LAST WEEK ON SMACKDOWN: Benoit lost too quickly, Kane and Booker won too slowly and some other guys didn’t win or lose at all…

THE SHOW

Matt Hardy & Finlay fought to a Time Limit Draw in a "At least Mercury is getting an angle before he jobs his life away..." match

Before the credits rolled, we got a big-ass recap of the "Beat The clock Sprint" matches last week. Nothing wrong with that, just saying is all, although of the 6 guys yet to wrestle, they still insist on only throwing out the names of Matt Hardy, Finlay, MVP and Undertaker. I mean, what's wrong with the other two? Are they, like, Vito and/or Miz bad?

And we start out with a "Beat the Clock Sprint" match as the aforementioned Finlay came out, and Michael Cole told us that it was happening. And the excitement for hardy was so palpable, Cole even to drum up a solitary "Oh!". And just to cap it off, while Hardy was making his entrance, they cut to a quick promo by Ken Kennedy, who reiterated his confidence.

Finlay started this one out hot, trying to end it early, although Hardy came back with a few roll-up and Umaga-beating cradles. With around 3:50 left, they clashed heads, drawing a 7 count from Charles Robinson. When they got up, Hardy took over with 2 Side Effects and 2 near falls. A third was blocked, and Finlay sent Hardy into the corner. hardy looked to head up top but the Little Bastard put in an appearance, allowing Finlay to hit a Shillelagh shot. It only got a 2 count however. Finlay went to an Indian Death Lock, capitalising on the Shillelagh shot. Finlay synched it in deep, but Hardy hung on as the buzzer went. As Finlay kept the hold on, Joey mercury ran in and beat up Hardy. With Finlay's help , Joey put a chair round Hardy's face but referees, head writer Michael Hayes and IRS ran in to stop him. As we came back from break, Kristal was in the back with Joey Mercury, who said he wasn't gonna stop until Hardy's face looked worse than his.

Thoughts - 7/10 - That match had some pretty good action, even managing to work in the psychology after the shillelagh shot. I am honestly surprised that Finlay didn't win it. If you've read my mentalist ramblings on the message boards, you'll know that I backed Finlay the second I heard about this.

Tatanka def. Jimmy Wang Yang in a "Imagine if the Native Americans really won?" match

And because it was such a great match last week, where the smaller, far more talented guy was made to look the big useless lug's equal, here we are with a second overly-generous helping of Tatanka and Wang Yang. Funnily enough, Yang was dressed like he was when he was part of Tajiri's "Kyo Dai" with Sakoda. And just to give it the respect it deserved, JBL and Cole started talking about other possible combinations of Redneck vs. Indian, despite Cole's insistence that everyone JBL named was an Indian, before moving on to mentioning that a member of Tatanka's honorary tribe getting busted for drugs, or something.

I know I've digressed a lot here, but guess how this match went? If you're denser than my head feels at the moment, then Tatanka was ALL OVER Yang. Yang got a few "hope" spots in, but they went nowhere, all in all. And when he got some sustained offence in, Tatanka caught him off the top and hit a spinning urange for the win.

Thoughts - 4/10 - Pretty dull, pretty pointless and not pretty. I don't know why Yang is getting the sudden de-push and I don't know why he's being sacrificed to Tatanka.

As Sean O'Haire would say, "I'm not telling you anything you don't already know..."

And after Maryse stepped in the shower, welcoming us to Smackdown, we got a recap of the tag Title match at Armageddon. And hey, they didn't dwell on the destroying of Mercury's face!

We cut to the back where the Champions are hanging when the challengers approach reminding them that tonight, it was a wrestling match, not a ladder match. Always nice to be reminded.

Ken Kennedy def. Chris Benoit in a "Now that a match length Benoit can lose in...." match

After the Wrestlemania recall that was Jericho vs. HHH at WM 18, and a full commercial break, Ken Kennedy makes his way out. in his usual mic spot, he said that the man who would win the Sprint and beat Batista was, Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Kennedy...Davidson Kennedy. Before Benoit came out, we saw how Kennedy won his match last week. Interestingly, all of a sudden, JBL liking Benoit again, calling him "a man among men".

