WWE TV Reports 6/27 Twilling's West Coast WWE Smackdown Coverage: Triple H and Jim Ross debut on the show, Rey Mysterio says farewell, Edge vs. Matt Hardy, Batista vs. Umaga By Rich Twilling Jun 27, 2008 - 11:59 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing WWE Smackdown on The CW Network Taped 6/24/08 in Houston, TX [Q1] They aired the same draft recap video from ECW’s broadcast and it was every bit as strong the second time around… Vickie Guerrero sat backstage and almost cried while expressing condolences towards Vince McMahon and those around him. They aired the footage of the stage collapse from Monday night. Vickie did not want Vince to end up in a wheelchair like she was. On the behalf of everyone on Smackdown, she wished Vince a speedy recovery. Like Teddy Long saying Vince would want the show to go on, Vickie said Vince would want everyone to FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE. Yes, she randomly screamed that part. She then went face for a split second and gave WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross a nice introduction… JR came out to his entrance music. As he slapped hands with the fans, the HD sound picked up each hand slap. Mick Foley was genuinely humbled to have JR with him. Foley said he knew JR had mixed feelings, but JR said proudly that he would take Smackdown to places it has never been before… Twill’s Two Cents: Like I said on Tuesday regarding Matt Hardy’s ECW appearance, I like how JR was treated like a star here. It is funny that the main event at Wrestlemania was called by the Smackdown announce team of Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman and now the team consists of Jim Ross and Mick Foley. I would say that is an upgrade. Triple H’s music hit and he made his way to the ring. He seemed to have some newfound excitement in his face. He immediately said, “What a difference a day makes.” He then realized the show would air on Friday and said, “Three days ago, I was the top dog on Raw.” He called Vince McMahon crazy and said his world literally crumbled around him. He jokingly said he did not think Vince would be giving away a million dollars anytime soon. The WWE Champion continued by saying he was glad to see so many familiar faces on his new show. He turned to JR and said if he could have chosen anyone to come over to Smackdown with him, it would have been JR. He called JR the greatest wrestling announcer of all time. Foley seconded that as JR thanked him and looked very moved. Hunter then looked into the camera and humorously said, “Enough with the blatant sucking up, on to the blatant shilling.” He went on the plug Night of Champions on Sunday. Edge’s music hit and he came to the ring. You could tell he looked a little nervous. Edge said the current moment was a special one as the two best in the business were in the ring at the same time. Triple H nodded in agreement. Edge said he has heard rumblings of people saying he and Triple H could not co-exist, but he did not feel that way. Triple H said both of them had huge egos but Edge’s was not as big as Triple H’s. [Q2] Edge told Hunter he has never lost a championship match to Batista. He continued by telling Triple H he was 0 for 1 vs. Cena in championship matches, having tapped out to Cena at Wrestlemania 22. He said Triple H was now in his house. Batista’s music hit and as he walked to the ring, Triple H threw Edge to the floor. Batista speared Edge and grabbed the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista and Triple H held up the belts in the ring. JR called it a potential sign of things to come… Twill’s Two Cents: Normally, extra long in ring promos to start the show put people to sleep, but given the magnitude of the Triple H move to Smackdown, this segment was perfect in this slot. Edge coming out and proclaiming his dominance over the show was well done. Batista vs. Umaga and Edge vs. Matt Hardy were plugged for later in the show… [C] 1. Kane and Big Show defeated MVP and Mark Henry in 5:23. MVP did the Scott Hall like “that’s it” motion with his arms during his entrance, as if to say, “I do not have pyro anymore.” JR said some people were surprised that MVP was not drafted because of his contract issues. That seemed random. Maybe MVP will move after all. As expected, there was some bickering between Kane and Show. What was not expected was dissention between MVP and Henry. MVP was the whipping boy of the match. Show hit him with a very big press slam. When MVP tried to leave Henry behind, Henry threw him into Kane, who chokeslammed MVP for the win… Twill’s Two Cents: Is this MVP’s de-push? It is odd what is going on with him. He loses a lot of matches, he is kept off of PPV cards, he seems to be going face, but he walks away from matches, which is a heel move. When Henry threw him back into the match, Henry was cheered loudly. I have a feeling he could be headed to Monday nights. [Q3] Vickie and the wedding planner were talking backstage when Edge entered and complained about the attack he received at the hands of Batista and Triple H. Vickie told him to focus on Matt Hardy and that he would get his belt back by the end of the night… [C] Back from commercial, a very good introduction like video of Umaga aired. The video showcased him as an indestructible monster… 2. Finlay and Hornswoggle defeated Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder in 2:31. As expected, this was a basically a handicapped match with Finlay doing the work. The ending of the match came with Finlay hitting the Celtic Cross and Hornswoggle finishing Hawkins off with the Tadpole Splash for the win… Twill’s Two Cents: I have a bad feeling that one of the company’s hottest acts, Miz and Morrison, will lose the titles to the comedic duo. After the match, The Miz and John Morrison walked out to the stage, pointed at Finlay, and then pointed lower to Hornswoggle… JR plugged the champion vs. champion match between Edge and Matt Hardy… [C] [Q4] The