WWE SmackDown Taping Results (08/07) *Spoilers*
 

*Smackdown opens with video on Morrison vs. Hardy.

*CM Punk comes out and says he will stay the course and teach the fans the difference between right and wrong, even if so far all his work just seems to make the fans love Jeff Hardy more. He said that this is just another obstacle in his life that he will overcome. They showed Punk's attack on Hardy last week. He said the fans love Hardy because he is just like them and none of them have the strength to be straightedge. He said none of them can be strong like him. Punk said they can boo him but the truth sometimes hurts and he will continue to tell it. The crowd was all over Punk. He accused the crowd of gobbling prescription medicine like Pez. He went on and on about all the vices people have that he doesn't do...smoking, marijuana, alcohol. He told the fans that they need a straight World champion...they need CM Punk.

*World title CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy. Hardy attacked Punk before the bell. Officials pulled them apart. Out came Vince McMahon
, who ripped on Teddy Long for not keeping control. He demanded everyone return to the back and said that since Long couldn't control them, Vince will appoint a guest enforcer to maintain control....and he'll make everyone wait and find out. Punk and Hardy began brawling again.

*In a really good match, John Morrison pinned Tyson Kidd after a split legged twisting press. Morrison slipped on a springboard kick so expect that to be edited out as he did the move a second time. Really good back and forth match with lots of near falls, highspots and some stiff kicks.

*Punk vs. Hardy with mystery enforcer is still on for later.

*By the way, The crowd was really into Morrison as a babyface.

*Slam Master J defeated Charlie Haas with a top rope splash. J wasn't over with the crowd live.

*R-Truth vs. Mike Knox vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay for WWE Intercontinental championship shot at Summerslam. Rey Mysterio does commentary at ringside. Lots of fast action. Truth does dive over top on Knox. Finlay goes for Emerald Frosion on Ziggler but Knox hits boot to face. Killings hits lariat off ropes for 2. Ziggler tosses Killings out of ring. Finlay cracks Knox with shillelagh. Ziggler nails Finlay with finisher and scores pin.

*Backstage, Maria and Melina talked about Maria's relationship with Dolph. Melina said she was happy for Maria but she hears bad things about Ziggler in the locker room. Maria says the Dolph in the ring isn't how he is outside of it and he treats her good. Melina said she was happy for her but to be careful.

*Chris Jericho vs. JTG. Solid back and forth match. Jericho nailed the Codebreaker on JTG but his arm and leg were under the bottom rope so ref wouldn't count. Jericho jawed with the ref and Shad Gaspard, then pulled JTG to the center. He went to pick up JTG but was pulled into an inside cradle and pinned. Big reaction for Cryme Time since they are from Brooklyn.

*Great Khali destroyed Ricky Ortiz. Kane came out from under ring and tossed Khali out of the ring, then went after Runjin Singh and dragged him through the crowd out of the Arena. Khali slowly followed through the crowd 2 minutes later, possibly after a commercial break I'm guessing.

*Matt Hardy is introduced as the special enforcer for the World title match.

*Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk. Jeff gets in Matt's face but Matt won't even look him in the eye, glaring away. Hardy is outside of ring enforcer. They went back and forth with a solid bout. Hardy went to the top but Punk cut him off. Punk nailed a superplex off the top for a two count. Punk nailed a martial arts combination and went for GTS but Hardy avoided. Punk rolled up Hardy but was kicked out of the ring. Hardy did a dive out onto Punk. The Hardys faced off outside. Punk hit a sliding kick but Jeff moved and Matt got hit. Jeff took Punk down and went for the Swanton. Punk got his knees up and went for the pin but at 2, Matt pulled the referee out of the ring. Punk began screaming at Matt but Jeff rolled him up from behind and Matt counted a fast three. A shocked Punk attacked Jeff and beat his head into the announcing table, then beat him with a chair. He stuck Hardys head in a chair and ran him into the ringpost.

