"WWE Friday Night SmackDown!" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

World Wrestling Entertainment wraps up its week in England tonight on SmackDown! Chris Jericho will be in the house hosting Batista in the Highlight Reel after being kicked in the teeth by Shawn Michaels on Monday and then announced as the special referee in the match between the two.


http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/wwe.jpghttp://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/smackdown.jpgBacklash Battlefield
April 18, 2008

WrestleMania XXIV is in the books, but the land of SmackDown is experiencing lingering effects from the grand event that point to an epic war at Backlash on Sunday, April 27. This week, there could be an international incident when SmackDown travels across the pond to the United Kingdom.

Ever since Undertaker defeated Edge at WrestleMania XXIV to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero has thrown all kinds of challenges his way. Last Friday on SmackDown, it was the corn-fed colossus, Festus.

Tuesday night on ECW on Sci Fi, however, The Deadman took a detour to the Land of the Extreme, as he and brother Kane - who Guerrero has also thrown in The Phenom's path - teamed up for the first time ever in ECW to topple WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz.

This Friday, however, the GM has ordered Undertaker to face another formidable opponent The Phenom is all too familiar with – Batista.

In their last one-on-one encounter, The Animal defeated The Deadman in a Hell in a Cell Match at Survivor Series 2007. Both men will be looking to gain momentum for their major Backlash battles, but The Animal also knows that a win over The Phenom would please VIckie Guerrero and possibly put him in line for another title opportunity.

But before Batista faces Undertaker, he will be a special guest on Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel to kick off Friday Night SmackDown. On the last edition of Jericho’s Highlight Reel on Raw, HBK delivered some hard-hitting Sweet Chin Music to the champion. Now that Y2J has been named the special referee in the HBK vs. Batista match at Backlash, what could be in store when he brings the Highlight Reel to Friday night?

Two of the biggest Superstars in the world – Big Show and Mark Henry – are set to do battle in a match this Friday on SmackDown. Last Friday, Big Show dropped The Great Khali with a knockout punch after rejecting the Punjabi giant’s Peace Offering. With Big Show on the warpath to facing the Punjabi giant at Backlash, what kind of battle will we see when he collides with the World’s Strongest Man?

Things are shaking up in the land of Divas now that Natalya Neidhart is in the fray. In her SmackDown debut, Natalya delivered a vicious beating to Michelle McCool. A week later on SmackDown, Natalya distracted McCool, causing her to lose to Victoria. (WATCH) Now that Natalya and Victoria appear to have formed an alliance, what will the rest of the Divas have to say about it?

As the SmackDown Superstars get ready for all out war at Backlash, witness all of the planning on Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7 CT on The CW Network.

Also, don't forget that this coming Monday, the King of the Ring Tournament returns on Raw. Superstars from all three brands will be competing in this prestigious tournament, which has been won by such greats as Edge, Triple H and Stone Cold. Will one of SmackDown's own bring the crown to Friday nights? To find out, tune in to a special three-hour Raw this coming Monday, 8/7 CT on USA Network.

[SirLemming]

It's pre-empted here in Long Island, NY because of a Mets game. It airs tomorrow at 8 PM.

[n1c3guy707]

It was a decent Smackdown tonight.

Some of the matches weren't as good as Raw's was but from what I saw it was decent.

As for Khali and Big Show, that encounter looked awkward. If that is a sign of what to come then I would like to wish that their match at Backlash only last a minute at the most.:sad:

[VCXZX]

I only like the opening segment with Jericho as the swarmy heel. I thought Batista would be the heel but I guess that is going to be delayed.

Batista/Taker didn't do much for me tonight. Last week's main event was shockingly better. BTW, Festus wasn't mentioned at all, unless I missed it. Anyway, the end of the segment killed me with Vickie Guerrero on the mic. One of the most clichic promos in a while. The "Who the hell do you think you are" spiel hardly works unless you're Vince Mcmahon. And the rest of the promo was very grating and took a lot away from the feud. Awful.

Overall, a bland Smackdown.

