Smackdown
Aaron's UnReal Time Smackdown Review: Two Guys Who Turned On Their Brothers Square Off...
By Aaron Wood
Nov 6, 2009 - 7:40 PM

undefined undefined Hello my Gathering.  this week is always the best week of the year, because you get the coolness of the fireworks on the 5th, then you have the momentous annual celebration of my birth on the 7th (Yes, bitches, I'm TWENTY EIGHT TOMORROW~!~!~!), and then, more often than not, the WWE come to the UK for tapings the following Monday and Tuesday , which I, of course, will be on site for with live reports and pictures (assuming that I'm not such a dingus to forget my camera, which I usually end up doing), and I've actually got PRIMO seats.  No, I haven't stolen the seats of Carlito's brother, but put it this way, during Smackdown and ECW, I believe I will be sitting roughly where the person in the circle below was sitting:



That is, of course, unless seat no. 1 is at the other end of the row.  And then on RAW, I'll be behind the announcers once again, but much closer and way to their right, so I'm due a really good view for both shows.

Also, don’t forget to check out my Twitter account (link at the bottom) on Monday and Tuesday, as I will be twittering as much as I can from the shows live, so you’ll get the spoilers as they happen.
Anyway, usually, when I put up videos and stuff, it's stuff that I like and that I think you fine readers will like.  This week, not so much.  Of course, I hope you like these videos, but to be honest, I'm just being selfish this week, and putting up videos of my favourite band ever...EVER~!, a group called Mansun, so I hope you enjoy.  But at least I know I will.

LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN:  An ECW announce team reunited, Matt Hardy ripped off Randy Orton, Chris Jericho won the chance to be a midget among giants and Rey talked about dead people...

THIS WEEK…
The legend that is Todd Grisham and Matt Striker introduced the show, pimping out the main event of Batista vs. Hardy.  Which was handy, because someone was about to turn the lights out...

10 years (minus the time Jericho took a hiatus and any time Undertaker has been injured) in the making...
And indeed, it was Undertaker, who made his way out to the ring, in his Ministry overcoat, and seemingly, without his belt, although he ended up revealing it around his waist under the jacket.  He started off his usual wacky  ramblings with the thought that it seemed like eternities ago that the demons of hell judged the mortal world and unleashed a creature so powerful that mentioning his name would send shivers down the spines of those who opposed him.  Me thinks he was talking about his debut at Survivor Series 1990.  And indeed, he mentioned it by name, before saying that year after year those who opposed him perished at his feet.  And yet, these f**ktards still come for his title.  It was the holy grail for all those who stepped in the ring.

Big Show betrayed and entire team for a shot at the title.  But what he got was the opportunity to be terminated by Arnold Schwarzenegger the Deadman.  And speaking of big fat guys, let's talk Chris Jericho.  There were few things that brought joy to his dark heart.  Fighting with his brother, Kane, and fighting against his brother.  And Jericho robbed Taker of this loveliness, so at the PPV, Jericho's soul is his.

Jericho made his way out to ringside, and the WWE's own Kramer said that finally, after 10 years, the WWE Universe has what it wanted.  Two of it's biggest stars in history face to face.  The best in the world and the Phenom.  But what is a Phenom.  Webster’s says it's an exceptional person.  Doesn't that describe Jericho more than the dead guy?  He was exceptional.  Accolades that were second to none, and he was the only one who was bold enough to tell the truth.  And the truth was that after 20 years (F**k me...it is actually around 20 years.  OK, 19 to be precise, but still...) he was still trying to convince the people he was something he was not.  He wasn't a DEAD man, but he was just a man.  And Jericho had beaten a bunch of people in the last 10 days.  He could beat anyone he wants to right now, and at Survivor Series, he would beat Undertaker and become a six-time champion.  According to Jericho, he wasn't intimidated by Taker and his shenanigans, and there wasn't a man on the planet he was afraid of.  Jericho finished his speech by getting in the ring and in Taker's face, and once he finished, Taker grabbed him for a chokeslam, but Jericho fought back.  However, he ran into a big boot, sending Jericho from the ring.

We panned from Jericho holding his jaw beside the announcers to Todd & Matt as they talked about the Batista heel turn again, once more showing us the video of the post-match beating and then clips of last week's "heart to heart".


"Closed For Business"

We came back as they pimped out the search for "Parts Unknown" on wwe.com.

Dolph Ziggler & The Hart Dynasty def. Cryme Tyme & John Morrison in a "Morrison with injured ribs?  I wonder what would happen if they announced an IC Title match next week..." match
Ziggler came out first as we saw clips of Ziggler's countout win last week.  The Hart Dynasty were next, led out by the daughter of TNA's latest hot young talent, Jim Neidhart, Natalya.  Striker immediately called them "The Stampede City Saints".  Somewhere, CM Punk cried a tears.  The babyfaces were out next, led by Morrison, whose entrance sent it to clips from "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader", although they didn't entirely say how well he did, just that he was smarter.

