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| Ryan Mulligan's WWE Smackdown TV report |
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WWE Friday Night SmackDown! Report 8/1/08 Taped 7/29/08 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. By Ryan Mulligan Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it AIM: thecivilianexile Last week on "SmackDown," Vickie Guerrero delivered the cackle of a seasoned witch after sealing husband-Edge's fate by announcing that she's forcing him to compete in a Hell in a Cell match at "SummerSlam" against the returning Undertaker. Elsewhere, the Great Khali proved that great workrate is still rewarded when he became the NEW number one contender to Triple Hach's WWE Title. Tonight on "SmackDown," Edge will host "The Cutting Edge," featuring a surprise guest! MVP vs. Jimmy Wang Yang Jeff Hardy makes his presence felt prior to the match, pulling up a ringside seat and letting the people know that he hasn't forgiven MVP for being such a prick last week. I just noticed this for the very first time, but it felt important enough to bring to your attention. On MVP's TitanTron when the song goes, "Like Tropicana, I got the juice" footage is shown of juice being poured. Phenomenal. MVP grabs the mic pre-match and reiterates his opinion that Jeff will never be WWE Champion, which he proved once again last week by taking unnecessary chances and consequently failing in the battle royal. MVP gets on the offensive early in the bout and stays there almost throughout. He illustrates to Jeff how awesome he is by dropping a strategically placed knee. I would've done a Space Flying Tiger Drop, but whatever. He goes to snap mare Yang, but Yang lands on his feet and kicks him in the back of the head. Yang ascends the turnbuckles and comes off with a high cross-body, but MVP gets the knees up, and the landing's a rough one for Yang. MVP pins him following a seated Yakuza kick. Hardy gets in the ring post-match and threatens MVP, advising him to leave the dog out of this. MVP fake-bails, but gets killed by a Twist of Fate when he tries to cheapshot Hardy. I should note that Hardy took the time to pose in the middle of the move, which doesn't make much sense when he's supposed to be so pissed off. Later tonight, Hardy will take on Khali! Winner: MVP Backstage, Vickie Guerrero is wheeled into the arena by Chavo. He says he doesn't know who Edge's surprise guest tonight is. Suddenly, Vickie's face contorts into a disdainful scowl, and the camera pans away to show The Wedding Planner of Doom off in the distance. Danger is averted, however, when Bam Neely shows up and calms the scene. Non-Title Match: U.S. Heavyweight Champion Shelton Benjamin vs. Mr. Kennedy JR mentions as the match gets underway how important it is that Kennedy picks up a win tonight. He gets in an early attempt at the Mic Check, but Shelton bails in a hurry. Once back in, Kennedy yells "Kennedy!" at him. It would be funny if Benjamin countered with "Benjamin!" Shelton connects with a suplex into a floatover, which gets him two. Kennedy catches him with a clothesline coming off the ropes and starts working the left arm/shoulder of the Gold Standard. He manages to hang on to an arm-bar despite being body-slammed in a neat spot. Shelton gets out of it, but falls prey to the repetition roundhouse. Kennedy goes for the Face Wash, but Shelton dropkicks him in the knees to avoid that. He rams Kennedy's left arm into the ring-post, as we go to commercials. We're back, and Shelton has an arm-bar locked in. I think that's a "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Kennedy escapes, but Shelton ends his life with a hammerlock into a shoulderbreaker. Wicked. Shelton then hooks in a long cross-armbreaker, which Kennedy eventually turns into a half Boston Crab, but Shelton makes the ropes. Shelton charges at Kennedy, but this time it's Kennedy who dropkicks Shelton in the knees. Most even match ever. Shelton clotheslines him coming into the corner and then delivers a huge cross-body off the top, but only gets two. An attempt at Pay Dirt is avoided, but an attempt at the Mic Check is a great success. Kennedy wins! Good match. Eve catches up with Shelton after the match, demanding to know what happened out there. What, the guy can't lose a match? He says that he doesn't want to make excuses, but then does just that saying that he shouldn't have wrestled tonight, because he has bronchitis. Hilarious. Winner: Mr. Kennedy In their locker room, Hawkins and Ryder are amazed that they have their theme music as their ringtones. In comes Chavo, who wants to know who the surprise guest is, but they're just as clueless as he is. Once he leaves, the Edgeheads go back to being amazed that they have their theme music as their ringtones. THE Brian Kendrick (with Ezekiel) vs. Stevie Richards Yes, he's officially called "THE Brian Kendrick" now. A million buys. THE Brian Kendrick puts himself over as the most intelligent wrestler in the company pre-match and says THE Brian Kendrick's never cared what the people thought about THE Brian Kendrick. And if they have a problem with that, they can take it up with Zek. For some reason, JR buries Stevie on his way out, proclaiming him the underdog and mentioning how he never wins. THE Brian Kendrick goes nuts with leg and body kicks on Stevie from the outset. THE Brian Kendrick hooks in a momentary Dragon Sleeper and then delivers a missile dropkick to a seated Stevie's back. THE Brian Kendrick locks in a Boston Crab for good measure. Stevie eventually fights back following a missed flying forearm in the corner. He unleashes some devastating kicks of his own. A sit-out power bomb from Stevie gets two. He boots THE Brian Kendrick off the apron into the loving arms of Ezekiel, who catches THE Brian Kendrick and places THE Brian Kendrick gingerly on the floor. While Stevie is distracted by Zek, THE Brian Kendrick lays him out with the Macho Man-clothesline over the top rope. THE Brian Kendrick pins Stevie following THE Kendrick, which is the new name for Sliced Bread #2. After the match, Zek brutalizes Stevie even more with Awesome Kong's Accordion Rack, all while Foley hilariously yells, "Oh, come on, Zek!" Winner: THE Brian Kendrick Elsewhere, Edge WALKS~! The Great Khali (with Runjin Sing) vs. Jeff Hardy Jeff tries to take Khali off his feet early, but simply can't match up to