The main feedback from Smackdown was the anti-American speech done by the Canadian trio, Lance Storm, Test, and Christian. Many disagreed that it was of poor taste, as some would say, they are just words and nothing more. True, but still in the light of 9/11 and on 4th of July, the day America declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776, it was somewhat tasteless to me. Sure, rip on America for some things, but the stuff with "the whole world hates America" is going a tad too far, IN MY OPINION. The Vietnam war comments were a tad harsh, too.
I understand that Storm, Christian, and Test need crowd heat and to get noticed. But cheap heat by cutting what I call tasteless promos given to them by WWE writers? But that's just my opinion, as some didn't have any problems with what the trio had to say.
On to the Week in Review.
On RAW... OK show, probably better than previous weeks, but still lacking of what Smackdown can put on lately. Show started out with Ric Flair vs. Brock Lesnar in a good opener, with Flair doing well to sell for Lesnar and using his old trademark cheapshots to keep the match interesting. Lesnar would win after a Heyman distraction led to the F-5. Chris Nowinski beat Bradshaw in a very quick match. Can't wait to see the rematch that will be a Hardcore Title match, where Nowinski will learn the hard way when getting a victory over Bradshaw.
Chris Benoit returned to the ring for some wrestling action, as he tagged up with Eddie Guerrero to take on Spike and Bubba Ray Dudley in a solid tag bout. Benoit looked great for a man out for a year. NASTY chops given to poor Spike. The Big Show lost to Booker T via count out, and got superkicked for his efforts. Shawn Michaels was openly inviting Triple H to join their group...
The Undertaker beat Jeff Hardy in the ladder match main event match. Jeff took a whopping, and the Undertaker pretty much had Jeff beat throughout the match, with the small exception of the end where Jeff almost pulled it out. Yeah, the Undertaker putting over a wrestler younger than him, although I would argue that Jeff Hardy is far from ready to become Undisputed champion yet. You'd figure that the Undertaker would act injured for his match against Kurt Angle on Thursday, right?
The real ratings news came from Saturday Night... Here we go:
Velocity: 1.2
Confidential: 1.3
Divas Undressed: 1.8(!!!)
The Divas Undressed number is amazing for the timeslot that it was in. Velocity, too, was up, as they are usually in the 0.9 range. I guess WWE fans appreciated the extra programming given to them on a Saturday night.
With the possible Undertaker face turn, he may be the one to fight Brock Lesnar at Summerslam for the Undisputed title. NOOOOOOO!!! I'm sorry, but I just groan whenever I see the Undertaker still at the top of the card, despite being old, a crappy wrestler, and very slow. Let's not forget that bland personality, too.
But word went out that Vince Russo was backstage at the show, despite being a PAID WWE employee. He was "just visiting friends". Uh huh. I'm convinced that Russo is an idea pitch man for BOTH the WWE and NWA-TNA. Ideas like the Johnsons, the excessive women around the arena, and more appear to be the brainchild of Russo. Man, what a powerful man he is if he's able to send ideas to both feds.
AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn won the NWA Tag Team Titles, as the NWA-TNA certainly enjoys the services of AJ Styles. Nice to see he's appreciated there, eh WWE? Hell, Styles and Lynn both are doing great in the NWA-TNA.
Thursday was SMACKDOWN night. Good show overall, I thought. Opened up with Storm, Christian, and Test making very anti-American statements, which I discussed above. Deacon Bautista looked good when tagging up with D'Von to take on Randy Orton and Val Venis. It truly makes you wonder why they didn't initially push him as a badass. Again, my theory is that the WWE was trying to protect him from any "GOLDBERG" chants.
The team of Hulk Hogan and Edge became the NEW tag team champions! YES! This is a perfect role for Hulk Hogan. The crowd was totally into their match with Chuck and Billy, who in my mind, finally looked like a great heel team. Chris Jericho beat John Cena and actually gave Cena a chance to wrestle him well. Kurt Angle and Undertaker wrestled to a draw, where Undertaker tapped out while trying to pin Angle in a triangle choke. Rock is coming back next week...
4. Chris Jericho - Doesn't mind wrestling and helping younger wrestlers.
3. Ric Flair - Still the man.
2. Kurt Angle - Still the best the WWE has to offer.
1. Undertaker - Hate to say it, but he had one of his better weeks.
WEAK of the WEEK: Giving away a Flair match, unannounced, and not building up in-ring return for Benoit.
KNOW YOUR ROLE: Hulk Hogan as a Tag Team champion.
BURNED OUT ON AWARD IDEAS, already: Mr. Tito
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