Smackdown Report for Feb 5
By: Jeff Goodridge
The LAW – Live Audio Wrestling
Tonight, Smackdown emanates
from the state where it’s illegal to sell bologna on Sundays! Memphis,
Tennessee with it’s rich wrestling history, its sound of the blues
down Biloxi Avenue, and the home of Graceland. The promo for the show
lets us know that The Cutting Edge will return this evening, with Undertaker
as Edge’s special guest. I love that Edge is back and ready for Wrestlemania,
let’s just see how long he can stay healthy this time.
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker
are your announcers, as always. Todder let’s everyone know that tonight’s
card will mostly consist of Elimination Chamber qualifying matches,
especially since the pay per view is about three weeks away. Matt Striker
also says that later tonight, footage will be shown from what happened
after RAW went off the air, featuring Batista and John Cena.
The show opens with Chris Jericho,
making his way down to the ring. He hasn’t even opened his mouth yet
and I’m already giving his promo a ten out of ten. This just based
on his facials alone. I’m totally excited for the new book, and his
take on Benoit and Guererro.
Chris is pretty upset, you
see, he thought he was going to be the Rumble winner and going to be
heading to Wrestlemania. His shot at the belt was taken away, and he’s
been waiting for this second shot since Wrestlemania 25 and has been
working on his plans for the last ten months, until Edge came out and
ruined everything. Good thing Scooby doo and those darned kids weren’t
there too, or Jericho would be looking for him too. Chris feels that
since Edge was out injured, he has been CARRYING the entire company
on his back, winning matches and carrying titles. He’s sick of the
love that Edge is getting, and says Edge is a con artist. He has no
heart, no passion, and no fire. Jericho has nothing, and he feels he
doesn’t deserve to settle for nothing.
Jericho refuses to ‘qualify’
for the Chamber tonight, and says he wants Teddy Long out to fix it,
since he is the face of Smackdown and the best in the business. To everyone’s
surprise and pleasure, Teddy is no where to be seen. Chris says he’s
going back to find him then, walks past Hart Dynasty in the backstage
area, and searches until he gets to Teddy’s office.
Behind a newspaper and the
desk of the G.M., sits Edge. He says that Jericho lit a fire under him,
to work hard and to get back as soon as he could. He thanks Jericho,
and says he’s created a monster. He concludes that Jericho is going
to regret that Edge has come back. Tonight, he’s bringing back The
Cutting Edge, and he wants Undertaker on the show, sine he may just
be the one Edge faces at Wrestlemania. Who is Edge kidding? We know
who’s going to war with ‘Taker at ‘Mania.
Commercial Time, with Laura
Diaken letting us know about what happened Monday on RAW and this is
something I totally appreciate. For someone that might miss a show or
isn’t home because of work or something, this helps to bring everyone
up to speed.
As we come back from commercial,
we get exterior and interior shots of the home of the ‘other’ King,
Elvis Presley as the Smackdown Train keeps on rolling along. Matt Striker
throws us to an Elimination Chamber promo, just for those of us who
weren’t aware of what it is. I wish they would still use Eric Bischoff’s
voice over for it still, just to stick it to TNA, but I’m kind of
petty like that. I do like the fact that Joey Styles can be heard though.
Match 1: Triple Threat Match for Elimination Chamber Position.
Drew McIntyre does his weekly
stalk to the ring, followed quickly by John Morrison and the trippy
slow-mo entrance. The two begin to jaw in the ring, as flames engulf
the ring posts and Kane makes his way down to the match. As the three
stand tall in the ring, Morrison pounces on McIntyre with shots. Kane
tries to jump in, but Morrison knocks him back to a corner. McIntyre
takes out Morrison and then starts in on Kane, until John rolls McIntyre
up for a one count. Kane comes out of the corner an angry man, and grabs
both McIntyre and Morrison for a double choke slam. Morrison and McIntyre
counter with some kicks in stereo, and then follow up with a very nice
double DDT. The alliance dissolves rapidly though, as Morrison beats
on Drew as they come to their feet. John Morrison hits some nice shots
and sends Drew to the ropes, then comes back at him with a cross body
which sends both men tumbling to the outside. And with that, we head
into a commercial.
