TV REVIEW: WWE SMACKDOWN 18/06/10

June 18th, 2010
RALEIGH, North Carolina


Just two days before they compete for the World Heavyweight Championship at Fatal 4-Way, champion Jack Swagger,  CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and The Big Show meet each other in tag team action, though not before settling some scores with the monster that is Kane.

Here's what went down

*Note: This is a WWE SMackdown review from my archives, written live at the time back in 2010.*

The Undertaker returns...or does he?

CM Punk began tonight's show with an entertaining promo in which he claimed that,though he wasn't responsible for the downfall of The Undertaker, he wished he was, adding that he would be the first in line to shake the hand of whoever actually was responsible.

Punk continued to deride the Deadman, insisting that the entire WWE Universe was now much better without him, until the lights in the arena went out. When they came back on, The Undertaker himself appeared to be standing  in the centre of the ring, staring down a nervous CM Punk. Yet it wasn't The Phenom at all, rather Luke Gallows in a fake wig and a trench coat.

Unsurprisingly, this mockery of The Undertaker brought Kane charging to the ring, only for Jack Swagger to follow him and and help the Straight Edge Society ambush The Big Red Machine.

Eventually, The Big Show and Rey Mysterio ran to Kane's aid and saw off the villains, only to attack Kane as well, extracting revenge for the attack he carried out on last week's show.

MVP & Christian vs. Vance Archer and Curt Hawkins

MVP and Christian looked to extract some revenge from Hawkins and Archer (who, according to Matt Striker, had been given a 30 day contract extension) after The Gatecrashers beat them both down on last week's show.

The match was decent, though hardly spectacular, and saw a solid victory for Vance Archer and  Curt Hawkins.
Your winners: Vance Archer and Curt Hawkins 

Backstage, Rosa Mendes approached Laycool with the idea of joining forces to become Laycoolrosa. The co-women's champions were unimpressed with the idea, and instead reduced Rosa to tears by ridiculing her loosing streak, her outfit and her make up. Well, that was a bit mean.

Moving on to Vickie Guerrero's office, the Smackdown Consultant first informed her nephew, Chavo Guerrero, that he had a match, before Dolph Ziggler arrived on the scene wearing a pair of very short, very tight shorts. Guerrero then had Ziggler put up a picture of the two of them so that she could admire his body as he did so. It was all a bit weird, and disturbing.

Chavo Guerrero vs. JTG 

With no time to prepare, Chavo Guerrero made his way to the ring still applying his wrist tape and with his boots untied. Still, it didn't stop him attacking his opponent from the outset. JTG finally gained some momentum and quickly put Chavo away with the Shoutout.

No idea what the point in that was, hopefully it may lead to something involving Chavo, who really is quite underutilised as a wrestler.
Your winner: JTG

After the match, JTG celebrated with three young kids, who looked totally confused as to why they were there.

Josh Matthews interviews Kofi Kingston

The Intercontinental Champion expressed his his disgust at the upcoming match between his rival, Drew McIntyre and Smackdown General Manager, Teddy Long, and vowed to beat McIntyre when the two meet at Fatal 4-Way.

Drew McIntyre vs. Teddy Long 

(Stipulation: If Teddy Long doesn't compete, he'll  be fired)

As per Vince McMahon's orders, the Smackdown General Manager was forced to the ring to square off against Drew McIntyre.

What transpired was less a match and more an exercise in ritual humiliation as McIntyre forced Long to get on his knees and admit that McIntyre was indeed, The Chosen One, then made the ageing GM lie on his back.

The bell rang, McIntyre put his foot on Long's chest, and the three count was made.
Your, erm, winner: Drew McIntyre

Afterwards, McIntyre set Long up for the Double-arm DDT, only to be distracted by the arrival of Kofi Kingston. Unfortunately for Kingston, he was unable to do much as an army of security guards McIntyre had placed at ringside cut off the Intercontinental Champion. With his enemy in the hands of the security mob, McIntyre was able to lay the blows into Kingston until Matt Hardy arrived from nowhere and attacked his Scottish rival. Security eventually took care of Hardy too, before Drew wrapped things up by hitting the Double-arm DDT on both Kingston and Hardy in the middle of the ring.

Well, talk about an effective way to get someone over as a heel, McIntyre looked strong as the ultimate bully.

Non-title match:  WWE Women's Champion Layla (with Michelle McCool) vs. Kelly Kelly (with Tiffany) 

As McCool and Tiffany watched on from ringside, Layla and Kelly put on a complete mess of a show between the ropes. This writer usually tries not to be too harsh against the  WWE Divas, but honestly, this was pretty awful.

After some  shenanigans involving Michelle McCool and Tiffany, Kelly Kelly won the match. Nobody cared.
Your winner: Kelly Kelly

Backstage, Josh Matthews interviewed Jack Swagger about this Sunday's Fatal  4-Way event. The World Heavyweight Champion was reminded of an event in his childhood when his father had told him that nobody remembers second place. Because of this, and because Fatal 4-Way will take place on Father's Day, Swagger dedicated his match to his Dad.

Dolph Ziggler vs.  Chris Masters

Introduced by Vickie Guerrero, Ziggler looked to use his speed against the strength of Chris Masters, who was about as over as a piece of cheese. Following a back and forth tussle which was actually pretty entertaining, Ziggler hit the Zig-Zag to earn the  victory.
Your winner: Dolph Ziggler

After a bit of hype for the Fatal 4-Way  pay per view, it was down to tonight's main event.

World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger and CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio and The Big Show

Following their confrontation earlier in the show, The Big Show and Mysterio took on Swagger and Punk in tonight's main event.  The action was solid throughout, with both teams trading the advantage before Rey Mysterio picked up the win for his team by pinning the World Heavyweight Champion.
Your winners: Rey Mysterio and The Big Show

Afterwards, Kane came to the ring and destroyed everyone again, before performing The Undertaker's salute towards an empty casket which sat ominously on the stage surrounded by shooting flames as Smackdown faded to black.

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Final thoughts: 

Though most of tonight's matches were fairly short compared to your average Smackdown episode, this was still a reasonably enjoyable show on its own merit without being anything especially amazing.

The only problem we have now is what's likely to happen come Fatal 4-Way. I'm expecting NXT to interfere in the Raw 4-way match, whilst Kane has pretty much made it known that he'll be involved in the Smackdown match. How the two matches are going to be different from one another is anyone's guess, and it's only really the interference that's going to make both bouts interesting.

Speaking of Fatal 4-Way, I'm holding out hope that Kofi Kingston walks away with the win in  his title match with Drew McIntyre. Both men are solid in their roles, but after McIntyre's utter destruction of Kingston, Hardy and Teddy Long, common sense says that the evil villain deserves his comeuppance sooner rather than later.