Juan
09-22-2009, 11:20 PM
Smackdown from Tulsa, OK
The show opened with CM Punk making his way to the ring. Fantastic heat-great crowd in Tulsa. Punk ran down a list of his accomplishments, figuring the alcoholic drug fiends in attendance probably couldn't remember them. Another mention of the "enigmatic enabler" Jeff Hardy. Punk had the crowd good and riled up. Suddenly the arena got dark and Undertaker's music hit. A team of druids carried a casket down to ringside. Punk poked around the coffin awhile, then finally ripped the top open. Surprisingly, a tied up Teddy Long was inside. Punk pulled him into the ring, and gave Long the mike. Teddy said that Taker's submission move was now legal. He also said Punk would defend his belt at the "Hell in a Cell" PPV against Taker in the demonic cage. Finally, Long announced a match this evening between the two. Punk played upset. I hope Vince knows what a great personality he has in CM Punk-great work all the way through this segment.
John Morrison & Finlay def. Dolph Ziggler & Mike Knox. (***) Morrison, shockingly, got very little reaction coming out...Finlay actually received a bigger pop! Thankfully, no chants of "Mr. Ziggles" this evening; I pray to almighty Jesus they've dropped that from the IC champ's repetoire. Fans were into the match; Knox was terrific. Too bad he's been buried so bad it's almost impossible to give him a legit push. Ending came when ref's back was turned while dealing with Ziggler. Finlay ran in and smacked Knox over the head with the shileleh. (SP.?) Morrison then broke out Starship Pain and got the win. Entertaining.
A backstage vignette with Crime Tyme and Slammaster J aired. It began as an attempt to sell DVD's; then Teddy Long appeared and told J that he would be in the ring tonight against a mystery opponent.
Before the next match, an ad for "Hell in a Cell" PPV aired.
Kane pinned Slammaster J. (no stars) Complete squash, maybe 30 seconds. Kane wins with the chokeslam.
Another backstage piece, this time featuring CM Punk confronting Vince McMahon about having to face Undertaker tonight. Vince said that's what he gets for conspiring with the referee and Long at "Breaking Point". Punk began to tell Vince "But it was your idea", but Vince cut him off and left him standing.
Vince McMahon came out to an enormous pop. Fans were bowing and going nuts for what they must have assumed was the "face" version of Mr. McMahon. The cheering turned to boos when Vince began running down "this godawful hillbilly state, Oklahoma." He ragged on the state a little, then poked some fun at JR. Actually, hilarious stuff. The heel McMahon, though somewhat stale, is miles above the nice guy routine, probably because even hillbillies know that's bullshit. They didn't mind cheering him on the way out, though. Vince also said next week was a 3 hour celebration of the 10th anniversary of Smackdown. He mentioned Steve Austin and The Rock. Of course, crowd started chanting "What?", which McMahon had some nice comebacks for. "Hillbilly says what?" "What?" "Exactly." He then introduced a man he said he personally signed, and a man who would someday be world champion. Out came Drew McIntyre. No pressure, Drew. Drew cut a promo, and of course the crown started chanting "USA!" since our biggest enemy is Scotland. McMahon quietly left during the Scot's speech, then R Truth came down one of the aisles rapping his masterpiece, "What's up?". For some strange reason, Truth received the 2nd biggest pop of the night, despite his frequent ass-kickings of late. Truth dove into the ring, brawling with McIntyre. 3 refs instantly, as if they were psychic, came running in from the back to break it up. Crowd ate it up; I decided everything Vince said was true.
Batista def Big Show by DQ (**1/2) Yes, that's kind of high for a Leviathan-Giant matchup, but thankfully Batista was on the defensive almost the whole match, while Show applied the standard bearhugs among other classics. None of it mattered, because Chris Jericho, who accompanied Show, was drawing heat by yelling at JR and trying to get involved. Has anyone else noticed Jericho is awesome? Thought so. Finale came when Jericho was caught interfering, drawing the DQ. While Show was catching a blow on his back outside the ring, Batista applied the Anglelock on Jericho, which he sold like a madman. The vendors probably heard his screams. Fun stuff, thanks to CJ. After the match, Batista was interviewed backstage. He said he had a partner, and they would challenge Jericho and Show for the tag titles at "Hell in a Cell". He said his partners number was "619" which got a loud ovation. They'll probably give them the belts to placate Rey over the suspension.
David Hart Smith def. JTG (**) Outside interference cost JTG the match. This team is a booker and marketer's dream (The Hart Dynasty). Hopefully they'll get a long title reign.
CM Punk def. Undertaker by countout (**) The crowd was insane for this match. Not surprisingly, Taker had by far the biggest pop of the night. Some decent back and forth, but Taker was obviously avoiding any big bumps. After a bit, both men ended up outside the ring. The Dead Man cleared the announcers table, teasing a chokeslam, which drove the fans bonkers. Some of us noticed that he never removed the TV monitors from the table, so the maneuver was highly unlikely. After slipping out of Taker's grasp, Punk ran into the ring and ran out the other side. Taker ran in also, and the bell rang. The match went to CM Punk by countout, which was unpopular, to say the least. Punk walked backwards up the aisle, pointing to his title and his unmarred by narcotics brain. Taker then did the jog up the ramp after CM disappeared to the back, and the show ended. Seconds after we were off the air, Taker dragged Punk back to the ring, where he sent the Okies home happy with a chokeslam and tombstone.
