The Smackdown Low-down For 4/24/09

Opening Thoughts/Events:

Great match card for tonight, can't wait.

Matt Hardy & Kane vs. CM Punk & Jeff Hardy:

Jeff into the corner and charges but Jeff gets his feet in his face. Jeff then explodes out of the corner with a flying neckbreaker and both men are down. Matt is the first up and he tags in Kane, who immediately hits an elbow on Jeff. Kane stomps Jeff, picks him up, and hits a picture-perfect suplex. Kane makes a cover for two and a half. Kane sends Jeff into the corner and hits a clothesline. Kane tags Matt back in and chokes Jeff with his boot before leaving the ring. Matt follows suit and chokes Jeff with his boot too until the referee makes him back up. Kane uses the distraction to boot Jeff in the head. Matt picks Jeff up and floors him with a big right hand. He pins Jeff for a two and a half count. Matt now locks Jeff in a chin lock with half a body scissor on. Jeff fights up so Matt goes to bounce his head off the turnbuckle but Jeff blocks it, elbows him away, shoots to the top rope and hits Whisper in the Wind. Jeff’s cover is quickly broken up by Kane, which causes CM Punk to take him out of the ring with a big clothesline. Punk then hits a suicide dive to the outside. Jeff and Matt trade punches and kicks inside the ring. Matt blocks a kick so Jeff counters that with his flipping mule kick. Jeff sends his legs into Matt’s groin and follows it up with a quick dropkick to the face. Jeff now calls for the Twist of Fate and goes for it but Matt pushes him into the ropes where Kane is waiting and Jeff forearms him off the apron. Matt then rolls Jeff up from behind to steal the match for his team.

Winners by Pinfall: Matt Hardy & Kane

Matt is now 3-0 against Jeff. I actually liked this match planning alot. Matt & Kane, now thats a wierd combo, but it worked out great.

Match Rating: 8/10

Big Show vs. Undertaker

Big Show gets up, frustrated, and he clubs Undertaker’s neck. Big Show now locks on a Dragon Sleeper. Big Show has some good torque on this and Undertaker can’t do much. Out of nowhere Undertaker turns it around and counters with a DDT. Undertaker covers for a two and a half count. Undertaker gets up, hitting his arms to get feeling back into them, and hits Big Show with a right hand. Big Show responds with a body shot and Undertaker fires back with another right hand. They trade blows with Big Show getting the upper-hand with lots of body shots. He whips Undertaker into the corner and charges into Undertaker’s feet. Undertaker goes into the ropes, ducks a clothesline, and hits his flipping lariat. Undertaker covers for a two and a half count. Undertaker now wrenches Big Show’s arm, walks the top rope, and goes for Old School but he jumps right into the Knockout Punch. Undertaker staggers around the ring for a few moments as Big Show doesn’t cover – he just watches. Undertaker pulls himself up and Big Show punches him in the back of the skull. Undertaker falls down to the mat and the referee stops the match.

Winner by Referee's Choice: Big Show

A big way to send Big Show off to Raw. That Knockout Punch though, I mean seriously, it is one of the worst designed finishers ever. GET RID OF IT! But I was very surprised they made it look like Undertaker was getting bullied in the ring. But it was Big Show's last Smackdown and I am actually sad to see him go.

Match Rating: 7/10

WWE Diva’s Championship
Maryse (c) vs. Gail Kim:

Maryse fires back with a punch and a knee to the midsection before hitting a sweeping face-breaker. Maryse then gets on the mat and pounds Kim’s head into it some more until the referee reprimands her – she then promptly does her shut up hand gesture to him. Maryse picks Kim up by the hair and bounces her head off again before skipping back and celebrating. Maryse now sits on Kim’s back and pulls back on the neck, taking the time out to rub Kim’s face and slap her numerous times on the back of the head. Gail Kim fights up and elbows out. Maryse goes for the French TKO but Kim ducks it and clotheslines Maryse down. Maryse winds up in the corner and Kim hits her with her jumping clothesline. Kim whips Maryse into the corner and charges into a back elbow. Maryse goes to the second rope but Gail Kim cuts her off and hits a super hurricanrana. Gail Kim covers for a two and a half count. Gail Kim goes to the top rope but Maryse has had enough and walks out. Gail Kim cuts her off and throws her back into the ring. As Kim is getting in, Maryse hits her with a Stun Gun on the ropes and Kim collapses to the outside. Maryse drags her back in and hits the French Kiss for the win.

Winner & STILL WWE Diva’s Champion: Maryse

Gail Kim should've won, she is the best wrestling Diva out there. Im still hopeful that she will get another chance and win. I think Maryse is a horrible champion but..I guess WWE likes her.

