The John Report: Talking Smack for Aug 14/09 (J. Hardy vs. Hart Dynasty)

This is the debut of my weekly (I hope) Smackdown column where I'll go over what went down on WWE's best weekly show, Smackdown. This won't be as long as Tuesday's Raw Deal column. I just felt it was necessary to write about both of WWE's top shows. Plus, I got a lot of feedback last week after I recapped Smackdown from people wanting me to write about it, so I've acquiesced to the demands and I'll do my best to comply. My goal is to post these on Saturdays, probably in the afternoon, but this week I wasn't around a computer at all on Saturday, so you get it on Sunday instead. This is not a recap of Smackdown. Go elsewhere for that. These are just my thoughts on the happenings of the show.

Taped from Edmonton, Alberta let's talk some smack...

- The opening promo with Punk, Long and then Jeff Hardy worked for me. A lot of Punk's comments were things he's said before, but I think it's fine because it's a new character that needs to drive the point home. That's what preachers do. I liked how Hardy sold the beating last week by moving so gingerly during the segment.

- Vince tells Long that Jeff Hardy has to wrestle the Hart Dynasty in the main event. Fine by me. The Hart's wrestling in Alberta is a good move.

Ziggler d. Finlay (**)
It's a very good idea to have a younger guy like Dolph working with a vet like Finlay because he can definitely learn some things. The story was that Mike Knox came out to screw Finlay out of the victory by hitting him with the shillelagh, leading to Dolph's finisher. They really need a name for that move. I'm not crazy about a finish where the guy delivering the move takes more of a blow, but what can you do? Post match, Mike Knox beat the crap out of Finlay and spoke like an expert on the human body in describing the pain Finlay felt. That's fine with me. I've heard so many good things about Knox from people, but I haven't seen enough of him myself.

- Kane has captured Ranjin Singh, who by the way is on the WWE creative team if you don't know. Basically he tortures the guy throughout the show. These were not good segments. I kept waiting for Dr. Ken to show up to randomly yell stuff.

- Maria and Melina talked, then were interrupted by Layla, who told them that Michelle would be back next week. I love how Maria is with Dolph, yet she doesn't come with him to ringside.

CM Punk d. John Morrison (***)
The usual good match from these two. I'm not crazy about the idea of them saying Punk hadn't beat Morrison before, but at least they prefaced it by saying "on Smackdown." It's true in that extent, but it's foolish to omit the nearly year long feud they had in ECW. They got about 13 minutes with Punk scoring the clean win with the GTS. It's fine with me because he's in the Summerslam main event and the momentum benefits him more than Morrison. I do think it`s a mistake to not have a match for Morrison at Summerslam, though.

- Kane with Singh again. Yep, it is still really bad. We learn that Ranjin is Khali's brother. If you're wondering they're not really brothers.

Melina d. Layla (¼*)
The roster of women on Smackdown is very thin at the moment and this match showed that. The crowd chanting "Let's Go Oilers" in honor of the local NHL team also showed that they didn't care for it much. Can't say I blame them.

Big Show d. JTG (*)
Good to see Cryme Tyme getting a chance to talk before the match. Little things like that matter. The match was just okay with JTG getting some sporadic offense in on Show, but never really threatening to get the win. Post match was good with Shad coming back strong after Jericho gave him a cheap shot outside the ring. Even though I don't see Cryme Tyme winning the belts at Summerslam, their status has been elevated just by feuding against Jerishow. That's why it's a good feud.

- Hey, Khali found Kane. Then Kane beat him up using weapons. I guess I feel bad for Khali? I don't know. This feud's brutal. I don't want to see that match at Summerslam.

- We see the reformation of DX. At least Michaels is on Raw this week. That'll be nice. By the way, the place that chef segment was filmed at? Titan Towers aka WWE Headquarters.

The Hart Dynasty d. Jeff Hardy (*¼)
Good to see that pop for the Hart Dynasty. They deserve it. This was more of an angle than a match. Jeff got some moves in, then collapsed after it because of the beating from the previous week at the hands of Punk. Five minutes in, the Hart's won with the Hart Attack springboard clothesline by Tyson Kidd. Works for me.

Post match, Punk came in to go after Hardy again. This time somebody actually saved him with Morrison failing first and then Matt Hardy, much to everybody's surprise. They didn’t embrace or touch fists or anything like that. It was more like a stare, which is smart because you don't want to give it away. The reason Matt Hardy saving Jeff Hardy is so intriguing is that you really don't know what's going to happen next. The fans seem to think that Matt is back to being a good guy, but do we know that for sure? That's good storytelling because it makes you want to tune in next week to see what happens.

And next week? Long tells Mr. McMahon that the main event is CM Punk & Hart Dynasty vs. Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy & John Morrison. Awesome. Give them 20 minutes and let them go. Should be fun.

Three Stars of the Show
1. CM Punk – Great opening promo like usual plus a solid match with Morrison.
2. John Morrison - Match of the night with Punk.
3. Jeff Hardy – Awesome job in selling the beating.

Rating: 7 (out of 10)

The Punk/Hardy feud is the best thing going in WWE today and adding Matt Hardy into the mix as the wildcard makes for an even more interesting story. No Mysterio at the show (he was given time off) hurt that story with Ziggler a bit while the tag team feud was furthered due to Jerishow looking strong after Cryme Tyme having the advantage last week.

On the negative side, the Kane/Khali story bores the hell out of me and I don't know how even the most ardent of Kane fans could like this one.

Overall it was a pretty good show, but nothing amazing that you should go out of your way to see. Just a typically solid edition of Smackdown.

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This worked out well. Just a little over 1300 words. I think that's what I'll aim for every weekend with this column. It will usually be a Saturday posting, I imagine.

I appreciate any feedback you can give so please send me your thoughts at oratoryjohn@gmail.com about anything related to WWE past or present. If you add me on facebook (just head to Facebook.com/thejohnreport) you'll see the links to my columns as well because I post them there just as soon as I post them on this website. I'm pretty active on there as my Facebook friends can attest, so add me as a friend and ask away with the questions or start up discussions on your own.

See you on Tuesday for Freddie Prinze Jr.'s attempt at hosting Raw.

Smell ya later,
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