Friday
Night Smackdown
June 27, 2008 – Recap by Sassy
Last week on Smackdown
In a non-title match, Matt Hardy, WWE United States
Champion defeated Bam Neely in 6 minutes.
Michelle McCool defeated Layla in 4 minutes.
Vladimir Kozlov defeated Jamie Noble in 4 minutes.
In a non-title match, The Big Red Machine, WWE ECW
Champion, defeated M.V.P. via count out in 8 minutes.
The Great Khali defeated WWE Referee Charles Robinson in 2
minutes.
In a tag team match, Jesse & Festus defeated Deuce
& Domino in 2 minutes.
Finlay with Hornswoggle defeated The Miz with John
Morrison in 5 minutes.
In the biggest joke of the night, Chavo Guerrero defeated
Batista in 6 minutes.
Since the draft, what happened last week on Smackdown might
not mean anything.
Complete Results of the WWE 2008
Draft
To Friday Night Smackdown: Jeff
Hardy, Samoan Bulldozer Umaga, Jim Ross, Mr. Kennedy, The Game Triple H with his
WWE Championship belt, Carlito, The Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin, Maria, Brian
Kendrick, DH Smith, Big Daddy V who is returning to the ring after some time off
& Trevor Murdoch
To Monday Night Raw: Rey Mysterio
who is returning from an injury, CM Punk with his Money in the Bank briefcase,
The Animal Batista, The Big Red Machine Kane with his ECW Championship belt,
Michael Cole, Kofi Kingston, Layla, Matt Striker, Chuck Palumbo, Deuce &
Jamie Noble
To WWE Tuesday Night ECW: Matt
Hardy, Finlay, Super Crazy, Hornswoggle & The World’s Strongest Man Mark
Henry.
Smackdown is broadcast on the CW Network
Ringside announcers: Jim Ross & Mick Foley
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
Sunday is WWE’s Night of Champions pay per view.
The draft will not affect the matches scheduled for the pay per view. I
will not be ordering the show, but will report the results on the Monday Night
Raw review.
Vickie Guerrero is on camera to tell the audience that Mr.
McMahon was severely injured on Monday Night Raw and the fans get to see a
replay of the incident. After we
suffer through that, we are forced to hear about “the wedding”. Finally,
Guerrero introduces the new announcer for Friday Night Smackdown – good old
JR. JR makes his way to the announcer’s table to
his entrance music and sits down with Mick Foley. JR says that Friday
night will never be the same.
The Game Triple H enters the arena with the WWE title belt on
his shoulder. HHH gets a positive greeting from the live audience. HHH touts JR
as the greatest announcer in the business. HHH then does a round of advertising
for Night of Champions before The Rated R Superstar Edge, WWE Heavyweight
Champion, enters the arena. Edge does not receive the same reception from the
fans as HHH garnered earlier. HHH predicts that he will retain his title but
Edge will lose his title at Night of Champions. Edge reminds HHH that Batista
has never beaten Edge but John Cena has beaten HHH. Edge tells HHH that
Smackdown is Edge’s house and Edge’s show. Edge demands respect from HHH and
Batista enters the arena. HHH sends Edge out of the ring and straight into
Batista who delivers a spear to Edge on the floor. Batista and HHH stand in the
ring, each of them holding a title belt. JR calls it shades of Evolution and we
go to commercial break.
Tag Team Match
The Big Red Machine Kane weighing 323 lbs.
WWE ECW Champion
&
The Big Show, 7’0” weighing 441 lbs.
Vs.
Montel Vontavious Porter from Miami, FL weighing 248 lbs.
&
The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry, weighing 392 lbs.
MVP seems to be a little out of his element in this match up.
Kane will face Show and Henry at Night of Champions to defend his ECW title. MVP
tells Henry he will start in the ring and he faces off against Kane. MVP tries
but he doesn’t do it and finds himself down on the mat.
Kane tags in Show. MVP makes a tag to Henry and Show tags in Kane. MVP is
back in the ring and he delivers a boot to Kane’s face and goes for the cover
but Kane kicks out. MVP comes off the ropes into the side slam by Kane. MVP
finds himself in trouble again as Kane delivers a big boot to the head. MVP
rolls out of the ring but Henry goes down to the floor and rolls him back into
the ring. Kane delivers a choke slam, goes for the cover and gets the three
count. Time: 6 minutes.
Winners: Kane with a choke slam
& The Big Show
Kane, Show & Henry are staring each other down for the
title. MVP made himself more of a heel and more of the kind of guy that will
walk away from matches versus getting himself in danger. The fans enjoy seeing
him sent back into the ring when MVP tries to make a getaway. There was no real
wrestling action in this match but MVP surprisingly held his own against much
larger opponents. Edge is backstage with Guerrero, skipping that part, and we go
to commercial break.
JR and Foley introduce a video of Samoan Bulldozer Umaga.
