"WWE SmackDown!" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

Will things "change for the better" as Mr. McMahon promised last week? I sure hope so, check out UPN right now for SmackDown! Sorry Philly fans you'll have to wait, check out the bottom of the preview. :(

"Things are going to change around here ... for the better!"

What was Mr. McMahon talking about when he made those comments last week on SmackDown!? We'll find out tonight on the show, airing at 8 p.m./7 CT on UPN.

One thing that we already know will "change for the better": Kurt Angle will be back! The Olympic gold medalist has recovered from neck and hamstring problems that have forced him out of action since WrestleMania XIX, when he lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar. What will Angle have to say? Who and what will he set his sites on? How will the fans react to him? One thing is for certain, Kurt is a champion who worked hard to get where he is today. Click the links below to watch an excellent video that gives a glimpse of Kurt's amazing accomplishments and sacrafices.
Visit the SD! site for these links. (http://smackdown.wwe.com/preview.html)

The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line when Matt Hardy defends against Rey Mysterio. SmackDown! takes place in Anaheim, Calif., just up the road from Rey-Rey's hometown of San Diego, so Mysterio will have the decided "home-court advantage" over the champion.

Zach Gowen is scheduled to be Roddy Piper's guest on Piper's Pit. Does "Hot Rod" have something up his sleeve?

In other one-on-one action tonight, the Undertaker battles Chuck Palumbo, accompanied by the other members of FBI; and John Cena takes on Chris Benoit.

In tag-team competition, Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri battle the newest tag team on SmackDown!, the Basham Brothers, in a non-title match; and Rikishi teams up with Torrie Wilson to take on Jamie Noble and Nidia.

All this and much more on SmackDown!, airing at 8 p.m./7 CT tonight on UPN!

NOTE: SmackDown! will not be seen at its regular time on WPSG in Philadelphia. Instead, catch it tonight beginning at 10 p.m. (time approximate, after baseball).

[NinjaJack]

Will things "change for the better" as Mr. McMahon promised last week? I sure hope so, check out UPN right now for SmackDown! Sorry Philly fans you'll have to wait, check out the bottom of the preview. :(

"Things are going to change around here ... for the better!"

What was Mr. McMahon talking about when he made those comments last week on SmackDown!? We'll find out tonight on the show, airing at 8 p.m./7 CT on UPN.

One thing that we already know will "change for the better": Kurt Angle will be back! The Olympic gold medalist has recovered from neck and hamstring problems that have forced him out of action since WrestleMania XIX, when he lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar. What will Angle have to say? Who and what will he set his sites on? How will the fans react to him? One thing is for certain, Kurt is a champion who worked hard to get where he is today. Click the links below to watch an excellent video that gives a glimpse of Kurt's amazing accomplishments and sacrafices.
Visit the SD! site for these links. (http://smackdown.wwe.com/preview.html)

The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line when Matt Hardy defends against Rey Mysterio. SmackDown! takes place in Anaheim, Calif., just up the road from Rey-Rey's hometown of San Diego, so Mysterio will have the decided "home-court advantage" over the champion.

Zach Gowen is scheduled to be Roddy Piper's guest on Piper's Pit. Does "Hot Rod" have something up his sleeve?

In other one-on-one action tonight, the Undertaker battles Chuck Palumbo, accompanied by the other members of FBI; and John Cena takes on Chris Benoit.

In tag-team competition, Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri battle the newest tag team on SmackDown!, the Basham Brothers, in a non-title match; and Rikishi teams up with Torrie Wilson to take on Jamie Noble and Nidia.

All this and much more on SmackDown!, airing at 8 p.m./7 CT tonight on UPN!

NOTE: SmackDown! will not be seen at its regular time on WPSG in Philadelphia. Instead, catch it tonight beginning at 10 p.m. (time approximate, after baseball).

Pulling the co- GM`s thing that RAW has done so well could have worked, but the Sable thing makes little sense to me. I wish Shane was back, where is Shanomac these days anyway?

[The Drizzle]

Kurt Angle returned and Rey Mysterio won the Cruiserweight title, so that's enough to warrant 5 stars from me! :D

[NinjaJack]

Kurt Angle returned and Rey Mysterio won the Cruiserweight title, so that's enough to warrant 5 stars from me! :D
Thats true, Kurt being back is good and Ray well, that was the best pin I have seen in a long time. That new Evanessence song ruled. And can`t wait for UD, I wonder if he`ll team with Ray?

