By Marv Hermanstyne

WWE Friday Night Smackdown on MyNetworkTV
Taped in Little Rock, Ark.

[Q1] The opening montage was shown and photos of Kane was shown winning the world title. Tony Chimmel introduced Kane as the world champion and Striker did a 15 second slurp fest of the Big Red monster. Kane cut a promo regarding his childhood and talked about all the MITB competitors. He said all the soul rested and he won the MITB match. He said he made history by cashing in the MITB briefcase the same night and it was most gratifying moment of his career. He said that Rey put up a great effort by surviving Swagger and when he saved him from Swagger tearing his ankle, he had a intuition about chokeslamming Rey. He said that he scraped Rey on his head with a Tombstone and became world champ.

He said everyone applauded and he had to do what he had to do and he screamed that he did it. He said he didn't do it for himself, but he did it for Taker. He said the world title has come back to the darkside and he saw Taker to celebrate his victory. He said is once powerful brother just laid there and was unresponsive. He said he vowed that no one will take the title from him and he will not rest until he found the person…

Mind of Marv: Another A++ promo from Kane! I'm still not a fan of the title change, but it's starting to make a LOT more sense.

Rey and Swagger faces each other in the two out of three falls match later tonight for the number one contendership. [C]

The Smack of the night was Christian and Matt Hardy attacking each other the past three weeks. Matt came out selling the injuries from MITB and Christian has an nice shiner from the ladder match.

[Q2] The human Avatar, Drew McIntyre had a smug look on his face and the "Dashing" one came out to little to no heat…

1. Drew McIntyre and "Dashing" Cody Rhodes defeated Christian and Matt Hardy in 13:20. Matt and Drew started the match and Matt had the early advantage by working on Drew's arm. Christian tags in and hits an uppercut to Drew. Christian made the match extra technical for an second until Drew got some punches in. Christian hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Cody got in and hit some punches and Christian countered with a flapjack. The babyfaces worked on Cody with good tag team tactics. Cody hit Matt with his exposed knee and tagged in Drew. Drew went for the Future Shock but Matt threw both men out and hit a dropkick to Drew. Christian hit a moonsault to both heels. [C]

The show returned with Cody attacking Matt with a side Russian leg sweep and missed a knee drop. Christian placed his weight on Cody and went for his uppercut but Drew distracted him. Cody hit the Alabama slam (Hardcore Holly's finisher if you were interested). Both heels worked on Christian outside of the ring. Cody hit a brain buster to Christian for a nearfall. Cody hit a sick standing dropkick to Christian for two nearfalls. Drew got back in the match with an armbar submission and both heels continued to work on Christian. Cody went for another Alabama Slam but Christian countered and the both guys clotheslined each other.

[Q3] Matt got back in the match and worked on Drew for multiple nearfalls. Matt hit a tornado DDT and the referee was distracted. Matt went for the rollup for a nearfall. Matt unintentionally hit Christian with a clothesline and Drew hit a big boot to Matt for the win.

Post match, Christian picked up Matt and offered a handshake. Both men shock hands and the crowd booed.

Mind of Marv: Good TV tag match even though the crowd was sitting on their hands the majority of the match. I wouldn't mind seeing a triple threat match with the Harts at Summerslam with these two teams if they are trying to fill the card out. Post match, the Christian and Matt confrontation was weak because I was begging for a Christian heel turn and it didn't happen, ugh…

Backstage, Mathews interviewed Jack Swagger. Swagger called Mysterio a cheater because he took a page out of the book of Eddie Guerrero. He called Rey a snake for taking his shoe off and said that he cheated. He said that he lost his title to Kane and tonight, he will not lie, cheat or steal because he will dominate and shatter his ankle. He said that he will put Kane in the same place as his father, in the hospital. [C]

The number one contenders match was hyped for later tonight and another Alberto Del Rio vignette was shown…

Mind of Marv: Throw some cold water on me when this shit is over…

Backstage, LayCool was drinking some bubbly and acting bubbly. They got each other halves of an Best Friends charm. Teddy Long came in and said that Layla will defend her title against Tiffany next week. They talked about Long not saying "Real Talk" right and they bounced around for a few seconds. Kofi was getting iced down to sell the injuries from MITB and he has a match, next. [C][Q4]

Mind of Marv: They get to sip Champagne but Steve Austin is limited to weak ass beers because the show is PG? Double standard…I'm kidding.

2. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) defeated Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston (w/Michael McGillicutty) in a non-title match by submission in 14:51. The match started technical and Kofi went for the first pinfall for the nearfall. Dolph kicked Kofi in the gut and hit a shoulderblock. Kofi hit a flying elbow to Dolph and worked on him in the corner with blows. Dolph worked on Kofi's neck with a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Dolph pressed his weight on Kofi's neck and tossed him outside of the ring. McGillicutty was checking on Kofi and Vickie got the ref to throw him out because she's the consultant, ugh…[C]

Dolph continued to work on Kofi's neck and hit a Rocker Dropper for a nearfall. Dolph dropped an elbow on Kofi and Kofi tried some offense but Dolph applied a modified Crossface to pressure the neck. Kofi went for the cover for a nearfall. Dolph hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. Dolph continued to press his weight and use to ropes on Kofi.

