WWE TV Reports 8/15 Shore's WWE Smackdown Live Coverage: Last Build for SummerSlam, Shelton Benjamin vs Jeff Hardy for US Title... Chris Shore Aug 15, 2008 - 09:01 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Smackdown on The CW Network Taped on 8/12/08 in Norfolk, VA. [Q1] A video recapped last week’s destruction of the Fam Damily by Edge. As I had no power last week (thus no report from me) this is the first time I have seen it. Wow, Edge is the single best heel in the business. He may be one of the best heels of all time. The Vickie face turn happens soon… The opening video aired followed by the pyro and we are live… Shore’s Slant: OK, the show isn’t live I have finally joined the big boys on the site! Jim Ross and Tazz, sitting in for the storyline injured Mick Foley, welcomed us to Smackdown. The bell rang and a U.S. Title match is first. Wow, not screwing around tonight. Jeff Hardy’s music hit and the crowed popped big. Dear God he is so over. As Shelton Benjamin made his way to the ring, a video recapped Hardy vs Benjamin last week and the MVP interference. 1. Jeff Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin by DQ in a United States Championship Match at 15:34. Both men started out with mat wrestling with counter after counter until Hardy teased a Twist of Fate and Benjamin bailed to the outside. Back in the ring and Shelton took control briefly before Hardy drove him into the bottom turnbuckle and hit his sitdown corner dropkick for a two count as the show went to commercial.[C] [Q2] Back from commercial and Hardy had Benjamin in a head scissors. Benjamin broke the hold and picked up Hardy like he was going to powerbomb him but threw him into the corner instead. Cool spot. Benjamin locked in a leg lock rest hold at 9:30. Hardy got the rope break and Benjamin put him in a torture rack that he turned into a Samoan drop for a two count. Hardy threw some punches before Benjamin caught him with a stiff kick to the face for another two count. Benjamin set up Hardy for the stinger splash but Hardy moved. Benjamin caught himself and went after Hardy who hit a chin breaker that started a 10 count. Both men to their feet, traded blows and then Hardy hit a Whisper in the Wind for a two count. Hardy teased the Twist of Fate but Benjamin countered into a back breaker for another two count. Hardy slid out to the apron setting up Benjamin. Benjamin leapt over the top rope in a sunset flip into a powerbomb attempt. Hardy reversed into a hurricanranna. Both men made it back in the ring. Benjamin threw Hardy into the corner but Jeff stopped, caught Benjamin as he followed and they both kind of fell down. Awkward spot. Jeff saw an opening and climbed the turnbuckle. MVP came out of the crowed and pushed him off, causing the DQ. He climbed in the ring and set Hardy up for another kick but Hardy moved and MVP kicked Benjamin. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate followed by the Swanton on MVP and then the Swanton on Benjamin. Hardy celebrated after walking up the ramp as MVP looked on… Backstage, Vickie sat in her office looking scared. Someone knocked on the door and in walked Victoria. Victoria said she needed to talk to Vickie about something. Vickie asked if she had seen Edge or The Undertaker today because they were both there as the show went to commercial...[C] Shore’s Slant: Holy crap! Either I went threw withdrawals from last week or that was a borderline great TV match. I was completely entertained and so was the live crowd. The ending was predictable but still fun. I can’t wait for SummerSlam and MVP vs Hardy. [Q3] 2. Natalya and Maryse defeated Michelle McCool and Maria at 3:05. Maria and Maryse started and I wanted to kill myself it was so bad. Natalya tagged in and it was slightly better. McCool got the hot tag at 2:00 and squashed everybody until Natalya suddenly rolled/fell on McCool for a surprise three count… The announce team made a huge deal about Triple H competing tonight, complete with graphics and music. Silly…[C] Shore’s Slant: That was the biggest let down after that opening match. I want to take a nap now. Did anyone else notice last night that the new Olympic All Around Champion Nastia Lukin looks a lot like Michelle McCool only younger and more flexible? God I love gymnastics. Back from commercial and The Brian Kendrick made is way to the ring with big Zeke. He cut a promo about him and Ezekiel. He