Smackdown Report for Feb 12

By:  | Posted: Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 3:17 pm.

By: Jeff Goodridge
The LAW Live Audio Wrestling

Smackdown comes blasting
in from the home state of the Super Bowl Champs and the spiciest gumbo
this side of the Bayou! Hold on to your gators, kids! Smackdown starts
with a BANG! 

We are just a few days away
from the Elimination Chamber and as we continue down the road to Wrestlemania,
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker are quick to remind us that tonight’s
main event of Chris Jericho and Undertaker features two of the big names
in the Smackdown Chamber event. The show gets underway with some heavy
pyro, as usual, and soon the air is filled with the sounds of Rey Mysterio’s
music and the screams of little mask wearing kids all over the building. 

Match 1: Rey Mysterio
vs. CM Punk 

I must say, I love when
Rey rocks a mask that’s black and orange. But then again, I also like
Halloween a whole lot. I’m hoping he does well in the Chamber match,
but I’m sure he isn’t going to be pulling out the win there. CM
Punk is next out followed by the shaven Serena and Punk’s lethal enforcer
Luke Gallows. I have to say, I never thought that out of Festus and
Jesse that Festus would be the one that made something of him self.
Especially since Jesse’s daddy was Terry Gordy of the Fabulous Freebirds.  

As they come down to the
ring, my ever awesome girlfriend Lisa, thinks that its time for someone
else to join the Straight Edge Society. I don’t disagree. With the
way things have been going for Punk and with the tag belts not going
their way, adding someone else to the fold makes it seem like the movement
is growing, and it also makes them more of a threat to the rest of the
locker room. Grish and Striker make sure to remind everyone that Punk
and Gallows didn’t pull out the win on RAW and that MizShow are the
new title holders. I think we figured it out, Todd, when they didn’t
come to the ring wearing belts. 

The two come together slowly,
with Punk pushing Rey off. This is starting too fast for me to cover
entirely but it’s a ton of reversals and a ton of high impact moves.
First series was insane, but it’s slowed
down some with Rey and Punk going into a test of strength. This is something
I could see more of. After being forced to the ground and working his
way back up, Rey flies into the air, while still holding onto Punk,
and lands on his head with his knees. This sends Punk to the mat and
leaves Rey snapping some quick kicks off on Punk’s legs. 

After Rey sends Punk to
the corner, he grabs one leg, setting Punk up to hit a wicked enzugiri.
Punk covers for two, and then locks in his triangle leg lock onto Rey’s
head and neck. I have to say, Serena’s hair is growing back much more
rapidly than I expected. Rey fights out of the submission but Punk hits
a snapmare and follows up with a hoof to the back of the head. Punk
covers and gets two. 

As Punk goes to lift
Rey from the mat, and summarily tosses him to the outside. Rey lands
well outside, Punk goes to join him, but Rey is back into the ring and
bounding across looking for a 619. Punk confers with the Society outside,
as we head into the first commercial break. 

We come back and Punk and
Mysterio are back in the ring. After running some, Punk hits a high
flipping dropkick and nails Mysterio for a two count. Punk sends Rey
to the ropes, who evades Punk’s attack and goes back to the ropes
for a leg scissors that brings Punk back to the outer ring area. Rey
winds up, and runs across the apron to land right on CM Punk. Luke Gallows,
who should be doing more of this, comes to Punk’s aid and starts to
distract and intimidate Rey while Punk gets his breath. Punk then uses
this chance to back body drop Rey into first row ringside. I’ve often
wondered why fans don’t try to help guys back to their feet when they
land in their laps or take bumps in their seating area. Maybe it happens
in Canada, I don’t know. We’re really polite like that. 

Punk brings Rey back to
reality the hard way and then slides his prone body back into the ring.
Punk covers for three, but only catches two. Rey moves into the corner,
and Punk comes flying from the opposite side, dropkicking Rey into the
post. This looks really awesome on television and it makes me wonder
why they wouldn’t let Tajiri do more things like this when he was
around. Come to think of it, how wicked would a Tajiri/Punk match be? 

