Friday Night Smackdown!
Indianapolis, Indiana
January 30, 2009
results thanks to pwtorch.com
[Q1]
-The show opened with a vignette on Jeff Hardy, with Hardy narrating, speaking
about his belief that Edge was behind the out of ring incidents trying to derail
his dreams. Then they went to a clip of Matt Hardy hitting Jeff with a chair at
the Royal Rumble. Great production of the dramatic moment followed by footage of
the brothers as teenagers, as rookies, as veteran partners, and then footage of
Jeff lying KO'd on the mat with Matt walking back emotionless.
-They went right to the arena at that point without the Smackdown opening
montage or any pyro or even Jim Ross or Tazz introducing the show. Instead Matt
walked slowly to the ring, sans music, but with a chair and mic. He sat down
mid-ring and absorbed some boos but mostly silent anticipation from the fans.
Last time this happened, it's considered a low point in his career as he didn't
quite hit the promo about Edge out of the park, which derailed Vince McMahon's
enthusiasm for pushing him after re-signing him. Matt opened by saying that
finally he's out from under the shadow of his younger brother. He said he's at
home now and he's staying home. He said he's had to take care of him his whole
career. He said people have had the audacity to blame him for the stairwell
incident or the hit and run accident or the pyro blast that went wrong, but no
one can prove he was behind it. He said there is one thing he was responsible
for - and that was hitting Jeff with the chair at the Royal Rumble.
"With one shot from this exact steel chair I'm sitting on right now, all the
pain and suffering that Jeff put me through for so many years was transferred
right back to him. And it felt good. It felt good. You have no idea how much of
a burden and a responsibility it was to take care of Jeff who was nothing more
than a constant mistake." They continued to go from Matt in the ring to clips of
them together. He said so many nights he had to worry about Jeff, field phone
calls about Jeff's problems. "No more," he said. He said Jeff is a psychological
wreck, whereas he's never been healthier or happier. "If my survival means
Jeff's total destruction, then so be it." He said Jeff's not the only one to
blame for the decision he's been forced to break. He also blamed the fans. They
played solemn music as background to Hardy. It's not often a promo has musical
support start to finish. He said he's done everything in his power to make the
fans happy, but it was never good enough. He said he's been a role model for
fans, but all they cared about was the irresponsible, self-destructive screw-up
Jeff Hardy. So from now on, he said the only person he cares about is himself.
He looked at the camera and addressed Jeff. He said he knows he's at home
watching. He said there is no such thing anymore as the Hardy Boyz. The crowd
gasped and booed. "I no longer consider you my partner and I no longer consider
you my brother," he said. The crowd chanted, "We Want Jeff." Matt looked around,
void of any sense of regret. Good promo by Matt. It was based in a reality, but
exaggerated (how much, who knows, but I know Matt has felt all of those emotions
at times in his career legitimately, so it's easy to cut a believable promo
expressing those toughts). The setting was good. It could have been too much to
have him walk out without music and then speak with solemn music in the
background for seven minutes, but it worked.
[Commercial Break]
[Q2]
1 -- R-TRUTH vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK (w/Ezekiel Jackson)
R-Truth sang his song as he walked through the crowd to the ring. Ross said
after hearing from Matt Hardy, how refreshing to hear from R-Truth. I'm
wondering what Matt said isn't true, though? It's not like what Matt said was
totally outlandish. It's not his feelings that were baseless, but it's his way
of dealing with them that was shameful. Ross said it's despicable of Matt to
blame the fans. He said the only person Matt cares about his Matt. The referee
kicked Ezekiel back to the locker room before the bell. It appeared all he did
was staredown R-Truth before the match and not get out of the ring as soon as
the ref ordered him. Kendrick jump-started the match and dominated early.
R-Truth came back with a corkscrew forearm and his scissors kick for the clean
win.
WINNER: R-Truth in 2:00.
-Ross promoted that Edge would speak later about winning the WWE Title at the
Rumble.
-A video aired on next year's "25th Anniversary of WrestleMania." It's not like
WWE to promote an event more than a year ahead of time, and it's even more odd
that they put the WrestleMania 25 logo up after promoting next year's 25th
Anniversary at WrestleMania 26 (because, of course, they celebrated their first
anniversary at WrestleMania II, not WrestleMania, so the anniversary is always a
year behind the number of the event).
[Commercial Break]
2 -- MVP vs. CHAVO GUERRERO
Ross noted that it's been a rough week for weather in the U.S. and thanked fans
for tuning in. He plugged other matches on the show including Mark Henry vs.
Undertaker. Wen Ross pushed Vladimir Kozlov vs. Great Khali vs. Triple H, Tazz
said, "That's a train wreck waiting to happen." Is he allowed to say that! He
did did.
[Q3]
MVP avoided a frog splash at 4:00 and then hit the Drive By for the win.
WINNER: MVP in 4:00. Could they have had a more flat way to end MVP's winning
streak then how they have with it at first being overshadowed by Triple H's
situation and now beating Chavo in a throwaway match with nothing at stake?
