Smackdown and ECW Spoilers for this week in here.

Rjd2

They changed the whole team? Seriously WTF! Christian v Jericho on ECW should be great as well.

Smackdown

WE Smackdown TV taping
Columbia, S.C.
Report by Dot Net reader Justin Shook

Arena is 2/3 full. Not a bad turnout.

Chris Jericho opened the show by coming out and cutting a great heel promo that drew tons of heat. Rey Mysterio and Batista vs. Chris Jericho and Kane was announced for later. He was cut off mid-way by Cryme Tymes music. JTG came out solo to a nice crowd reaction. JTG made fun of Jericho for a comment he made earlier about "dominating" Mysterio/Batista. "Wheres your partner JTG? In jail?" was Jericho's amusing remark.

"Excuse me! Excuse Me!" Out comes Vickie Guerrero to introduce Eric Escobar. Jericho, JTG, and Escobar argue. Out comes Dolph Zigglar (a Mr. Ziggles chant started). He made fun of JTG and said, "He's gunna pull the team to the win." JTG says he's lost four of his last title matches. "What do you know about winning? Maybe they should call you Mr. Loser (lame)" Out comes Drew McIntyre. He's very quiet live, couldn't hear much. Out comes Kane, who said no one is worthy of fighting on his team. Jericho said a five vs. five match has been made to see if there team is worthy. He said that since Shad "called in sick," the match is now four vs. five ... If any member of Jericho's team is pinned then all 5 of them are off the team and replaced by their opponents.

1. Matt Hardy, The Harts, R-Truth, and Finlay beat Dolph Ziggler, Eric Escobar, Drew McIntyre, and JTG. Hardy pinned JTG after Finlay struck him with the shillelagh. That means Team Smackdown is now Matt Hardy, Finlay, The Hart Dynast, R-Truth, Kane, and Jericho. A much better line up. Maybe they realized how weak SD looked compared to RAW. This was an eight minute match that was fun to watch. The crowd went wild for Matt getting the win.

Punk, Teddy Long, and referee Scott Armstrong talked backstage. Armstrong said he would not be a part of this again. As he got up to leave, Vince McMahon walked in. Armstrong looked nervous.

2. John Morrison defeated Mike Knox. Morrison got a fast win in about three minutes with Starship Pain. Knox had very little offense, he hit his brutal crossbody but that was really it. It seems he may be legit injured. Afterwards, Morrison cut a promo on Miz. He said that while Miz is so worried about being HBK or Marty Janetty he is only worried about one thing ... and thats being the Friday Night Delight, the Shaman of Sexy, John Morrison.

Jericho met with his new team backstage. Truth quickly established that he doesn't like Jericho but he certainly respects him. The team was in agreement that they would work as a unit come Sunday. Truth did the "Thats the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth" bit. The crowd did not follow. He needs a new catch phrase.

Mickie James and Maryse bickered backstage. Mickie said she is coming after the title. Mickie was talking with Mae Young backstage before Maryse interrupted. Beth and Maryse bickered. Beth said she was coming for the title. Mae Young said something to Maryse and then slapped her! Strong women's segment. I see a triple threat with THE three major league women's wrestlers that the WWE has right now. That could be something worth seeing. Maybe it will get more then five minutes.

3. Batista and Rey Mysterio defeated Kane and Chris Jericho. Batista won with spear on Kane in about seven minutes. Mysterio caught a nasty chokeslam from Kane, who then walked into a spear from Batista. It was odd to have Jericho and Kane lose here. Nothing great about the match. The crowd was wild for Mysterio and out of control for Batista.

Backstage Punk and Teddy were standing behind a conflicted Armstrong and Vince, whom were sitting on a couch. Vince was promoting WrestleMania and I believe said Armstrong's father "might" be up for consideration this year for the HOF if things go right tonight. Armstrong looked less conflicted. The crowd was still very loud so was hard to hear it.

4. Mickie James beat Layla. Mickie with the chic kick in about three minutes. Standard divas match. Strong reaction to Mickie James. It was dead during the match, strong again for the finish. It's like people know Mickie would be GREAT if given longer matches.

The Capt. Lou video aired (from Raw). Still sweet to see. It got a standing ovation from the crowd. That came off as very classy.

