WWE Friday Night Smackdown on My Network TV
Taped in Manchester, England

[Q1] A commercial aired for the local Sacramento market. Triple H, Eve Torres, The Big Show, Jeff Hardy, and Maria mentioned our channel by name. That must have been a long day of taping...

Footage aired of the attitude transformation of Jeff Hardy last week on Smackdown, complete with Vickie Guerrero granting Hardy an Extreme Rules match against The Undertaker this week...

Jim Ross welcomed us to the show and a casket sat in the middle of the ring. Undertaker's music played in the background as Taker narrated a piece for The Big Show. He said he was going to pull Show down to the depths of hell. Taker popped out of the casket.

Jeff Hardy, with a mixture of Sting and the Joker paint on his face, told Taker he should be concerned with facing him tonight. Hardy said he had nothing to lose and all of his emotion, pain, and anger would beat him tonight. Taker told Hardy he would rest in peace tonight. JR plugged the Hardy vs. Taker match. Tazz promoted a champion vs. champion match with Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Nice followup from Hardy based on what he did last week. I liked his face paint and dark promo.

JR plugged tonight's contract signing between Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov. Tazz informed us we would be seeing Michelle McCool defend the Diva's Championship against Maria...

[Q2] 1. Matt Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin in 14:07. Hurricane popped up and said Benjamin's hair looked like he was the love child of Gary Coleman and someone else. I did not catch the second name. The first two minutes of the match saw Benjamin working Hardy over with some nice mat work.

Hardy turned the tides and did the same. Hardy focused his attack on the left arm of Shelton. When Benjamin attempted to come back, Hardy bested him with a series of deep, Ricky Steamboat like, armdrags... [C]

The show came back from commercial unexpectedly quick. Hardy tried a left handed suplex, just like Jeff does, and Shelton countered to take the offensive advantage. Shelton worked heavily on the left leg and ankle of Hardy. Hardy came back with a side effect and bulldog for two separate nearfalls. Shelton hit a huge kick to the face for a nearfall.

Shelton, with Hardy in the corner, hit two Stinger splashes. He tried a third one but Hardy countered it with what looked like a side effect. Shelton came back and perched Hardy backward on the top rope. Hardy knocked him off and hit a moonsault for a very nearfall. Benjamin was able to lock in a single leg Boston Crab but Hardy reached the bottom rope. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate out of nowhere for the win... [C]


Twill's Two Cents: Very good match. I like that they utilized logical mat work along with their superior athletic skills. I feel both men look strong coming out of the match. Two for two this week for Matt Hardy.

[Q3] Video game footage of Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy aired as JR narrated. He said we would see the real thing tonight...

2. The Brian Kendrick (with Ezekiel Jackson) defeated Carlito (with Primo Colon) in 5:48. Some solid action between came to a head when Jackson knocked out Primo, distracting Carlito to the point to give Kendrick the opening to score the win... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: This was a solid match and I'm guessing it is leading to a tag title program between these four. That would be just fine.

[Q4] A Kizarny vignette aired. The weekly John Cena video followed. After the video, JR plugged Cena vs. Jericho at the Survivor Series...

Vickie Guerrero, with Chavo, a table, and chairs, sat in the middle of the ring. She dropped her "Excuse me" line, but it just does not garner the heat it used to. She said she invited both Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov into her ring for the official contract signing. She said there would be no physicality... [C]

Back from commercial, Vickie informed us that Jeff Hardy could make his way into the match at Survivor Series if he takes out The Undertaker tonight. Vickie put over the WWE Championship match as one that could only take place on her show. She put over Kozlov and introduced him. Kozlov came out in jeans, a t-shirt, and black suit jacket.

Vickie then introduced Triple H and forgot how to use the word "the." "He is Cerebral Assassin; he is King of Kings." H came out in his shirt and a leather jacket. H removed his sunglasses, grabbed a microphone, and stared down his challenger...

[Q5] H said it was like the United Nations in the ring. There was someone from Russia, someone from Mexico (Chavo), and someone from "Fatslavia." Vickie settled things down and both mean had a seat. Kozlov signed the contract and said a bunch of shit in Russian. H wondered if anyone understood him.

Kozlov told Triple H to shut up. H said it was not his first barbecue and he has main evented pay-per-views with the WWE Championship on the line. Out of nowhere, Jeff Hardy went to the top rope and closelined Kozlov through the table. He then tore up the contract and threw it into Triple H's face before taking off...

Twill's Two Cents: Contract signings usually suck but this was a nice twist and Hardy's involvement was very well done.

JR plugged Hardy vs. Taker... [C]

JR and Tazz narrated the replay coming back from the break...

