WWE Smackdown on The CW
Taped March 11 in Chicago, Ill.

[Q1] The opening montage and that horrible theme song played... Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman introduced the show and hyped the cage match main event... Maria brought introduced the contestants for the Smackdown swimsuit contest and they all walked onto the stage individually. Maria announced that Maryse was eliminated from the contest.

Maria ran the women through an obstacle course. Cole said the winner of the contest will win a custom made chopper. Maria said the winner of the obstacle course race wouldn’t receive immunity. So what was the point? Oh, they’re making them do a sack race and their breasts are bouncing (some more than others), so now I understand the point of the contest...

Backstage, Ric Flair shook Shawn Michaels hand and thanked him for helping him in the match tonight. Flair said he was worried he or Michaels would get hurt. HBK promised Flair that he’d get his best at WrestleMania... [C]

[Q2] The Raw Rebound recapped the Floyd Mayweather and Big Show angle...

1. Big Show squashed Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore in a handicap match at 2:05. The team of Yang and Moore combined for one offensive move—a kick by Yang—in the entire match. A total squash...

The announcers hyped John Morrison vs. The Miz... [C]

Powell’s POV: Aren’t there jobbers that make $75 a match for stuff like this? I have not problem with Show squashing these guys individually, but they’ve actually had some minor success as a tag team. It will be hard for fans to take those two seriously for a while.

[Q3] 2. John Morrison pinned The Miz in a Money in the Bank qualifying match at 4:35. Slow match and the crowd didn’t know how to react. A graphic on the screen listed Morrison as the final MITB qualifier... [C]

Powell’s POV: That was weak. There was no buildup to the match. These guys are tag team parters and they just threw them out there with no promo or skit support.

The announcers introduced a video package on the Finlay vs. JBL feud...

[Q4] Cole interviewed a somber Finlay about Hornswoggle. He said Horny is doing better, but will never be the same... MVP came to the ring for his match against Batista. Still shot photos aired of MVP beating Jamie Noble at a house show to earn a spot in the MITB match... [C]

3. MVP defeated Batista in a no countout, no DQ, no holds barred match for the U.S. Title in 17:30. MVP ducked to ringside a few times early in the match and Coach noted that he was taking advantage of the no countout stipulation.

[Q5] At ringside, MVP kicked Batista low and followed up with a great kick to the head. Batista sold it well by lying on the ground with his eyes wide open and a blank look on his face. [C] Still at ringside, MVP picked up a chair and charged at his opponent, but Batista speared him and rolled him back inside the ring for a nearfall.

The match went back to ringside, where MVP hit caught Batista with a chairshot. MVP pulled the mats aside, but was backdropped onto the concrete. Later, Batista caught MVP up top and slammed him to the mat. He turned around and Umaga was waiting with a Samoan Spike. MVP took advantage of the interference and got the pin.

Powell’s POV: The crowd was really buzzing over this match beforehand and the announcers did a nice job of building it up as a major event. Coach was really good here. He broke down the strategy of each wrestler and talked about how the rules of the match altered their individual game plans. The match was very good and was easily the best of their recent series.

[Q6] [C] The Floyd Mayweather video piece aired... Kane made his ring entrance... [C]

Powell’s POV: The Floyd video is solid, but it looks like there was enough material there for a longer piece. The man had a million cash lying around his house and they could only find a enough footage to piece a video together?

4. Great Khali and Chuck Palumbo beat Kane and Jamie Noble at 2:51. Noble was working a rib injury. He took the Khali Bomb and then Khali placed one foot on him while making the pin...

[Q7] The announcers hyped the handicap cage match as coming up after the break... [C] The announcers recapped the Hall of Fame class of 2008 while the cage lowered around the ring...

Ring introductions for he main event took place. Before the match could start, Vickie Guerrero rolled onto the stage and added Chavo Guerrero to the heel team... The teams brawled for about five seconds before the show cut to break...

[Q8] 5. Edge and Chavo Guerrero and Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins defeated Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels in a handicap cage match. After the break, Chavo was shown climbing over the top of the cage to get in for the first time. There were really no rules, as all six wrestlers stayed in the ring.

At 5:30, HBK’s arms were tied up in the ropes. Edge speared him and he was stuck there while the heels worked over Flair in a four-on-one. Flair bled from the head. The heels picked him up and then rammed him head-first into the cage.

Later, HBK broke free and cleaned house on the heels. Flair was a bloody mess. HBK and Flair locked in simultaneous figure-fours, but Chavo broke them up with a frosplash. Moments later, Edge crawled toward the door, but the lights went out and Undertaker was in the ring. In the end, Taker brawled with the other heels while Edge climbed the cage and escaped to the floor to win the match for his team...

Powell’s POV: An entertaining brawl. It gets no better than watching a bloody Flair it a main event cage match.

Check back on Saturday for the WWE Smackdown Hitlist.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: