WWE Smackdown
May 15, 2009
Dayton, OH
Report by: Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com
?Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event tonight?? The WWE video leads us into the show.
The Smackdown video plays so we?ll be going right into the show. John Morrison’s music hits and, for the first time in a while, we?ll be opening the show with a wrestling match. Jim Ross and Todd Grisham welcome us to the show.
John Morrison & CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas
This is a reunion on the World’s Greatest Tag Team, although they haven?t made mention of that on commentary yet. CM Punk and Charlie Haas will start this one out. They lock up and Haas powers Punk to the corner. Haas clubs Punk down and rips his boot down on Punk’s face. Haas slams Punk down and goes into the ropes for a splash but Punk rolls out of the way. Punk hits Haas with a trio of kicks and sends him into the ropes to put his knee into Haas? midsection. Punk holds Haas and tags in John Morrison.
Morrison hits Haas with a kick to the ribs as Punk holds him. Morrison hits a European Uppercut before whipping him into the corner hard and catching him with a hip toss. Morrison follows that up with a spinning leg drop and covers for a one count. Haas quickly gets back in control with a forearm and a knee to the face. Haas now makes the tag to Shelton Benjamin.
Haas holds Morrison wide open so Benjamin digs a boot into his midsection. Benjamin punches Morrison down and stomps him hard. Benjamin hits a short arm clothesline and puts Morrison into the corner. Benjamin goes for a right hand but it’s blocked and Morrison hits a series of forearms and finishes up with a neckbreaker. Morrison quickly gets Benjamin to a vertical base and locks a front headlock on as he tags CM Punk back in.
They double whip Benjamin into the ropes and hit a double back elbow. Punk covers for a one count. Punk picks him up and Benjamin surprises him with a jawbreaker. Benjamin tags Haas back in and Haas comes in with a big kick to the ribs. Haas bounces Punk’s head on the top turnbuckle and Punk gets his second wind, coming back with an aggressive kick and a snapmare. Punk hits a stiff kick to Haas? spine before hitting a hammerlock takedown. Punk holds it on before kicking him in the shoulder and covering for a one count. Haas digs a kick into Punk and forearms him a few times. Haas sends Punk into the opposite turnbuckle and charges but Punk slingshots over him and hits a deep arm drag. Punk gets an arm bar on before locking a hammerlock on. Haas counters out with a back elbow and an elbow to the back of the neck. Haas clubs him a few times before going for a clothesline which Punk ducks and he gets Haas in GTS position. Benjamin runs in and Punk gets him in GTS position. Morrison comes in and he and Punk dropkick Haas and Benjamin out of the ring!
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Haas send Morrison into the ropes, only for Morrison to slide under his legs and hit an arm drag. Morrison applies an arm bar. Haas fights up and knees out before shoving Morrison into Haas? corner. Morrison fights back, knocking both Haas and Benjamin down, before finally being taken out by Benjamin while the referee’s back is turned. Haas drags Morrison to the center of the ring and gets a two count. Haas now tags in Benjamin.
Benjamin comes in, kicks Morrison, and elbows him down. Benjamin kicks Haas a few times before executing a nice neckbreaker for a two count. Benjamin gets a chin lock on and the crowd is getting behind John Morrison. Morrison fights up and rolls Benjamin off, but he’s nowhere near his corner. Morrison runs and attempts to leap to Punk’s hand but Benjamin catches him on his shoulder and moves towards his corner. Morrison attempts a sunset flip but Benjamin tags in Haas right before he goes down, unbeknownst to John Morrison. Haas runs in and kicks Morrison in the back.
Haas drops a knee and assaults him a bit, choking him with his boot. Haas gets a front face lock on and tags Benjamin back in. Haas holds him wide open and Benjamin kicks him. Benjamin hits a snapmare and locks on a modified camel clutch. The crowd is behind Morrison again so he fights up and elbows out. Benjamin counters back with a knee and puts Morrison into the ropes. Morrison ducks the clothesline and goes for a neckbreaker, which Benjamin counters into a backslide pin, but Morrison explodes out of that and tags in CM Punk!
