WWE Smackdown on The CW
Taped July 15 in Charlotte, N.C.

[Q1] A video set to romantic music recapped the Edge and Vickie Guerrero relationship and invited viewers to celebrate their love... HIghlights aired from "earlier today" of the Edge and Vickie wedding ceremony. Chavo Guerrero was the best man. The brief footage showed the couple saying the "I do" portion...

In the arena, there were tables, gifts, and a cake set up on the stage. The ring announcer introduced Chavo as the best man. He joined the Edgeheads, Bam Neely, and the wedding planner on the stage. The ring announcer introduced Edge and Vickie. Chavo took the mic and the crowd booed. He put down the mic and led the wedding party in clapping.

Chavo read a speech about the couple He said Edge is like the brother he never had. He said Edge is the perfect addition to the family because he has a touch of the Guerrero wild side. He told Vickie not to worry because Edge is a changed man. Chavo said the celebration for Edge winning the WWE Title on Sunday could be bigger than the wedding celebration. Chavo pointed to the big screen that had a WWE Magazine cover that read, "Edge Plays The Game and Wins The WWE Title."

Edge proclaimed that it was the happiest day of his life. He made a joke about how much Vickie enjoys action "in more way than one." He said it was time to get the show started. Finlay and Hornswoggle's music played and Edge's expression changed. They walked to the ring for their match as Jim Ross hyped that they would challenge John Morrison and The Miz as part of a four-way tag at the Great American Bash.

Edge said Finlay and Hornswoggle cheat every week, but Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins were too smart for it. He also introduced himself as the special guest referee. Ross and Mick Foley introduced themselves as Edge and his cronies walked to the ring...

1. Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins beat Finlay and Horwnswoggle in 2:15. Before the match, Edge tossed the shillelagh toward the stage. He was in his tuxedo and the Edgeheads wrestled the match in their tuxes. Foley said he couldn't tell them apart without their names written on their outfits. Ross cracked a joke by pointing out Finlay and noting that Hornswoggle as the little guy. Edge speared Finlay out of nowhere and his cronies capitalized by scoring the pin. Vickie clapped on the stage...

[Q2] After the match, Edge, Ryder, and Hawkins walked back onto the stage. Edge put his coat on and the ring announcer introduced their first dance as husband and wife. A male and female singer performed while the happy couple danced and the wedding party watched.

Big Show walked out and cut in on Edge, who got upset and cut the music. Show laughed. Edge pointed out that Show didn't know who his opponents were, but he did. He ordered Show to go to the ring. He complied and the show cut to commercial... [C]

Powell's POV: The wedding reception is a fun idea. I'm still surprised they didn't hold the actual wedding on Smackdown just because it's such a ratings draw. By the way, weren't Edge and Vickie were both upset with Chavo for trying to play both sides last week?

2. Big Show fought MVP and Shelton Benjaim and Vladimir Kozlov and Great Khali to a no-contest in a handicap match in 1:50. Early in the match, Kozlov went for a judo throw, but Show didn't budge. Show shoved Kozlov back into his corner, where Khali tagged in. Later, the referee called for the bell because he couldn't control the heels. The ganged up on Show and left him lying.

Foley announced that Matt Hardy would face Jeff Hardy later in the show...

Powell's POV: I'm surprised they didn't try to make Kozlov look at least competitive with Big Show given the push he's been getting. It's too bad WWE is booking week-to-week because they may have popped a rating had they advertised the Hardy vs. Hardy match a week in advance.

[Q3] Highlights aired of Natalya roughing up Michelle McCool last week... In the ring, Vickie Guerrero said it was time to toss the bouquet. The Divas were at ringside wearing dresses. Before she could toss the bouquet, Michelle McCool attacked Natalya. The Edgeheads dragged McCool away.

Vickie tossed the bouquet to a group of and Cherry came up with it. Vickie made catty comments to Cherry, who flashed the sad look for sympathy. Vickie said her wedding present was a match with Cherry after she wrestled Natalya...

3. Natalya beat Cherry via submission. The women wrestled in their dresses. Natalya used the Sharpshooter to get the quick win.

4. Vickie Guerrero pinned Cherry. After the previous match, Vickie announced that it was her turn. She simply covered the match and the ref counted to three. She stood up and announced "the bride" as the winner. The wedding party clapped... [C]

Powell's POV: This is good, campy fun, but I don't think it's selling many pay-per-views. By the way, is Vickie still Vickie Guerrero now that she's married? The Edge character doesn't have a last name so is she now just Vickie? Maybe Edge is his last name and he doesn't have a first name. Is she Vickie Edge?

5. Brian Kendrick (w/Ezekiel) pinned Jimmy Wang Yang in 4:45. Kendrick came to the ring wearing a white leather jacket. He's wearing new trunks and boots. Big improvement. Ezekiel is a muscular African-American wrestler who has been training in Florida Championship Wrestling. Ross said Kendrick has changed personalities since he moved to Smackdown. Foley said he thinks Kendrick has always been a jerk and now he's just showing it.

Ross recalled Kendrick's team with Paul London. Foley quipped that they went by the flashy tag tam name of Kendrick and London. Funny. Kendrick's offense was primarily mat based and the live crowd wasn't impressed. Yang picked up the pace with this offense. He went to the top rope and noticed Ezekiel looking up at him. This was all the distraction Kendrick needed. Moments later, he hit Sliced Bread No. 2 for the win. Foley said Kendrick's cockiness reminds him of an "Attitude Era Shawn Michaels"...

Powell's POV: Kendrick wasn't very flashy in the ring, but he was charismatic before after the match. Good facials and swagger. It will be fun to see how hard they push him.