[hobbyfan]

I think we can guess what's going to happen in Batista-HBK @ Backlash. Jericho tries screwing each one, and then they'll gang up on him and squash him. I don't think he's long for the IC title, either.

Cherry wrestles, if you can call it that, and wins her first match. Cole acknowledged the angle they did online that Deuce 'N' Domino have ditched Cherry for Maryse. That's a downgrade, boys.

Bam Neely? I'm sorry, but this is a lame attempt to recreate the late Ray Traylor's 1st gimmick (Bubba Rogers), and it will cost Chavo some cred points. Shoot, Chavo & Neely came back at the end of the show and were pwned by Undertaker & Batista. So much for the new guy.

Vicki Guerrero, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Your reign of terror is over. Please return the wheelchair you stole from the Raymond Burr estate.

Sucks to be Tommy Dreamer. Where he might've had half a chance to beat Mike Knox on Tuesday, he instead gets to be a punching bag for MV-Me. There will be a title change for Smackdown at Backlash, and it'll be MV-Me losing the US title!

With Big Daddy V off to the fat farm, Matt Striker is back on Smackdown and losing comedy matches to Hornswoggle. The mind boggles.

Vlad Kozlov, old school heel. I am SO digging.

So how long before he challenges Undertaker? I'm calling it!

If Taker is going to defend vs. Batista next week, then I want that lazy Edge to wrestle as well.

[SirLemming]

So, this was weird. Apparently my CW affiliate is even worse at HD on Saturday nights than they are on Friday nights. The HD feed of Smackdown started out as the regular 4:3 broadcast with out-of-sync sound. A few minutes into it, it switched to 16:9 HD, but the audio was clearly not the audio of the show. It seems that a broadcast of "Everybody Hates Chris" (with commercials) was providing the audio for the HD feed in some sort of mix-up at the network. Once in a while they attempted true HD again, but for the most part they kept it in 4:3 mode. It was pretty interesting.


Batista vs. The Undertaker has never thrilled me, despite this being THE MOST ANTICIPATED MATCH EVAR!!!!, and it was especially odd considering Batista's feud with HBK. Michael Cole mentioned that there's no actual bad blood between the two, which is precisely WHY it's such a dull "rivalry". All there really is to it is "they've had a bunch of matches together."

I'm still not on board with Koslov. I think the lack of entrance music really hurts him.

Victoria was hilarious when she mocked Cherry's walk to the ring. She seems to have a good comedic head on her shoulders.

[Fifi Fanatic]

I think I need my memory jogged here, guys. Is Kozlov the "I love Double Double E" guy from a while back?

Raw's gonna be right here in my back yard (Greenville, SC) tomorrow night! I doubt they'll put the camera on me for long, though; since I'll be sure to have an anti-Cena sign. :evil:

I repeat: Vickie Guerrero and Super Eric are two angles that need to be ended yesterday.... :sad:

[RedNinja84]

Kozlov was a MMA champion that they signed. He has spent alsmot the last two years in OVW. He was even OVW champion. Basically he fits the mold of an early Brock Lesnar who squashes everyone he faces. He has no mic skills so they are probably going to have to get him a manager for him to get over.

[hobbyfan]

I think I need my memory jogged here, guys. Is Kozlov the "I love Double Double E" guy from a while back?

Yep. Same guy, one year later.



I repeat: Vickie Guerrero and Super Eric are two angles that need to be ended yesterday.... :sad:

Welcome to the choir. I've been advocating the firing of Vicki for the last few months. She's an even worse heel executive than Stephanie ever was.

[The Penguin]

Not a good week for Chris Jericho. This is going to be rough match for him to referee.

Matt Hardy hasn't won any singles titles?! He's held both the European and Cruiserweight Titles! They aren't active championships, but to act as if Matt has never won anything outside of the tag belts is a flat out lie. He and Jeff has teamed back up, but he's basically been on his own since 2003 when he turned on Jeff and jumped to SmackDown. Come on!!