Rey rolls to the outside
and sells like a champ. Punk goes right back out after him with forearms
and a clothesline, and then rolls him back in for a two count. Punk
goes for a modified surfboard/bow and arrow submission hold,
twisting Rey Mysterio’s spine. Rey reverses for two, Punk goes for
a back body drop, and Rey flips again into a two count. 

As Rey comes back for some
more, Punk sends him crashing down to the mat with a filthy looking
backbreaker, adding more work to the spinal column of the masked luchador.
Pin for two, and Punk continues to focus on the back. Using arms to
pull, Punk stabs his knee into the back of Rey Mysterio, until Rey can
launch a kick to Punk’s head, breaking the hold. Rey retreats to the
corner and drop toe holds Punk into the turnbuckle. Rey goes to the
top rope, but Punk swats his foot, leading to a tree of woe for Mysterio.
That kinda rhymes.  

Punk takes his time, going
over to the opposite corner and glaring menacingly as he prepares his
next vile move. He pounces, looking for a Ty Cobb baseball slide to
Mysterio’s head, but Rey is able to pull himself up just in time for
Punk to crotch himself on the post. Mysterio hits the top rope and lands
on target. He fires himself off the ropes and hits a HUGE flying crossbody
on Punk, but only grabs a two count. This is a great match for television. 

Rey fires himself back off
the ropes, but catches a low blow from CM Punk. Punk tries to roll up
but misses and catches a kick to the head, which sounded awesome by
the way. Rey covers for two and the Society looks on ominously. Rey
puts Punk back into the corner, sends himself off the ropes but Punk
is able to hit a powerslam off the run, leading to a two count. 

Rey again retreats to the
corner and Punk launches a flying knee. Punk comes back for some more
but Rey dropkicks the knee and sets the Straight Edge Savior up for
a 619. Rey goes to attack, but Serena hits the apron to dissuade his
movement. Just then, Gallows attempts to snag Rey, who responds with
a chinbuster. Punk comes back for Rey but gets drop toed into the ropes.
Rey goes again for a 619 but Punk evades. Punk then picks up Rey for
his Go to Sleep finisher, but Rey reverses into a hurricanrana pin for
three.  

The match is over for Rey,
but not for Gallows. CM Punk’s hetero
life mate smashes Rey and follows up with boots to the back and a shattering
backbreaker. Punk has the BEST heel look on his face as he crawls to
Gallows and instructs him to hit a huge avalanche on Rey, ala King Kong
Bundy. He follows this with a short arm clothesline and leaves Mysterio
a crumpled mess. Striker goes on to mention that Straight Edge is all
about living a pure life, which leads Todd to ask what’s pure about
this beat down we’re witnessing. Response:
“Pure, unmitigated brutality”. Matt Striker, you’re awesome. Thank
you for coming to Smackdown. 

Gallows holds Rey as Serena
kicks Mysterio in the breadbasket and Punk yells that they can save
him. Gallows picks up Rey, places him on Punk’s shoulders, and Rey
catches a GTS.  

Match Overview: This was
a great television match. 15 minutes well worth my time, and I didn’t
want to flip the channel once. This really brings back solid memories
of the Jericho/Mysterio feud that was so awesome and led to so many
great matches, not only on television but also on pay per view. Granted,
Chris and Rey have worked together longer and know one another a bit
better, but given time, I could really get behind a Punk/Mysterio feud.
Rumors have been circulating that perhaps Rey will get involved with
a hair vs. mask stipulation for Wrestlemania, and I’m all for it.
Just book it the right way, and don’t ask Kevin Nash his opinion on
the booking. If you heard his comments on The LAW in regards to the
WCW Mask Fiasco, then you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t,
go listen to the interview. It’s ridiculous, and all
of that is totally on Kevin’s part. 

We head into commercial,
with the promise of Batista later on in the show, to explain his actions
involving John Cena on RAW. 
 

