WWE Smackdown
April 17, 2009
Knoxville, TN
Report by: Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com
?Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event?? The WWE video leads us into the show.
The Smackdown video now plays, which highlights the new Superstars, and we?re brought into the arena with a great pyrotechnics display. Jim Ross and Todd Grisham welcome us to Smackdown.
I?m having feed problems at the moment and my DVR is messing things up. Jeff Hardy is coming out and we?re seeing highlights from his Stretcher Match last Friday against his brother Matt, which Matt won after he avoided a Swanton Bomb on the Stretcher and cracked Jeff in the head with a steel chair.
Jeff Hardy vs. Big Show
This is Big Show’s last match on Smackdown before making the big move over to Raw.
This is bad with the feed problems. All I can really see is that Charles Robinson is refereeing the match. The looks of it is Big Show mostly dominating with Jeff Hardy making comebacks when he can but Big Show is mostly staying on top. Big Show rips Hardy’s shirt off and we go to the break with Hardy lying on the outside.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Big Show having Jeff Hardy in a nerve hold. During the break Hardy was hanging on the ropes on the outside and Big Show pulled him off, sending Hardy crashing on his back. Hardy tries to fight to the ropes but Big Show keeps pulling him back. Hardy counters out of it with a jawbreaker! Hardy gets up and goes for the Twist of Fate but Big Show lifts him up in the air and plops him down on the mat! Big Show now climbs up in the corner for that Vader Bomb but Hardy gets out of the way in the nick of time!
Hardy hits a DDT on Big Show and sees his brother Matt running down so Jeff goes for the attack but Matt backs off! Jeff Hardy then goes into the ropes, uses the Big Show’s back as a catapult, and hits a senton over the top rope to the outside on his brother Matt! The DVR cuts out again and next thing I see is Big Show countering something into a Big Punch and the match is over.
Winner by Pinfall: Big Show
Matt Hardy comes in the ring and puts a foot on his brother’s chest, standing over him.
Still to come tonight is the Triple H vs. Randy Orton face off and Batista vs. Ted DiBiase.
-Commercial Break-
My DVR really had some serious problems tonight so I?ll be unable to continue this recap but I watched it already at work so I?ll just give a quick rundown of what I remember.
Khali hosts another edition of the Khali Kiss Cam. They hilariously showed some really, um, ugly people who wanted nothing to do with kissing and then they settled on a decent looking girl to lip lock with Khali. Khali is preparing for Santina Marella!
-Commercial Break-
Maryse vs. Gail Kim
This was a non-title match and it was fairly good for the Divas. Gail Kim is great and took a nasty spill to the outside early in the match. Maryse did the honors for Gail Kim before heading to Raw. Gail Kim hit that tremendous move where she puts the sole of her boot in Maryse’s face and falls back to the mat.
Winner by Pinfall: Gail Kim
R-Truth is coming out now ? he?ll be in action next.
-Commercial Break-
R-Truth vs. John Morrison
It’s time for the newest addition to Smackdown to make an appearance. I recall them having a nice, short match with Morrison winning decisively with the Moonlight Drive.
Winner by Pinfall: John Morrison
-Commercial Break-
The Triple H and Randy Orton face-off is now. The DVR is really speeding up now but all I see is Triple H laughing at Randy Orton, who no showed and cut a promo from backstage. Their match on Raw will be a No DQ match.
-Commercial Break-
Theodore R. Long announces to Matt Hardy that his match against his brother at Backlash will be an I Quit Match!
Shelton Benjamin vs. Undertaker
These two had a tremendous match, much like their two matches in January. Undertaker, like I said in the Superstars recap, has the ability to elevate Superstars every time he gets in the ring and Shelton Benjamin is no different. This was great ? I only wish I could recap it to you properly. Undertaker won this with a Tombstone Piledriver.
Winner by Pinfall: Undertaker
MVP is saying his goodbyes to Teddy Long. Very fitting that MVP’s Smackdown career ends with the man who signed him back in charge. Dolph Ziggler attempted to introduce himself here but they ignored him.
-Commercial Break-
MVP vs. Dolph Ziggler
This is a non-title match in case you were wondering.
MVP lost his final match on Smackdown to one of our new members from the Supplemental Draft ? Dolph Ziggler! Ziggler reiterated to us what his name was after the match, a gimmick which I don?t get and don?t care for. Not because it’s annoying but it’s embarrassing to watch. Embarrassing for Nick Nemeth and me watching. Vince McMahon can?t make everything work ? just look at Scotty Goldman. Repackage this guy or have him change his name, like John Morrison did in 2007 when he was Johnny Nitro. I guess it should be noted that Ziggler had stitches in his face near his lip. Not sure what that’s from.
Winner by Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Up next is Batista vs. Ted DiBiase.
-Commercial Break-
Batista vs. Ted DiBiase
Your usual back and forth match with Batista ultimately coming out on top with the Batista Bomb. DiBiase worked on Batista’s hamstring a lot in this match. So Cody Rhodes was annihilated last night on Superstars and DiBiase ?gets his? tonight! All that’s left is Orton on Monday. I can?t wait for this feud to be over.
Winner by Pinfall: Batista
Quick Match Results
Big Show def. Jeff Hardy
Gail Kim def. Maryse (non-title)
John Morrison def. R-Truth
Undertaker def. Shelton Benjamin
Dolph Ziggler def. MVP (non-title)
Batista def. Ted DiBiase
Bump of the Night: Jeff Hardy hitting a senton over the top rope onto his brother Matt!
Match of the Night: Undertaker def. Shelton Benjamin
Mike’s Thoughts
First off I?d like to apologize to all the fans of my recaps for this recap tonight. I unfortunately had the DVR problem and the whole episode was shambles for me. I sat through it straight at work, thinking I?d come home to recap it, but it was messed up. I?m very embarrassed and sorry and it hopefully won?t happen again.
All in the entire episode was good. It had a lot of wrestling on it, with Undertaker vs. Shelton Benjamin being the best of the night by far. The only thing that wasn?t great was the Triple H and Randy Orton segment. This angle was exposed for what it truly was at WrestleMania ? a dull sham. Why they continue pushing it as their biggest angle is beyond me. It’s dull and boring. Randy Orton doesn?t do anything for me as a heel ? they try to pull him off as cold and calculating but he just winds up looking like an idiot because Triple H ?puts him over? by laughing about everything he says.
As for the Draft things went pretty much as I expected. Smackdown got pretty brutalized and robbed of its talent and we?re only left with a few big names. Not to knock any of the Main Event guys we have on the show now (like Edge, Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, and Chris Jericho). Then the Supplemental Draft was a joke. We lost Mr. Kennedy, who never even had a shot on Smackdown, and only picked up John Morrison. The rest were throwaways, like Charlie Haas and Ricky Ortiz. Ricky Ortiz ? are you kidding me?! Whatever ? we?ll make it work. I?m keeping an optimistic mind!
Again I?m very sorry for this week’s episode. It was a situation beyond my control. I?ll be back 100% next week!
Final Rating: You rate it!
As always you can shoot me comments as to what you thought of the recap ? if you can call it that this week! Let me know if I missed anything or if you thought I made a good recovery!
E-Mail ? MikeyT817@hotmail.com
Be sure to check out my recap of the debut episode of Superstars!
Thanks for reading!