Tag Team Match
Finlay & Hornswoggle
Vs.
Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
At a combined weight of 435 lbs.
Finlay begins the match with Hawkins but Hawkins backs Finlay
into the wrong corner. Finlay nails Hawkins on the ring apron and then goes
after Ryder in the ring. Hawkins comes back into the ring and Hornswoggle
delivers a spear. Finlay is out on the floor working over his opponent but a
baseball slide delivered by Hawkins catches Finlay. Finlay is down on the mat on
the wrong side of the ring. Finlay sends Hawkins over the top rope to the floor
and then goes after Ryder. Finlay delivers the Celtic cross, Hornswoggle
delivers the tadpole splash, goes for the cover and gets the win. Time: 3
minutes.
Winners: Hornswoggle with a tadpole
splash & Finlay
I’m not saying that Hornswoggle isn’t talented.
I am saying that Hornswoggle is outsized in every match he has been in.
Finlay ends up carrying the match and although I enjoy watching Finlay in the
ring, I am surprised that WWE hasn’t bothered to find wrestlers of
Hornswoggle’s caliber so that Hornswoggle can be in his own matches. The son
of Finlay storyline works well for the fans and Finlay and Hornswoggle does do
work well together as a team and in this match, they provided a background
against the not so great team of Hawkins and Ryder. John Morrison and The Miz
appear on the entrance ramp with their WWE tag team belts to stare down
Hornswoggle & Finlay who will face the tag team champs at Night of
Champions.
Non-title Match
Matt Hardy from Cameron, NC weighing 236 lbs.
WWE United States Champion
Vs.
The Rated R Superstar Edge from Canada, weighing 250 lbs.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion
JR reminds the fans that Hardy will be seen on ECW.
If Edge makes it through this match on his own, I’ll be shocked. Hardy
may not have been able to outwrestle the old Edge but this new and unimproved
Edge could be a pushover. The match does begin with wrestling moves and
countermoves. Edge does not break clean when he backs Hardy into the corner.
Hardy comes back and delivers a bulldog, goes for the cover and gets a two
count. Hardy tells Edge “this close” and we go to commercial break.
Back to the action, Edge is in the corner and the referee is backing
Hardy away from Edge. Edge is getting worked over a little more than usual in
this match. Hardy is doing a great job of keeping Edge off guard. Edge drops
Hardy face first on the top turnbuckle and both men are down on the mat. Edge
goes for a cover getting only a one count before Hardy kicks out. Edge has Hardy
in the corner and the ref backs Edge away from Hardy but Edge bails out of the
ring to beat on Hardy on the ring apron. Edge is back in the ring and Hardy is
on the floor much to the dismay of the fans. Hardy makes it back into the ring.
Hardy makes it back to his feet and fights back, taking Edge down with an elbow,
dropping an elbow to the sternum. Hardy goes for the cover and gets a two count.
Hardy goes for a backslide and gets a two count. Hardy hits the side effect and
goes for the cover again getting a two count. Hardy misses the bulldog, goes up
to the second rope and delivers an elbow to the back of Edge’s neck. Hardy
delivers a DDT, goes for the cover and again gets a two count. Hardy goes up to
the top turnbuckle and meets the mat as Edge rolls out of the way. Edge misses
the spear, Edge counters with the backslide but gets caught with his feet on the
ropes, Hardy goes for a roll up, Edge kicks out. Hardy stops himself from
running into the ref, turns around and gets caught by a spear. Edge goes for the
cover and gets the win. Total match
time: 9 minutes.
Winner:
The Rated R Superstar with a spear
I didn’t like the ending but I have to admit that the match
was decent. Edge did more in the
ring tonight than I have seen him do in a long time and he did it without any
outside interference. Hardy always gives his fans one hundred percent and
tonight was no different. I’m not certain whether Hardy will like being on ECW
but he should bring action and entertainment to Tuesday night. We go to
commercial break.
JR and Foley introduce a video of Jeff Hardy who is now on
the Smackdown roster. I have to admit when Hardy can keep himself out of
trouble, he is the greatest risk taker on the WWE roster no matter which one you
are talking about it. JR and Foley then run down on the matches for Night of
Champions.
WWE Championship Match
The Game Triple H, Champion vs. John
Cena, Challenger
WWE ECW Championship 3-Way Match
The Big Red Machine Kane, Champion
vs. The Big Show, Challenger vs. The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry,
Challenger
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Match
The Rated R Superstar Edge, Champion
vs. The Animal Batista, Challenger
Six Diva Tag Team Match
Kelly Kelly & Michelle McCool
We go to commercial break, back to the arena,
&
Cherry
Vs
Victoria & Natalya & Maryse
Everyone is in the ring and the match is ready to begin.
Kelly actually got in the ring during this match. Cherry delivers a bulldog to
Victoria and goes for the cover getting a two count. Victoria tags in Natalya.