the "pacaderm-like strength" of Khali, as JR describes it. He eventually runs straight into a giant clothesline. Khali spends forever delivering boots and back-elbows to Hardy in the corner. He gets even more destructive with successive World's Tallest Slams. Hardy starts fighting back, but stops to pose on the top turnbuckle, and Khali swats him to the floor. I knew he had to time his poses better. After a break, during which Khali rammed Hardy into the steel steps, Khali clotheslines Hardy down again. He works the trapezoid of Hardy with a nerve hold. Hardy fights out of that and hits a Whisper in the Wind out of nowhere that takes Khali off his feet. Swanton Bomb! MVP is out, but Hardy dropkicks him through the ropes. He follows out with a somersault plancha. The ref's apparently not considering a disqualification here, as he's yelling at Hardy to get back in the ring. Khali helps him back in by lifting him up by his rainbow-colored hair and chopping him off the ropes. Khali applies the Vice Grip, during which Jeff's head implodes, and the match is declared over. MVP gets into the ring and poses over Hardy's dead body. Awesome. Winner: The Great Khali We get another video hyping the arrival of R. Truth, who cuts a promo in a prison-cell. He says that he survived and he's now a free man. I think he's talking about prison and not TNA there, but I could be wrong. Maria vs. Victoria HERE SHE COMES AGAIN, LIKE GOOD MEDICINE! The long-awaited "SmackDown" debut of Maria is upon us, and the show is immediately better-looking as a result. Victoria takes control early, utilizing an entertaining array of verbal taunts and even going as far as to mock the Kiss Cam! Cross the line much? She owns Maria with a tilt-a-whirl sideslam, but only gets a one-count off it. Maria fights back and takes Victoria over with a satellite headscissors, but gets power-slammed coming off the ropes. Victoria applies a Full Nelson, but Maria backs her into the corner and frees herself. A sunset-flip gets two for Maria, and she wins the match following a clothesline off the second turnbuckle. Maria is many buys, but her first win on the show probably should've been over Maryse, which would've been far more believable. Winner: Maria Backstage, Edge is in conversation with Alicia Fox. He tells her he got her a ticket to sit in the arena, but didn't want her backstage. This was never mentioned again on the show, by the way. Spoilers. We get a Triple H video package, in an attempt to make up for the fact that he took the week off to be with his newborn daughter. Unforgivable. JR and Foley run down the "SummerSlam" card, featuring the immensely premature Cena/Batista match. Foley says he's taking a "wait and see" approach with Adamle, which is quite generous of him. The Big Show vs. Domino Domino begins the match with a go-behind. Stuff like that is why he never wins. He gets tossed under the ropes, but comes back in with a t-shirt throw of immense pain. He runs into Show's boot and then takes a short-arm clothesline and a chokeslam prior to being pinned. Show is curiously standing around in the ring post-match, which must mean something's afoot. Sure enough, here comes YOU-MANGA~! The two behemoths square off, but before they can come to blows, it's TO THE BACK~! where Vickie, Chavo and Neely are worried about Edge's upcoming guest. For the record, I hate the unnecessary cut-away. Winner: The Big Show YOU THINK YOU KNOW HIM!!! It's time for "The Cutting Edge." Edge takes the time to sell a sign warning him about Hell in a Cell on the way out. Buys. He remarks that all he can see nowadays is The Undertaker. He's searching for inner peace. Consequently, he's got a table, a ladder and a chair in the ring to bring him comfort. He's found the one person who can help him survive Hell in a Cell, his guest tonight: Mick Foley! Foley looks surprised, but plays along. Edge shows him a video to remind him of what happened ten years ago in the epic Hell in a Cell battle between him and Taker. The voiceover at the end questions whether that match is Foley's legacy. Edge says that match scarred Foley for life, but that he can "exorcise the demon of the Undertaker" if he helps him prepare for the match. Foley proceeds to cut the promo of the year. He says that for years he's been saying that Edge is the greatest superstar in the WWE, but that lately Edge has not been living up to that title. He mentions how Edge has been cheating and using his General Manager-wife for months to help him get ahead. Edge is not the man he used to be. He says that he can't help Edge and that only Edge can help himself. He has to return to being the man who built his legacy in TLC matches and fought Foley in the most violent hardcore match in "WrestleMania" history. He says that if he brings the current-version of Edge to Hell in a Cell, Taker will tear him apart. Edge says he understands. He cheapshots Foley with the mic, which knocks him out to the floor. Foley fights back and rams Edge's head into the announce-table, but Edge regains control by kicking a chair into Foley's face. He destroys Foley with a sick spear on the floor that sends the back of Foley's head into the steel steps. Back inside, Foley hooks in a temporary Mandible Claw, but Edge low-blows him and sets him on the table. He ascends the ladder with a steel-chair in hand. He dives off and drives the chair into Foley's face, sending him crashing through the table. The show ends with Foley laid out, and Edge's face showing that he now truly understands. "SmackDown" in recent weeks has been consistently proving why it's the best wrestling show on television, and this show was more evidence of that fact. They're working really hard to establish new stars on the brand, like Kendrick, Maria, Kozlov and Shelton Benjamin. They're building some interesting and intense new feuds, like MVP/Jeff Hardy. But more than that, they've got two of the best heels in a long time involved in some truly great television on a weekly basis. This week's twist with Foley motivating Edge to become the type of man he used to be was nothing short of tremendous. This show was so good that I won't even complain about the lack of Festus on it. I'll be back tomorrow night with a report from the ROH show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Thanks for reading. {plug} |
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