-Tazz interviewed MVP about his 20 week losing streak being over and now having
two wins in a row. MVP said it looks like big things are poppin' for him again.
He threw out some of his catchphrases to moderate scattered cheers. He said he
wants his U.S. Title back so he can once again be ballin'. Ross said it sounds
like the fans are excited about him going after his U.S. Title. Not really, but
whatever. Even that interview didn't really add anything to this winning streak,
such as it is. There's been no major angle or change in his personality or
anything. No lessons learned. No epiphanies. A real letdown of follow up on his
first win.
-A vignette aired on Umaga.
[Commercial Break]
-WWE Fact: Almost three times as many people watched Smackdown last week on
MyNetwork as watched the World X Games on ESPN. That does not surprise me at
all.
-A vignette aired on the Elimination Chamber, with grainy footage of past big
bumps and spots.
-Ross promoted the two TV main events.
-Umaga made his ring entrance.
[Commercial Break]
[Q4]
3 -- UMAGA vs. JIMMY WANG YANG
Umaga won quickly and decisively with the Samoan Spike.
WINNER: Umaga in 2:00. We still know nothing about Umaga. He's a super
heavyweight. He's agile. He rambles in some sort of gibberish tongue. He braids
his hair intricately. He has tattoos. He's supposedly mean. I suppose that's
enough, but barely, and the lack of any depth beyond that really holds him back
from being anything but a mid-card novelty who occasionally visits the main
events rather ineffectively. It's too bad the McMahon's have an irrational
aversion to managers because if he had one to explain his motivations and more
about his background, he has the rest of the package to make money. The one
"manager" exception is Atlas, who adds very little to Henry's marketability.
[Commercial Break]
-Another vignette aired of Vladimir Kozlov working out. Man, I hate that guy! He
got work ethic, he's all substance and no flash, he wants to fight tougher
competition. What as ass. Man, I can't wait to see Triple H and The Great Khali
kick his ass!
[Q5]
4 -- UNDERTAKER vs. MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas)
Henry is still "The World's Strongest Man" (in the same way that Jimmy Wang Yang
is a "Superstar"). Ross said Taker is custom-made for the Elimination Chamber.
Tazz said he's never competed in an Elimination Chamber and he's happy about
that. Taker walked the top rope, but it backfired as Henry caught him and
slammed him into the corner. Atlas got in a cheapshot. After a Henry chinlock,
Taker fought back. He ducked a Henry clothesline and came back with a flying
shoulder tackle. He set up a chokeslam, but Atlas distracted him. Henry hit
Taker from behind and knocked him to the floor. Taker knocked Atlas down,
reentered the ring, hit a chokeslam, and then finished him with the finisher
that Ross didn't call by name, so neither will I. Henry tapped out even before
Taker had it locked on, and Taker seemed to lose his grip once or twice in the
elaborate process of applying it.
WINNER: Undertaker in 6:00.
STAR RATING: * -- The formula match you'd expect from these two. Basic and
watchable.
[Commercial Break]
-A commercial aired hyping the WWE "Voices" music CD.
-Ross threw to Mickey Rourke calling out Chris Jericho for no apparent reason to
an "Access Hollywood" reporter, then footage of Jericho responding on Raw, and
then highlights of the debacle of a segment on Larry King Live with both Rourke
and Jericho on Wednesday night. It made Jericho seem like a crossover celebrity
to be on the show, so that had value, and the editing of the clips made it seem
a little less of a mess than it was, but it still didn't have that hook where a
viewer would have any idea why Rourke pulled Jericho's name out of a hat to call
out.
-Vickie Guerrero introduced her husband and soul mate and new WWE Champion,
Edge. Edge walked out to his full ring intro as the first pyro of the night
blasted. Edge said he normally doesn't pay much attention to the fans: "I don't
usually acknowledge you people at all," to use his exact language. He said
tonight he wants to open up a public discourse with the fans because they
accused him of attacking Hardy at the Survivor Series, running Jeff and his
girlfriend off of the road, and injuring him with his own pyro. He said week
after week he plead his innocence and the fans said he was a liar, "oftentimes
in front of my darling wife." Vickie giggled like a schoolgirl being asked to
prom.
[Q6]
He said each of the fans were "dead wrong... wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong,
wrong, wrong, wrong, you were all wrong." That was the highlight of the show
far, he pointed at one after another and got wide-eyed and called each of them
out for being wrong. The crowd responded with "You suck." He said he wants to
now open the line of communication between them. He said he wants to give
everyone a chance to stand up and say, "Edge, I'm sorry." He held the mic out.
The crowd booed. Then he said, "Thank you, and I accept your apologies." He said
he celebrated his seventh title win this week by watching his new DVD, "A Decade
of Decadence," which he said has been number one three weeks in a row. He said
watching his past accomplishments, he realized he hadn't done this in a while,
but he's feeling frisky. He said he'd like to break out a brand new pose for the
benefit of those with flash photography. He then leaned in and made out with
Vickie while holding his title belt in the air.
