"WWE SmackDown!" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

SmackDown! is L-I-V-E Live tonight and is the final SmackDown! before the return of The Great American Bash as a SD! PPV. Tune in for all the last minute matches and happenings going into Sunday!


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WHAT'S NEXT?
June 24, 2004

The SmackDown! roster of Superstars is focused on a single question at this hour: “What does Paul Heyman have planned next?”

Last week, Heyman unleashed the Undertaker on John Cena and Rob Van Dam before damning the Phenom to a Handicap Match against the Dudley Boyz at The Great American Bash. Heyman also wheeled out a cement truck, explaining that if the Deadman doesn’t “do the right thing” at Sunday’s pay-per-view, then Paul Bearer will be entombed in a concrete crypt. Will we see more loyalty towards Heyman out of the Undertaker this week? Tune in to find out (8/7 CT on UPN).

Speaking of Heyman and the Undertaker, it appears as though John Cena will be looking for answers this week on SmackDown! Why did the Deadman attack the Doctor of Thuganomics last week? That's exactly what Cena plans on finding out.

Meanwhile, the feud between WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero and John “Bradshaw” Layfield has reached a furious boil. We’ll see if the champ steers clear of JBL just days before the Bash — knowing that when he sees the No.l contender in Norfolk, Va., the two combatants will be tied to either ends of a Texas Bull Rope. But if the past few weeks are any indication, Eddie will make a lasting impression before entering into full-time pay-per-view preparation.

Also this week on SmackDown!, expect to hear a major announcement regarding the Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio and his involvement at The Great American Bash.

And finally, two Superstars in hot pursuit of the United States Championship -- Rob Van Dam and Rene Dupree -- will meet in one-on-one action this week on SmackDown!

[The Dork Knight]

Just a quick note, apparently Great American Bash will be..
Paul Bearer's final WWE apperance

- The Dork Knight

[AlphaPrime]

I didn't watch all of SD*was watching the Braves beat the Marlins*, mainly just the main event hehe, and it was pretty good. But i have always liked Taker sooo and i like Cena too hehehe. But they did good.

[Tapout]

I liked the main event. Nothing else really stood out. Smackdown hasn't sucked royally in awhile, but it's still very boring. They need to do something to pick it back up.

[Agaetis Byrjun]

yeah paul bearer has cancer and they did all this kidnapped poop to take him off tv

poor guy

[Condiment King]

More of the usual from Smackdown lately, unfortunately. Rob Van Dam vs. Rene Dupree was nice. I liked that Booker T./Rene Dupree tension was developed instead of the usual face tension and heel unity. The four-way will save Great American Bash.

I liked how Billy Kidman made it to the end of the cruiserweight battle royal but it was obvious that Chavo Guerrero would win. Rey vs. Chavo at the Bash is a complete toss-up. Either Rey will ride as Cruiserweight champ or the belt is maneuvered back on Chavo.

I was surprised that Mordecai stupidly blurted out that he'd crucify Holly. I really liked that the Mordecai plotline treaded the line softly between offensive and not as it can be explained that he is just an extremeist, but this was pushing it.

Meh on all the Eddie/Bradshaw stuff. Hopefully the next plotline is better.

I'm not really sure where Undertaker/Dudleys is going but I don't think its going to eventually turn into a successful Paul Heyman stable. I have a feeling that this is going to dissolve at some point.

[The Penguin]

Well I missed the opening video this week and I dang near missed the show! I was at the computer and nearly forgot to tape the show! That was a scary experience, but I saw everything else. Overall I liked what I saw, but SmackDown! has done a worse job with this PPV than Judgment Day. At the end of the show we had just five scheduled matches!

I don’t know how bad the injury Rico sustained during the Tag Title match last week was, but with just Haas & Jackie telling Cena not to go the ring it’s probably not a good sign.

I found it rather funny when Cena talked about respecting the legacy of the Undertaker. He didn’t about a year ago, you know, back when he was good and entertaining without being stupid.

Kurt Angle still isn’t a very good rapper, but he got his point across and made the match to attempt to wear down Cena before Sunday.

The second the showed the Cruiserweight Battle Royal graphic I had but one thought, “I’d like to congratulate Chavo Guerrero on his winning of the Cruiserweight Battle Royal.” WWE missed such a golden opportunity to have one of the “lesser” cruiserweights win the gold and they squandered it. Shannon eliminating Akio and himself at the same time just manifested that to me. I did like seeing Kidman go to the end, but I saw Chavo winning a mile away.

Hardcore Holly and Mordecai brawling backstage seemed very random and I can only assume it will be a random match on The Great American Bash. You’re right CK, Mordecai took things too far. There was a good reason it was “The Undertaker’s symbol” the Dead Man put people on.

With all the cruiserweights already taken Billy Gunn was my top pick for Kenzo’s path of “destruction” and I was not disappointed—especially since Gunn got the W! :D My brother found it interesting how Hiroko or whatever was just “an innocent dajah (or whatever) girl” until they gave her a name. Interesting indeed.

Eddie framing someone else for hitting him is funny each and every time, although you’d think Korderos would be forced to side with the GM.

René Duprée vs. RVD featured probably two of the best athletes on SD! so what do they do? Swing the camera over to Bob Marely… I mean Booker T every time he opened his big mouth. That was the worst guest commentary mixed with match I have ever seen as far as camera work! I did like seeing René picking up the win and his taunting of Booker. He deserved to be taunted after that horrible knock, knock joke.

So we get Torrie vs. Sable this month. The SmackDown! team strikes again with the random last minute chick match. :rolleyes:

Taker looked like he picked up a pretty nasty cut on his arm when Cena threw him into the steps. I don’t think you plan a cut like that one. :shrug:

For “Dead Man Undertaker” I felt the use of the chain felt a little out of place, but it showed he’s willing to do what Heyman tells him, no matter what it takes.

[SirLemming]

Some good matches tonight, and a pretty good quantity of matches as well.

[Kippy]

It's a little a late, but I'm still going to post my thoughts on the latest SmackDown! This past week's episode was an improvement over the previous week's, but it looks like it will still be a while until they start putting on a good show.

The Cruiserweight Battle Royal was mostly good. It was great to see the cruisers on SmackDown! and the ending between Chavo, Noble, and Kidman was great. Chavo winning was very predictable, but the move he used to eliminate Kidman was pretty cool. I would have liked to see it last a little longer and I really would have liked to see some of the younger guys try some high-risk moves, even if they did backfire on them.

The brawl between Mordecai and Hardcore Holly was certainly random. I don't know why they just didn't announce their match at the Bash right then and there.

The match between Suzuki and Billy Gunn was rather poor. Suzuki has failed to impress me so far and Gunn's Fameasser at the end looked pretty bad.

The war of words between Torrie and Sable was just bad. I don't think the attire makes either of the two Playboy cover girls look easy. No, I think it might be something else...

So far Luther Reigns hasn't looked that bad in the ring. I could have done without the cheating ending. We've seen that ending so many times already, and Eddie Guerrero should be able to beat a rookie cleanly.

I'm not a huge fan of John Cena or the Undertaker, but I thought their main event match was pretty good. Cena was able to stand up against the Dead Man and Taker showed a bit of a ruthless side by using the chain.