411’s WWE Smackdown Report 04.04.08

Welcome one and all to the SmackDown Report. I hope everyone enjoyed WrestleMania as much as I did. It was a great show. I know it’s been talked to death about, but I just want to say I too shed a tear for Ric Flair and appreciate everything he has done in wrestling. Thank you Ric.

We kick the show off with the former World Heavyweight Champion Edge, former ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero, Vicky Guerrero, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, and Teddy Long all in a bad mood. Long not so much for Edge’s and Chavo’s losses. Edge gets on the mic and says he has never been so ticked off in his life. He feels naked and he let himself down losing to Undertaker and feels he let all the fans down. But most importantly, he let Vicky down. He apologizes to Vicky and promises that on their love and his loyalty to her, that very soon, he will be World Heavyweight Champion. Chavo gets a mic and also feels that he let the entire Guerrero family down. He says Kane cheated and didn’t have the guts to face him face to face. Chavo too promises he will be ECW Champion once again. Vicky grabs the mic and announces as general manager of Smackdown, it is her pleasure to announce to both Chavo and Edge they will get rematches against Kane and Undertaker at Backlash. Also tonight, Kane will take on Undertaker in a Champion vs. Champion, Brother vs. Brother match.

-Commercial-

Match #1: Matt Hardy vs. WWE United States Champion MVP (non title)

Now this is a great way to kick Smackdown off. They begin the match exchange blows and Hardy banging MVP off the turnbuckles. Hardy hits a neck breaker and then they brawl out of the ring. MVP slams MVP’s head off the crowd barrier. Hardy rolls MVP into the ring and hits a high elbow/elbow drop combo for one. MVP and Hardy exchange blows again until Hardy hits a clothesline. MVP takes a walk but MVP chases him and brings him back to the ring. He rolls MVP back into the ring and as he tried to get in himself, MVP hits a running boot and brings him into the ring with a reverse neck breaker slam. MVP pounds on Hardy and throws him out of the ring through the ropes. MVP slams Hardy into the announce table and rolls him back in the ring where he hits continuous elbow drops. Chin lock by MVP now and after about a minute or so, Hardy gets to his feet and hits a backdrop. They exchange blows until MVP hits a running boot. Instead of going for the cover, MVP beats down on Hardy and works on the head of Hardy with several stomps to the head. MVP misses a top rope stomp and Hardy gets a chop block. Hardy works on the knee on MVP with several stomps, slams, and even stepping onto the leg. Hardy then slams his knee into the turnbuckle a couple times. Hardy gets back in the ring and hits a bulldog for two. Hardy gets a modified Boston crab until MVP gets a few shots to the head. Hardy comes right back with a snap mare and then slams MVP’s leg into the ring apron. MVP kicks Hardy away and they brawl out of the ring. Back in the ring now and MVP gets a two count. MVP misses a clothesline and Hardy gets the Side Effect! “Ahhhh! I’m on the top tope so look at me!!!!” elbow drop by Hardy but MVP counters the Twist of Fate with a huge clothesline. MVP goes for the running big boot but Hardy nails a dropkick to the injured leg. Twist of Fate by Hardy and he picks up the non-title win!

Winner: Matt Hardy via pin fall

-Commercial-

Match #2: Festus w/ Jesse vs. Zack Ryder w/ Curt Hawkins

The bell rings and Festus chases Ryder around and takes out both Ryder and Hawkins. Festus throws Ryder into the ring and kicks him around in the corner. Festus whips Ryder around until Ryder gets a knee to the gut. Festus still slams Ryder down and head buts the spine of Ryder. Ryder gets behind Festus and gets some shots in. He grabs the arm of Festus until Festus swings him around and lays a few blows. Festus gets a reverse splash and a shoulder block. Fall away slam to Ryder followed by a senton splash. Festus nails the splash and then takes out Hawkins. Festus gets Ryder up and nails the Flapjack Slam for the win.

