Friday Night Smackdown!
Albany, New York
November 28, 2008
results thanks to pwtorch.com
-Skipping the WWE Opening, they aired clips of
the HHH-Kozlov match with Edge interfering from Suvivor Series; they also ran
briefs of the Matt Hardy & JR comments during the show about Jeff Hardy.
-Vickie Guerrero was in the ring, a ring surrounded by security. She asked the
fans to welcome Edge back to Smackdown. They embraced in mid-ring. Edge said he
wasn't ready to come back and isn't even 100% healthy. He said he read on
WWE.com what happened with Hardy and said he needed to take matters into his own
hands. He said Hardy has a history of letting people down. Edge said the title
isn't his only motivation- he also didn't want to let Vickie down. Vickie
thanked Edge for being her hero and saving her from the irresponsibility of Jeff
Hardy. She said what hapened with him is still under investigation. Hardy ran
down to the ring but was stopped by security. Soon after, HHH did the same. Wow,
security actually doing their job. Vladimir Kozlov popped up from the other side
of the ring and wanted no more games; he said he'd beat Edge up right there.
Vickie instead put the three competitors with a stake to the title in three
beat-the-clock matches tonight with the one winning their match quickest facing
Edge at Armageddon. And Hardy's is next.[
[Commercial Break]
1- JEFF HARDY vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK- BEAT THE CLOCK MATCH
Hardy's face looks like he got in the way of Homer Simpson's make-up gun. Hardy
tried a bunch of pinning combinations as the match approached 1:00. Kendrick
then retreated to ringside as Zeke and Jeff faced off. Hardy still had a bandage
on his neck from his "injury." Crowd got restless at the 3:00 mark. Match was
all Hardy, but Kendrick took a break again at 3:30. Back in the ring, two
bodyslams couldn't do it for Jeff. Kendrick hit a neck-breaker after crotching
Hardy on the top rope on a Whisper in the Wind attempt. Match then went to
break. I don't like these odds for Hardy.
[Commercial Break]
8:40 into the match, Kendrick had control and was wearing down Hardy. Hardy
finally got momentum and dropped Kendrick throat-first onto the top rope at the
10:00 mark. Hardy was really slowed down at this point. He hit Whisper in the
Wind, but Kendrick got his foot on the rope on a pin attempt. Jackson tried to
pull Kendrick out of the ring, but Hardy dropkicked him through the ropes.
Swanton from Hardy finished it.
WINNER: Hardy, at 12:13. Good, hot match; either the crowd was majorly into it
or the audio sweetner was on overdrive.
-They showed that Vladimir Kozlov will face Matt Hardy in his Beat-The-Clock
match, while HHH takes on Shelton Benjamin.
-Eve Torres was backstage with Matt Hardy. Matt claimed Vickie & Edge were
responsible for what happened to Jeff on Sunday and then said he has a job to do
tonight to try to get Jeff into the title match at Armageddon.
[Commercial Break]
-A video package aired on The Big Show vs. Undertaker feud, culminating with
their match at Survivor Series.
-JR announced that next week on Smackdown, Big Show will face Taker in a steel
cage. I figured that feud was over. Then we saw what could happen in that match,
courtesy of Smackdown vs. Raw 2009.
-All six competitors made their entrances for the six-diva tag match, which is
next.
[Commercial Break]
2- THE BELLA TWINS & MICHELLE MCCOOL vs. NATALYA & VICTORIA & MARYSE
Nikki & Brie did some double-teaming on Victoria once the match started. Brie
rolled her up for two and then Victoria threw her to the mat on a flying mare
attempt. Surfboard was applied by Natalya. Swinging side-slam by Victoria got a
two-count, then Maryse tagged in. Jawbreaker (kind of) by Brie allowed her to
tag Michelle. Nikki & Victoria got involved, distracting the ref from a Michelle
pin attempt. Maryse ducked a clothesline by Brie and the Bella twin nailed
Michelle instead, who got rolled up by Maryse for the pin.
WINNERS: Victoria, Natalya & Maryse at 4:13. Match was best when the heels were
on offense.
After the match, Michelle was chewing out the Bellas in the ring. Maria came out
to try to diffuse the situation, but Michelle pushed her to the mat, then left
the ring.
-Two more Beat-The-Clock matches are left, and Kozlov vs. Matt Hardy is next.
[Commercial Break]
-The DX-WWE Shopzone plug from this past Monday (and Tuesday) aired again.
3- VLADIMIR KOZLOV vs. MATT HARDY- BEAT-THE-CLOCK MATCH
Matt avoided some single-leg take-down attempts. He drew Kozlov in and nailed
him with a right hand. He then kept Kozlov in a head-lock for a minute or so.
Jeff was shown watching the match on a monitor backstage. Matt took the Kendrick
route and wasted some time on the outside. Kozlov applied a waist-lock on Matt
to wear him down. Hardy went to the outside after getting shoulder-blocked.
