This is VERY long-winded, but...

[DeuceDominoMark]

I sensed within the first 5 minutes that Smackdown! was going to reek of awesomeness last night (can't remember the last time it was THIS good), so I took it upon myself to write down all that was good about it...

-A Tag Team Battle Royal was a nice change of pace. And, despite the fact that I obviously didn't like the ending (despite how great it looked, admittedly) the match was awesome!

-Was Cherry hot or was Cherry hot??? Seriously, I love her new 'do! I honestly think this is the hottest she's been on TV!

-The following banter between Cole and JBL made me laugh...

Cole: "Our comedy writers are on strike, so JBL has his same old material tonight."

JBL: "The last thing you wanna do is make the next Mrs. Layfield mad."
Cole: "You've made plenty of Mrs. Layfields mad..."

JBL: "I'm bilingual. And I'd translate for you what Rey Mysterio just said, but I won't use the bad words he did."

Cole: "Moolah was a great lady, she was sweet. And remember when she'd always give you a kiss on your cheek? And you'd have that lipstick on your cheek for the rest of the day?"
JBL: "It was the only time you've ever been kissed by a woman."

-Back to the Battle Royal again, Deuce's stiff kick to one of the Major Brothers got a HUGE crowd reaction, and then Dave Taylor's partner deliberately riled that crowd up after he was eliminated. He's going to be a great heel!

-Speaking of the crowd, they were really hot for Smackdown! Were they as hot for ECW? I don't remember them being so vocal when I watched on Tuesday night.

-Crowd again... Did anyone else see the lady cry tears of joy when the Major Bros won the battle royal? And the other lady who looked geniunely concerned when Mysterio was getting pulverized?

-Did I say Cherry was HOT??? Well, Victoria's spider-web tights were, too! She was smokin'!! And OMG did they actually put her over Michelle McCool??? Awesomely executed DDT!

-I loved the "Finley sucks" chants and JBL acting all butt-hurt over 'em.

-Oh yeah, I'd like to officially nominate Finley VS. Mysterio for MATCH OF THE YEAR! This was a perfect display of Highflying VS. Classic Smashmouth. Every Mysterio aerial assault was breathtaking and every Finley power move really looked like it hurt! And who else didn't personally feel the aftermath to this match? Ouch!!

-Wow! You mean CM Punk can also wrestle on Smackdown! for the talent exchange? I find Jamie Noble very dull, no matter who he wrestles, but this match was suprisingly good. And again, kudos to the aftermath. I also felt Noble's post-match move on Punk!

-No sign of Batista until 1 hour, 14 minutes into the broadcast!! ;D And his promo was typical of himself, boring and retarded, but it was SHORT. Seriously, even after a commercial break when we first saw him, he made himself scarce 1 hour, 23 minutes into the broadcast.

-JBL's "emergency phone call" was amusing. And it ensured us that Batista's appearence wouldn't be drawn out.

-OMG, MVP actually defended a title!! Anytime he does this in lieu of playing a pointless game of grab-ass with Hardy is good times. Even though the match was "meh"...

-MVP's black/white/silver outfit is leaps and bounds ahead of his old Power Ranger collection. And I must say, him putting a C (for Captain) on his tights is the funniest thing he's ever done! ...Seriously, you don't have to go over the top with his character, it's the little things like this that say much more than shouting "I'm better than you, I'm the captain of this team" 1,000 times ever will.

-Undertaker entrance was great as usual, and I like the way Runjin flew off the apron to avoid getting struck by "The best pure striker in the game!" SD! was so good tonight, I actually enjoyed hearing Cole say that.

-Even though it was stupid, I found it amusing to hear JBL say "Undertaker's been here for 15 years". I realize that's the first thing that comes to mind since he's 15-0 at WrestleMania. But since we're so close to Survivor Series, wouldn't it be easier to recall his debut at the Survivor Series, 17 years ago?

-In a No Holds Barred match, I wondered why Taker didn't Low Blow Khali during the multiple opportunities he had to do so, but ending the match with the Triangle Choke made it not matter. I seriously wasn't expecting this! And I'll buy Khali tapping to Taker over him tapping to Cena ANY day! Great show!!

