WWE: Friday Night Smackdown
May 4, 2007
Birmingham, AL
BJCC

The current Smackdown champions are as follows:
World Heavyweight Champion: The Undertaker (4/2/2007)
WWE United States Champion: Chris Benoit (10/13/2006)
WWE Tag Team Champions: Deuce N Domino (4/20/2007)
WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Chavo Guerrero (2/18/2007)

Read along if you have the WWE Network!

Your hosts are Michael Cole and JBL.

• The Boogeyman (w/Little Boogey) vs. William Regal (w/Dave Taylor)
  

Hey, Alabama! Here’s not *just* the Boogeyman, but also his little person! YOU’RE WELCOME. Regal sells for Boogeyman’s “offense” to start until Squire Dave Taylor distracts Boogeyman so Regal can boot him down. Now we get some ringpost offense from Regal. Back in, all Regal can really do is throw forearms and elbows at him. Boogeyman fights back though and hits the BOOGEY BOMB on Regal, but Taylor interrupts the three-count for the DQ. (3:41) Taylor kicks around the Little Boogey to get some heat until Kane runs the Gentlemen Villains through the crowd. Cole and JBL wonder if Kane came to help the Boogeyman or just wanted to get a piece of Regal and Taylor. Either way, I’m shrugging my shoulders on this one. ½*

They take us back to Backlash for still shots of Vince McMahon becoming the ECW world champ!

Teddy Long has started interviewing people to be his assistant GM so he can spend more time with the lovely Kristal. First up, it’s Dusty Rhodes. Long obviously feels Dusty is overqualified. The only reason Dusty is here was because he thought he could get Teddy’s job. On Dusty’s way out, MVP comes to tell Teddy he was robbed at Backlash and wants another rematch with Chris Benoit for the U.S. title or he will sit out for the rest of his contract. Because Teddy believes a black man needs a job, he tells MVP that he will get his rematch over the U.S. title if he can beat Kane tonight. As MVP leaves feeling mad and conspired against, he walks passed the rest of the applicants for the assistant job: Sgt. Slaughter, the Brooklyn Brawler, and the Miz. Lombardi got no time for the Miz.

• Brian Kendrick (w/Paul London) vs. Domino (w/Deuce & Cherry)
  

Paul London is still selling the ribs from two weeks back when he tried a moonsault off the apron and failed. JBL digs at Cole for not knowing more about the classic Plymouth convertible that Deuce N Domino rode to the ring. He says he’s not a car guy! He drives a Saturn for crying out loud. I will say Domino shows much more charisma in the ring than Deuce does. Domino trades headlocks and hammerlocks with Kendrick to start. Kendrick delivers a crossbody block and a dropkick before clotheslining Domino to the floor for a tope suicida. Back on the apron, Deuce and Cherry distract while Domino nails Kendrick and keeps him grounded with chinlocks and facelocks. Domino hits a nice jumping back elbow, but flies down into a boot. While Kendrick mounts a comeback, Deuce and London get into a bruhaha on the apron. After Deuce knocks London back on the floor, Kendrick meanwhile is giving Domino the SLICED BREAD #2 off Deuce for the three-count. (4:53) Way better matchup this week. Unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint), these two teams never really have another high-profile matchup together. **¼

• Matt Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy
  

Kennedy looks ahead to cash in his MITB briefcase in 331 days at WrestleMania 24. In the meantime, here’s Matt Hardy! And hey, that’s not really a knock on the guy. For such a Tito Santana ’90 year in 2006, Matt is surprisingly on a hot streak right now. Hardy and Kennedy play a game of headlocks and hammerlocks to start. Kennedy breaks up a hammerlock with a sharp back elbow and Matt sells it real well allowing Kennedy to put the boots to him. Matt stops a corner charge though and goes back to the headlock. It appears Kennedy is bleeding from the nose as he takes a bump to the floor to take us into commercial. When we return, we get a nice shot of Matt dropping an elbow strike to the back of the head of Kennedy as the crowd reacts. Kennedy sees a backdrop coming though and drops Matt with an armbreaker DDT. He rips at the shoulder for a while. To the floor, Matt gets kicked backwards into the steps for a nasty bump to the head and neck. Back in, Kennedy switches gears and grabs a cravat to do more damage to the neck. Matt delivers some wild punches with his good arm, but telegraphs another backdrop and takes a clothesline to the mat for two. Kennedy grabs a chinlock and a body scissors. Hardy elbows out, but takes the Running Facewash twice as he’s leaned up against the ropes. NASTY! Matt Hardy Will Not Die though as Kennedy can’t get the pinfall. He fires back again on Kennedy and tries a desperate running bulldog, but Kennedy shoves him off. As Kennedy crawls towards his briefcase, Hardy kicks it to the floor and gets FIRED UP. He whips Kennedy across for the clothesline and the Running Bulldog for two. Hardy stops a superplex, but gets his neck snapped on the top rope. Kennedy charges Matt and runs into the Side Effect! Cover, 1-2-NO! Kennedy blocks the Twist of Fate though and jackknife covers Matt for 1-2-NO! They slug it out into a double-KO and exchange nearfalls again. The Finlay Roll is nearly countered to the Twist of Fate, but Kennedy stops Matt and delivers the Finlay Roll anyways for 1-2-NO! The KENTON BOMB hits knees for 1-2-NO! The AHH Legdrop gets two as well. The Twist of Fate is pushed off into the ref, but luckily Matt puts on the brakes to avoid a collision and pulls Kennedy into the TWIST OF FATE anyways for the win. (15:12 shown) Well that was a good one, folks. Solid action from two guys who just went out there and let it all hang out. I’m actually shocked they let Matt win here considering the big plans they had for Kennedy at the time. ***½

Special video look of the Last Man Standing match between the Undertaker and Batista from Backlash.