We come back from commercial
and we’re treated to a new entrance video and music combo for
Drew McIntyre. I, for one, am really happy about this; his last music
was very generic, almost like some custom created character for a video
game. The kid looks good, physically, the belt looks brilliant around
his waist and he’s got that silent cockiness that makes him such a
brilliant heel. 

Drew goes on to tell us
that not only is he the Intercontinental Champion, but he’s also undefeated
in the six months he’s been on Smackdown. The lights go red, and here
comes Kane. Does anyone really think Kane is going to win the belt here?
McIntyre tries to bail out, saying he doesn’t have anything to prove
here, especially to Kane, since he dropped him last week. 

Match 2: Kane vs. Drew McIntyre 

The bell gets rung as Drew
is on his way out of the ring to pander to the back, and Kane levels
him with a huge boot. The action goes to the outside of the ring, allowing
Kane to beat on the Sinister Scotsman. Kane fires Drew into the ropes
but telegraphs and catches a shot for it. Drew attempts to fire off
the ropes but Kane fires a clothesline of epic proportions. He goes
up top, looking for the lariat, but Drew bails out to the outer ring
area. We hit a commercial and Laura Diakun goes on to say something
unimportant about the Raptors. 

As we come back, both men
are back in the ring and Drew has Kane in an armbar. Kane battles back
with shots to the gut, and sends Drew to the corner. McIntyre fires
back with a kick to Kane’s knee, attempting to stop his mobility.
Drew hits a series of boots, which all look fantastic, and
then a big clothesline, sending both men to the mat. Drew covers but
gets two, and Grisham mentions that McIntyre has taken up his own poll
in his native land of Scotland and apparently, he’s more popular than
Sean Connery. Shocking, positively shocking. 

Drew attempts to launch
Kane into the corner, but it’s reversed. In a cool turn, Drew hops
up the turnbuckles to avoid the corner, but catches a wicked clothesline
on his way back into the fray. Kane drives McIntyre to the corner again,
feeding him shots. McIntyre feeds Kane an elbow to break it up, and
runs headfirst into a big sidewalk slam from Kane, who covers for two.
Kane returns to the top rope, and connects with the big lariat, delivering
the IC Champ back down to the mat. Kane motions for the chokeslam and
gets Drew around the gizzard, but Drew battles out, and attempts to
lock his Future Shock DDT, but Kane is able to re-establish his hold.
The Big red machine tries to make contact, but Drew bails out and both
men end up outside the ring. 

Both men are battling out,
and Drew attempts to get back into the ring, but Kane drags him back
down and drives the Scotsmen into the ringside barrier with authority.
The ref finishes the count, and both men are disqualified, but the action
doesn’t stop there. Kane fires McIntyre back into the ring, but catches
a boot on his way back in. McIntyre pounces, Lisa says not unlike a
puma, and feeds shots to Kane until the ref is able to pull him away.
Drew then heads back to the ringside area and grabs his great equalizer,
the Intercontinental Championship. It’s nice of Tony Chimmel to get
of his tubby ass to hand it to him. 

Drew goes to cork Kane with
the belt, but Kane is able to latch on for a chokeslam. He delivers
the shot, but I have to think he meant to make Drew land ON the belt,
instead of right next to it. At least, it would have made more sense
to me, if you want him to look strong coming into the next match. Kane
raises his arms, launches the napalm from the ring posts and heads to
the back, as Drew McIntyre lays prone, belt across his chest. 

Match Overview: This match
did what it needed to do, it was purely mechanical. Clearly, there’s
a match coming up for the belt at the Chamber PPV and I really can’t
see Drew dropping the belt to Kane. Morrison, maybe, but not Kane. I
honestly think it’s a shame that Kane doesn’t get more ring time
and doesn’t get a run with anything higher than the tag titles. I
realize that with marketing to kids and teens, you cant have it as demonic
as hooking Shane McMahon up to a car battery or having someone rape
a corpse, but there has to be some sort of way to utilize the big man
a bit more before he retires. McIntyre continues to impress me, week
after week, and no matter what anyone says, I truly believe that he
could be worked into a second coming of Tully Blanchard. He’s that
damned good. 