Benoit meant business in the first exchanges, but Kennedy held his own. Benoit looked to retain control, but Kennedy pulled Benoit's tights, sending him out of the ring. It stayed even, although Benoit hit the Germans. However, before he could decide on a corner for the headbutt, Chavo Guerrero sauntered out. After a non-ad break, Chavo was sat at the announce desk with a headset on. The subject of Vicki came up, with Chavo's line still being that her pain was all about Benoit, with everyone ignoring the shove Chavo gave her.

I don't mean to digress as much here, as there was good stuff happening in the ring, although Kennedy was firmly in control. He locked in an abdominal stretch, using the top rope for some sort of leverage, although he was caught the second time he used it. they fought into a corner, but Kennedy came off best by hitting a superplex, for a near fall. Benoit suddenly went for a Crossface, but Kennedy scurried out of the ring. However, when he came back in, he just about found himself on the wrong end of a Sharpshooter, but he fought out of that too. Kennedy begun to work over the back, but when the crowd got some volume into them, Benoit countered a submission hold into the Crossface. Benoit took over with another set of Germans. Benoit motioned to Chavo, and then hit the head butt on Kennedy. Nick Patrick started a ten count, although it wasn't long before Benoit rolled over and got a 2 count. Kennedy hit "Stunning" Steve's Stungun for a 2 count. they ended up on the top turnbuckle again, but while Benoit shoved off, rather than a Kenton Bomb, he had to make do with a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Just after that, he did actually go for the Kenton bomb, but Benoit moved, and took over with even more Germans. indeed, it as FIVE this time around. Benoit locked in the Sharpshooter, causing Chavo to make for the ring. Benoit pulled him in, and went for the Sharpshooter, but Kennedy rolled him up with a handful of tights for another win. After the match, Benoit took it to Chavo at ringside, but Chavo shoved him off and made his escape. They ended with a "please appreciate Benoit" bit, but it was only mildly taken up.

Thoughts - 8.5/10 - That was a really good match, that went back and forth. If I were to have a criticism of it, it would be that the slower portion in the middle of the match was on the verge of dragging, but it was certainly never boring.

Stuff you'll have seen even more recently

And so, here's the second part of the Batista "story", in lieu of actually making him do anything. If you've watched Smackdown recently, you'll have seen it all before. he got revenge on mark Henry. he didn't win the title and then he did. enough said me thinks...

Brian Kendrick & Paul London def. William Regal & Dave Taylor to retain the Tag team Titles in a "Excuse while I vomit a little. Not with regards to this match, I mean literally..." match

In a bit of iffy time management, both teams came out before they went to break, and came back with the match having just begun. Now, I'm not saying that the early exchanges with Spanky and Taylor weren't good, but my personal highlight was a sign exclaiming, "DENNIS STAMP HUMBLED IRON SHEIK". Brilliance. the champs started out with frequent tags and Double Axe handles off the top, but a sneaky punch by Regal when Taylor distracted London allowed the former Bluebloods to take over and begin the beat down.

And Regal and Taylor REALLY took it to London with some lovely "old school" stuff, including a few holds you just don't see every day. eventually, London wriggled off of regal and just about made the tag to Spanky, who came in "En fuego", as they say down ol' Mexican way. Regal rolled through a crossbody for a 2 count, but London made the save. Seconds later though, Kendrick pulled a backslide out of the hat to retain the titles.

Thoughts - 8/10 - Again, this was a top quality match for TV. I'm a little surprised that Regal and Taylor didn't win again. While they will always be credible contenders, the constant losses don't exactly help. I'm beginning to wonder if there is another team coming in to the mix (probably Deuce and Domino from OVW), if they aren't putting the belts on the heels.

Bait & Switch? You decide...

We saw MVP get burned again, as they hyped his "Beat The Clock" match, before Maryse saying something that ended in "Smackdown before we took a commercial break.

