Hey everyone and welcome to this week’s edition of Chris Reviews Smackdown. In this weeks blog I will be discussing the injury to John Cena, Creative Team stupidity, why R-Truth had one of the most memorable debuts in some time and more. Please feel free to leave me some feedback via the comment board or drop me an email to: a_agreement_called_forever@hotmail.com

I think it is such a shame that John Cena has suffered such a severe injury as a herniated disk so soon after coming back from the torn pectoral muscle. Good news for Cena is he should be ready to return in around three months time. People can say what they like about Cena but since winning the Rumble I have been nothing but impressed with the his phenomenal work rate and attitude. During this time he has put on some incredible matches (vs Triple H at Judgement Day & Batista at Summerslam to name two) and as long as he is not dominating the title picture I really enjoy him as a wrestler. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Cena a quick and healthy recovery and look forward to see him returning to our screens as soon as possible hopefully with a modified gimmick as I think that is still what lets him down as he is fed some truly awful lines to say by creative and made to look awful none of which can be attributed to the man himself.

Speaking of creative stupidity Cena’s replacement for Unforgiven is none other than Rey Mysterio. The same Rey Mysterio who supposedly had his body crippled and broken by Kane some weeks ago. Erm ok! Seriously who is booking this angle? They need firing faster than a highlander showing up to a TNA TV taping! This angle with Kane had the potential to be great, I was looking forward to Kane returning to his old masked self and being truly evil again. However this has been truly fouled up but even in my worst nightmares I could not have predicted just how bad this storyline was going to go down. Thank god I don’t write the RAW blog as I would really have NOTHING good to say about this. If Mysterio had been held off until say Cyber Sunday and then come out and attacked Kane during a big match this would have made much more of an impression. People can say well who else could have been put in the match, well you have Kofi, Regal and Santino who all could have made a big statement but no instead we get a storyline that was already ruined being made even worse. Not impressed!

Ok with that little rant over it is on to this weeks Smackdown

We open with The Undertaker making his way to the ring to a huge reaction from the crowd. The Undertaker gets on the mic and actually gives a speech about how he is not the forgiving kind and tells Vickie he is coming for her soul and she will burn in hell. Amazing how someone who barely speaks these days can make such an impact with only a few words. We cut to Vickie locked in her office looking very afraid! I am sensing we are going to be seeing Undertaker vs La Famillia at Unforgiven. Very powerful opening segment and hopefully a sign of a good show.

Next up we get to see an R-Truth vignette as it is the moment we have all been waiting for as R-Truth makes his way to ringside for his Smackdown debut. Rather than facing some random jobber he found himself facing Kenny Dykstra who cut an excellent heel promo about he has been ignored and deserves better which really fires up the live crowd and gets R-Truth mad and he immediately goes on the offense hitting some impressive moves including a unique pin attempt. Dykstra however fights back and shows signs of why he is one of the hottest young prospects in WWE. Incredible corkscrew flying elbow followed by and awesome scissor kick by R-Truth finished off Dykstra and gave him the debut win. So good to see someone debut and immediately face someone that means something rather than local jobbers. This wasn’t the most amazing match ever but Truth certainly made an Impact! (see what I did there) And I look forward to seeing him again next week.

We get to see a very badly acted backstage segment between Michelle and Maryse next talking about the Diva championship. Spot on from Michelle when she said Maryse had no talent though! Michelle was teaming with Maria to face Maryse and Natalya. There is no way that Maryse should be pushed over Natalya! That is just insulting! Natalya and Michelle showed exactly why they should still be feuding over the belt as this match began with Michelle hitting a powerful Russian leg sweep. The match took a turn for the worse as Maria ended up in the ring with Maryse who hit a lame DDT for the finish. After the match a fight ensued between Maryse and Michelle with Natalya helping Maryse to beat Michelle down. So I guess it is on for the divas championship between Maryse and Michelle then, that has bathroom break written all over it! I thought after last week Maria was feuding with Maryse. Oh well more creative stupidity.