[czyznyck99]

There is a god. The cruisers took the main event, and ran with it well. I can't believe they brought up the whole lawsuit thing with Sable. Leave it in the past, already. They finally mentioned Zach Gowen as a wrestler, even if he is going to arm wrestle next week. Angle's return was great, but then it was killed when Brock got in the ring. Nothing really against Lesnar, he just hasn't been good on the mic. It's weird how this thing between Show, Lesnar, and Angle is starting to look a lot like Armageddon...

Later.

[Char Aznable]

Being the kind of RAW guy I am I checked out SmackDown! and was quite impress on this weeks show. The whole McMahon/Mr. America (Hulk Hogan) story continues to be quite funny. It's great to see Kurt Angle back and being the "good guy" and being somewhat funny to the fans. The best thing overall of the show was the Rey Mysterio VS. Matt Hardy match. Already I knew 619 was going to win it cause when ever you have family and are in your local home state near your home then you know your going to win big time! Rey did just that in fron of his wife and kids. Great win for Rey Mysterio! It was great! But I still am A RAW kind of guy! (^_-)

[The Penguin]

“Next week things are gonna change alright—for the better.”

Well Vince McMahon didn’t really lie to us. I’d say this SD! was a lot better than it has been lately. I would argue it still isn’t on level with RAW, but if the good elements from this week continue they could end up in a dead heat.

It was nice to start things off with the “Clocks” video again. That was a nice piece of work by the production folks and a great song by Coldplay.

A bit different starting things off with Piper’s Pit, but it was working for me, then it just became the infamous “opening segment,” but I enjoyed it immensely. It was totally evil the way Vince pushed Zach over on Piper and that “one-legged man…” comment really wasn’t very nice. And yet McMahon took so much pride in it I couldn’t help, but enjoy every single second of it. :o
http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/060503/images/Stl0004.jpg

The Undertaker-Palumbo was decent, but I felt like it really didn’t accomplish much. Taker didn’t get an overwhelming win over the FBI because they interjected themselves in the match and beat him down at the end. This can’t be over yet, even though it probably should be.

http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/060503/images/Stl0001.jpg
The Freddie Blassie tribute with “My Immortal” was great. It made me realize even more how much I am going to miss that great, great man. I will have to tape that this weekend. :(

WWE is doing their best to make Eddie and Tajiri work and I think they’re doing a good job at it, but the cars, geez. Non-title or not, why the heck would the Basham Brothers did get fight that Tag Team Champions. That does not make sense.
http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/chewbacca/img/movie_sm.jpg Goldmember: “South Park’s Johnnie Cochran.”

I gotta admit I was rather under whelmed by Kurt Angle’s return. It was great to see him back, but overall I just felt let down. The appearance by The Big Show was really a pretty good idea and did a lot to establish him as a bad guy and Kurt as a good guy. Brock’s appearance killed things for me and I was hoping Angle would beat him down, but I guess I’ll have to wait a couple weeks for that.

The new Ultimo Dragon vignette was pretty cool.

Yet another great rap from John Cena. The Wolverine from X-Men 2 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=74801) is my favorite too. It was also great seeing Cena pick up the win over Benoit again and great seeing Rhyno actually show up on the big show. It was also great seeing a small crack in Benoit and Rhyno’s “friendship.”

Well I guess Brian Kendrick for Torrie Wilson is a pretty good trade, good job Rikishi. :p Look at that smile!
http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/060503/images/Stl0022.jpg

“…why I’m here in SmackDown! tonight.” Ugh, Rey is apparently a complete and total idiot. Eddie and his fake, think Mexican accent made things a lot better, yeah you heard me.

Well I guess Sable really wasn’t what I was hoping for with Stephanie getting an assistant. At least she isn’t co-GM I guess. :rolleyes:

Great to see the Cruiserweight Championship as the main event—it really showed the importance of the title. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio put on an excellent match-up with all the elements of a great title match. I can honestly say I have no real complaints. The interference of Crash and Shannon was well placed and did a perfect job making things seem bleak for Rey-Rey. Then he pulled it out just as Matt was about to hit the Twist of Fate to win the Cruiserweight Championship—perfectly played. WWE should learn from the success of this main event where the heaviest guy is 220 (or 230) pounds.