Punk, Teddy, and Armstrong all came out together to Punks music. Punk cut a promo on Taker. Some dude behind me was sure he had seen Punk getting wasted like 5 years ago. He made sure that I, the crowd, and Punk knew it! Taker made his entrance. Amazing to see live, but not so much on TV.

5. Undertaker defeated C.M. Punk in a submissions match to retain the World Hvt. Championship. The match was going fine until Punk tried to use a chair. The ref didnt stop him, but taker blocked. Taker then chokeslamned Armstrong and had a stare down with Teddy. Punk recovered and hit taker over the back with the chair and then got a nasty shot to the head with the chair made everyone gasp. Punk made the cover but there was no ref.

Teddy got another one down to make the count but Taker recovered and locked in Hells Gate. Punk fought, and fought. He nearly passed out but hung on. He made it to the ropes and went on to cleanly beat Taker. Haha yeah right. Taker locked in Hells Gate and Punk tapped almost instantly. He looked weak and like he never stood a chance agsinst Taker. The kids loved it, but it was not what I had hoped for. About a 9 minute match, that did nothing to make Punk look credible.

Overall thoughts: Fun show for the live crowd. I think WWE realized Escobar, Ziggles, and McIntyre aren't going to sell PPVs. Swapping out five members of the team a few days before the PPV seems insane, but what do I know? I don't know if something happened to Shad and they had to change it up or what.

Punk now seems so unlikely to win in the four-way that I think he will win in some Edge-like fashion. It's clear he won't get a clean win, but a sneaky/cheating win seems likely. I just hope his feud with Taker can end at Bragging Rights. Punk needs to work with someone that will put him over. Jericho? Or a world title feud with Morrison could elevate both stars. The crowd had fun, but not the best way to go into the PPV.

Overall I give this show an 8 out of 10. There is nothing like the LIVE experience.

Most heat

1. Vicky Guerero (by a mile)
2. Jericho
3. Punk

Biggest Pops

1. Batista
2. Undertaker (close second)
3 Rey Mysterio
4. Cena (in a video package. Kids just cant get enough)

ECW..................

WE “ECW on Syfy”
Taped earlier tonight in Columbia, S.C.

[Q1] Abraham Washington and Tony Atlas welcomed us to the show. They were backstage and Abe said he was the host tonight. Someone walked through the shot and Abe asked him what the hell he was doing. The man turned out to be Chris Jericho. Jericho just wanted to know where the GM’s office was. Abe said he would love to have Jericho on his show. Jericho replied, “I’m sure you would.” Abe asked if that was a yes. Tony laughed and said, “I think that was a no.” ...

Twill’s Two Cents: Was Jericho’s appearance advertised anywhere? If it was, I never saw it. If it wasn’t, it should have been because viewership would have risen at least a little bit.

The opening video placed and fireworks lit up the stage. Josh Matthews and Matt Striker welcomed us to the show. Lauren Mayhew stood in the middle of the ring and announced that the winner of the following match would be the new number one contender for the ECW Championship...

1. Yoshi Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder to become the number one contender for the ECW Championship in 10:17. Ryder dominated early in the match and grounded Yoshi by working on his rib cage and lower back. Yoshi didn’t successfully come back until the four minute mark when he hit a series of kicks and an enziguiri for a nearfall. Both men went to the top rope and Ryder was attempting a superplex, but they both tumbled to the floor... [C]

Back from commercial, Ryder had Yoshi down on the mat again. From the ground, Yoshi kicked a standing and reeling Ryder multiple times. He slingshot Ryder into the corner and scored multiple nearfalls with a leverage aide. Yoshi won the match with a slingshot splash from the apron. Honestly, I didn’t think he was getting the pinfall there...

Twill’s Two Cents: Good match and about as good as I expected. I am just not on the Yoshi Tatsu bandwagon and I would have rather seen Zack Ryder in the number one contender’s spot.

[Q2] Rosa Mendes was backstage kissing up to Tiffany. Chris Jericho approached Tiffany and said he was scouting ECW talent for Team Smackdown. Tiffany told him no. She said Jericho could stay and watch the show, but he would not cherry pick talent from ECW. Jericho stormed off... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Save your jokes about how this was the first time Tiffany said no to anybody. I like her character. She has a professional and tough aura about her, as opposed to being overly bubbly. Her character is becoming a very good one and she is definitely good enough for this role. As for Jericho, he is obviously not confident in his team and I’m sure that will come up either tonight again or on Friday.

