Smackdown Spoilers for May 22, 2009

[JPopStarKami 0]

(Credit: F4WOnline)

 

ECW has already passed so no point in recapping other than to say that the Finlay-Smith match was pretty dull live with the amount of rest holds.

 

Crowd was pretty hot all night, there were probably 30-40% kids in the audience

 

Dark Match- Seamus b Jimmy Wang Yang with a Urange, Seamus came out and said Finlay was a phoney irishman and he was there to show what Ireland was really about.

 

Superstars- Christian and Tommy Dreamer went to a no contest when Jack Swagger interfered

 

Smackdown- Edge came out to a mixed reaction and gave a promo saying that He proved he was the dominant force on Smackdown by beating jeff and that Jeff didn't deserve a rematch. Teddy Long came out and said because Matt interfered he disagreed and made a rematch at Extreme Rules. Jeff came out and said that they should have a match to decide what the stip would be. Edge protested but Jeff said the WWE universe in cincinnati should decide (cheap pop) he went into the crowd and asked if people wanted to see Edge vs Jeff to decide the stip and of course people said yes.

 

Ricky Ortiz is now a heel and did a promo saying that because we are in an economic slump, the bengals suck and cincinnati doesn't have a basketball team, we should all rally up, behind him which led to....

 

Haas, Benjamin & Ortiz vs Morrison & Cryme Time- Good six man with the heels working over JTG until the luke warm tag to Morrison who pinned Haas with the split legged twisting moonsault.

 

Melina did a backstage promo saying that she didn't care who won the No 1 contenders match between McCool and Gail Kim. Alicia came over and said she had a message from McCool that the title is hers, Melina said she had a message for McCool and slapped Alicia.

 

So of course McCool beat Gail Kim for the No 1 contendership with the Styles Clash

 

Mysterio did a backstage interview with the announce crew (which are always fun to watch live) saying that he has moved on from Jericho and will defend the Intercontinental title against the young guys. He talked about how sacred his match was, and how it would be a disgrace to show his face (ummm yeah, I know) and that he will hold the IC title like the other Latino IC champions, like Morales, Santana and Guerrero.

 

Punk beat Jericho by DQ when Umaga came in with a strap and attacked Punk right after Punk hit the GTS. Umaga tied Punk into the corner and then Umaga DID A PROMO challenging him to...guess what....a strap match at Extreme Rules.

 

Ortiz was backstage with Maria talking about Rallying up. Maria blew him off to talk to Jeff and ask him what stip he would pick. Jeff said Maria had to wait like everyone else and walked off. Ortiz came over and said Maria was looking for love in all the wrong places and gave her the towel which she treated like a dirty sock (isn't that what it is?)

 

Dolph Ziggler beat R-Truth, as he was making his way backstage Khali came behind him and Ziggler ran away through the crowd.

 

Cut to back stage, Jericho said that Mysterio may have moved on but he has not and wanted a match at Extreme rules. Teddy Long said that Mysterio was already in there and that it would be NO holds barred.

 

Jeff Hardy beat Edge in a hell of a good match with the Swanton. The crowd was really into this match, with dueling Let's go Hardy, Let's go edge chants. the Hardy chants were very distinctly children. by the end of the match everyone was cheering for Hardy. Grisham came in and asked Jeff what kind of match it would be at Extreme rules and Jeff said it would be a Ladder match.

 

The advertised main event was a cage match with Jeff and Rey vs Jericho & Edge but of course Jeff and Edge were pulled and it was for the Intercontinental title.

 

About a third of the crowd left and by the end it was probably closer to 50% left.

 

Rey beat Jericho with an impressive jump to the top of the cage and then an escape

 

VERY good show

 

The crowd was pretty full, with just the section where the cameras were and about 2/3's of the top bowl tarped off.

 

 

 

Robert J. Fahrmeier

 

 

 

 

A strap match between Umaga and Punk? That's not quite what I was expecting but at least they're continuing the feud.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

It was said that Umaga was going to speak when he moved to SD!, it seems they're de-cartooning his character, which is a really good thing as he deserves to be a top guy. Umaga vs Punk is a feud I've really been hoping for - I think it could "make" both wrestlers if booked right.

