Smack Talk for 4/15/11 (Edge Officially Retires/Christian Becomes #1 Contender)

What's up, ladies and gentlemen? My name is Eric Kanes and I am welcoming you to the most electrifying SmackDown Review on the net. This show was a nice change of pace from recent weeks as we got a lot of wrestl--err soap opera action and the final retirement speech of the one, the only Rated R SOOOOOOperstar.

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And now, from Albany, New York, let's talk some smack!

-The show started off with Alberto Del Rio coming out to ask Edge to present him with the title. Teddy Long, rocking his pajamas, came out to set up a 20-man battle royal for later on in the show. We'll get to that in a little bit.

-Just when I thought Booker T on his own was the most annoying commentator in history...enter Heath Slater. Good god, listenting to them together was brutal.

-I don't get why they're already teasing a Corre break-up. Those guys have barely been together for three months. Rather than make them look like idiots, it would make sense to actually make them look like a credible faction.

For example, instead of them bickering at each other during the match, why couldn't they have beat down Kofi and cut a promo on how they are unstoppable because they are a unit? They could've then worked together in the battle royal and actually posed a threat. A little thing like that would've made such a huge difference.

-As much as I love Cody Rhodes, they need to come up with something new for him. At this point, if you've seen one Cody Rhodes promo since February, you've seen 'em all.

-Rey Mysterio/Drew McIntyre was a decent 13-minute match. This is one of three long TV matches this week which is good to see.

-Wow, that was a fantastic final promo by Edge. Hearing the "Thank you, Mom" chants, seeing Edge go back to walk down the ramp again, and hearing Tony Chimel's famous voice crack for one final time were just awesome moments.

This was a very heartfelt promo and it definitely sucks that SmackDown lost its top performer but it's better than if he ended up in a wheelchair. Thank you, Edge. Thank you for all the memories and all the phenomenal matches and promos. You will be missed.

-On a side note, it looks like Chris Jericho may be coming back to WWE, according to this video. That's pretty awesome. He'll probably return on SmackDown due to the lack of star power. The obvious money program would be Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio. Chris Jericho vs. Christian could be another fun program, although I wouldn't do that one just yet as both are currently better off as faces. Either way, I can't wait for the big return.

-So Laycool is really breaking up, huh? Not that it makes much of a difference with the dead division, but what's the point of doing this? Sometimes, I wonder if WWE makes tag teams just for the sake of breaking them up.

-The 20-man battle royal was pretty generic for the most part. Two things worth noting are that Yoshi Tatsu was involved despite being a RAW wrestler. That shows you just how low SmackDown is on talent. Also, The Corre did not work together and Justin Gabriel even eliminated Wade Barrett. The WWE has a very effective drug testing policy for the wrestlers. I think it's time to start doing them for the writers and bookers as well.

-Michael Cole running in to stop Swagger from being eliminated was perfect. Considering that Swagger is just starting to get over as a heel, it's possible that he will be turned face. It's WWE. However, he should stay paired up with Cole. This duo is gold. Swagger's finally getting momentum back on his side. This could be his ticket to the main event scene.

-Christian winning the battle royal was predictable but definitely the way to go. We now have one hell of an Extreme Rules main event from the SmackDown side and honestly, I can't predict who's winning. Either way, no matter who wins, a star will be born on the day of Extreme Rules. This is the start of big things for one of these two guys which is why I am really looking forward to this match.

The one thing I want to see from this feud, though, is Christian wanting to win for Edge, or something along those lines. It worked with Rey Mysterio in 2006 when he dedicated his big wins to Eddie. Obviously, this isn't the same, but it could get Christian and Del Rio over big time.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we'll call it a 7/10. This was a very enjoyable show with Edge's awesome retirement speech and two solid matches. The build-up to the Christian/Del Rio program should be interesting to see. This program has a lot of potential and along with the Michael Cole/Jack Swagger program, SmackDown should be a lot more fun to watch over the next several weeks.

I will be right back here this Tuesday with my weekly WWE RAW Review, which also happens to be the most electrifying RAW Review on the net, but until then, I'm out!