Your hosts are Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield.
William Regal (w/Dave Taylor) vs. The Boogeyman (w/Mini-Boogey).
Boogey's "unorthodox" style gives Regal fits early, but Boogeyman stops to go after Taylor and gets booted in the face. Regal curbstomps Boogey's head into the post. JBL works in a Johnny Weissmuller joke, allowing Cole to come back with the "1940s want their movie star back" line. Regal beats on Boogey for a while, but nothing of note happens until Boogey blocks a charge and hits the chokebomb. That brings in Taylor for the DQ at 3:40. Taylor and Regal destroy the Boogeyman (with Taylor adding a stomp on mini-Boogey). Kane walks down and stalks the Brits out into the crowd. 1/2*
Teddy Long welcomes Dusty Rhodes who expresses interest in Teddy's job, but he doesn't want to be an assistant. MVP walks in and threatens to sit out for the rest of his contract if he doesn't get a rematch with Chris Benoit. He had the flu, after all. Teddy says he can have his rematch if he beats…KANE!
Quick Feedback intermission:
The reason why the crowd isn't freaking out when Deuce and Domino is in control not because London and Kendrick aren't over but because nobody buys Deuce and Domino.
Just like why when Orlando Jordan had the one minute where he was in control of the Undertaker when he "substituted" defended JBL's title wasn't because Taker isn't over but because nobody buys Orlando Jordan. London/Kendrick had a fun feud with KC James and Idol Stevens, a great feud with MNM, a great feud with the new pitbulls as you mentioned, A good feud with Regal and Taylor with a FANTASTIC BLOWOFF in the ladder match, where they beat MNM, and The Hardy Boys in their signature match. That is something of note in even the most casual fans eye.
I don't disagree that the ladder match was phenomenal, but the heat was mostly due to the Hardyz and MNM, who were in the middle of being pushed. The fact that they couldn't just do London/Kendrick versus Taylor and Regal speaks volumes about how over they were. It's not that they didn't try hard, but they never really got the time or the effort invested in creating characters for them. Remember when Brother Love or Paul Bearer would have a tag team like Demoliton or the Legion of Doom on to speak their peace? That's what the tag teams of today need, not leather jackets and Brylcream.
Speaking of...
Brian Kendrick (w/Paul London) vs. Domino (w/Deuce & Cherry).
JBL and Cole have a funny conversation about cars. Cole's "I drive a Saturn" cracks me up for some reason. Kendrick opens a mini-can of whup-ass, clotheslining Domino to the floor and hitting a suicide dive. He gets distracted by Deuce, and Domino knees him to take over. Kendrick blocks a charge and avoids a Stinger Splash. Deuce hops up on the apron, but Kendrick just uses him to hit Sliced Bread #2 at 4:53. **
Cole provides one of the most tortured segues to "The Condemned" video package you'll ever see.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Matt Hardy.
Nice little mat-wrestling sequence to start. Kennedy gets an elbow to Matt's mouth but runs right into a boot. Matt backdrops Kennedy to the floor as we go to break. We come back to Matt hitting an elbow to the back of Kennedy's head for a two count. Kennedy blocks a backdrop and hits the single-arm DDT to give use the story of the match. He goes right after Matt's shoulder. Matt fires back with his good arm, and they clothesline each other. Matt tosses Kennedy to the floor but gets shoved into the steps. Back in, Kennedy slaps him around and locks in a cravat. Matt slugs his way back again, but Kennedy, again, blocks a backdrop and starts forearming Matt in the face. Kennedy hits a sickening running knee and another! Matt slugs his way back a third time, but Kennedy tosses him on the bulldog attempt. Matt hits it on the second try and gets two. The Side Effect gets two more. Kennedy gets two off a Jackknife Roll, and they slug it out. Hardy counters the Finlay Roll, but Kennedy counters again and hits it! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The Kenton Bomb finds Hardy's knees! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Hardy's legdrop gets two, but Kennedy counters the Twist of Fate. Matt reverses a whip and hits it anyway at 18:55. Hey, can't complain about a couple of midcarders getting a chance to shine, and Kennedy has to have something to do while he awaits Mania. Good TV match, which is becoming a welcome trend from the WWE. ***1/4
In the back, Teddy Long says, as a result of the controversial end to Taker/Batista II, there will be another rematch next week…inside of a steel cage. I guess we'll get Mark Henry interfering again?
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Gregory Helms.
Yang controls early with armdrags and hits the Tiger Wall Flip. Helms dumps him to take over and works the back. Yang comes back with a rana, but Helms catches him on top and delivers an Electric Chair drop. Yang wins a battle on the top rope and finishes Helms with the moonsault block at 5:08. *1/2
Batista ponders if all the pain is worth it. His conclusion: hell yes.
Mark Henry is coming back, and given the walking hospital wing that is Smackdown right now, not a moment too soon.
Fit Finlay vs. The Miz.
Finlay shows a bit of whimsy, knocking Miz down and mocking his "hoo rah!" Miz actually grows a pair and knocks Finlay to the floor with a kick. Unfortunately, he still doesn't have a brain as he follows Finlay out and gets knocked down. Hornswoggle gets in an eyepoke, and Finlay takes over. Finlay undoes the turnbuckle, distracting the ref long enough for Finlay to toss Hornswoggle into the Miz. Miz battles back and lifts Matt Sydal's corner clothesline. He stops to look for Hornswoggle, but the leprechaun is actually behind him and gives him a shot in the ass. Miz gives chase but runs right into a Finlay clothesline. Miz fights back again and rams Finlay into the apron. Hornswoggle pulls Miz under the ring, though, and puts his hat on him. Miz is so pissed off that he takes a walk and gets counted out at 5:50. Miz looked good, but the stuff with Hornswoggle (presumably to set up an angle), distracted from that. **
The Undertaker cuts his usual ominous promo.
US Title, #1 Contender's Match: MVP vs. Kane.
MVP fires away but gets caught in a bearhug. Kane grabs a chinlock and slugs MVP with an uppercut. MVP snaps Kane's neck on the ropes but gets booted to the floor. We take a break and come back to Kane continuing to dominate. MVP goes to work on Kane's shoulder. He gets a little over-aggressive, and the ref has to pull him off Kane. Kane explodes with a clothesline to buy time, but MVP doggedly goes back to the arm. Kane comes back with uppercuts and a corner clothesline. MVP Yakuza kicks him and hits a neckbreaker for two. MVP blocks the chokeslam but gets hit with the flying clothesline. He's about to finish, but William Regal and Dave Taylor run down to distract him. The ref is busy with MVP, so Regal clocks Kane with the brass knuckles, allowing MVP to finish with a sloppy Playmaker (he NEEDS a new finisher) at 11:47. MVP worked a good strategy, and Kane provided his usual, so this wasn't so bad. **
The 411: The last hour was pretty good. Kennedy versus Hardy was a great, unexpected TV match, and MVP continues to roll. They've really put a lot into the young stars on all brands (Punk, MVP, Kennedy), and it's paying dividends right now.
