Here are tonight's Smackdown spoilers, in BOLD lettering. My thoughts are added in plain text.
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I missed the dark matches and Velocity.
Which I'm sure Meltzer will have up soon enough. I imagine there was a Matt Hardy match, giving me one reason to watch.
Smackdown starts with the very first match.
Non Title Match Eddie Guerrero beat Chris Benoit via DQ interference from Rhyno and Tajiri. Slaughter came down and made the referee make it a tag match since they all interfere in each other's matches every week.
Wait...what? Since when does SERGEANT SLAUGHTER make those rulings? I'm hoping this is some kind of typo, but I doubt it. But hey, at least we're getting Benoit/Guerrero on FREE TV and that should make everyone happy!
Chris Benoit and Tajiri beat Eddie Guerrero and Rhyno via Benoit's crossface submission on Guerrero.
Four good workers in one match is enough to get my interest.
Backstage, Josh Mathews interviews Kurt Angle. Angle says he will find Lesnar tonight and resolve their issues face to face.
-commercial-
Nunzio w/ Palumbo and Stamboli beat Zach Gowen. Matt Hardy gave Gowen the twist of fate after the match.
Uh oh...I'm loving the fact that we're getting a Gowen/Hardy feud, but can anyone think of a match this kid has won since beating Big Slug via massive interference? He hasn't beaten Vince, he hasn't beaten Shannon Moore, and now he's jobbing to Nunzio. WWE's making Gowen look like a total loser and I'm not sure if that's the direction they want to take.
-commercial-
Backstage, Undertaker walks in on Vince and Sable. Sable leaves. Undertaker tells Vince he is lucky that he is not in his family otherwise he would beat his ass. Vince tells Undertaker that if he does not like the way things are run here then he can join Stephanie on the shelf. Funaki walks up and alerts Vince that Lesnar has been attacked by someone. Vince goes to the scene but nobody there helping knows what happened.
And I'm pretty sure we can all see what's coming a mile away. Hell, just about everybody called it since LAST WEEK! But admittedly, it IS the best direction to go.
John Cena beat Undertaker with the FU. Very long match which saw Albert interfere early on.
I would have preferred no Albert AT ALL, but if the interference came early, then I guess we can go ahead and call this a clean job. Good one, UT.
-commercial-
Jamie Noble w/ Nidia beat Doug Basham w/ Danny Basham and Shaniquia. After the match the Basham Brothers double teamed Noble until Billy Gunn came out to make the save.
And it's time for GunNoble to start their new feud...with the heatless Bashams. This can't lead to ANYTHING good and I'm guessing it's leading to GunNoble & Nidia colliding with the Bashams and Shaniquia at Summerslam.
Backstage, Josh Mathews tells Kurt Angle that Lesnar may have a concussion and wonders if Angle had something to do with it. Angle denies it.
The slow burn....
-commercial-
Charlie Haas w/ Shelton Benjamin beat Rey Mysterio via submission.
The buildup for the big rematch continues. I'm pleading to WWE to give them another straight wrestling match at the PPV. NO GIMMICK MATCHES, PLEASE! The ladder's been done to death!
-commercial-
Sable comes out to the ring and says that Stephanie's ego is too bruised to show her face on Smackdown. Sable says the decision of her becoming GM will be up to Vince. Sable wishes Vince good luck in the cage match with Lesnar. Sable leaves.
The cage lowers. Lesnar is shown walking the hallway. Angle is shown exiting a room.
-commercial-
Cage Match Special Referee - Kurt Angle Vince McMahon vs Brock Lesnar Early in the match Angle had the ankle lock on Vince. Lesnar broke it up and gave Angle an F5. Vince and Lesnar stop fighting and focus on Angle. Vince brings the title in the ring and hands it to Lesnar who busts Angle open with it. Lesnar throws Angle head first into the cage. Lesnar and Vince stand over Angle and then hug. Lesnar and Vince walk to the back. Medics apply bandages to Angle's head and check his vitals. Angle is helped to the back.
Say it with me: WHAT A SHOCKING SWERVE!!! (tm CRZ) But really, this is the only direction they could realistically go. And if it means the end of Happy Smiley Brock, then huzzah!
Of course, we all know the negative that comes from this. MORE VINCE ON TV!!!
Originally posted by It's FalseOf course, we all know the negative that comes from this. MORE VINCE ON TV!!!
Man, they are just NOT going to give up on rehashing Austin vs. MacMahon in every possible mutation they can imagine. This angle is to the WWE what the nWo was to WCW.
