Before the match even started, MVP mocked Jeff Hardy. This is lame. I’m tired of these non feuds getting cheap heat by doing psuedo work/shoot promos before matches.
MVP defeated Jimmy Wang Yang
The downward spiral continues for Jimmy Wang Yang, he came out to no entrance music, no announcement. He just shows up in the ring, and for the most part gets beat down. He appears to be the next Funaki, if you ask me. Yang has some skills, but they aren’t being utilized for anything other than jobbing. I guess that’s good, at least Yang keeps his job, but he’s too talented to just lose like this. MVP puts on a clinic of sorts, and while Yang did mount a comeback but it was all for not, MVP squashes Jimmy Wang Yang for no apparent reason, once again making another former Cruiserweight champion nothing more than a talented jobber. Oh well. The post match had Hardy yelling at MVP and the two start fighting, or rather, he walks into a twist of fate and that was that.
Vickie & Chavo Backstage Segment:
They set up the rest of the night of tension, by having Chavo & Vickie show up in the backstage area only to see the mistress of Edge. What is she even doing? She’s not planning a wedding any longer, and if Edge truly is sorry, she wouldn’t be around. This story is lame.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin (non title match)
Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin wrestle, in what seems to be a match that I've already seen before. This match was a lot slower than I thought it would be, but it was given a good amount of time, with a commercial break to set off the pacing. I wasn't sure who would go on top for this match up, but it was definitely better than I was thinking. Kennedy should definitely get more of a push, and hopefully he's going to get that push he was promised before he got suspended for drug abuse. Shelton landed some stiff moves, including a horrendous shoulder breaker that looked botched somehow. He totally missed Kennedy's shoulder, and the announce team called it something else, then Jim Ross tried to pull the "innovative" offense card and say that Benjamin was trying to do that. It was a total botched shoulder breaker, there's no two ways about it. That's for sure.
This match had a lot of rest holds, which seemed odd considering that both men have some great top rope offense, and quicker moves. Benjamin really proved to be a mat technician as he worked on the arm for about three quarters of the Match up. Kennedy pulled out the Mic Check, even with the injured shoulder, and dropped Shelton Benjamin in one of the best matches of the week. It was long, it was a real wrestling match, and if WWE could continue to have matches like this, we could see a great thing. However, to deliver the mic check, Kennedy forgot about his shoulder being hurt, but whatever. I'll give it to Kennedy, he pulled off a great match, and something that the WWE needs to do more often; wrestle.
Hawkins & Ryder Backstage Segment:
Chavo walks in on the tag team champs and asks them about tonights special guest on the cutting edge. I was bored, and felt that this was dumb, especially since no one really cares about the cutting edge. They cut to commercial, a good idea, if you ask me.
The Brian Kendrick w/ Ezekiel defeated Stevie Richards
Out of all the old ECW guys, Stevie Richards is getting a lot more of a push than them all. He somehow moved out of the new ecw show, and is somehow the proving ground for these new characters, and I don't mind. However, I miss Big Stevie Cool. I miss him and Raven in a double dog collar tables match with the Pitbulls. Stevie Richards looks like crap now, and he's just not the same dude. He's just a jobber, but at least he's not on ECW jobbing to Mark Henry each week like Tommy Dreamer. It's also nice to see that wwe hasn't fired Stevie Richards yet, but he'll eventually be phased out...all older ECW talent gets phased out sooner than later. There was no way Richards was going to win, and loses clean to a smaller, more athletic Brian Kendrick. I don't like his new gimmick, but whatever. At least we see the WWE moving forward with this guys new gimmick. Now if only they can do the same for Paul London, I might be in favor of splitting up more tag teams for the sake of singles wrestling. However, like Koslov, Kendrick hasn't really been tested yet. Sure Stevie Richards got a lot of clean offense in, but there was still no chance in hell that he was going to go over on this match.
Post match; Ezekiel hoisted Stevie Richards on his shoulder and pulled off a great move! The torture rack has come back to wrestling and Ezekiel pulls it off! He looked great. This might be looking good, and I expect a turn for him down the road.
The Great Khali defeated Jeff Hardy
I was rooting for Hardy, I admit it, however Hardy didn't stand a chance against The Great Khali. Hardy got beat down for the whole match and it looked painful. I know wrestling is fake, but Khali is so huge, and he just tears up Hardy. I'm looking forward to see how Triple H handles Khali. MVP interfered in this one, and Khali took advantage, nearly crippling Jeff Hardy with his huge arms. Hardy did his final set up, but still couldn't capitalize, MVP does a great job of assisting Khali for the win. I never thought Hardy could actually win. Khali crushes his head, and wins the match.
Maria defeated Victoria
Victoria is awesome, she's my favorite diva and I've always thought she was hot. However, Maria sucks. No really, she's not that great of a wrestler, and this match was carried by Victoria. It was boring to me somehow. Once again, the Knockouts are a trillion times better.
Big Show defeated Domino
A throwaway match really. Not much to say here. Domino loses this one, and Big Show continues his monstrous streak as a big man.
The Cutting Edge Segment:
Edge is good on the mic, I give him that. Getting Foley involved though? That seemed pointless to me, Foley isn't exactly in great shape any longer. I mean, not that he was ever in great shape before, but having him beat down Foley just seems dumb to me right now. Hasn't Edge already proved that he can defeat Foley? Oh well, the ending for Smackdown was a little lackkluster for me, and while there were a few good matches, the overall show wasn't all that good.
WWE Smackdown 8/1/2008 Quick Results:
Montel Vontavious Porter def. Jimmy Wang Yang
Mr. Kennedy def. United States Champion Shelton Benjamin (Non-title)
The Brian Kendrick def. Stevie Richards
The Great Khali def. Jeff Hardy
Maria def. Victoria
Big Show def. Domino
This show was alright. It was not the best one so far, but it did have some matches that were way longer than other matches in the WWE recently. I liked the length, however there was a few things missing in this show, and it just felt a little scarce.
The R Truth promo's really weren't all that bad. I hope they give him some good competition, rather than just jobbing through some matches only to get buried in mid card hell.
I'm not sure that Smackdown is looking all that well yet, but there is still time to make it worthwhile. I am not too thrilled about anything besides Khali and Triple H for the first time.
Jim Ross did slip up on commentary, saying that Khali was going to be the next champion. Is this going to be true? Did Jim Ross really tell the future? Or was it just a commentary slip up?
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