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KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN TAKE
MAY 22, 2009
CINCINNATI, OHIO
AIRED ON MY NETWORK TV
BOX SCORE BASICS
-After a clip aired of Matt Hardy attacking Jeff Hardy at Judgment Day, Todd Grisham and Jim Ross introduced the show, and then Edge gave a promo in the ring. He bragged about walking out of J-Day as the WWE Champion. Teddy Long said what he witnessed at Judgment Day was an atrocity. He said the decision is final, but he can't ignore that Matt Hardy interfered. He said at Extreme Rules he's granting Jeff Hardy a rematch. Edge protested because he already beat Jeff. He called Hardy a failure. Jeff Hardy came out and suggested they wrestle and the winner gets to determine the match stips at Extreme Rules. Hardy went into the crowd and asked the fans if they want to see Hardy-Edge. After Hardy asked fans if they wanted the match, Long agreed.
(1) John Morrison & Cryme Tyme beat Ricky Ortiz & Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas in 11:00. Six-way chaos broke out at 10:00. Morrison finished off Haas with his Starship Pain. (*1/2)
Josh Matthews interviewed Melina about defending her title on Smackdown. Alicia walked in and said Michelle McCool says the title will soon be hers. Melina slapped Alicia and snarled at her.
A video package aired on the Denver Raw controversy. Lots of soundbites of Vince McMahon complaining.
(2) Michelle McCool (w/Alicia Fox) beat Gail Kim in 4:00. Kim fended off interference from Alicia, but McCool gave Kim the Faith Breaker a second later for the win. (*1/4)
Rey Mysterio spoke backstage about the tradition of the IC TItle and past Hispanic champions. Ross asked him why he wears his mask. He explained that he had to earn his mask after training many years with is uncle. He said it's a Mexican tradition and he'll never take it off during competition. "Being unmasked for a luchador is the biggest, biggest dishonor."
(3) C.M. Punk beat Chris Jericho by DQ when Umaga interfered with a whip at 11:00. Really good match, what you'd expect between these two, with an especially well executed final minute or two of near falls and submissions. Umaga spoke for the first time and challenged Punk to a Samoan Strap Match at Extreme Rules. (**1/2)
(4) Dolph Ziggler pinnned R-Truth in 3:00. The Great Khali chased Ziggler into the crowd afterward. (*)
Grisham promoted Eve Torres vs. Layla next week.
Backstage Edge told Long that when he beats Hardy tonight, he will exterminate Hardy at Extreme Rules. When Jericho walked in, Edge told him he should call him "Champ, the Face of Smackdown." Jericho said, "Not for long." Jericho told Long that Rey is a coward who hides behind a mask, so he demanded a rematch at Extreme Rules. Long said the match was already made and Rey requested a "No Holds Barred" match. Jericho smiled and said he finally got something right.
(5) Edge vs. Jeff Hardy in 15:00. Hardy sold most of the match, then made a late comeback and won clean with the Swanton. Very good TV match, just the right length for the wrestlers to tell their story and draw the crowd into it so the comeback and pin had real drama. (***)
Grisham interviewed Hardy in the ring afterward. He asked him what type of match he wants at Extreme Rules. Hardy took the mic and said it'll be a ladder match.
ANALYSIS, THOUGHTS, OBSERVATIONS (and NITPICKS)
EDGE PROMO: WWE has been having heels go after fans as losers a lot lately. Randy Orton's been taking that approach on his promos. Not that heels haven't always done that to a degree, but it seems more now than ever, I assume based on the assumption that a lot of WWE fans are going through hard times economically and are more sensitive to "loser" accusations... Hardy going into the crowd and asking individual fans if they want to see him face Edge made for great television, contrasting Jeff as the "man of the people" compared to Edge's "loser" promo...
SIX-MAN OPENER: Ross said he thought it would seem on paper that Morrison would jell more with his partners than Ortiz with his. I'm not sure that would be majority assumption... With Grisham saying Ortiz is like the motivational speaker no one wants to hear, that's further evidence that Ortiz's entire gimmick is a spoof on Diamond Dallas Page's backstage personality. I wonder if DDP ever pushed for a "DDP Towel" at some point...