We go to the backstage area,
and Mickie James is perusing a tasty looking fruit bowl before being
harassed by Layla and Michelle McCool. Just when you thought it was
safe to go backstage… 

LayCool lays out some stupid
fat jokes, saying there might be cookies under the fruit, but Mickie
gets her back up and asks them when they’re going to get it, that
the feud is done. I agree, wholeheartedly. Michelle says that as long
as Mickie has HER belt, it’s never going to be over. She offers Mickie
some cottage cheese, suggesting that eating that would allow her to
fit the belt around her waist.  Mickie flips it out of her hands
and it lands with a fantastic slosh sound off screen. Michelle and Layla
are stunned and Mickie laughs, until she turns around to see where the
cheese landed. In all her sloppy glory, Vickie Guererro is pissed, even
with Mickie apologizing. LayCool comes in with the sucking up and we
hit another commercial. 

As we come back, we get
a look at WWE.com and all the great work Joey Styles is doing to keep
that website entertaining, with Valentines related Divas stuff and such.
I have to be honest; I only ever go to their website to check out the
line ups for PPV, and possibly a bio page
or two. I can’t be bothered spending any copious amount of time there,
because if you want to see a video, you either have to pay for it or
download something ridiculous. YouTube is much cooler, and I think its
one of the only things that TNA has done right, by embracing it and
utilizing it to promote the product. But I digress. 

Match 3: Mickie James vs.
Layla 

Mickie James comes bouncing
out to the ring, her usual bubbly self, with belt in hand and smile
on face. She’s set to face off against Layla in a match, but I think
Icky Vickie is going to have some other plans. LayCool comes out in
matching hoodies, which I’m sure makes them cool to somebody, 
The match starts off with Mickie and Layla in the ring, with Michelle
prowling the outer perimeter looking
for her chance to strike. Striker lets us know that Layla is of Moroccan
and English decent, and is fluent in Arabic. I’ll let the UN know,
maybe they can use her for their next food fight or fashion show. 

Both girls start off with
heavy shots, and Mickie drops Layla with a brilliant dropkick to the
face. Layla panders to the corner, but we get inconvenienced by Vickie
Guererro. Man, this show is SO much better without the involvement of
GM’s and GM Consultants. There’s so much HEAT for this lady that
Eddy would be proud. She flips the match into a two on one handicap.
Michelle drops her clogs, and is ready for action. The amount of time
this girl spends in the ring barefoot, you would think she’s Samoan
or something. 

Michelle barely makes it
into the ring before Mickie is on her, feeding her shots to her head
and midsection. McCool comes back with a hoof to the gut and the she
wolves set in on their prey. Both girls fire Mickie to the ropes, but
they both telegraph, and Mickie hoofs McCool, and follows up
with a head smash to the mat. Layla’s turn is a little more involved,
as Mickie bounds off the ropes and hits a Lou Thesz Press, firing shots
on all cylinders to Layla’s skull. In a cool spot, Michelle tries
to break it up, but Mickie is able to double leg hook her, and goes
for a jackknife pin. Layla breaks it up with a nice dropkick, but it
still looked awesome. 

Mickie is fighting them
both off now, but falters as Layla fires Mickie off the ropes and into
the waiting arms of McCool, who hits a stunning spinning backbreaker.
This match is a lot better than I expected, I just wish the garbage
storyline was out the window. Both girls fire Mickie into the corner
and McCool follows behind her with a knee for James’s stomach. McCool
comes back to fire Layla into the corner, but Mickie flips her up over
onto the apron. Mickie goes to hit what looked to be a hurricanrana
on McCool, but Layla breaks that up, distracting James long enough for
McCool to land a vicious foot to the face. McCool attempts to dust her
hands like Mr. Perfect but comes off looking like she suffers from Down’s
syndrome. She grabs Mickie and hits her Styles Clas… I mean… Faith
Breaker finisher. This leads to a pin fall and a win for LayCool.