The crowd goes wild as Punk jumps in over the top rope and clotheslines Benjamin down. Punk hits another pair of clotheslines before hitting a spinning back kick to the midsection and kicking Benjamin in the face. Punk sends Benjamin into the ropes and goes for his jumping back heel kick which noticeably barely connects. JR, the pro, sells it as Benjamin putting the brakes on. Benjamin then falls into the ropes and makes the tag to Charlie Haas.
Punk sends Benjamin into the corner and hits a high knee. Punk goes for the bulldog but Benjamin pushes him into Haas, who hits a quick belly to belly overhead suplex. Charlie Haas looks intense as he stomps the hell out of Punk. Haas locks on a modified gut wrench, which Punk elbows out of. Punk goes into the ropes and Haas hits him with a quick powerslam for a near fall. Haas hits some knees to the lower back and a modified camel clutch. Punk tries to fight up but Haas puts a stop to that with by sitting on him. Haas makes the tag to Benjamin.
Benjamin comes in and kicks Punk before hitting a picture perfect suplex. Benjamin toys with Punk with jabbing kicks before getting aggressive again. Punk retaliates with a pair of kicks to the chest but the third one is blocked and Benjamin pulls him in for a clothesline. Benjamin tags back in Charlie Haas, who comes in punches and kicks Punk. Haas squeezes his knee on Punk’s face until the referee makes him break that. Haas now locks on a nice chin lock. This match has been fantastic. Punk fights up, to the crowd’s approval, and elbows out. Punk goes for the tag but Haas holds him back and forearms Punk’s lower back. Haas goes for a back suplex but Punk flips and lands on his feet. Punk backs in to Morrison and makes the tag only to be clotheslined over the top rope by Haas!
Morrison snaps Haas? neck off the top rope and comes in strong with a clothesline. Morrison ducks a clothesline and hits a dropsault. Morrison hits a beautiful back heel kick before knocking Shelton Benjamin off the apron. Morrison back body drops Haas to the ring apron and goes to shoulder thrust him off but Haas knees him in the face. Haas comes over the ropes with a sunset flip but Morrison rolls through and kicks him in the face. Morrison goes to the top rope but Benjamin runs in and LEAPS to the top rope. Morrison is able to get him off and Punk clotheslines Benjamin out of the ring! Morrison hits Starship Pain (split legged corkscrew moonsault) for the win! This was a tremendous tag match!
Winners by Pinfall: John Morrison & CM Punk
Match Rating: ** ?
John Morrison and CM Punk celebrate in the ring as Shelton Benjamin fumes on the outside.
-Commercial Break-
Did you know WWE offers all U.S. military personnel free tickets to all its live events in the U.S.?
Chris Jericho’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring dressed to compete. Jericho gets in the ring and grabs a microphone. Jericho mentions that Sunday is Judgment Day, the end of the world, and the day when all of us must attest and atone for things that we?ve done as human beings on this planet. While all us hypocrites are afraid of Judgment Day, without a blink of the eye, Jericho isn?t. He claims he is an honest man, a man of virtue, and a pure hearted man who always does exactly what he says. Yet ever since he came to Smackdown he’s been lied to, cheated on, disrespected on a weekly basis, and at first he thought it was because he was the new kid on the block but now he realizes it’s a conspiracy against Chris Jericho!
It’s a conspiracy orchestrated and perpetrated by all us fraudulent, gelatinous, parasitic tapeworms. A conspiracy orchestrated by the inept Teddy Long, the incompetent General Manager of Smackdown and a conspiracy orchestrated by all the envious and enviable Smackdown superstars in the locker room. They?re all conspiring against him. This Sunday at Judgment Day, he will have his vindication as the conspiracy will end and Chris Jericho will have his rapture. If that means he has to go through the entire Smackdown locker room and embarrass and eradicate the one by one, then that’s what he?ll do because he is a destroyer of dreams, a modern day conqueror, and the best in the world at what he does, and Smackdown is his show! Even though we may not like it, he says it again ? Smackdown is Chris Jericho’s show. The first victim in his quest to prove that this is his show is that miniscule, piece of trash Rey Mysterio. Mysterio took away his opportunity to be World Heavyweight Champion on Smackdown so he?ll take away something important from Mysterio on Sunday when he beats him for the Intercontinental Championship for the unprecedented ninth time! In the process he?ll take away something from us ? the joy and delight we feel when we see Rey Mysterio hit and pin his opponent with a 619 because Jericho guarantees that we will NOT see the 619 on Sunday and we will see a new Intercontinental Champion!