As we come back from commercial,
Drew McIntyre is on top of Kane feeding him shots, and then bringing
him up for a whip to the corner. Kane fights out and hits a snap mare,
and then follows up with a dropkick to the face. It constantly astounds
me that a man of his size, stature, and weight, is still able to hit
a move like this, especially at his age. Not that I’m knocking Baby
Boomers or anything, just shows his dedication to the game and the company.
Kane goes for the pin, and
it’s broken up by Morrison in flying fashion. John then continues
the assault with a flurry of shots at Kane, before returning his attention
to Drew McIntyre. His Irish whip on Drew fails to succeed, and he gets
hit with the Scotsman’s amazing backbreaker that we keep seeing every
week. I gush about it and I gush about it, but it’s just the best
backbreaker in the business right now. Morrison sells it like nothing
else.
Kane gets back into the game
and tosses McIntyre into the ropes, following up with his big boot to
the mush. He goes up top to the big lariat, but Morrison stops him with
a bicycle kick. Drew McIntyre chimes in with a clothesline, sending
Johnny out to the ringside area, and giving him a chance to go after
Kane. He attempts a superplex on Kane, but that’s reversed into a
choke slam. He walks Drew over towards the middle of the ring, but the
whole plan is scrapped when Morrison comes out of nowhere with a Flying
Chuck kick that takes both men down. McIntyre is first to his feet,
but catches a clothesline/drop kick combo from John Morrison, who then
ducks Kane’s clothesline and hits a dropkick. He hits another flying
kick after a short run off the ropes and finally takes the big man down.
McIntyre breaks up the pin attempt and goes after Morrison.
After attempting a second backbreaker
on Morrison off the ropes, it’s reversed into a wraparound DDT, followed
by a cover which is broken up by Kane. Morrison makes his way to the
corner, but Kane smears him into the buckles with a big clothesline,
which he also hands out to McIntyre, spilling the sinister Scot to the
outside. Kane returns his attention to Morrison and after sending him
to the ropes and almost catching a reversal, Kane drops him with a massive
sidewalk slam. Kane covers for two, and then makes his way to the top
rope. Major impact on Morrison, as the mammoth lariat rains down from
the heavens, setting up for a choke slam. McIntyre comes back, corks
Kane with the Intercontinental Title, and hits his Futureshock finisher
for a pin. Morrison breaks it up by a hair, and heads to the top, hitting
Starship Pain on the prone Big Red Machine and covering for the win!
John ‘I was on Tough Enough too’ Morrison is going to the Elimination
Chamber!
Match Review: I didn’t like
the booking for this match. I understand that you need to have some
solid names in the Chamber, and I know that Kane has seen better years,
but I’m sick of them teasing us with Morrison and McIntyre’s feud.
Kane should have gone into the Chamber to add some bulk to the match,
and Morrison and McIntyre need to finish their feud and move on with
business. Either Drew keeps the belt or gives it back to John; I’m
ready for the finale on this one. The matches are great, there’s no
doubting that. I’ve just seen it enough for right now.
Matt lets us know that The
Cutting Edge returns tonight, with Undertaker as the guest and the commercials
begin once again.
As we come back, Matt reminds
us that later on, we will get an ‘exclusive’ video from after RAW
went off the air on Monday night, but for now it’s back to qualifying
for The Elimination Chamber.
Match 2: R-Truth
vs. Mike Knox
R-Truth comes down and asks
Memphis what’s up as he makes his way to the ring, to battle the big
beard of Mike Knox. I’m almost surprised there aren’t any members
of the Memphis Grizzlies at ringside, but then again, if I played for
them I probably wouldn’t go out in public either. Knox and Truth hook
up, leading Truth to snap a side headlock onto Mike Knox. Knox sends
Truth to the corner, but ends up short when Truth flips back, up, over,
and out. Truth splits to duck a clothesline but takes the entire mass
of Mike Knox, who flies at him with a cross body. Knox covers but Truth
kicks out at two, leading the Sasquatch like Knox to follow up with
some boots and a bodyslam. Knox continues to smother Truth with shots
and pin attempts but to no avail. Knox finally takes Truth to the ropes
and goes to send him to the outside, until it’s reversed and the lummox
finds himself in freefall to the outside.
Truth flies from the ring using
the ropes to catapult him onto Knox, who takes the shot and then rolls
back into the ring. I could have gone for a bit more of a sell here,
but this is television and time is money. Truth then heads to the top
rope and hits a messy dropkick, followed by some shots, some running
and a spinning forearm shot that sends Mike Knox to Sleepy Town, USA.