Both girls celebrate in
the ring after the match and embrace like they’ve won the Super Bowl.
It’s commercial time once again!!! 

Match Overview: This match
was really good. It was physical, it was fast paced, and it didn’t
take all night. Layla lacks some ring presence and I think she could
probably benefit from spending some time with Lance Storm or Finlay.
I don’t know what her finishing move is, or even if she has one, but
she should be dropping it soon. She needs to establish herself as something
more than just Michelle McCool’s B.F.F. Mickie, as always, puts out
a great match, does a fantastic job, and shows how badly I miss ladies
like Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, and Ivory. Those three on their own
revolutionized women’s wrestling in the Attitude Era and I think they’re
sorely missed right now. McCool is a decent wrestler, she’s just a
very weak heel and VERY weak on the microphone. 

We come back from commercial
and we see an awesome aerial shot of a local air force base. Todd leads
us into the Batista segment and the segment is well done. Bret Hart
and his feud with McMahon is what’s making me purchase Wrestlemania
at this point. The clips here are great, showcasing the RAW attack on
Cena and his walkout on Punk from last weeks Smackdown, which you would
have read about if you were here. 

Tough Enough alumni Josh
Matthews introduce Batista, who my girlfriend has an intense crush on.
He makes the slow walk down to the ring, rocking a Canadian Tuxedo,
made up of a denim jacket and jeans. Josh asks what provoked the recent
actions on RAW, and why he walked out of my Chamber elimination match.
Batista takes the stick, and his time, staring down Josh. The crowd
is screaming for Cena, and The Animal just smiles his devious smile.
He sits on the top turnbuckle, which looks pretty comfortable, and then
decides it’s time to go. He walks around the outside, stares down
a kid in a Cena shirt, and then returns to the ring. He opens his mouth,
as if to say something, but drops the stick, and leaves. I have to say,
I am REALLY enjoying this. The suspense is great, and I can only assume
this is going to lead to Cena and Batista squaring off at Wrestlemania.
If that’s the case, it could be the second best match of the night,
since we all know Undertaker and HBK will not be denied the honor. The
spotlight deal does a lot for me too, helping to embellish his heelish
needs. 

The crowd slams Batista
with a ‘you suck’ chant, and Batista yells
‘You want an explanation?’ He comes back to the ring and I’m disappointed.
I expected him to just point at the Mania logo, and then leave
but we’re going to get a promo instead, and I do so love Batista’s
promos. You can really tell he’s a student of Flair’s. He fakes
us out again, and leaves for real this time. 

At a loss for words, Todd
and Matt lead us into a promo for a match between John Morrison and
R-Truth, and this match is going to be off the chain, to steal a line
from Taz. Both of these guys should rack up some serious frequent flyer
miles in this one. We get a Mania promo letting everyone know that in
a mere 44 days, The Granddaddy of all shows will erupt from the sandy
plains of Arizona. 

We get a WWE narcissistic
factoid on the way back from commercial and Teddy Long makes his way
out to the stage, and explains that since Batista refused to give an
explanation and refused his match last week, he can compete against
Edge next week. That should be awesome, and sounds safe for Edge, who
really needs someone like Batista to take care of him and help him shake
off the ring rust. 

Todd and Matt are up next,
talking about what’s up with Batista and Matt hardy is making his
way to the ring with The Great Khali and his lil buddy Ranjin Singh.
Matt wants to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day, and calls Khali
the ‘Poonjabi’ Playboy. Matt says he’s going to have the best
V Day ever, and introduces Maria Kanellis to the ring. Apparently, she’s
his Valentine. Man, he’s trading up from Amy Dumb Ass.  

