WWE TV Reports 7/11 Shore’s Smackdown Coverage: Big Show vs. Edge, Mr. Kennedy in-ring return, Shelton Benjamin vs Matt Hardy, Jesse and Festus vs. Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins By Chris Shore Jul 11, 2008 - 10:15 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Smackdown on The CW Network Taped on June 8 in Baton Rouge, La. [Q1] A video aired of Edge losing the title, going nuts on Hawkins and Ryder, arguing with Vickie, and finally him calling off the wedding… Shore’s Slant: The more I think about it, the more I really like this angle now. It’s been an agonizing setup, but I think we are about to see a payoff. Edge’s music hit and he came out in street clothes as Jim Ross and Mick Foley welcomed us to Smackdown. You suck chants began before he could even speak. He said last week he had called off the wedding and the fans popped. He said he’s been thinking about it and he stands by his decision, the wedding is still off and the fans popped again. He said Vickie wasn’t good enough for him. He said he was going to prove all his critics wrong at the Great American Bash. He said everyone thinks he was champion because Vickie was the GM. He screamed “Wrong!” to all four sides of the ring. He said he was going to beat Triple H and once again become them champion. “Excuse me,” rang out. Vickie was wheeled out by Hawkins and Ryder. She reminded him how he had said he was the real GM on Smackdown. She said she was putting him in a match as a tune up for his Bash match. She announced, tonight its Edge vs, Big Show in a no DQ match. Edge tried to argue but she had his mic turned off…[C] Shore’s Slant: The fans and I agree, we love the heat between these two, but who the hell is the face? There were cheers for Edge and he had a somewhat face promo, but there were cheers for Vickie for punishing Edge. They can’t both stay tweeners, they need to settle that quick. Otherwise, nice opening. [Q2] Back from commercial and Matt Hardy made his way to the ring. Why even draft him to ECW if he’s going to wrestle on Smackdown every week? 1. Shelton Benjamin defeated Matt Hardy at 5:11. A collar and elbow tie up at first lead to two clean breaks from Hardy. Hardy took control early until he missed a corner shot at 1:20. As Benjamin worked on Hardy, JR and Foley talked in depth about Benjamin’s inconsistency and how upset that he has been over his lack of “upward mobility.” Wow. Hardy went for the Twist of Fate and Benjamin reversed into a T-Bone slam. Hardy kicked out at two. Benjamin went to the top rope and Hardy kicked him on the way down and tried for the ToF again but Benjamin held on to the ropes. Hardy beat on him until the ref pulled him off. Benjamin suddenly hit a flying clothesline for the surprise win… Shore’s Slant: Well, looks like Benjamin gets one more push. I hope he makes the most of it. I always liked him and hoped he would do well. Backstage Hawkins and Ryder stroked Vickie’s feelings and said they were behind her getting revenge on Edge. But they said they also wanted revenge on Jesse and Festus. Vickie made the match and Ryder waxed on about how Vickie deserved someone who really cared about her as Vickie broke down in tears…[C] Back from commercial and JR plugged Edge vs Show. MVP music hit and he was ringside and a guest on commentary. Kennedy came to the ring and did his own intro. He said he was changing Friday nights again and might be more valuable than MVP. MVP looked pissed. 2. Mr. Kennedy defeated Domino at 3:00. Kennedy was in control most of the match. Domino had a few moments. Foley pointed out that with Punk’s win over Edge, Kennedy is the only person to have won a MIB match and not become world champion. [Q3] Kennedy hit the mic check out of nowhere for the win. Post-match MVP and Kennedy stared each other down for a minute. Kennedy turned around and took a superkick from Umaga followed by a Samoan Spike. MVP smiled as Umaga did his scary hair flip… Backstage, Chavo and Bam Neely were talking to Edge. Chavo said he couldn’t believe what Vickie was doing. He said that he was going to take care of it because he and Edge were like brothers and they would forever be family. Chavo and Neely walked away as Edge quietly said "Thank you, Chavo," over and over…[C] Shore’s Slant: The match was what it was. Umaga was a surprise in the Kennedy/MVP angle. I’ll be interested to see if MVP hired him and that’s the money he is going to use to take English lessons for his upcoming English speaking debut. The Chavo thing is just weird. I want to see where it goes before I comment. Back from commercial and Vickie was on the phone and Chavo busted in. He said he couldn’t believe that Edge was such a jerk and he and Vickie were Guerreros and were family. She told him to cut the crap and booked him against Triple H. Chavo left pissed… Shore’s Slant: Wait, what the hell is going on? Stay tuned to this drama. 3. Finlay and Hornswoggle defeated John Morrison and the Miz at 3:11. Finlay and Morrison started out and the Miz came in quick and Finlay squashed both and tagged in Hornswoggle. Horny hit a stunner on each guy before the tag champs hit a Rock ‘n’ Roll Express double drop kick. [Q4] Miz and Morrison beat on Horny for about a minute each. Morrison was on his knees messing with Horny when Horny hit an enzugiri. Hot tag to Finlay led to a Celtic Cross on Morrison. Miz broke up the count and retreated to his corner. Morrison tagged him in and the ref was distracted by Morrison laying there. Horny tossed in the club to Finlay for the win…[C] Shore’s Slant: All I have to say is “Finlay and Hornswoggle defeated John Morrison and the Miz.” Seriously. Back from commercial, and a video aired of Jeff Hardy shooting the cover for the August WWE Magazine. They are making their first CGI cover. Very cool video… Triple H came out to a huge pop. Either they’re piping in cheers, or he is as big as the Rock or Austin were in their heyday. Well, maybe not. Chavo and Neely came out and Foley and JR punked Chavo having a