This is the first Smackdown that I’ve managed to record in a while due to regular television. Unfortunately, I subjected myself to Moonlight and, since I can’t ever seem to not watch a vampire show, I continued watching it until the bitter end last week. On the other hand, the shameless Angel rip-off has been sent to that great suspended afterlife in the sky.
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1) I’ve read and heard some complaints about Vickie Guerrero but she really seems to be getting the most heel heat on the roster. Why would they replace her? She’s annoying, the wheelchair gimmick works, she snaps at the crowd, and she won’t be failing drug tests any time soon. She’s almost like a good, old-fashioned manger with power. It works… and she’s like an annoying wife or mom; something everyone in the target demographic can relate to.
2) As it turns out, the World Title will not be decided by coin toss but by a TLC match between the Undertaker and Edge. If the Undertaker loses, he will be banned from the WWE, not just Smackdown. I guess it’s time for Taker’s summer vacation?
3) Can we officially hand over the “Looks Least Like A Wrestler” Title to Festus? If so, I’d like to congratulate him on ending Mideon’s ten-year reign. Speaking of titles, can we also officially hand the “Tammy Sytch Memorial Hottest Woman In Wrestling” Title to Maryse? Since the voting committee is me, I say yes. I mean, this gallery is about one step from being linked from Gals 4 Free dot net (which, by the way, is not remotely safe for work).
4) It’s good to see that the WWE wardrobe department dressed MVP and Teddy Long in exactly the same suit. That didn’t look weird at all. At least MVP goofed on it saying that Teddy was wearing “knockoffs of my suits.”
5) Hornswaggle does Muta’s green mist now? And they call it the Irish Mist. That’s fantastic!!!!! Can they do anything more fun with these two characters? Mick Foley sells it as “I thought it was part of Leprechaun Lore!” BWAHAHAAHAHAHA.
6) MVP and Batista put on a good little match. This is the reason that I actually do kind of miss watching Smackdown on a weekly basis. They do seem like they put on one or two decent, lengthy matches on each episode. I don’t know if that’s a function of having a smaller roster or having better wrestlers… or both maybe. At some point, I”m going to have to watch PPVs and differentiate the rosters and see if the Smackdown PPV matches are better, too. Maybe three separate PPV ratings? I don’t know.
7) Mick Foley is a really, really good color commentator. His observations during the MVP matches were excellent. He mentioned that MVP had a too easy path to the US title and coasted for a while and started wrestling “not to lose” instead of “to win.” He mentioned that dropping your first title can make you a better athlete because it makes you refocus. Fantastic stuff from Foley. I renew my argument that he should have gone to ECW to help Adamle work through his n00bness.
8) Vladimir Kozlov has no music and comes out to just a spotlight. Interesting. Scorpion Death Drop is his finisher. OK… I like the no-nonsense, above such stupid things as music and fancy ring attire gimmick. That said… this guy has to just get over by beating the hell out of guys and being really boring? They tried that with Lance Storm and it didn’t work. If there was ever a character that absolutely begs for an old-school, heel manager it’s this guy.
9) When is the last time you saw a tag team match involving three black guys on a WWE broadcast. I feel like it’s been a really, really long time.
10) In case you’re keeping track at home, Kane beat Chavo in 30-seconds. The Undertaker took more than 5 minutes. The conclusion here: Kane > Undertaker.
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Smackdown’s a good show, I need to watch it more often.
