So we’re back with the post draft edition of SmackDown.
1. Yes, there was a draft Monday (and Wednesday) , but it didn’t have a massive effect on this week’s SmackDown. I can understand seeing superstars such as the Big Show on the card, playing on this being his last appearance of SmackDown, but the main event made very little in the way of sense. Two RAW wrestlers involved in the SmackDown main event, and a faceoff between two RAW wrestlers certainly plays down the entire draft.
2. The Jeff Hardy vs. Big Show match was one of the finest examples of a power vs. Speed match. While I’ve never been a vocal supporter of Jeff Hardy’s in ring psychology, both Jeff and Big Show put on a superb match that really played up their individual strengths.
3. I was really hoping that we’d seen the end of the Hardy vs. Hardy feud. I saw their potential feud ending stretcher match last week and in turn Matt Hardy being drafted to RAW as the perfect way to end their feud, which has at times bordered on disturbing, and to set both men off on individual routes. It’s going to take a lot for their Backlash match to top what we’ve seen.
4. It was great to see Ranjin Singh pimping it up on SmackDown. From being one of my most hated heel duos, The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh work their comedy duo gimmick perfectly. And it’s always entertaining seeing what kind of fashion disaster the two present each week.
5. Placing Gail Kim and Maryse against each other this week was a mistake in my eyes. Either way someone is losing momentum, and that is certainly not a good thing with the Women’s and Diva’s title changing brands. Maryse needs the momentum to go into RAW as a dominant diva’s champion, while Maryse needs to be presented as a legitmate threat to Melina. Either way someone was losing out.
6. I was sceptical at first when The Miz was drafted to RAW. I worried Morrison would be stuck on ECW as a big fish in a small pond, but my fears were alleviated during the supplemental draft. Morrison needs to be on a brand where not only can his character shine, but also a brand where there is a higher focus on athleticism. As shown during his match with R-Truth, which was my favourite match of the night it is clear Morrison is better off on SmackDown than Miz is on RAW.
7. The face off was one of the worst segments on SmackDown. Not only did it have no place being on the show, but it wasn’t entertaining, and there was no tension. The entire segment built to the street fight announcement, which could have been made on RAW, and the time used for building feuds which actually involve SmackDown stars, such as the Edge vs. John Cena feud, which got no air time the whole show.
8. It was sad to see Shelton Benjamin receiving the jobber treatment with his entrance, but then again The Undertaker’s entrance takes up twice the time of everybody else’s. There was obviously some problems with The Undertaker’s neck, which was played upon in the match nicely. Thankfully, it did little to hamper what was a great match, and just goes to show that if Shelton could only work on his charisma, then he could be main event material.
9. The MVP vs. Dolph Ziggler match suffered from the very same problems as the Gail Kim vs. Maryse match. MVP should not have suffered that kind of momentum halting loss before starting as a member of the RAW roster. What I did like is that Ziggler is now a serious heel character. Drop the whole greeting gimmick and give him a Lex Luger style narcissist gimmick and Ziggler could be a big star.
10. As nice as it was to see Ted DiBiase Jr. featured in a singles main event, it should not have been on an edition of SmackDown. Yet again a RAW feud is put ahead of the SmackDown roster. This time could have been used to highlight some of SmackDown’s new stars. Edge, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Kane were all absent for this show, while two RAW stars featured in the main event. Now that is simply bad booking.
