Lack of Pace for Smack Down
On a night that looked to feature a decent card, Smack Down failed, due to a bunch of matches that were just flat in their delivery and others that left you scratching your head as to why are we watching this? It started off on a good foot with Chavo and Edge addressing the crowd about their disappointing Mania title loses. But Vickie would make it up to her boys by giving them both rematches at Backlash and also promising a match tonight between Undertaker and Kane. Now with this announcement it looked like we would have a great show. But that was not to be.
The main event featuring the aforementioned Brothers of Destruction never really had much legs to it. It started off in a slow technical match that eventually became a brawl with many exchanges of blows from the big men. But overall the pace was very slow, even for these to heavyweights, and the crowd was not in to it. The only saving grace was the run in by Edgeand Chavo, along with Hawkins and Ryder. The bad guys had the brothers beaten down, but the dead men rose to give a double tombstone to Edge and Chavo.
Tonight also saw the rekindling of the MVP and Matt Hardy rivalry. This one also had allot of promise, but went too long and really didn't deliver much to speak of. These two guys have been in previous matches together, so you would figure the chemistry would be there. But for some reason tonight they were just a bit off. The moves looked a little labored at times and the match really lack momentum. It could be due to Matt's rust of being off so long, but given MVP's great matches with Batista in the past month it would be sad to see him digress into a feud that may not have much to it. I'm not going to pass judgement just yet, as Matt may need some more time to get back to form, and both men have shown in the past they can work great together.
In what could have been a great tag match turned into a lame promo for the Big Show and Khali. Miz and Morrison would take on Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore. I'm nor sure why they would give the champs a very decisive win over Wang and Moore because I think these two teams could develop a great program together. The clear cut victory does nothing to help push Yang and Moore and it should be interesting if the WWE sees them as viable contenders for the belts anymore. Of course this match ended with Khali coming to the ring to clear it out. He was then verbally confronted by the Big Show, but then left the ring without doing much. I feel bad for the Show as it looks like he is the next to be saddled with Khali. Big Show deserves better, especially after his great match with Mayweather at Mania.
The head scratchers of the evening saw for some reason Zach Ryder against Festus. Festus would win in a one sided beating of Ryder. Not sure why they would have this singles match when you could have easily thrown in Jesse and Hawkins. We also saw the debut of Vladimir Kozlov take on a jobber. You may remember Kovlov from some promos at ring side over the summer. He finally made it on TV and reminded me of a Russian Snitsky. And if the original Snitsky can't make much of a mark in the WWE, I'm not sure how a Russian version will make it either.
And for those of you who were wondering who won the Diva competition, it was to no surprise, Michell McCool. But as she was enjoying her new custom chopper she was attacked by both Victoria and a mysterious Diva. Not sure why they are using this angle as I'm sure no one really cars who this Diva is. If it develops into a story line it will be quickly forgotten as soon at it ends, so why waste time trying to keep this person a secret?
I would like to give Batista some credit tonight as he did a great job on the mic. In order to set up a program with HBK, Shawn Micheals arrived on Smack Down to further speak on his defeat of Rick Flair. Batista would confront him and blame HBK for ending the career of Flair, whom Batista is friends with and sees as his mentor. Batista would blame it on HBK's ego and felt he should have let Flair win. The exchange between them was great as Batista actually had some real emotion behind his words for once. This program is perfect for Batista as he really has nowhere to go right now. And if HBK can bring out his mic skills, this will only raise Batista's stock as a major superstar.
The main event featuring the aforementioned Brothers of Destruction never really had much legs to it. It started off in a slow technical match that eventually became a brawl with many exchanges of blows from the big men. But overall the pace was very slow, even for these to heavyweights, and the crowd was not in to it. The only saving grace was the run in by Edgeand Chavo, along with Hawkins and Ryder. The bad guys had the brothers beaten down, but the dead men rose to give a double tombstone to Edge and Chavo.
Tonight also saw the rekindling of the MVP and Matt Hardy rivalry. This one also had allot of promise, but went too long and really didn't deliver much to speak of. These two guys have been in previous matches together, so you would figure the chemistry would be there. But for some reason tonight they were just a bit off. The moves looked a little labored at times and the match really lack momentum. It could be due to Matt's rust of being off so long, but given MVP's great matches with Batista in the past month it would be sad to see him digress into a feud that may not have much to it. I'm not going to pass judgement just yet, as Matt may need some more time to get back to form, and both men have shown in the past they can work great together.
In what could have been a great tag match turned into a lame promo for the Big Show and Khali. Miz and Morrison would take on Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore. I'm nor sure why they would give the champs a very decisive win over Wang and Moore because I think these two teams could develop a great program together. The clear cut victory does nothing to help push Yang and Moore and it should be interesting if the WWE sees them as viable contenders for the belts anymore. Of course this match ended with Khali coming to the ring to clear it out. He was then verbally confronted by the Big Show, but then left the ring without doing much. I feel bad for the Show as it looks like he is the next to be saddled with Khali. Big Show deserves better, especially after his great match with Mayweather at Mania.
The head scratchers of the evening saw for some reason Zach Ryder against Festus. Festus would win in a one sided beating of Ryder. Not sure why they would have this singles match when you could have easily thrown in Jesse and Hawkins. We also saw the debut of Vladimir Kozlov take on a jobber. You may remember Kovlov from some promos at ring side over the summer. He finally made it on TV and reminded me of a Russian Snitsky. And if the original Snitsky can't make much of a mark in the WWE, I'm not sure how a Russian version will make it either.
And for those of you who were wondering who won the Diva competition, it was to no surprise, Michell McCool. But as she was enjoying her new custom chopper she was attacked by both Victoria and a mysterious Diva. Not sure why they are using this angle as I'm sure no one really cars who this Diva is. If it develops into a story line it will be quickly forgotten as soon at it ends, so why waste time trying to keep this person a secret?
I would like to give Batista some credit tonight as he did a great job on the mic. In order to set up a program with HBK, Shawn Micheals arrived on Smack Down to further speak on his defeat of Rick Flair. Batista would confront him and blame HBK for ending the career of Flair, whom Batista is friends with and sees as his mentor. Batista would blame it on HBK's ego and felt he should have let Flair win. The exchange between them was great as Batista actually had some real emotion behind his words for once. This program is perfect for Batista as he really has nowhere to go right now. And if HBK can bring out his mic skills, this will only raise Batista's stock as a major superstar.
