When was the last time you watched Backlash and thought, “Hey, they’re setting up some pretty cool stuff for this summer!” I do, and I think it was back when the years all started with “1″… until now.

I mean, this isn’t hyperbole or sucking up to get some free DVDs (although that’s always appreciated)… this is The Russ, whose picture appears in the dictionary next to the word “hateful”, who hasn’t shilled anything for Vince in years, who is so down on the modern wrestling product that he’s resigned himself to watch matches from 20 years ago to maintain his appreciation and enjoyment of any pro wrestling product. This was an awesome show, and totally worth the money to watch it.

In fact, I can’t remember the last time I thought a wrestling show was this great that I actually had hope and faith in the business again, but I guess I have, and I really hope WWE can keep my hope and faith throughout the summer, as they’ve really set the table for some great stuff between this show and what took place on Raw. In fact, the main event was so much fun to watch, that I would have to make it a candidate for Match of the Year, and I don’t generally throw that term around lightly.

This show also marks the debut of Mick Foley as color commentator, and as long as he sticks to advancing the psychology and storytelling of the matches, Smackdown should be set for years. They couldn’t have picked a better guy. Anyway, enough gushing, I probably should go recap this thing.

Results courtesy of Gerweck.net.

Matt Hardy defeated MVP to become the new WWE United States Champion. This was a very active match, and a good one to start the show with. Lots of near falls at the end, but Hardy hit a Twist of Fate after MVP missed a kick in the corner for the finish. Like I said in the preview, I wouldn’t mind the outcome if MVP dropped the title on this show, but I think it’s too soon with Hardy coming back in the feud all of a sudden. If they had kept tabs on Hardy during his injury, then this outcome might have made more sense. The promo on Smackdown last week was good enough to set this up, but hopefully they will keep the feud going. Maybe they thought if Hardy didn’t win that it would get too stale…

ECW Champion Kane retained over Chavo Guerrero. They’re doing ring introductions in the ring now and not while walking down the aisle. Must be a trend. This was about 80 times longer than their 5-second match at Wrestlemania. Meanwhile, Adamle and “The” Tazz screw stuff up throughout the match.

Guess what folks? I think you got had by WWE, because it looks like that was an angle to get 5,000,000 hits on You Tube. Check out 1:44 to 2:13 below… I guess WWE listens to us honks on the internet after all.

Anyway, much double-teaming between Chavo and Bam Neely… if they were going to have a guy dressed like Roadkill, maybe they should have kept Roadkill? Kane with a chokeslam for the finish.

Big Show defeated The Great Khali.Interesting camera angle before the bell with them shooting up at the two staring eye-to-eye with the shorty referee in between. Second match in, and the jury is still out on Mick Foley’s commentary… he has a lot of good points to make and good references to recent history, but he needs to avoid calling moves. Foley actually put Khali over very well, despite the fact that the guy moves like Mechagodzilla. Big Show with a chokeslam on Khali for the win. I thought this was a great spectacle match, despite a perceived lack of “workrate”, and Cole and Foley kept things moving well. I actually look forward to watching Smackdown this week for them.

Shawn Michaels defeated Batista (Special Guest Referee: Chris Jericho). In weeks past, I was thinking maybe that Jericho would turn heel here in this match, but the finish says otherwise. Batista is the heel, I guess, even though they’re trying to make Michaels out to be the heel. Have they ever met in a singles match before? Lots of good psych early on with Michaels working on Batista’s shoulder… later on Michaels would continue to work on the arm and shoulder with the non-Crippler Crossface. Late in the match, Michaels tweaked his knee when he countered a Batista Bomb, but recovered the hit Sweet Chin Music for the win. It was a clean match for the most part, and very enjoyable to watch. Looks like they might continue to feud throughout the summer. That would not suck. After the match, Jericho and some other referees helped Michaels walk to the back.

Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian, Layla, Victoria & Natalya defeated WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool, Cherry & Kelly Kelly in a 12-Diva tag match. The match opened with quick tags in and out by both teams. Cherry interfered at one point, which caused everyone else to start fighting on the floor. Worst spot of the match was Natalya Neidhart having to sell to Maria. Way to throw the new girl under the bus. Beth Phoenix won with a Fisherman’s Suplex on Ashley. A bit too long, but not quite as bad as I predicted.

World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker retained over Edge. Ring announcements are done in the ring again for this match… this must be something for championship matches. Undertaker told Edge, “I’m going to hurt you,” before the match–nice to see that humor isn’t lost on the Taker. Nice spots outside the ring about 5 minutes in the match, and good psychology with the “hurt you” statement from earlier. Edge got a lot of good weardown moves in the middle of the match, and again, the commentary makes this endurable. A lot of good pacing. Run-in by Curt Hawkins late, and he decked Undertaker with the title belt. Another 2 count, so Zack Ryder ran in and got thrown into Edge. Taker with the gogoplata choke for the win. After the match, Undertaker left the hold on, Edge spit blood and did the stretcher job with Vickie Guerrero looking on.

Triple H defeated Randy Orton to become the new WWE Champion (Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match). Orton tried to deck JBL with the title belt before the bell, but JBL kicked him in the head instead. Silly Orton-Man. Action in and out of the ring to start with… funny segment early on has JBL thinking about breaking Orton out of the STFU, and then stopping and screaming at Orton to tap out. Guess Foghorn had to think about that one there. It’s interesting how they’re really pushing this Orton vs. JBL thing throughout the match when it’s Cena that he’ll be feuding with… Nice stacked superplex with Cena and Triple H superplexing JBL and Orton out of the corner. Stereo covers on JBL and Orton by the babyfaces, but the heels wouldn’t bite, so Cena and Triple H turned on each other. Multiple finisher attempts by everyone not named Orton until Triple H was thrown out of the ring. JBL was eliminated first about 10 minutes in by Cena with the STFU. Orton ran in and kicked Cena in the head right away and got a quick second fall on him, and so it’s down to Hunter vs. Orton.

Triple H threw Orton out of the ring and started slamming Randy’s head into various objects at ringside. Then Orton got him back and threw him in the ring for a break. They got in some nice “sounds of the game” type stuff in the production, with the announcers shutting up and letting the ambient noise tell the story–you got the referee asking Hunter if he wanted to give up, him telling the referee “No”, and then him screaming out in pain… they got another one of those earlier too with the Undertaker. The less the announcers talk over this stuff, the better. Triple H blocked an RKO, and the count on both men got to 9… that’s something that they did a lot in the ’80s and don’t do enough of anymore. Back out of the ring, and Triple H introduced Orton to two announce tables, but Randy tried a piledriver on the steps, got blocked, and took a hard-looking drop on the steps with the back of his neck. Dueling finisher attempts again, but it’s Triple H that hit the Pedigree to get the win. Awesome AWESOME match. Well over a half-hour, well worth the money.

Watch the replay if you get a chance… heck, let me give you a few reasons here to prove my point. If WWE pay-per-views were all like this, I would always buy them. Sincerely, this one is worth the money if you’ve got it. And if you do watch it, tell WWE what you thought about it.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Russ Ray's Rasslin' Ring, The Russ, Wrestling. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.