gets better every week and he’s pretty damn good now. He said he wins because he wrestles for himself and not the people. His opponent made his way to the ring wearing a singlet with Batman-esque POW and BOOM graphics. A video aired of him watching himself on TV and looking confused. WTF was that? [Q4] 3. The Brian Kendrick w/Ezekiel defeated Scotty Goldman at 2:40. Goldman had a couple of offensive moves to try and make it legit but it was all TBK. He hit The Kendrick for the win. Post match, Zeke hit a big shoulder block on Goldman… Backstage Eve (dear God) interviewed Triple H. They showed video of Khali crushing his head after the arm wrestling match last week. Eve asked if he was in any condition to compete. Triple H started to answer and then stopped and looked to his left. The camera panned back and showed Kenny Dykstra. Yeah, that one. Yes. The Spirit Squad, right. No, I don’t know where he’s been. Anyway, Kenny said he was going to take advantage of the situation and Hunter told him he picked the wrong day and the wrong guy…[C] Shore’s Slant: Can I cut a promo if I let Kendrick pin me? What the hell was that? Hunter looked like a bad ass and he’ll kill Kenny later. Same old same old. Back from commercial and the announce team told us that Smackdown beat every other show on Friday last week except for the Olympics… Khali and Mini-me were introduced and made their way to the ring. Khali said “Triple H, boolah, boolah,” etc. He got a lot of what yells for his trouble. Mini-me translated that we had all seen him crush Triple H’s skull. He said no one was greater that Khali. He said Khali had one focus, the world title. He said Triple H had been around a while and had nothing left to accomplish. He said Hunter should get out of the WWE while he could. They left the ring and joined the announce team as Triple H’s music hit… Shore’s Slant: This has nothing to do with anything, but for the record, I love Hunter’s intro. He spit’s water with different lighting on him and I love it. It’s so much fun. I usually do his intro with him but my wife, kids, and ceiling fan got all pissy about it. [Q5] 4. Triple H squashed Kenny Dykstra at 1:22.Hunter looked at Khali as the bell rang and Kenny took advantage. Mini-me put over Triple H for Khali. Hunter hit a power move and then the Pedigree for the win. Post match, Triple H climbed out of the ring on the announcers side. Mini-me asked Triple H if he was crazy? Triple H grabbed him and threw him in the ring and gave Khali the “come and save him” hand gesture. Khali climbed in the ring and Hunter beat on him. He teased the Pedigree on Khali but Khali pushed him off. He clotheslined Khali over the top rope instead. The announce team put over that Hunter may not be able to Pedigree Khali… JR hyped The Big Show in action next…[C] Shore’s Slant: The match was what it was, hype for Sunday. I’m cool with that. I hope Hunter doesn’t Pedigree Khali. He’s so awkward he might oversell and kill himself. We’ll see. Back from commercial and the announcers plugged Festus vs Kozlov later. Sweet… 5. The Big Show squashed Brian Braddick at 1:25. The matches are over before I can type what happened. Show knocked out Braddick with a punch that brought several referees to the ring… [Q6] MVP was in the locker room and Eve (dear God) walked up and started to ask him a question. He snatched the mic and said he was trying to help Hardy but now he was going to hurt him. He cut an amazing promo on Hardy and said he was going to make him feel worse that all the tragedy this year had…[C] Shore’s Slant: Show was in a match. That’s my slant. Dude, is there better in the mic than MVP? I would love to see a long build to MVP vs Jericho sometime just to watch the promos. Ooh, I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it. Uh…sorry. MVP vs Hardy may just steal the show this weekend. Back from commercial and Vickie and Victoria were in the office. Vickie suddenly freaked out and said she never wanted to see Edge again after what he did. She said she shouldn’t be there with Edge and Taker both there. She asked Victoria to take her out… The new R-Truth vignette aired. It reinforced the fact that he was in prison and worked hard to recover from that and he was still working. This dude is going to be the shiz nit. Bet on it… The announce team hyped Festus vs Kozlov next…Backstage, Victoria rolled Vickie to a limo. She asked Victoria