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I was really confused by this show for various reasons. And before I get to the matches themselves I will speak on that confusion.
1.) Presumably your two biggest WWE stars at the moment, especially considering all the injuries, our Edge and John Cena, you could possibly throw in Batista in there too. So the question must be asked then why oh why weren't either of them in the main event (last match)?
2.) With as much talent as WWE has right now, i.e. Hardy boyz, WGTT, Nitro, CM Punk...why are we needing Eugene and Doink to be there? I actually would have understood it if Doink got involved with Boogey and Finlay because as I recall Doink also used to have a midget with him named Dink, and as silly as it would have been, this would have made excellent sense character and storyline wise.
3.) Mark Henry is on the show beating up poor Lashley but when Kane is in the ring at the 6-man tag, he doesn't interfere at all. Don't these two have some bad feelings towards each other? Aren't they in a match this Sunday night?
4,) Why did we need Extreme Expose in the ring on the show? They couldn't have been worse. And with all the ring announcers being the divas we didn't need them. Which brings me to my next question...
5.) Why did the divas do the announcing, it was horrible? Where was Todd Grisham? It would have been much better to get the Diva's battle royal on this show instead of RAW.
6.) What did this show do for the non-viewing WWE fans? Part of the reason to have SNME on regular programming is to get in new fans. No one cared about this at all.
THE MATCHES:
Khali and Cena -
I guess they booked it this way so that Cena really beats all odds at ONS and retains the title, or at least I hope so. But, they could have accomplished this by having Khali put Cena through a table or something - this would have benefited in two ways, the champ wouldn't be looking up at the lights with a 8 foot monster's foot on his chest, making him look like the weakest champion in history and also would have led to that hard core aspect of the match we are gonna see tonight. Really bad start to the show.
McMahon and Lashley
It's old, It's tired, It's stale, and LASHLY IS NOT STEVE AUSTIN! The Mark Henry thing wasn't badly done though.
The mixed tag.
Fun little match - Smackdown's was better.
MVP/EDGE vs BENOIT/BATISTA
Edge and Mvp were spot on tonight and Batista gave a good showing as well. Benoit looked good to. I think it was booked well and surpassed expectations. Mvp and Edge could have a great heel run as a tag team down the road too. nice quick tags and workmanship. Best match of the night.
Kane/Eugene/Doink vs Vis/Umaga/Kevin Thorn
Really there was a lot of good stuff here. Doink was typical classic Doink. I really didn't need him on the show especially as the finale but it was a fun little throw back. I wish they would have had an old heel on the show too for the other team like Papa Shango or someone. I still don't understand the booking of Kane here since he is the one with a match on Sunday. Thorn really looks great - the kid is gonna be a star if he can keep climbing the proverbial ladder of success. Eugene actually may have a great new character here with the bald cut and superhero outfit. They should book him like a mentally ill version of the hurricane and when Helms comes back you'd have an instant mid card feud. Wasn't Umaga facing Cena a few months ago in a match of the year candidate - who's eggs did he spoil? For a long time I have highly respected Vis. He is a superb big man - its too bad he never got a push - I really don't think Henry is all that over as a singles wrestler, they should put Vis and Henry together and give them the Smackdown tag straps - I just think it would have that "Twin Towers, Natural Disasters" feeling to it. It could be great. Not a horrible match all in all, but not the main event SNME needed.
My cavaliers won the Eastern Conference! yahoooooooooooooo!
Joel Croyle
Wisconsin
**********
The show was okay - I didn't mind watching it. In the UK, we got it 7.25 hours before the North Americans, at 9pm on Sky Sports 1, which is a perfect time for me.
The Great Khali is my boy, now. He's better than what I've seen of Andre The Giant, and he should be taken for what he is. At 420 pounds, he's not going to be any Chris Benoit or Rey Mysterio, but the Chris Benoits and Rey Mysterios are not all that wrestling is about. The Great Khali is good at what he does, he makes a very good heel now and I'm a fan of him. I wish people could just learn to enjoy all aspects of professional wrestling, and not just the MVP/Benoit matches. Anyway, as for the match itself - it wasn't great - a bit too much knocking down, picking up, knocking down again, but it was oaky. And Khali's win over Cena was necessary to keep Cena as the underdog. Because, in the ring, Khali hasn't proved himself as being a real threat, because he's lost his only title match, so far. Albeit with controversy. So, Khali's win recreates the right dynamic.
The "Extreme Expose" was a load of shit, if you don't mind me swearing, as it always way. I, at that time, switched over to watch Spongebob Squarepants for a few minutes. And Lawler is friggin' weirdo - he gets excited over the exact same thing opver and over again - boobies...He's like an eleven-year-old, and I'm surprised how many members of the IWC actually support this kind of crap. Oh yeah, and there's a Pudding Match on tonight...yippee.
The "Mixed Tag Team Match" was what was expected, and fit into the SNME style. It was amusing simply because of Finlay's antics.
The MVP & Edge Vs Benoit & Batista was also just okay. Nothing special, but it did the job, and I didn't mind watching it.
I was actually interested to see what would happen in the Arm-Wrestling contest between Mark Henry and Lashley, and Henry actually looked a lot stronger than Lashley.