After the video package, Teddy Long tells us that since nothing was settled, next week on Smackdown we will see a cage match between the Undertaker and Batista.

Maryse welcomes us back to Smackdown. It’s amazing what money and better makeup will do for a chick because I’m not really digging her in these early vignettes. She’s just another super tan blonde with big boobies in my eyes. How original!

• Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Gregory Helms
  

Just noticed Jimmy Wang Yang’s TitanTron has the Confederate flag in it. TRIGGERED~! Wrestlingdata.com says that these two have wrestled 57 times in some sort of combination over the years, which seems low to me. According to the site as well, this is the last time they will square off in WWE as of the posting of this recap. Yang is busy with headlocks and armbars until Helms has enough and dumps him on the floor. Back inside, Helms works the back with a deep half crab. He hits a suplex and a backbreaker for two. Evidently it wasn’t enough to bother Yang though as he comes back with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and flips out of a German suplex to hit a dropkick. An inverted atomic drop leads to a hurracanrana for two. Helms stunts a comeback with an electric chair drop, but Yang battles with Helms on the top rope. He puts Helms back on the mat and delivers a Merosault for the win. (5:09) Cole puts over Yang beating the former cruiserweight champ, which unfortunately is a pretty meaningless statement to make. *½

Batista comes out to tell us that getting back his world title will be worth all the pain he will have to endure in the cage match against the Undertaker next week.

Another message for the return of Mark Henry. I thought he was returning this week? I actually cannot wait to see him again.

• Finlay vs. The Miz
  

Cole and JBL say that the Miz has improved 100% since he started here. JBL compares Miz to a “brave Frenchman”. Haha! Miz takes a hard shoulderblock, but then kicks Finlay to the floor. He gets hell for it though as Finlay jumps up to drill him with a clothesline. Hornswoggle peeps out and pokes Miz in the eyes Three Stooges-style. NYUK-NYUK-NYUK. Back in, Finlay abuses Miz some more. He pulls off a turnbuckle pad so that the ref will have to put it back on so that Finlay can throw Hornswoggle into the balls of the Miz. Of course, the ref doesn’t see a thing. Miz avoids a corner charge and hits his Awesome Clothesline. With Finlay down, Miz goes after Hornswoggle. The green light underneath the ring is a pretty cool effect. Hornswoggle sneaks back out and whacks Miz in the butt with a longer shillelagh, which is basically a golf club. Miz chases after Hornswoggle only to be intercepted by Finlay with a clothesline. There’s some brawling on the floor until Miz gets pulled under the ring. Once Finlay rolls back inside, Miz manages to escape from under the ring wearing Hornswoggle’s hat. He throws off the hat and complains this match is unfair to take the countout loss. (5:51) You can’t say Miz didn’t pay his dues looking like a fool in those “early years”. *½

We hear from the Undertaker who is standing by in an undisclosed location. He will show no mercy in the cage match where Batista will rest in peace.

WWE SLAM OF THE WEEK (brought to you by Just for Men): Armageddon 2006, Kane setting MVP on fire. Seriously though, what constitutes a *week* to you, WWE?

They replay the still shots of Mr. McMahon putting a nail in the ECW coffin for the lulz by winning the ECW world title.

Next week on ECW, Rob Van Dam battles Mr. McMahon!

• MVP vs. Kane
  

The winner gets a match with Chris Benoit over the U.S. title. Kane pounds on MVP to start and catches him for a bearhug. Even though MVP escapes, he gets caught with a powerslam for two. Kane continues to put a hurting on MVP and boots him off the apron to the barricade to take us into commercial. When we come back, MVP goes after Kane with an armbreaker DDT. He stays on the arm really well and Kane sells just fine. Kane uses his big boot though to come back and uses his right arm to whip MVP into the corner for the clothesline. MVP avoids a corner charge though and hits the Helluva Kick for two. Kane uses his good arm for the Side Slam for two. He telegraphs a backdrop and takes a swinging neckbreaker from MVP. Kane can’t quite get the Chokeslam, but he does hit the Flying Clothesline. Just as he goes for the Chokeslam again, William Regal and Dave Taylor head down. They get GOOZLED. While the ref is holding MVP back, Regal is able to get loose and bring back the POWER OF THE PUNCH on Kane’s jaw. That weakens him enough for the PLAYMAKER as MVP picks up the W and the #1 contenders spot for the U.S. title. (8:52 shown) MVP BRINGS THE RUCKUS. Good strategy from MVP and a good match out of Kane here. It’s a win-win. **½

This show is a must-see for Mr. Kennedy fans. It’s the end of the road for his push towards becoming a world champ as he suffers a massive hematoma originally thought to be a torn tricep that would put him off TV for six months. This coming week on RAW, Edge would provoke Mr. Kennedy into a match over the MITB briefcase. He then attacks him before the match begins as he hits Kennedy over the head with a TV monitor to easily win with a spear.

NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR SMACKDOWN? Find out when we return with next week’s show! Until then, so long for now.