[mazuli]

It was the first Smackdown in a long time I didn't turn off half way through. The battle royal was great but then MVP squashing the winners by himself kind of ruined that whole thing. Rey/Finlay was a great match but it also showed just how few moves Rey can do. Ever notice how in most matches it's Rey getting beat up for about 75% of the match, and then he'll do a few jump kicks and springboards and 619 and it's over? Same thing with this match. He's a great seller but he doesn't do the moves he did in WCW. Undertaker vs. Khali had me laughing really hard. God bless Undertaker, he was trying his best but it's just impossible to look good when you're fighting Khali.

[KEJB]

It was ok. I thought the Battle Royal was horrible, but then I cannot stand Battle Royals. Like the previous poster said, it turned out to be a pointless match anyways.

Mysterio vs. Finlay, MOTY?? Not on this planet, that isnt even a top 300 match of the year, and the two have had better matches than that this year. I think both guys are great, but I am in shock that you though that match was anything special.

The Noble/Punk segment, match, and aftermath were the highlight for me. The arm clutch russian leg sweep Noble hit, then kept locked in on the ground was pure beauty. Too bad they could get another 5 minutes before the finish. This also set up some sort of match involving the four guys on ECW next week. Got to love that.

Undertaker and his entrance are lame. His entrance got more time than Punk v Noble. I am going to go out on a limb, and say that everyone watching smackdown last night has seen that entrance at the very least 10 times. So to me, and I'm sure most other people, it was a waste of TV time. Khali vs. Undertaker is nothing to write home about. It was too bad, because I thought the Khali vs. Kane match a couple/few weeks ago was stellar.

Was there really any reason for it to be No Holds Barred, and then basically never even deviate from a normal match. I agree the Triangle Choke was awesome to see, and the only redeemable part of this match.

[CrazySting]

I havn't seen it. I might catch though since it sounds funny.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

I way prefer Smackdown/ECW over Raw lately. Last night's Smackdown was really good as it has been lately.

My only gripe was that the main event was a No Holds Barred match... and I don't think either guy used any weapons or anything! It seemed like a normal match to me. I suppose technically it may have been a no holds barred match, but if the guys aren't gonna break the rules anyway then why even bill it as no holds barred?

I loved Victoria's new outfit... her tights looked like the Road Warriors.

[macdaddysquid]

Smackdown was great, it always is. I think it is the best of the three. The Noble Punk match was surprisingly long. I like Nobles push.

[Just Jay]

I'll go with DDM and say that this SD! was awesome! Might I add that Khali has improved considerbly since he debuted a year ago.

[bubbles]

Smackdown lost it's groove after the draft but it's picked up a lot of steam, it's back to being great.

[regularryan]

I always find SD the most entertaining out of all of the brands. Matches usually get a good amount of time and the quality of wrestling is leaps and bounds better than RAW. I usually get really bored while watching RAW and end up changing the channel, but SD usually stays on my TV when I decide to watch it. The show has a completely different feel to it than RAW does. They made a great decision by putting JBL on commentary. He's quite possibly one of my favorite announcers in wrestling. Can't wait until Edge returns.

[DeuceDominoMark]

ck3count said:

Mysterio vs. Finlay, MOTY?? Not on this planet, that isnt even a top 300 match of the year. I think both guys are great, but I am in shock that you though that match was anything special.

Someone wanna show this fellow all the other matches that WWE has subjected us to this year?

At the very least, I think it was Finlay's match of the year. Both men were clearly showing a great worth ethic. And I was very surprised that WWE even gave us a great match like that, much less on Smackdown!

[DeuceDominoMark]

mazuli said:

Rey/Finlay was a great match but it also showed just how few moves Rey can do. Ever notice how in most matches it's Rey getting beat up for about 75% of the match, and then he'll do a few jump kicks and springboards and 619 and it's over? Same thing with this match.

Hehe, I wish I had noticed it. But I've been so distracted by the WWE Champion getting his ass whipped for 5-10 minutes, then clothesline, top rope legdrop, STFU and it's over.