Smackdown on The CW Network
Taped on 7/1/08 in Tulsa, OK

[Q1] A video aired letting us know we are in the greatest country on God’s green Earth and we would receive the WWE Superstar’s version of live fireworks…

The opening video aired followed by the pyro and Jim Ross welcomed us to Smackdown. Ross plugged the main event, a Fatal Four Way Fourth of July match for the US Championship with Matt Hardy defending against Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero, and Shelton Benjamin…

MVP’s music played and he was already in the ring for the VIP Lounge. He introduced The Game, Triple H as his guest. Triple H came to the ring while Ross and Mick Foley talked about his win over John Cena at NOC.

Both men sat down and MVP congratulated Triple H on his win over Cena and welcomed him to Smackdown. Triple H started off saying he was a fan of MVP and then kind of cracked on his ring attire. MVP said that was the same material the Olympic swimmers are using. Hunter cracked that MVP might get suspended for using that outfit as a performance enhancer. Funny stuff.

MVP asked what is what like being paid less than him. Triple H responded that he would rather be the 12-time World Champion than the biggest waste of money in Smackdown history. MVP got in his face and Hunter talked him down and said he had a video to show. He called for it but he and MVP argued over who should call for the video to play. In the end, MVP called for the video.

A video aired of CM Punk winning and defending the title against JBL. About half way through the video, my audio cutout due to a severe thunderstorm warning. After the video went off, MVP and Triple H joked about something and then stopped when they appeared to be interrupted.

Vickie was on the ramp and I got my audio back. Hunter said he wanted to congratulate Vickie on her impending marriage. He said he admired her boyfriend for marrying management to get ahead. He asked who would think of something like that. He said Vickie and Edge should run off to Vegas and get married. He said he knew of a great place that had a drive through and you didn’t even need to be conscious. Hilarious stuff.

[Q2] Vickie said they should watch out ‘cause Edge was going to be there soon and he wouldn’t be happy. She ran through Edge’s victories over Batista and getting Taker banished. She said Edge would do anything to achieve. Hunter said, looking at her, it was obvious Edge would do some things that he would not. Vickie asked what he meant and Hunter said she was a “big” step above what Edge normally dates. Vickie yelled at him and MVP and told Hunter he would defend the WWE Title against Edge at the Great American Bash…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Great segment, at least what I heard of it. Hunter was funny and Vickie is still waaayyyy over. My problem is that is diminished MVP even more and made him more of a tweener than a solid face or heel.

Back from commercial and the very girly Divas title belt was shown. It’s very purple and has a fairy or something in the middle. Natalya came to ringside for commentary.

1. Michelle McCool pulled the star off the pole to defeat Kelly Kelly, Cherry, Maryse, and Victoria at 3:23. When the good workers were in, it wasn’t bad. The others left a lot to be desired. The top bump of the match was Victoria and McCool sitting together on the top turnbuckle and Kelly Kelly pushing them off onto the floor. McCool now gets to face Natalya for the new ugly…uh Diva’s championship…

[Q3] Backstage, Vickie was with her wedding planner. Hawkins and Ryder came in and looked dejected. Vickie chewed them out and said as punishment for Edge losing the belt, they were facing Jesse and Festus next…

Edge was shown coming into the arena. He walked past crew members who wouldn’t look at him. He stopped and tried to stare down a couple of guys who simple turned their head…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Wow, I didn’t think Hawkins and Ryder tag teamed any more. I want to see Natalya/McCool and I want to see it last at least ten minutes. That would be cool. I am excited to see where the Edge storyline goes.

Back from commercial, JR and Foley cut a promo on Vladimir Kozlov and then aired a video of his trampling of everyone he has faced thus far…

2. Jesse and Festus defeated Hawkins and Ryder at 3:17. Festus came out dressed like Uncle Sam. He started out but quickly tagged in Jesse. Hawkins and Ryder took control and did some quick tag work. Jesse got a surprise tag at 2:20 and Festus went nuts again. He beat up both guys, speared one with the other, and scored the win.

Post match, Edge’s music hit and Hawkins and Ryder beat down and held down Jesse. Edge got in the ring and speared a catatonic Festus. He ripped his outfit off, and then whipped him with his belt. Edge got a chair and gave Festus a sick chair shot while Hawkins and Ryder made Jesse watch…[C]

Shore’s Slant: The match was OK, nothing spectacular. I hope Festus gets a little push and gets a one on one with Edge. I would like to see that soon. So far, I’m very ho-hum about the show. I guess they expect people to be watching fireworks, but it is the first real show post draft.

[Q4] Back from commercial and a replay aired of Festus’ win and subsequent beatdown…

Backstage Edge and Vickie semi-fought over him losing the title. Vickie said she didn’t give him permission to be at Raw. Edge went nuts and yelled at her. Vickie said Edge should remember she is still the boss. Edge stared at her for a moment and Vickie added that he had no one to blame but himself for losing the title…

A highlight video aired and plugged Jeff Hardy returning next…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Well now I’m interested. The face turn for Vickie seems to once again be teased. This will be fun to watch develop. Wait, was there really that little between commercials?

Back from commercial and Jeff Hardy’s music hit and he came out to a nice pop. John Morrison came out next. Wait, this could be a quality match…

3. Jeff Hardy defeated John Morrison at 12:48. A little back and forth started the match and ended when Hardy hit a dive off the ring apron on the outside. Hardy went to drop both legs on the groin—or midsection for you Tony Schiavone fans—which Morrison blocked and took control.