Apparently, referee Scott Armstrong told Kozlov at this point that he could only
win by pin or submission and had to win in less time than Jeff, because after
Armstrong talked to Vlad and pointed at the Titan-Tron, Kozlov's eyes got big
and he chased Matt around the outside of the ring. Back inside, he hit his
trademark headbutts on Matt. They went to break with under 7:00 to go.
[Commercial Break]
JR said Kozlov has gotten much more aggressive during the break as the match
reached the 3:00 to go mark. Back-breaker by Kozlov for two. He caught Matt on a
cross-body attempt and dumped him with a fall-away slam. Kozlov got on the
bottom rope and did the same thing. 1:00 to go. Side Effect by Hardy and Kozlov
rolled to ringside with under :30 to go. Kozlov pushed Matt off a Twist of Fate
try and to ringside. Matt got on the apron and shouldered Kozlov in the gut,
then jumped back off the apron to ringside again as the final second ticked off
the clock.
WINNER: No Contest; Kozlov did not beat the clock, at 12:13.
Backstage, Triple H confronted Jeff Hardy in Jeff's locker-room. They had a
stare-down.
[Commercial Break]
4- JESSE & FESTUS vs. THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON
Jesse and Festus were already in the ring. Jesse got a near-fall after a
back-elbow. Miz an dMorrison cut off the ring and worked Jesse over. Jesse
suplexed Miz and both men were down. Festus tagged in and cleaned house until
Morrison rang the bell. Jesse went over and nailed Morrison, then grabbed the
bell and rang it again. Didn't they just do this a few weeks ago? Festus did
some damage to Morrison, but then Miz got his hands on the bell and rang it. Miz
& Morrison pummeled Jesse on the outside to the point where referee Chad Patton
called for a DQ.
WINNERS: Jesse & Festus by DQ, at 4:58. I think Festus has run his course, and I
wouldn't be surprised to see Jesse or Festus wished well in their future
endeavors in the near future.
After the match, Miz had Festus make an "L" with his fingers and put it up to
his forehead. Then he and Morrison had fun with Festus and the bell, ringing it
then quickly ringing it again. Miz even stood next to Festus and "exploded" with
Festus once Morrison rang the bell. Jesse came back and and they beat him up
some more until Miz accidentally dropped the hammer on the bell, causing Festus
to come alive and get some brief revenge.
[Commercial Break]
-The Raw Rebound aired.
-Mr. Kennedy was backstage and, after plugging his movie, brought in Triple H
and asked him about his match tonight. HHH said people want to know if he can
beat Shelton Benjamin in 12:13? Watch me, he said. Then he told Edge he'd see
him at Armageddon. This puts fans in an odd spot; Hardy and Triple H are both
faces, so do they cheer for Trips or Jeff? And if they cheer for Jeff, then they
have to root for a heel in Shelton to either beat HHH or keep him in the ring
for 12:13. I think from that point-of-view, it would've made more sense for
Kozlov to be last.
[Commercial Break]
-They showed clips from the Beat-The-Clock matches from earlier tonight.
5- TRIPLE H vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN- BEAT-THE-CLOCK MATCH
HHH went for a Pedigree as soon as the bell rang. He went for it again less than
a minute later. Benjamin then went to the outside. HHH chased him out there but
back in the ring, the two traded offense. Triple H locked in the Crossface to
take a minute or so off the clock. Then Shelton countered a suplex with a
neck-breaker. The show then went to break.
[Commercial Break]
They showed Hardy watching the match backstage. Big-time DDT from Shelton with
under 5:00 to go. HHH caught Benjamin with a high knee and a face-buster on the
knee for two. Benjamin kept sliding otu of the ring. HHH threw Benjamin over the
announce table and into JR's lap, then back over. Shelton just would not stay in
the ring. Spinebuster with under 2:00 to go. Triple H seemed to have the
Pedigree locked in, but Shelton back-dropped out of it. Trips tried to pull
Benjamin into the middle of the ring, but Shelton wrapped himself in the ropes.
With Triple H trying to free Shelton, Benjamin's arm flew back and knocked out
referee Mike Chioda. Triple H hit the Pedigree with :30 to go, but no ref to
count. Chioda made the slow crawl over and made the count as time expired.
WINNER: Triple H, at 12:13. I'm home for Thanksgiving and my father (who only
watches wrestling when I'm around) called that finish with 5:00 to go in the
match.
There was confusion after the match when Chioda raised HHH's hand. The referee
of Jeff Hardy's match, Charles Robinson, came out to talk things over. Upon
replay, the buzzer seemed to go off just before Chioda's hand hit the mat for
three, but it was very close. Ring announcer Justin Roberts proclaimed a tie.
Jeff then came out and had a bit of a face-off with Triple H. Looks like we'll
have to wait 'til next week for clarification.