Linda's Thoughts - Smackdown and Theodore Long

Posted by Linda Robin on 07/31/04 at 03:44 AM

Yeah it’s all good. I thought Smackdown again showed signs of a major turn around. I really have very little to complain about. I will get to my complaints first and then it’s all smooth sailing after that. Smackdown is definitely making a nice comeback. Also I thought the Cincinnati fans did a great job there. They were pretty much into everything. Okay on to the show.

I’m an Undertaker fan. I think the guy is still quite the performer. Maybe not the greatest in the ring but he still has that presence that keeps him a fan favorite. And each time that I have seen him at a live show you could just feel how special he is. I’m telling you all of this because I’m pissed that Taker was not on last night. This is a pattern that I thought would finally come to an end when he challenged JBL for the WWE title at Summer Slam. But no, Taker was a no show and in fact there was no buildup at all for their upcoming match in three weeks. Now I know Taker doesn’t run the show, so Vince is the main guy that has me angry over this. But supposedly Mark Calloway (Undertaker) wants to cut back and only show up for important reasons. WWE wants to treat him like a very special WWE superstar.

I will do my best to keep my tirade short, but it’s bad enough he shows up one week and then not for another two weeks. But now he’s in the title race and with two Smackdown’s left before Summer Slam this title thing is basically worthless. JBL better keep that belt at Summer Slam because it would be totally unfair to give it to a man that doesn’t show up weekly. As you can see there was a big gap last night when it came to focusing on the WWE title. I will say this; Bradshaw’s “political” video came off very well. I totally enjoyed it. And I also want to say as good as the interaction between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero was, the whole segment leading up to Kurt coming out went on way too long. In fact the crowd seemed to clam up rather fast. We all know how great Eddie is on the mic, and he definitely had his moments. But selling Kurt’s GM stuff just seemed to go on much too long. But the positive? I’m hyped for Kurt and Eddie at Summer Slam; I can’t wait to finally see their Wrestlemania rematch.

Also another segment that seemed to go nowhere was when Booker T came out to claim the U.S. -title and then Kenzo came out. Last week it was a Kenzo-free show and it was great, last night again his character came off boring and totally unimportant. And when Suzuki and Booker interacted you could hear a pin drop. After this little thing between Kenzo and Booker, RVD, Renee Dupree, Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn and John Cena all came out wanting that U.S. title. I was very happy about the way they put so much importance on the title. It’s about time. We found out that Vince named Theodore Long the new GM. I thought he did a decent job last night. He told the divas, Jackie, Torrie, Dawn and Sable, or as he called them baby girls that they would no longer but under utilized on the show. He’s playing the face GM, now let’s see if he can pull that off. And quickly I have nothing to say about John Henindenreich. Oh yeah I do, DON’T BRING HIM BACK!

Long also had a face to face with the fired GM Kurt Angle. As Angle tried his hardest not to wrestle, Teddy simply put Kurt in his place by fining him $1,000.00 and informing Mr. Angle that HE would be wrestling next week. You better belee dat! And quickly I have nothing to say about John Heindenreich. Oh yeah I do, DON’T BRING HIM BACK!
It was Smackdown’s wrestling that really put the show over. It’s hard to believe that there were only three matches but each match was totally enjoyable to watch. The first match with Spike Dudley beating Rey Mysterio, Jr. for the Cruiserweight title was an excellent match. And Spike’s win seemed to please many of the Cincinnati fans. I mean really when was the last time Spike held a title in the WWE? I don’t think ever, so it’s a nice change of pace. And Spike’s win was also a little tainted since his brothers Bubba and D-Von came out to help things along. I don’t know about you, but next week with Spike and Rey teaming up against Bubba and D-Von, I swear that Spike is going to turn on Rey and go heel with his brothers. If he doesn’t turn I’m going to be totally shocked.


And speaking of those nasty Dudley’s. Bubba and D-Von really put on a good match against Paul London and Billy Kidman. This was by far my favorite match of the night. The Dudley’s have bored me for a long time, but they have really come to life since turning heel and being on Smackdown. London shined last night and so far so good with Vince continuing to keep the belts on both guys. Of course Rey Mysterio figured into the London/Kidman victory. It was payback time and Rey did all he could to keep the Dudley’s from winning. And before I get to the main event. My God how funny was the Summer Slam commercial with Batista? Watching Batista break dancing and doing the moves or should I say some of them when his double wasn’t doing them was really funny. I really have enjoyed so many of the Summer Slam ads this year.

The main event was an eight man elimination match with the winner becoming the new U.S. champion. It was Charlie Haas vs. Renee Dupree vs. RVD vs. Kenzo Suzuki vs. Billy Gunn vs. Luther Reigns vs. Booker T. vs. John Cena. Naturally this match had a lot going for it but I also found that Kenzo did nothing at all to interest me, Charlie Haas has it, but it seems like Vince doesn’t know it and I am so sick of Renee Dupree’s look. His blond hair and the whole French gimmick. Now the guy can wrestle and when he does mic work without the accent he’s good, but I just can’t take the gimmick anymore. Truthfully watching him last night bored me and made me really not like him very much. It’s time for a change. But this was a good match with some great moves by all that were in there. Booker was able to pin Cena thanks to RVD’s five star frog splash on him. RVD rolled off and Booker got the pin. As RVD got half way up Book did the old axe kick on him and got the win. So Spike became the new Cruiserweight champion and Booker is not holding the U.S. title. Not bad for free TV.

I can honestly say this has been a super week for WWE programs. I did not get Impact today because of a Cub game, so I will watch that on Tuesday. But back to Smackdown, I’m very glad to see that Vince has kept his two appearances very brief. That is definitely the way to go. After watching this week’s shows I am really looking forward to Summer Slam.

Email lvaccarp@hotmail.com

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