Reviewing the July 25 edition of Smackdown!

Smackdown starts this week with the MVP Lounge. MVP’s guest is Jeff Hardy who, as usual, gets a huge ovation from the crowd.

I think Jeff Hardy has emerged in the WWE as one of the fan favorites over the past years. He just needs a title shot soon and his popularity level will only get higher. MVP then runs down Jeff Hardy’s troubles involving his recent suspension a few months back, and losing his Intercontinental Championship.

At first I was gaining more respect for the MVP character. Two weeks ago, he exchanged a few positive words with WWE Champion Triple H. But then MVP went even lower when he started to talk about Jeff Hardy loss of his house and even his dog. I personally don’t like the writers having the stars mention things in their personal lives on the show. Then they call Dr. Phil, who comes on the line and blames Jeff for being reckless and not caring about his career. I thought that was a little funny. Not too much though.

Jeff finally has enough and pushes MVP through the ropes and out of the ring. MVP then heads to the back, Jeff walks up the ramp, pauses at the top as the fans applaud. He raises his arms and salutes. Why hasn’t he been given at least a major title shot recently? He certainly deserves because he’s well over with the fans.

A biggest part of the summer battle royal is announced for later tonight. It will determine the number 1 contender for Triple H’s WWE Championship at WWE Summerslam.

The Battle Royal Participants are: Mr. Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Big Show, MVP, Umaga, and the Great Khali.

Later, there was a match between WWE United States Champion Shelton Benjamin and Jimmy Wang Yang. I learned just how much the fans really don’t like Shelton Benjamin. A small reason is because he beat fan favorite Matt Hardy for the US Championship at the Great American Bash this past Sunday.

Benjamin grabbed the win and dominates throughout and hits an “indescribable” finisher. Benjamin, for some reason, doesn’t really impress me. Sure, he’s well built, athletic, and attended a great college at Minnesota. But, he’s never reallt gotten over very much with the fans. The writers really havent given him that much of a push as a major role in the WWE.

The biggest role he’s had in the past was with his former tag team partner Charlie Haas and during his run with the Intercontinental Championship a while back. Again, not too impressive.

Festus, later that night, went on to defeat Curt Hawkins. I think the character of Festus is absolutely awesome! He’s hilarious. Almost like the Incredible Hulk to a certain extent. He and Jesse better win some gold soon in order to keep him around for a while. Jesse and Festus make a very good (and very odd as well) tag team who I always look foreword to seeing in matches.

Hawkins and Ryder attacked Festus after the match. That part I thought was a little dry and boring. It’s going to be interesting to see how the new WWE Tag Team Champions are going to be used now that they are on top of the Smackdown! Tag Team world.

Vladimir Kozlov defeats Stevie Richards. Richards is very boring, hands down. I’ve been a wrestling fan for so many years and Stevie Richards is one of few wrestlers I think just needs to leave. He’s never going to get a push, he’s never intimidating, and he’s almost always used as in squash matches.

Vladimir Kozlov on the other hand could very well be a dominating superstar, he could be fighting other big stars such as the Great Khali, Umaga, and the Big Show if the writers give him a chance.

The Great Khali defeats Ken Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, MVP, Big Show, and Umaga to win the battle royal.
MVP is eliminated first. Big Show eliminates Umaga and then Kennedy. Khali fights the Big Show as Hardy slumps in the corner. Umaga comes back in and hits Big Show with the thumb. The referee orders him to the back for cheating I guess. Kennedy is eliminated by the Big Show.

Big Show is then eliminated by Jeff Hardy. The Great Khali gets the win by eliminating Jeff Hardy. Runjin Singh returns. Runjin is actually a rather interesting manager. Slightly annoying but interesting at the same time. Triple H comes out to confront Khali. This could turn into an interesting rivalry, if you want to call it a rivalry.

I am totally looking foreword to seeing Ron Killings come to Smackdown! He could work well with many of the stars on the show.

Michelle McCool defeats Maryse by getting maryse to tap in her leg submission. I thought that was a rather odd way to end a Divas match but I guess it worked. I thought it was cool to see Michelle McCool win the Divas Championship at the Great American Bash.

I kinda miss the Cruiserweight Championship. Even though there isn’t much of a Cruiserweight division anymore.

Brian Kendrick defeats Shannon Moore
Kendrick comes out with Ezekiel and cuts a promo. I thought it was stupid how they have a huge bodyguard kinda guy to protect such a little guy like Kendrick who is not even intimidating at all! Moore is initially over matched by the hyper aggressive Kendrick. Moore got distracted by Ezekiel during the match.

Kendrick hits a reverse backwards bulldog-type move for the win. That, I thought, was actually cool to see. Kendrick is very athletic but I thought it was dumb to have a huge body guard watch over such a little guy.

Up next is Edge's public apology to Vickie Guerrero. He comes out to the ring and calls out Vickie. She is wheeled to the stage by Chavo Guerrero. Vickie hugs Edge and tells him she forgives him. 9is it just me or is Vickie and Edge becoming the sickest looking couple in sports entertainment history? Totally gross and dumb. Edge and Lita looked better, and they were disgusting too.

Anyways…She then says that hell hatch no fury like a woman scorn. She tells Edge she has reinstated the Undertaker (WAHOO!!!) and that he will face him at SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match. She then announces that Edge will face Triple H right now in a Philadelphia Street Fight. (Their in Philadelphia this week by the way…)

Edge gets on the microphone and says that no matter what he gets thrown into, he still loves Vickie Guerrero. (yeah whatever…lets move on!)

The following was not on Smackdown!, it was a dark match used after the tapings:

Triple H defeats Edge in a Philadelphia Street Fight to retain the WWE Championship.
Triple H starts out fast by smashing Edge's head into the announcers table. Edge reverses and throws Triple H into the ring steps. Another reversal as Triple H smashes Edge into the announcers table. He whips Edge into Jim Ross. Back in the ring, Triple H brings in a sledgehammer. (always awesome to see Hunter’s favorite toy!)

Edge blocks the sledgehammer and knocks Triple H to the mat. He gets two chairs and sets up the concerto. (my teeth cringe every time I see that attempted) Triple H gets out of the way and hits Edge in the face with the sledgehammer and pins him for the win. Smackdown has definitely gotten a lot better now that Triple H is running the show. I can tell he is going to be the Champion for a while.

Smackdown was pretty good this week. Triple H is a part of it now, which means it might get even better with him and the Undertaker on the same show.

Undertaker returns at Summerslam!!!

Source: http://bleacherreport.com