WWE Smackdown Taping
Manchester, U.K.
Report by Dot Net reader Alex Roberts

The WWE taped both this weeks and next weeks editions of Smackdown in Manchester tonight and did so in front of what appeared to be another legit sell out for them. I will say that two back-to-back tapings felt way too long and pretty much burnt the crowd out. The running order for the matches didn’t help much either, nor did it help that the second show was almost exclusively made up of tag matches, which probably should have been spread across the night a little more and moved around in the edit. There was also a surprising amount of dead time that didn’t help matters either.

None the less some good wrestling focused shows in front of a crowd that was probably more consistently engaged than the one present for last nights Raw/ECW tapings.

Dark Match

1. Chavo Guerrero beat Ryan Braddock.

Smackdown Tapings

A casket was placed in the middle of the ring for the Smackdown opening and an Undertaker promo for his Survivor Series match with Big Show. Taker was interrupted by Jeff Hardy on the big screen who promoted their match later in the night. Taker ended the exchanging by promising Hardy would rest in peace.

1. Matt Hardy pinned Shelton Benjamin in an enjoyable match.

2. The Brian Kendrick (w/Ezekiel) beat Carlito when Ezekiel distracted Carlito by attacking Primo on the outside. Judging by events on the next round of tapings this appears to have been set up for a tag titles feud.

Kozlov and Triple H had a contract signing for their Survivor Series title match. As is often the case, this didn’t make for exciting viewing, Jeff Hardy eventually interrupted proceedings before Triple H could sign and make the match official.

3. Jeff Hardy beat The Undertaker in a good TV main event that continued to develop Hardy’s new edge brilliantly. The match ended with a good big spot from Hardy, after a run-in from Big Show, Jeff leapfrogged over a ladder to deliver a leg drop and pick up the pin.

It was also announced that Jeff Hardy would take on Triple H on the next show.

Editor's Note:: Alex added the matches below to his report.

Michelle McCool defeated Maria to retain the Diva’s Championship. Jesse and Festus were watching the match at ringside and when the bell rang for the finish Festus went crazy and chased off McCool.

MVP lost to Kung Fu Naki after a Kahli distraction. After the match Kahli did a Kiss Cam segment that ended with MVP getting kissed by the comedy fat chick.

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