Teddy Long came out and asked Punk if he was proud of himself and Punk said he was because Matt Hardy screwed him. Punk said he was and he wanted his rematch. Long said if Hardy can defend the title by Summerslam, Punk will get it...in a TLC match. Punk was pissed about the stipulation.

Hardy was stretchered out.

TLC MATCH! FUCK YES

Wow.

So..Matt and Jeff are back on good terms again? Hmm.

I marked out reading that it was a TLC match, SummerSlam is worth buying now.

Agreed

Awesome.

Is Slam Master J Jesse?

Yeah

AKA J Dizzle

Fuck yeah

Wait...so basically, if I have it right, it looks like except for the couple of months on RAW where Matt kept wrestling under protest because of his arm, his entire heel turn just went up in smoke? :wtf: I mean, I know Jeff is probably leaving the company soon, so there probably won't be anymore tagging up of The Hardys, needless to say, but why wouldn't they just find something else for Matt to do as a heel?

Am I missing something?

How have we come to the conclusion that Matt is back to being a face simply by reading the above? Why didn't he help Jeff when he was being battered with a chair etc if that's the case?

Also, why...

Again, have I missed something?

I'm simply in doubt at the moment, as to whether Matt is still heel and this was all just some major swerve which would probably culminate in him screwing Jeff out of the title at SummerSlam, or whether they are actually trying to turn him face, because, by the looks of it, it certainly seems as though they could be heading that direction. I guess time will tell, though.:-\

He counted a fast 3 for jeff, but that doesn't mean he's turned face.

Exactly.

Seriously, is there just a completely different booking team for SmackDown??? SD just seems to be way more exciting than RAW.

I just came from the show... the crowd had good energy during ECW, but started to fizzle a little during the Superstars tapings. Smackdown was hot at first, but the crowd really started to get burnt out... I was yawning towards the end, to be honest. It was mostly a mark crowd, though I must note that Jericho got a bigger face reaction than JTG, until the end when the crowd popped BIG for JTG. Weird. Oh, and let's not forget the dark-match: Jeff starts to get stretchered out, but then jumps off the stretcher and says he's fine. Punk comes out and demands that the "union workers in the back" build him a cage for a cage match. The match lasted maybe a minute, with Jeff getting the win. Epic waste of time. I really enjoyed the show though, the action was solid for the most part. And no divas matches, which was a little odd, but welcomed. The biggest heat of the night was CM Punk by far with his opening promo. Also, Abraham Washington got a TON of heat as well, and while I'm a mark for his awkwardly bad style, he was genuinely funny and on tonight until the "Idol" segment... boy did the crowd turn on that quick. A huge "THIS IS STUPID" chant erupted, which I'm not sure how that was edited for TV.

Vince made an appearance on Smackdown! that's news.

wtf@jeff having a dark match after all that. and wwe wonders why people laugh at them now.

Seriously, this SD might sound like it will be the best show of the year. Crazy to believe though that Punk will beat Hardy in a TLC match

Matt didn't turn face. He counted a fast three because he was pissed at Punk in the heat of the moment after Punk accidentally kicked him.

it was the heat of the moment...

DarKCentaur, please clear up is Matt is a face now.

Sounds like another great solid show.

I think Matt coming on board is a final roll of the dice to keep Jeff, you can't blame Vince for trying anything to keep him, he's the most over guy in the whole company, the ratings are up and he's involved in one of the best feuds of the year. They need to do whatever they can to keep this man.

Yay for logic.

anyone else for a gts from a ladder through a table? if that happens i want $50 from tpww

Am I the only one who hopes that Matt Hardy does turn face again? I really loved Mattitude, but Hardy's recently heel run flopped pretty bad. Granted, on SmackDown! he could do a lot more, but the guy is just more natural as a face.

Anyway, I think I'm going to stop reading the SmackDown! spoilers from now on. Seriously, I can just count on SmackDown! to be good, and to be worth watching each week. It could actually surprise me and make me mark out -- Matt helping out Jeff, JTG picking up the win against Jericho, Slam Master fucking J debuting.