PUNK-JERICHO: The camera caught Jericho calling a spot in Punk's ear about seven minutes into their match... No surprise that Umaga interference ended this one since there wasn't a lot of booking motivation for either wrestler to score a win over the other clean given that they're pretty even on the totem pole... Umaga spoke for the first time and the announcers didn't say a thing about it. They just reacted as if he has always talked. Odd. Good to see them give Umaga a speaking role. He just couldn't go anywhere as a character without promos, and since Vince McMahon has an aversion to managers, having Umaga speak was the best option. Now, can McMahon apply that no-manager rule to Ranjin Singh...
ZIGGLER-TRUTH: I'm a little surprised as Truth doing a clean job in three minutes to Ziggler. They must see something in Ziggler. It wasn't a total burial of Truth, who got a little shot in on him afterward before The Great Khali caused him to flee into the crowd... Some nice moves, as usual, with an R-Truth match. He's getting better at singing his own song, too...
EDGE-HARDY: The only thing missing from this "winner names the stipulation" stipulation is any idea what stip would favor Edge versus what stip would favor Hardy. I mean, would Edge be for I Quit but against Ladder? Or would Hardy be deathly afraid of a Cage, but totally for a Lumberjack Match? It seemed a bit abstract what was really at stake here. I mean, if Edge picked a "Jeff Hardy has one hand tied behind his back" stip as his choice, then Hardy would have more at stake, but for all we know, Hardy and Edge might have the same stip in mind... It's nice to have 17 minutes of TV time, minus one break, dedicated to a main event match rather than ten or less that is so often the case, especially on Impact... Hardy's counter of Edge's spear by leaping over him into a sunset flip near fall was sweet... There's still some inadvertent competition between Ross and Grisham for play-by-play. Ross declared, "Backslide!" Grisham immediately followed with "Backslide!"... When Hardy declared his match against Edge a ladder match, it made me wonder if TNA throws ladder matches on TV indiscriminately is to undercut WWE's ability to sell it as something special to pay to see...
GRISHAM CLICHE WATCH: "clicking on all cylinders"... "much to the chagrin"... "cut him off at the pass"... "this isn't checked so far, it's been chess"...
OTHER THOUGHTS: Weirdest WWE Fact yet: "Since its debut, SmackDown has been watched 2.6 billion times"... The Rey promo was a great format for him, sitting in the locker room and speaking to the camera about his fans and then the importance of the IC Title to him. His tribute to other Hispanic wrestlers who have held the title such as Pedro Morales, Tito Santana, and the late Eddie Guerrero. The explanation of why he wears a mask was also long overdue and welcome. I remember back in the WCW Nitro era the argument that Rey was a good looking guy and could be marketed better without the mask. Few people agreed with that, but the few who did had the power to push for the unmasking... WWE Fact: WWE.com had more U.S. visitors than pop culture icon Disney.com. Does the "U.S." qualifier mean the "global WWE" juggernaut was out-clicked by Disney outside of the U.S.?...
Extreme Rules seems like Judgement Day: The Sequel with added stips, which is good because you're following up on established feuds and raising the stakes. However, it does make those who purchased Judgment Day seem like suckers with the lame finishes they got for their $40 and the fact that a better version of those matches was offered a few weeks later...
QUOTEBOOK
Todd Grisham: "Ricky Ortiz has become the Richard Simmons of WWE... He's like that motivational speaker that no one wants to hear."
Jim Ross on Morrison's finisher: "Look at this work of art on a canvas, a wrestling Rembrandt, Starship Pain."
Rey Mysterio on why he wears a mask: "I wear this mask, J.R., because you wouldn't want to see my face without it. I'm not a good lookin' dude! Just kidding, man... It looks cool and it gives me some sort of superpowers. And most of all, with the mask, I am not Rey Mysterio."
Umaga's first words on WWE TV: "You think you're hurt now? Wait until Extreme Rules because I'm issuing you a challenge. It will be a Samoan Strap match."
Jim Ross after R-Truth sang his way to the ring: "I'm beginning to learn the lyrics. I never thought I'd learn the lyrics to a song that had the words 'pimple' and 'mortician' i it." Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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