WWE TV Reports 7/4 Twilling's West Coast WWE Smackdown Coverage: Triple H appears on MVP's VIP Lounge, Fatal Fourway for the United States Championship, Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison By Rich Twilling Jul 4, 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 7/1/08 in Tulsa, OK [Q1] A video aired saying the WWE superstars would show us their version of fireworks. The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Jim Ross wished America a happy birthday as he and Mick Foley welcomed us to the show. He plugged the United States Championship match… MVP was already in the ring for his VIP Lounge. He put over Triple H as one of the greatest champions of all time. He listed all of Triple H’s nicknames and introduced him as The Game. Triple H came out with the WWE Championship over his shoulder and he went through his entire entrance. Triple H and MVP shook hands. Both men sat down on the leather couch. MVP congratulated Triple H for defeating John Cena at Night of Champions and finally avenging his loss to Cena at Wrestlemania 22. Both men put each other over. Triple H said he loved MVP’s suits and power ranger outfits, which is why the kids love him. MVP said his attire was world class and Olympic swimmers wear the same material. Triple H called it a performance enhancer and it could cost him thirty days. MVP asked Triple H how he felt about him making more money. Triple H said he would rather be the 12-time world champion as opposed to the biggest waste of money in Smackdown history. MVP looked pissed but Triple H said he came out to the VIP Lounge because it was the highest rated show on Smackdown. He said he brought footage with him. H and MVP argued over who would introduce the footage. They aired the video of Edge’s promo and subsequent losing of the World Heavyweight Championship on Monday night, followed by C.M. Punk defeating JBL. [Q2] Triple H and MVP exchanged “Punk” jokes, “Edge was punked, C.M. pulled Edge’s punk card, etc. They were actually pretty funny. Vickie Guerrero rolled out and interrupted the two new buddies. Triple H said he had wanted to meet Vickie Guerrero. He called Edge a genius because he was marrying the boss. “Who comes up with that type of stuff?” He said he knew a drive-thru wedding chapel in Las Vegas they could go to that would only cost forty bucks. Vickie put over Edge as someone who successfully defended his title against Batista every time they faced and the only person to banish Undertaker from WWE. H said after looking at Vickie, Edge would definitely do some things he would never do. Vickie asked what he meant. He said he has seen the girls Edge has dated and Vickie was “a big step up.” Vickie told Triple H he would be defending the title against Edge at The Great American Bash and Edge would become the new champion… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Long, but very good segment in my opinion. Having Triple H and MVP in the same segment just elevated MVP, who was in serious need of elevating. Vickie was solid here on the microphone and they gave us a fresh segment, instead of what would have been a predictable segment with Edge bitching about losing the title. A live shot of the new Diva’s Championship belt was shown. As I said in the new Dot Net Member’s Forum, at first glance, it looks like there is a Hart Foundation logo on the main plate. Natalya came out to join the announce team. She now has red hair… 1. Michelle McCool defeated Victoria, Cherry, Maryse, Kelly Kelly in a Golden Dreams Match in 3:24. Natayla said the colors of the new championship belt suited her perfectly. Twill’s Two Cents: I guess she had the same opinion of the belt that I did. Cherry hit a nice superplex on Victoria early in the match. Cherry and Kelly hit a double Electric Chair on Maryse. Mick Foley said it was about time the Smackdown divas had their own title. Jim Ross said the number one show in WWE should have a women’s champion. Nice dig. [Q3] Everyone had their chance at the star on the pole. Victoria was knocked off by Michelle McCool. Maryse was also knocked off by Michelle, who then grabbed the star for the win. Michelle and Natalya exchanged glances at each other and the belt… Backstage, Vickie told the wedding planner her mind was elsewhere. Curt Hawkins and Zac Ryder came in and Vickie scolded them. She blamed them for Edge losing the title on Monday. She put them in a match vs. Jesse and Festus… Edge was shown arriving at the arena and walking through the backstage area. A bunch of people that looked like they snuck in with a cooler full of beers laughed at him as he walked by. He stopped and stared them down… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Nattie was great on commentary. She is a heel but she is simply confident that she is better than everyone else. Vickie blaming the loss on Hawkins and Ryder was ridiculous. JR plugged the United States Championship match with Matt Hardy defending against Chavo Guerrero, Mr. Kennedy, and Shelton Benjamin. JR and Foley put over “The