McCool goes for the cover and gets a one count. Natalya hangs up McCool on the
ropes. Natalya delivers a submission hold but McCool makes her way out of the
hold. McCool delivers a jawbreaker and Natalya tags in Victoria. Victoria
delivers a standing moonsault and goes for the cover, getting a two count.
Victoria tags in Maryse. That was a
mistake. McCool tags in Cherry. Cherry delivers a neck breaker and goes for the
pin getting a two count. The ref gets distracted and Natalya goes after Cherry.
Maryse & Cherry are left in the ring and Maryse delivers a roll up, getting
the three count while everyone else is battling it out on the floor. Time: 7
minutes.
Winners: Maryse with a roll up,
Natalya & Victoria
Not a bad match but WWE just can’t seem to get to the level
of women’s matches I like to see. Natalya
is most likely one of the best female wrestlers on the roster, Victoria is
excellent and Cherry looks like she could be very good given the time to work
the ring. The diva thing just doesn’t work for me but it seems to go over with
the fans. We go to commercial break.
Domino from the Other Side of the Tracks weighing 230 lbs.
Vs.
Vladimir Kozlov from Moscow, weighing 302 lbs.
The wrestlers Kozlov is facing are getting larger. But will
this match be any longer than Kozlov’s previous matches? This may the first
time the audience has cheered for Domino. Domino even appears to know a little
about wrestling. He may do a better
job as a singles wrestler than I thought he would. Kozlov delivers a
belly-to-belly suplex and goes for the cover but Domino kicks out. Domino has
discovered that straight out wrestling may not work against Kozlov and Domino
manages to drop Kozlov to the mat. Domino goes for the cover but only gets a one
count. Domino comes off the ropes, gets caught, Kozlov goes for the cover and
gets the three count. Time: 2 minutes.
Winner: Vladimir Kozlov
The match was not any longer than Kozlov’s previous matches
but Kozlov’s forehead is bleeding and he may have broken a sweat in this
match. Kozlov has yet to do anything in the ring that makes me sit up and take
notice but I did think Domino did a decent job for such a short match.
Backstage Hornswoggle runs into Rey Mysterio, hands him his green hat and
teaches him how to touch his heels and we go to commercial break.
Rey Mysterio enters the arena to a standing ovation. I
understand via the grapevine that Mysterio wasn’t thrilled about being drafted
to Monday Night Raw but if Mysterio can keep another injury at bay, he will be a
welcome addition to the Raw roster. This is Mysterio’s last night on Smackdown.
Before Mysterio can leave the ring, Batista enters the arena still carrying the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt in order to tell Mysterio goodbye and we
go to commercial break.
WWE Rewind: The Battle Royal from Monday Night Raw. Batista
and Edge collided, Batista was left with a bleeding wound on the head.
Edge won the Battle Royal.
Main Event
The Animal Batista from Washington, DC
Vs.
Samoan Bulldozer Umaga from the Isle of Samoa weighing 350
lbs.
Umaga may be large but I prefer watching him in the ring to
watching Batista in the ring. For a large wrestler, Umaga is very agile and
doesn’t hesitate to take risks when it is required to win the match. JR has
told the fans that Batista received stitches as a result of the injury he
suffered during the Battle Royal. Umaga uses head butts to try to open up the
stitched area. Umaga goes for a cover and gets a two count before Batista powers
out. The live audience is pro Batista and they aren’t quiet about it. Umaga is
in charge during the first part of this match. Batista delivers a jawbreaker but
Umaga delivers a standing dropkick and goes for the cover. Umaga gets a one
count. Umaga uses numerous head butts as he stalks Batista, finally dropping
Batista to the canvas. Batista tries to body slam Umaga but Batista goes down
and Umaga goes for the cover getting a two count. Umaga misses a squash in the
corner and Batista goes after Umaga with clotheslines. Batista delivers a spine
buster and as he gets ready to finish Umaga, Edge’s cronies appear in the ring
to take out Batista. Umaga is getting back to his feet and he delivers a super
kick that sends Batista to the mat. Hawkins, Ryder, Guerrero and Edge get shoved
aside by Umaga so that he can finish Batista himself. Umaga delivers a squash in
the corner. Time: 7 minutes.
Winner: The Animal Batista via
disqualification
As Umaga goes up on the top turnbuckle to go for a splash,
HHH enters the ring and stops Umaga before going after everyone else in the
ring. Batista is back to his feet and they take on Hawkins & Ryder, HHH
delivering a pedigree while Batista delivers a Batista bomb.
I have high hopes that Umaga switching to Smackdown might
also give him a switch to his character allowing the fans to see him wrestle.
You just know he has to have in ring talent that goes beyond his present
work. It wasn’t the greatest of matches for a main event but it did continue
the friction between Edge and Batista and has now thrown HHH into the mix.
WWE ECW Live !! / JUNE 24, 2008
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com