WWE Smackdown on The CW
Taped August 26 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

[Q1] Jim Ross introduced the show (along with Tazz) and then Undertaker made his entrance. A shot aired of the remaining members of La Familia watching nervously on a backstage monitor.

Powell's POV: Couldn't Vickie just suspend Taker for threatening her or something?

In the ring, Taker noted that Vickie wants him to forgive her of all her sins. "I'm not the giving kind," Taker said. "So I will be coming for you and I will be coming for your soul. And once I take it, you burn...burn in hell." Big pop from the live crowd. Taker got down on one knee. Pyro shot off and then the ring posts lit up in flames.

Backstage, the rest of the LaFamilia members snuck out and left Vickie inside the locker room. Once she noticed she was alone, the headed for the door, but it wouldn't open. She turned and watched the monitor as Taker departed the arena...

Ross and Tazz hyped Jeff Hardy vs. MVP in a SummerSlam rematch, and Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin... [C]

Powell's POV: Solid opening. They always do a good job of keeping Taker's promos short and sweet.

A R-Truth vignette aired...

1. Ron Killings defeated Kenny Dykstra in 2:16. Killings came out to a version of the entrance music he used in TNA. Before the match, Dykstra took the mic and complained that he didn't get vignettes. He said R-Truth is nothing more than a convict. Killings looked pissed and the struck Dykstra to start the match. Later, Killings hit a corkscrew flying elbow and then finished off Dykstra with a scissors kick.

Powell's POV: This wasn't as bad as the reports indicated, but the live crowd was as dead as our correspondent said they were. Ouch. I'm guessing the match was heavily edited, though, since I know Vince McMahon and Triple H were not happy with the match. I'm guessing it will only take a week or two before they dub his finisher "The Moment of Truth." By the way, Killings is a rapper and he writes his own music, so I'm guessing he owned the song he used in TNA.

Backstage, Maryse interrupted Michelle McCool's photo shoot. She said Michelle's outfit would look better on her. Michelle said Maryse had no talent...

[Q2] [C] 2. Maryse and Natalya beat Michelle McCool and Maria in 2:30. Not much to this match. Maryse DDT'd Maria and scored the pin. After the match, McCool and Maryse had the equivalent of a catfight. Blonde hair everywhere. Mayrse got the better of it when Natalya helped out.

At ringside, the announcers hyped MVP vs. Jeff Hardy... A video on the MVP vs. Hardy feud aired...

[Q3] Backstage, Eve interviewed Hardy, who vowed to leave MVP lying flat on his back "with his ego and his attitude, that's it"... [C]

Powell's POV: Short, but decent promo from Hardy. He looked like he meant what he was saying, which isn't always the case.

Ross explained the rules of the Championship Scramble, then hyped the main event... Backstage, Vickie Guerrero panicked because her phone wouldn't work. She threw it against a WWE Magazine poster that read, "Undertaker's Revenge"...

3. Jeff Hardy pinned MVP in 20:50. Decent action during the first five minutes. Hardy sommersaulted off the ring apron onto MVP, who was standing on the floor.

[Q4] [C] MVP controlled the bulk of the action after the break. At 18:00, there was an insane spot where Hardy was standing on the top rope and MVP tripped him up. Hardy took a bump on the back of his head in the ring. Ouch. Moments later, MVP went for a side suplex off the ropes, but Hardy rolled over on him in mid-air.

[Q5] In the end, Hardy hit the Swanton for the win. Shelton Benjamin ran out and hit Paydirt on Hardy. He also hit his finisher on MVP...

Powell's POV: Damn good television match. Highly entertaining. It even woke up an otherwise quiet live crowd. By the way, correspondent Ben Hough just wrote to say the Killings vs. Dykstra match was heavily edited. He said the match went about five minutes long, but only two minutes aired tonight.

A shot aired of Pittsburgh Steelers players sitting in the front row... Todd Grisham and Candice Michelle hosted a segment at the Democratic National Convention.

Powell's POV: Candice's squeaky voice makes her sound like she's seven years old.

4. Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins fought Jesse and Festus to a no-contest in 1:00. Festus flipped, as usual. Big Show came out and attacked the other three guys. The bell rang to end the match and Festus just froze at ringside, so he didn't take any punishment.

Big Show took the mic and said, "Hi." Funny. He cut a promo about Vickie Guerrero overlooking him. "I will never, ever be overlooked again," he said. "And as far as what just happened here, my bad. Oops. Let's just call it an oversight." He smiled, thanked the fans, and left the ring...

Powell's POV: Fun promo from Big Show. The laid back and confident Big Show is always more entertaining than the angry, slobbering Big Show.

[Q6] A shot aired of a frightened Vickie standing in her office...

5. Brie Bella beat Victoria at 2:35. Bella controlled the first minute of the match, but Victoria hit a vicious backbreaker. Victoria controlled the match and they fought to ringside. Brie ducked under the ring. Victoria reached under and dragged her out and threw her back in the ring. Brie rolled her up for the win out of nowhere, as Ross questioned where she got the energy.

Powell's POV: For those of you who haven't figured it out, I'll spare you the spoiler.

A video recapped John Cena's surgery and featured comments from neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon... [C]

Backstage, The Brian Kendrick stopped reading a book and cut a promo while Ezekiel Jackson read a book in the background. He said his Championship Scramble match opponents were wrestling each other tonight, but he was studying their matches. He revealed that he was reading "The Art of War." He said there's a fine line between genius and insanity, but once you learned how to walk the line there's no one that can stand in your way...

Powell's POV: Very nice promo. I dig the strange relationship between Kendrick and Zeke.

The announcers ran through the pay-per-view lineup...

[Q7] Triple H made his ring entrance... [C]

6. Triple H beat Shelton Benjamin in a non-title match in 19:15. Good, back and forth action early. The announcers did a nice job of making Shelton going toe-to-toe with Hunter seem meaningful in a way that put over both guys.

[Q8] At 6:00, Shelton went for a move off the second rope, but Hunter kicked him in the gut and went for the Pedigree. Shelton slipped away and jumped to ringside before the commercial break. [C] Hunter scored some nearfalls. Ross put over Shelton's resilience. Hunter went for the Pedigree again, but Shelton fought out of it and hit a backbreaker.

Hunter took control of the match, but Great Khali and Runjin Singh came out. With Hunter distracted, Shelton went for his finisher (which they set up nicely by having him hit it twice earlier in the show), but Hunter avoided it, kicked Shelton, and hit the Pedigree for the win.

After the match, Hunter stared down Khali. Shelton recovered and hit Hunter with the belt. He raised his belt in the air and flashed the crowd a smile. He got a smattering of boos from the lame ass crowd. After Shelton left, Khali entered the ring and hit the Khali Bomb on Hunter. Khali stood above Hunter with his arms raised...

Vickie was still locked in her dressing room. The lights went out and she screamed at the top of her lungs to close the show...

Powell's POV: Very good match. I'm not sure why they're extending the Hunter and Khali program, but whatever. I guess the Vickie thing is a cliffhanger for next week, not that anyone will spend their Labor Day weekend wondering what happened to her. Another good Friday night show. It's hard to complain about getting a pair of 20-minute matches in the same show. Dot Net Members will be reading the Smackdown Hitlist within 30 minutes of the show going off the air.

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