Smack Down a Let Down
I'm nor sure whats going on with the WWE, but lately the programing has been lack luster to say the least. Nothing like killing all the momentum of Mania with terrible TV shows that do nothing to further any decent plot lines. With only two weeks left until the next pay per view there has been little to whet the appetites of wrestling fans. This is no way to get the buy rates up. So far we have rematches for the top titles, plus adding JBL to the WWE mix, Big Show and Khali, HBK and Batista along with MVP and Matt Hardy. And really these matches are not looking to good, especially how they are building them on TV.
Look at this past Smack Down and you see my point. By now everyone knows the results so I will not bother with those, but lets look at the ramifications of the matches instead. First you start off with Punjabi Peace offering to the Big Show. Instead, Show knocks out Khali. We all know this match is going to be poor anyway due to Khali's lack of skill, but attempting to make the Big Show the heel makes no sense. As indicated by the crowd, everyone hates Khali, there is no way possible to make him the good guy because nobody will back him. So the question is why are we going this route? I really have no answer and I doubt the WWE does either.
We rekindled the match-up of Miz and Morrison against Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore again. While I like this pairing very much, it has been too on again and off again for my taste. We know they work great together, so why not plunge full force into a program. This way you have some good matches for TV, and even can put it on a pay per view. You all remember the days when we use to see the tag champs on pay per views right? Please give us this one so we don't have to sit through boring matches featuring Mark Henry or Khali.
The Russian Snitsky, Vladamir Kozlov beat another stiff to establish himself as a force in the WWE. Again this makes no sense as we already have one crazed brawler in the original Snitsky. And that's going nowhere. Wouldn't it be better to put Kozlov on ECW to let him develop there. That way if he doesn't pan out there was really no lose as many do not pay attention to ECW anyway. Again another move that makes no sense.
In Diva action we found out who the mysterious blond assailant of Michell McCool was. It turns out she is Jim Niedhart's Daughter, Natalya. But we fail to develop much about her as it was Victoria who faced McCool. Yes Natalya did interfere, but what is going to establish here over the other Divas. Riding Victoria's coattails will not do much, as she is barely in the mix, other than being the obligatory heel. So I really can't see much for Natalya either.
The rekindling of the MVP and Matt Hardy feud is also concerning me. Last week they looked very out of sync and this week Hardy was unimpressive against Chuck Palumbo. While I have no love for Palumbo, Hardy still should have given a better in ring performance. He may still be too rusty from his recovery from an appendectomy. If you want to carry this into a pay per view you better hope he can put on a decent match. This one bothers me because MVP looked good in his matches with Batista going into Mania. If I had my choice I rather see this program, than dealing with a struggling Hardy.
Speaking of the Animal, he and HBK are quickly losing momentum for their dispute and subsequent match about Rick Flair's retirement. It first started off with Batista being upset with Michaels for ending Flair's career, but now it has moved onto personal attacks over HBK's alleged antics in the ring that have lead to his success. This turn in verbal attacks shows the fans are not buying into this rift. This is nothing more than a place holder match, as both men are looking for their next big program. Hopefully the match will be good, as the build up angle is not working at all.
Now Finlay and Hornswoggle have officially become the kings of comedy in the WWE. Their match against Matt Striker featured many Harlem Globetrotters pranks over serious wrestling. Finlay didn't even get a clean win over Striker, instead he had to use the shillelagh to knock him out. This story line is getting old, and reverting it to a comedy duo only makes it worse.
Finally, the main event made no sense what so ever. Why was the Undertaker going up against Festus? What were they trying to accomplish with this pairing. The match was not that bad all around, but still are we lead to believe Festus has a chance of beating Tacker. It wasn't even like this was part of Vickie and Edges plot to weaken the Undertaker before Backlash. It made no sense and I'm sorry for those who paid to see this one.