Match Rating: 5/10

MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero

Guerrero slides in and kicks MVP in the lower back. He then locks an arm bar on MVP and puts some torque on it. MVP fights up and body slams Guerrero down. MVP shakes some feeling back into his left arm as Guerrero charges into the back of MVP’s elbow. MVP follows it up with a nice clothesline and charges Guerrero but Guerrero surprises him with a dropkick. Guerrero then baseball slides MVP out of the ring. Guerrero follows MVP outside and kicks him in the arm before throwing him back in. Guerrero is coming in and MVP stuns him with a knee in the face. Guerrero is barely hanging on to the ropes from falling off the apron and MVP doesn’t help him any by bouncing his head off the top turnbuckle. MVP then suplexes him back into the ring. MVP now gets the crowd into it and hits the BALLIN’ Elbow for a two count. MVP whips Guerrero into the corner and charges into Guerrero’s feet. Guerrero charges out into an overhead belly to belly overhead suplex and MVP quickly hits the Playmaker to end the match.

Winner by Pinfall: MVP

Decent match. Why Chavo is facing MVP was the biggest question for me. Just get Chavo away from Smackdown, PLEASE!

Match Rating: 5/10

Batista & Shane McMahon vs. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes:

Batista hits a backbreaker and keeps Rhodes on his knee as McMahon flies off the second rope with an elbow to Rhodes, turning him inside out. McMahon covers for a two count, which is broken up by Ted DiBiase. McMahon turns his attention to DiBiase and talks some trash meanwhile Rhodes sneaks up behind him and dropkicks him in the head. DiBiase now yells for the tag and gets it.

DiBiase comes in and stomps McMahon a whole bunch of times. He then mounts him and punches him before Chioda makes him get off. McMahon tries to quickly crawl to Batista but DiBiase cuts him off and gets a front face lock on him. He brings McMahon to his corner and Rhodes tags in. They double whip McMahon chest first into the turnbuckle and Rhodes follows up with a stomp to the head. Rhodes covers for a two and a half count. McMahon almost gets the better of Rhodes by almost getting to Batista before Rhodes cuts him off. Rhodes stomps him a few times and then punches him. Rhodes powers McMahon into the corner and punches him a few times. McMahon blocks one and punches Rhodes loopy a few times but Rhodes eventually counters with a nice Russian Leg Sweep. Rhodes tags in DiBiase and holds McMahon down. DiBiase comes off the second rope with a double stomp to the chest and he covers for a two and a half count. DiBiase stomps McMahon a few times in the head and gets a modified Camel Clutch on. McMahon slides out and almost gets to Batista but DiBiase gets him in a chin lock. DiBiase drives his knee into McMahon’s ribs and tags in Rhodes. DiBiase body slams McMahon before leaving. Rhodes hits a Ric Flair Knee to McMahon’s head and covers for a two and a half count. Rhodes stomps Shane O’Mac all frustrated and taunts tagging Batista in. He then gets McMahon to a vertical base and hits a snapmare followed by a stomp to the head. Rhodes now gets a neck vice on and the crowd is getting into it. McMahon gets out of it with some punches. Rhodes pushes McMahon into the ropes, boots him in the midsection, and goes for a suplex but Shane twists out and hits a DDT.

Rhodes tags DiBiase in and DiBiase forearms Batista off the apron when McMahon was centimeters from a tag. McMahon gets a Mexican roll-up and DiBiase kicks out and McMahon flies right into Batista, who just got back on the apron, and who flies off the apron again. DiBiase runs into a back elbow and Batista is now in the ring. It looks like he’s mad at Shane but he just moves him to the side as Rhodes comes off the top rope into a Spear. Batista just made a entry for the best move of the year with that mid-air Spear. McMahon kicks DiBiase out of the ring and pins Cody Rhodes for the big win.

Winners by Pinfall: Batista & Shane McMahon

GREAT match. That ending was unbelievable, what a Spear! Shane is looking good from a wrestling point of view. This concludes this weeks edition of Smackdown! Bravo!

Match Rating: 8/10

What's Final Thoughts:

Tonight’s Smackdown was very good from a wrestling stance – from a booking sense it was kind of stupid. Every match tonight had Raw guys going over Smackdown guys and our Main Event was a total Raw Main Event. It kind of undermines the whole idea of the brand split and it was really poor booking. They just have to keep asserting their decision that Raw is the number one show. Ok, we get it. So, if that’s the case, then what is the incentive to watch Smackdown? I hate that because I really like Smackdown over Raw, and not just because of my personal bias. I truly believe Smackdown is a great show and their storylines are way better than anything Raw has come up with. They tried hard with the Triple H vs. Randy Orton feud but it just didn’t work. The thing was just lame. Now, from the wrestling standpoint, everything was great. Undertaker and Big Show had a terrific match and the Main Event, even though it was a Raw Main Event, was real good. The rest of the stuff was good as well. The Divas had a nice little match and MVP and Chavo had a quick one that was just ok. The opening tag match didn’t hurt anyone at all and it helped further the Hardy feud more. Speaking of which, Jeff Hardy cut an awesome promo tonight. He’s come a long way.

Final Smackdown Rating: 7/10

Tune in next week for the next edition of The Smackdown Low-down. Thanks for reading!