Smackdown on MyNetwork TV
Taped on 4/7/09 in Austin, Texas.

[Q1] A video package showed highlights from Wrestlemania…The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Jim Ross and Todd Grisham welcomed us to Smackdown…They hyped Cena’s appearance on The Cutting Edge…

Shore’s Slant: The storms that killed people in Tennessee ae bearing down on us as we speak. I’ll stay with you as long as I can.

Matt Hardy’s music hit and he came to the ring in street clothes. He got a mic and cut a promo on Mania. He put over the Taker/Michaels match. He said the greatest Wrestlemania moment of all time happened Sunday. He said it was when Matt beat the Extreme Enigma in an Extreme Rules Match in the most extreme way possible with an extreme Twist of Fate. Kill me please.

He said he proved after one move and three seconds that he was the superior Hardy. The crowd gave him heat for that. He said that beating Jeff would not be enough. He said as long as some guy did Jeff’s hand signal, “like this guy,” or some girl screams his name, it wouldn’t be enough. He said he had to erase Jeff from WWE. He said until he gets rid of Jeff he will be haunt him and chase him. He said Jeff should be a man and come to the ring and apologize to the people for being a disappointment and to him for being his brother. He said if Jeff didn’t, he would leave the arena strapped to a stretcher and would never wrestle again.

The crowd chanted, “We want Jeff,” and Matt called him out. Jeff’s music hit and the crowd tried to kill each other. Jeff ran in and Matt bailed. Jeff sold his ass hurting from Mania. New Smackdown General Manager came out and said Matt and Jeff would face each other in a stretcher match. Teddy flubbed his lines and said he was doing it because one or both of them may be leaving Smackdown Monday…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Tonight is what this feud needed before Mania to make me care about this match. Decent promo by Matt. He gets better every week and there may be hope for him yet. I can’t express in words how excited I am that Teddy Long is the GM again. Nothing like watching race relations being set back every Friday night.

[Q2]Back from commercial, a picture showed Cena with Show and Edge on his back from Mania. They hyped his appearing on the Cutting Edge for later…Backstage, Eve and her tits interviewed Kofi Kingston. Kofi put over being in the MITB match being as dangerous as his match tonight against the Big Show. He said maybe tonight he beats the Big Show and shocks the world…

Shore’s Slant: Not with this team of bookers you won’t!

1. Big Show defeated Kofi Kingston at 3:28. The announce team put over Show as being pissed off. Kofi tried to lame ass handstand/kick things and on the second one, Show stomped on his head. Kofi escaped Show and managed to get a couple of kicks in, and then Show chopped him and the beat down began. Show hit a Camel Clutch slam which woke up Kingston. Kingston hit a couple of dropkicks until Show swatted one away and retook control. Kingston kicked Show as he charged into the corner, hit a missile dropkick, and finally dropped Show with another dropkick. He hit his signature leg drop and the climbed the ropes again. Show punched him out of the air for the win. Post match, a video replay showed the high spots…

A video recapped the HOF ceremony…The announce team hyped the Hardy Stretcher match for later…[C]

Shore’s Slant: That’s first time I remember ever really paying attention to Kingston in an interview. Why isn’t this guy pushed? He can wrestle his ass off and he’s better than most on the mic. WTF? JJ Dillon talked about the lack of young talent, but it seems to me young talent never gets a chance so that’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy isn’t it? And for the record, how awesome was it when Steamboat and Flair locked up. For a split second I was 12 again and that was cool.

[Q3]A video recapped the Santina/Beth Phoenix match from Monday…Back ringside, Santino’s music hit and he came to the ring. He cut a promo on his “twin sister.” He showed a picture of Santina at Mania. Santino said he asked Teddy Long if he could come to Smackdown and issue a challenge to the locker room. Long said yes, so he wanted someone to come to the ring and he would turn their face into Carpaccio.

The Great Khali’s music hit and he and Mini-Me came to the ring. Mini-Me said Santino didn’t have to face Khali if Santino could get his sister to appear on the Khali kiss cam because Khali thought she was hot. Santino asked if Khali was a pervert. He said no for his sister. Khali laughed through the whole bit and said something into the mic. Mini-Me translated it as “Wrong answer” and told the ref to ring the bell. The ref did…

2. The Great Khali w/Ranjin Singh defeated Santiono Marella at 0:26. Punjabi Plunge. Pin. That’s it…The announce team hyped a recap of the Undertaker’s streak at Mania…[C]

Shore’s Slant: I swear to God I am not going to cover Khali and Santino Marella making out. You sick bastards. I’d rather see Edge and Vickie do it than those two kiss.