Did you know? WWE has produced twenty books that have reached the New York Times Best Seller list...

William Regal told Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson that it was a travesty Yoshi Tatsu was receiving a title shot before him. Chris Jericho and Regal exchanged pleasantries. Regal said he really calls the shots in ECW. Jericho said he wanted Regal’s guys for his team. Regal said something could be worked out.

Tiffany approached the foursome and took exception to Jericho’s actions and Regal’s comments. She said Regal would continue to find himself on the outside looking in of the ECW Title picture. She then kicked Jericho off of the show. Jericho said he could go to any show he wanted. Tiffany agreed and put Jericho in a match tonight against Christian... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Again, nice character development from Tiffany. Also again, Jericho will now wrestle on the show and it was not advertised ahead of time? Christian vs. Chris Jericho is a big time match. What is stopping Jericho from just leaving if he really doesn’t want to participate tonight?

2. Sheamus defeated J.T. Quinn by disqualification in 1:13. Sheamus could have pinned Quinn but kept pulling him up. Shelton Benjamin hit the ring and beat up Sheamus, who retreated to the back. Shelton’s music played...

Twill’s Two Cents: Nice feud progression with these two.

The Randy Orton vs. John Cena video that played last night played again...

[Q3] Josh and Matt ran down the Bragging Rights card and for the second straight PPV, ECW is not represented on the show...

Christian’s music could be heard as Christian readied himself backstage for his big match tonight... [C]

Paul Burchill and Katie Lea came out to the ring for a promo. Footage was shown of Paul defeating Hurricane Helms last week and the announcers talked about how Paul wanted to expose Hurricane as being Gregory Helms. Josh said Paul and Katie were still celebrating...

Twill’s Two Cents: How did beating Hurricane in a match expose the truth?

Paul cut a pretty good promo about how Americans look up to superheroes and English people are educated and well spoken. He demanded Helms come to the ring and admitting Burchill was the better man. Hurricane’s music hit and he walked dejectedly to the ring. This is a fake. That tattoo is drawn on.

The fake Hurricane took his mask off and handed it to Burchill. Burchill was very pleased with himself. The man looked up and it wasn’t Helms. “You aren’t Gregory Helms,” said Paul. No ****. Hurricane’s music hit again and Paul beat up the guy in the ring. The real Hurricane beat up Paul with a huge stick and celebrated as the brother-sister duo retreated to the back...

Twill’s Two Cents: With only one belt, ECW needs to do a good job building their midcard feuds and they have done that here too (just like with Sheamus vs. Shelton). Fans may not love the talent involved, but at least the feuds are being built well.

WrestleMania tickets go on sale in 18 days... [C]

Twilling Note: The new announce girl is 99% better tonight. She has a ways to go, but she is miles ahead of where she was before.

[Q4] 3. Christian defeated Chris Jericho in a non-title match in 14:31. I was about to type how I disappointed I was that nothing was mentioned about their history, but then Matt Striker jumped in and said they were former tag team champions and haven’t met in almost six years (WrestleMania XX). Jericho debuted new tights and boots.

Christian, Jericho, and referee Charles Robinson, in the ring at one time, are responsible for keeping hair bleach products in the stores. Striker “went on record” and predicted a Team Raw win for Bragging Rights. After a short pause, he awkwardly said, “Wait a minute,” and then changed his prediction to Team Smackdown. Odd. It was like someone told him to change his mind.

The match started fast and stayed fast for the first few minutes. Christian knocked Jericho to the floor and followed that up with an Irish whip delayed dropkick. Jericho tried to recover on the floor as Christian stood triumphantly in the ring as the show went to commercial... [C]

Christian was still in control coming back from commercial. He scored a two count after a missile dropkick. Jericho, from the apron, backdropped Christian to the floor. Striker talked about Jericho, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Monday Nitro as the reasons moves like that were popular today.

