Friday Night SmackDown, May 30, 2008

The Setup
Batista sure cleans up well. He’s decked out in a pitch black pinstripe suit with a black tie and sun glasses that seem to have a gargoyle on their sides. Versaces, of course. He wants forgiveness from the people because he wants to “hurt Shawn Michaels“. It’s OK Animal, we understand.

Vickie Guerrero, however, doesn’t understand. She’s being wheeled out by the interchangeable Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins and she warns Batista not to look past Michaels and to the Heavyweight championship because he might not even be inSmackDown (in the future). The 2008 Draft and all. Vickie, who is showing a great deal of cleavage, is being rained on by a chorus of “You Suck” catcalls. She is not loved in Colorado Springs.

This protracted segment ends with Vickie setting up a match with Zach and Curt vs. Batista and any friend he can find backstage. Who will come to the Animal’s defense?

Segment Grade: D This is certainly not an exciting beginning. A Main Event that includes a pair known for being an entourage doesn’t exactly get our blood started.

Match One
Matt Hardy def. Elijah Burke
How can Jeff Hardy be so exciting and his brother Matt so boring? After a turgid seven minutes Hardy hits Burke with a Twist of Fate and a quick pin. What was the most interesting thing about the match? The FCC crawl informing us that the switch from analog to digital is coming soon. Matt certainly looks to be going through the motions.

Segment Grade: D

Post-Match Nonsense
After the match, pint-sized Jamie Noble comes to save the stunning WWE Diva Eve Torres from having to interview the self-obsessed M.V.P. any longer. There are two problems, however, with his intervention: 1) Eve sneaks off the set when they’re arguing and 2) We are going to have to watch this mismatch. Ughh.

Post from: EveryJoe

SmackDown 5/30 Part One: The Yawns Begin

Deuce, Domino and Maryse def. Jesse, Festus and Cherry
Finlay def. Chuck Palumbo
Batista def. M.V.P.
Vladimir Kozlov def. Nunzio
Matt Hardy and Kofi Kingston def. Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke
The Undertaker def. Chavo Guerrero

Friday night’s SmackDown concluded what has been an entertaining week of wrestling matches.

The hard-fought epic M.V.P.-Batista battle which saw terrific give-and-take, lots of powerful moves, and a successful building of an interesting feud.

My favorite bout of the night was surprisingly the Finlay-Chuck Palumbo match. The two sparred for a good ten minutes providing good action and compelling drama. All of this was emphasized by the fact that Hornswaggle spent most of the match under the canvas. But when the little guy emerged the fun began. The first time he disrupted a sure Palumbo pin by splattering the journeyman with a Super Soaker.

Hornswaggle’s second appearance included an even more dastardly liquid projectile. While Finlay rolled around in pain, Hornswaggle hoped to distract Palumbo from making the pin. It worked but the evil leprechaun looked to be in serious physical danger. Chuck pulled him into the ring and looked poised to attack. Instead, Hornswaggle spat the seemingly poisonous green Irish Mist into the bigger man’s face.

Palumbo staggered blindly and Finlay connected his shillelagh incapacitated his opponent. An easy pin soon followed with Finlay carefully hiding Palumbo’s green-smeared face and body from the referee’s view.

I’ll talk more on The Undertaker-Vickie Guerrero-Edge-Chavo Guerrero incident later.

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

WWE SmackDown: The Night of the Irish Mist

• CM Punk def. WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz
• Elijah Burke def. Nunzio
• Kofi Kingston def. Domino
• Tommy Dreamer def. Colin Delaney

The big news of the show was the contract signing between ECW-champion Kane and former-champion Chavo Guerrero. After Kane signed the contract Chavo introduced a new mystery wrestler, Justin “The Ox” LaRoche, who will be accompanying Guerrero at Backlash. Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, and Guerrero then attacked Kane before finally signing the PPV contract.

Post from: EveryJoe

“Mystery Wrestler” Debuts on ECW as Backlash Contracts Get Signed

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Wrestlemania 24 Match Lineup

Here is a complete list of wrestlers participating in the tri-branded match:

Elijah Burke, Lance Cade, Deuce, Domino, Tommy Dreamer, Jim Duggan, Festus, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly, Jesse, Kane, Brian Kendrick, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Shannon Moore, Trevor Murdoch, Jamie Noble, Chuck Palumbo, Cody Rhodes, Snitsky, Matt Striker, Val Venis and Jimmy Wang Yang.

Post from: EveryJoe

Pre-Wrestlemania 24 Man Battle Royal

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ECW Recap (March 18, 2008)