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Last night's Smackdown featured a huge announcement from General Manager Vicki Guerrero, a battle royal to determine Triple H's SummerSlam challenger, and more.
The broadcast opened with Montel Vontavious Porter welcoming Jeff Hardy to the VIP Lounge. MVP accused Hardy of being reckless with his career and even alluded to Jeff’s personal problems, including the loss of his dog in a house fire last March. Hardy attempted to retort, but eventually became frustrated and shoved MVP, who headed to the back with a pleased smile on his face. This was a great segment and really showcased MVP’s promo ability.
Hardy later exacted a measure of revenge by eliminating MVP from the Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer Battle Royal to determine who would oppose Triple H for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. In fact, Jeff remained in the match until the very end until he was eliminated by The Great Khali. Yes, you read correctly - Khali will compete for the Championship in the main event of what is arguably the second biggest show on WWE’s PPV calendar. Try as I might, I cannot imagine a single person employed by the company actually believing that anybody wanted to see this match.
Edge called his new wife Vicki Guerrero to the ring and explained that he only became intimate with wedding planner Alicia Fox - whom the Rated R Superstar was shown conversing with backstage earlier in the night - to ensure that their wedding day would be a special occasion. Vicki didn’t believe Edge’s story and announced that she had reinstated The Undertaker, much to the dismay of her husband. Furthermore, the Smackdown GM told Edge that he would face The Dead Man in a Hell in the Cell Match at SummerSlam. Vicki cackled with evil glee (or at least attempted to) as her former lover sat stunned in the middle of the ring.
This was a decent program and the Edge-Vicki Guerrero split is a logical way to bring back The Undertaker. However, I must question the longevity of Vicki in a babyface General Manager role. Despite the crowd reaction she receives, Vicki is not a good performer overall and there is a good chance she will be lost without the best heel in WWE by her side.
I suppose the Hell in the Cell Match at SummerSlam is intended to compensate for a lackluster Triple H-Great Khali main event, but such a headliner is just plain inexcusable. Any other wrestler involved in the battle royal - Hell, in the entire company! - would have been a better choice than Khali.
Match Results: U.S. Champion Shelton Benjamin over Jimmy Wang Yang via pinfall in a non-title match … Festus over Curt Hawkins via pinfall … Vladimir Kozlov over Stevie Richards via pinfall … The Great Khali won a Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer Battle Royal over Jeff Hardy, MVP, The Big Show, Mr. Kennedy, and Umaga to win a WWE Title match against Triple H at SummerSlam … Divas Champion Michelle McCool over Maryse via submission in a non-title match … Brian Kendrick over Shannon Moore via pinfall.
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