Truth covers and gets the three counts that will land his ass in the
Elimination Chamber match in just a few weeks time. I don’t like his
chances, but hell, why not?
Match Overview:
This match is living proof that Ron Killings, or R – Truth, has really
come a long way since his first time working for WWE. This is a guy
that used to come down to the ring, rapping with Road Dogg Jesse James,
and making a general fool out of himself. Fast forward some time, and
he was the TNA Heavyweight Champion, beating of all people, Ken Shamrock.
Truth is poised for what could be the run of his life, and it’s going
to be very interesting to see how he progresses into the Superstar he
always knew he could be. With all that being said, Truth had a wicked
match tonight. He pulled something out of Mike Knox, which may not be
the easiest thing to do, and showed Vince that he can truly work with
anyone and pull off a believable and entertaining match.
Matt Striker reminds everyone
that while on the Road to Wrestlemania, Superstars pay the toll with
their bodies. He throws to a Hitman/McMahon video package, a storyline
I would have PAID MONEY to book. I still don’t understand why the
Hart Dynasty hasn’t been utilized for this whole thing, but I guess
that’s the reason I don’t work at Titan Towers. The video is really
well done, and I’m still excited to see how that boils down to Wrestlemania.
I will go on record as stating, however, that Vince fooled NO ONE when
he said he wouldn’t put Stu Hart into the Hall of Fame. We know it’s
going to happen, but what isn’t being said, is why Owen, Bulldog,
Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhardt have to sit outside in the cold and
wait their turn. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Jim show up on RAW and
back Bret up, if only for Batista or whomever just to take him out and
show the utter dominance of Vince McMahon and his followers.
Matt and Todd are now leading
us into what happened after RAW. Batista drops Bret Hart and Cena comes
in to make the save. He helps Bret up as Batista goes to the back, but
the Animal makes a raging comeback, sending Cena shoulder first into
the post. He then continues the beat down around the ringside area and
finishes it all with a Batista Bomb onto the ring steps. I’m sorry,
but all of this would have made for excellent television, I don’t
know why they did it for the stadium audience and not the whole world.
The cameras show us the interior
of the Straight Edge Society’s locker room, and Punk is surrounded
by his coven of crazies. He says that without him, there is no Society
and he’s saying this because tonight he is stepping into the ring
with Batista. If Batista can do that to Bret Hart, he will certainly
be willing to do it to Punk. Punk needs to know that his soldiers are
with him. Serena would do anything for him, and Gallows knows what’s
at stake. The promos are getting better from these two, Punk has taught
them well. I will also note that Serena’s hair seems to be growing
back quickly and I, for one, will be VERY happy upon its return. Commercials
are next, as they prepare for the match at hand.
A Cutting Edge promo lights
up the screen as we come back into the show. As Batista’s music hits
the air in the arena, the next Elimination Chamber Qualifier is upon
us!
Match 3: Batista
vs. CM Punk
Batista makes his way down
to the ring, getting some great heat. I’ll admit it, while I miss
his pyro, the heel spotlight down the ramp is pretty slick. Batista
pops some biceps while he’s on the top rope and you can’t help but
think of how he might have fared against someone like Bruno Sammartino
or Superstar Billy Graham. CM Punk makes his way out, followed by the
Society. Punk’s chest hair, and I have NO idea why, bring out the
heel in him. Batista is relaxed, almost lounging in the corner as Punk
bounces about in anticipation of the first move. This bit is pretty
good. Punk complains to the ref, as if to say ‘What’s going on here?’
and Batista continues to chill. After a few minutes, he steps through
the ropes, and heads down the stairs to the outside. The ref begins
the ten count, and hilariously, Punk begins to count alongside him,
with great zeal. As the ref hits ten, Punk jumps into Gallows arms and
celebrates like its Money in the Bank all over again. We get an update
on who is going into the Chamber against Taker and backstage, we find
Matt Hardy showing Maria Kanellis some love for her upcoming work on
The Celebrity Apprentice. Before anyone sends me an email asking, I
haven’t heard her song, but I don’t think I’m missing too much
there.
Matt comes down to the ring
and I suddenly miss the Matt Facts that we used to get when he was Version
2.0 and Shannon Moore was a Moore-on. I wish there was more for him
to do, but I understand the mid card needs him. We head into commercial
and more ads for The Wolfman. Who’s waiting for the remake of the
Creature from the Black Lagoon?