Match 4: Hart Dynasty
vs. Great Khali and Matt Hardy, with Maria Kanellis 

Hart Dynasty, the most underrated
tag team in the company, heads down to the ring next and
I still love how The Dynasty gets into the ring, and I’m dying to
see more of Natalya’s work in the ring. I still don’t understand
why she doesn’t get a shot at the Women’s Belt, but I guess mine
is not to reason why. 

DH Smith starts off in the
ring with Khali, but quickly retreats back to the corner, tags in Tyson,
and Khali brings Kidd into the match the HARD way. Khali ends the pain
and brings in Hardy to work with Kidd. Hardy clotheslines Tyson into
the corner and then smacks Smith, who was on his way back to the apron
to help out Tyson. Tyson hits a dropkick on Hardy, and tags Smith back
in, who hits a STUNNING stall suplex, just like daddy did. He covers
for two, and sends Hardy to the Dynasty corner for some more punishment.
Tyson comes back in, lands a few stiff kicks and an electrifying dropkick
to the back of Matt’s skull. Tyson goes for the cover but comes up
just short, so he locks on a solid headlock, screaming all the way.
No one has vocals in this company right now like Tyson Kidd. I would
be remiss if I didn’t mention it looks like the Dynasty is rocking
tights with either small dots or paint splatters on them, reminiscent
of the Hitman tights of the early to mid nineties.  

Matt fights out of the headlock,
and receives a kick for his troubles, leading Tyson to rocket off the
ropes and land himself in a Side Effect, courtesy of Hardy. Matt looks
like he’s going for the Twist of Fate, but Smith rushes to distract
the referee, leading Matt to go to the ropes and Natalya to grab his
feet, bringing Hardy down to the mat. I love that she’s getting more
involved in this, and she’s doing more to get noticed. Long term,
this girl is going to be something special. 

Suddenly, I miss Joey Styles,
as Maria flies around the corner steps and leaps onto The Anvilette,
busting her head into the ringside mats. While this is going on, Kidd
attempts a rollup on Hardy, who reverses into his own pin for three.
This was really short.  

Match Overview: This was
short, but I’m sure its leading into a three on three match for next
weeks shot. I’m really hoping that Hart Dynasty picks up the win next
week, especially since I can’t see Hardy and Khali hanging around
as a team for much longer. I’m also hoping that we finally get to
see how GOOD Natalya is in the ring, I would especially LOVE to see
a Sharpshooter on Maria. But, I’m sure I’m just a dreamer, and all
this will blow right up in my face, especially now that I’ve predicted
it. 

Just prior to commercial,
we get to see the video package for Ted DiBiase, who will be going into
the Hall of Fame the night before Wrestlemania. I really think this
was a long time coming, and I’m happy that he finally gets to take
his place in the hallowed halls. 

As we come back from commercial,
we see a RAW recap, of Carl Edwards hosting RAW. I didn’t catch the
episode since my DVR was being stupid, but I heard it was decent. The
clips are helping the build for Hitman vs. McMahon, and I, for one,
am stoked to see this happen.

Todd and Matt run down the
Elimination Chamber Pay Per View and then show us the fallout from the
earlier Mysterio/Punk match. 

R-Truth is on his way to
the ring, let’s crank it up. What’s up? Not much, really. Just watching
Smackdown, writing the review, and going to commercial. 

As commercial comes back,
Truth asks the Baton Rouge crowd, Who Dat? I’m kinda sick of that
already. John Morrison makes his slow-mo entrance and comes down to
the ring. Lisa thinks the Shaman of Sexy is looking pretty fly in his
silver and black pants. I could honestly care less, this match is going
to be !#@$ing awesome! 

Match 5: John Morrison vs.
R-Truth 

Morrison and Truth shake
hands and Morrison latches on with a side headlock. Truth shoots off
into the ropes, and catches a shoulderblock from Morrison. John bounds
off the ropes, hops over Truth, comes back, Truth leapfrogs, and Morrison
rolls over Truth’s back. At this point, Morrison hits the ground,
clutching his ankle and Truth isn’t sure if he should press the advantage
or ease back. The ref tends to John and calls the match. Truth wins
the match, based on injury, but the cool thing is Truth is helping John
with his boots, and really doing the face thing here. I like that. 