Moscow Mauler” Vladimir Kozlov. They aired a video of Kozlov’s brief but successful run thus far in WWE… 2. Jesse and Festus defeated Curt Hawkins and Zac Ryder in 3:17. Festus came out dressed up as Uncle Sam. Foley joked that it was a good thing Hawkins and Ryder had their names on their attire because they have done so much to distinguish themselves on Smackdown. Ryder dropkicked Jesse to the floor and both Ryder and Hawkins had offensive success in the ring with Jesse. Foley said he was eating at J.R.’s Family BBQ when Punk defeated Edge for the title. Jesse tagged Festus, who looked hilarious in his candy stripper pants. Festus took out both men and pinned Ryder after hitting the flapjack… After the match, Edge’s music hit and he came out. Hawkins and Ryder attacked Jesse from behind as Festus just stood there. Edge speared Festus and beat him with his belt as Ryder and Hawkins held Jesse back. [Q4] Edge grabbed a chair and hit Festus with a hard, unprotected shot. Edge’s boys finally relinquished Jesse and he crawled over to check on his partner… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Glad to see Jesse and Festus get a win and that was a very good post match segment. Like MVP earlier, Jesse and Festus getting a rub from Edge is a good thing for them. JR and Foley narrated the footage of what happened before the break. Backstage, Vickie basically called Edge stupid for going to Raw on Monday. She said she did not give him permission. Edge said Vickie does not understand what he puts his body through and that he has been in the business sixteen years to the day. Vickie stood up and yelled at Edge to remember who he is talking to. She is still his boss. She said the only person Edge should be mad at is himself. Edge looked pissed and walked away… They aired a video plugging Jeff Hardy’s first Smackdown appearance…[C] Twill’s Two Cents: Great segment. I am happy to see Edge and Vickie both have a backbone. Back from commercial, footage of Jeff Hardy being drafted to Smackdown was shown… 3. Jeff Hardy defeated John Morrison in 12:48. JR said that the addition of Hardy to the Smackdown roster further cements Smackdown as the number one show in WWE. Foley said no one could disagree with that. Twill’s Two Cents: People are always going to watch Raw but I love how they are promoting Smackdown on the air as the number one show. [Q5] JR compared Morrison to Ravishing Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect. Morrison slowly tried to ground Hardy early. Hardy threw Morrison to the floor. He came over the top but landed on the apron. He hit Morrison with a high crossbody. Back in the ring, Hardy hit ten punches on Morrison in the corner. Morrison scored a couple of nearfalls and hit a vicious European Uppercut. Hardy tried the springboard to a sitting Morrison in the corner, but Morrison stood up, caught Hardy, and threw him outside the floor… [C] Morrison had an armbar locked in coming back from the break. Hardy missed the Whisper in the Wind at 8:00, allowing Morrison to score a nearfall. Morrison worked on Hardy’s left arm, illegally twisting it around the bottom rope until the referee counted to four. He continued to focus his offense on that left arm. The announcers talked about the Edge and Vickie situation and JR made his first reference to Hawkins and Ryder escorting him out of the arena after Edge interrupted his Raw farewell address. Morrison went to the top and jumped at Hardy, who hit a powerbomb on Morrison out of midair. At just under twelve minutes, Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind for a two count. He went to the top for the Swanton Bomb, but Morrison hit a Pele kick for a nearfall. Morrison attempted the Moonlight Drive but Hardy countered it into a front suplex. He then hit the Swanton for the win… Twill’s Two Cents: Very good match. I was into it from the opening bell. Morrison brought it and Hardy looked fantastic. The announcers were on their game as well. Good stuff. JR plugged the Fatal Fourway for the United States Championship and wondered if another Hardy could survive tonight… [C] [Q6] They aired a very hot video of Maria promoting her “debut” on Smackdown. JR made the obvious “beauty to a beast” comparison as Umaga made his ring entrance… 4. Umaga defeated Funaki in 1:56. JR said Umaga would go high in the NFL draft because he was the prototypical nose tackle. Foley said he had never seen a nose tackle that looked like Umaga. Umaga dominated from the opening bell, hit the butt splash followed by the Samoan Spike for the win… Twill’s Two Cents: Dot Net readers familiar with me know I am a big Umaga fan, so I hope this is the first step in another push for him. Backstage, Edge tried to reason with Hawkins and Ryder, asking how he would need Vickie’s permission to go to Raw. Some direction broad approached Edge and said Vickie would like to see him. Edge walked about eleven feet and asked Vickie if she summonsed him. Edge called himself the real General Manager because before he came back, Vickie