Pulse Wrestling’s Real-Time Smackdown Report 01/02/2009

Reviews, Top Story, TV Shows

It’s the first Smackdown of 2009 and Pulse Wrestling is here to take away your New Year’s hangover with a two-hour dose of action! Jeff Hardy still has that WWE Championship belt and a big target on his back with everyone from Triple H to Vladimir Kozlov gunning for him…

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING!

Smackdown is brought to us from the Izod Center on MyNetworkTV with Jim Ross and Tazz as our ringside announcers.

Justin Roberts introduces Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero who makes her way to the ring to wish everyone a Happy New Year and that Jeff Hardy will compete with her husband, Edge, at The Royal Rumble. “The Game” Triple H makes his way to the ring to tell her that he can’t wait for The Royal Rumble either and he wants to know that his name is at the top of the list of entrants. Trips irritates her enough to make her tell him he is in the Royal Rumble match. Then HHH claims he found nude photos of Vickie on ebay. She makes tracks to the back to get the winning bid on her, um, photos. The Great Khali, Ranjin Singh, Finlay and Hornswoggle are backstage and we go to commercial break.

We see a video of Umaga who is on his way back to Smackdown soon.

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder vs. Finlay with Hornswoggle and The Great Khali with Ranjin Singh

Khali seems to have upgraded his entrance music to go along with his new Punjabi Playboy image. The referee calls for the opening bell and Khali faces Hawkins, which may not bode well for Hawkins, but Khali evens it up by bringing Ryder into the ring. As Finlay distracts the ref, Hornswoggle comes in to get his smack in. Finlay gets the tag and he goes for a cover getting two. Finlay ends up on the floor but manages to ward off a blow by Ryder, getting caught instead by Hawkins. Ryder gets the tag and Finlay can’t get to his corner for a tag. Finlay finally makes it to Khali and Hawkins enters the ring to help his partner but Khali drops Hawkins and takes Ryder down with the Punjabi plunge to get the three and the win.

Winners: The Great Khali and Finlay.

Although not what you would consider a great wrestling match, I enjoy watching Finlay in the ring and Khali has certainly picked up fans with his face turn. After the match, Hornswoggle enters the ring to show off his tadpole splash and we go to commercial break.

Eve Torres interviews former Diva’s Champion Michelle McCool who looks like she left part of her outfit in wardrobe. Torres reminds McCool how she lost her title to Maryse and how she beat up on Maria, the special referee in that match. Edge, Vickie and Big Show are backstage and Edge is having a fit about the photos of Vickie on ebay. Show mentions he saw the pictures.

Jesse and Festus and we go to commercial break.

”The” Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson

Seeing these two teams face each other makes perfect sense. The bell rings and Festus drops Kendrick and takes on Jackson. Brian is the one caught in the ring and Festus delivers a body slam before tagging in Jesse. Jesse goes to work with a little more rage than I’ve noticed before. Jesse goes for the cover, gets two, and tags in Festus who delivers an uppercut that sends TBK crashing to the mat. Brian gets a boot up and catches Festus in the face, Festus catches Kendrick as he flies off the ropes but then Festus injures his left knee. TBK tags in Zeke and he goes to work on the injured leg of Festus. Kendrick gets the tag and dives off the top onto the injured knee. Festus drops Brian on his face, tags in Jesse, and Jesse comes in fired up, laying out Kendrick and sending a blow Jackson’s way. Jesse delivers a suplex, covers but it’s broken up by Zeke. Festus comes in to help and gets sent outside and Zeke gets a blind tag, covers and gets the three.

Winners: Ezekiel Jackson and “The” Brian Kendrick

This was a entertaining match and I liked everyone involved. It was a nice mix of moves and although not a lot of mat wrestling, it was worth the watch. We go to commercial break.

”The Moscow Mauler” Vladimir Kozlov vs. Hurricane Helms

JR reminds us that Vlad is undefeated on Smackdown and I’m not liking Helms’ chances here. Hurricane encourages a USA chant from the fans and he goes for a waist lock. That doesn’t work and he gets body slammed to the canvas. Kozlov keeps Helms down on the mat but when Hurricane gets back to his feet, he catches Vlad with an elbow. The Moscow Mauler delivers head butts to the chest and numerous shoulder blocks in the corner. Kozlov goes back to the arm bar but again Helms is up and not for long as The Moscow Mauler drops him on the top turnbuckle and delivers a kick. Hurricane comes back as he comes off the ropes with a kick but he gets caught by a head in the sternum as he comes out of the corner. Vlad covers and gets the three.

Winner Vladimir Kozlov

This was not the usual beat down by The Moscow Mauler but I was yelling for Hurricane to stay down before the match was half over. We go to commercial break.

I had the honor of filling in for Paul Marshall last Monday night with Pulse Wrestling’s Real-Time Raw Report!

Ross is in the ring to announce some of the Smackdown entrants into 30 man The Royal Rumble match. Those entrants are: Triple H, Big Show, Vladimir Kozlov, US Champion Shelton Benjamin who immediately makes his way to the ring, mic in hand, demanding they cut his music. Benjamin asks JR wants to know what is wrong with him and wants to know why he was not announced as the odds on favorite of The Royal Rumble. Shelton tells Ross to leave the ring or he will be the first man he throws over the top rope. As Benjamin carries on about how great he is, the voice of The Undertaker is heard, the lights go out and Taker is in the ring to take out Shelton with a choke slam. JR says it is a safe bet that The Dead Man will be in the Royal Rumble match and we go to commercial break.

We see a video of Kizarny at the carnival and he will be debuting on Smackdown tonight!

