Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 12:10 AM EST

It's long over due for me to write a piece, so let me try and review Smackdown as it goes down.

First off, let me say this. What the hell was Batista wearing? I thought when he came out from the curtain, he had a neckbrace on. He looked like a bad copy of the Pillsbury Doughboy. I know that's being very stupid and silly, but come on, where's the suit? There, he looked good. What he had looked down right dumb.

Batista's promo looked forced to me, "here to compete." If he's not there to compete, he shouldn't be world heavyweight champion. I thought he was off on the mike when he started his piece. 'Taker's was classic old school. It was very well done, and put the pieces in place for a hell of a fight. I still pray to the good man above that this doesn't go down at Wrestlemania they way I think it's going to go down, but one way or another, I would suspect it's going to be a war. Taker is going to bring the best out of Batista. He has to, because Taker won't take anything else but the best out of anyone he steps in the ring with.

8 men in Money in the Bank. Ken Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Booker T, CM Punk, and Edge are in. Matt Hardy vs. Joey Mercury is up for the sixth spot in the ladder match. Nice touch by JBL forcing Michael Cole to kiss King Booker's hand. Although, quite frankly, that's a little over the top from where I sit, but JBL still has the ability to be a heel with the best of them, and that's not a bad thing from where I sit.

One thing before this match starts, this outcome is pretty predictable if you think about it. Mercury solo doesn't cut it as a marquis name, but putting both Hardy boys in the ladder match is pretty damn major from where I sit. Yeah, I know what happened, I read the spoilers, but the fact remains, it's still pretty predictable. Nice touch with the ring announcer introductions. Can Booker shut up and let the guys call the match?

The facebuster suplex that Hardy hit on Mercury was really sloppy from where I sit. The camera work did not show that move to be done properly, it looked like Mercury's face never even came close to the canvas. It's kind of tough to get in to the match because Booker has been sounding like a stressed out maniac on something while on color commentary. Sharmell had to towel the King down, he was getting so excited. Obnoxious. A heel. I have to give the 6 time World Champ credit, he can still do it. It drives me nuts, but that's the point.

Wow, Booker mentioned Christian Cage. Vince should probably be losing his mind right about now.

The spot when Mercury dropped Hardy on the floor with his arm caught in the apron, that looked pretty sick. It looked like it hurt a lot. Hardy also sold that very, very well.

The match ended very well, with a lot of near spots. Mercury, when he lost his face guard, lost the match. It was a foregone conclusion the instance that the MNM member lost the guard, he lost his nerve. Nice touch with Hardy dropping Mercury on his face from the top rope with the twist of fate. Having both Hardy boyz in the money in the bank is definitely going to be very interesting, if for only this reason. The opportunity of Matt facing off with his brother.

History made with a triple threat money in the bank qualifying match? What? Straight up "ballin'?" That was MVP's final comment in a promo he did backstage with Kristal. (BTW, Kristal is hot, but that's just damn obvious.) Jeez, isn't that a bit corny, ladies and gentlemen? Anyway, Benoit vs. Finlay vs. MVP will definitely be something enjoyable to watch. MVP may not be the number one promoter, but he still has my respect for the wars he went through vs. Kane.

Wrestlemania recall with Bart Gunn vs. Butterbean. One of WWE's finer moments. Heh. Wrestlemania 15. 8 years already since that.

Maryse. Yikes.

Cruiserweight six man tag team match. Wow. Shannon Moore, Jimmy Wang Yang and Scotty Too Hotty vs. Gregory Helms with new music, Daivari & Chavo Guerrero. How is it possible that the cruiserweight champion and the former champion are on the same team? Also, by the way, Scotty jumped from Smackdown to Raw and back to Smackdown in about three weeks. Isn't that a bit weird, from a brand extension perspective?

Terrific spot by Helms. Scotty pops Chavo and Daivari, Helms comes in the ring, stops, and goes back out, and Scotty turns around and gets popped by Chavo. Nice spot.

JBL is talking sense during this match as they mention the first segment and the promo by Batista. He did sound forced, it sounded like he wasn't speaking from the heart. It sounded like jive from where I sat.

Second time they mentioned the triple threat qualifying match for Money in the bank. Is it that much of a history making event that it needs to be mentioned twice during a show to take away the focus from six men trying to beat the crap out of each other in the ring in a division that desperately needs some more exposure?

Wow, is that a fact? I'm not sure, can someone tell me? Did Daivari actually pin Helms in the cruiserweight open at No Way Out, subsequently ending the year plus reign of Helms as cruiserweight champ?

Couple of terrific spots by Yang, using the ropes as a catapult to avoid Daivari before the moonsault to pick up the win. Also, the pele style kick in the corner by Yang on Chavo, I believe.

Replay is shown of Mysterio's appearance in San Diego last week, and Vince ruining the moment. It really bothers me that they had to sue Mysterio to further feud with Vince & Trump, but the facts are the facts. Perhaps Mysterio needed more time to recover before heading back to action. Who knows? It will be a bad night though with Rey not at Wrestlemania, as he has had some major matches at Mania in the past.

