I’m still not happy about Smackdown on Friday nights because there are so many rumors going around yet I really do want to talk about last nights show. It won’t be the first time that I blend both subjects together, and I know you won’t mind, well at least I hope you won’t. I don’t always mention the Smackdown crowd most of the time because I forget too but also because the show is taped and I figure Raw has the live group that’s why I try very hard to acknowledge them. However, the Nashville, Tennessee crowd was really on last night, I loved their enthusiasm and I really feel there was a lot to cheer about. Let me talk about Smackdown first, and then I’ll get to some of the rumors out there.
Right off the bat Vickie Guerrero’s TV appearances are kind of bothering me. But if she’s doing this because she wants too then I guess its something I can live with. In no way am I bashing Vickie because I’m not. But watching her two segments with Chavo and then Rey Mysterio just got to me. She’s no actress and that’s why when I saw her breakdown when she was talking about Eddie I felt so sad, so bad for her. Many will say she’s being forced to do this. If she refuses then Vince won’t help her out financially. I would love to think that’s not true. I’m going with maybe being on TV with Chavo and Rey is a way to have some kind of closeness with Eddie. I don’t know but right now I’m having a hard time watching all of this.
But I had no problem with the Undertaker coming out and brawling with Khali and for Teddy Long to make their Last Man Standing match for next week’s Smackdown instead of Summer Slam. This is one of the rumors our there so I might as well tie it in with this. Supposedly Khali and Taker have been working house shows and Khali just doesn’t have it and that’s why Vince wanted to pull the match from the pay per view. I think most of us knew this about Khali from the start but it took this long for Vince McMahon to realize that enough is enough. Now I had no problem with the short opening with Khali, Daivairi and Taker. At least there was a small amount of action in there. You know what I would do with Khali? I would make him a body guard and turn him face. There is something about him that I believe the fans might take too if he was one big teddy bear taking out the heels. But I’m wondering if we might see the last of him after Summer Slam.
The opening match between Tatanka vs. Gregory Helms was my least favorite match of the night. Not for the lack of tying because again both men gave it their all, but I found these two to be very mismatched, and, it’s great that they are pushing Tatanka being in the Lakota tribe, but you know what? It means nothing as far his character goes. Yeah he’s a Native American, but other than that what are they doing with him? Nothing. You need more than having Michael Cole put that fact over about Tatanka. You need his character to have something going for him. And then you have Gregory Helms you remember him? He’s the Cruiserweight champion. What the hell have they done with Helms? Not much. So now you have a match that is done well but there’s no storyline involved. Now if this was my least favorite match my match of the night was, YES, Kendrick and London vs. Idol Stevens and KC James. This is what the tag team division is all about, lots of non stop action, and a when it’s over you think wow, I hope these guys keep this going for a while. With Kid Kash on suspension and Noble I believe being held off because of Kash, there’s no one for the current tag team champs to face. So now you have new blood in there and Michelle McCool whom I believe could turn out to be a nice addition to Stevens and James. You put this new twosome in there with Kendrick and London and now you’re talking. This match was outstanding and just like last week the chemistry is definitely there.