Morrison and Kidd started things off.  Tyson scored a headlock takeover, but Morrison got out and hit a hiptoss.  However, Morrison was holding his ribs.  Ziggler and JTG tagged in as we took a break.  Ziggler had JTG in a chinlock when we came back, but JTG was quickly out with a hiptoss of his own.  Ziggler avoided a leap out of the corner, but JTG avoided the ZigZag with a jawbreaker.  However, THE REAL CANADIAN BULLDOG~!, DH Smith...



...dropped JTG on the top rope, allowing his team to take control.  Ziggler picked up a 2 count before tagging Smith in to continue his work.  Smith hit a few forearms before Tyson Kidd tagged in for a couple of double teams, with Smith coming back in for a chinlock.  When JTG got out of that, Ziggler was tagged in, and he picked up a nearfall on JTG before locking in another chinlock to wear him down.  However, JTG avoided a back suplex and hit a backbreaker.  Tyson and Morrison tagged in, and Morrison went to work on Kidd, although he kept favouring his ribs.  Smith tagged in for his team, but Jo-Mo remained on top.  The Flying Chuck scored, and after downing Dolph, Shad tagged in.  Morrison pescadoed over the top onto Tyson Kidd.  However, while Shad worked over Smith, Ziggler dropped Morrison on the guardrail before getting a blind tag.  While Shad was facing the other way, Dolph hit the ZigZag on Shad for the win.

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7/10 - Good, non stop match here with these six guys, and it gave Ziggler another win.  Spoiler alert, there is a title match set for next week in England.
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Ziggler, as well as the Dynasty, mouthed off at Morrison as he recovered at ringside.


"Negative"

A NEW Rey?  That'd be kinda nice...
We came back from break right into a sit-down interview backstage with Rey Mysterio and Josh Matthews.  Hey Rey, you failed to win the World Title and then got your ass kicked by your best mate Batista.  How you feeling, loser?  Rey said he was of course upset, but Josh couldn't imagine one of his family members leaving.  After some witterings in Spanish, Josh mentioned how Teddy Long had made it Batista vs. Rey at Survivor Series, so wondered if Rey had any comments.

Rey looked right down the camera, and told Batista that he wouldn't listen to Rey or logic and threw away their friendship, and the spirit of Eddie Guerrero.  You know, I think there's a reason why people have been booing Rey in the last couple of weeks when it comes to this feud.  Eddie f**king Guerrero!  Rey just won't shut the hell up about him.  Hell, every time I hear Rey invoke Eddie's name four years after the fact, I want to see him get his ass kicked.  And I was desperate for a Dave heel turn!  Anyway, Rey said that Batista showed him a side he hadn't seen before, but he would show Dave a side of himself that he didn't think existed.

Beth Phoenix def. Brittney Carter in a "If this is how they are doing it, I wonder who in the hell they'll get in England next week..." match
You can take a flying guess how well this went for the blonde stick that Beth was facing.  Striker noted Carter had a background in dance.  She couldn't boogie her way out of this though.  Carter was dumped in a couple of corners before Beth hit an Umaga ass splash.  She then picked the jobber up with ONE arm and hit a couple of backbreakers.  The Glam Slam finished it.

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3/10 - Entertaining squash, as a Phoenix fan.  Beyond that though, not much to this.
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A compilation video of the video recording during the tour of the "Six" album, set to a track form that album called "Cancer", which is also my favourite track by the band

WWE Smack Of The Night was Scotland beating up Northern Ireland.

Drew McIntyre def. Jimmy Wang Yang in a "Note to self: Get Scotland flag for Sheffield" match
Drew made his way out as we came back, followed by Jimmy Wang Yang, allowing him to two-step his way to the ring.  However, as Yang posed in the corner, McIntyre shoved him over to the floor.  But it was all Jimmy's fault as Drew had a promo to cut.  He said the party couldn't start until he got some competition of a future champion.  Drew was all for leaving, but Jimmy got back in the ring and demanded the bell.  Drew was amazed that Jimmy wanted a fight, and got back in the ring.  Jimmy got a couple of shots in, but Drew caught a kick and it was all Scotsman from there.  He pounded on Yang for a few seconds before hitting the Double-Arm DDT for the win.

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3/10 - Nice little angle here with McIntyre thinking Yang was below him, and thus just beat him up beforehand, only to be surprised when Yang wanted to continue.  It gives some meaning to McIntyre constantly doing that before matches.  And still they had McIntyre look strong.
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Drew gave Jimmy a knee to the back of the neck before leaving the ring.