Please remember guys, I am writing this as the show is progressing, so if I miss something, cut me a little slack, okay?

Holy S, MICK FOLEY is on SMACKDOWN! Doing a promo for his new book, the Hardcore Diaries, and the name dropping that Foley does to the point of ad nauseum.

I was enjoying the fact that McMahon had primarily stayed off Smackdown for some time. Obviously, that's all done, now, as the chairman comes out to the ring. Grumble.

Nice booking through the show. A six man match with the cruiserweights that was very well done, and now we gotta listen to this maniac talking about Mysterio being a "stain on the canvas of life." Talk about a man who is absolutely devoid of character. And don't tell me that this is a "character", because if it is, or it isn't, one way or another, it's still obnoxious.

Vince has actually said two things that are true. He has a huge ego, and this match with Trump is going to make headlines all over the world. Time Magazine's man of the year for winning this match. Hehehehe. What a joke.

Highlights of Raw where Trump chose the ECW Champion Bobby Lashley as his rep for the match at Wrestlemania. Come on, peeps, give me a little props here, before Trump chose Lashley, before it was even written in the IWC, I thought this was the pick for Lashley as an opponent.

Highlights are also shown of the unbelievable spot on ECW where Lashley broke the cage and smooshed Umaga like a grape. Next week on Raw, they name a special guest referee. It was already stated that Austin is back next week. It's pretty obvious who is going to be named the referee for this match.

Out comes the ECW Champion. Terrific exchange by Lashley and McMahon. Short, sweet, and effective as hell. Vince tries to buy Lashley out of his match with Umaga. Lashley says no. Vince has a lot of guts by slapping the champ, and the eyes on Lashley when he turned back around was classic. Absolutely classic.

One Raw observation. I am stunned that Cena & Michaels are still the World tag team champions. I would've thought that it would've went back to Edge and Orton by now.

JBL said that someone finally has said no to Vince McMahon, and that is something that has not been done, very often.

Kennedy wants Lashley, and begs McMahon for it. McMahon makes it for the title, no holds barred for Kennedy, and rules enforced for Lashley, count out or DQ costs him the ECW title.

Ashley out for a match, with new music. I don't know what's the song. A small sneak peek at the pictorial, which has to be amazing. Jillian sings, and it literally almost cracked my television. Nice work by Ashley, showing some talent and some new moves in the match.

Benoit is still the US champion? Stunned, I almost forgot. One thing I should mention. JBL said Trump made a mistake by naming Lashley with so much time before Wrestlemania, because of McMahon's manipulative tendencies. And I would tend to think that may be true, McMahon can buy his way, literally or figuratively out of almost anything, and this match would've been ten times more surprising if the Trump rep wasn't announced so soon. Yes, it helps to build up the feud, but, think about it from the other side of the coin, would you for one second? It does make things very interesting, if it were to happen like that.

I guess now Finlay's leprechaun has a name. Hornswoggle. What a joke.

Terrific triple threat match. Great double spot by Benoit sharpshooting MVP, and then cross facing Finlay. Intensity personnified in the match. I don't like the ending though, using Hornswoggle to allow Finlay to use the weapon to get the dupe. I would suspect to see a US title match with Benoit & MVP before much too long, and probably at Wrestlemania. The german suplex Benoit hit on Finlay on the concrete was very tough to watch.

Jerry Lawler in to the Hall of Fame. Not a surprise in any sense. Damn well deserved.

The main event is up. ECW World title with McMahon rules. Bobby Lashley defends vs. Ken Kennedy. Kennedy seems to be obsessed with ECW lately. Kind of weird, as I don't see him as an ECW talent. But, its not the classic ECW like I've been watching on Extreme Rules & Bloodsport over the last week and change.

Next week on Smackdown from Tucson, Arizona. Undertaker vs. Finlay and Batista vs. Kane. Interesting booking.

Kennedy is interrupted by Lashley's music mid-promo. Interesting. Nice use of the rules by Kennedy by taking out the turnbuckles before the match even started.

Why is the ref screaming at Lashley that he's gonna lose the belt if he smashes Kennedy's head in to the exposed steel? Isn't that supposed to be the job of the talents to remember the rules of the match, even if that they are under McMahonism rules? (Yeah, I'm knitpicking now, I've been doing this for two hours straight, and I'm tired. Been very sick last two days too, so this is a lot of effort tonight.)

The eyes on Kennedy after the first chair shot on Lashley and getting only a 2 count. Classic.

Lashley had a hell of a taping. A match with Kennedy like what he went through, and then later on facing Holly in a cage match with a 5 minute stip. Definitely a long night for the ECW Champion. I would suspect a lot more long nights in the 30 days leading up to Wrestlemania 23.

That's it. Smackdown is over. All in all, not a bad show. I was entertained. Can't ask for much more.

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