Smackdown 9/22
The WWE, as expected, pulled out all the stops to deliver a good show on SmackDown this past week with its premiere on the new CW network. The show was pretty good, with a lot of hard work from the major stars, and some matches that had some pretty decent setups and endings. Interesting that they are bringing John Cena for the show next week in a six-man tag. I wonder how guys like King Booker, Batista and others feel about Cena being on the show. Maybe it is becoming apparent to the company that like ECW, which always seems to have 1-2 WWE stars a week, the show needs help and is going to use RAW guys and possibly ECW guys, to make it a more watchable show.
The opening tag with Regal and Finaly vs Batista and Lashley was well done, and did a good setup for the upcoming match with Batista vs Finely for the PPV. Not that many will buy the PPV due to that match, or any match they currently have on the show to date. The diva thing with Layla was nothing more than 5 minutes of a waste of time. My heart be still that it looks like Jillian turned on Layla. Whatever will the sport be in for if Jillian turns back into a heel?! I for one am truly hoping that she comes to her senes before a full turn to the dark side.
The Helms-Hardy match was pretty good, and I still think that we are going to see a rematch for the PPV, and this time Hardy will win the strap, ending the longest title regin in the company for sometime. The tag three-way was also pretty good, but it gets a bit annoying week after week hearing JBL say that London and Kendrick are a disaster waiting to happen and are going to be headed for a major fall before too long. We get it JBL, they will lose the belts in the next 1-2 months, and then by the end of 06, early 07, they will feud with each other. You don't have to point out that obvious set up week after week.
The Miz over Funaki was about the worst thing on the show, and at least JBL does not hide his hatred for the Miz, which is pretty funny. Same goes for the ongoing boring feud with Sylvan and Tatanka. I know that they wanted to have Sylvan on the show to get a pop in Montreal, as well as further continue the eventual heel turn for Tatanka, but these two back and forth is getting old. Move on and start something new if you insist on having these guys on the show each week.
The main event with Undertaker vs Booker was pretty good. I think the end is near for Taker, as it seems like month after month when he is forced in the ring, his skills seems to get less and less. The worst part about the match was the ridiclous commentary from Kennedy and JBL about Taker and how unbeatable he is. Kennedy, while great on the mic in his ring intro, was awful here, and I hope that he doesn't ever get behind the desk calling matches again. Of course Lashley interefered after Booker was DQ'ed, and the show ended on a happy note with Taker getting a choke slam and tombstone on Booker.
Overall, not a bad show, as stated above. They need shows like this week after week if they are going to hold any sort of audience and make strides in making this show better.
