Friday
Night Smackdown
January 18, 2008 – Recap by Sassy
Royal Rumble last year, last two wrestlers left in the ring:
The Undertaker and HBK Shawn Michaels. Winner: The Undertaker who went to
Wrestlemania.
Friday Night Smackdown is being broadcast from Birmingham, AL
on
the CW network.
Ringside announcers: Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
The Undertaker enters the arena and then the ring. Cole
informs the audience that The Undertaker is going for his second straight win at
a Royal Rumble match. The Royal Rumble takes place nine nights from tonight. The
Undertaker has a mic and tells the fans that it is not often he comes to the
ring and puts a microphone in his hand because most of the time he doesn’t
have that much to say. Undertaker doesn’t talk about taking souls, he just
does it. In nine days, Undertaker will step into the ring at the Royal Rumble
– the same Royal Rumble that he won last year. Undertaker is in the ring to
issue a warning to the 29 men that will step into the ring with Undertaker. To
those 29 men, Undertaker says if you stand before him, you will fall before him.
If you enter that ring, you will rest in peace.
Big Daddy V and Matt Striker enter the arena and Striker
tells Undertaker there is one big difference between last year’s Royal Rumble
and this year’s Royal Rumble. V was not in last year’s Royal Rumble. Striker
wants to know how Undertaker plans to move V over the top rope and onto the
floor. Striker says Undertaker is looking a the men who will dominate 29 other
superstars at the Royal Rumble to V’s way to the championship at Wrestlemania
XXIV.
V heads to the ring and Undertaker goes on the attack. They
are both on the floor as Undertaker sends V into the steel steps and then climbs
back in the ring and motions V to come on in.
Cole tells the audience that Vickie Guerrero has been busy
and we see last week’s verbal confrontation between Rey Mysterio and Chavo
Guerrero and Vickie regarding her relationship with Edge and then between Edge,
Mysterio and Chavo and then between Chavo and Mysterio. Vickie pits Chavo
against Mysterio and we see a recap of that match with Edge and his Edgeheads
coming in to attack Mysterio after he wins the match. Edge was, after all, at
the announcer’s table.
Edge will face Rey Mysterio at the Royal Rumble to defend his
WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Tonight it will be Rey Mysterio teaming with CM Punk to face
Edge teaming with Chavo Guerrero.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, tonight The Animal Batista will
face The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry, in the VIP lounge, MVP’s guest
will be The Nature Boy Ric Flair.
The Great Khali from
Bombay, India
Accompanied to the ring by his interpreter, R. Singh
Before Khali’s opponent is introduced, replay of the mini
Royal Rumble match with midget wrestlers, including Hornswoggle, and the attack
by The Great Khali with none other than Finlay to the rescue. Finlay took out
Khali and then Singh.
Vs.
Finlay from Belfast, Northern Ireland, weighing 233 lbs.
Accompanied to the ring by Hornswoggle
Audience favorite: Finlay and Hornswoggle
My favorite: Finlay and Hornswoggle
Whatever deal Finlay made with Vince McMahon, the deal may
just get Finlay killed.
As the match begins, Hornswoggle goes after Singh on the
floor and then Singh chases Hornswoggle, but is cut off by Finlay who has hopped
out of the ring and placed himself between Hornswoggle and Singh. Singh is
sitting on the floor and trying to get out of Finlay’s way and we go to
Commercial break in the middle of the match!
Back from commercial break, Finlay and Khali are in the ring
and it Khali is in control of the match. The audience is behind Finlay but it
doesn’t seem to be helping Finlay. Khali tosses Finlay out of the ring and
onto the floor. Hornswoggle starts to go around to check on Finlay but Khali
comes out of the ring and Hornswoggle makes a hasty retreat. Finlay manages to
get a jump on Khali but Khali nails Finlay and sends him back down to the apron
ring. Khali drops Finlay with a boot to the face and then he picks Finlay up and
slams him to the canvas. Khali puts a vice grip on Finlay’s shoulder. Finlay
tries to get back to his feet and gets there but gets sent back down with a slam
by Khali. Khali again picks Finlay up and sends him down to the mat. Finlay is
fighting back and Khali has Finlay by the throat but Hornswoggle tries to get in
the ring, distracting the referee. As the ref’s back is turned, Finlay nails
Khali with a low blow, then comes off the second rope with a shoulder block.