Jericho scored a nearfall after a back suplex. He followed by grounding Christian with a submission hold. Christian stood up and applied a school boy for a two count. Jericho came right back with a huge closeline for another nearfall. Jericho landed a few big right hands and taunted the crowd.

[Overrun] Jericho attempted a lionsault and missed. Christian fought back and hit a second rope back elbow. He went for the Killswitch but Jericho countered. He went for another missile dropkick but Jericho caught him and applied the Walls. Christian countered into a rollup for a two count. The pace picked up as both men scored nearfall after nearfall.

Jericho countered another Killswitch into a Walls attempt but Christian countered that with a slingshot. Jericho was able to finally apply the move. Christian struggled his way to the ropes. Jericho jumped at Christian but crotched himself on the ropes. Christian finally hit the Killswitch for the win...

Christian vs. Yoshi Tatsu for the ECW Championship was announced for next week...

Twill’s Two Cents: Very good match and a case of Jericho giving one to his friend there. Fans will question the booking because Jericho is a Smackdown team captain and Christian won’t appear on the pay-per-view, but Jericho is bulletproof and ECW is not acknowledged on the other shows. Nonetheless, very good show tonight and maybe the best ECW broadcast yet.

Diabhal Beag

Twill’s Two Cents is such a gay thing to write. Punk jobbing out again :mad:

flahavaj

I don't like the cut of that Twill's gib at all. Why would I care about his smart arse two-cent. just tekl us what happened and leave it at that.

LOL at the vote of no confidence in Ziggler, Excobar and drew McLockerbie. Doesn't bode well at all.

Penn

Also means that what happened on Raw between the two teams means frig all now that most of the Smackdown team has been replaced

JP Liz

Was Maryse traded to SD also?

I thought Matt Hardy might be getting pushed out of WWE but now he is on Team SD

Has ECW any matches at the BR PPV yet?

sky88

i like the change they did with the smackdown team except for finlay think they should have had drew or ziggler on it instaed of him

Penn

sky88 wrote: »

i like the change they did with the smackdown team except for finlay think they should have had drew or ziggler on it instaed of him

Actually it would have been pretty great if, later in the show, Ziggler attacked Finlay (or McIntyre attacked R-Truth to continue their fued) in order to take their place in the team

Furious-Red

JP Liz wrote: »

Was Maryse traded to SD also?

?

I think he made a mistake because its supposed to be Michelle McCool

Furious-Red

1st Match - Eric Escobar, JTG, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler vs. The Hart Dynasty, Finlay, Matt Hardy & R-Truth. Long match. Hardy pins JTG with a Twist of Fate after Finlay with a shillelagh hit. So, Matt is now on Team Smackdown . Thats what i read earlier on www.nodq.com . Im guessing they wont totally change SD team although it would be a more credible team imo

DM_7

Christian v Jericho

Rjd2

DM-ICE wrote: »

Christian v Jericho

Very good match although some of the crowd were booing Christian, I guess some people don't want to boo Jericho. The same thing happened to Rey when he wrestled Jericho.

DM_7

Rjd2 wrote: »

Very good match although some of the crowd were booing Christian, I guess some people don't want to boo Jericho. The same thing happened to Rey when he wrestled Jericho.

As much as Jericho tries its hard to really hate him.

DM_7

Hmmmm

After seeing JTG do some work minus shad I really think he is ready to go on his own. He has a good on screen presence and we know he is good in the ring.

sky88

DM-ICE wrote: »

Hmmmm

After seeing JTG do some work minus shad I really think he is ready to go on his own. He has a good on screen presence and we know he is good in the ring.

yea totally agree always thought shad was the weak link in cryme time

DM_7

When did the Harts get so pally with Finlay, Truth and Matt Hardy?

It looked odd.

sky88

am i the only one who likes mike knox theres something about him i like plus his beard is awesome i would love to be able to grow one

DM_7

sky88 wrote: »

am i the only one who likes mike knox theres something about him i like plus his beard is awesome i would love to be able to grow one

I think knox is good. I'm not sure why wwe never did more with him.

dsmythy

DM-ICE wrote: »

I think knox is good. I'm not sure why wwe never did more with him.

Well they are continuing to do his little inscreen talks while he is on his way to the ring so perhaps a push is not far away.