Match 4: Matt
Hardy vs. Chris Jericho
We come back from commercial,
and Jericho is in the ring. The two jockey for position, and before
Matt can strike, Jericho leans outside the ropes, making the referee
back Hardy up, and giving Jericho the advantage. This is great heel
work. I certainly hope that there are guys in the back taking notes
right now, but I’m sure they’re all huddled around someone’s PS3
playing Call of Duty.
The finally lock up and Hardy
takes Jericho to the corner. Chris then bails to the outside of the
ring, and takes his time coming back in. He slaps on a side headlock
on Hardy and gets shot into the ropes. Hardy takes a bump from Jericho’s
resulting shoulder block and a running series begins with Hardy catching
a clothesline on Jericho, sending him to the corner to recover. Hardy
follows up with shots and a big clothesline off the ropes. Hardy Irish
whips Jericho into the ropes and catches a small boot for his trouble.
Jericho then launches Hardy to the ropes, but Hardy puts on the breaks
and sends the momentum fueled Jericho to the outside, HARD.
Matt explodes from the ring
apron with a flying clothesline that connects with Jericho and sends
both to the outside mats. Jericho goes to kick Hardy, its caught, and
Jericho follows up with his other boot into a push that results in Hardy
taking a tumble into the ringside steps. Jericho slides back into the
ring and the referee begins to count Hardy out. Just when you think
you’re about to see the second ten count of the night, Matt slides
in at the last second. It’s advantage Jericho, as he lands a boot
and a toss into a corner, followed by a snapmare and a ground submission.
Hardy is busted open at this point, and I’m impressed they’re letting
it go on TV. Chris continues to ride Hardy, but Matt rolls Jericho into
a small package for a two count. Jericho slaps Matt’s head with a
nice running enzugiri and follows with another pin attempt for two.
As Matt takes a breather on
the second rope, Jericho leans into him with his knee, effectively choking
him. The tide turns after Jericho misses a run into the corner and ends
up driving his shoulder into the ring post, allowing Matt to hit a side
neckbreaker. Matt covers and gets two, but keeps on Jericho with shots
and falls short on another pin attempt. Matt signals for the Twist of
Fate, (which I still think is a weaker version of Reno’s Roll the
Dice from WCW) but Jericho reverses into the ropes, catching Hardy with
a back elbow. A Lionsault from the second ropes garners a two count
for Jericho and one has to think this is going to end sooner than later.
Jericho drives home some shots to Hardy’s temple, but Matt brings
the Side Effect out of nowhere and catches a two count. Matt sends Chris
into the corner, but Jericho rolls out and gets Hardy into a pinning
position with his feet on the ropes for a little extra heat. That only
ends up being a two count, and Chris double legs Matt into the Walls
of Jericho. Hardy counters into a pin for two, and goes for the Twist
but misses as Jericho grabs the ropes for leverage. Chris hits a Codebreaker
and catches the win.
Match Review:
I say this every week, and every week, I’m more and more impressed.
Chris Jericho, who took some time off to recoup and reevaluate his career,
has been most explosive and is consistently the person I look forward
to seeing every week on this show. Matt Hardy, it would seem, has been
banished to the mid card for the rest of his career, and never really
took off again after Jeff left and his ECW run ended. This match was
really a great showing between two veterans that know exactly what they’re
doing and how to get a crowd into a match. Solid, safe, and enjoyable,
this match gave me everything I could expect from these two and more!
Cutting Edge promo comes up
next, as if we could forget, and a commercial break follows. They also
aired a Royal Rumble recap video, which was well produced, and showed
us all how Edge made his amazing return. It’s also helping along the
HBK Madness angle that’s going along on RAW.
As we come back, we get a still
shot recap of Mickie James’s big win over Michelle McCool at Royal
Rumble, including Layla’s fat suit stupidity.
Match 5: Mickie
James and Beth Phoenix vs. Michelle McCool and Layla
Mickie comes down to the ring
with belt in hand, for her first match as a five time Women’s Champion.