The wrestling sounds fucking awesome.

could not have said it better. mondays? only good for nursing the weekend hangover. smackdown!? when you start your party. amazing. all around. and to think... no triple, cena, or orton. so why is smackdown better? see the 3 names listed.

the more I watch Ziggler the more I like him. hope he wins the IC title at summerslam

For some reason, I've seen people talking about him being buried because he wasn't instantly given the IC Title. WTF? Can't people see the credibility Michael Hayes is embedding into the belt? Let's take a look at the IC Champions since the beginning of the year:

William Regal (King of the Ring)
CM Punk (former World Heavyweight Champion and ECW Champion)
JBL (former WWE Champion and WrestleMania main eventer)
Rey Mysterio (Royal Rumble Winner, former World Heavyweight Champion and WrestleMania main eventer)
Chris Jericho (unified the WCW Championship and WWE Championship, former World Heavyweight Champion, record-time holder of the IC Title, Superstar of the Year and WrestleMania headliner)
Rey Mysterio (again)

Not all of that was on SmackDown!, granted, but the IC Champion currently looks like they should be headlining shows -- and recently, they have been. SmackDown! house shows are actually closing with Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler as the main event. This is great handling of the IC Title.

When Ziggler wins the IC Title at Summerslam, he will look like a star. Not only because he is banging Maria (at least in kayfabe), but because he actually wins a title that is worth something. If CM Punk wins the World Heavyweight Title, then the top two guys of the blue brand will be CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler. That is some pretty fresh stuff.

I'm actually thinking, and I wouldn't bet any amount of money on this, that when The Undertaker returns, he may actually go after the IC Title, and get his first (and possibly only) reign with that title.

Undertaker will never be the IC Champion. He may get a title shot, but he won't win it.

Do you know something we don't, pardeep 619? Are you holding out on us?

Punk accidentally hit him with a baseball slide, Matt got pissed, and gave Jeff a fast count for the win. Hardly a face turn. To be fair though, watching Matt's facial expressions, he wouldn't talk to or even look at Jeff, and he almost looked remorseful. It's too early to say though.

WHY IS THIS SHOW ON FRIDAY NIGHT :mad:

fuck

Sports Entertainment Finish.
While the tv crowd leaves with a bitter taste in their mouths hoping for justice next week, WWE wants the live crowd to go home happy. After the cameras are off there will be a quick "dark main event" sometimes just so the live crowd can leave cheering.
Since it didn't happen on tv, it's never mentioned.
This is not an uncommon practice.

If Jeff Hardy leaves the WWE, I can see the WWE turning Matt Hardy face, just so they can continue to pump out successful "Hardy" merchandise.

I know that, but its stupid.

Punk's beatdown to close the show this week was even better than last week's. And I love that the cameras were able to pick up what he was saying to the EMTs -- "Make sure he's okay...fix him so I can break him again."

Another pretty damn good show. I thought the JTG/Jericho match was pretty well done, and it was nice seeing them give the New York guy the win at Nassau Coliseum.

Although, contrary to what Todd Grisham apparently thinks, the Coliseum is nowhere near Brooklyn. I laughed when I heard him say that they were in Brooklyn...at least later he remedied that a bit by saying they were just "in the shadows of New York City".

Also didn't know that WWE Hell in a Cell is going to be in Newark. Hooray local ticket advertising.

The matches on SmackDown! this week seemed a bit shorter than usual. I wonder if there has been a slight shift in focus from the wrestling to the storylines? Not to say that the ring work was bad or anything, but the best match of the night was the opening contest. If anything, the opening contest should be to get the crowd excited, but not ultimately be the best wrestling they see.

CM Punk is owning his fucking character. Did he yell "It's clobbering tiiiiiiiiiiime!" on the way to the ring? Awesome.