Brooklyn Brawlin' 4.29.09: Smackdown Gets a Needed Kick In the Draft

Posted by Dan Torkel on 04.29.2009

Like the Magnificent 7, the Fab 5, the 4 Horsemen, and the 13th Hour... it's the return of the SMACKDOWN 6!!!

Greetings and instant apologies for missing a week's column. Before Sunday night's title win by Randy Orton, I was going to say it felt an awful lot like 1999, what with Triple H, Mick Foley, and Jerry Lynn being World Champions. I personally don't get any logic of Foley, while I can sort of see the logic behind Lynn. ROH was an independent company that just got its first TV deal, so putting the belt on a wrestler who has credentials in the "Big 3" is a good move. Once the other guys get established on TV, look for Nigel, Danielson, and Tyler Black to move back into the title scene.

Conversely, Mick Foley had not had a meaningful wrestling match since Wrestlemania XXII in 2006. He was brought in to add another big name former WWE star to the TNA roster and should have been kept as an enhancement talent/match-maker. He was doing fine in his role before being dragged into the ever-ridiculous MEM/Frontline feud. TNA completely blew this angle WCW-style. They had a perfect storm with the older guys playing the dominating heels and the younger guys as upstart babyfaces. But the booking was simply bizarre. They never turned Sting full heel in a heel stable, instead actually turning him against the Mafia to feud with the leader, Angle. They brought back "What happened to my first name" Daniels way too late. They had Joe comeback as a knife-wielding psycho instead of a wronged face seeking revenge. Just typical ass backwards crap from TNA. And now, an overweight, over aged Mick Foley is their World Champ. I love Foley; own two his books, got one signed by him at a convention, and respect his contributions to wrestling. But he should be a World Champion in 2009. He has been semi-retired for almost 10-years!!! I mean you don't see Vince throwing a World Title on Ricky Steamboat do you?

Backlash Thoughts:

Well color me red and call me dead wrong on this one. I thought this ppv would be terrible. The 6-man match had me scratching my head, and I guess I had simply forgotten the chemistry between Cena and Edge. In any case, SO much better than Wrestlemania, although as per usual, I still find some major complaints. First off, here we go again: 6 matches on a 3 hour show. That is simply unacceptable. I teach a class of Economics and in today's economy it is unfair for a multi-million dollar corporation to expect fans to pay $40 for 6 matches. I know Edge/Cena was great and the other matches were fun but let's examine these ppvs' use of time. Every match gets a video package that takes anywhere from 3 – 7 minutes, sometimes 10 if a major match on major show. Each wrestler gets an intro complete with fireworks and music usually lasting 2 – 3 minutes, unless it's a major show and then we have the main guys who take FOREVER…Taker, Triple H, Shawn, Edge, and Cena. That all adds to almost an hour of wasted ppv time. Now let's talk "talk". As in talk show segments on ppv. I hate when my free TV wrestling is interrupted by too many talk shows, and interview segments. I know Vince calls it "E"ntertainment" but on ppv, we tune in for the "W"restling. Adding up the times in Backlash's six matches, we had 1 hour and 40 minutes, which is actually pretty good. But the Khali/Santino segment is just awful and wastes what could have been

a) Miz vs. John Morrison – totally natural as they were a great team for years that just broke up violently on draft night.

b) An IC/US//Tag Team/Women's/DIVA's Title match. MVP, Rey Mysterio, the Colons, Melina, and Maryse all had nothing going on right after Wrestlemania and instead we had a match with a retired wrestler, and a meaningless TV match (Kane/Punk) that served no purpose other than to remind us that despite all the MITB wins, the E has zero faith in CM Punk.

Raw Thoughts:

So Batista's back in the main event. Its impressive how many times Batista can be booked strong and not win the big match. And he wins by count out in one of the worst TV matches in awhile, whew! Way to get a # 1 Contender. I'm calling it now, that match ends with Triple H "accidentally" costing Batista the title, the way Batista's distraction cost Triple H at Backlash. Then we can get the inevitable triple threat match between the former Evolution guys. That's all I got on Raw as I was stuck watching the horrible "Twilight" with my fiancée while DVR was taping EVERYTHING on my other TV.

After the draft was completed, I began reviewing the superstars for each brand and it occurred to me, we've seen something like this before. Smackdown has once again become THE place for great wrestling. And we may be on the verge of hell of a summer on My 9, with what may be the second calling of the Smackdown 6.

THE NEW SMACKDOWN SIX… (or 8, or 10?)

