We are 48 hours away from Summer Slam 2009 and the WWE will being trying hard to convince you to buy the pay-per-view on this episode of Smackdown! We’ve got TWO 6-man tags on tap for tonight to spotlight the three biggest matches from this brand. Let’s see what the hype machine has to offer us tonight on Smackdown!
Rey Mysterio & Cryme Tyme vs Dolph Ziggler & Chris Jericho & Big Show: At Summer Slam Rey will defend the IC belt against Ziggler and Cryme Tyme will challenge Jericho and Show for the unified tag-titles. I actually think both of those matches will be entertaining, let’s see how this match fares. Y2J and Rey start us off with quickly gaining the advantage both with his offense and his mouth. An enziguri by Mysterio leads to a tag to JTG and they combine for some Too Cool-like offense. That brief advantage does not hold and Dolph tags into the match and quickly beats him down in the corner. As the action spills into the opposite corner, JTG turns the tide and that takes us to a commercial break.
While we were absent, the tide again turned against JTG and Ziggler is dominating him on the mat. Jericho tags into the match and into a crossbody then clothesline by JTG that leads to a tag to Shad and Cryme Tyme hits a few combo maneuvers to dominate Jericho for a bit. Chris is able to escape for the tag to Show and he starts to mauls JTG. Meanwhile Jericho goes over to the announce table to yell some play-by-play into their microphones before returning to his corner after a cheap shot to JTG. Chris tags back in and JTG has a hope spot silenced by a nice step-up enziguri. Finally Shad gets the hot tag and lays out all of his opponents. Tandem offense between Shad and Mysterio connects and all heck breaks loose. While the other 4 men battle on the outside, Jericho and Rey continue to battle on the outside. Mysterio hits the 619 on Chris, but before he can drop the dime, the Big Show calmly walks by and knocks him the f’ out. Ziggler picks up the scraps and the pinfall victory for his team. That was a highly entertaining and productive opening match.
One week from tomorrow, NBC will show WrestleMania 25. It will be interesting to see how they take that 4 hour show and edit it down to an hour for this NBC special. After a look back at last week’s episode, we get a backstage interview with Josh and Matt Hardy. Matt tries to explain his actions not only in helping Jeff recently but also in the past concerning his brother Jeff. He says Jeff has forgiven him and they are moving on as brothers. Isn’t that sweet?
Kane joins us in the ring for a promo to hype his match with The Great Khali this Sunday on pay-per-view. Kane wants us to know he is a real monster and Khali is not because he has no compassion and TGK does. This challenge is answered as Khali comes to the ring and the two rough-house for a bit before Kane bails. If this promo or feud makes you want to spend $40 to watch a ppv, I’m not sure we can be friends.
Mike Knox vs Fit Finlay: Before the match we get a split screen to show pre-match comments from Knox that fail to increase my interest in his character development. This contest develops into a bit of a slugfest with both men getting their share of the shots in. Finlay goes up top but is tripped up by Knox. Mike starts to dominate on the mat with a series of hold to work over the back of Finlay. Fit fights back with some clotheslines and other assorted maneuvers but cannot get more than a two count from the flurry of offense. He tries to hit a splash in the corner but Knox moves and he hits the post. Mike climbs on top of the prone Irishman and starts slowly wailing on him. The ref asks him to break it up, and he refuses to do so by the count of 5 so Finlay wins by DQ. Post match, Knox continues the beating and once again incorporates the ring steps into his fun.
When we return the ringside area is decorated in TLC style and your World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy joins us for a promo. Jeff confirms that he and Matt have reconciled. He also says that doctors have told him not to compete this Sunday and that he should retire from wrestling, He says he won’t listen to that advice and the crowd cheers as he climbs the ladder in the ring and gets loud and poetic with his promo. CM Punk interrupts; “Hey Jeff aren’t you nervous being way up there, so HIGH? Especially in the condition that you are in, and by condition I mean that you are probably drunk right now just like all of these people here tonight.†After a lot of verbal sparring, Punk tries to tip the ladder over but Jeff escapes and hits him with the Twist of Fate and takes his leave.
Maria & Melina vs Layla & Natalya: WWE Women’s Champion Michelle McCool joins us on commentary for this match and all of our commentators discuss fashion and game shows for a bit as the match begins. The action briefly spills outside and Melina attacks McCool but that backfires as Layla gets some shots in Michelle’s defense. Natalya tags in and starts to work over Melina with a series of submission maneuvers. Nat decks Maria off the apron but misses a dive in the corner allowing Melina to hit her finisher with no name and get the pinfall victory for her team. That was very brief and more about McCool than the 4 ladies in the ring.
We get a version of Word Up with Jesse and Eve trying to pump up “their boys†JTG and Shad for their match at Summer Slam. Josh is back for another backstage interview, this time with Rey Mysterio who says nothing of note. Todd and JR are in the ring to rundown the Summer Slam card and the return of DX. Make sure to check in at the Pulse all weekend for Summer Slam coverage and in the meantime you can relive what happened at last year’s event with Scott Keith.
John Morrison & the Hardy Boyz vs CM Punk & the Hart Dynasty: Natalya is quick to shake off her loss just segments ago and accompanies her crew to ringside. Matt and Jeff enter together to their old school music and video to solidify their reunion. Morrison and Kidd start the match and Kidd gets a quick takedown with a side headlock and immediately tells the ref to ask John if he wants to quit. The advantage does not last long and Matt and Smith are both tagged into the match. Bulldog Jr takes control of Matt and tags in Punk who quickly loses the advantage allowing Jeff to be tagged in and for the Hardys to hit some of their classic tandem offense. Punk and his teammates choose to regroup outside and we go to a commercial break.
We return to action with Tyson Kidd being double teamed by the Hardys. We get a series of quick tags from the face corner as Matt, John and Jeff all take turns knocking around Kidd. Matt allows the tag to Smith who briefly takes control but Morrison is quickly back in and hitting his standing moonsault for a two count. Punk is tagged in and takes advantage by shoving Morrison off the tope ropes when he attempts a springboard maneuver. The ref gets distracted by Punk and Smith lays out John with a big boot as we hit another commercial break.
As the action begins again Kidd has the advantage on Morrison who is down on the mat. Smith is soon back in the ring and continues to wear down the “Friday Night Delightâ€. Morrison hits a flying kick off the ropes and makes a tag to Jeff as Kidd is also tagged into the match. Jeff goes for the Swanton but Kidd is pulled out of the way. Punk is tagged into the match and starts pounding on Jeff. Hardy is able to reverse an irish whip into Whispers in the Wind and is able to tag Matt into the match. The eldest Hardy comes in on fire laying out Punk with a series of high impact moves. The Dynasty tries to interfere but are dumped outside by Morrison who follows them out with a corkscrew dive over the top rope. Matt hits a rising Punk with the Twist of Fate and he gets the pinfall victory for his team.
Two very high quality 6 man tag-team matches make up for the rest of the lackluster activities on tonight’s show. Summer Slam should be a pretty good show this Sunday so make sure to check back at the Pulse for all the news from the big event.