The Main Event was what it was. It was odd that they put this on last, but it was interesting. Doink got a disappointing response. Eugene's costume was amusing. Why, oh why, do they not turn Nick Dinsmore normal, and push him? He could be great. Imagine that something happens, and he stops acting retarded because of it, and then he talks and is actually very intelligent whilst doing so, and renames himself to Nick Dinsmore. That would be amusing and would also push someone who deserves to be pushed. Kane got a deserved win, just for being called "The Strangest", and subsequently getting teamed with Doink The Clown and Eugene.
I'm looking forward to One Night Stand and, unlike the manic depressive on this website who said 'some of the card looks okay on paper' - I think all of the matches on the card, except the Pudding Match, have potential to be at least good. The Lumberjack match is also a stupid idea, with those two, but as long as JBL continues to play on that, it'll be fine.
**********
Whatever happened to the good old days when they did Saturday Night's Main Event in the intervening time between four or five pay-per-views a year and used the show to give us PPV quality matches we normally wouldn't see on regular TV? That way, you know they put all the effort they possibly could into the telecast. Well, they didn't do that last night and boy you could tell.
And whatever happened to the days as well wherein Vince would never have been so stupid as to put the same supposedly important match on TV for free the night before it happens on pay-per-view? I mean, how insane can you get?
Which reminds me, first of all, Cena will probably beat Khali tonight and probably so will Triple H. It's looks ridiculous when a giant loses to a guy he makes look four feet tall, and I would have thought considering his family was close friends with the late great Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon would have known that damn well.
Second of all, they would probably like him to be, but Khali is no Andre. Andre was at least entertaining.
Midgets tagging up with regular-sized guys? Did we time travel back to 1985 or something? (I wish we did, that would have meant Stephanie was in grade school, Vince put effort into the show and it was fun).
Why did they do the big matches first? Did they do that on the real SNME? I forget.
At any rate, they never should have brought this show back. In the old days they called it a special series because it was indeed just that. Nowadays you see PPV angles built up and top guys going against each other two or three days a week, you really didn't need Saturday Night's Main Event.
This show stunk. The first show was OK and didn't tarnish my childhood memories as I hoped it wouldn't, the second was not very good, and this was pretty much the bottom of the barrell.
**********
I've been a loyal WWE fan my whole life and tonight's SNME made me embarrassed to be a wrestling fan. I've stuck with company even through the last few years when its obvious the products quality has taken a nosedive but seriously us wrestling fans are putting up with too much and for too long now. Drastic changes should be made but I know they won't because I guess that what they are doing is still generating enough ratings and money so I am going to make a plea to every other loyal WWE fan. WE HAVE TO STOP WATCHING THEIR SHOWS, PAYING FOR TICKETS, MERCHANDISE, AND PPV'S FOR THEM TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE PRODUCT. It may be tough for us loyalists but it's the only way to get the higher ups attention. All Vince cares about is money not the fans so lets make them start losing money so they'll have to make changes. For those fans who will have a really hard time not watching anymore just keep up with storylines via the internet. Trust me your not going to miss anything for a while but eventually when ratings start to plummet and revenue goes down even more they'll be forced to actually start thinking about the product and make drastic changes to bring us back. Please if you truly care about this business like I do then stop buying into it until they make the necessary changes. Remember how good the WWF became when Vince was almost run out of business by WCW? Its because he was desperate so let's make him desperate again by not watching anymore.
Snake
Middletown CT
**********
Overall, I'd give Smackdown a C- , nothing great and nothing too horrible. The opening match with Hardy/Benoit and MVP/The Miz was fairly decent- the Miz's work seems to be improving but I think the crowd still can't stand him. I'm glad to see that Matt Hardy is finally getting what appears to be a push- hope this is setting up a feud with Edge for the title after One Night Stand.
The Diva match sure made the crowd quiet down. Michelle looks hot as always, and it was nice not to have to listen to Jillian sing.
Mark Henry and Kane. I was looking forward to this match as Kane is my favorite character, but tonight was not one of his better performances. Both of them looked pretty stiff- Henry I can understand being out as long as he was but I almost wonder if Kane's injured the way he moves sometimes. It was nice to see Kane use a few moves which I haven't seen him use in forever (the DDT was nice) but the close was weak, very weak. A bear hug into a pole for a countout??? This is a man who has walked through "hell, fire, and brimstone," but a bear hug from Mark Henry knocks him out for a ten count? Cole and JBL certainly have poor memories- they can't remember ever seeing Kane "manhandled" like he was last night. Khali-Kane at and before Wrestlemania ring a bell? While I'll admit the Khali-Kane matches were largely forgettable, it was only about two months ago. Certainly they can remember that.
The tag team match with Regal/Taylor, London/Kendrick, and Deuce/Domino was ok for what it was- Regal I thought looked pretty damn impressive which makes me wonder why he isn't featured a little more prominently, especially with the roster a little thin at the top due to injuries.
The spots with Teddy Long and Kristal have become obnoxious. I still don't see how this "story" moves anything along except to give the two of them face time on television.
The Cutting Edge struck me as a joke- the exchange between Batista and Edge reminded me of the scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit when Eddie Valiant wanted Roger to take a drink and Roger didn't want to. Yeah, that cheesy. I saw Batista crack a smile a few times so it must have struck him as ridiculous as well.
Smackdown's MVPs for tonight in my humble opinion were William Regal and Matt Hardy. Maybe next week we'll get an honest-to-goodness main event. Speaking of Main events, tonight...
Best Regards,
Dan Masters
Whitehouse, Ohio