Big Show walked out to his music, interrupting the make-out session. He lifted
Vickie and spun her around with a big hug. She enjoyed it. Edge looked upset.
Show then touched the belt. Edge pulled back. Vickie bailed out of the ring as
Big Show stood with a wide-smile. Edge escorted her out of the ring. Not sure
what we're supposed to make of all that. Ross didn't speculate.
[Commercial Break]
5 -- BIG SHOW vs. FESTUS (w/Jesse)
This match deserved more build-up. They're really dropped the ball on making
something more out of Festus than a mid-card comedy act. Festus went for an
early bear hug, but Show dropped him with a DDT. Festus's bump was nasty
looking. He sold that well. Tazz called the chest the "pectorial" region, then
told Ross that's the chest area, oblivious to the fact that he made up the word
"pectorial." Festus came back at 1:00 briefly, but Show chopped him in the chest
to stop him second later. Then he lifted him into a powerbomb position and then
fell back and sent Festus face-first into the canvas. Then he finished him with
a punch to the face. As Jesse ran in to check on Festus, Show chokeslammed him,
too.
WINNER: The Big Show in 2:00. Man, WWE is just killing off the mid-card guys
with upward mobility again. Festus vs. Show could have been intriguing and a
selling point to build a TV show around or a solid supporting match on a PPV,
but now Festus has been defined down as a two minute jobber to Show.
[Q7]
[Commercial Break]
-Did You Know? Last Friday, more men watched Smackdown than any other show on
television. That's pretty impressive, actually.
-They showed the exterior of the Conseco Fieldhouse arena.
-The trailer for "12 Rounds" starring John Cena aired.
-Eve Torres interviewed Michelle McCool backstage. McCool said she's surprised
she's showing her face around here after she had her begging for mercy in her
feet and bawling her pretty little green eyes out. She said she got exactly what
she deserved for provoking her. Eve slapped McCool. McCool smiled and walked
away.
-Ross hyped the Triple Threat main event was up next.
[Commercial Break]
-Tazz plugged the Kevin Rudolf song "Let It Rock," the official Royal Rumble
theme song.
-The Raw Rebound aired, focused on Randy Orton announcement of his IED condition
followed by Super Shane-O-Mac's ridiculous beatdown of three heels. This version
was highly edited down and with almost none of Shane's bad punches or the
overall impression of Shane destroying all the heels single-handedly coming
across.
[Q8]
-Triple H's ring intro took place, followed by Great Khali's, and then Kozlov's.
Come on, you know you want to get up and dance when you hear Khali's new intro
song.
6 -- TRIPLE H vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV vs. THE GREAT KHALI (w/Ranjin Singh) - A "Trainwreck
Waiting to Happen" match
They triangled off at the start. Kozlov shoulder jabbed Triple H in the corner.
Khali yanked him away and then beat on Triple H himself. Kozlov gave Khali a
running knee from behind, then trash talked him. Khali chopped him down and gave
him a boot to send him to the floor with a thud. Triple H stared at Khali as
they cut to an early break at 1:00.
[Commercial Break]
Triple H and Khali fought at ringside. Kozlov took over on Triple H inside the
ring, scoring a two count after a powerslam. Triple H came back with a DDT at
7:00. Khali was nowhere to be seen for several minutes, knocked out at ringside.
Kozlov scored another near fall after another slam. He took Triple H to the
corner again, but when he charged, Triple H caught him with a boot to the face.
Triple H came back with a knee to the face and a spinebuster. Khali re-entered
the picture with a big chop to Triple H's head, then the head vice. . Kozlov
broke it up with a headbutt to Khali's chest. Triple H ducked a Kozlov charge,
so Kozlov flew over the top rope to the floor. Triple H gave Khali a sloppy
looking Pedigree which Khali didn't know how to take very well for the win.
WINNER: Triple H in 11:00.
STAR RATING: 3/4* -- I've seen much worse. It was what it was and what you'd
expect from these three. It probably qualified as a train wreck, but not an
especially bad one as train wrecks go.
FINAL THOUGHTS (6.0): The Edge promo and the Matt Hardy promo were the
highpoints of the show. The matches weren't anything special, but at least each
had some meaning as qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber matches. I
still argue that WWE is giving away too many intriguing matches that don't last
very long between marquee wrestlers - usually one established as a main eventer
and another built up with main event potential - and the established main
eventer beats them quickly and decisively, thus defining down these emerging
wrestlers before they've had a chance to make money on the intrigue of how good
they really are. In other words, I think they could have gotten a lot more out
of Festus's first match against Big Show, but they treated him no differently
than Jimmy Wang Yang's loss to Umaga. It's just needlessly inefficient to throw
away these potentially intriguing matches by destroying the equity of months of
building up someone new. The MVP streak ending has been handled about as flat as
a pancake so far. Even he indicated in interviews that something more was going
to be made of the transition from loser to winner that make it all worthwhile,
but a brief promo with Tazz after beating Kendrick doesn't qualify.