The best thing to come out of this angle was the overall message of
beating your bully after taking the abuse for as long as you can. I
can just see Homer Simpson speaking to Lisa about the time he hit the
referee with a whiskey bottle. The love she’s getting from the crowd
is great. She tells us that since she got drafted to Smackdown from
RAW, she took the crap from Michelle and Layla and said she would be
lying if it didn’t hurt at times. But at the Rumble they proved that
by rising above, by being true to you and being real is what a true
champion is about. Beth interrupts Mickie’s promo, and says that while
Mickie was celebrating her win over two little girls, she was busy competing
with 29 grown men. She says this put her in a league of her own. I mean,
along with Chyna I guess. All Beth did was drop out limps Khali. Chyna
removed Mark Henry, plus some others the night she was in the Rumble.
She’s happy for Mickie for standing up for herself, but now, she wants
her piece of the pie. She can take the belt at any time, and any place
that she wants. Mickie says if she wants a match, all she has to do
is ask. All of this is really great until the worst possible thing could
happen and Vickie Guererro waddles out to bitch and moan. I honestly
had almost forgotten about her, until now. She babbles on about being
an ‘official consultant’ to Teddy Long. If that’s the case, and
he’s still NOT around, then why wasn’t she in his office instead
of Edge when Jericho was looking at the start of the show? Just a minor
plot hole, I noticed.
She sets up a tag match with
Mickie and Beth taking on LayCool, who head down to the ring with some
salt in their wounds, looking for some retribution from the Rumble.
Todd reminds us that Michelle held the Women’s title for an uneventful
seven months, and this si her first time in the ring without it. What
about all those times before she had it?
Beth scores first with one
of her heavy power moves, and stuffs McCool into the corner with some
body shots and a shoulder thrust. McCool responds with a dropkick to
the knees and continues her work on Beth’s lower body. I must say,
I’m thrilled she’s using what looks like a spinning toe hold, and
leads to a cover for one. Layla is screaming for a tag, and I think
back to the days of Daphne screaming at David Flair. McCool denies the
tag and rushes Beth, who manuevers out of the way and decks Layla for
her troubles. Beth and Michelle stand toe to toe, and Michelle is driven
back into a corner like a rookie lineman. Beth tags Mickie and the crowd
lights up, as she takes over an arm wringer. Just as she’s about to
unload something onto McCool, Beth drops Mickie with a shot to the head,
and confuses everyone in the arena. She then takes out McCool and leaves
the ring. Layla gets the tag in from McCool, but she gets rolled up
by Mickie James and get caught napping for three.
Match Overview: This match
accomplished what so little of the last few months of Women’s action
on Smackdown could do. It moved a storyline along in a speedy manner
and made someone look better without totally hurting the other person.
Beth came out strong, LayCool came out as the heels, and Mickie is still
the undaunted champ that has challengers at every corner. Mickie and
Beth could certainly open up a class on promos for all the girls in
the company. McCool should take advantage of some acting classes, especially
since Vince wants everyone to be multifaceted.
We go and come back from commercial,
with the factoid that in 2009 2.3 billion photos were viewed on WWE.com
worldwide. Lisa thinks that’s impressive. I think it’s self indulgent
on the companies’ part, just like every other factoid.
Cryme Tyme are back with another
educational segment of Word Up, which is slowly becoming one of my favorite
segments. The word of the week is King, meaning Supreme, above the rest,
without equal, loved and respected by all peeps and peers. Christian
better get on these guys, only he gets the peeps. They go on to list
some great Memphis Kings, like Elvis, and B.B. King. This also leads
Shad into singing a decent rendition of In the Ghetto. Jerry Lawler
comes in and lets us all know its good to be the King, and that was
not the best of Cryme Tyme’s ‘hooducational’ segments. I miss
Eve Torres, she really should have stayed with them.
Match 6: Rey Mysterio
vs. Dolph Ziggler
Rey comes down in a great mask
and costume combo that is DX green, if that’s a color, and does his
post pose for the crowd. Ziggles makes his way down and gets some solid
heel heat. We get a commercial break just as things are getting moving,
but the action is all up next.
Not wasting anytime, a promo
hits for WWE NXT which airs this Tuesday on Sy Fy and god knows when
on Global, if at all. Does anyone know what Christian’s position is
now? Is he still ECW champ or does he become NXT champ by default? I’m
confused…
Ziggler and Mysterio square
off, and Ziggler gets the first take down, which ends up with him belly
spinning Mysterio’s back and slapping him around on the back of his
melon. I haven’t seen that since X-Pac and Road Dogg were having their
‘respect’ feud. I’m also astounded I was able to use two separate
Jesse James references in one report. Mysterio gets to his feet and
the two square off again, with Ziggy getting into a side headlock. Rey
shoots him off into the ropes, leapfrogs, but catches a heavy clothesline
on the return. Dolph covers but only gets two, and while using a wrist
lock to hold Rey down, Mysterio counters and is able to bring Dolph
back over with a flip. Striker mentions the word Lucha Libre and I almost
wet myself. This is something that should be brought up every time Rey
wrestles. It’s what makes him different than everyone else.