Jericho says he calls the shots, runs the show, and he is the best in the world, and he guarantees we won?t see a 619 tonight either because he doesn?t want to wait until Judgment Day. He calls out Rey Mysterio, actually commands him as the leader of the show and locker room, but World Heavyweight Champion Edge’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring!
Edge gets in the ring and says it’s only been a few weeks since the draft has happened and it’s only taken that long for him to get completely sick and tired of hearing his voice. Jericho comes out and says everyone is out to get him but Edge says he’s the World Heavyweight Champion and the entire locker room is out to get HIM. As a matter of fact, Jericho is out to get HIM. Jericho says this is his show and he’s the face of Smackdown and Edge asks if he’s serious. While Jericho was on Raw getting beat by John Cena, he OWNED Smackdown. Smackdown has always been his show. Jericho’s a nine time Intercontinental Champion, if he wins on Sunday, and he’s a nine time World Champion. As a matter of fact, this isn?t even Jericho’s time to be out here. Edge claims this as his time. Instead of calling out Rey Mysterio, he calls out Jeff Hardy.
Jericho cuts him off and says he’s been supplanted and he called Mysterio out first so Edge can wait in line. They argue until Teddy Long’s music hits. He says this is not either of their show. This show is the WWE Universe’s show and if they want some action, he?ll give it to them ? it?ll be Chris Jericho vs. Edge, and it?ll happen TONIGHT! Jericho and Edge don?t look too happy.
Backstage, Jeff Hardy, in some crazy face paint, is making his way to the ring. He?ll be in action next.
-Commercial Break-
Just for Men gives us the Smack of the Night, which is the end of the Jericho vs. Hardy match, where Mysterio thwarted Jericho’s cheating and Hardy pinned Jericho for the win.
Jeff Hardy vs. Ricky Ortiz
This is a weird match-up. Ortiz cut a promo backstage, which they showed while he was walking out, claiming that 50% of victory is hard work and the other 50% is believing in yourself but to beat Jeff Hardy he needs 100% of the WWE Universe to dig deep and rise up for him and to rally on. That rally gimmick is garbage.
Jack Doan calls for the bell. They circle the ring and lock up. Ortiz digs a knee into Hardy and clubs him. Ortiz hits a head-butt and hits a big hip toss. Ortiz goes into the ropes and hits a shoulder block for a no count. Ortiz goes into the ropes and hits another rough shoulder block and a pair of knee drops for a two count. Ortiz locks on a modified chin lock and the crowd is rallying behind Jeff Hardy instead. Hardy fights up but Ortiz pulls him down by his hair. Ortiz gets on top of Hardy and hits three head-butts for a near fall. Ortiz motions for the crowd to rally up but you can hear crickets. Ortiz now goes for the Big O but Hardy gets his knees up.
Hardy goes into the ropes and Ortiz hits a powerslam for a near fall. Ortiz locks a chin lock on and Hardy fights up and elbows out but Ortiz clubs him down. Ortiz goes into the ropes and Hardy hits him with his snap neckbreaker. Hardy hits a pair of forearm smashes and hits his flipping mule kick, which puts Ortiz down in the corner, allowing Hardy to hit his slingshot dropkick. Ortiz crawls to the other corner and Hardy hits a forearm smash. A whip into the opposite corner is reversed on Hardy but he hits Ortiz with a back elbow when he charges. Hardy now takes Ortiz down with Whisper in the Wind! Hardy motions for a Twist of Fate and hits it! Hardy goes up and hits a huge Swanton Bomb for the win!
