By Chris Shore

Smackdown on MyNetwork TV
Taped on 6/22/10 in Manchester, N.H.

[Q1] Teddy Long and Vickie Guerrero started the show by announcing that Rey Mysterio was the new World Heavyweight Champion. He said in four weeks, and Vickie cut him off. She said over the next four weeks, they would be evaluating all of the roster to determine the eight men who would compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Teddy put over the match and said the winner would get a Smackdown title shot.

Vickie said there was another piece of business to announce. She said that Vince McMahon had suffered a terrible beating on Monday. Drew McIntyre broke in and yelled at Teddy. Teddy said that he had a meeting with the Board of Directors, and they had given him permission to run the show anyway he wanted. He reinstated Matt Hardy and booked him in a match with McIntyre. He told McIntyre to get his ugly face out of his office. Vickie gave a, “He said get out,” for good measure, and Drew stormed off...

Shore’s Slant: Hot opening. I like how they set it up as an evaluation over the next few weeks. That makes each match feel important. And I guess it will be nice for the crowd to see Drew finally get his after making a grown man cry last week.

The opening video aired, followed by Big Show's music, and Todd Grisham and Matt Striker welcomed us to Smackdown as he made his ring entrance. Jack Swagger's music hit and he came to the ramp. He said he was filing a protest because if a natural born champion such as himself couldn't keep a championship in a fatal fourway match, then it was an unfair match. He said he was cheated out of the World Heavyweight Championship and he was invoking his rematch clause at MITB. He said until then, he was going to make everyone suffer like his dad did on Father's Day. He said tonight, he was going to make Show suffer...

1. Big Show defeated Jack Swagger by disqualification at 10:36. Show back Swagger into a corner and beat on him. Swagger escaped to the top rope, but Show swept the legs, and then hit a superplex from the second rope. Jesus. Both men recovered into the break...[C] Back at 5:07, Big Show worked Swagger's arm with strikes and leverage moves on the ropes.

[Q2] Show hit a single arm lift slam, and then a leg drop on the arm. Show whipped Swagger to the corners and ran in with clotheslines. He called for the choke slam, but Swagger went low and clipped the leg. Swagger hit two DDT's on the foot and locked in a step over toe hold. Show powered out, but Swagger hit a shoulder tackle for two. He hit the Swagger Bomb, but when he tried for a second, Show caught him by the throat. Show lifted for the slam, but Swagger rolled down and through and hooked...an ankle lock. Seriously? Show made the ropes, but Swagger wouldn't let go. The ref called the DQ after a five count.

Post match, Swagger held the leg for some time. Show even finally tapped. Another ref ran out, and Swagger finally broke the hold. He left the ring and watched from the ramp as the two little refs tried to help Show out of the ring as he sold the leg injury...The announce team hyped Hardy vs. McIntyre and CM Punk vs. Kane in a No DQ match...[C]

Shore’s Slant: I like the aggressive Swagger and all, but not the aggressive red, white, and blue wearing amateur star that uses an ankle lock. Feel me? I do like that he looked strong, but I would have liked it more if he had looked this strong with the belt. His match with Rey should be pretty good, but that's about all the good I can say about Rey being champ.

A video recapped the win by Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer...Hawkins and Archer made their ring entrance, followed by Dolph Ziggler. The faces were all out separately...

[Q3] 2. MVP, Christian, and Kofi Kingston defeated Curt Hawkins, Vance Archer, and Dolph Ziggler at 11:53. The first minute of this match happened in the last quarter. MVP and Hawkins started. MVP hit a throw for two and tagged in Christian. Christian hit a drop kick for two and tagged in MVP. MVP immediately lost control and Ziggler tagged in. He whipped Hawkins at MVP, who was in their corner. MVP got the foot up, hit an elbow on Archer, and tossed Hawkins and Ziggler to the floor. Everybody hit their match to floor move on a heel, and then high fived each other into the break...[C]

Back at 5:03, MVP tagged in Kofi Kingston who rolled up Ziggler for two. Kofi went for the Boom Drop. But Hawkins tried to interfere and Ziggler attacked from behind. Archer finally tagged in and worked a rest hold on Kofi. Archer hit a back elbow for two, and tagged in Hawkins. He held Kingston while Hawkins kicked him and covered for two. Hawkins hit a snap suplex for two, and went to a rest hold. Kofi broke it with a chin buster, but Ziggler tagged in first and stopped Kofi from tagging with an elbow and a two count. Kofi finally got the hot tag to Christian.

Christian worked his offense on Ziggler, hitting a reverse DDT for two. Everybody else got taken out, and Christian hit a missile dropkick. He covered for two as Hawkins and Archer both broke the count. Everybody got taken out again, and then Christian held onto the ropes for a Zig Zag attempt. He followed with the Kill Switch for the win...The announce team hyped the Kane vs. CM Punk main event...[C]

Shore’s Slant: That was a fun match. The wrong team won. None of the guys in the heel teem needed the loss, and MVP or Christian could have taken the loss without too much trouble. Still, these six are very good in the ring, and they showed it here.

[Q4] A video recapped the Vince McMahon beat down, and the announce team hyped the “appropriate response” message from the GM...Kane cut a promo backstage with a coffin about getting revenge tonight on CM Punk...[C]

Drew McIntyre made his long ass entrance. Matt Hardy came out to Jeff's pop...

3. Matt Hardy defeated Drew McIntyre at 15:51. They jawed for a moment, and then traded blows until Hardy had the upper hand. Hardy gave Drew the Edge beat down until Drew drove Hardy into the ring post and then hit a back suplex on the floor. Hardy, who will not die, made it back in at a nine count. McIntyre beat on Hardy and hooked in a rest hold.