Again Mr. Kennedy….Kennedy showed me that he’s got a tough side to him and along with Rey Mysterio this was another match that I really liked A LOT. I keep thinking that Mysterio will be taking time off for that injured knee but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. He worked another beautiful match along with Mr. Kennedy…..Kennedy (I love doing that) and with Chavo again coming out to attack Rey I just see these two guys starting their feud right away. As I said Rey was awesome and Kennedy just seems so ready for being pushed and I like what I’m seeing not only with his wrestling, but the way he presents himself in the ring. While Sylvan unfortunately can’t get me interested in his character I liked his match against Vito simply because Vito is just a lot of fun to watch in the ring. Not only is the dress wearing Vito rather funny to watch when he’s out of the ring walking around in public but this man delivers in the ring as well. And the fans really seemed to be in his corner. Like him dressed in a dress or not, this man is making every minute count with his push and it’s nice to watch him wrestle. We have seen the new big guy like Lashley, Lesnar, Umaga and others week after week squash jobbers. Now normally I’m not happy about that but in the case of Sylvester Terkay and his trusty manager Elijah Burke so far I am not having a problem with this. Terkay has that look and just his walk to the ring is very intimidating. Plus I can’t get over how relaxed and smooth Burke is on the mic. I like these two guys very much and I’m hoping very soon we will see Terkay face a top star on Smackdown. Well I was jumping up and down when I saw the video for the return of the Boogeyman. Hey I’ve missed this guy and his worms and whether he ends up on Smackdown or goes to ECW I’m looking forward to seeing him come back
The main event with Bobby Lashley and Batista vs. Finlay and William Regal was damn good. Here’s a multiple choice test. Why was the main event good? Was it because of the guys in the ring, or the hot crowd cheering so loud, or Booker T’s commentary or finally all the above? The correct answer is, all the above. This was just totally entertaining thanks to Batista, Finlay, Lashley and Regal. And normally I’m put off by Booker on the mic too much but I’m telling you the King had me laughing with his commentary and at one point Regal did something and Booker said something like get him “my good man” that was it for me. This was a nice main event and the stare down between Batista and Booker as the show was ending was great. As pissed off as Batista looked there was King Booker nicely smiling as he left with Queen Sharmell. Booker has become one of my favorite comics and I mean that. He’s just grown into this role so well and along with Sharmell they add a lot to Smackdown.
As you probably can tell I liked the show very much and with the move to the CW network in a few weeks I really believe Smackdown will start coming alive more with some very good programming. Okay let me quickly give you the latest on what’s out there about Trish Stratus. Rumors have her leaving for good after she gets married and other reports are saying that she is just taking time off and will return. The latest is that at Unforgiven Trish will have her last match and be written off. As I have said before I’m hoping she just takes some time off and then returns. Now the latest on Lita is she could be gone as soon as September or will stay with WWE until November. And again this is just a rumor but she is leaving on good terms and the door will be open for her return. I’m all for a Lita break and I would welcome a return just as long as we get the Lita back in the ring. Okay finally I like to leave them laughing.
I don’t know how many of you read the transcript from a radio show that Hulk Hogan was on yesterday, but there were two things that he said that I had to read three times to make sure I read it right. Oh this will have you bent over in hysteria. This is not a quote but basically here’s what he said. First, his return for Summer Slam surprised Vince McMahon because most people with a knee that’s messed up wouldn’t perform. The second killer was that Vince didn’t want his Wrestlemania appearance for next year to be in jeopardy with this knee problem. Now I’m sure many of you are not too thrilled by my reaction but I swear that Shawn Michaels has worked through many serious knee injures, and I believe you can add Rey Mysterio to that list along with so many others. And I can’t say that Vince hasn’t talked to Hogan about next years Wrestlemania but I look at it as just another way for this man to make it look like WWE needs him so badly. I know a lot of you will email me saying I should respect Hogan for all he’s done for wrestling. And I always reply I agree that what he did for the business was outstanding, but that doesn’t change the fact that Hogan is living in a dream world. I guess if he could work like Ric Flair in the ring I wouldn’t mind, but the man due to past injuries and age has a difficult time moving, and that is not something I’m not blaming him for. What I don’t like is that he manages to get into major feuds, show up sporadically and then when the big match takes place we see a man in the ring that should not be wrestling. Not only do I blame Hogan but I also blame Vince. Vince and Hogan aren’t doing Randy Orton any favors with this Summer Slam match. This is not the Hulk Hogan of the 20 years ago. Hogan should show up on Raw or Smackdown once in a while do some mic work and that’s it.
Finally one of my readers is a big Goldberg fan and I promised him if there’s any news about Goldberg and TNA I would mention it and today there definitely was news. Goldberg signed a 90 day holding deal with Spike TV, meaning he now will talk to TNA and that’s all. With that said, I will be back on Tuesday with my Raw thoughts and since this is the last Raw before Summer Slam, I would think that the will be seeing a nice build up for next Sunday’s pay per view. And yes Hulk Hogan will be there.
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