Winner by Pinfall: Jeff Hardy
Match Rating: * ?
When we come back to Smackdown we?ll have a work with Jeff Hardy. Still to come tonight is Chris Jericho vs. Edge, which JR dubs the ?Ego Bowl.?
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see a replay of the end of the Hardy/Ortiz match. Hardy crushed him with that Swanton Bomb.
Josh Matthews is in the ring and he says that it appears Jeff Hardy has all the momentum heading into Judgment Day this Sunday. Hardy says that Edge is a creature of habit. If we?ve watched him over the last few months, we?ll notice he wins a title on one Pay Per View, and loses it on the next. Hardy says it’s a pattern and someone from the crowd yells that he’s the greatest and Hardy, off script, yells that that fan is the greatest. Hardy says at Backlash, Edge won the title again, and at Judgment Day he will LOSE again. It won?t just be for Hardy, it?ll be for each and every one of us who have supported him through thick and thin and always believed in what he stands for, and that is him, Jeff Hardy! Hardy poses for the crowd. That was a good interview.
The Raw Rebound plays.
Backstage Alicia Fox and Michelle McCool are stretching. They?ll be in action against Melina and Gail Kim next.
-Commercial Break-
Michelle McCool & Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim & Melina
This is Melina’s debut on Smackdown. She appears to have recovered from strep throat well.
It?ll be McCool and Melina starting this out. The bell sounds and McCool quickly spears Melina down and they roll around with Melina coming out on top, forearming McCool. Grisham mentions that Melina was emotional during the draft but he talked to her and while she is sad about leaving Raw she’s ready for Smackdown. That should put Internet rumors to rest. Melina and McCool have a battle of the stink eye until McCool casually tags Alicia Fox in.
They lock up and Fox breaks that with a kick to the side. Fox locks on a Full Nelson. Melina slides out and goes for a roll up but Fox lifts her up but Melina maneuvers her down. That was nice and hard to describe. Melina forearms her before wrenching her arm. Melina tags in Gail Kim.
Kim comes in with a low dropkick to the face for a one count. Kim forearms her but has a whip reversed on her but Kim hangs on to the ropes. Fox charges into a back elbow and Gail Kim hits a hurricanrana, which Alicia Fox takes sloppily. Kim sends her into the corner and hits a cross-body and lands on the apron. Kim kicks McCool off the apron and shoulder thrusts Alicia Fox. Kim goes to slingshot into the ring but McCool grabs her ankles and pulls her to the ground. Alicia Fox tags in McCool.
McCool puts Kim in the ring and pins for a two count. McCool grounds and pounds and hits a flipping neckbreaker for a two count. McCool hits a grounded Dragon Sleeper. The fans kind of get behind Gail Kim and she counters out by climbing up the ropes and back flipping out of it. They?re both down now. Gail Kim now tags in Melina.
Melina comes in and clotheslines McCool down twice before putting McCool in the corner. Melina charges and blocks McCool’s boots and pushes her through the ropes. Melina punches her and McCool is sprawled out across the second rope so Melina drives her knees into her. Melina stomps her and charges but McCool snaps her neck off the second rope and rolls up but Melina’s shoulder is through the ropes. McCool pushes her away and Melina kicks her leg and split leg drops her for a two count. Melina goes for her finisher but Alicia Fox breaks it up. Gail Kim pushes Fox out of the ring and baseball slides her down before driving her into the barricade. In the ring McCool charges and eats a boot from Melina. Melina hits a nice Last Call and pins Michelle McCool!
Winners by Pinfall: Gail Kim & Melina
Match Rating: * ?
Still to come tonight is Edge vs. Chris Jericho in a non-title match.
-Commercial Break-
The WWE Rewind is Dolph Ziggler issuing an open challenge to anyone in the Smackdown locker room. The challenge was answered by The Great Khali and Khali won, but by Disqualification as Ziggler assaulted Khali with a chair. I swear that was the most intense I?ve ever seen Khali.
Jimmy Wang Yang is in the ring. I smell a squash match.