was Teddy Long’s lapboy. Vickie told Edge everything she has put her body through because of him, including being in a wheel chair and having a messed up back. Edge told her to shut up and to speak to him in English. Vickie screamed at Edge to get out. He left but tried to reenter, only to find the door locked. He kicked the door, looked frustrated, and walked away… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Good followup segment. I like where this is going because I did not like the predictable BS they usually did as the heels in power. [Q7] 5. Matt Hardy defeated Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero (with Bam Neely), and Shelton Benjamin in a Fatal Fourway match to retain the United States Championship in 10:18. Kennedy did his self introduction, saying although he was from Green Bay, he was now home on Smackdown. The crowd was completely silent… Twill’s Two Cents: Does the draft mean anything? The champion is not even on this show. What is he doing here? Hardy and Chavo paired off, as did Kennedy and Shelton. Foley put over Terry Funk as a former United States Champion. At two minutes, everyone scored a nearfall. Foley mentioned being in a WWE Championship match at Night of Champions last year and being pinned by John Cena… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Wow, did anyone remember that? Back from commercial, Kennedy was in control of both Chavo and Shelton. Hardy went to the top rope but Kennedy caught and went up after him. Shelton joined them and the three of them hit the powerbomb/suplex combination. Chavo almost snuck up and scored the win. Shelton had a pinfall attempt on Chavo but Bam Neely broke it up. Shelton went after Bam. In the ring, Chavo hit the three amigos on Hardy. He then hit the Frog Splash on but Kennedy broke up the pinfall attempt. All four men exchanged pinfall attempts with various others breaking them all up. [Q8] Finally, Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Shelton, right on top of Chavo. Hardy covered Chavo and scored the three count. JR put over the match as the show abruptly cut to a WWE Mobile commercial… [C] Twill’s Two Cents: Very good four way match. Matches like these are usually a mess but these four made it work very well. Hardy’s title never seemed in real jeopardy, but the match itself was beyond solid. Footage of Edge losing the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw was shown yet again… Edge came out to the ring without music or pyro. He said he would make his one and only announcement about what happened to him last Monday. He said both Batista and C.M. Punk victimized him. He said he could take solace in the fact that he would soon wear championship gold again by becoming a three time WWE Champion after defeating Triple H at The Great American Bash. Edge called this past week the most difficult in his professional and personal life. Edge said he would persevere because that is what he does. He then said even Vickie Guerrero turned her back on him. Edge said he could tell some Vickie secrets. Vickie interrupted Edge, sans wheelchair, and screamed at him. She wondered why he would air their dirty laundry in public. She said she did not understand. Edge left the ring and joined Vickie on the stage. Edge said he had one more public statement to make to everyone and to Vickie. “The wedding is off!!!” Edge walked away as Vickie threw a really bad fit. She screamed, threw off her ring, screamed some more, pounded the stage, and screamed some more. Twill’s Two Cents: I doubt Vickie will be nominated for an Emmy anytime soon. I loved the segment though and they could turn Edge or Vickie. They left it wide open and it was a great end to a great show. I thought tonight’s show was one of the best I have seen in recent memory. Everything seemed to click and important feuds were progressed heavily. I will have much more to say in the Smackdown Hitlist. Feel free to share your opinion of the show with me by shooting 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 9/5 Twilling's West Coast WWE Smackdown Coverage: Triple H vs. The Great Khali in a lumberjack match, MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin, The Brian Kendrick vs. Jeff Hardy 9/5 Powell's WWE Smackdown Live Coverage: Triple H vs. Great Khali in a lumberjack match, Jeff Hardy vs. The Brian Kendrick, MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin 9/2 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: The five Championship Scramble competitors appear on The Dirt Sheet, main event eight man tag team match 9/1 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels sign their Unforgiven contract, Randy Orton appears, battle royal with the five Championship Scramble participants 9/1 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Championship Scramble match previews with two battle royals, two big names return, WWE Diva back in action 8/29 Shore's WWE Smackdown Live Coverage: Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin, MVP vs. Jeff Hardy, R-Tuth Debuts