Next up we see the best WWE promo video I have ever seen giving us the history of Jeff and MVP’s rivalry. The match between the two tonight should be something special. Jeff cut a pretty intense promo backstage with Eve as we head to ringside for what could well be the best TV match this year. Jeff comes out to an enormous pop as always and MVP was drawing some major heat form the live crowd. This feud has really helped bring MVP back to his heel roots as prior to this he had certainly become something more of a tweener character. Jeff has the advantage early on with MVP doing his usual time wasting much to the crowds disgust. Jeff hit some solid arm drag take overs using MVP’s technical style against him focussing on MVP’s arm and sending him into the ring post. MVP once again tried to take a time out but Jeff hit an incredible dive taking MVP to the floor. This was certainly a different more aggressive Jeff as we return from commercial as MVP knocked Hardy into the turn buckle and then hit some brutal moves including a nasty looking kick to the head which sent Hardy flying from the ring. MVP locked in a solid abdominal stretch which Hardy somehow managed to counter into a unique drop. Hardy hit his leg drop in the corner followed by an impressive face buster. Jeff went for the Swanton but MVP was able to get his knees up to counter. Awesome match! MVP then went to work on Jeff hitting some incredibly powerful kicks which Jeff sold so well. These two seem made to work with each other. MVP tried to mock Jeff and then locked in the camel clutch. Jeff always impresses me but MVP similar to Shelton Benjamin really has stepped up his game in recent months and is ready to take his career to the next level. So many near falls for MVP but Hardy always was able to kick out as the crowd were transfixed. Great suplex form MVP but it still wasn’t enough! As Hardy charged forward MVP countered into a powerful slam but Hardy once again fought back and went for a Whisper in The Wind but MVP used his speed to drop Jeff to the mat in a very nasty bump with Jeff landing on his neck. MVP went for a suplex from the top rope but somehow Jeff was able to turn in mid air and bring his weight down on MVP in one of the most unique moves I have ever seen. Jeff finally connected with the Whisper in The Wind followed by The Swanton for the pinfall and victory. Wow what a match! This was just as good as their Summerslam match if not better! I was gripped from start to finish as were the live crowd. After the match Shelton Benjamin hit the ring and laid out both wrestlers with his Paydirt finisher showing that there are no allies when championship gold is concerned. I am enjoying how Shelton is being built as such a big deal and this push is long overdue!

Whilst it is very unlikely we will see anything better than the previous match all night the show must go on and next up we had Jesse and Festus in tag team action against Hawkins and Ryder. As the bell rang Festus destroyed the former Edgeheads but out came Big Show who proceeded to destroy everyone other than Festus who has returned to his placid state on the outside of the ring thanks to the disqualification bell. Big Show cut a promo after the match warning Vickie never to overlook him again and this was just an oversight. It sucks to be Vickie right now! With two of the biggest guys in WWE gunning for her!

Next up we had another divas match with the lovely Victoria taking on the debuting Brie Bella. I have heard very positive things about this diva in FCW and was hoping she would not disappoint. Brie certainly did enough to dhow early in this match that she is certainly a serious wrestler. The crowd were dead but it did not stop from Victoria showing why she deserves far more than what she is currently getting hitting a beautiful standing moonsault. For some reason Brie tried to crawl under the ring and then was thrown back in the ring by Victoria who went for the set up to the Widows Peak only to be caught in a roll up by Brie for her debut victory. This was good to see some proper wrestling from a debuting diva and I will be looking forward to seeing her again over the coming weeks. I wonder when her sister will be called up?

Next up we see ‘the’ Brian Kendrick cutting an awesome backstage promo telling everyone how he doesn’t feel the need to fight amongst other competitors, instead he chooses to read the Art Of War. This guy is awesome and I really hope he brings his A Game to Unforgiven!