bodyguard… 4. Triple H defeated Chavo Guerrero w/Bam Neely at 3:45. This match started out as a squash until Neely dropped Triple H while Charles Robinson (welcome back) was distracted. [Q5] Chavo locked on a headlock…and then the squash resumed. Triple H knocked out Neely and Pedigreed Chavo for the win. Post-match, Hunter celebrated up the ramp and the announce team plugged Edge/Show again…[C] Shore’s Slant: Well, it’s official, no one cares about the WWE Title match at the Bash between Hunter and Edge. It’s all about Vickie and Edge’s tiff. That’s a fun angle, but hello, this is the main title of that show. Does Michael Hayes hate World Championships? He wrecked the status of “the big gold belt” over the past two years and now he’s diminishing the WWE belt. I don’t get it. Back from commercial and JR and Foley announced that the new Diva’s title would be decided at the Great American Bash. Tag team divas came out for the next match. 5. Michelle McCool and Cherry defeated Natalya and Maryse at 2:14. McCool hit a standing dropkick on Maryse and Natalya caught Cherry and slammed her into the ropes. Cherry sold a leg injury and tapped immediately to the sharpshooter. Post-match Natalya jumped McCool and knocked her out of the ring. She rolled out and hit a snapsuplex on the outside and celebrated and laughed as video recap of the match aired…[C][Q6] Shore’s Slant: That was seriously all the offense in that match. I hope we get a PPV match at the PPV. These ladies can work and should be allowed to. Back from commercial, a video aired of Edge, Hawkins, and Ryder beating down Jesse and Festus last week. Back ringside, Jesse and Festus made their ways to the ring. Looks like the first of two revenge matches… 6. Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder defeated Jesse and Festus. Jesse started and made it a whole minute before he tagged in Festus. Festus beat down Ryder who rolled out of the ring and stayed there until they were counted out. When the bell rang, Festus went catatonic and Hawkins and Ryder jumped in the ring and beat down Jesse, throwing him out of the ring. They then hit a double spear on Festus and beat him down. Suddenly, the bell rang and Jesse had the hammer in his hand. Festus went nuckin futs again and beat down both guys…[C] Shore’s Slant: So Festus can’t be beat unless the bell rings an even number of times? Well, I have a plan then. Much like the Eugene angle, this cannot evolve into anything else. That’s sad because Festus is pretty good. I’m confused at the fun writing for Vickie and Edge and the lack of writing for anybody else. Back from commercial and a video of Triple H edited by Stephanie McMahon played. The video seemed to have no other purpose than to figuratively fellate Hunter. Strange… [Q7] Back in the ring and Stevie Richards is in the ring. Some music I’ve never heard before started playing. Oooh, is there a new wrestler? No, it’s just the Russian Goldberg… 7. Vladimir Kozlov defeated Stevie Richards at 2:42. Richards hit a drop kick on Kozlov’s legs knocking him of his feet for the first time. Kozlov retook control and Richards fought out of a hold. He went for a corner dropkick but Kozlov moved, drug him out of the corner, and headbutted the back of Richards head for the win… Post-match, Edge argued with Chavo and Neely backstage. Hawkins and Ryder came in and they all argued. Edge stopped everybody and said Vickie has been messing with everyone. Maybe they should come to the ring with him since it’s a no DQ match. They all started again when Vickie came in and said she would fire anyone who went to the ring. She told Edge that if he refused to go to the ring, he was fired. She told him to take his beating like a man, if he was one…[C] Shore’s Slant: Wake me when Kozlov faces a real opponent. Until then, it bores me. I’m not convinced that Vickie is going to let Edge get beat down. She may yet save him. Back from commercial and the Raw Rebound was a video of Batista winning the Number One contenders match and Kane’s subsequent melt down… 8. Edge and Big Show fought to a draw in a No Disqualification Match. [Q8] Edge looked worried as he came to the ring. Just as he climbed the stairs, Hawkins and Ryder wheeled Vickie onto the ramp and left her there. At the bell, Edge charged Show and got beat down. Show through him out of the ring and cleared the announce table of the weak black logo cover thing. He picked Edge up but he slipped out and hit a spear on Show as they went to commercial…[C] Back from commercial and Edge pulled a kendo stick from under the ring and Vickie is now ringside. He went to hit Show with the stick, but he caught it and gorilla pressed Edge. Edge hit Show in the throat with the stick and escaped. After getting beat down, he finally hit Show with the stick and went back in the ring and locked on a sleeper. Show took control and knocked Edge down. He signaled for the chokeslam and Vickie looked worried. Edge countered with a DDT. He went and got a chair and charged at Show who punched the chair into Edge. He setup for another chokeslam but Edge low balled him. Get it? Low balled? At any rate, Edge setup Show for the conchairto but Show countered and hit a chokeslam. Show setup Edge for the Conchairto and Vickie grabbed a mic and told Charles Robinson to stop the match. Show walked away disgusted. Vickie climbed in the ring and covered Edge. Edge sat up after a while and he and Vickie reconciled. After the longest pre-kiss head bob in the history of television, they checked each others stomach contents as the show went of… Shore’s Slant: Ha, told you! Oh wait, now they’re both heels again. Damnit, I liked this. There may yet be a payoff down the road, but we had 11 minutes of fair action only to be stopped by Vickie. Kind of crappy if you ask me. Over all the show was about Vickie and Edge and oh, here’s a couple of matches to fill the other hour and a half. 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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