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KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN TAKE
JUNE 5, 2009
TAPED TUESDAY IN MEMPHIS, TENN.
AIRED ON MY NETWORK TV
BOX SCORE BASICS
Jim Ross introduced the show and hyped Edge vs. Rey Mysterio and Umaga vs. C.M. Punk in a match as a preview to their strap match on Sunday.
"The Cutting Edge" with Edge interviewing Jeff Hardy was next. Ross said Edge was happy with Hardy's choice of match since he is as comfortable and experienced in ladder matches as Hardy. Edge promptly introduced Hardy who danced to the ring, then climbed a tall ladder in the ring and told Edge if he wanted to talk to him, he'd be up there. Edge climbed another ladder next to it and interviewed him. Edge accused him of pandering to fans. He told him he's glossing over the danger involved in the match. Edge said when Hardy climbs the ladder, he'll be there to knock him down. Hardy replied, "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah." He said he plans to make history on Sunday. Edge hit Hardy in the head with the title belt hanging near their heads and then shoved the ladder over and knocked Hardy abdomen-first over the top rope. Edge then held his World Title belt over his head.
(1) John Morrison pinned Shelton Benjamin in 4:00 after Starship Pain. Not long, but very good action packed into four minutes with Morrison fending off Shelton's attempts to ground him with leglocks. (*3/4)
Chris Jericho hyped his match against Rey Mysterio at Extreme Rules, vowing to rip off his mask and "ruin his life forever." He said he will then go on to become the Intercontinental Champion for the unprecedented ninth time. R-Truth interrupted by dancing onto the stage and signing "What's Up!?" Jericho stared him down with contempt as he sang his entire song and entered the ring. He yelled, "Chris Jericho, what's up?" He shoved the mic into his face. Jericho stood frozen, then slowly pushed the mic away from his face. He said he's not done talking. Truth said he's as done as done gets. He said he's the biggest hypocrite he's seen in his life. He asked if he thinks he's a thug or that he's bad because he talks down to the fans. "You ain't bad at all," Truth said. "But things are about to get bad."
(2) Chris Jericho pinned R-Truth in 2:00 after a Code Breaker. (*)
Rey Mysterio attacked a celebrating Jericho on the ramp, the gave him a seated senton on the concrete.
(3) C.M. Punk pinned Umaga in 12:00. A minute in they cut to a quick break. Punk had control before the break and after the break, knocking Umaga to the floor with an enzuigiri. When he leaped over the top rope, though, Umaga caught him with a Samoan Spike. In the end, Umaga grabbed a strap. The ref warned him not to use it. Punk surprised Umaga with a Go To Sleep for the win. (**1/4)
Ross and Grisham stood mid-ring and hyped the entire Extreme Rules line-up.
(4) Michelle McCool & Alicia Fox & Layla defeated Melina & Gail Kim & Eve Torres when Layla pinned Melina in 3:00. Maria was special referee. This could have easily gone much longer and held viewers' attention. Nonstop action, but frenetically paced so everyone got involved in the small window of time alloted. (1/2*)
(5) The Great Khali pinned Dolph Ziggler in 3:00. Khali dominated and won clean.
Hall of Famer Koko B. Ware was introduced at ringside. He waved his arms and accepted cheers from his hometown crowd.
(6) Edge pinned Rey Mysterio in 19:00. This began with 22 minutes left in the show, giving it the time to be a true showcase TV match. Edge took control early and sustained it after the first commercial break. Ross said he asked Rey if he had ever been in the ring with anyone smaller than him and he said no. I find that hard to believe only because in Mexico there are a lot of small luchadors, but maybe it's true. At 8:00 they went into a series of near fall exchanges. At 15:00 Rey went on sustained offense with some near falls. Edge came back at 17:00 with a sharpshooter. Mysterio reached the bottom rope to force a break. Edge blocked a 619 at 18:00, but Rey spin around and went for a schoolboy for a two count. Ross began touting this being a great match you won't find anywhere else on any other brand. Rey came back and hit the 619 a minute later. Edge fired back with a spear out of nowhere for the pin. Very good match. (***1/2)
Afterward, Edge pulled a ladder out from under the ring and was going to hit Rey with it, but Hardy made the save and gave Edge a Twist of Fate on a ladder. He then set up a ladder in the corner and launched off of it with a legdrop onto Edge. He then grabbed the World Title belt and held it as the show ended.
OBSERVATIONS, ANALYSIS, AND NITPICKS
EDGE-HARDY SEGMENT: Good segment overall. Promising to make it a mach for the ages is a good sales pitch. Edge knocking Hardy of the ladder established him as a strong heel while also getting across the danger of the ladder match the types of bumps fans paying to see the match will get a big dose of... The setting with all of the ladders are memorable and the camera angles used to get across the height of Hardy and Edge on top of the ladders was effective...