[Q5] Hardy took control for a brief moment and went for his “corner sitdown dropkick” move but Morrison caught him and threw him over the rope to the floor…[C]

Back from commercial and Morrison had an arm bar on Hardy. At 10:40, Morrison went for a missile dropkick but Hardy reversed into a sitdown powerbomb. Hardy went on the offense next and hit the Whisper in the Wind for a two count. He climbed to the top but was kicked off the rope. He recovered and hit a face buster followed by the Swanton Bomb for the win.

Post match the announcers plugged the US title four way main event…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Really fun match that lost a lot of steam by the commercial. Really nice ending that doesn’t hurt Morrison much if all and still manages to push Jeff a little.

[Q6] Back from commercial and a video aired plugging Maria’a move to Smackdown. She is so friggin ho…

Then like an antidote to the video Viagra we just got, Umaga made his way to the ring. God da…

4. Umaga squashed Funaki at 1:57. Funaki backed up into the corner and hit a couple of knees when Umaga charged in. That was it. All Umaga after that. He hit the Samoan Spike for the win…

Post match Edge was shown backstage bitching to Hawkins and Ryder about what Vickie said about giving him permission. A lady came up and said Vickie wanted to see him in her office. Edge walked in and said, “You summoned me.” He went on to say that she wouldn’t have this position except for him. He said until he came back, she was Teddy Long’s lap dog. He said he was the real General Manager.

She said it was all about him. She said he never thought about how she sacrificed her body for him. She said that he never considered how she was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life because of him. She started to mumble in Spanish.

Edge screamed, “Shut Up!” in her face and said if she was going to speak, she would speak in English. She jumped up…

Shore’s Slant: What happened to being confined to the wheelchair?

She jumped up and told him to get out in English. He stormed out and then stopped. He went back looking like he wanted to apologize. The door was locked and Vickie wouldn’t open it. Edge tried kicking in the door and then stormed off…

Shore’s Slant: Wow, that was really well done. They had good heat for each other and I almost forgot for a second we were watching a work. This angle is finally picking up steam.

[Q7] Back from commercial and the ring intros occurred for the Fatal Four Way match for the US Title. Well this is either a long match or there is another main event yet to be announced. Matt hardy came out to a huge pop.

5. Matt Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin, Chavo Guerrero w/Bam Neely, and Mr. Kennedy to retain the United States Championship at 10:19. Hardy took out Chavo and Kennedy took out Benjamin so Hardy and Kennedy went at it. Benjamin got up and took both them out and then went back and forth with Chavo. Hardy and Kennedy hit their finishers—Hardy with the Side Effect—and then Hardy went for the Twist of Fate on Kennedy but he reversed it and they clotheslined each other…[C]

Shore’s Slant: JR called this a tough match to call. He ought to try typing it at the same time.

Back from commercial and Kennedy roughed up Benjamin and then Chavo and then Hardy. Benjamin, Kennedy, and Hardy hit the powerbomb/superplex combo and Chavo covered Kennedy and Hardy for two. Benjamin hit the T-Bone on Chavo but Neely put Chavo’s foot on the rope. Benjamin went after Neely and Hardy and Chavo battled.

[Q7] Chavo hit a frog splash on Hardy and went for the cover but Kennedy broke up the pin. Kennedy got thrown out of the ring. Chavo went for a move and Hardy countered. He went for the pin and Kennedy jumped from the top rope to break up the count. Hardy moved and Kennedy dropped the elbow on Chavo. Kennedy charged Hardy who threw him over the rope onto Neely. Benjamin jumped in the ring and got the Twist of Fate on top of Chavo who Hardy covered for the win…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Really fun match that was opening match of a PPV good. There were a lot of hot spots and the live crowd was really into it. It was nice to see that Hardy is still the champ, though I’m afraid this hurts his chances for the ECW title. Of course, I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse for him.

Back from commercial and the Slam of the Week was Edge losing the World Title…

[Q8] Edge came out to the ring with no music, and no one with him, looking pissed. He got a mic and waited for a small “You suck” chant to subside. He said this was his one and only public statement about what happened Monday. He said he was a victim of two cowardly attacks by Batista and CM Punk, the latter of which cost him “his” world title.. He said it wasn’t fair and he was a victim.

He said the good news is that he won’t be without gold for long as he would beat Triple H for the WWE title. He went on to say he has had a rough week. He said he had no help him through this. He punked Hawkins and Ryder and said they had done nothing. He said the fans had done nothing. He said he was standing in the ring a solitary person. He said he would battle through it.

He said every body has bailed on him. He said Vickie had bailed on him and locked him out of her office. He said he had some dirty little secrets about Vickie he could share. Vickie walked out to the ramp and asked him if he had lost his mind. She whined and screamed at him, “What are you doing? I don’t understand.” Edge got out of the ring and walked up to her on the stage. He said he had one last public announcement. He got right in her face and screamed, “The wedding is off!”

Vickie went nucking futs. She screamed, stomped, screamed, took her rings off and threw them away, screamed, banged on the stage, screamed, and screamed some more as the show went off…

Shore’s Slant: Well that was a bit over the top. So let the question be “How will Vickie respond?” Will she take revenge on Edge, or beg for forgiveness? We will see next week I guess. Overall it was a good start, followed by a slow middle, and a nice last couple of matches with a good cliffhanger. Smackdown may just become the A show. We will see.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at cshore10@triad.rr.com with whatever is on your mind and check out my blog The Triangle Theory. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week.

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