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Dolph Ziggler
The match starts and Ziggler offers his hand. When Yang doesn?t accept, Ziggler shoves him. Ziggler talks some trash until Yang kicks him in the arm. Yang hits a nice arm drag and an arm bar. Ziggler gets up and counters with some aggressive forearms. Ziggler then hits an upside down gut wrench takedown, landing Yang on his face. Ziggler stomps Yang a bit before whipping him into the corner. Ziggler hits a flying clothesline and covers for a two count. Ziggler squeezes Yang’s head but Yang fights up. Ziggler forces him down and drops a trio of elbows before stopping to throw sweat at Yang and hitting a jumping elbow drop for a two count. Ziggler punches Yang in the neck before locking on a chin lock. Ziggler shows that he has leverage until Yang fights up. Ziggler takes Yang back down and taunts him until Yang comes back. Ziggler cuts him off with a knee to the face and locks on a Full Nelson. Yang backs Ziggler into the corner and flips him off.
Ziggler charges Yang in the corner but he moves and Yang clotheslines him down. Yang punches and hits a kick to the back of the head. Yang hits a flipping kick to the head for a two count. Yang goes for a roundhouse kick but Ziggler ducks. Yang hits a back elbow and goes for Yang Time but Ziggler moves and Yang lands on his feet only to be hit with Ziggler’s finisher, which is a reverse of Shelton Benjamin’s Pay Dirt, and he gets the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Match Rating: ? *
Dolph Ziggler celebrates in the ring until Great Khali’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring looking upset. Khali really looks intense. Ziggler tries to attack Khali but Khali with one hand throws Ziggler out of the ring! Ziggler crawls to the back and we go to commercial.
-Commercial Break-
Backstage, Cryme Tyme is talking with Eve. They compliment her on her dancing and then reiterate that Layla dropped her twice, and talked about her mother. They egg her on to fight Layla and she goes for it. Layla is getting her makeup done so Eve pours powder on her hair. They fight for a big until Cryme Tyme breaks it up.
R-Truth vs. Mike Knox
When R-Truth got in the ring, before he asked ?What’s up,? you could audibly hear someone from the crowd yell ?F what’s up!? R-Truth looked at him before saying ?What’s up? and then turned toward that area. They couldn?t have edited that out? I could be wrong ? who knows? This is a rematch from last week, by the way.
They lock up and Knox powers R-Truth to the corner. We surprisingly get a clean break. Knox goes for an attack but R-Truth ducks it and punches him. Knox forearms him back and hits a hard body slam. Knox goes for a big knee drop but R-Truth moves and Knox rolls out of the ring in pain.
R-Truth slingshots over the top rope with a nice cross-body block. R-Truth punches him and puts him back in the ring. Mike Knox comes back with a bicycle kick. Knox hits a head-butt and whips R-Truth into the corner to hit an avalanche. Knox hits a short arm clothesline for a two count. Knox hits a guillotine catapult into the second rope and covers for a two count. Knox locks on a chin lock and the crowd gets behind R-Truth. R-Truth fights out with elbows but Knox slaps his back and knees him. Knox whips R-Truth to the corner and charges into R-Truth’s boot.
R-Truth comes back with punches but Knox hits a kick and a whip into the corner. Knox charges and R-Truth slingshots over him and does a cartwheel. R-Truth splits under a clothesline and hits a back heel kick to the face. Knox staggers as R-Truth goes into the ropes, ducks a bicycle kick, and hits his Spinning Corkscrew 360? Elbow Smash for a three count!
Winner by Pinfall: R-Truth
Match Rating: ? *
Still to come tonight is Chris Jericho vs. Edge. Coming up next we?ll hear from Rey Mysterio.
-Commercial Break-
In addition to over 1,000,000 females ? more males watched Smackdown last week than any other show on NBC, Fox, CW, or ABC. Hell yeah, Smackdown!