[Q5] McIntyre whipped Hardy to the corner and charged. Hardy got the feet up and went to the top, but McIntyre ran up and hit a mishinoku driver, according to Striker, from the top for two. McIntyre hit another slam and Hardy recovered into the break...[C]

Back at 10:30, McIntyre worked an arm bar on Hardy. He broke the hold, and hit a clothesline and stomp to the head for two. Hardy fought back and hit a neck breaker for two. He followed with a Side Effect for two. He tried for a bulldog, but Drew pushed off and hit a big boot for two. McIntyre hit a cool looking head buster for two. He setup for the Future Shock DDT, but Hardy tossed him over the top.

Hardy went to the floor and setup for a DDT, but McIntyre drove him into the stairs. McIntyre setup for the curb stomp, but Hardy swept the feet in a sick bump where Drew landed flat on the stairs. Hardy rolled him back in and covered for two. McIntyre swept the legs of Hardy and covered for two. McIntyre stood Hardy, who kicked him and hit the Twist of Fate for the win.

[Q6] Post match, Teddy appeared on the Titantron and said he found out that McIntyre's Visa had expired, and called for security to return McIntyre to Scotland. McIntyre screamed for Mr. McMahon and then went to Striker and said there was no way Mr. McMahon would deport him. Striker shrugged his shoulders and security escorted McIntyre from the ringside area...[C]

Shore’s Slant: OK, that was pretty cute with the deporting. I wonder if Angelina Love was watching and having flashbacks? That was a pretty good, and very long, match. The bump on the steps is the visual you will take away from this, but McIntyre carried Hardy to a good match. That's pretty impressive.

Cody Rhodes made his ring entrance with Husky Harris as Grisham punked Striker. Rhodes put himself over as hot. He showed the WWE.com Divas poll where the bimbos voted him most handsome. He had Harris take off his vest, and proceeded to punk his look. He said it wasn't genetics that worked in his favor, he pointed to his dad and brother as proof.

He went to the floor and punked a bunch of people at ringside, and then turned his venom on Grisham. He said we worked out in the gym while Grisham read comics and websites. He punked Tony Chimel for being fat. He got back in the ring and thanked the Divas for their vote. He laid across the top turnbuckle, and said Vickie and Teddy should consider the man with the money face, for Money in the Bank. He said from now on, Chimel and everyone would refer to him as “Dashing” Cody Rhodes. He said it about 700 more times before his music hit and he quit...

Backstage, Vickie was looking at a picture of her and Ziggler. He walked in and said she wasn't living up to her end of the bargain. He said he wanted an Intercontinental Title shot, or they weren't going to work. He told her to make it happen and walked off...

[Q7] The announce team hyped the main event...

Shore’s Slant: This angle with Cody Rhodes would work a lot better if he didn't have a face that looked like a used catcher's mitt. That said, he did a really good job with what he was given, and I almost bought it. Hopefully this will morph into something else quickly, because I am really happy with his mic work since coming over to the blue brand. And I appreciate Ziggler's honesty, don't you?

Back from commercial, Rosa Mendes was jumping rope in the ring.

Shore’s Slant: I have no idea.

Kelly Kelly made her ring entrance, with Tiffany. Team LayCool and Kaval made their ring entrance and joined the announce team. The ref rang the bell but Rosa kept jumping rope. He finally convinced her to stop, and the match got underway...

4. Kelly Kelly (w/Tiffany) defeated Rosa at 0:14. Kelly hit her finisher immediately for the win. She jumped rope and then threw it at LayCool. They started to get in the ring, but Tiffany climbed in and they left. Wow...A video recapped the Swagger attack on Big Show from earlier...The announce team hyped the main event...[C]

Shore’s Slant: Those of you who like to give the ladies the benefit of the doubt wanna email me now? No? WWE has so completely given up on them they have reduced them to one move matches that combined with the story telling, take up less than two minutes. I'm not killing women's wrestling, WWE is.

A vignette hyped a new wrestler, Alberto del Río, who is actually Mexican Superstar Dos Caras. He cut a promo sitting on a couch about how we were all liars, and he was the only honest man. Many thanks to Dot Net reader Patrick Gronemann for the info on del Rio's background.

[Q8] CM Punk made his ring entrance. He grabbed a mic and said he had only one thing to say. He pointed to himself and said his was the face of an innocent man...[C]

5. CM Punk vs. Kane in a No Disqualification match in 8:00. Kane's music and pyro popped and they got started as soon as he hit the ring. They rolled to the floor and Kane worked Punk all over the ringside area. Gallows ran out for the save, but Kane kicked his ass all over the ringside area too. The masked man ran out and...well, you get the picture. Serena distracted Kane, and Gallows and Punk attacked from behind. Then the SES kicked Kane's ass all over the ringside area.

Kane came back and beat on the SES, tossing Punk into the time keeper area, and driving the other two men into the post. Kane worked Punk's arms on the announce table, the steps, and the post. He cleared the announce table and choke slammed the masked man on the floor. He grabbed Punk by the throat near the table, but Gallows broke it up.Kane gave the chokeslam through the table to Gallows instead. Punk left through the crowd, and Kane followed. Punk ran into the lobby, and Kane body slammed him through a merchandise table, and then through a popcorn and soda table. He knocked Punk out the front door, and Punk fled down the street to end the show...

Shore’s Slant: I loved it. How great was that. Kane looked like the crazed beast he is, and Punk and company played it perfectly. Plus, nobody looks week, because of course an enraged Kane can beat up three people. We established that a long time ago. See what happens when you book long term. NOW DON'T SCREW THIS UP WWE! I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading and I'll see you then.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com with whatever is on your mind.

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