Originally posted by It's FalseOf course, we all know the negative that comes from this. MORE VINCE ON TV!!!
Man, they are just NOT going to give up on rehashing Austin vs. MacMahon in every possible mutation they can imagine. This angle is to the WWE what the nWo was to WCW.
Now I wouldn't exactly say that...I was luke warm to the goofy face Lesner yet I loved the respect thing between Angle for the last few months. I think it did them good. I give this about a year give or take a few more swerves.
This is getting annoying now isn't it?
Banned Once! The independant thought alarm went off, knew to much about b*tching.
< Uh oh...I'm loving the fact that we're getting a Gowen/Hardy feud, but can anyone think of a match this kid has won since beating Big Slug via massive interference? He hasn't beaten Vince, he hasn't beaten Shannon Moore, and now he's jobbing to Nunzio. WWE's making Gowen look like a total loser and I'm not sure if that's the direction they want to take. >
I think they want to build up the audiences interest in being able to see Zach's first win, making people wonder if the match their watching will be the one where Zach gets his first victory, there by making the win a very special moment.
< John Cena beat Undertaker with the FU. Very long match which saw Albert interfere early on. I would have preferred no Albert AT ALL, but if the interference came early, then I guess we can go ahead and call this a clean job. >
I bet the announcers play up the fact that Undertaker isn't fully recovered from his internal injuries during this match also.
"This just got a hell of a lot better." - Stifler, American Pie
This show looks AWESOME. Edyy vs. Benoit, Eddy/Rhyno vs. Tajiri/Benoit, Cena beating Undertaker, a feud for Matt Hardy, and finally the return of monster Brock Lesnar. Smackdown owns raw.
Good for them for doing the right thing with Brock. Reading through that, I honestly could have seen them turning Angle instead. But Lesnar's turn was long overdue and I feel, the right move.
EXCLUSIVE JAM-PACKED Randy Orson interview!!! EXCLUSIVE JAM-PACKED book review of Jerry The King Lawyer!!! Plus the end of an EXCLUSIVE JAM-PACKED era and more in the latest Inside The Ropes!!!
And it's time for GunNoble to start their new feud...with the heatless Bashams. This can't lead to ANYTHING good and I'm guessing it's leading to GunNoble & Nidia colliding with the Bashams and Shaniquia at Summerslam
I could get into this. Knoble & Doug Basham are good workers, Danny is growing on me, and Gunn has shown he can be good in a tag team. Although I'd prefer to see Knoble & Doug Basham pushed as singles, we should get some good matches out of this.
Uh oh...I'm loving the fact that we're getting a Gowen/Hardy feud, but can anyone think of a match this kid has won since beating Big Slug via massive interference? He hasn't beaten Vince, he hasn't beaten Shannon Moore, and now he's jobbing to Nunzio. WWE's making Gowen look like a total loser and I'm not sure if that's the direction they want to take
Yeah, Zach is the "inspirational story", but the kid is all of 150 pounds soaking wet, as well as having only 1 leg. You run the risk of killing the credibility of anyone jobbing clean to the kid. I hope that if Hardy has to do any jobs to him, they're of the fluke variety.
I wouldn't say this DEFINITLY means more Vince. They may just be using Vince to turn Brock, and then have him disappear. Hugging Vince is just the easiest way to turn someone on a dime.
I can toatally understand Brock going heel, but why not use Heyman as well/instead? Force Angle and Vince to make an uncomfortable alliance?
This reeks of Corporate champion. No "Corporation" type shit. Give us a new Dangerous Alliance!
I'm tellin you guys.. Haas, Benjamin, Guerrero, Big Show and Lesnar.
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I would have prefered to see Brock turn heel because of the returning influence of Paul Heyman.
I could see them putting Paul with Angle to set up a Paul/Vince feud again, but Angle doesn't need Paul to do the talking. Brock, however, is not a "fine and dandy" talking heel. That's why Paul worked so well with him.
I'd now like to see Paul return to manage Rhyno. Rhyno would yank the US belt from new-champ Benoit, and then Rhyno/Paul target Lesnar and his belt, setting up another brawling title feud.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Sgt. Slaughter has power to make matches? Well, Vince really is trying to recreate 1997-98 again. If they really want me to care about heel Brock, have him F5 peg leg into dark match land. I know heel Kurt Angle would just tear off his one leg, just for the hell of it. If Gunn/Noble vs. the Bashams is on the SummerSlam card instead of an Eddy Guerrero US title defense, then there is no hope.
Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox fans unite. Its time to overthrow the German Government and re-install our beloved Kaiser. Remember, Kaiser ='s World Series victories.
Hmm, Sounds interesting. I do like the fact that we get more Benoit and Guererro. I don't like the fact that Vince and Sable are still... I do like seeing Jamie Noble and Nidia together, but I don't like Billy Gunn being there. The cage match sounds good, and Lesnar's a heel again. Um, that's fine with me, but Lesnar didn't need Vince the first time, and that worked well. Maybe I'm just annoyed with Vince, I mean who isn't? How many times have we seen Vince aligning with wrestlers? It's been done to death, in my opinion. Anyway, it does sound like a good show regardless, and providing that there's no baseball, I'll try to catch it this time.
You know, you just can't have it all go one way in WWE. Whenever they do something truly horrible, they have a good match on the card or something that's supposed to make up for it. Whenever they do something that moves them in a better direction, they do something that's totally stupid while they're at it.
Brock's heel, that's great. I'm all for it. Him aligning with Vince will probably give us more Vince face time, but at least it gives Brock someone who can talk to do his promo work for him. I don't mind Vince and Brock being together (for now).
But, this sounds like one of those things where Vince gets his ass kicked to show us all how tough he is. Vince wanted to take that beating, because he wanted to make it so we wouldn't see the swerve coming. Wow!
I remember the Greater Power vividly, because it was the WWF's one true failure in the midst of its greatest success with Austin/Vince, and I remember the Undertaker kicking the crap out of Vince McMahon leading up to the unbelievable (and I mean that in the most literal way possible) SWERVE~!
Now, we get the same thing. Why even book a Vince vs Brock match to begin with? Why not save the heel turn for SummerSlam with Vince as the guest ref, where the timing would have been better and you'd have weeks of psychological play (ala Perfect in Warrior/Savage '92) as to how Vince would call the match? Unless they plan on having Angle retain which, by all means, he should. But, since Brock is Vince's guy, I bet Brock wins the belt again.
They put Cena over UT this week, because that's supposed to make up for the PPV or whatever. Fine, great. I guess that works, but then they go and job Gowen to Nunzio. They sign this one-legged guy, give us his life story on how he's a cancer survivor, but man, that just isn't good enough for him to be a WWE superstar. It's not like he's as tough as Vince or anything.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDThey sign this one-legged guy, give us his life story on how he's a cancer survivor, but man, that just isn't good enough for him to be a WWE superstar.
That SHOULDN'T be enough to make him a WWE superstar. The story is that he's a determined guy. A guy who had to relearn how to move, walk, balance, every movement literally from the moment he gets out of bed to when he lies back down. And now he has to learn how to wrestle.
A chunk of us know he's wrestled before in the indy feds, but the story (i.e. what the audience knows) is that he hasn't been in a ring at all. He can do flips and he can kick at various heights. That's the extent of his abilities shown. Anyone who flips of a diving board has the same level of skill Zach's displayed thus far.
Zach is just like Gail KIm. Got a few moves, got lucky in their first match and now has to prove themselves. I give the WWE some credit for Zach the character learning as he goes.
Nunzio and anyone else Zach faces one-on-one should destroy him until he gets the hang of it.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I don't have any problem with Gowen losing, because quite frankly I look at him and see jobber. The best thing you can say about him is that he is good for a guy on one leg. But that's all, because from what he has shown so far, he's not really that good. I'm not sure you deserve a push just because you have one leg. Sure, the cancer thing shows he is tough, mentally. But physically, I'm pretty sure that even I could kick his ass.
At this point, I'm not really sure why they signed him in the first place. He is a novelty, but once you've seen him, you've seen him. So unless he still is holding back (because even the moveset he has broken out hasn't been performed that crisply IMHO), I just don't get it.
Everything that is wrong in this world can be blamed on Freddie Prinze Jr.
In Gowen's case, I think its wise that they're phasing down his push big time because he was getting quite a few boos at Vengeance. He got shoved down our throats and the fans were starting to resent it so it's best for his future to move him down the card. They gotta be careful jobbing him to guys like Shannon Moore and Nunzio because people get behind an underdog but not a total loser.
I think Zach Gowen can be like a Spike Dudley, the occasional upset win but is mainly just there for people to get heat on.
The rest of the show looks pretty good. With Cena's win over The Undertaker, we'll see if they focus on Cena beating The Undertaker or Albert costing The Undertaker the match.