So without further ado, on to the PDC!
Backstage, it's Debra and Steve Austin. Austin has WAY too much television time. Stone Cold told William Regal to get Alliance members in the ring. They do that type of thing a wee bit too much.
Backstage, again, we see Lita and Matt Hardy talking. Apparently, Lita didn't check WWF.com for the Smackdown preview, because she thought they were wrestling an intergender match together. D'oh!
Out to the ring, and we see Regal and the Alliance members in the ring. Steve Austin comes out, and he'll probably intimidate several of the Alliance members. After doing this type of angle several times, when will the WWF learn that it's not exciting to watch? Never, and stupidity, like this, helps to keep the ratings down. Why must they waste precious time, here, when they could actually use the large roster they have instead of eventually laying off wrestlers in the future. Tazz had a strong outing on the microphone against Austin, but to keep the repetition going, Austin attacked him. The Alliance walked away to keep the "Austin turning on the Alliance" angle going. What?
Another backstage segment with Austin, but this time, it's with Paul Heyman, Shane, and Stephanie. Paul seems out of place in between the McMahon morons. *Yawn* Austin is soooo boring when he's in too much of character with his "leader" role for the Alliance.
Test vs. Matt Hardy was next... No matter how many belts, Test will still have no charisma. Matt Hardy came down to the ring, alone, to further the break up storyline. Oh wow, what a crowd response for an Intercontinental title match (sarcasm). The crowd, especially the ladies, only cared when Matt Hardy was on the offense. Test won, and still, nobody cares. After the match, Edge gave Test a spear, which means that they may have their match, yet, at Survivor Series. Why not just keep Edge as champion until Survivor Series, instead of jobbing him out to Test?
Another Austin backstage segment, but this time, he does his stupid act with Booker T. I can just hear the ratings drop. At least they made good used some old footage to put over the angle. Booker T, riding off his anger towards RVD from RAW, blames RVD for any of Austin's anxiety. Too much Austin tonight....
Rock and Vince McMahon are backstage, talking, and they talk about Rock's injury and how the Rock is being forced to defend the WCW title tonight. Rock made a good personal shot at Stephanie here. How many people would want to rip on a daughter right in front of her father, and get away with it?
Rob Van Dam is stretching, and Booker T tells RVD, to his face, that he's the Alliance mole. Too bad that RVD and Booker T couldn't have a match on RAW. Stupid WWF writers. I guess they are saving their match for a better occasion.
Booker T vs. the Rock was next.... I love Booker T's entrance. I'm very grateful that they kept the classic music. Great psychology with the elbow injury on the Rock. Whenever Booker was in trouble, he went for the arm! I just knew that the Rock would kick out after Chris Jericho hit the Lionsault. The Rock had the Sharpshooter in nicely. He's learning how to make it look great, week by week. Match ended with an unfortunate run in, thanks to RVD. Could we please have a finish to any good match anymore? I'm getting tired of seeing what's a good match on paper, and then finding disappointment by a stupid DQ finish.
Undertaker and Vince McMahon backstage... Kane is apparently missing. The Undertaker was talking about how he'd approach his Austin/Angle match. Kind of a comical scene, for the first time in the Undertaker's career. The segment, though, went downhill once they talked about inviting Austin back into the WWF.
Our next match was William Regal against the Big Sloth. Match didn't occur since we had Alliance members run down before the match started. Devastating chokeslams, though, delivered by the Big Show. What a disappointment.
Backstage, we are back with RVD and Paul Heyman. They have to talk to Austin. Oh boy, one more of those segments...
Lita and the Hardys were backstage... Apparently, Lita found a replacement for her intergender match, so unfortunately, it will still happen. Also backstage Vince and the Big Sloth are talking. Vince decides to stack team WWF by replacing himself with the Big Show. Yes. Let the wrestlers do the performing!
Yet again with Austin, as he talks to Rob Van Dam. God, this show is just hurting because of Steve. These aren't going no where, and it's very unlikely that ratings and buyrates will shoot up because of all of this. At least RVD sticks up for himself in these segments, as he made the good point that Austin has turned too many times lately to not be the Alliance turncoat.
The Hardys video looks quite good... Our next match was Lita/Jeff Hardy against Lance Storm/Ivory. Take that damn hat off, Jeff!! Man, Jeff Hardy and Lance Storm were working great together! Why not do a one on one match? Instead of wasting time with Ivory vs. Lita, why not try that? Oh, I forgot... Neither Storm or Jeff Hardy are allowed to look good in a match, on television. My bad! Lita and Jeff Hardy eventually won the match, which will probably make Matt Hardy jealous.
Christian is getting interviewed backstage. Christian has been asked why he's facing Tajiri for no title on the line, and he said Regal asked him to do it. Also, Christian poked fun at the Yankees, to piss off the New Jersey crowd.
I can't say that I like Creed, but I do like the Desire promo that the WWF now runs.
Christian vs. Tajiri was next. I would have loved to see Christian rip on the crowd again on the mic. Nice move by Tajiri to toss Christian over the ropes. It's rumored that real life boyfriend, Billy Kidman, has asked real life girlfriend, Torrie Wilson, not to be a flirty anymore. Looks like Kidman has a great deal of control over Torrie. Good finish to the match, where Christian ducked the Tajiri kick and hit the Impaler or whatever it's called these days.
More Steve Austin backstage!! We are with Stephanie and Kurt Angle, this time around. Angle would tell Austin off, which was the only highlight of the segment.
Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle/Steve Austin in a handicap match was next, with the Undertaker being handicapped. I love doing that punchline! Geesh, having the Undertaker as the lone wrestler, against 2 other guys, is a very bad decision. A better match than expected, but I've seen better in a main event. Wow. The Undertaker got the win in a handicap match against the WWF's last two World Champions. That's sort of sad.... What's worse is that Austin gave Angle a stunner, to smell the buyrates at Survivor Series. No reaction for the stunner, by the way, which shows you that nobody is really excited for what's happening right now.
Smackdown Phat StatsMaches: 7
Clean Wins: 5
Screwjobs: 0
Disqualifications: 1
No Contests: 1
LAST WORD: WAY too much Steve Austin in this show, which hurt its overall quality. The matches were too short and rushed, and nothing productive really happened, other than further proof that the top tier guys will put over each other (Austin putting over Undertaker, for example). This show was actually worse than RAW, and I gave that a D-. I guess that gives this show an
@That's all for today. I'll be back, this weekend, for a special column to get away from the current content of wrestling. Until then, just chill.....
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.