Finlay goes for his shillelagh but Singh has it and tosses it up the entrance
ramp. As Singh turns around, Hornswoggle has in his hands an extra large
shillelagh and delivers a blow to Singh as Finlay comes out to the floor to roll
Singh into the ring. Singh gets tossed back out of the ring and Khali is back to
his feet with his hands on Hornswoggle. Finlay gets Khali to release Hornswoggle
but now The Great Khali catches Finlay. Khali slams Finlay down to the mat and
then goes for the vice grip to Finlay’s head. The ref rings the bell and Khali
does release Finlay.
Winner
The
Great Khali
Replay of the end of the match showing that Finlay protects
Hornswoggle.
How many times is Finlay going to have to face The Great
Khali. Fans would be more likely to watch a Khali versus Big Daddy V instead of
watching these two giants beat on men less than half of their size. I like
Finlay. He is a great wrestling talent but we aren’t’ seeing any of his
talent in these matches with Khali.
Edge is backstage with Vickie and Theodore Long. Vickie is no
longer wearing the neck brace and I won’t bore you with the blah, blah, blah.
Fortunately Teddy interrupts before we have to witness any more on screen YUK!
But Vickie changes that when she sends Teddy off to get them something to eat.
Chavo shows up and says that he didn’t mean what he said last week and that
Vickie is right and she should be able to do whatever she is doing with Edge.
After Chavo gets done kissing Vickie’s behind, he kisses Edge’s behind and
then says they should all be one big happy family. Oh, great.
Promo for Wrestlemania XXIV at The Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL,
March 30, 2008.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, promo for Royal Rumble, live one
week from Sunday on pay per view.
Raw Rebound: The Intercontinental Championship Match on Raw
between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton. Orton immediately got himself disqualified
but Jeff went on to send Orton off the side of the stage and then climbed up the
metal tower to deliver a Swanton bomb on Orton. Both wrestlers were placed on
stretchers and removed from the arena. The word on WWE ECW was that Orton stayed
overnight at a medical facility but Jeff did not.
We always knew Jeff Hardy was much tougher than Randy Orton.
And now he’s proved it. Jeff will face Orton at the Royal Rumble for the WWE
Championship.
Deuce & Domino
They are already in the ring.
Vs.
Shannon Moore
&
Jimmy Wang Yang
Audience favorites: I’m not sure
My favorites: Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang
Moore and Yang have been busy the last few weeks and they
have been doing a great job in the ring. Both are highflying risk takers and
they handle their opponents very well. Deuce and Domino may be able to wrestle
but we don’t ever see them do so. They tend to want to bully everyone and
throw their weight around. Although
the personal stats were not given, it appears Moore and Yang are giving up
weight in this match. Moore gets tossed around quite a bit outside the ring
after nearly taking out D&D’s mascot, Cherry. If you can’t stay out of
the way, honey, don’t get near the ring. Moore and Yang could use a few
lessons in how to not play fair when they are up against teams such as Deuce and
Domino. Moore and Yang have been working well as a team.
Winners
Jimmy Wang Yang
&
Shannon
Moore
Not a bad match and a good showcase for Yang and Moore. It
would be very interesting to see Yang and Moore up against the Hardy Boys.
Finlay is backstage and McMahon shows up. McMahon is yelling
at Finlay because Khali put his hands on Hornswoggle. McMahon says this is all
because of Monday night when Finlay called McMahon a liar. McMahon wants an
apology and Finlay apologizes. McMahon wants to know what they are going to do
about Khali. McMahon then says that next week on Smackdown, it will be Finlay
versus Khali but it will be a Belfast Brawl so Finlay will have the advantage.
Finlay does not look happy.
The Animal Batista is making his way to the ring for his
match, which is coming up next.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, promo for WWE HD next Friday on
Smackdown.
The Animal Batista from Washington, DC, weighing 290 lbs.
Before Batista’s opponent is introduced, replay of Royal
Rumble 2005 with Batista and John Cena as the last two wrestlers in the ring.
Batista won and went on to Wrestlemania and won his first title match.
