIntyre aren't going to sell PPVs. Swapping out five members of the team a few days before the PPV seems insane, but hey, what do I know. I don't know if something happened to Shad and they had to change it up or what. Punk now seems so unlikely to win in the four-way that I think he will win in some Edge-like fashion. It's clear he wont get a clean win, but a sneaky/cheating win seems likely. I just hope his feud with Taker can end at Bragging Rights. Punk needs to work with someone that will put him over. Jericho? Or a World Title feud with Morrison could elevate both stars. Crowd had fun, but not the best way to go into the PPV.

Overall, I give this show an 8 out of 10. There is nothing like the LIVE experience.

Biggest Pops
1. Batista
2. Undertaker (close second)
3 Rey Mysterio
4. Cena (in a video package. Kids just cant get enough)

Most heat
1. Vickie Guerrero
2. Jericho
3. Punk

Odd thing, when I was getting my T-shirt I noticed everyone's was $25 except Triple H, whose was $30! I think Hunter and WWE think he's more popular then he actually is right now. Even Cena's were only $25! Another cool thing was they were selling Edge shirts. Just made me all warm and fuzzy inside about Edge vs. Jericho at Mania 26.

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