Match Overview: This wasn’t
even really a match; however, what I saw was awesome. Internet reports
from different people, along with John Pollock of the LAW, say that
Morrison sprained it. Morrison himself tweeted that he had broken it
in three places. So, I suppose we’ll have to see how it plays out
and see who’s working who on this one. 

Todd and Matt let us know
that show is nearly over, by mentioning again that Chris Jericho and
Undertaker is coming up next. We get a RAW commercial first, letting
those under a rock know that Jerry Springer is hosting RAW on Family
Day Eve, or Monday Night for those of you in the States. Why wasn’t
this thought up when Springer was topical and even remotely
coolish? Does anyone even watch his show anymore? I don’t even think
I get it on my Shaw Cablevision. I get Steve Wilkos though, but that’s
a screaming match for another time. 

Tony Chimmel is back in
the ring as we head back in from our kitchen runs, and introduces Edge
to the Baton Rouge assembled. I have to say, he looked a little rough
around the edges(pardon the pun) at the Rumble, but he’s looking like
he’s getting into ring shape a lot faster than I expected. Edge says
he isn’t here to talk about the benefits of winning The Rumble, he
says he doesn’t have to compete in the Elimination Chamber. He can’t
predict who’s going to win, be he can predict he will fight whoever
wins the Chamber match. He mentions it could be Randy Orton, John Cena,
Rey Mysterio, or Brutus Beefcake and Charlie Manson’s love child,
CM Punk. I laughed out loud on that one. 

Potentially, he could face
12 different Superstars at Mania, but one guy stands out from the pack.
There’s only one guy that’s undefeated, and is 17-0 at Wrestlemania.
Undertaker is someone that’s on his list, but for now he has to focus
on Batista next week. He’s about to continue, but Jericho breaks down
the wall, and interrupts the Toronto native. Jericho says he finds it
ironic that Edge didn’t mention him. He understands why, Edge doesn’t
like him. Jericho is a bad luck charm and bad things happen to Edge
when he’s around. He was there the night that Edge tore his Achilles
tendon, and saw him writhing in pain. He was there seven months later,
when Edge made the return at The Rumble. But he doesn’t know what
that’s like. He’s never been injured, he just wins championships.
Jericho offers him some advice, and says
choose the winner of the RAW Chamber. Jericho plans on winning the Smackdown
Chamber, and says stay away from him. If he continues to provoke him,
bad things will happen. This is a great lead in to what could be a stellar
match at Wrestlemania. 

Jericho is hitting a home
run on this promo, and plans on beating Undertaker tonight. The gong
hits, and the Dead Man cometh. The bell tolls for thee, Chris Jericho,
and the match is almost underway, but to pay some bills, let’s hit
a commercial. 

The match starts as soon
as we get back, and after running around a bit, Jericho bails to the
outside. Edge has joined Todd and Matt on commentary and I’m expecting
that in itself to be excellent. Jericho rolls back into the ring, and
tries to hit Taker with an elbow drop but Taker takes notice and moves
out of the way, dragging Jericho down and leveling him with an elbow
from the outside to the apron. Taker comes back into the ring, and drops
a big guillotine leg drop on Jericho from the apron. Taker tosses Jericho
back into the ring and drops the boots on him. He picks up the former
Y2J, and while holding a deadlock on his hand and arm, ball and chain
drags him into his shoulder, following up with a leg drop. Undertaker
covers for one. Undertaker continues to work the shoulder, and goes
to the corner for Old School, but Chris is able to crotch Taker on the
corner and continues his assault on the Dead Man. 