I know there is a supposed draft coming up at the end of this month, but to keep up lame programming does nothing to build any type of momentum after Mania and leading into another pay per view. The WWE needs to step up their booking and give the fans something worth watching. If not, buy rates will be very poor in the upcoming months and it may be hard to draw fans back in by the time Summer Slam rolls around. There is no excuse for these horrible shows, as the roster is very healthy and there is plenty of talent on each brand. Let's just hope they are waiting for the reshuffle of the talent so we can have decent TV shows again.
Look at this past Smack Down and you see my point. By now everyone knows the results so I will not bother with those, but lets look at the ramifications of the matches instead. First you start off with Punjabi Peace offering to the Big Show. Instead, Show knocks out Khali. We all know this match is going to be poor anyway due to Khali's lack of skill, but attempting to make the Big Show the heel makes no sense. As indicated by the crowd, everyone hates Khali, there is no way possible to make him the good guy because nobody will back him. So the question is why are we going this route? I really have no answer and I doubt the WWE does either.
We rekindled the match-up of Miz and Morrison against Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore again. While I like this pairing very much, it has been too on again and off again for my taste. We know they work great together, so why not plunge full force into a program. This way you have some good matches for TV, and even can put it on a pay per view. You all remember the days when we use to see the tag champs on pay per views right? Please give us this one so we don't have to sit through boring matches featuring Mark Henry or Khali.
The Russian Snitsky, Vladamir Kozlov beat another stiff to establish himself as a force in the WWE. Again this makes no sense as we already have one crazed brawler in the original Snitsky. And that's going nowhere. Wouldn't it be better to put Kozlov on ECW to let him develop there. That way if he doesn't pan out there was really no lose as many do not pay attention to ECW anyway. Again another move that makes no sense.
In Diva action we found out who the mysterious blond assailant of Michell McCool was. It turns out she is Jim Niedhart's Daughter, Natalya. But we fail to develop much about her as it was Victoria who faced McCool. Yes Natalya did interfere, but what is going to establish here over the other Divas. Riding Victoria's coattails will not do much, as she is barely in the mix, other than being the obligatory heel. So I really can't see much for Natalya either.
The rekindling of the MVP and Matt Hardy feud is also concerning me. Last week they looked very out of sync and this week Hardy was unimpressive against Chuck Palumbo. While I have no love for Palumbo, Hardy still should have given a better in ring performance. He may still be too rusty from his recovery from an appendectomy. If you want to carry this into a pay per view you better hope he can put on a decent match. This one bothers me because MVP looked good in his matches with Batista going into Mania. If I had my choice I rather see this program, than dealing with a struggling Hardy.
Speaking of the Animal, he and HBK are quickly losing momentum for their dispute and subsequent match about Rick Flair's retirement. It first started off with Batista being upset with Michaels for ending Flair's career, but now it has moved onto personal attacks over HBK's alleged antics in the ring that have lead to his success. This turn in verbal attacks shows the fans are not buying into this rift. This is nothing more than a place holder match, as both men are looking for their next big program. Hopefully the match will be good, as the build up angle is not working at all.
Now Finlay and Hornswoggle have officially become the kings of comedy in the WWE. Their match against Matt Striker featured many Harlem Globetrotters pranks over serious wrestling. Finlay didn't even get a clean win over Striker, instead he had to use the shillelagh to knock him out. This story line is getting old, and reverting it to a comedy duo only makes it worse.
Finally, the main event made no sense what so ever. Why was the Undertaker going up against Festus? What were they trying to accomplish with this pairing. The match was not that bad all around, but still are we lead to believe Festus has a chance of beating Tacker. It wasn't even like this was part of Vickie and Edges plot to weaken the Undertaker before Backlash. It made no sense and I'm sorry for those who paid to see this one.
I know there is a supposed draft coming up at the end of this month, but to keep up lame programming does nothing to build any type of momentum after Mania and leading into another pay per view. The WWE needs to step up their booking and give the fans something worth watching. If not, buy rates will be very poor in the upcoming months and it may be hard to draw fans back in by the time Summer Slam rolls around. There is no excuse for these horrible shows, as the roster is very healthy and there is plenty of talent on each brand. Let's just hope they are waiting for the reshuffle of the talent so we can have decent TV shows again.
