This week’s Smackdown starts with Edge cutting a promo gloating about the Judgment Day results confirming him as the face of Smackdown, and says he’s done with Jeff Hardy. Teddy Long comes out and points out that Jeff was screwed by his brother Matt hitting him with the cast, and gives Jeff a rematch. Long, by the way, was wearing the most ridiculous suit jacket I have EVER seen, and given that I’ve watched wrestling for the past 18 years that covers some ground in and of itself even before extending it to being in real life.

Jeff comes out and points out that as Extreme Rules is the next PPV, he wants a match with Edge tonight to decide the stipulation. Edge isn’t happy about this, so Jeff goes into the crowd and asks all of them, in a segment that sounds really cheesy but actually completely worked. I don’t know if it worked because it was a good idea or because it was Jeff Hardy and the crowd love him, but it ended up great.

The opening match was a six-man tag featuring John Morrison and Cryme Tyme beating Ricky Ortiz and Team Angle, when Morrison pinned Haas with the Starship Pain. The match was fine, following the rules that it’s impossible to have a WWE six-man tag be a bad match. Morrison getting the win was the right choice, but he can’t keep beating Haas and Benjamin every week, giving them rematches then beating them again because all that does is place him on the card at their level. If he faces other competition he could rise up the card which I suspect is what the WWE should want of him.

Josh Matthews interviewed Melina next, who said she would prove to be the dominant female on Smackdown. Alicia Fox comes up to her to say that Michelle McCool is winning her title, so Melina slaps her then does her angry face that makes it look like she’s falling asleep. This lead to the #1 contenders match between Michelle McCool and Gail Kim, and this was again really good, if basic “work a body part” stuff, but once McCool has that down pat maybe she can expand into projecting her character better. McCool working the legs filled up the match nicely, and Kim of course can bump and sell well. The ending saw McCool win by kicking Kim’s legs out from under her when she was on the top rope, before hitting the Faith Breaker to win.

The next segment was the WWE deciding, after six years, that if they get over the importance of Rey Mysterio’s mask they might actually make some big money. JR interviewed Rey, who was backstage, and he talked about the tradition of the InterContinental title, and particularly the Hispanic holders of that belt in the past including Eddie Guerrero, whose name still got a sizeable pop. Rey then talked about the history of masks in Mexico and how he had to work to earn the right to even wear a mask, as well as what a huge dishonour it is to lose it.

The next match was Chris Jericho v. CM Punk in a rematch from the previous night’s edition of Superstars, and for those of us who don’t or can’t watch that show they helpfully show us the finish, which was Jericho escaping a Go To Sleep attempt with elbows, before attempting the Walls Of Jericho but getting caught in a small package for the pin – a spot which was repeated for a nearfall here. These two mesh very well together and this match was no exception.

Jericho got the heat when Punk went for his springboard clothesline but Jericho dropkicked the ropes so Punk collapsed. The story was mostly Punk going for the GTS and whether he would hit it. Jericho escaped a couple of times, and then once he finally hit it, Jericho took the blow and rolled outside the ring, allowing Umaga to run in for the DQ. He whacked Punk with a leather strap, and tied him upside down in the corner so he was defenceless against the Samoan Spike. Umaga then grabbed the mic and the Samoan Savage can apparently now talk in perfect English, as he challenges Punk to a strap match at Extreme Rules. Once again the Smackdown side of that PPV is starting to look awesome.

After Dolph Ziggler beat R-Truth in a short match, The Great Khali came out, but Ziggler ran out through the crowd. I really like that they’re doing this storyline, it feels like wrestling from when I was a kid and that’s something I’ll always love.

Backstage, after planting further seeds for a future Edge feud, Chris Jericho confronts Teddy Long only to be told that Rey Mysterio has requested a rematch with him under No Holds Barred rules for the Extreme Rules PPV.

The main event saw Edge face Jeff Hardy in an excellent match, playing off both their history in terms of being able to counter moves, even when pulling out old stuff, as well as fitting into the current storyline of Jeff possibly having a concussion after being hit with Matt’s cast followed by Edge’s top rope DDT at Judgment Day. Edge has some of the best facial expressions in wrestling, and Jeff’s selling, and ability to mount small mini comebacks out of nowhere to keep the crowd into things, as well as their history together and ability to be given time to have these top quality matches mean the results are almost always good-to-excellent. Both guys had big moves countered before Hardy was able to throw Edge off the top rope when attempting the top rope DDT and hit the swanton for the win.

After the match, Hardy announced that the stipulation for Extreme Rules is a ladder match. It really had to be, unless they were going full out with TLC, since it’s the gimmick that really made both their careers and really could be pushed as the culmination of a decade long feud, especially if the rumours of Jeff leaving are true.

Mark Bright
mark@ifight365.com