3. Kung Fu Naki defeated MVP in 1:21. Anyone notice that MVP always poses a split second after his pyro hits? I love how Naki is billed "from Japan." That is like anyone else being billed "from America." MVP knocked Fu Naki to the mat when The Great Khali's music hit. He came out with Ranjin Singh. The distraction allowed Naki to hit the Crane Kick for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Well, at least MVP will get a Survivor Series bonus check and Fu Naki will not.

[Q6] After the match, Khali hit the huge chop on MVP. Singh then hosted a UK version of the Khali Kiss-Cam. As a larger broad made her way to the ring, Khali knocked out MVP again. The woman tripped on the ring steps. "Watch that first step lady," advised JR. This lady was fat, ugly, and drunk. Poor Khali. MVP stood up again, only to be chokeslammed.

Khali almost kissed the woman, but he decided to hand her off to MVP instead. With MVP lying on the mat, the woman mounted and kissed MVP. She served as a smelling salt for MVP because he jumped up and exited the ring very quickly. "MVP's having a rough night," said Tazz... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Wow, poor MVP.

Footage was shown of Maria becoming the number one contender a month ago by winning a "Fuzzy dice on a pole match."...

4. Michelle McCool defeated Maria to retain the WWE Diva's Championship in 1:37. Hurricane popped up and said, "Diva title, yeah. I'm just sayin'." They shook hands before the opening bell. Jesse and Festus came out to the ring. Festus has a teddy bear with him. Maria scored the first nearfall with an ensiguiri. Michelle locked in the heel hook and changed it up to an ankle lock to gain the quick submission victory.

After the bell rang, Festus went after Michelle. In the ring, Festus helped Maria up and gave her the bear. Maria thanked him as she recovered. Jesse and Festus helped Maria out of the ring...

Twill's Two Cents: That's it? Maria wins a number one contender's match a month ago and Michelle teases a heel turn, and we get a minute and a half? Wow.

JR plugged tonight's main event again... [C]

[Q7] The Raw Rebound aired and with good reason, focused on the feud and final match (for now) between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. JBL's interference assisted Jericho in obtaining the victory against Michaels. JR and Tazz ran down the current card for the Survivor Series...

Jeff Hardy made his ring entrance and still received a very loud pop. His new face paint is pretty cool; I must admit. Footage was shown of Hardy interrupting the contract signing earlier in the evening. Hardy waited on the entrance of The Undertaker... [C]

The Undertaker made his ring entrance, and as always, it was very cool...

5. Jeff Hardy defeated The Undertaker in an Extreme Rules match in 15:56. Hardy was fast from the opening bell. He closelined Taker to the floor and ran the railing to hit another closeline. He tried it again but Taker caught him and threw him into the steel steps... [C]

[Q8] Taker was on the offensive coming back from the break. He threw Hardy to the floor and whipped him forcefully into the guardrail. Taker positioned Hardy on the apron, placed a chair on top of him, and hit his signature leg drop. As Taker went for another chair, Hardy grabbed a kendo stick and nailed Taker with it multiple times.

He tossed Taker back into the ring and hit him again, but Taker countered with a big boot to Hardy's face. Taker picked up the kendo stick and hit Hardy in the back, knocking him to the floor. Taker followed him out and tried a running big boot, but Hardy moved. Taker crotched himself on the top of the guardrail.

Hardy fought back with about twenty hard right hands. Taker countered with one, sending Hardy to the mat. Hardy countered a move and slammed Taker into the steps. He then used the steps for Poetry in Motion and ended up on the floor in the crowd. Hardy recovered and both men traded shots on the floor before Taker threw him back into the ring.

The Undertaker went for Old School but Hardy crotched him on the top rope. Hardy went to the floor and underneath the ring. He brought a ladder out from the other side of the ring. He entered the ring with the ladder and ate the ladder via an Undertaker big boot. Taker threw the ladder into Hardy's face and sternum as he stood in the corner.

Taker set up the ladder and whipped Hardy into the corner. Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind. Big Show hit the ring, disposed of Hardy, and hit a chokeslam on Taker. Hardy jumped at Show and was caught. He held onto him and Taker hit Show with a chairshot. Hardy then hit Taker with a chair. He set the ladder up and hit the leg drop from the top rope over the ladder for the pinfall...

Twill's Two Cents: I did not care for Show's interference but it made sense. The match was very good and very physical. JR and Tazz were on top of their game here, especially when JR referred to a ladder match between these two many years ago.

Hardy stumbled to the back and was met by Vickie and Chavo. Vickie applauded Jeff and told him he would be added to the championship match at Survivor Series if he could beat Triple H next week. Hardy said that was fair and he would beat Triple H. He warned Vickie that if she did not add him to the title match, he would go extreme on her...

Solid show tonight. What did you think? As always, send your feedback to dotnetrich@gmail.com

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