Batista was walking the halls when Josh rocked up, saying it was Rey first and now Matt Hardy.  But why?  Batista said he wasn't interested in friends.  He just wanted to be champion.  Rey cost Batista the title at the PPV, and Matt?  Well, he stuck his nose in where it wasn't wanted, so if he had to hurt people to be champion again, that's what he was going to do.

Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton is hosting RAW on Monday.  I say again, why in the hell couldn't WWE have taped in Manchester as usual and gotten a true hometown pop for the guy?  Odd hearing an Oasis song used in a WWE promo too...

Rey Mysterio def. Mike Knox in a "Well, he did say he'd be "new" when he faces Batista..." match
This week, Striker tried to sell Knox as some sort of recluse from the cabins of Arizona, reading books on anatomy.  Striker also astutely noted that Rey was using this match to prepare for someone of Batista's size.  Rey teased the 619 early, but Knox rolled out.  He then ducked under the seated senton off the apron and hit his big crossbody on the floor.  Back in, Knox picked up a 2 count, before working over Rey's ribs and mid-section.

Rey was put in a bearhug, but he punched his way out of it.  He pissed Knox off with a shot, but Mysterio low bridged him out.  However, as Rey bounced off the ropes, Knox slid in with a shoulder block and then a big splash for a 2 count.  Knox put on an abdominal stretch, turning it into a pumphandle backbreaker when Rey looked to get out of it.  Knox put the stretch back on, but this time Rey got out of it.  Not only that, but Rey scored with a bulldog when Knox tried his pumphandle trick again.

Rey hit a flurry of offence with a low dropkick and the wheelbarrow bulldog.  Knox looked for a powerslam, but Rey slipped to the apron and hit a springboard seated senton.  However, Knox hit a clothesline for a 2 count.  Knox missed a corner charge though, and Rey dropkicked him to position him for the 619.  He hit that and followed with a springboard splash for the win.

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7/10 - Enjoyed this more than I should on paper, but Knox really has improved as a worker, and worked well with Rey here, at least in my opinion.
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Oh, and look what they announced for next week.  John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler for the IC Title in England.  If they're doing a "Morrison is hurt" angle, there could be a title change.  Funny note for you here.  William Regal gets a shot at the ECW Title next week.  Wait, that's not the funny part.  If you recall to the same week last year, William Regal won the IC Title in about 30 seconds from Santino Marella.  So at shows precisely one year apart, I could see William Regal winning a title twice and/or see the IC Title change hands twice.


"Six"

R-Truth def. CM Punk in a "Now Scotty, given what happened last week, is pissing off Punk a good idea???" match
Punk made his way out first, taking us to a recap of last week's match against Scott Armstrong.  And guess what.  Scott Armstrong was the referee here!  Irony...  Truth came out next, doing his rap.  Striker likened this to Johnny Cash vs. Suge Knight.  OK then...  Truth took Punk into the corner and the ref was forced to break it up, and Punk talked to the ref as Truth played to the crowd.  Truth forced Punk into another corner, before dancing.  Punk scored with a side headlock, but Truth countered with a headscissors.  Punk turned that into a butterfly hook, but again truth took it into the corner, forcing the break.  Punk hit a headbutt, but Truth hiptossed him and clotheslined him out.  Pescado over saw Truth land on Punk as we took a break.

Truth slipped out of a suplex when we came back and hit one of his own.  However, as Punk retreated to the apron, he stunned Truth on the top rope and hit the springboard clothesline to the back of Truth's head.  Punk got a 2 count, which made Punk eyeball Truth.  Punk set truth for a suplex and blew a kiss before hitting it.  Punk locked in a Bow & Arrow hold, but Truth refused to submit.  Punk let the hold go, and mockingly clapped the fans.  Punk set Truth up in the corner, but missed a splash, crotching himself on the middle rope.  Truth hit a series of punches and then a pair of clotheslines.  He then floated over a corner charge and hit a leg lariat.  He hit a splash in the corner, but ran into a leg lariat of Punk's for a 2 count.  This led to Punk getting pissed with Armstrong, telling him to count faster.  As they argued, Truth rolled Punk up and Armstrong took Punk's advice by making a pretty fast (but not lighting fast) 3 count.

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7/10 - Another fine match for what it was, and an interesting angle at the end with Armstrong screwing Punk, but in a way that Punk actually ordered.  It'll be interesting to see where it goes, as I can't imagine it'll lead to another match with the two.  On the WWI forums, someone complained that Armstrong got too much offence (with THREE punches) last week.  I thought it was exactly the right amount, because you have to factor in the punchers chance, and they put over he was in a wrestling family that might be Hall of Fame worthy, you'd have to expect he wasn't totally useless, even if he didn't wrestle a day in his life (which he did).  But an actual match with the two?  No buys.
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Punk was in utter dismay as he chased the ref, before going back to the ring and pitching a fit.