The show opened with CM Punk making his way to the ring. Fantastic heat-great crowd in Tulsa. Punk ran down a list of his accomplishments, figuring the alcoholic drug fiends in attendance probably couldn't remember them. Another mention of the "enigmatic enabler" Jeff Hardy. Punk had the crowd good and riled up. Suddenly the arena got dark and Undertaker's music hit. A team of druids carried a casket down to ringside. Punk poked around the coffin awhile, then finally ripped the top open. Surprisingly, a tied up Teddy Long was inside. Punk pulled him into the ring, and gave Long the mike. Teddy said that Taker's submission move was now legal. He also said Punk would defend his belt at the "Hell in a Cell" PPV against Taker in the demonic cage. Finally, Long announced a match this evening between the two. Punk played upset. I hope Vince knows what a great personality he has in CM Punk-great work all the way through this segment.
John Morrison & Finlay def. Dolph Ziggler & Mike Knox. (***) Morrison, shockingly, got very little reaction coming out...Finlay actually received a bigger pop! Thankfully, no chants of "Mr. Ziggles" this evening; I pray to almighty Jesus they've dropped that from the IC champ's repetoire. Fans were into the match; Knox was terrific. Too bad he's been buried so bad it's almost impossible to give him a legit push. Ending came when ref's back was turned while dealing with Ziggler. Finlay ran in and smacked Knox over the head with the shileleh. (SP.?) Morrison then broke out Starship Pain and got the win. Entertaining.
A backstage vignette with Crime Tyme and Slammaster J aired. It began as an attempt to sell DVD's; then Teddy Long appeared and told J that he would be in the ring tonight against a mystery opponent.
Before the next match, an ad for "Hell in a Cell" PPV aired.
Kane pinned Slammaster J. (no stars) Complete squash, maybe 30 seconds. Kane wins with the chokeslam.
Another backstage piece, this time featuring CM Punk confronting Vince McMahon about having to face Undertaker tonight. Vince said that's what he gets for conspiring with the referee and Long at "Breaking Point". Punk began to tell Vince "But it was your idea", but Vince cut him off and left him standing.
Vince McMahon came out to an enormous pop. Fans were bowing and going nuts for what they must have assumed was the "face" version of Mr. McMahon. The cheering turned to boos when Vince began running down "this godawful hillbilly state, Oklahoma." He ragged on the state a little, then poked some fun at JR. Actually, hilarious stuff. The heel McMahon, though somewhat stale, is miles above the nice guy routine, probably because even hillbillies know that's bullshit. They didn't mind cheering him on the way out, though. Vince also said next week was a 3 hour celebration of the 10th anniversary of Smackdown. He mentioned Steve Austin and The Rock. Of course, crowd started chanting "What?", which McMahon had some nice comebacks for. "Hillbilly says what?" "What?" "Exactly." He then introduced a man he said he personally signed, and a man who would someday be world champion. Out came Drew McIntyre. No pressure, Drew. Drew cut a promo, and of course the crown started chanting "USA!" since our biggest enemy is Scotland. McMahon quietly left during the Scot's speech, then R Truth came down one of the aisles rapping his masterpiece, "What's up?". For some strange reason, Truth received the 2nd biggest pop of the night, despite his frequent ass-kickings of late. Truth dove into the ring, brawling with McIntyre. 3 refs instantly, as if they were psychic, came running in from the back to break it up. Crowd ate it up; I decided everything Vince said was true.
Batista def Big Show by DQ (**1/2) Yes, that's kind of high for a Leviathan-Giant matchup, but thankfully Batista was on the defensive almost the whole match, while Show applied the standard bearhugs among other classics. None of it mattered, because Chris Jericho, who accompanied Show, was drawing heat by yelling at JR and trying to get involved. Has anyone else noticed Jericho is awesome? Thought so. Finale came when Jericho was caught interfering, drawing the DQ. While Show was catching a blow on his back outside the ring, Batista applied the Anglelock on Jericho, which he sold like a madman. The vendors probably heard his screams. Fun stuff, thanks to CJ. After the match, Batista was interviewed backstage. He said he had a partner, and they would challenge Jericho and Show for the tag titles at "Hell in a Cell". He said his partners number was "619" which got a loud ovation. They'll probably give them the belts to placate Rey over the suspension.
David Hart Smith def. JTG (**) Outside interference cost JTG the match. This team is a booker and marketer's dream (The Hart Dynasty). Hopefully they'll get a long title reign.
CM Punk def. Undertaker by countout (**) The crowd was insane for this match. Not surprisingly, Taker had by far the biggest pop of the night. Some decent back and forth, but Taker was obviously avoiding any big bumps. After a bit, both men ended up outside the ring. The Dead Man cleared the announcers table, teasing a chokeslam, which drove the fans bonkers. Some of us noticed that he never removed the TV monitors from the table, so the maneuver was highly unlikely. After slipping out of Taker's grasp, Punk ran into the ring and ran out the other side. Taker ran in also, and the bell rang. The match went to CM Punk by countout, which was unpopular, to say the least. Punk walked backwards up the aisle, pointing to his title and his unmarred by narcotics brain. Taker then did the jog up the ramp after CM disappeared to the back, and the show ended. Seconds after we were off the air, Taker dragged Punk back to the ring, where he sent the Okies home happy with a chokeslam and tombstone.