Michelle McCool makes her way to the ring to tell the audience that she owes Maria an apology and that Maria can’t be there tonight because of what McCool did to her. She apologizes to Maria and then tells Eve to come to the ring, which she does and McCool asks for her forgiveness. As Torres is leaving the ring, McCool attacks her. And we get another “how long is this going to go on” making McCool a heel. I’m just impressed McCool’s top managed to stay on during the attack. Two refs finally show up to break it up. Vickie and Chavo Guerrero are backstage and Chavo says he hasn’t seen the pictures but Trips shows up but Vickie tells him he will be in a tables match, a handicap match and a last man standing match and it will be called triple jeopardy and we go to commercial break.

M.V.P. vs. Kizarny

MVP does a great pouty face, the poor guy. He has a mic in his hand and says let’s just get this over with already. Porter looks a little confused when his opponent enters the arena. The ref calls for the bell and Kizarny goes for a backslide but Montel kicks out. Kizarny does use some nice wrestling moves before he delivers a suicide dive out of the ring at MVP. He rolls Porter back in, covers and gets two. Kizarny delivers a cross body block off the second rope and covers, getting one. Porter comes back and sends Kizarny out to the floor and goes out to keep the fight outside. He rolls Kizarny back in and goes for a cover, getting two. MVP has Kizarny down on the mat but he makes his way back to his feet. Montel keeps up the pressure, delivers a knee to the chest, covers and gets two. Kizarny delivers a jaw breaker, Montel charges but gets caught and lands on his knee. Kizarny introduces MVP’s head into the turnbuckles, then stands on his chest., covers and gets two. I’m not sure what kind of DDT Kizarny delivered but it gets the job done, he covers and gets the three.

Winner: Kizarny

It was a decent debut match although Kizarny seemed a little hesitant at times. After the match, Mr. Kennedy…Kennedy appears to harass MVP, plug his direct to DVD movie, and talk about Mr. Kennedy and we go to commercial break.

JR and Tazz discuss what is going to happen to Trips and how vindictive the GM is to put him in a Triple H Triple Jeopardy Match next week.

“The Rated R Superstar” Edge enters the ring, demands a mic, throws down his hat and demands respect for his wife, naked pictures or not and himself because he will be the Champion for the seventh time after The Royal Rumble. Edge says that they will all just blame him like they blame him for everything. He says everyone can blame him when Jeff Hardy’s championship reign comes to an end and we go to commercial break.

Main Event, Tag Team Match: ”The Rated R Superstar” Edge and Big Show vs. ECW Champion Matt Hardy and WWE Champion Jeff Hardy

The Hardy intros bring down the house, but Jeff is back to extreme makeup and I think Jeff may have beat out his brother in the loudest pop department. In fact, I think Jeff got a standing ovation from the live audience. The ref calls for the bell and Edge faces Matt in the center of the ring. Matt takes Edge down with an arm drag but Edge has Matt in the corner, misses a punch and gets taken down by another arm drag. Matt applies a wrist lock but Edge switches it to a head lock. Matt breaks the hold and tags in Jeff for a little double team effort, including delivering a baseball slide to Show and then sending Edge over the top rope into Show’s waiting arms and we go to commercial break.

Back to the action, Edge has Jeff in a bind on the ropes and we see that during the commercial break, Big Show interfered and gave Edge the edge. Jeff delivers a Whisper in the Wind, covers and gets two before tagging in Matt. Matt delivers a body slam, goes up to the top and misses the moonsault when Edge rolls out of the way. Edge tags in Show who goes after a dazed Matt. Show delivers an elbow drop, covers and gets two. Show tags in Edge who delivers fists to the side of the head before choking Matt on the ropes. Edge covers and gets two. Jeff acts as cheerleader on the apron getting the fans involved. Matt comes off the ropes, catches a knee in the gut and Edge tags in Show. Big Show goes to work on Matt’s left arm. Show delivers a chop to the chest, fists to the abdomen and then tags in Edge who covers and gets two. Jeff does his cheering routine again and the fans get louder as Matt gets to his feet and tries to get to his corner but Edge delivers a roll up and gets two. As Edge has Matt down in the ring, Show heads up the ramp and out of the arena, leaving Edge on his own. The distraction gives Matt breather, Edge covers and gets two, then backs up and waits for Matt to get up. Edge charges, Matt catches him with a boot, nails him with the side effect, and gets the tag to Jeff. Jeff is in and Edge is in trouble. Jeff covers and gets two, then tags in Matt for a little double team. Matt delivers a bull dog, catches Edge with the Twist of Fate, tags in Jeff, who delivers a Swanton and gets the three and the win.

Winners: Jeff and Matt Hardy with a nice combo of moves.

Even with the commercial break in the middle of the match, this was a fast paced entertaining match. No run ins, not too much in the way of outside interference and the Hardy brothers back together as a tag team.

Thank you for joining us! Everyone have a great weekend and stay safe! Check Pulse Wrestling every day for the best in professional wrestling news, updates, columns and reviews. And join me every Friday night for the live Smackdown Report!

Big friendly shout out to the one and only Stro Maestro! This professional wrestler, actor, and trainer gives a whole new meaning to the word “class”! If you thought there was only one stylin’ and profilin’ man in the world of wrestling, you’d best be checking out The Stro!

And speaking of the mighty Stro, the best place to catch him in action is Mountain State Wrestling, located in West Virginia. Check out their website for complete roster, upcoming events, rankings and videos online!

Special reads on Pulse Wrestling this week:

Vinny smacks down his alternate opinion of TNA in Alternate Reality by Vin Tastic – The Road to Victory?!

Paul Marshall brings us The Wrestling Analyst: Episode #14!

John Wiswell winds it down in Riren 100 Finale: Matches 24-1!

And Mark Allen gives us a 2008 history lesson with Historically Speaking : The Year That Was!