Josh Matthews welcomes the Intercontinental Champion, Rey Mysterio. Matthews mentions that at Judgment Day Mysterio will defend his title against Chris Jericho, who earlier tonight said there would be no 619. Mysterio says he heard what he said. Mysterio then says what he thinks of Jericho in Spanish before translating that he’s arrogant, egotistical, and deceitful. Ever since Jericho came to Smackdown, he’s been running his mouth about being disrespected and a conspiracy being against him. Mysterio said Jericho doesn?t understand that to get respect, you have to earn it. Mysterio speaks a little Spanish before saying he won?t let Jericho walk all over him. At Judgment Day, Jericho doesn?t have to worry about a conspiracy. All he has to worry about is 619!
Jim Ross and Todd Grisham are in the ring and they run down the Judgment Day card. I like this new approach to pushing the PPVs. It’s something different and it’s working, for the home audience and the live crowd.
Edge’s music hits and it’s time for our Main Event, which is next.
-Commercial Break-
Edge vs. Chris Jericho
This is a non-title match for those of you wondering.
They stand across the ring from one another as the match begins. They talk a little trash as they walk towards one another and go face to face. Edge taunts Jericho and Jericho slaps him. Edge slaps back and Jericho spears him down. They roll around punching each other and they fall out of the ring. Jericho bounces Edge’s face off the barricade and the ring apron. Edge blocks an announcer table shot and bounces Jericho before throwing him back in.
Edge hits some punches and Edge whips Jericho into the corner. Edge goes for a Spear and Jericho moves and Edge Spears the post. Jericho takes him out and throws Edge back into the post shoulder first. Jericho wrenches the arm and hits a Fujiwara Arm Bar. Edge fights up and whips Jericho off, hitting him with a knee to the midsection on the return. Edge stomps Jericho and elbows him in the back of the neck. Edge chokes Jericho out on the second rope and hits a cross-body to the back for a two count.
Edge approaches Jericho and Jericho kicks him. Jericho chokes Edge on the second rope and then stands on him. Jericho walks proudly around the ring before baseball sliding Edge out of the ring. Jericho mugs for the crowd, much to their chagrin. Jericho rolls out of the ring and has a whip into the stairs reversed on him. Edge rolls in the ring to break the count-out and Edge drops Jericho on the barricade. Edge puts him in the ring and covers for a two count. Jericho hits Edge with a kick and bounces his head off the top turnbuckle twice. Jericho pulls Edge up to the top rope and they both hit right hands, causing them to fall off the top rope and crash to the outside!
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Edge suplex Chris Jericho. Edge covers for a two count. Edge punches Jericho and whips him into the ropes but Jericho counters with an arm breaker for a two count. Jericho hits a key lock and is looking for the submission. Edge fights up and Jericho puts him down with a hammerlock body slam. Jericho hits a stomp and talks trash, asking whose show this really is. Jericho continues stomping before going for a bulldog, only for Edge to use Jericho’s momentum to send him into the corner hard.
Edge punches Jericho and whips him into the corner, hitting a shoulder thrust. Jericho hits a double leg takedown and covers, with his feet on the ropes, but the referee catches him. Jericho argues and Edge rolls him up with HIS feet on the ropes and the referee catches him! They both charge one another and hit a double clothesline and they?re both down.
They both get up at the count of six and Edge punches him. Edge’s whip into the corner is reversed and Jericho hits a face buster. Jericho goes for the Lionsault but lands on his feet when Edge moves and may have tweaked his knee! Edge now locks on the Sharpshooter! Jericho crawls to the ropes and gets the break. Edge drags Jericho in and goes for another Sharpshooter but Jericho counters into an inside cradle for a two count. Jericho now sweeps the legs and hits the Wall of Jericho! Edge fights his way to the ropes and gets them. Jericho argues with the referee but to no avail. Edge hits Jericho with a Spear and Jericho rolls out of the ring!
The referee is counting Jericho out. Jericho gets in at the count of five. Jericho snaps Edge’s neck off the top rope and gets a chair! Jericho enters the ring and swings but Edge hits him with a big boot and the referee calls for the bell!
Winner by Disqualification: Edge
Match Rating: ** ?
Edge now goes to hit Jericho with the chair but Jeff Hardy runs in! Hardy ducks a chair shot and hits Edge with a Twist of Fate on the chair! Hardy goes for a Swanton Bomb but Jericho grabs his boot. Hardy kicks him off and jumps off the top rope to the outside with a body splash on Jericho!
