The Smackdown Low-down For 4/10/09

Pre-Show Thoughts/Events:

A video package highlighting WrestleMania 25 plays. It was a pretty good WrestleMania but as has been said before it was pretty much a one match show – at least it was one for the ages. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels will go down as one of my favorite matches ever. The rest of the show was pretty good to really good except the main event was trash.

Big Show vs. Kofi Kingston:

Kingston quickly springs up and hits a dropkick, sending the big man staggering. Kingston then hits a roundhouse kick in Big Show’s face and he falls back into the corner as a big thing of spit exits his mouth and falls off his tights. That was gross. Kingston now runs and leaps up to Big Show’s shoulders, punching him in the head. Big Show pushes him off and Kingston does a back flip on to his feet. Kingston ducks a Big Show clothesline and goes for another roundhouse kick but Big Show swats him down. Big Show picks him up and throws him across the ring. Big Show whips Kingston into the corner and charges but Kingston slides through the ropes and uses the ropes to propel his shin into Big Show’s head. Kingston goes to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick, staggering Big Show. Kingston goes into the ropes and hits a spinning roundhouse kick, taking Big Show down. Kingston is dancing around, goes into the ropes, and hits his Boom-Boom Leg. Kingston covers for a two count and Big Show presses him off him. Kingston now goes to the top rope and jumps off into a HUGE Knockout Punch from Big Show. Big Show then goes for the 1...2...3 for the win.

Winner by Pinfall: Big Show

A decent match to start off the new year of Smackdown(in my view). Kofi vs Show, two huge names there and really I was suspecting alot more than what happened. And AGAIN! I don't like how this match ended with the knockout punch from Big Show. Big Show used to always do this an all it would do would make the opponent fall down but NOW it is a "powerful" finisher that ends matches right away. Seriously either go back to your old finishers Big Show or get a new one.

Match Rating: 5/10

Santino Marella vs. The Great Khali:

The bell rings and Santino is protesting it. Santino goes for a kick but Khali catches it and throws him back. Santino gets up and walks right into the Punjabi Plunge and Khali covers him for the win.

Winner by Pinfall: The Great Khali

HORRIBLE. I actually almost cried after witnessing this. Very bad choice by Smackdown to do this, cant even carry-out a storyline with it.

Match Rating: 0/10

Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool:

Kim hits McCool with a nice dropkick and she goes down. McCool quickly gets back up so Gail Kim jumps up to her shoulders and hits a hurricanrana. Kim then gets a foot in McCool’s face and does a back bump but McCool messed it up on her end and it looked sloppy. It’s still a nice move though. McCool recovers on the outside while we see Diva’s Champion Maryse looking on from backstage. Kim tries to punch her from inside the ring but McCool avoids it. McCool then gets on the apron and Gail Kim greets her with a forearm. She goes for a suplex to bring McCool back in the ring but McCool counters and goes for a suplex of her own to the outside but Kim winds up on the apron. They spar on the apron until McCool throws Gail Kim shoulder first into the ring post, sending her crashing to the floor. McCool then kicks her in the face against the barricade and slides her back in the ring, covering for a two and a half count. McCool goes to put a leg down but Kim avoids it. Gail Kim hits her with some forearm shots and takes her down with a pair of clotheslines. She whips McCool into the corner and hits a leaping clothesline. McCool stumbles out of the corner and Gail Kim jumps to the second rope and back-flips into a cross-body block. Gail Kim only gets a two count. She goes up to the top rope and comes off for a missile dropkick but McCool avoids it. McCool covers and gets a one count but Gail Kim counters it into an inside cradle and pins her for the win.

Winner by Pinfall: Gail Kim

VERY nice match. Im starting to like the DIVA action more and more each week now. I am soooo happy that Gail Kim is back. I truely believe that she is one of the best women wrestlers of all time. She has an amazing move-set compared to all the other DIVA's and Santino. Great match.

Match Rating: 7/10

Carlito & Primo vs. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes:

DiBiase goes to the second rope and comes off with a double stomp. Somewhere Spike Dudley is bleeding on the independent circuit for a few measly bucks… DiBiase cover for a one count that is broken up by Carlito. DiBiase lays in the punches to Primo hard. DiBiase whips Primo hard chest first into the corner and tags in Rhodes. Rhodes sends Primo into the ropes and locks in an abdominal stretch. Primo counters out with a hip toss. Rhodes then charges and Primo hits him with a back body over the top rope. Primo is making his way to Carlito and DiBiase forces Rhodes back in the ring to try and cut Primo off but it’s too late. Carlito comes in, hits Rhodes with some left hands, goes into the ropes, and takes him down with a forearm shot. Carlito hits him with a kick to the midsection, goes into the ropes and hits a Million Dollar Knee Lift, goes back into the ropes and hits a flying clothesline. Carlito has a whip reversed on him but he ducks the clothesline attempt and dropkicks Ted DiBiase out of the ring as he tries for interference. Carlito then turns into a kick in the midsection and gets thrown into the corner. Rhodes charges and meets Carlito’s boot. Carlito goes to the top rope and Rhodes tries to stop him but he’s hit with a left hand. Then, while the referee’s back is turned, DiBiase comes on the apron and pulls Carlito off, bouncing him off the top rope, and Carlito walks right into the Cross Rhodes. Legacy picks up the win over the undisputed Tag Champs.