[Q5] Dolph applied the Cobra Clutch and pressed his weight on Kofi again. Dolph missed a jumping elbow and Kofi countered with boot to the face. Kofi placed Dolph in a backslide for a nearfall. Kofi hit a crossbody, a jumping clothesline and the Boom Drop. Kofi went for the TIP but he missed and Dolph tossed him on the ropes. Kofi use his leverage to get back in the ring but Vickie grabbed Kofi's leg and Dolph hit the Zig Zag to Kofi. Dolph applied the sleeper to Kofi to win the match.

Mind of Marv: Good match until things got really repetitive and boring. Kofi looked so weak especially during the second half of the match. If they going to make Dolph look strong, PLEASE put the belt on him at Summerslam or this matchup becomes utterly useless. This should be a good match at Summerslam, but they absolutely have to eliminate all these holds.

Post match, Dolph celebrated with the IC title and the referee took the belt from him. Big Show was walking to the ring and Rosa was jumping rope and smiled. Show coming to the ring for his match, next. [C]

The WWE Rewind was Show unmasking Punk last week. Punk was whispering to Gallows and Gallows stood outside of the ring. They made the masked man wrestle…

[Q6]3. Big Show squashes Joey Mercury in 1:30. Show squashes Mercury with a knockout punch and takes his mask off, that is all…

Post match, the SES looked pissed. Cody Rhodes has an commercial with grooming tips on how to be "Dashing" like himself…[C]

Mind of Marv: Mercury gets squashed and we get a LAME ass commercial to top it off?

The Raw Rebound was shown and Rey was in his locker room. Mathews interviewed Rey and asked him if his body will be handling the match. Rey said his story as world champion was taken away from him. He said the only he can do that, is that he has to beat Swagger twice. He said when he faces Kane again, it will be a completely different story…[C] [Q7]

More Alberto Del Rio for our boring, viewing pleasure. Rye came out to a good pop while Swagger came out looking extra pissy…

4. Rey Mysterio defeated Jack Swagger in a best of three falls match to become the number one contender to the World title in 19:33. Swagger pushed Rey into the corner and Rey went for a quick rollup for a nearfall. Swagger attacked Rey by pressing his weight in the corner. Rey threw an elbow, hit a hurricrana, flipped him out of the ring and hit a baseball slide. [C]

The show returned with Swagger hitting a swinging takedown to Rey. He pressed his weight on Rey and Irish whipped him for a nearfall. Rey hit a drop toe hold to Swagger in the corner of the ring. Rey got hung up on the ring and Swagger continued the attack. Swagger hit a nice power slam and applied a modified body scissors and stretched Rey's ankle. Swagger slammed Rey's leg into the ringpost.

[Q8] Swagger went for the cover for a nearfall. Swagger DDT'ed Rey's injured ankle for a nearfall. Rey tried to come back with kicks but Swagger stopped him. Rey hit a crossbody to Swagger for a nearfall. Rey went for a bulldog but Swagger applied the ankle lock and Swagger got DQ'ed because he wouldn't let Rey's leg go at 11:15. [C]

The show returned at 15:07 and Swagger stomped at Rey in the corner. Rey moved and Swagger rammed into the ring post. Rey went for the 619 but Swagger caught him and won the second fall at 16:10.

Swagger stomped Rey and Rey countered with kicks to the face. Swagger caught Rey and hit a modified power bomb to Rey outside of the ring. Swagger threw Rey back in the ring and leaped on Rey twice for a nearfall. Swagger tried to leap again but Rey kicked Swagger in the midsection and hit an cinton. Rey rolled up Swagger for the win…

Post match, Swagger continued to beat on Rey until Kane made the save. Kane chokeslammed Swagger and looked at Rey. Rey looked petrified and Kane picked him. Rey limped and Kane raised his hand…until Kane tried to chokeslam Rey and Rey countered with a 619 to Kane.

Mind of Marv: Excellent 2 out of 3 falls match to close a strong show. Overall, this was strong show like Raw this past week. Little to no bullshit filler and I really enjoyed tonight's show. This matchup as a undercard feud on Raw was atrocious last year, but with the right buildup and the SD writers handling this feud this time, we should get a decent short time feud that should enhance the Summerslam card.

Chris Shore will have the Smackdown Hitlist in the morning and I would like to thank everyone who sent their feedback on my MITB columns. The Miz winning was great, but Kane I'm somewhat netural winning the match but….If you have questions and comments, send them to mr.hermanstyne@gmail.com. Next week, I will have a different email address to send all your comments and thoughts on the show. Also, if you wanted to hear my thoughts about MITB and this past week's episode of Raw, visit for the July 20th guest host appearance.

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