SHELTON VS. MORRISON: Ross challenged any other WWE brand to name two better pure athletes than these two. Maybe Evan Bourne and Tyson Kidd?... These two found an exciting way to have Shelton work on Morrison's leg to ground him without the match ever slowing to a crawl or seeming predictable and plodding... This clean win for Morrison really establishes the hopes WWE has for him to rise through the ranks as he's already ahead of Shelton on the depth chart...
JERICHO VS. TRUTH: The pre-match mic exchange was the best mic work Truth has done yet, perhaps counting both WWE and TNA. Nothing spectacular, but it was effective. He got in the face of a heel, called him out, and incorporated some catch phrases without them seeming forced. It's also great that Smackdown continues as the only show that goes so far in setting up the matches it features on TV with pre-match promos or exchanges with the wrestlers involved. It's so simple, yet for years it's been sacrificed because the assumption apparently was that if two wrestlers with some name value face off in the ring, it's instantly perceived as important. Instead, it just devalued them over time... Although Truth lost in just two minutes clean, just standing there in an exchange with Jericho before the match and holding his own in terms of presence and mic work elevated him a notch. The quick loss shows that main events on PPV aren't around the corner for Truth, but he showed what he can do as a contributing mid-carder with perhaps more upward potential...
PUNK VS. UMAGA: They cut to a commercial break a minute into the match, which assured they would not be at a break at the top of the second hour, something TNA has yet to figure out is important to avoid even though it, too, is a prerecorded program... Umaga still seems nonchalant about certain aspect of matches that he shouldn't be. On a kickout by Punk he was getting up casually just before the kickout. Later, he began to bump backwards as Punk dove at him off the top rope. He also let go of his spinning urinage too early. He just seemed to lack crispness... After he won, Ross said they may have underestimated the abilities of C.M. Punk. Isn't Punk a former World Champion and IC Champion? Isn't Umaga perennial mid-carder with occasional main event visits. They did a good job overall of hyping Punk's win over Umaga as a big deal. Punk's celebrations after wins remains among the best in wrestling. He seems as genuinely happy to win as anyone...
REY MYSTERIO VS. EDGE: Rey's glow in the dark mark and pants were pretty cool. He looked like an Aurora or Tyco race track from the 1980s... Very good match with the length needed to really tell a story and have that ebb and flow with comebacks and dramatic near falls. It made sense to have the World Champ score the clean win, and I'll take the clean win over a tainted win... A strong final angle to sell the Hardy-Edge match with Hardy hitting a big spot off a ladder on Edge and then celebrating with Edge's World Title that he hopes to win on Sunday as the fans are shown cheering. Edge acted heelish, Hardy acted heroic, they sampled the action on Sunday, and teased the desired outcome. They hit four important points in the final minute, accompanied by a strong final verbal sell by Ross...
OTHER THOUGHTS: We couldn't get through a WWE TV show in Memphis without footage of Graceland and Beal Street... The women's six-man match only got about three minutes. Ring intros took nearly that long. I don't get WWE's lack of confidence in the women holding an audience longer than three minutes, especially when it's a six-woman tag... Ziggler has shown enough recently that getting basically manhandled and squashed by Khali sets up potential momentum. Ross did his best to soften the setback by touting Ziggler as someone who is destined to do big things in WWE, but he still was positioned as basically a jobber here... Koko B. Ware remains among the weakest inductions into the WWE Hall of Fame. That sets the bar low enough that it really brings almost everyone who has ever been part of WWE for five years into the debate for induction consideration. To keep doing annual ceremonies for years and decades to come, they may need the bar to be that low in order to have anyone to induct... Grisham cliche watch: "...Herculean task that lies in front of him"...
QUOTEBOOK
Jim Ross on the ladders on the set of "The Cutting Edge": "I've never seen so many ladders, not even at Home Depot."
Edge: "Jeff, you and I are going to do terrible things to each other."
Jeff Hardy: "People will talk about this ladder match until the end of time."
Jeff Hardy: "'I've done what I've done, I am what I am, and I can safely say I am proud of who I am right now!"
Jeff Hardy: "At Extreme Rules, living for the moment won't be my downfall, it'll be my salvation."
Jim Ross: "I challenge any brand in WWE to name two better pure athletes than Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison."
Jim Ross: "Morrison is a main event waiting to happen."
Chris Jericho to R-Truth: "You want to know what's up?" How dare you come out and interrupt me. You can dance and sing like a puppet and pander to these liars and these cheaters, but you will not try and upstage me on my very own show."
Jim Ross's final sell for Extreme Rules: "It'll be casualties, chaos, collisions, careers being threatened, and championships on the line!" 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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