My Thoughts On April 17 Smackdown: Good Matches, Bad Ending

Now that I slightly have more time (because of a breakup), I have gotten more into wrestling. And one thing I can proudly boast is that we get Smackdown a few hours ahead of the U.S., which is not very common. Five years ago, we waited three months before each episode. Then the gap slowly closed, and now we get it on the same week.

So since I watched the latest Smackdown, I thought I would post my musings on how it went. I'll try to do this every week if I can. And if you haven't watched it yet, just know that THERE ARE SMACKDOWN RESULTS HERE.

The Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy

Wait, hasn’t Big Show been drafted to Raw? This is just stupid...are there not enough heels to do what Big Show had to do? Wrestle Jeff for awhile before Matt appears, if you must. Keep the guys on their own brands, dammit!

That being said, I thought he was great. Other than the botched ending, he was solid. There’s a lot of people saying they couldn’t care less about the Big Show. Enough with the hating. He’s the best big man in the history of wrestling.

He’s as fast as an average guy, and he actually goes down to the mat to sell moves better than some of the other wrestlers. The one gripe I have about him is the punch. It’s way too fake and we all can blatantly see the non-contact.

He was not at his best, though. It was expected that weeks of really good performances had to end soon. The ending was Matt's fault as much as Show’s. And I do not understand the need to continue this storyline. Matt is supposed to be on Raw as well. I was hoping from the storyline perspective, they would instead develop this story by showing them attack each other’s wives or something, because this beating seems pointless.

Oh, and I thought Matt's attitude and acting was heel to the max. I used to think he can’t be a heel, but if you keep him off the mic, he can be look quite evil.

Great Khali Kiss cam

This is as stupid as it gets. A segment to promote a segment next week. At least they no long try to pass Khali as a legit giant anymore.

Maryse vs. Gail Kim

Maryse is starting to stick on me. Not only is she the hottest diva right now, her wrestling skills are slightly improving to the point where it’s credible. And she can carry off the diva act.

That being said, Gail Kim obviously carried this match with big spots outside the ring, and the cross-body dive would be cool if it was done properly. Her finisher was interesting as well. We can all know the improvement she’ll bring to the divas.

R truth vs. John Morrison

The R truth entrance lasted way too long. Nobody understood what he rapped other than "wassup" anyway. Why can’t he just come out from the entrance ramp? Morrison shouldn’t be out this early either. He should be on the cusp of the main event scene!

That being said, a nice solid win for him. Thought the match was decent, the two match up well. Unfortunately for R truth, this is all he’ll be doing in WWE. Expect him to be released in this year. I hope Morrison moves on to better things.

Remember back in his Johnny Nitro days? He can’t carry off his persona, he can’t talk, and nobody could differentiate him from Mercury. I couldn’t stand him then. He’s improved a lot. I’m betting he’ll become the next big heel, since there’s such a lack of small heels.

Randy Orton/HHH Faceoff

This is stupid. So much airtime to tell us that it’s a No DQ match next week? And isn’t it obvious Orton is in a locker room? Then why isn’t HHH or Batista busting in there if they want to get him so much? I would rather he was seated in the house that HHH trashed pre-WM.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Undertaker

I was quite worried that they’ll just bury Benjamin. But this match was by far the best of the night, and I loved the ending when Shelton tried to imitate Taker and tried to do a tombstone. Shelton, I think, needs yet another gimmick change. He actually can do everything in the ring well and is more than just a spot monkey. The only thing he can’t do is talk, so they should get him a manager.

MVP vs. Dolph Zigler

This match had no in-ring psychology. I think MVP needs to emphasise the face aspect, but not at the extent of becoming boring. Dolph sucks. End of story. He’s way too generic and he didn’t do anything to impress me in the ring. Don’t bother pushing him.

Batista vs. Ted Dibiase Jr.

Batista was just being himself in this match, which was not very good. At least there were no obvious botches. Ted was decent, but he needs to find the X-factor and work up the crowd, and put more character in his wrestling.

More thoughts

I hated the ending. So Batista wins and we go off air. Where’s the climax?

Where were CM Punk, Kane, and Jericho? Way to go by not turning up for your first day of work at a new brand.

I wasn’t impressed by this episode of SD. It felt like they were just going through the proceedings to get to Backlash and put an end to feuds like the Hardys and HHH/Orton.