final Smackdown appearance of Rey Mysterio was heavily hyped. JR called Mysterio a Smackdown institution… 3. Edge defeated Matt Hardy in a non-title match in 12:59. Edge came out without his belt on account that Batista still had it. Foley said he looked naked without the belt. JR said he would rather not picture that. In the early part of the match, Hardy almost hit the Twist of Fate but Edge broke free. Hardy mouthed that he was that close to beating Edge… [C] [Q5] Back from commercial, the pace picked up considerably and Hardy scored multiple nearfalls. Edge sold really well here. Hardy avoided a spear from Edge, but his attention was diverted for a split second, allowing Edge to hit his second spear attempt for the win… Twill’s Two Cents: Great match. I guess this is evidence of the first negative move of the draft because we will not see this match again for awhile. Hopefully they will let Hardy work for ten plus minutes every Tuesday on ECW. Umaga vs. Batista was plugged once again for the main event of tonight’s show… [C] Back from commercial, Rey Mysterio saying goodbye to Smackdown was plugged again. They then aired a very good video introducing Jeff Hardy to the show. Just like the Umaga video, this was very well done as well. The WWE production crew shines in this area… Jim Ross and Mick Foley cycled through the PPV card for this Sunday. Upon completion, Kelly Kelly and Michelle McCool came down for a six woman tag team match… [C] [Q6] 4.Natalya, Victoria, and Maryse defeated Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, and Cherry in 6:11. Vickie Guerrero was shown backstage, but she was paying more attention to her wedding planner than the match, although she is supposed to be choosing an opponent for Natayla. Victoria hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Natayla and Michelle had a very good set of exchanges. The finish came when Maryse rolled up Cherry for the win… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Natalya, Victoria, and Michelle were impressive. Kelly even looked decent in her short time in the ring. A video played of Mr. Kennedy returning to Smackdown next week… Twill’s Two Cents: Umaga and Jeff Hardy received long video packages and Kennedy should have as well. [Q7] 5. Vladimir Kozlov defeated Domino in 2:48. Domino, sporting a beard now, talked smack to Kozlov as the opening bell rang. Domino actually got Kozlov off of his feet and scored a one count. He went to the top rope, but Kozlov hit him with the battering ram as Domino flew at him. Kozlov covered him for the pinfall victory… Rey Mysterio made his way through the backstage area. Hornswoggle met up with him and did that creepy laugh. He gave Rey his hat. Rey put on the hat. Hornswoggle jumped up and clicked his heels. Rey did the same and walked away. Hornswoggle symbolically waved goodbye to Rey… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: I know I always say it, but it is frustrating that Hornswoggle is portrayed as a child. He is an adult but apparently, he cannot speak. Also, since ECW will be taping with Raw, he will be seeing plenty of Rey. Rey Mysterio came out for his farewell address. He said he came to Smackdown six years ago with a dream. After losing his train of thought, he said he became Cruiserweight Champion, Tag Team Champion, and World Heavyweight Champion. At the end of his promo, he said goodbye to his people in Spanish... Batista made his entrance with Rey still in the ring. They motioned to each other saying they were both going to Raw. Ross said they were as close as brothers. Batista, with Edge’s belt, entered the ring and hugged Mysterio… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Rey is not a great promo guy, but his underdog persona played to his advantage here. He was solid and emotional, thus making the promo very good. Batista coming out was a nice touch. [Q8] They aired a Raw Rebound of Batista and Edge butting heads doing spears at the same time. That will be a nasty spot no matter how many times they show it… 6. Batista defeated Umaga by disqualification in 6:57. Umaga dominated the match, continuing to work on Batista’s head injury from Monday. JR said he had stitches from the incident. Umaga was impressive, but Batista turned the tides with a spinebuster. He signaled for the Batista Bomb, but La Familia hit the ring, causing the referee to call for the bell… After the match, Umaga and La Familia minus Bam Neely, engaged in a prolonged attack of Batista. Umaga hit the running ass splash and went to the top rope. Before he could attempt a move, Triple H came out and pulled out Umaga’s foot. Triple H and Batista then cleared the ring, executing their finishing moves on both Hawkins and Ryder. Edge retreated up the ramp with his belt… Twill’s Two Cents: The respect shown to Umaga by La Familia during the post match attack was a solid way to establish him on Smackdown. The overall show was pretty good. Triple H and Jim Ross might help to turn this into the A show. I thought Jim Ross was fantastic tonight as always. I also like how the new faces were used tonight, except for Kennedy. His “debut” should have been hyped like Umaga’s and Jeff Hardy’s. I will have more to say in my next blog. Feel me to let me know what you thought by sending me an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY WWE TV Reports Latest Twelve Articles 11/18 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, and Finlay vs. William Regal, Mark Henry, and Cody Rhodes; Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer in an Amateur Wrestling Challenge 11/17 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Stephanie McMahon holds a Wrestler's Forum; Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz and John Morrison; Randy Orton vs. C.M. Punk 11/17 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Stephanie McMahon answers wrestler questions, Randy Orton vs. C.M. 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