[Matt Young 0]

Smackdown was really good last night. The main event was obviously MOTN, but Punk vs. Jericho was excellent as well. Really, the whole show was good.

 

We did not get the announcement of Eve vs. Layla, or the segment with Edge in Long's office with Jericho coming in, and the announcement of Jericho/Rey (Los Angeles feed). Instead, a WWE studio promo by Jack Korpela aired. It went on for 3 minutes or so. He discussed the "Denver Debacle" and announced that Raw and ECW/Smackdown would emanate from Staples this coming week.

 

And, shitting in the face of the brand separation thing (but this sounds exciting nonetheless), he announced 3 cage matches for Lockdown... er, Smackdown. Edge vs. Jeff, Orton vs. Batista, and Cena vs. Show.

[Nitro 24/7 0]

And, shitting in the face of the brand separation thing (but this sounds exciting nonetheless), he announced 3 cage matches for Lockdown... er, Smackdown. Edge vs. Jeff, Orton vs. Batista, and Cena vs. Show.

 

Could those matches be dark matches for Raw and Smackdown? Raw has a huge 10 man tag match set and I cant see them having 3 cages matches on Smackdown. Especially main event matches like those...plus Orton vs Batista in a Cage is set for Extreme Rules.

 

Id love to see those 3 matches, but something tells me they will be dark matches for Raw and Smackdown.

 

Oh and by the way, Alicia Fox has to be the worst diva of all time. Horrible horrible horrible. I hope she gets endeavored immediately. Surprised Jilian Hall still has a job too.

[Super Leather 0]

I did like Alicia's sell job before taking that "running dropkick into the face of sitting opponent" move the other week. I can't remember the match or the opponent right now (an otherwise dull tag team bout vs. Gail Kim and someone else?), but I did think her groaning in pain while in a sitting position to set it up made that move look less contrived than it often does. Isn't she a relatively new addition to WWE?

 

Really didn't want to see Melina back on Smackdown with the women's title, but I've also seen little to none of her in-ring work from Raw. Some people on this board seem to think she's actually got some decent in-ring ability, so I'll wait and see. Although she spent most of her SD reign on the injured list, I was really into the idea of Maryse as the champion. I think she does a good job playing the bitchy "I am the unattainable goal" heel, and we'll probably see some great things from her in the future if she continues to improve like she was pre-injury.

 

Umaga finally speaking English and getting on the mike is weird to me, and it's going to take some getting used to. (And if he speaks English now, why have him go right back to "Samoan jungle savage speak" when going back up the aisle?) Now, I understand wanting to "de-cartoon" him and slowly remove the stereotypical character traits. But at the same time, I must admit that there is still a part of me that still loves characters like the Wild Samoans and Kamala. Call me crazy, but I think there's still a place for those sort of characters in wrestling today, but I also rarely look at the potential racial implications of such characterizations.

 

Since I only get to see Smackdown, I'm pleased at how things turned out for them in-ring performer-wise with the draft. I really liked how they established everyone on the first post-draft show, and look forward to seeing at least one perfectly good TV match per week.

 

[Nitro 24/7 0]

I did like Alicia's sell job before taking that "running dropkick into the face of sitting opponent" move the other week. I can't remember the match or the opponent right now (an otherwise dull tag team bout vs. Gail Kim and someone else?), but I did think her groaning in pain while in a sitting position to set it up made that move look less contrived than it often does. Isn't she a relatively new addition to WWE?

 

This past Friday Melina slapped her backstage. Alicia then went on to hold her face like she had been shot with an AK47 for the entire match and also after the match. She also had this weird interaction with McCool after the match where the 2 accidentally bumped into each other and Alicia acted all over dramatic and sold it like Michelle had bumped here intentionally.

 

She is as Green as Gumby and has no right whatsoever to be on WWE TV when there are lots of woman wrestlers that actually deserve a spot. She looks very nervous and uncomfortable in her role on Smackdown. I mean Alicia cant even handle standing outside the ring or talking backstage without messing up. On top of all that when she does "wrestle" its atrocious and painful to watch. The big poodle hair, toothpick skinny body, just a big sloppy mess.