Rey covers for two, and follows
up with a series of stinging kicks to the lower area of Ziggler’s
hamstring area. Rey hits the ropes and snags Ziggler with a great flying
head scissors, sending Ziggler to the outside. Rey takes to the air
with a vaulting plancha, crashing down on Dolph Ziggler. The ref begins
his count and both are slow to get moving. Rey ends up tossing Dolph
back into the ring, but gets caught on the follow. Ziggy goes to drive
Rey into the turnbuckle but Rey fights out and heads to the top rope.
As Rey takes to the skies,
Ziggler hits a picture perfect dropkick to the breadbasket of Mysterio.
Ziggy covers for two and follows up with what was intended to be a back
bodydrop. That is, until Mysterio reverses it, and lands a drop toe
hold to set Dolph up for a 619. Mysterio wheels back to hit it but Dolph,
showing great ring sense, drops out to the ringside area as we head
into yet another commercial.
As we return, the match is
in the ring and Rey is on the receiving end of shots from Ziggler. Ziggy
shoots Rey to the corner, and puts him up top, perhaps thinking of a
superplex. Rey battles out, but fails to fend off Ziggler second attempt
at the superplex, which hits home. Rey gets covered for two, kicks out,
but takes a bunch of boots from Dolph. Ziggler then begins to bend Mysterio
over his knee in a bow like fashion, in an attempt for a submission,
but catches a knee from Rey. Then, from Mick Foleys list of worst wrestling
moves ever, Ziggler hits a slingshot catapult into the corner, but Rey
capitalizes and hits the second rope to escape. Ziggler runs back in
and gets a drop toe hold into the buckles. He then crawls to the ring
apron, launches himself from the middle of the top rope into a West
Coast Pop, but fails to remain for the pin. Ziggler tries to sunset
flip into a pin, but Rey slides out and hooks Dolph with a boot to the
mush. Rey tries to shoot Ziggy into the ropes but its reversed. Rey
puts on the brakes and snaps a kick off into Ziggler’s mouth. He then
bounds off the second rope, for what looks like a mule kick, but it
was countered into an ocean suplex, which led to Rey reversing into
a bulldog. Rey covers but only gets two.
Ziggler crawls to the corner,
and Rey follows. Ziggler drops him into the turnbuckles, and follows
up with a running knee. He then shoots Rey into the opposite corner,
but he flips out of the corner, goes into the ropes, ducks a clothesline,
and takes off from the opposite middle rope. But as his cross body collides
with Ziggler, it’s turned into a powerslam, and once again, its advantage
Dolph Ziggler. This was a great series of moves, leading to a hot pin
with a two count result. This is almost a pay per view quality match.
Dolph is just trying to get
pins now, with all of them ending in two counts. In great heel fashion,
he gets frustrated, and launches Rey into another corner, as the crowd
chants impatiently for the 619. Dolph nearly snaps Rey in half with
a backbreaker, and goes for a back bodydrop, until Rey reverses into
a rollup for three! The King of Mystery, Rey Mysterio is going to the
Elimination Chamber. Ziggler gets a 619, as punctuation on this match,
and once again, Rey is positioned for a title shot! Bonus marks for
Matt Striker, who did a Dusty Rhodes impression on the end of the match.
Match Overview:
This match took a little longer than it should have and it featured
a great back and forth between both men. That is extremely important,
since you need to keep Ziggler hot and Rey can’t really take a blow
to his momentum right now. Good moves, solid spots, and just overall
great work on both sides.
To catch up, The Undertaker
will now face, Truth, Rey, John Morrison, Chris Jericho, and CM Punk
in the Chamber at the pay per view. As we go to what I pray is the final
commercial, we get another promo for the Cutting Edge, and it’s coming
up next!