CM Punk’s music hits and he comes down to the ring with a referee! He’s going to cash in Money in the Bank until Umaga comes in. Punk ducks a clothesline and hits him twice with the briefcase, sending Umaga to the outside! Punk then slingshots to the outside on top of Umaga with a body press! Umaga cuts Punk off with an uppercut.
Inside the ring, Jeff Hardy SPEARS Edge! They fight into the crowd and so do Punk and Umaga! Jericho walks up the ramp smiling but Rey Mysterio attacks him from behind! Mysterio sends him into the entrance way and punches and kicks Jericho! Everyone is fighting as Smackdown ends!
Quick Match Results
John Morrison* & CM Punk def. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas*
Jeff Hardy def. Ricky Ortiz
Gail Kim & Melina* def. Michelle McCool* & Alicia Fox
Dolph Ziggler def. Jimmy Wang Yang
R-Truth def. Mike Knox
Edge def. Chris Jericho via DQ (non-title)
Bump of the Night: The big six-way brawl!
Match of the Night: Morrison & Punk vs. Benjamin & Haas ** ?
Mike’s Thoughts
What a tremendous go home show edition of Smackdown! It was wrestling heavy, dramatic, and fun! I loved every minute of it!
We opened up Smackdown with a tremendous tag team match. I?m not sure I want to see Haas and Benjamin tag up full time, but it’s nice every now and then, like the Hardy’s used to do. John Morrison and CM Punk meshed well in this one, probably because of their two year long feud. Everyone was on top of their game tonight and they set the pace for a great show.
Jericho and Edge had a great in ring segment tonight. Edge showed signs of being a face at times as he told Jericho off. Jericho is such a tremendous addition to Smackdown because he’s one of those characters that even the heels can hate and still stay heel even when they tell that person off. I?ve loved every second of it so far. They then went on to have a tremendous match. It’s always interesting when two heels fight one another ? you?re never really sure what’s going to happen or how the crowd will react but with two tremendous talents like that in the ring, you?re going to have no choice but to be entertained, even if you hate both of them. The big brawl between three big Smackdown matches at Judgment Day was a great way to sell the PPV one final time!
Strange to see Jeff Hardy matched up against Ricky Ortiz but after Hornswoggle vs. Big Show last night, I can take anything. Ricky Ortiz’s gimmick sucks big time if he’s a face. He showed some heel tendencies and it got me to thinking that Ortiz’s gimmick suck and is so annoying that it would make for a great heel gimmick. Maybe they can go that route and breathe some life into Ortiz because if he continues as a face with this ?rally up? crap then the crowd is going to continue to not get behind him and he?ll be future endeavored out. That’s just my opinion.
The Divas have a lot of work that needs to be done. Their match was kind of embarrassing, considering who was involved. You had a match with the current Women’s Champion, the first ever Diva’s Champion, and a former Women’s Champion. You also had a newbie. The match was bad. Also, if they wonder why Gail Kim isn?t getting over, I say it’s the music they give her. Her music sucks. The match begins when the wrestler comes through the curtain. It’s hard to get into someone when their music sucks. That’s the first impression. The next step is booking her to look strong. Beating up Alicia Fox doesn?t do it for me.
Dolph Ziggler is feuding with Great Khali and has the upper hand. What?! I actually like this one.
Mike Knox lost to R-Truth. I guess they don?t want to build him up as an unstoppable monster anymore. I don?t blame him. I feel his talent is limited and his only big moves are that bicycle kick and the finisher. There’s not much depth to him. They need to do a little more with him. I was actually glad to see R-Truth go over.
All in all a tremendous Smackdown and it really got me excited for the Smackdown portion of Judgment Day. It looks to be a good one.
Final Rating: *** ?
E-Mail ? MikeyT817@hotmail.com
On a quick personal note, my girlfriend, Marianna, will be graduating from college on Sunday. I just want to say congratulations and I love you.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy Judgment Day 2009!