Winner: Festus via pin fall

-Commercial-

We comeback and we get highlights of Ric Flair’s farewell address on RAW. I actually shed a tear through this recap as well.

Shawn Michaels comes out and talks about how he didn’t do a very good job expressing his feelings on RAW about retiring Ric Flair. As the evening went on, Michaels went to the ring and went face to face with Flair. They both shed a tear and hugged. That gave him some closure. That brings out Batista. Batista tells HBK he is glad that he found closure. Unfortunately, he did not. Sunday was emotional for him. Not because of his match with Umaga, but that it was the last night he got to see his friend and mentor wrestle. He is hurt that he will never see Flair again and HBK took that away from him. HBK said it wasn’t easy for him and he had to do it. Batista says HBK knows he made the wrong decision. HBK defends himself by saying Flair pleaded for his A-Game at WrestleMania and tells Batista he would of done the same. Batista says that his ego would not get in the way of his friendship and HBK never does the “job”. He tells Michaels he is the most selfish man he knows and HBK should have laid down for Flair. Michaels says he is sorry Batista feels that way but Batista doesn’t care. Batista asks HBK about the Old Yeller comments and asks him if that was the way he really saw Flair, as some sort of sick, pathetic, dying dog. Batista drops the mic and leaves the ring.

-Commercial-

In the back, Kane is sweating in the dark. Undertaker comes and looks at him. Burn!

Match #3: Matt Bentley vs. Vladimir Kozlov

Bentley gets a good pop from the Florida, pro-TNA crowd. Vlad slams Matt down and hits a big boot. Knee to the gut of Matt and then some shoulder thrusts. He chokes Bentley and shoves him down despite some shots from Bentley. Rib breaker by Kozlov and that’s it.

Winner: Vladimir Kozlov

-Commercial-

Match #4: Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore vs. WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison (ECW) and Miz (ECW) (non title)

Miz and Yang kick it off. They lock up and Miz gets cocky so Yang gets a headlock and a hurricanrana. Tag to Moore and he gets a dropkick for two. Moore gets a wristlock but Miz rolls out and tags Morrison. Morrison gets a backbreaker and hits the Palace of Wisdom for the win.

Winners: John Morrison and Miz via pin fall on Shannon Moore

After the match, Great Khali comes to the ring. Morrison and Miz try and attack him but get destroyed by Khali. Khali pulls Yang in the ring and throws him out. Khali picks up a fallen Moore and hits a Khali Bomb. Khali gets on the mic. Blahnananannan Blha Blahhahaha Blah! Them are fighting words to the Big Show as he comes to the ring and they have a good old fashion stare down. Show grabs the mic and says Monday night, Khali got in his face, so tonight, he got in his. Khali walks off. EPIC!

-Commercial-

Teddy Long is out and he is going to announce the winner of the Smackdown Diva Contest. He introduces the owners of Beverley Hills Choppers who will award the winner a motorcycle. The old, tan guy is excited about awarding the bike. Long brings out Cherry and Michelle McCool. Old, Tan Guy announces Michelle McCool the winner. Damn. I was so pulling for Cherry. Not cool. McCool gets on the bike but Victoria comes out. She tells her not to get too excited and this is a complete joke. She says that she is the #1 diva on Smackdown. She misses a clothesline and Michelle beats her down. This brings out a mysterious diva and she beats the Hell out of McCool and Cherry. (She is Natalie Neidhart).

