I attended tonight’s double taping of WWE Smackdown from the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Here are some highlights:
-Victoria announced to the crowd that she had wrestled her last match. In an emotional speech she thanked the crowd and hugged JR and Tazz. It was likely a “dark” segment, but if it were to air it’d be on this Friday’s episode.
-Another freak “accident” happened to Jeff Hardy. The final segment of this week’s Smackdown will be the Cutting Edge with Hardy as the special guest. As Jeff makes his entrance his pyro goes off – but then fireworks start shooting him in the face. Medics and referees rush out, and at first a good portion of the crowd believed it as legit accident – until they showed plenty of replays and it closed the first taping.
-Edge opens the 2nd taping claiming it was an accident and he had nothing to do with it, Matt Hardy chases him into the crowd leading to a Matt Hardy vs. Edge match for later in the night.
-MVP WINS! MVP WINS! The opening segment of this week’s Smackdown has Vickie Guerrero stack the deck against Triple H. Originally she states it’ll be Triple H vs. Big Show in another “Last Man Standing” match where if Triple H loses, he’s out of the rumble. After Vickie’s “Nude Pics” surface, Vickie changes it to MVP vs. Big Show, last man standing and if MVP loses, Hunter is out of the Rumble, and Hunter is barred from ringside.
-During the match, MVP lures Big Show up the ramp, where Triple H nails him with a Sledgehammer, knocking him out. MVP rises to his feet and WINS.
-Backstage,Vickie claims Triple H is out because she barred him from ringside – but HHH points out that he wasn’t at ringside, he was on the stage. So Vickie one ups him by booking him in a matchs to a with Vladimir Kozlov match for next week’s Smackdown, where if Triple H loses, he’s the #1 entrant in the Royal Rumble.
Come match time, Vickie changes it to a handicap match. Big Show/Kozlov vs. Triple H – Hunter loses, making him the first entrant in the 2009 Royal Rumble.
Here are the match results for this and next Friday’s shows:
Taping #1
-King Fu Naki def. Ryan Braddock (dark match)
-Matt Hardy/Finlay def. Jack Swagger/Mark Henry (Hardy pinned Swagger)
-R-Truth def. Brian Kendrick
-MVP def. Big Show (last man standing)
-Michelle McCool def. Victoria (her last match)
Taping #2
-Undertaker def. Shelton Benjamin
-The Great Khali def. Chavo Guerrero
-Michelle McCool/Natalya vs. Bella Twins (No Contest – Maria interference)
-Edge def. Matt Hardy (Swagger/Henry interference in No DQ match)
-The Miz/Morrison def. Carlito/Primo (Champion vs. Champion, non-title)
-Vladimir Kozlov/Big Show def. Triple H
