Well, let’s see what the mainstream wrestling company that isn’t causing me existential despair’s up to, shall we?

1. The Big Show used the combination of his size and jingoism as reasons Kozlov should not mess with him. As a result, the crowd chanted “USA! USA!” every time Kozlov showed up, which was quite a few times. So, at least he has exactly that much heat.

2. If you ever wanted to know what a WWE Films version of Rush Hour would look like, well, that whole vignette backstage between R-Truth Killings and Kung Fu Naki is pretty much it, isn’t it? Had Funaki gone by Kung Fu Naki as his ring name years ago, I have to imagine he’d be a world champion by now.

3. Killings vs. Shelton was an okay match. Shelton showed a lot of intensity. Kilings didn’t look great in there, but he wasn’t terrible either, and he is pretty over. This match, much like the one between MVP and Hardy later, spent a lot of time on the mat, with a signature spot from the usually flippy fella built up to.

4. I understod what Helms said during his pop up video this week, so that was nice. He’s going to be a smart ass face, apparently. So, that will be different. One thing about the guy, he does reinvent himself.

5. Jeff vs. MVP was the usual solid business between these two. Jeff hit a nice variation of his corner slingshot dropkick, so that was cool.

6. They really are trying hard with Kozlov here, since he keeps showing up every fourth segment. It’s almost like Brock Lesnar at this point. I get that Smackdown has a dearth of heels with Edge out recovering from his immolation and everything, and I can at least tolerate the guy at this point, but it is a little much. If his finish wasn’t a headbutt, I’d probably like him more.

7. Maria sure did squeeze in to that dress for her ring announcing gig, didn’t she? They seem to be hinting at Festus having a crush on her, which could be the first romance between two functionally retarded characters in WWE history. I mean, maybe I missed one.

8. There was a promo for a new guy named Kizarny. From what I can gather, he’s either a Swedish or Bizarro Carnie. It was hard to tell.

9. Bella vs. Neidhart was not a good match or anything, but Nattie’s spinning clothesline was pretty cool. Also, apparently Hornswoggle does live under the ring despite the fact that Finlay has adopted him. He at least hangs out under there. Given the economy, we may soon join him, so I shouldn’t laugh too much.

10. Even though we’ve seen Hs vs. Show a lot, I do believe this is the first time Hunter was a face and Show was a heel in that dynamic. So, that was something. Match was fine, and it was kind of nice to see a good old fashioned schmozola ending, with UT/Show and Kozlov/Hs/Hardy brawling to end things. Hardy TOF’d the Hs again to end things. He’s really developing an attitude since he became a full fledged main eventer. Perhaps Vladdy can headbutt some of that out of him next week.

Last 5 posts by Brad Curran

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