[hobbyfan]

“Next week things are gonna change alright—for the better.”

Well Vince McMahon didn’t really lie to us. I’d say this SD! was a lot better than it has been lately. I would argue it still isn’t on level with RAW, but if the good elements from this week continue they could end up in a dead heat.

I'd say Smackdown's back in front, actually, since the storylines more often than not make more sense (and you can guess where they're going, and usually end up being right).

A bit different starting things off with Piper’s Pit, but it was working for me, then it just became the infamous “opening segment,” but I enjoyed it immensely. It was totally evil the way Vince pushed Zach over on Piper and that “one-legged man…” comment really wasn’t very nice. And yet McMahon took so much pride in it I couldn’t help, but enjoy every single second of it. :o
http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/060503/images/Stl0004.jpg

That act of bullyism is going to cost Vince next week. Make book on it.

The Undertaker-Palumbo was decent, but I felt like it really didn’t accomplish much. Taker didn’t get an overwhelming win over the FBI because they interjected themselves in the match and beat him down at the end. This can’t be over yet, even though it probably should be.

The end will come at Vengeance, unless UT squashes Nunzio & Stamboli the next two weeks on Smackdown!.

http://smackdown.wwe.com/results/060503/images/Stl0001.jpg
The Freddie Blassie tribute with “My Immortal” was great. It made me realize even more how much I am going to miss that great, great man. I will have to tape that this weekend. :(

=====================================================
My first memory of Fred Blassie was when he was a manager in the mid-70s, handling the likes of the Wolfman, Waldo Von Erich, and others. Fred will be missed. Fred's gone, joining the Grand Wizard, leaving Capt. Lou Albano as the last of the Three Wise Men (heel managers of the 70's.
======================================================
WWE is doing their best to make Eddie and Tajiri work and I think they’re doing a good job at it, but the cars, geez. Non-title or not, why the heck would the Basham Brothers did get to fight the Tag Team Champions. That does not make sense.

After a steady diet of Team Angle the last few weeks, I think Eddie would welcome some fresh competition.

I gotta admit I was rather under whelmed by Kurt Angle’s return. It was great to see him back, but overall I just felt let down. The appearance by The Big Show was really a pretty good idea and did a lot to establish him as a bad guy and Kurt as a good guy. Brock’s appearance killed things for me and I was hoping Angle would beat him down, but I guess I’ll have to wait a couple weeks for that.

If there's any justice, you'd have months to wait.


Yet another great rap from John Cena. The Wolverine from X-Men 2 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=74801) is my favorite too. It was also great seeing Cena pick up the win over Benoit again and great seeing Rhyno actually show up on the big show. It was also great seeing a small crack in Benoit and Rhyno’s “friendship.”

Very true. Cena hasn't disappointed vs. Benoit yet, and these two have been matched in 3 singles matches in as many months now.


Well I guess Sable really wasn’t what I was hoping for with Stephanie getting an assistant. At least she isn’t co-GM I guess. :rolleyes:

AMEN to that, brother! :D I don't think Sable's done playing games with Torrie, though, and I would pay money to see Stephanie don the tights and team with Torrie against Sable and either Nidia or Dawn Marie. :D

Great to see the Cruiserweight Championship as the main event—it really showed the importance of the title. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio put on an excellent match-up with all the elements of a great title match. I can honestly say I have no real complaints. The interference of Crash and Shannon was well placed and did a perfect job making things seem bleak for Rey-Rey. Then he pulled it out just as Matt was about to hit the Twist of Fate to win the Cruiserweight Championship—perfectly played. WWE should learn from the success of this main event where the heaviest guy is 220 (or 230) pounds.

AMEN!! I see Matt moving back up to challenge Brock, whilst Team Moron (Shannon & Crash) chase Rey-Rey all summer.

[The Penguin]

Stuff posted by hobbyfan

I'd say Smackdown's back in front, actually, since the storylines more often than not make more sense (and you can guess where they're going, and usually end up being right).
With Mr. America, who is more Hulk Hogan than Hulk Hogan is, at the forefront I find I cannot agree.

That act of bullyism is going to cost Vince next week. Make book on it.
Book or no book I fully expect Zach to win, one way or another, next week.

The end will come at Vengeance, unless UT squashes Nunzio & Stamboli the next two weeks on Smackdown!.
I just hope it comes before that. This feud is becoming a bit tiresome and they are running out of matches to do. A decent gauntlet match is about the only thing left.

