The Night of the Jobbers
Smack Down tonight may have been worse than any house show card you can see. As we approach Wrestle Mania the WWE feels they don't have to develop most of the story lines. Instead, we will take the Mania participants and put them up against inferior competition. If their plan is to bore the public to death in order to make them crave Mania and go out and buy the pay per view, than tonights card should accomplish that feet. If they felt they were giving an entertaining show that would increase the interest in Mania, well it was far off the mark. It wasn't even till half way into the show when we saw any semblance of a decent match as the first hour was a complete waste of time.
Highlights from the top of the show included Batista in a handicap match against tag whipping boys Deuce and Domino, the Diva competition, The Big Show against 3 stiffs and Edge up against Funaki. And you know its a bad night when your thinking a match with Funaki is not too bad. I'm not kidding on this, the matches with Batista and the Big Show propably lasted a combined 10 minutes. It was the match with Edge that has some semblance of a real match. Despite his reign as Hardcore champ, Funaki will not be contending for much in the WWE anymore. Why do I have to wait almost an hour for a match with a guy who nobody cares about in order to see a tolerable match? If you want to captivate viewers, trust me this is not the way to go. At least the MVP Lounge segment was good as Jericho was the guest. This did help build some hype for the Money in the Bank match, and Jericho and MVP had some good exchanges mocking one another leading to a match next week.
After jobber mania was over we finally got to the meat of the card and were entertained by some matches that had a reason to be one TV. We had a melee featuring what will most likely be the favorites to win the ECW title contender Battle Royal. It started off as a match between Palumbo and Kane, but would see both Khali and Mark Henry enter the ring to make their mark. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have no love of Chuck Palumbo, and having Khali and Henry make surprise visits is like going for a root canal and finding out you get a free prostate exam with it. Not a fun day at the office. But at least this match means something for Mania, unlike the first half of the program which did nothing to hype it what so ever.
Though the next match would not feature an upcoming match at Mania, it was at least for a championship. Miz and Morrison put their belts on the line against every-ones favorite country boys. No I'm not talking about Hill Billy Jim and Uncle Elmer, but instead Jesse and Festus. I know these guys have a goofy shtick, but I must say I love them. Their performance tonight shows they can hold their own in the ring and I feel they could pull off being champs. Yes their act eventually will become old, much like Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay, but right now the crowd loves them enough to warrant a brief title reign. Plus unlike Miz and Morrison, who I see as viable singles performers for many years, Jesse and Festus will always work better as a tag team, so you might as well milk this cow for all its worth while it's hot.
Edge's plan to stick it to the Undertaker at every opportunity took the form of a match against Chavo Guerrero tonight. The match was a bit of a mismatch, as Taker's brawling style did not mesh well with Chavo's speedy attack approach. The match was not bad, but it was not good either and I would not want to see these two in the ring again. Taker won again with his new submission move but the celebration was short lived as Hawkins, Ryder and Edge all took to the ring with chairs and proceeded to beat on the Undertaker. It finished with a con-chair-to to Undertakers head which demonstrated Edge's unabashed determination to end the Dead Man's streak at Mania
Highlights from the top of the show included Batista in a handicap match against tag whipping boys Deuce and Domino, the Diva competition, The Big Show against 3 stiffs and Edge up against Funaki. And you know its a bad night when your thinking a match with Funaki is not too bad. I'm not kidding on this, the matches with Batista and the Big Show propably lasted a combined 10 minutes. It was the match with Edge that has some semblance of a real match. Despite his reign as Hardcore champ, Funaki will not be contending for much in the WWE anymore. Why do I have to wait almost an hour for a match with a guy who nobody cares about in order to see a tolerable match? If you want to captivate viewers, trust me this is not the way to go. At least the MVP Lounge segment was good as Jericho was the guest. This did help build some hype for the Money in the Bank match, and Jericho and MVP had some good exchanges mocking one another leading to a match next week.
After jobber mania was over we finally got to the meat of the card and were entertained by some matches that had a reason to be one TV. We had a melee featuring what will most likely be the favorites to win the ECW title contender Battle Royal. It started off as a match between Palumbo and Kane, but would see both Khali and Mark Henry enter the ring to make their mark. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have no love of Chuck Palumbo, and having Khali and Henry make surprise visits is like going for a root canal and finding out you get a free prostate exam with it. Not a fun day at the office. But at least this match means something for Mania, unlike the first half of the program which did nothing to hype it what so ever.
Though the next match would not feature an upcoming match at Mania, it was at least for a championship. Miz and Morrison put their belts on the line against every-ones favorite country boys. No I'm not talking about Hill Billy Jim and Uncle Elmer, but instead Jesse and Festus. I know these guys have a goofy shtick, but I must say I love them. Their performance tonight shows they can hold their own in the ring and I feel they could pull off being champs. Yes their act eventually will become old, much like Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay, but right now the crowd loves them enough to warrant a brief title reign. Plus unlike Miz and Morrison, who I see as viable singles performers for many years, Jesse and Festus will always work better as a tag team, so you might as well milk this cow for all its worth while it's hot.
Edge's plan to stick it to the Undertaker at every opportunity took the form of a match against Chavo Guerrero tonight. The match was a bit of a mismatch, as Taker's brawling style did not mesh well with Chavo's speedy attack approach. The match was not bad, but it was not good either and I would not want to see these two in the ring again. Taker won again with his new submission move but the celebration was short lived as Hawkins, Ryder and Edge all took to the ring with chairs and proceeded to beat on the Undertaker. It finished with a con-chair-to to Undertakers head which demonstrated Edge's unabashed determination to end the Dead Man's streak at Mania