-Commercial-

Match #5: ECW Champion Kane (ECW) vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker (non title)

Kane barley gets an entrance. Ahhh, the honor of being ECW Champion. No intros, 10 second WrestleMania Matches, just nothing but great honor. They lock up and get into a shoving contest. Taker gets a headlock but Kane shoves him off. Kane gets a headlock now and then knocks Taker down. Taker gets up, goes for the hip toss, but Kane counters to one of his own and then hits a scoop slam. Taker gets back on track and gets a wristlock. Kane counters into one of his own until Taker takes him down. Both men get to their feet and stare down. Taker takes Kane down by the leg but Kane kicks him off and they lock up again. Taker gets a wristlock and then goes up for Old School only to be pulled down by Kane. Taker still has the wristlock and turns it into a modified arm bar. Taker gets it back into a wristlock but Kane gets the ropes. Kane shoves Taker so Taker jabs him in the face. They now exchange blows with each other until Kane hits the big boot. Kane beats down Taker in the corner but Taker grabs Kane and gets him in the corner and pounds away. Kane and Taker take it to the outside of the ring now, brawl, and get back in the ring. They exchange blows….again. Kane misses the clothesline and GOOZLE by Taker. Kane GOOZLES him back! They both GOOZLE each other. They both let go and big boot each other. They both do the their signature sit up at the count of nine and this brings out Edge, Chavo, Ryder, and Hawks for a good ol’ Rated R Latino beat down for the draw.

Winner: DRAW

After the beat down, both men sit up again, send Hawkins and Ryder out of the ring, and hit stereo chokeslams and Tombstone Piledrivers to Team Rated Los R Guerreros.

Outside of Hardy vs. MVP and the HBK/Batista stuff, not a very good show. Hopefully as we get closer to Backlash we get some better booking.

Here are the rules of the 2008 Smackdown Wrestler of the Year Competition followed by who scored what tonight:
1. The winner of each match will receive two points unless it is by count out or DQ in which they will receive one point.
2. The winner of a title match will receive an additional point for retaining and two additional points for winning a belt.
3. The winner of the main event will get an additional point.
4. The winner of a specialty match will get an additional point.
5. In a tag team match, a wrestler on the winning team that does not pick up the win will get one point. If the match ends in a DQ or a DRAW, both members of the winning team will get one point.
6. If the match ends in a draw, all wresters involved will get half a point for participating.
7. If it is an elimination match, each elimination is worth one point.
8. If the match is for example, a Best Two Out of Three Falls Match or an Iron Man Match, each fall is worth one point.

Matt Hardy wins via pin fall: 2 Points

Festus wins via pin fall: 2 Points

Vladimir Kozlov wins via pin fall: 2 Points

John Morrison wins via pin fall: 2 Points

Miz wins via teammate’s pin fall: 1 Point

Kane draws main event: 1.5 Points

Undertaker draws main event: 1.5 Points

In the 2008 Smackdown Superstar Challenge, Undertaker increases his lead, Kane and Festus get some points to narrow the gap, and Matt Hardy and Vladimir Koslov make their debuts on the list.

1. WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Undertaker (18.5)

2.Batista (16)

3. ECW Champion: Kane (ECW) (13)
3. Rey Mysterio (13)

5. Edge (12)
5. Festus (12)

7. CM Punk (ECW) (9)
7. Jimmy Wang Yang (9)

9. Curt Hawkins (8.5)
9. Zack Ryder (8.5)

11. Chuck Palumbo (8)
11. Finlay (8)

13. WWE United States Champion: MVP (7.5)

14. Big Show (7)
14. Jesse (7)

16. WWE Tag Team Champion: John Morrison (ECW) (6.5)

17. Great Khali (6)

18. Michelle McCool (5.5)

19. Chavo Guerrero (5)
19. Shannon Moore (5)

21. Mark Henry (4.5)
21. WWE Tag Team Champion: Miz (ECW) (4.5)

23. Big Daddy V (ECW) (4)

24. Shelton Benjamin (ECW) (3)
24. Victoria (3)

26. Jaime Noble (2.5)

27. Cherry (2)
27. Chris Jericho (RAW) (2)
27. Hornswoggle (2)
27. Kofi Kingston (ECW) (2)
27. Matt Hardy (2)
27. Vladimir Kozlov (2)

33. Kenny Dykstra (1)
33. Ric Flair (1)

35. Balls Mahoney (ECW) (.5)
35. Layla (ECW) (.5)