Vs.
The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry from TX, weighing
392 lbs.
Audience favorite: Batista
My favorite: I like them both
Henry always looks mad at the entire world and growls all the
way to the ring. The fans give Henry a hard time as he makes his way up the
steel steps and into the ring. The two men lock up in the center of the ring but
Henry throws Batista across the ring near the corner post. They lock up again
and Batista has Henry in a side headlock. Batista comes off the ropes and hits
the mat after being met by Henry’s shoulder block. There’s a lot of yelling
going on in the ring before Batista goes after Henry. The ref has to make
Batista back off Henry in the corner. Batista delivers a kick that sends Henry
out to the floor and Batista goes after him. Henry delivers a head butt that
sends Batista down to the floor before picking Batista up and sending him into
the steel steps. Henry picks Batista up and slams him back first into the ring
post before rolling him back into the ring. The audience is chanting for Batista.
Henry climbs up to the second rope and as he comes down, Batista gets his knees
up and stops Henry from smashing him. Batista delivers a spear and goes for the
cover but Henry powers out. Batista delivers another spear and then tries for
the Batista bomb but Henry sends Batista over and to the floor. Henry goes for
the splash and Batista rolls out of the way before delivering a spine buster,
covering and getting the three count.
Winner
The
Animal Batista
I know Henry is so big that it is difficult to envision him
as a great wrestler but he does a good job in and out of the ring for a man his
size.
Recap of the rivalry between CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero.
Chavo is now the Number One Contender for the ECW title after Edge interfered in
a match between them on this week’s ECW and caused Punk to be counted out.
Tonight it will be CM Punk & Rey Mysterio versus Edge and
Chavo Guerrero. The VIP Lounge will be MVP with guest Nature Boy Ric Flair and
the VIP Lounge is next.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, promo for Royal Rumble.
In the VIP Lounge, MVP has the mic and that means Big Things
Poppin’, Little Things Stoppin’. MVP introduces his guest who MVP says
defines the word VIP. MVP says the next time he meets his guest, it will be the
last time the fans see that guest in action. Sixteen time World Champion the
Nature Boy Ric Flair – and Ric Flair enters the ring to a standing ovation
from the live audience. The two shake hands and Flair thanks MVP for the
fabulous introduction. Flair tells MVP he was tearing up VIP lounges before MVP
was born and a lot of them were in Birmingham.
WOOOOOO! MVP wants to talk serious – and tells Flair that in 9 days,
Flair’s career will be over because Flair can’t beat him. Flair says that
MVP doesn’t have what it takes to beat Flair. MVP says that June 24, 2007 in
Houston, TX, MVP beat Flair and that at the Royal Rumble MVP will beat Flair
again because MVP is half man, half amazing. Flair stops him and says that Flair
is The Man. Flair runs down a list of all of the opponents he has beaten and
Flair says that his loss to MVP was a blemish on his career that he has to
correct. MVP again says that he will retire Flair at the Royal Rumble. Flair
tells MVP he likes him and that he reminds Flair a lot of a guy named Ric Flair.
Then he says that MVP is nothing like Ric Flair. Flair decides they should fight
right now and takes off his suit jacket. MVP says they aren’t going to fight
tonight, they are going to do it at the Royal Rumble in New York City. Flair
picks up his jacket and then delivers a shot to MVP that sends him over the VIP
Lounge sofa and to the floor. Flair exits the ring and the arena. MVP looks a
little angry.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, replay of the match last week
between Jamie Noble and Chuck Palumbo in which Noble again beats Palumbo. After
the match, Palumbo backs Michelle McCool into a corner but Noble appears on the
entrance ramp, distracting Palumbo and allowing McCool to get out of the ring
and out of the way.
Michelle McCool from Florida
Vs.
Layla from Miami, FL
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: I’m not sure
I’m not fond of either of these two because I don’t
consider either of them wrestlers. I understand that Layla is back in school –
wrestling school – so I tend to watch her more often to see if she improves.
Layla may end up being a brawler instead of a wrestler. At the present time,
Layla has to keep pulling up her wrestling tights. Layla has been working on
McCool’s leg during this match and she’s doing a good job of it. Layla is
much shorter and I thought she would be quicker in this match. McCool face
plants Layla and goes for the cover to get the win.