Winners by Pinfall: Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes

A pretty good tag team match. The tag teams these days just arn't any good I believe. I mean, TNA has better tag teams than Smackdown and that is saying something! Something I didn't like was that Carlito & Primo are the Unified Tag Team Champions. They are suppose to represent the best tag team in the WWE(even though they clearly arn't) and they lose to a team like DiBiase & Rhodes. Although this was of course just a match to continue the hype/storyline of HHH/Shane/Batista vs. Legacy, it is still sad that they have the new champs losing to low name tag teams already.

Match Rating: 6/10

Stretcher Match-Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy:

Matt begins pushing the stretcher up and Jeff starts fighting so Matt punches him a few times. Jeff is holding on to the barricade to prevent him from going up the ramp further. Matt pulls him off by his leg and Jeff counters with a flipping mule kick on the concrete section – no padding there. Jeff slowly gets up, in pain, and whips Matt HARD into the steel ring steps. Jeff sets up two stretchers and puts Matt on one. Jeff begins pushing Matt up the ramp but Matt gets off before crossing the line. They fight up and down the ramp with Jeff coming off with the worst of it, falling down the ramp. Matt then tries to ram the stretcher into his head but Jeff narrowly avoids it. Matt puts Jeff back in the ring and sets up a stretcher outside of it. Matt now goes under the ring and grabs a steel chair. Matt gets on the apron with it and Jeff pushes the chair in Matt’s face, sending him off the apron. The chair is on the stretcher now and Jeff gets Matt on the apron and punches him off, with Matt falling back onto the stretcher and the chair. Matt rolls off and has his face against the stretcher as Jeff Hardy goes to the top rope and comes off, hitting the end of the stretcher, catapulting it up in Matt’s face. Todd Grisham embarrassingly calls it as Jeff overshooting a move and then corrects himself and apologizes. Jeff puts Matt on a stretcher and goes to bring him up the ramp but Matt won’t let go of the apron so Jeff sends the stretcher and Matt into the steel steps, almost lawn darting Matt into the stairs face first. Jeff bounces his face off the steel steps and puts him on the stretcher. Jeff now goes to the top rope and goes for the Swanton Bomb to the outside but Matt rolls out of the way and Jeff hits the stretcher. That was really impressive. If he overshot by even an inch… Matt now begins pushing Jeff up the ramp on the stretcher but Jeff is trying his best to fight off but Matt keeps punching him down. Then Matt gets the steel chair, smashes it over Jeff’s head, leaving him unconscious, allowing Matt to push Jeff up the ramp on the stretcher and over the finish line.

Winner: Matt Hardy

AWESOME! Just awesome. What a great match to end Smackdown. One of the greatest matches on Smackdown since awhile. I just don't like how they are pushing Matt as the better Hardy when everyone clearly knows that Jeff is wayyyyy better than Matt.

Match Rating: 9/10

This concludes tonight's Smackdown!

What's Final Thoughts:

This was a terrific episode of Friday Night Smackdown tonight. Not many storylines tonight with the draft coming up on Monday so it was very wrestling heavy, which is something that makes me very happy. Unfortunately I fear that Smackdown is going to be ripped apart in this draft so this could be the last really good episode for a while – but who knows. The big story is Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy tonight. My guess is they had the blow off to this feud already because one of them is going to Raw next week. My guess is it’ll be Jeff Hardy but I’m hoping it’ll be Matt. Maybe he can do better than on Raw – give him a fresh start. Regardless they had a great Stretcher Match tonight and their feud over the past three months has been top notch. I also hope we’ll be seeing more of John Cena and Chris Jericho, with the latter being the most likely to come over. All in all this was a great way to end the post WrestleMania week – lots of good matches tonight and a really great Cutting Edge segment. Smackdown will have a new talent pool next week but we’ll make the best of it, even though we’ll be losing some big stars, probably even JR. I’m not looking forward to potentially having Michael Cole back. Ugh! Regardless, tonight was great!

NOTE: I am EXTREMELY disappointed that I had to leave out the cutting edge segment and having to shorting the tag team match commentary. I have a 2000 word limit and I try to give you the matches with the most commentary from it as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please tune in next week for the next edition of The Smackdown Low-down! Thanks for reading!