Back from commercial and the announce team put over the Taker/Michaels match as great. They showed the front page of the Houston Chronicle that had a pic of Michaels dropping the elbow on Taker. A video recapped all of Taker’s wins at Mania with lots of footage of he and HBK…Back to ringside, Gail Kim made her ring entrance…[C]

Shore’s Slant: Has anybody seen the Burger King/Sir Mix A Lot/Baby got square back commercial. Please tell me you have. If not, the drugs have finally caught up with me.

[Q4]A video package covered Cena’s tour to promote 12 Rounds…Back ringside, a video recapped Gail Kim’s pin of Maryse last week…Michelle McCool made her entrance…

3. Gail Kim defeated Michelle McCool at 2:54. McCool attacked Kim at the bell and then it got bad. Lots of missed spots. Maryse was shown watching on a monitor backstage. McCool got the better of Kim and drover her to the floor and kicked her against the wall. She rolled Kim back in and missed a leg drop. Kim hulked up and hit a flying cross body for two. McCool rolled out from an elbow drop from the top. She went to cover and Kim rolled her up for the win…Edge was shown making his way towards the ring…[C]

Shore’s Slant: McCool needs to go away for a while as she is completely uninspired. She looks aloof and was the problem with that match. She couldn’t keep up with Kim. That should have been good, but McCool made it awful. Tough break for Kim.

Back from commercial, Edge was already in the ring with his set. He got his mic and said he hadn’t slept in a week. He said he rolled into Houston expecting the biggest win of his life. He said that win and the World Heavyweight Championship were stolen from him by his guest tonight, John Cena. He turned towards the ramp and Cena made his entrance. Edge invited him to sit down. Cena took his mic and said, “Since I didn’t get a chance on Monday, let me get this out of the way real quick.” He held up the belt and did his champ is here bit.

Edge ordered Cena to sit down and he did. The crowd started chanting Cena and Cena said there were thousands of loud people here tonight and the crowd popped. Edge said he didn’t care about them. HE said he wanted to talk to Cena. He said the World Heavyweight Championship is his life and what keeps his heart beating. Edge said he could handle whatever went on as ling as he had the belt. He said Cena stole it from him. Cena stood up and Edge ordered him to sit down again. Cena did.

[Q5]Cena asked him if that was it. If it was that he stole the belt from him. He told Edge to get over himself and accept that he lost at Mania. Cena went to leave and Edge yelled, “You ruined my life.” Cena asked him how he thought this was going to end up. Cena pulled the stool closer and asked him how many years, matches, tables, ladders, chairs, his dad, Edge’s hometown and Wrestlemania they went through. He said the reason fans love this is because every time one of them does something to the other, they know the other will raise the bar.

Cena said that instead of talking about the greatest rivalry in sports entertainment history and all Edge had to say was Cena stole it, then he wasted his time. Cena went to leave and Edge said he hated him. He said it was a strong word but is summed up his feelings. He said he hated Cena’s hat, wristbands, shoes, music, the Cena nation, everything. He said the feud had shortened both of their careers. He said at Backlash, this would end because one of them would beat the other so bad he couldn’t stand up. He said to make no mistake, he would be the winner. Cena got in his face and barked, “No.” Cena said Edge might be a better wrestler, smarter, and better able to use situations to his advantage, but he could look in Edge’s eyes and see how tired he was. He said Edge knew he was tougher and that he would win and that’s why he hates Cena.

Cena said it wasn’t the hat, wristbands, or shirt. He took off each one as he said it. He said it was none of that. He said it was because no matter what Edge did, Cena always got back up. Cena screamed at him to end it tonight. He said, “Hit me in the face and I will unleash hell on you!” Edge took his shirt off and they faced off. Edge raised his fist and then turned and climbed out of the ring. He looked back at Cena and then walked slowly away. Cena’s music hit and he celebrated in the ring. JR sold the segment as very emotional…They hyped Legacy (Cody and Ted) vs. The Colons for next…

Shore’s Slant: That was great. Solid mic work from two of the best. I’m intrigued where this Edge angle is going. It’s weird though. Doesn’t the heel usually taunt the face as being the weaker one? Do we have a double turn? Of course not, that’s what makes it strange. I like the hype for the match though.