After a steady diet of Team Angle the last few weeks, I think Eddie would welcome some fresh competition.
Still this is the Basham's second week and they didn't even debut to a lot of fanfare and promos, they shouldn't be fighting the Champions, title match or no title match.

If there's any justice, you'd have months to wait.
I would argue that Team Angle needs their captain and there comes a point where mutal respect doesn't work for and mutal respect for that oaf Brock Lesnar just so happens to be right at that point.

AMEN!! I see Matt moving back up to challenge Brock, whilst Team Moron (Shannon & Crash) chase Rey-Rey all summer.
Sounds good to me. I'd hate to see Brock squash another one of my favorites into a feud with Brian Kendrick, but it still sounds like a winner. I especially like the idea of Shannon and Crash trying to take down Rey.

[Mattashell]

Hey, friends. What's up? I don't know if it's apropriate to ask this within a thread, but it's hardly worth its own thred. What does everyone think of Spanky? I was disapointed to see him teamed with Rikishi last week, and moreso that he didn't apear this week. I'll check Velocity. I'm a big fan, are you guys down with him, or do you think he's a dud?

I was glad to see the Basham Brothers on the show this week, I know they maybe haven't earned eavan a non-title match against the champs, but the blame lies in the sparseness of the population of the Tag Team division (and the same goes for RAW's Tag-division). I have an Idea. Maybe they should make exceptions for the Tag Team and Women's divisions in the brand split. It would work like this. Everyone except OFFICIAL tag teams and female wrestlers would remain on thier respective shows, but female and tag plots would be unified and cross both brands, wrestling on RAW and Smackdown! so that with only one match per night the stories would actually go somewhere, and they could have enough competitors to form decent plots.

Finally Rey gets the Cruiser belt, we've been waiting for this since Wrestlemania. It was a good match. I can't believe Matt has the nerve to argue with the ref's call to kick out the two guys at rinside who he plainly saw interfearing with the match. I wonder what he was saying.

I wonder if Hulk Hogan is Mr. America because of the new The Hulk movie coming soon. I realize The Hulk has been around for ages with no copyright trouble, but maybe Marvel made a big deal when they started hyping up the movie and didn't want Hogan capitalizing on thier hype to promote himself.

[Boy Wonder]

It was the usual really but it was a standout because Mysterio (with little kiddy) winning the title, and Angle not like himself. Blassy tribute was a little much at times, and the matches are getting better.

[The Penguin]

Hey, friends. What's up? I don't know if it's apropriate to ask this within a thread, but it's hardly worth its own thred. What does everyone think of Spanky? I was disapointed to see him teamed with Rikishi last week, and moreso that he didn't apear this week. I'll check Velocity. I'm a big fan, are you guys down with him, or do you think he's a dud?I like Spanky and yet I don't. I think Brian Kendrick has a lot of potential in the cruiserweight division and is talented in the ring. I also think that WWE is trying way too hard to make him a dork to the point where I find it tough to like him. And John Cena going from Brock Lesnar to Spanky didn't help my opinion of Kendrick even that really isn't even his fault.


I was glad to see the Basham Brothers on the show this week, I know they maybe haven't earned eavan a non-title match against the champs, but the blame lies in the sparseness of the population of the Tag Team division (and the same goes for RAW's Tag-division). I have an Idea. Maybe they should make exceptions for the Tag Team and Women's divisions in the brand split. It would work like this. Everyone except OFFICIAL tag teams and female wrestlers would remain on thier respective shows, but female and tag plots would be unified and cross both brands, wrestling on RAW and Smackdown! so that with only one match per night the stories would actually go somewhere, and they could have enough competitors to form decent plots.I don't care much of this idea. You bring up a good point about the tag team division, but WWE has worked really hard to separate the rosters, even going as far as to split up the WWE Championship and there is no way they would go back on that partially, nor do I want them to. Anything like that would completely undermine the point of the brand extension. Personally I think things are better now then when they were sharing the Undisputed WWE Champion and the Women's Champion. Things are clearly either RAW or SmackDown! and unless they decide to end the Brand Extension this shouldn't happen. Both brands just need to work on developing their tag divisions. SD! took a positive step in that direction by teaming up the Basham "Brothers" rather than bringing them both in as singles wrestlers, now they just need to continue that.