Hornswoggle really shouldn't really be fighting "normal-sized" Superstars. He either makes them look bad or they would destroy them. Doink & Dink 2.0 continues.

When we got a closer look at Bam Neely, my thought too was about Big Boss Man not being available (R.I.P. :sad: ) and then thinking they must have decided against Bull Buchanan and Mr. Hughes.

Show facing Henry was a good way to tie to Khali and the Punjabi giant tied himself to that match.

That wasn't much of a win for Cherry over Victoria but it counts. I hope Victoria goes back with Kenny whenever he returns.

I still find Vladimir Kozlov boring, but it seems to just be me. :confused: I bet he's the next Ludvig Borga minus the promos. Lots of hype for an evil foreigner and a remarkably unnoticed exit less than a year later.

I don't expect the Taker-Batista match to turn out much differently next week. I suppose Taker did start it after the count out, but the lawsuit thread was a bit stupid; as is Vickie continuing to be general manager. I'm still waiting for Edge to dump her once her position no longer seems to be helping him.



Cherry wrestles, if you can call it that, and wins her first match. Cole acknowledged the angle they did online that Deuce 'N' Domino have ditched Cherry for Maryse. That's a downgrade, boys.Downgrade for whom? Maryse doesn't seem a good fit for the boys from the Other Side of the Tracks. I know she was out later, but she wasn't with them on ECW.

[hobbyfan]

Not a good week for Chris Jericho. This is going to be rough match for him to referee.

Matt Hardy hasn't won any singles titles?! He's held both the European and Cruiserweight Titles! They aren't active championships, but to act as if Matt has never won anything outside of the tag belts is a flat out lie. He and Jeff has teamed back up, but he's basically been on his own since 2003 when he turned on Jeff and jumped to SmackDown. Come on!!

When we got a closer look at Bam Neely, my thought too was about Big Boss Man not being available (R.I.P. :sad: ) and then thinking they must have decided against Bull Buchanan and Mr. Hughes.

That wasn't much of a win for Cherry over Victoria but it counts. I hope Victoria goes back with Kenny whenever he returns.

I still find Vladimir Kozlov boring, but it seems to just be me. :confused: I bet he's the next Ludvig Borga minus the promos. Lots of hype for an evil foreigner and a remarkably unnoticed exit less than a year later.

I don't expect the Taker-Batista match to turn out much differently next week. I suppose Taker did start it after the count out, but the lawsuit thread was a bit stupid; as is Vickie continuing to be general manager. I'm still waiting for Edge to dump her once her position no longer seems to be helping him.

1. I think we can figure on the result of the HBK-Batista match. "No Contest", anyone?

2. This is why I think someone needs to keep Michael BS Hayes away from the Jackie D. when writing the show. Needs to remember that not everyone in the audience suffers from the amnesia Crazy Vinnie thinks we all have. And, worse, Matt even bought into the big lie!:eek:

3. Curtis "Mr." Hughes and Barry "Bull" Buchanan probably had their bridges burned some time ago. Either one would be better, Hughes moreso IMPO, than calling up a rookie.

4. Dykstra has been doing dark matches and was on the Euro tour. Should be back on TV probably next week.

5. Kozlov not getting a video or music says "old school" to me. That works out well, really. Probably still can't talk on the mic too good.

6. Vicki G. really needs to lose the wheelchair yesterday. She's overmilked the gimmick for too long, and her acting is far worse than the other divas combined.



Downgrade for whom? Maryse doesn't seem a good fit for the boys from the Other Side of the Tracks. I know she was out later, but she wasn't with them on ECW.

7. Far as I can see, Maryse only appeared in the dance contest on ECW, appearing separately from D & D. The downgrade is for the former tag champs, since Maryse is a square peg in a round hole. I know we'll see Cherry vs. Maryse down the road, maybe as soon as this week, but on paper that's a trainwreck waiting to happen. Cherry had a grand total of maybe one match in OVW before being called up last year, and was never used in 6-person tags. Maryse will start appearing with D & D soon enough, but this switch is only because Smackdown is short on face divas at the moment.