More Options:  Print This Post  Email This Post  Submit News Share:

I don’t know if I liked Smackdown the other night because I’m psyching myself out since I will be going to my first Smackdown since 2002. My son and I are going to the March 11th show and I’m already getting excited. Anyway I was very happy about Friday night show. I found it to be a much better show than last week’s and maybe a much better show that I’ve seen in several weeks. Was it 100 percent perfect? Hell no, but there were so many segments that I really liked and I thought they were done very well. Let me do my famous get rid of the negatives first and end on a positive note.

See really there wasn’t that much that didn’t work for me. While I might not have liked the way that Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore had to job to Zak Ryder and Curt Hawkins, I did like the match. And while I simply loved the beat down that Jamie Noble received courtesy of Chuck Palumbo, and believe me I liked most of this segment, I could not stand Palumbo’s facials. I think Palumbo needs to tone it down a bit, and I also couldn’t understand why several refs or agents didn’t run in and stop the beating. It’s kind of cool seeing Jamie Noble in a role like this. Out of 5 stars I would give the Palumbo/Noble match and after match a nice 4 ½ stars. And while I do like Jesse and Festus, again going against Deuce and Domino did nothing for me. I did laugh a lot when Jesse was bragging about how much better Festus is since he got help, yet Festus was the same Festus that we all know and love or at least know. And while I think Coach has slightly improved working with Michael Cole, I could not stand Coach continually saying well you know what let me tell you more about this when I talk about the main event. So as you can see nothing was really miserable to watch which I think says a lot about the show.

Now I thought the opening with all the participants in Smackdown’s Elimination Chamber match, Batista, MVP, Taker, Big Daddy V, Finlay and Khali was done very well. It was similar to Raw’s segment with their Elimination Chamber guys also claiming victory. Most of you know that I’m not a Matt Stryker fan, but I have to say that his mic work was very good Friday night, and I thought he finally acted like a true manager. The first match of the night was a match that I never dreamed I would like. It was Shelton The Gold Standard Benjamin vs. Kane. If you would have said make sure you watch this one, I would have replied nah it’s going to be a typical blah match. Well of course I was 100 percent wrong. I was crazy about this match, maybe not so much about the count out ending but I have to give it to Shelton and Kane they do seem to have some very nice chemistry with each other. I have to say each week Edge just entertains me more and more. I loved the cutting Edge for many reasons. The first being the BS act Edge is giving his Vikikins. Its not just listening to the way he talks to her but his actions of a guy in love are just so over the top that I get a kick out of one of the best heels in the business, if not the BEST!!!

The second reason why I liked the segment was the run in with Rey, and then Rey and Edge going at it. It was nice to see Rey get the best of Edge and Vicki as well. This was a feud that I figured would be okay, and just like the Kane vs. Benjamin match I never really thought I would enjoy as much as I have and I really can’t wait to see Edge vs. Rey at No Way Out. There is NO WAY Ray will win next week, but if they can put on a match like they did at the Royal Rumble then that will be more than enough for me. I should add one thing about this segment. It kind of bothered me that during Edge’s love talk to Vickie the fans started chanting “Eddie, Eddie.” Maybe that shouldn’t get to me but it does. Only because I’m imagining that it’s got to be hard for Vickie to hear it. I feel Vickie had come a long way and is playing her part very well as a total bitch. Listen let’s face it, she’s not an actress, we got to see Vikie with Eddie during his feud with Rey. But she was never one of the key players on any WWE show. This is all new to her and I really feel she’s stepped up and is handling things very well. Of course there is always room for improvement but I have to give it to her for the job she’s done and I guess I feel maybe those Eddie chants are kind of hard for her to hear. Listen I could be way off on that but the chants did get to me.

Finally the main event with the Undertaker, Batista and Finlay vs. Bid Daddy V, MVP and Khali came off very well. What I wanted to say about Coach during the main event is this. I could not stand him repeatedly saying how Taker is going to have a tough time in the chamber match because he has never been in one. There was just too much of this talk and the more that was said about what a disadvantage Taker is going to have in the chamber the more obvious Taker’s win is. Coach isn’t the only one that makes statements like that. I notice on Raw Jerry The King Lawler does it a lot as well and I really wish Vince would wise up and stop having the announcers come up with things like that, he needs to know that the fans aren’t as stupid as he thinks they are. But I did like the main event very much, and I feel that Smackdown did an excellent job building things up for next week’s pay per view.

I’m going to give Smackdown the edge this week and partially because of Edge. Okay I just had to throw that in there. I’m looking forward to Monday’s Raw with Jeff Hardy taking on Shawn Michaels. Actually it’s about the only thing I’m looking forward too. Of course I read the spoilers which didn’t read so well, but then again maybe the show will come off different and better on TV. I’ll be back Tuesday with my thoughts on Raw. Before I go if you get a chance please go to WWE.com and check out the new Santino’s Casa. He’s so funny that now my husband asks me each week if a new video is up so he can watch it. This week’s is a riot so if you are a Santino fan or even if you aren’t try to check it out. Also I want to thank Nick and Max the hosts of www.overtheropes.mypodcast.com, I was a guest on their show last night and I had a great time. I’ve been invited to call in each week, and I’m not only appreciative of their invitation but I am planning on doing just that so we can talk about Raw and Smackdown. Again thank you Nick and Max.

Please e-mail comments of this column to Linda Robin: Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com