Sean O’Mac’s Take On Friday Night Smackdown! – February 15, 2008



CLICK HERE to email Sean “O’Mac” McGuinney.

Well wrestling fans, I’d love to say the final Smackdown! leading up to No Way Out was chocked full of excitement that kept me glued to my television. And while I can say I did enjoy the show – well, the simple truth is I fell asleep.

So I guess it wasn’t that exciting, but at least I have DVR and record the shows, so I was able to rewind and watch what I missed!

We had matches intended to pump up the Elimination Chamber at the PPV, but honestly the one moment that interested me most was during the eight-man tag team bout. We had Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, Deuce and Domino taking on Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore, Jesse and Festus.

While the match itself wasn’t that long, just under three minutes, it’s what happened afterwards that brought a smile to my face. After weeks of seeing that Festus’ personality transforms at the sound of the bell, the creative folks finally did something with it besides start and end matches.

After Yang hit a moonsault and pinned Domino to win the match, the bell rang and Festus, on the apron, went back to his usual, stoic self. Meanwhile, the heels attacked and Festus watched as his teammates were pummeled. Eventually, Jesse was thrown from the ring, made his way to the timekeeper and rang the bell himself – sending Festus back into his raging side.

Well, needless to say, Festus cleaned house and left the heels reeling, after which Jesse rang the bell again to subdue his partner. So now, the fun begins.

We discussed this briefly in the last edition of The Punching Bag, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Do the opponents get to the bell when Festus is in the ring and get an easy pin? Will we see a match where the bell is used so often, sending Festus back and forth, so that he just completely hits one extreme or the other? (Meaning he either goes even more insane, taking out anything and everyone – or just goes completely catatonic.)

This one will be fun to watch.

Batista and MVP started off the show – not a match you’d expect to see first thing. And while it did seem to drag along at first, with MVP constantly leaving the ring and whining to the ref about one thing or another, it did finally pick up. Batista looked as though he might be avenging MVP’s actions against Ric Flair when he targeted MVP’s leg and even locked on the Figure Four. Although applying the move looked to be a bit awkward for him, it was still a “cool” thing to see.

Both contenders did manage to dish out some damage, with MVP focusing more on Batista’s shoulder. However, it was Batista in the end with a Batista Bomb and clean finish over the U.S. Champ.

In another match-up of Elimination Chamber contenders, Undertaker defeated Big Daddy V once again – this time with a DDT. Then, it was Matt Striker who actually felt the wrath of Undertaker’s gogoplat (a.k.a. Death Valley Choke?). Not an Earth-shattering match, but I do have to agree with another opinion voiced on the results of the show – how many times can these monsters (V, Mark Henry) job and still keep any semblance of being monsters?

A third match involving EC players pitted Finlay against Great Khali. The larger opponent controlled most of the match until Hornswoggle caused a distraction, trying to use a shillalah to save his friend but finding himself greatly outmatched. He did manage to drop Runjin before Khali put him on the mat, but that was enough distraction to allow Finlay to use his own shillalah and get the win.

Pretty much what I expected here, but it will be interesting to see what happens on Sunday with Finlay. Will he manage to get that shilleleh into the Elimination Chamber?

The drama continued tonight between Michelle McCool and Chuck Palumbo. McCool had a match against Victoria and lost because Chuck came out and just kept revving up his motorcycle during the match. Afterwards, he had her pinned to the mat with his foot as he told her that she’d better get used to this kind of treatment. Give it a week or two and Jamie Noble will be rushing back to play the hero and forever win McCool’s heart. Awww… shucks.

*cough… gag…*

Just kidding. It’s actually a pretty fun storyline even if it is an old one, and watching Palumbo show some newfound intensity as he destroyed Noble was quite entertaining.

CM Punk got another win over ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero in a tag match with partners Kane and Shelton Benjamin, respectively. Chavo went to sleep, courtesy of the former champion, and so did I.

Well, that about does it for this week’s Take on Smackdown. Oh… wait. I nearly forgot. (Yeah, right.)

Edge, showing his nerves all night, had the ring all decked out in Valentine splendor at the end of the show – complete with a string quartet. The bride-to-be looked radiant as she was escorted down the aisle in her … ack!

Flashback, my apologies. Remember I said I started on the bottom rung in the newspaper business?

Yes, the mighty Sean O’Mac, wrestling guru and firefighter extraordinaire, started out as a Society Editor. Weddings, engagements, my-kid’s-better-than-your-kid articles. I truly miss those days, almost as much as that time I spent in basic training. Anyways, I digress.

Yes, Edge actually popped the question – to which Vickie responded “yes.” Their celebration was short lived as Rey Mysterio appeared and voiced his disgust at the whole spectacle. Well, that didn’t sit well with the prospective groom who promptly kicked and slugged Rey. Rey retaliated by dropping Edge to the second rope and hitting a 619.

Edge was fast enough to avoid a seated senton – but Vickie wasn’t. Rey looked shocked at first that he had hit her with the move, but as he slowly retreated from the scene the man simply shrugged it off as if to say, “Hey, that’s what she deserves.” Well, as far as the storyline goes, he’s right.

Since the show was taped prior to Rey’s injury, it’s going to be interesting to see what they do at No Way Out. The man doesn’t want to miss WrestleMania, but surgery would put him out well past that. So what happens now? Will Edge, in his quest for vengeance, “brutally injure” Rey in their match? Then again, is Rey going to be capable of putting on a show in the first place?

As I write this Take, these answers still haven’t come. All the best, Rey – I hope it turns out not to be as bad as is feared.

Don’t like my take? Let’s hear yours! Send me your e-mails to wzseanomac@yahoo.com… the best and worst of the bunch may be featured in editions of Sean OâMacâs Pullinâ No Punches. Remember, short ones are good, long ones may be cut, and keep the name of the column in mind when you come looking for answers!

Miss an article? Want to look back over Sean O’Mac’s past columns? Now you can check them out on his brand new MySpace page, www.myspace.com/wzseanomac.

TRENDING


X