Jericho scales the ropes
and is feeding shots to Undertaker, and connects with a superplex off
the top rope. Jericho covers and gets a two count and he continues to
take the boots to The Undertaker. Jericho latches on with a headlock
and Edge is blowing me away with his commentary this evening. When this
guy cant go anymore, put him in the booth! Undertaker starts tossing
blows to the head of Jericho and battles his way out, but Jericho counters
going toe to toe with Undertaker and eventually falling to the soup
bone hands of The Dead Man. Taker tosses him into the corner, and hits
a big avalanche, rocking Jericho to his very core. He then tosses him
again, but this time picks him up and drops him over the top turnbuckle,
following up with a big running boot to the mush. Undertaker hits another
leg drop, and covers but only comes away with two. He stands, and sets
for the chokeslam, but Jericho bails to the outside, and bitches at
Edge, allowing for Undertaker to come out and smoke Jericho with a big
forearm from behind. Edge and Undertaker have a bit of a stare down
before Taker launches Jericho over the announce table and almost into
Edge’s lap. Edge gets in Undertaker’s face and asks him what that
was about. Taker offers no response, and
rolls Jericho back into the ring. He then turns, and levels Edge with
a big boot. Taker goes to get back into the ring but Jericho smacks
him with a DDT and rolls him up for two. Jericho takes the top pad of
the turnbuckle, and goes to make work of it, but taker is all ready
for him, and sets him up for the choke slam. Jericho reverses out, and
goes for a roll up, but Taker kicks out and sends Jericho flying into
the ring post he JUST exposed. That’s a great spot for the heel. 

Undertaker hooks Jericho
up for the Last Ride, but as soon as he turns, Edge flies across the
ring and folds Undertaker in half with a spear! This was a great set
up and a great follow through. Both men are prone on the mat, and Taker
is first to rise. He grabs Jericho, and Jericho hits a Codebreaker out
of NOWHERE, and hits a three count for the win. 

Match Overview: This match
did a great job of setting up Edge and Jericho for what promises to
be an EXCELLENT match at Wrestlemania. Undertaker doesn’t lose any
of his steam coming out of this match, and is still looking good on
his way into the Chamber. Edge is beyond awesome on the announce stick,
and I would think Jericho is going to interfere in the Batista/Edge
match next week to further the issue. Jericho can lose clean to
R-Truth, Matt Hardy and the mid-card elite.
He beats The Undertaker, and it isn’t too much of a surprise. THAT is
why he is the best in the world and that’s why this match was overall
awesomeness from bell to bell. 

Show Overview: I thought
the show was great. Good pacing, not too much backstage bullshit, and
great, well timed matches. I feel like a broken record because every
week, I’m saying the same thing, over and over. But this is the BEST
wrestling show on free television right now.
Tonight I’m going to give the Smackdown show an 8/10 and hope that
next weeks match with Batista and Edge can excel with a good amount
of time, and a great story told by two of the best in the Smackdown
Roster. 

I’m going to plug my
favorite Indy wrestling show this year, Alpha 1 Pro. Hamilton is hosting
what could be a total revolution in local independent wrestling on February
21st, and with Colin Delany, Ethan Page, Scotty O’Shea, and Alex York,
how can you possibly go wrong? The matches will be fast paced, hard
hitting, jaw dropping, and entirely entertaining. Keep your eyes peeled
to the Fight Network for chances to win some FREE tickets to the event,
and if you see me, I’ll sign anything you put in front of me. You
can search the group on Google, check us out on Facebook,
or do anything you want. Just DON’T MISS THIS SHOW!
Wednesday night, some of the workers will be appearing on the JR DIGGS
internet show, live from King St. in Hamilton. If you want to sit in
the studio live, or just see the show from the streets, check him out
on Facebook as well, to get all the info! 

Jeff Goodridge is a life
long wrestling fan and a freelance writer. He spends most of his time
searching YouTube for Billy Red Lyons videos, and hopes one day, Pollock
and Ting will make their way to Hamilton for an
Indy show. Perhaps on Feb. 21?

CATEGORIES:Wrestling