WWE SMACKDOWN
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We start the show with a promo from the Undertaker. He comes out to explain to us why he was out for five months. Or not. He basically says Punk's scared of him and at Breaking Point he's going to be the new champion. Punk told him that he was going to make him tap out and after he beats him all of the Undertaker's fans are going to drink alcohol to mourn the loss. Either that or they'll watch the rematch in three weeks. I added that part. Taker said the fans won't be saying "just say no," they'll be saying "rest in peace." Wow, what a wordsmith.
Finlay d. Mike Knox in a Belfast Brawl
This was fine. They used weapons, Finlay took most of the beating and Knox looked like a good heel monster while he did it. I really like Knox's potential although I think the silly beard hurts him more than it helps. After getting beat up the whole time by trash cans mainly, Finlay KO'd him with the shillelagh for the win out of nowhere. I assume Knox wins the feud, so I guess we'll see more of them.
There was a terrible segment backstage with Michelle McCool flirting with Dolph Ziggler. She had Layla standing off in the distance videotaping the whole thing, so that when she accidentally fell into Ziggler's arms it was made to look like Ziggler was groping her. I guess we're supposed to believe that Maria, who is almost never on screen with Ziggler by the way, never watches Smackdown and would miss this thing. She would, however, believe a video sent to her by Layla and Michelle. This show is on WORLDWIDE TELEVISION. Please, don't insult our intelligence like this. This was brutal. Like I say every week, why should anybody care about Ziggler being with Maria if they have almost no on screen time together?
Khali vs. David Hart Smith was supposed to happen. Kane came out to attack Khali with a Singapore Cane, Khali fought him off and the Punjabi Playboy won the beating. Good for him.
Chris Jericho & Big Show d. Cryme Tyme
This is a rematch from Summerslam although they've barely used Cryme Tyme since then. They don't even get the "Word Up" segments anymore. It made sense for Jerishow to go over since they're wrestling on the PPV while Cryme Tyme has nothing going on. I'm a huge fan of the Big Show going KNOCKING THE FUCK OUT of the unsuspecting babyface to win the match. That's great.
Vince talked to Teddy Long. Teddy's still on probation even though Smackdown's better than Raw every week. Vince said he wanted Long to deliver something excellent, which led a couple of people to email me to ask me if that means Bret Hart showing up at Breaking Point. I doubt it. I really do. Long also said he has a huge surprise that will change the face of Smackdown next week. I think that's Batista leaving Raw to come back to Smackdown. That's just a hunch on my part.
John Morrison d. Charlie Haas
It was only about three minutes, so there wasn't much to talk about here. Morrison won clean.
Post match, Morrison thanked Rey for the great match last week (my #2 of the year) and they showed clips of the emotion Morrison had on his face. Dolph Ziggler came out, said he was the number one contender to the belt. Morrison said let's fight right now, Ziggler says only on his terms. Then Morrison busted out some ridiculous names for the already ridiculously named Ziggler by calling him, "Mr. Ziggles." He tried valiantly to get the crowd into it and they chanted along with him. Then Ziggler walked out because he hated the name so much. Yeah he hates that, but loves Dolph Ziggler. Figure that one out. This was a nice attempt to give promo time to two guys that don't get a lot of it. I'm cool with that. Not everybody can talk like Jericho. Need to throw them out there and give them a shot. It was fine.
Josh Matthews talked to Matt Hardy, who talked to somebody in the far right on the screen that's not Matthews or the camera in another one of those funky backstage interviews on Smackdown. He's going to get a submission hold on Punk and not let go. Yeah, I doubt it too.
Layla d. Melina
Layla, with her brutal offense, won the match. Michelle hit Melina with a crutch and Layla made the sloppy pin for the win. I guess the never ending Michelle/Melina feud has to continue because a division with five women in it isn't exactly full of contenders. By the way, what happened to telling women to cover up the cleavage? It was nice to see Melina's "girls" again. I missed them.
Josh interviewed R-Truth. He wanted to wrestle Drew McIntyre, but just as he was about to say more Drew came out for another cheap attack. He chucked him into some stuff backstage, and then yelled about some things. I guess they'll have a real match soon.
CM Punk d. Matt Hardy via submission
I enjoyed it. They've wrestled many times in recent weeks, so by this point the chemistry was pretty good and they hit everything crisply in a 15 minute match. It was also nice to see Matt going for some submissions. The problem is there should have been way more matches in the last three weeks with people going for subs because that's what the PPV is about. Fans need to be conditioned to react to them. When Punk hooked on the Anaconda Vice the crowd wasn't used to it because he barely uses it anymore. The announcers can go nuts for it, but you probably noticed the crowd was silent just as I did. Still, a very good workmanlike match.
Post match, Punk held the belt up, the lights went out and about five seconds later the belt was in the hands of the Undertaker, who was standing at the top of the stage holding it up. No word on if they hired Usain Bolt to run the belt from Punk's hands to Undertaker's. It was fast. The magic of editing is nice, isn't it?
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This was a pretty basic Smackdown, which is still pretty good. The matches got time and there weren't that many bad segments aside from the McCool/Ziggler thing. I don't really blame them. Even good actors couldn't have saved that thing.
I'm not sure what to think of the Punk/Undertaker feud. It's hard to get into it. Punk vs. Jeff Hardy was arguably the feud of the year and whatever followed that was going to be a disappointment to some extent. I think this is the beginning of what will be a feud that carries Smackdown over a few months, so don't look for any kind of finality at Breaking Point.
Three Stars of the Show
1. CM Punk - Not a show stealing performance, but good as always.
2. Matt Hardy - He's getting healthy. Always been a fan of his work. You can tell he's more comfortable working as a babyface too.
3. Finlay - The man's 51 and still works his ass off. Have to respect the guy.
Sex 18 Set 2009 - 23:04