Commercials are over, and The
Cutting Edge is back and better than ever! There’s a stunning aerial
shot of Memphis, Tenn. as we head back into the show, and Grisham is
still babbling on about nothing that matters. Tony ‘Don’t Mistake
Me for a Walrus’ Chimmel introduces Edge to the ring, and the Rated
R Superstar struts to the ring as only he can.
Edge grabs the stick and says
it feels really good to be back. It feels good to be on Smackdown, and
it feels so good to be back home. Edge says everything, the rehab, the
surgery; everything was worth it to be back in the ring for this exact
moment. One has to think, is he going to be back in the hospital sooner
than later, because he rushed himself back? He says at Wrestlemania,
he could be facing tonight’s guest, The Undertaker. On the other hand,
he could face Sheamus. The crowd boos. He makes the requisite Lucky
Charms/Irish joke and throws to a replay of his domination over the
Angry Irishman from Monday night.
Edge starts to talk again,
but Break the Walls Down, here comes Chris Jericho! He says he was waiting
for the moment to be in the main event of Wrestlemania, but he won’t
allow Edge to bask in the glory of his tainted Rumble victory. Jericho
says he deserved to win. Edge begs to differ, as he eliminated Jericho,
just like he did every other person that got in his way that night.
Jericho tries to explain that he is the face of Smackdown, but Edge
again, begs to differ, and it’s Jericho’s own fault. He tried to
take Edge’s dream, his life, his career, and make it into a punch
line. Edge plans on making Jericho eat those words. For six months,
he’s been tired of hearing the same promos and the cheap suits. As
a matter of fact, Edge is sick of Jericho’s face all together.
Just as you would think it’s
going to come to blows, out comes Jesus No Fun aka CM Punk and his Straight
Edge Society. Punk cuts a great promo, saying that both of them look
like two tweaking, pill popping junkies, arguing over who will get the
last fix. Punk goes on to say that he has had a brighter spotlight fighting
Undertaker than both Jericho and Edge combined. In fact, while Edge
was on ‘vacation’, Punk was the first person to make The Dead Man
tap out. He’s certain that straight edge makes him better than them,
and they need look no further than The Chamber, because he plans on
taking back the belt for the fourth time. CM Punk grin like a moron,
until the gong hits and everything goes black.
As the lights come back up,
Taker is in the middle of the ring and starts taking out the Society
as Edge dummies Jericho and hits Chris with a spear. Taker chokeslams
Punk, who bails out, and all that remains is the Rated R Superstar and
The Dead Man, staring one another down as the show closes for another
week.
Show Overview:
This show was a great follow up to the Royal Rumble and it did all the
great things that these shows need to do to keep everything flowing,
especially on the Road to Wrestlemania.
Edge coming back may be a mixed
blessing. He may end up injuring himself worse, having shaved time off
for his recovery. But then again, everyone wants the big Mania pay check.
This show did an excellent job of making The Elimination Chamber show
something that’s worth watching, but I’m hoping that with John Morrison
in the Chamber, someone gets a chance at McIntyre and his Intercontinental
belt. I’m a true believer in defending belts on pay television, just
because it pads the card and gives the champ time to hone and polish
his craft, especially if they’re a heel.
The whole show was great, the
matches were short and the only really bad thing was Vickie Guererro.
Even though that’s my only complaint, I’m still giving this show
an 8.5 out of 10.
Tossing out the plug once again,
and I will until the show happens, Alpha 1 Pro Wrestling is hosting
its inaugural event in Hamilton, Ontario at the Columbus Hall on Parkdale
Ave. on Feb. 21st. This show is going to feature number 350
on the PWI 500 List, Ethan Page, as well as former ECW punching bag,
Colin Delany. It’s also going to feature some of the hottest young
talent in all of Ontario Indy, so please come out and support some young
guys looking to make their names known and their faces seen.
The LAW is going to giving
out some free tickets to the show, so you should all have a chance at
an opportunity to see a great show at an even better price, if you can
get past the Title Bout Trivia!
So, that’s all for this week,
Hope to see everyone back for the next, and hopefully by then, someone
will have sent me an actual email, so I can post some reader comments.
Until then, I’m Jeff ‘Fat Jack’ Goodridge. Have a week.
Jeff Goodridge is a freelance
writer and a lifelong wrestling fan.
His favorite finishing move was Vampiro’s reverse frankenstiener and
his boss’s favorite wrestling move of all time is the Irish whip into
the ropes.
All Content © 2011 by Fight Media Inc. | Site Developed by Nautical Progressions