Winner
Michelle
McCool
Replay of the match, specifically the ending.
Since I’m not really a fan of either of these Divas, it may
not be fair for me to voice an opinion, but I will do it anyway. I was not
impressed with this match.
Cole reminds the audience of the match coming up pitting Rey
Mysterio and CM Punk against Chavo Guerrero and Edge.
Promo for Jeff Hardy versus Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble
pay per view.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, promo for Eve who is coming to
Smackdown.
Jamie Noble is backstage to greet Michelle McCool and someone
walks up to tell her that someone has sent her roses. She tells Noble he
shouldn’t have, but Chuck Palumbo walks up and says that the flowers are from
him and that he wants to apologize for what he did last week and the way that he
treated her. Palumbo tells McCool that she is his best friend and then she hugs
Palumbo. Noble and Palumbo get into a verbal confrontation and McCool breaks it
up and tells the two of them to get along, for her. The two men agree to get
along.
Cole and Coach plug the Royal Rumble pay per view, including
the matches that will be held at the Royal Rumble:
Randy Orton defending his WWE Championship against Jeff
Hardy
The 30 main Royal Rumble Match
MVP versus Ric Flair in a Career Threatening Match
JBL versus Chris Jericho
Edge defends his WWE Heavyweight Championship against Rey
Mysterio.
Rey Mysterio is backstage heading toward the ring but Vickie
and Teddy meet him. Vickie wishes Mysterio the best of luck in his match tonight
but he walks off shaking his head.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, promo for WWE HD next Friday on
Smackdown. Undertaker will face Big Daddy V, Finlay will face The Great Khali in
a no rules, Belfast Brawl Match.
The Rated R Superstar Edge from Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
weighing 250 lbs.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion
&
Chavo Guerrero from El Paso, TX, weighing 215 lbs.
Next week Chavo will face CM Punk for the ECW Championship
Vs.
CM Punk from Chicago, IL, weighing 222 lbs.
ECW Champion
&
Rey Mysterio from San Diego, CA, weighing 165 lbs.
Mysterio will face Edge at the Royal Rumble for the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship
Audience favorites: CM Punk & Rey Mysterio
My favorites: I like them all, although CM Punk may be my
favorite
Chavo certainly does make a great heel and he does know
wrestling, but I’m not sure he can take Punk in a championship match. I’ve
seen Punk in tough matches and if he fights like that against Chavo, Chavo
doesn’t have a chance. While Chavo doesn’t hesitate to take risks, Punk
appears to be more athletic. I now Mysterio can beat Edge but am not sure if he
will be able to do it due to outside interference by Edge’s cronies, the
Edgeheads, and now Chavo since they have become such good friends. Nice
blindside shot by Punk sends Edge out to the floor, Chavo comes to his aid and
gets sent over the top rope and down to the floor, Punk and Mysterio execute
double suicide dives to take their opponents down again. Not bad teamwork from
these two and we go to
COMMERCIAL
BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH!
Back from commercial break, Punk seems to be getting the
worst of Chavo and Edge. Punk can’t get to his corner to tag in Mysterio. The
audience is fired up for Punk and Mysterio. Edge knocks Mysterio off of the ring
apron, Punk manages to avoid a spear by Edge and Punk is too far away from his
corner again. His shoulder has been reinjured – it was originally injured by
Chavo and Edge on this week’s ECW. Chavo gets the tag and slams Punk in the
back but it pitches Punk forward and Mysterio gets his tag. Mysterio sends Edge
to the floor with a cheap shot before going for a cover but Chavo manages a kick
out before the three count. Mysterio sets Chavo up for the 619 and hits it, but
Edge nails Mysterio in the back with a steel chair. Edge gets himself and Chavo
disqualified and the fans are not happy with Edge as he goes into the ring after
Mysterio who is still down from the chair shot. Punk tries to get into the ring
and he does get his hands on Edge but the Edgeheads show up and Punk and
Mysterio are in serious trouble.
Winners
CM Punk
&
Rey Mysterio
thanks
to Edge
WWE ECW LIVE !! / JANUARY 15
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com