WWE Smackdown taping
Hershey, Pa.
Report by Dot Net reader Buzz

I went to the show with my 9 year old son. Second time in Hershey, as we went to the Raw show before Thanksgiving. The crowds here seem to be really active. Maybe that's because they tape for TV, or vice-versa.

Chris Jericho started Smackdown by telling everyone how lucky they were to see him for a year. He bragged that he was the only person to beat Undertaker twice in a row. He bragged how he was the face (while pointing to his face) of Smackdown, and would be the face of Raw soon. Great promo, and got all kinds of heat. Kofi Kingston was already in the ring when Jericho started.

1. Kofi Kingston defeated Chris Jericho. There was a nice spot where Kingston laid across the corner ring ropes and pretended to sleep through Jericho's promo. They had a good fast paced match. Typical Jericho, both guys got in lots of offense. At one point, Jericho countered a Boom Drop attempt into the Walls of Jericho. As always, the face managed to get to the ropes. Jericho had the upper hand, and sent Kofi off the ropes when Kingston hit a good looking Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere for the win.

Chavo Guerrero came out and made a big deal out of his return to Smackdown. He went on about how he and Aunt Vickie were such a great team in the past, and how things were going to be the same in the future. Kane came out. He picked Chavo up with a big chokeslam. Then Kane grabbed a mic and said "Welcome Back Chavo" in his creepy monster voice. Then pyro.

2. Cody Rhodes defeated John Morrison. The match was good, but slower than the Kingston vs. Jericho match. Cody worked at the slow heel pace, with lots of kicks and punches. He did hit a big moonsault, which I didn't know that he had. He reversed a Morrison move (probably a suplex set up) into a Cross-Rhodes for the win.

Egde came out to say goodbye. With his nice, sensitive guy face, he started by saying the he was drafted to Raw, but that he didn't want to go. He considered Smackdown his show, and his home. He put over the fans, saying how they motivated him to come back from his injuries. He finished by saying, honest to god, that he loved the fans.

Christian's music started, and every guy there my age probably got an erection to see the two together again. Christian recounted their history, starting at 6th grade, through college and into the WWE. He said that he probably knows Edge better than anyone, and probably knows Edge better than Edge does. That's how he knows that everything Edge just said was a load of crap.

Christian went on how Edge was a liar, and was just using the fans. After some badgering, Edge admitted that he was just using the fans, that he was a puppeteer, and that the fans were puppets. That he could make the fans chant spear anything he wanted to. Christian said that fans have been asking for a return of Edge and Christian. But he knows now that Edge used him, too.

Christian said he didn't want Edge and Christian, but wanted Edge versus Christian. Edge walked away, and then sucker punched Christian. They brawled, and then Edge left the ring. Christian said instead of chanting spear, he had a better chant. He led the crowd in the na-na-na-na goodbye cheer. So the Edge heel turn accomplished in one 10 minute spot.

3. Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix defeated Michelle McCool and Layla.

There was a backstage spot with Matt Hardy talking about the physical and mental toll that the beating from Drew McIntyre took on him. He was saying that when he comes back, he'll be better. It looked like he was going to announce a leave, when McIntyre ambushed him again. As Hardy was laying there, with his shirt pulled up to expose his belly, the only thing I was thinking was I hope he is taking time off to join Weight Watchers.

At one point, Dolph Ziggler came out to recap choking out Hornswoggle. I thought we were going to get the start of a Ziggler/Horny program. Instead, Ziggler just said Horny was in "leprechaun heaven" and left. I felt pretty dirty after all of that.

Jack Swagger had a series of douche promos on the big screen all night. For example, the first was him saying that he visited the White House in 2002 as the "guest of the greatest President in American history, George W. Bush." That got all kinds of heat from the crowd. I laughed my ass off. Other ten-second spots were about his early admission into a bunch of big colleges, like Texas and USC, or his full ride scholarship.

They are playing up his sense of entitlement. It's a different heel act than Jericho, for example. When Swagger came out to the ring, he started douchily "when I was two years old, my father..." The crowd booed him down so bad that he couldn't continue. Every time he started, the booing started. It was completely hilarious. I hope that TV does it justice, because the crowd legitimately did it's job providing heat to Swagger. He kept trying to continue, and the crowd kept shouting him down. I thought that he was going to break and start laughing after a while (god knows I was howling).

To his credit, he kept a straight face. It wasn't the Jericho angry at the crowd. It was more of a "why wouldn't everyone be interested that I got a 1510 on my SAT" reaction. I am glad to see this little twist onto his character. Swagger cannot carry the monster heel, and there are too many "I'm better than you" heels. But Swagger is the "I am entitled to everything that I received" act is one he can pull off. Last night, Swagger got more heat than even Jericho and Punk.

C.M. Punk came out telling how he beat Mysterio all by himself, without any help. He said that the sobering reality was that he was better. The mention of sobering reality led him into condemning the crowd. It was thankfully tame on the savior stuff. MVP interrupted with a great promo. He was really natural on mic, telling Punk to shut up.

MVP said how Smackdown used to be cool and fun, and now Punk is trying to take all the fun away. He said he was going to shut Punk up, which lead to a two on one beat down from Punk and Gallows, which led to a Mysterio run in, which lead to Teddy making it a tag match. You know how that goes.

4. Rey Mysterio and MVP defeated C.M. Punk and Luke Gallows. It was a good, fast paced tag match, even though it was pretty short. MVP on the mic opposite Punk was a lot better than Rey on the mic. But your hope for MVP to turn is on hold for a while.

The biggest face pop for any wrestler was probably for Big Show. When Teddy announced him as the #1 contender, the crowd went wild. he gave a loose, sort of goofy Triple H-like promo. The crowd was into it, chanting "Knock Him Out." Show played up the crowd. I didn't realize that he had that kind of charisma.

Notes: The biggest heat of the night was for Swagger, with Jericho and Punk behind him, in that order. Smackdown got some of their new folks into programs right away, with Big Show and Swagger and MVP and Punk. No real signs of anything with Rhodes, Christian, or Kingston. I really hope that the crowd reaction comes across on TV, because it completely made a couple of the segments.

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