However, rather than anything MVP related, we get our now usual "From The vault" segment. Although for once, it doesn't involve Bobby Lashley. It does, once again, involve King booker though, as this was a match against undertaker from August last year. STOP WITH THE 2006 STUFF!!! one person who would have liked this bit though would be DA BOSS~!, JG, as the match ended with Khali wondering in and looking to take Taker out, although despite putting him down, Taker got right back up and sent him from the ring. Taker then made the challenge for the Last man standing match at Summerslam.

MVP & Vito fought to a Time Limit Draw in a "Nope, can't think of anything funny to go here..." match

And so finally, we get to the MVP match. He is once again topless, although he's very heavily bandaged. There is also a bit of make up to show some "burns". And you can imagine JBL's joy when Vito's music kicked in, coming out, so to speak, in a flowery pastel coloured chest. As should have been obvious, when he could, Vito went for shots to MVP's burnt back. However, this one was mostly about MVP on the attack in the match's first half. However, as the clock turned the corner, Vito begun to take over, if some pins, but it was all rather messy. MVP took over as the clock ran down, but he couldn't manage to get the win. MVP then took it to Vito on the outside afterwards, but Vito came back with a whip into the steel steps.

Thoughts - 6/10 - This was OK, but nothing special. I don't think they made too much use of the obvious "Work on MVP's back" angle, but given how Vito was an afterthought, it doesn't really surprise me. I would look for it to be an issue in the future though.

Another couple of small bits I can't come up with a comic line for...

After the RAW rebound (all about Cena's involvement, THANKFULLY!), we go to the announce desk where Cole tells us that Teddy Long has made a No Disqualification match between Benoit and Chavo NEXT WEEK for the US Title.

We then cut to Kristal, who actually introduces Batista. She asks about Batista's potential rivals, Kennedy and undertaker. What about the guy Taker will be facing? Kinda pisses on his chips. Batista hypes Kennedy's chances, given who he has beaten already, but when it came to Undertaker, that would be "new". Man, could they foreshadow taker vs. Batista anymore?

The Undertaker & Mike Mizanin fought to a Time Limit Draw in a "So near, yet so far..." match

For once in his (un)natural born life, Undertaker actually comes out first for this match. Indeed, he almost looked as though he didn't know what to do, when it came to taking off his hat and coat, since he normally does it to intimidate his opponent.

And boy, did JBL love seeing Miz?!?! Indeed, Miz did look as though he had soiled himself. Miz wasted sometime trying to stay far away from undertaker, but Taker caught him and begun to work him over. Real good. With 3 minutes to go, Undertaker signalled for the chokeslam, but Kennedy ran out to distract the Deadman. Miz finally got some offence in, but wasn't all that successful. Undertaker took over. However, there was a referee bump with 50 seconds left. Undertaker hit a chokeslam but when he realised the ref was still down, Kennedy pulled Miz out of the ring and up the aisle. Taker came out, rolled him back in and hit the Tombstone. however, with the referee just millimetres away from the 3 count, the buzzer went.

Thoughts – 6/10 – To be totally honest with you all, I thought this was a pretty darn well booked match. I mean, Miz hardly got any offence in, but he just lasted, and even then, it took Kennedy’s help to do it. And they got the timing down pat for the ending. Hardly a technical classic, but they did what they wanted to do and they did it really well.

OVERALL - 7/10 (- 0.5 on last week) - A only so slight notch down on last week’s show, but with the Tag Title match, and the Benoit vs. Kennedy match, there was plenty of goodness here. I could have done without the Tatanka vs. Yang match, or least have it better booked, but other than that, this was a very entertaining show, with a cool theme running through it, and makes you wanting more.

That’s all I got for now, but if you have something to say about this week’s Smackdown, you can e-mail me at dedicated e-mail address, or come hunt me down on the WWI Forums!

OR, you can find me along with the rest of the dribbling masses on MY OWN MYSPACE PAGE!

Well, I’ll be back soon enough, but for now, I believe I’ve fulfilled my contractual obligations. For reading this, And continuing to support World Wrestling Insanity, you’re cooler than the other side of the pillow…

I’m out.