[Q6]Back from commercial, the announce team told everyone that Primo and Carlito unified the tag championships. A video recapped the rematch on Raw. Legacy made their entrances without Orton…

4. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase defeated Carlito and Primo Colon at 9:14. DiBiase and Carlito started out. The announce team pointed out that Legacy has a title shot at Backlash. DiBiase and Rhodes worked quickly in and out on Carlito. Carlito dodged an elbow drop and tagged in Primo. He power bombed Primo onto Rhodes for a two count. Carlito tagged back in and Rhodes hit a chin buster. Legacy tried to double clothesline Carlito but he ducked and hit his back springboard elbow on them both. Primo ran in and they clotheslined Legacy over the top. DiBiase ran back in and Carlito back dropped him. DiBiase backed into a corner as the show went to commercial…[C]

Back from commercial and Rhodes worked on Primo. Rhodes and DiBiase again tagged in and out quickly. Rhodes hooked in an abdominal stretch and Primo reversed into a hip toss. Rhodes charged and Primo tossed him over the top. DiBiase rolled Rhodes back in, but Primo got the hot tag and Carlito wrecked Rhodes. Carlito dropkicked DiBiase to the floor and climbed the ropes. DiBiase pulled Carlito off the rope and Rhodes hit his finisher, Cross Rhodes, for the win. DiBiase got a cheap shot on Primo and hit his finisher, Dream Street. They beat on the champs and Randy Orton came to the ring and kicked the champs a little. The group posed in the ring…[C]

Shore’s Slant: A solid, but uneventful match. That’s good, they managed to peak my interest and not give it all away. This ought to be pretty good after a month working house shows to get it right. This is a true heel stable for now. Evolution got cheers from the second it formed and never really felt healish whenever Flair was involved. He’s loved too much. But fans hate these guys, which they should. They could build several new faces with the heat they generate.

[Q7]Back from commercial, Legacy was still in the ring. Orton cut a promo on the six-man match for the title. The crowd popped when Orton mentioned Batista and his return on Raw. He reminded the crowd that he was the one to put Batista on the shelf. Orton explained that the title could change hands if anyone on his team pinned anyone on the other team. Orton said at Backlash he would take his rightful place, which he should have done at Mania, as the WWE Champion. He actually said the part about Mania. Guess he’s been reading the dotNet boards…The announce team ran down the current Backlash card…

Grisham left the table and explained the rules of the stretcher match as this was the first one on Smackdown. Well lucky me. Jeff made his entrance…[C]

5. Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy in a Stretcher Match in 15:15. Matt charged in and Jeff side stepped him and took control. They tumbled to ringside and the stretcher fun began. Jeff tried, and failed to suplex Matt onto a stretcher. Matt regained control and took the action back to the ring. Matt tried a suplex, but Jeff reversed into a front suplex. Matt reversed a move into a Side Effect.

[Q8]He rolled the stretcher to the ring and placed Jeff on it. He got the first two wheels across the line and Jeff kicked him in the face. He rolled off the stretcher and clotheslined Matt. Jeff rolled the stretcher to the top of the ramp and surfed it down and jumped off to tackle Matt in a very cool spot to go into commercial…[C]

Back at the 7:08 mark and Matt whipped Jeff who tackled Matt. He picked up Matt for a front atomic drop, but Matt locked in a weird submission move. Matt put Jeff on the stretcher and made it to the bottom of the ramp when Jeff fought out. Jeff whipped Matt into the stairs and both rested for a moment. Jeff got up and put Matt on the stretcher and got to the ramp but Matt slid out. They fought across the stretcher until Jeff fell down. He tried to run over Jeff’s head with the stretcher but Jeff moved. Matt rolled him back in the ring and set the stretcher up at ringside.

Matt got a chair but Jeff hit it into Matt’s head. Matt dropped the chair on the stretcher and Jeff punched him until he fell back onto the chair and stretcher. Matt rolled off and was holding onto the bottom of the stretcher. Jeff hit a leg drop onto the top of the stretcher, ramming the stretcher into Matt’s face. Jeff placed Matt on the stretcher, face down, and rammed it into the corner, sending Matt flying. He placed Matt back on the stretcher and climbed to the top rope. He went for the Swanton and Matt moved. Holy Shit. Matt rolled Jeff up the ramp. He had to stop a few times to punch Jeff before crossing the line and winning. Matt celebrated and kicked the stretcher. Jeff rolled all the way to the ring before slamming to a stop…

Shore’s Slant: Wow, Smackdown was better than Raw this week. That match was better than their Mania match in my opinion. Great hot spots and Jeff Hardy is a fool. No way I dive onto a stretcher. Wow. Solid, solid show and I hope this continues after the draft. I vote NO to JR returning to Raw. Most of you disagree, but piss off, I have to cover this show, I want a good announcer. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week

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