It is champion vs champion next as Triple H was taking on Shelton Benjamin. This should be a very solid match. Shelton came out very cocky but Triple H did not look impressed. Shelton hit some big arm drags grounding the Game early on. Shelton showed plenty of confidence trying to focus to Triple H’s arm who did not exactly do a good job selling this as the match continued. Triple H took control of the match focussing on Shelton’s arm but Shelton battled back but found himself dropped by a DDT. Shelton was able to drive Triple H into the corner and hit a flurry of aggressive strikes but then caught in a phenomenal counter as Triple H went for the pedigree only for Shelton to escape MVP style for a time out. As we return from commercial Shelton truly had the advantage hitting an awesome neck breaker as Triple H made his way back into the ring. A phenomenal show strength from Shelton locking in a brutal neck vice on the Game. Shelton was then able to lock in a finger four leg lock around the neck of Triple H who was somehow able to counter into a pin attempt. Amazing counter from Shelton as Triple H went for a suplex only for Shelton to land on his feet and execute a perfect neck breaker. This was great from Shelton and I believe truly shows he is ready for the next level in his career. Anyone who can wrestle toe to toe with Triple H and look good is something special. Shelton was driving Triple H into the turn buckle but the Game was able to evade the next charge and both men ended up on the mat. Benjamin attempted to leap over Triple H shortly after this only to have it caught and turned into a running power slam! What a match! BIG kick from Shelton dropping Triple H but somehow the Game kicked out, this was followed by a big spine buster from Triple H but Benjamin was able to counter the pedigree into a back breaker. For some reason The Great Khali appeared at the ramp but rather than being distracted by Khali, Triple H was able to counter the Pay Dirt into the Pedigree for the victory. Bizarre finish as the Khali interference would have been the perfect time for Shelton to pick up a shock win. Khali then got in the ring and delivered a Khali Bomb. I think someone needs to remind him that he is not in the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven! At least we didn’t have to see him wrestle this week!

As the show goes off the air we see Vickie still shaking in her office and the lights go out and she starts screaming. Ominous…

This was a good edition of Smackdown that built Unforgiven very effectively. We saw two good debuts from Brie and R-Truth and other than the divas tag match there was no part of the show that I did not enjoy. I think Big Show is going to have a major role to play in whatever happens with Vickie and The Undertaker over the coming weeks and that should be good to see as those two work very well together. Pity he had to bury the tag division in the process but that is something I am unfortunately used to seeing in WWE programming these days. We had to outstanding matches tonight with Triple H vs Shelton and Jeff vs MVP. I would have really liked to see Shelton pick up a shock win but I guess Triple H needed to be looking strong heading into Unforgiven. Jeff vs MVP was match of the night hands down. A truly awesome wrestling encounter between the two brightest stars of Smackdown.

This weeks Smackdown scores an excellent: 9/10

That is all for this week. I will be looking for this strong run of programming to continue as we continue to head towards Unforgiven. With so many injuries to some big names on Smackdown it has really given guys like MVP, Shelton and to an extent Kenny Dykstra the opportunity to step up and all I can say is it is a great thing to be a Smackdown viewer right now. Join me next week for more Chris Reviews Smackdown. As always the email is: a_agreement_called_forever@hotmail.com and the myspace: www.myspace.com/agreement_called_forever

Until next time The Rated R Era is resting in peace!

My top ten matches so far this year in WWE:

1. Edge vs Undertaker - Summerslam – 17th August 2008
2. Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 24 – 30th March 2008
3. Edge vs Undertaker – One Night Stand - 1st June 2008
4. Triple H vs John Cena – Night Of Champions – 29th June 2008
5. Edge vs Undertaker – Wrestlemania 24 - 30th March 2008
6. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho – Great American Bash – 20th July 2008
7. Jeff Hardy vs Shawn Michaels – RAW - 11th February 2008
8. Jeff Hardy vs MVP – Summerslam - 17th August 2008
9. Batista vs John Cena – Summerslam - 17th August 2008
10. RAW Elimination Chamber – No Way Out – 17th February 2008

Smackdown Power 10

1: Triple H
2: Shelton Benjamin
3: Jeff Hardy (+1)
4: MVP (-1)
5: Brian Kendrick
6: The Undertaker
7: The Big Show (+1)
8: Vladimir Kozlov (-1)
9: The Great Khali
10: The Edgeheads

Watch any WWE programming you miss at: http://newagewrestling.niceboard.com all you have to do is register and then you can watch your pick of some of the greatest matches in the history of pro wrestling as well as all of today’s great shows.

Tags: Brian Kendrick, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, MVP, R-Truth, Shelton Benjamin, SmackDown, Smackdown Power 10, The Undertaker, Triple H, Unforgiven