Mickie was backstage as she was approached by Michelle & Layla.  They talked about how Mickie was leading a team at Survivor Series against one with Michelle.  They told Mickie to get to steppin' off Smackdown, but Mickie said she was going nowhere and said once she beat Michelle's team, she was coming for the title.  Mickie left as Layla took against being called Scary Spice, and Michelle promised that they'd make her life hell.

We went back to last week as Hardy doled out the advice to Batista about turning his back on family, only for Batista to kick his ass for it.

RAW Rebound.  Chris Masters is the f**king man.  Never thought I'd ever say that.  But he is.  I don't know which part was funniest.  The actual pec flexing, Ozzy's reaction to it, or the fact it was described as "performance art".  That said, Jackswaggle was awesome too.


"The Chad Who Love Me"/"Ski Jump Nose"/"An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter" (Live)

We cut backstage to Josh Matthews (busy little f**ker tonight, huh?), who was with Matt Hardy.  Now Matt, why stick your nose in?  Matt said everyone has lapses in judgement, and after what he went through with Jeff, he wanted to help, but his mistake was turning his back on Dave, and tonight he needed a reality, and he came tonight to fight him.

Matt Hardy def. Batista by DQ in a "When it comes to Matt Hardy, a TV main event win is a TV main event win..." match
Hardy came out before the break, and Batista afterwards, as they confirmed the Batista/Rey match for the PPV.  Matt put his dukes, but they ended up in a collar-and-elbow which ended up in the corner.  Batista began to use his power advantage, deflecting Hardy's occasional shots.  A shoulder block scored a 2 count.  Batista hit a big suplex for another 2 count.  Hardy avoided a corner charge and looked for a roll up, but Batista blocked.  Dave drove shoulders into the gut.  The ref called for a break, but Dave continued on with shots.  The ref got in again, and Hardy looked to capitalise, but Batista swept the legs out from under Matt when he was on the second rope as we took a break.

We came back and Batista was still in control, as he locked in a camel clutch.  Batista released Matt but worked over the mid-section of Hardy.  Scoop slam by The Animal scored a 2 count.  Hardy fought back, but Batista got a drop toe hold in, and whipped Hardy hard, and chest-first, into the corner.  Batista locked in a bodyscissors.  Matt tried to fight out, so Batista clubbed some shots in to the back of Hardy's head.  Hardy eventually managed to elbows various Batista body parts to get out of it.  He then slipped out a powerslam with a neckbreaker for a 2 count.  Batista charged, but hardy got a boot up and laid in some shots.  Matt dropkicked the knee and hit a DDT to a kneeling Batista.  Hardy went up and (pretty much) missed a moonsault.  However, he snapped off a Twist Of Fate out of nowhere.  However, Batista was able to grab the bottom rope.

Hardy looked for it again in the middle of the ring, but Batista hit a spinebuster.  He stomped on Hardy and once Charles Robinson was able to call him off, Hardy fell out the ring.  Batista joined him outside and tossed Matt into the guardrail.  Batista took Hardy over to the announcers, and cleared their desk, hitting Hardy in the back of the head with a monitor to draw the DQ.

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7/10 - Fine enough main event match, with what should be the right finish, with a vicious Batista using the weaponry.  After being so long as a top beloved babyface, it's gonna take hard work to get the fans to turn against him.  A peril they'd have if they ever turned Cena.  That said, I hope they follow up on why he didn't finish Matt off, because I thought both announcers thoughts weren't the best actual reasons.  If it was Striker's thought, then that just buries Hardy, and it's one thing to do that with Jimmy Wang Yang, but Matt Hardy is another case, and Grisham's kinda admits the turn is faltering if he didn't do it because the people wanted to see it.
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Batista continued his assault regardless, sending him into the steel steps before rolling Matt back in the ring.  Dave set up for a Batista Bomb.  However, he instead shoved Hardy down, Striker thinking that maybe Batista felt it was under him to hit it on Hardy, while Todd reasoned it might be because the crowd were ready to see it.  Instead, Batista left the ring and headed up the ramp to pose as the show ended.

OVERALL - 7/10 (+0.5 on last week) - Decent show this week, although ultimately missable.  It continued to tell the story of the break up of Rey & Batista, and was surrounded by some good stuff, but nothing that was vital viewing.  But again, if you watched the show, you didn't waste your time in doing so.

Jericho & Taker had a nice back and forth, and it's something that is quite new in the WWE, even though Jericho's been in for 10 years.  The trios match was fun with Ziggler getting another win ahead of his title match.  And as I said, if they're going in with a "Morrison's ribs are hurt" angle, then I would imagine it'll be the case that it'll be the reason why he loses the title, because the big problem about Morrison getting the belt was that they didn't want to make him look weak when he lost it because they're trying to push him, but they ultimately wanted it on Ziggler.  I think next week could be that time.  He's had a decent run with it and has an in-built angle in losing.