Sunday, March 1, 2009

WWE Smackdown! 2/13/09

In March we’ll be celebrating TV! No, not television in general, nor a look at its founding fathers like Philo Farnsworth and Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, but wrestling on TV! Yes, both big companies and small, found TV a great way to market their wrestling product and reach the masses. Our goal is to shine a light on an oft-overlooked component of the world of wrestling… the invaluable TV show!

1. Chavo Guerrero vs. M.V.P. - 2
2. Carlito and Primo vs. The Miz and John Morrison - 5
3. R-Truth vs. Ezekiel Jackson - 3
4. Michelle McCool vs. Maria - 3
5. Triple H vs. Big Show vs. The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov - 4

The thing coming off this episode you’re really going to want to get a hold of is the tag team match with Miz and Morrison versus the Colon bros. WWE doesn’t give tag team wrestling its justice these days, relegating tag matches to mere afterthoughts on TV, and routinely leaving them off big pay-per-view shows completely. But here, battling for a date with the lovely Bella Twins, both teams got the opportunity to work a match that lasted two segments, kept a good pace, and was full of nicely executed sequences and entertaining spots.

The rest of the show you could likely go without seeing void of much concern, although the main, a four-way match, featured some neat moments, getting some of the brand’s biggest stars (literally and figuratively!) together, and Undertaker particularly shining going for his modified gogoplata on two occasions which I enjoyed. R-Truth over Big Zeke was fun, including some rather nasty bumps for such a short match, but didn’t have enough meat to warrant a recommendation.

Maria typically gets a bonus recommendation point from me just on pure hotness alone. Here, she did a good job selling leg damage from McCool, who’s developing into a pretty strong heel, busting out some nice submissions and being a bitch. The ending with Eve drawing the distraction didn’t do it any favors. And lastly, the shitty opener, where Chavo and M.V.P. awkwardly worked through a heatless match that the crowd was completely quiet for, save from a few scattered “M.V.P.” chants.

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