[Q4] [C] The wedding party continued to hang out on the stage. They were eating their dinner while the next match went on... Highlights aired from last week of MVP distracting Mr. Kennedy, allowing Umaga to attack Kennedy from behind...

6. Umaga pinned Mr. Kennedy in 13:05. Umaga controlled the bulk of the early action. He locked in a nerve hold around 6:15 and the ref checked Kennedy by raising his arm and letting it drop twice. Kennedy popped up the third time and started a comeback, but Umaga hit a power move just before the break.

[Q5] [C] After some back and forth action, Kennedy went for the Mic Check, but Umaga countered by slamming him to the mat. Umaga hit the Samoan Spike and then scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: Nice match The show has been filled with the sports entertainment stuff via the wedding reception, so it was nice to get a good, long match in the there.

At ringside, Ross and Foley introduced Edge's new Slim Jim commercial. They said Vickie made him the new pitch man as a wedding present... [C]

Powell's POV: Poor J.R. He had to hold up a box of Slim Jim product even though his beef jerky is far superior.

The announcers praised the job that the wedding planner did as she tended to the cake on the stage...

[Q6] 7. John Morrison and The Miz pinned Jesse and Festus in a non-title match in 3:50. Jesse started the match while Festus stewed in the corner. He tagged in at 2:30 and worked over both tag champs. He didn't stay in long. He tagged Jesse back into the match and Miz hit the Reality Check a short time later for the win... [C]

Powell's POV: The tag champs beat Jesse and Festus in a non-title match. They beat Finlay and Hornswoggle at last month's pay-per-views. Why are they defending the tag titles against these teams and not the Hardys, who beat them in a non-title match on Tuesday?

Highlights aired from Raw of JBL trying to run over John Cena with his car... Ross and Foley said Cena avoided disaster on Monday night. They said he'd be ready for the pay-per-view match, but did not elaborate on the situation. Rather, they ran through the pay-per-view lineup... Matt and Jeff Hardy came out for their match, which was requested by Edge and Vickie. They walked out together as Jeff's music played, and picked up the cake and threw it at Chavo...

Powell's POV: You didn't really think the cake was going to survive the entire show did you?

[Q7] [C] The wedding party was still grumbling over the Hardys throwing the cake at Chavo...

8. Matt Hardy fought Jeff Hardy to a no-contest in 4:30. Friendly action early and the intensity picked up as the match went on. Matt went for the Twist of Fate and Jeff blocked it, so Matt locked in a cool choke until Jeff backed him into the corner to break up the submission attempt.

Late in the match, Matt avoided Jeff's Swanton attempt. Matt followed up with a moonsault for a nearfall. Suddenly, the wedding party hit the ring and attacked both Hardys to end the match. Edge speared both Hardys while his henchmen held them in place. Fun match while it lasted... [C]

Powell's POV: I'm fairly certain that was a non-title match. I guess Edge and Vickie didn't want to give the bothers some incentive to try harder. Oh well, that was still fun and they did more than the typical reluctant brother forced to fight brother (or tag partner forced to fight tag partner) spots.

In the ring, Edge sat on a stool and spoke to Vickie while the rest of LaFamilia stood by. He laid it on thick by talking about how much he loves Vickie. He aired a music video that he said he had the Smackdown production team compile. A bunch of Edge and Vickie romantic moments were featured. Funny. Edge and Vickie kissed in the ring.

[Q8] Triple H's music played and he walked onto the stage with a large gift and the WWE Title belt. He placed both items on one of the reception tables on the stage. Hunter said he has a reputation when it comes to weddings, but he wanted everyone to know that he's not secretly married to Vickie Guerrero.

Hunter said he had a video for the couple that "expresses true love." The "hidden camera" video showed Edge sitting alone in a room when someone knocked on the door. He put some breath mints in his mouth and let the wedding assistant enter the room with him.

Edge was holding a white rose in his hand and gave the wedding planner a speech about how it represents his love for Vickie. He had the wedding planner smell the rose. Then he asked her what scent she was wearing. He reached up and tried to caress her shoulder. When she pulled away, he pretended his neck muscle had locked up on him. He had her rub his neck and shoulder. She said she thought it was getting loose. Edge said it was getting hard.

Hunter stopped the tape and mocked Edge, who sent the rest of LaFamilia to get Hunter. He pulled a sledgehammer out of the gift box he brought out and they backed down. He started the tape again. At this point, Edge was rubbing the wedding planner's back. He told her he could get to the knot in her back better if she wasn't wearing a bra. She still wasn't going for it.

Edge told a story about going to a lingerie store and trying to buy Vickie some lingerie. He said the clerk told him to go to Lane Bryant. Funny. He told the planner that Vickie wears granny panties.

Back live, Hunter pretended to be embarrassed. He pulled a huge pair of panties out of his pocket and said Vickie wouldn't need them since Edge already had her covered. "Oh, what the hell, I can always park my car under it," he said. He introduced the final chapter of the video.

Edge sat face-to-face with the planner and removed her glasses. He leaned in for a kiss she was reluctant at first, but she gave in and kissed him. She pulled away briefly, and then they started making out heavily.

Back in the arena, Hunter was laughing and everyone else involved looked pretty much how you'd expect them to look. Vickie snapped and flipped out on Edge. "I hate you," she yelled. Edge left the ring as Vickie screamed in that intentionally hideous Vickie voice to close the show...

Powell's POV: Fun segment. I liked the way Hunter kept stopping the tape and mocking Edge. It ads tension to their pay-per-view main event, but it didn't necessarily make anyone want to pay to see Edge get his ass kicked. Strange approach to hyping a WrestleMania caliber match. I'll have more to say about this show in Saturday's WWE Smackdown Hitlist.

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