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Smackdown
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we give you the scoop on what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring. Somedays it's even funny!
Chairshots
8/17/01Last night was the first live Smackdown ever and I have to admit that I was a little let down. Maybe I fell for all the hype, but I was expecting more from the “Stone Cold Invitational” than
Stone Cold yelling at Scotty Too Hotty. Once again it looks like Tazz is going to get a push only to be soundly defeated and pushed back down to “Jobber to the Stars” level. Will Tommy Dreamer ever wrestle? Two long interview segments at the start of the show didn’t help either. It was a fine show, but I expected more. There are times the new set looks really cool and times it looks like something you’d see on American Gladiators. On the other hand, I missed Tough Enough this week. I’ll catch it over the weekend and render judgment on Monday
Papa Rock
WWF.com reports that the Rock's wife Dany gave birth to the couple's first child, Simone Alexandria Johnson, on Aug. 14 in Davie, Fla. The baby girl weighed in at 7 lbs., 10 ounces. The website also reports that Rock has already nicknamed his daughter "Pebbles."
SummerSlam Preview
SummerSlam is this Sunday and unlike last months Pay Per View, this show looks pretty good on paper. Let’s take a look at the matches.
Dudley Boyz & Test vs. APA & Spike: Not much to say about this one. Test jumped to the Alliance and now he’s been tossed into a six man match. Expect someone to go through table and Spike to take some crazy bump. I predict this is the opening match and that the Alliance will win.
Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno: This should be a solid match between two great workers. Jericho needs to have a good match. While his promos have been funny, he’s been stuck in the mid card for a while. He needs to show a lot of heart and skill in this match or new WWF wrestlers like Rhyno and Rob Van Dam are just going to push Jericho further down the card. Both men can deliver in the ring. I predict Rhyno wins.
X-pac vs. Tajiri for the WCW Cruiserweight & WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
X-pac may be the dullest WWF superstar on the roster, but he has the ability to have a good match. Tajiri of course is awesome. He will win the match and move on to bigger and better things.
Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy for the WWF Hardcore Championship – Ladder Match Two of my favorite guys light it up in another PPV match. Their match at Invasion was incredible and I’m sure they will do it again. The ladder match stipulation not only means that these two will have the match of the night, but a definite match of the year candidate. Hardy wins to keep the Hardcore Championship in a five start match.
Lance Storm vs. Edge for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Lance Storm and Edge are made for each other. Nothing is batter than watch two Canadian wrestlers beat the snot out of each other. Storm wins because Edge doesn’t need the belt to remain popular.
Undertaker & Kane vs. DDP & Kanyon for the WWF & WCW Tag Team Championship in a Steel Cage Match. I can only hope this is short as it should be the slowest match of the night. Team No Sell vs. Kanyon and DPP. All of these guys can have good matches, but not on a consistent basis. My guess is writers put them in a cage to cover their flaws. Taker and Kane win in 10 minutes or less because even the WWF writers know that the first unified tag champions should be the legendary Undertaker and Kane, not Kanyon and DDP.
Booker T vs. The Rock for the WCW World Championship. Give these two 20 minutes and they’ll give you an outstanding match. I applaud the WWF’s decision to have Rock face Booker rather than Stone Cold which would be a bigger money draw. The only problem is do you have The Rock lose his first PPV match since returning or do you have Booker T lose and have Alliance members look weak? Booker needs the win, but Rock will get it.
Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF World Championship. Stone Cold has been at the top of his game recently and Kurt Angle’s talent is endlessly amazing. Should be a classic match. I think Kurt will win the gold for the WWF and start his second World Title reign.
I’d expect the WWF to add a last minute match on Sunday Night Heat. So far, the show looks pretty good. Join me on Monday to see how it all came together.
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