to help her up. When she stood, the window rolled down and Edge said, “Hi Vickie.” She screamed and fell down and Victoria took off. Edge put Vickie back in her chair and said they were going to take a ride to hell. He spun her around as she screamed. He laughed and pushed her back toward the arena and actually kicked up his heels. I shit you not…[C] Shore’s Slant: I…uh…well…did I mention that R-Truth ought to be awesome? Back from commercial and it is go time for Kozlov. This is the match that he can define himself with… [Q7] 6. Vladimir Kozlov defeated Festus w/Jesse at 3:24. Festus took control at the bell and Kozlov sold well. Festus nailed Kozlov with a right hand in the corner. Kozlov bailed outside and Festus followed. Kozlov hit a big punch and threw Festus into the stairs. Back in the ring, Kozlov hit a couple of power moves when Festus retook control. He hit his splash finisher and Kozlov kicked out at one. He sent Kozlov into the corner and hit the butt splash, bounced off the rope for his shoulder tackle but Kozlov headbutted him out of the air for the win…[C] Shore’s Slant: I like the win, it was clean and made sense. I don’t like the kick out on one with the splash. That has beat many people and it just seemed a bit much. Kozlov looked good. His first major feud should start soon. Maybe next week to build for the next PPV. Back from commercial and a video package aired hyping Batista vs Cena at SummerSlam… Shore’s Slant: Too little to late Vince. This match should give me wrestling wood and instead it’s more of a flaccid interest. This may the poorest booking in history. The announce team ran down the matches for SummerSlam, including the HBK career announcement. That, Hardy vs MVP, and Hell in a Cell are all I care to see… [Q8] Backstage, Edge was rolling Vickie around in her wheelchair. He slammed into things and over things as Vickie screamed and begged. He kneeled in front of her and said the ride was over when he said it was over. He said the end would be after he took her to the ring. He literally ran off with her in the chair as she continued to scream…[C] Shore’s Slant: This ought to be good. Back from commercial and a video package aired of Shawn Michaels interview a couple of weeks ago on Raw overlayed with video of what Jericho did to him. The announce team plugged his announcement at SummerSlam yet again… Edge’s music hit and he wheeled Vickie to the ring. The crowd was so hot, it was unreal. The boos where absurd. At ringside, he dumped her on the floor. She cried as he got a mic and flopped down beside her. He said they were going through a rough patch but all couples do. He said they made vows, for better and for worse. He said they should take a walk down memory lane. A video recapped all that had happened during Edge’s apology night when the Hell in a Cell match was announced. The footage then changed to two weeks ago when Edge knocked out Foley and got his…uh…well, edge back. They then showed the end of last week’s show. Back ringside, Edge looked super crazy (no pun intended). He had Vickie lay down with him. He asked if she remembered putting the Undertaker out of wrestling. He wanted her to apologize and be truly sorry. She quietly mumbled sorry and Edge screamed at her to be louder. She screamed sorry about three times. Edge called her pathetic. He said all the pain that Taker, Edge, the Fam Damily, and even Vickie felt was her fault. He said that they should do this no. He said that he and Vickie were ready for the Undertaker. He said he was going to show the Undertaker the deepest depths of hell. He climbed on top of Vickie and said that another vow thy made applied at SummerSlam: Edge vs Undertaker, till death do us part. He dropped the mic and spread his arms as the show ended… Shore’s Slant: This Edge is nuckin futs. The storyline is fun, but I hate to see Edge out of control. I know it sets up a good match for the PPV, but still. It is a bit much. No doubt though, this is the marquee matchup for SummerSlam and it should deliver. Thanks for reading. I hope my live coverage was as good as the posted ones. Look for the Dot Net Watercooler on Sunday as Rich and I Twill’s Two Cents and Shore’s Slant our preview of SummerSlam. Until next week. Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css328@gmail.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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