Back in 2002, WWE resembled late 90's WCW. The top ppv matches were mostly bombs featuring injured, washed up, and older wrestlers while the mid card featured some of the best matches and feuds of the decade. This was mostly due to a specific group of six athletes who for two hours every Thursday or Friday (I don't remember anymore) graced us with some of the best wrestling matches on free TV, and then carried it over to ppv. These men were Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero. For the better part of 2002 these six men dazzled us with interlocking feuds and meaningful matches on a consistent basis. It started with Edge and Kurt Angle who had a terrific feud stretching 2 ppvs and one great free Cage match. Edge was finally seen as a legit top contender, and ended up shaving Kurt's hair during that feud. Edge transitioned to Eddie Guerrero for another epic 3-parter. First at Summerslam (Angle fought Rey there as well) where Edge won, and then at Unforgiven where Eddie lied, cheated, and stole a win. Then came their ****1/2 No DQ match on Smackdown which saw Edge win using a DDT off a ladder. Benoit and Angle also had a MOTYC at Unforgiven before being teamed up by then SD GM Stephanie McMahon and ordered to get along. She debuted the WWE Tag Team Titles for Smackdown and a tournament was held for the new straps. Benoit and Angle were teamed together against their will. Edge and Rey teamed up out of mutual respect and the family Guerrero was also a part of the tourney. More amazing free TV matches took place before No Mercy 2002 had THE MOTY where Angle and Benoit beat Rey and Edge to become the first WWE Tag Champs. They traded the belts and had other MOTYC before the Guerreros took the belts at Survivor Series in a triple threat. The 6 months of TV will sadly never be seen or recognized due to Benoit but they live on as the best 6 months of free wrestling in the modern era.

Now let's examine the current SD roster post 2009 draft: We have World Champion Edge, IC Champion Rey Mysterio, former title holders Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho, former Tag, and ECW Champ John Morrison, MITB holder and former ECW and World Champ CM Punk, and also the Human Highlight Reel Shelton Benjamin and his former tag champion partner Charlie Haas. Ladies and Gentlemen, wrestling fans of all ages, we may be looking at one phenomenal series of matches here. The best part of this is that unlike 2002, the World Title is not above any of these guys. Sure Angle had been a WWE Champion, but aside from one title shot at Vengeance 02 he was firmly in the mid card. Here you have Rey, Punk, Jericho, Hardy, and Morrison all having been top Champions (ECW we'll count). Plus you have Rey holding the IC Title, thus making it possible for two tiers of classic matches. When you contemplate the heel/face dynamics, think of the possible tags and 6-mans. Edge/Jericho/Morrison vs. Rey/Punk/Hardy. Edge and Jericho together would make possibly the most awesomely unbelievable heel duo in a long, long time.

Another great thing is that ALL the big name ego guys are on Raw. Triple H, Cena, Batista, Orton, Big Show all on Raw. SD's remaining top guy is Taker, who hasn't been seen since Mania and after 2008 is probably not so quick to go back in with Edge. They have Umaga who can mesh his big man style to appear dominant here. Here are some suggestions for SD's new brand:

1) Edge and Jericho together at last – ala Rated RKO, only better: the two best heels in the company against a parade of eager babyfaces.

2) CM Punk… sssssllllllllloooooooowwwwww heel turn. First, have him declare that he does not want to be thought of as a fluke, so he openly challenges Edge to a match at Extreme Rules in June. He LOSES, thus failing to cash in his MITB. From there he goes on to team with Jeff Hardy and slowly begins turning on him. The E should totally explore Punk's straight edge heel persona and that makes the tortured hero, Hardy an easy target. Then after someone (perhaps Hardy) ousts Edge's title, here's Punk as the first challenger.

3) Someone get back to tag team wrestling. I know the Colons are elsewhere but they can make them floaters with the ONLY tag titles. You can have a rekindling of The World's Greatest Tag Team with Shelton and Haas, or an even cooler team of Shelton and Morrison. Rey and Jeff could rekindle the magic of the Rey/Eddie, or Rey/RVD tag teams of the past.

4) Feud Rey and Morrison right now and elevate Johnny M to IC Champ again. Perhaps have Jericho tutor Morrison.

5) Since no one has seen him since Wrestlemania, have Shawn Michaels slum it and come over to the blue side for awhile. Shawn has no place left on Raw with all the monster names, so throwing him to SD would be amazing. He has amazing chemistry with Edge and Jericho, and guys like Shelton, Morrison, Punk, and Hardy could get a great rub from matches with him. Plus it can always get us another Taker/Shawn match!

6) Dolph Ziggler = $$$MONEY$$$

7) Haha, just kidding about # 6.

Smackdown has become the wrestling show I will DVR for the next few months, because there is too much ego, hyperbole and SMS (Slow Match Syndrome) on Raw right now. Till next time, as always have fun storming the castle.