This UK edition of Smackdown begins in the best way possible with Chris Jericho complaining about loosing his belt and not having an immediate rematch. Heel Jericho is my favourite Jericho and although this character isn’t quite as hilarious as his WCW persona, I hope he continues to play this role. Edge interrupts and has a little rant before Teddy Long announces a triple threat championship match between Swagger, Jericho and Edge.
Next up we have a match between Drew McIntyre and Kane. Normally, I tend to lose interest when I know a match includes Kane, but this one seemed to draw me in and I actually enjoyed it. It would be easy to say that Drew McIntyre was responsible for the success of the match but that would be a lie, both wrestlers worked well. Drew attempted to get himself counted out in order to retain his intercontinental gold, but the match ended when Matt Hardy’s policing counted as outside interference resulting in a DQ and a Drew McIntyre victory. 7.5/10
Dolph Ziggler climbs into the ring and begins to apologise for a sleeper hold he applied on Josh Mathews. R-Truth (after singing his long song) then accuses Dolph’s apology of being insincere and threatens him with a match. The match itself was very solid ending in a Dolph victory after R- Truth tapped from his sleeper hold, but unfortunately it was way too short due to all the time being used on silly promotional devices. 6.5/10
Mickie James’ music sounds to a surprisingly loud reception, it seems even Mickie is shocked by the reaction of the UK fans. Michele McCool, accompanied by team Way Cool, struts down to ring with a bad attitude and beautiful rack. There are some nice exchanges and reversals throughout this relatively high paced match and Matt Striker’s pro heel commentary supplied a comedic edge. McCool wins after Leila distracts Mickie resulting in a big boot and a pin. 6.5/10
Rey Mysterio and the Hart Dynasty vs. CM Punk, Luke Gallows and Darren Young. This six man tag team match contains some very nice wrestling which has clearly been influenced by the individual unique styles of the competitors involved. The lucha style of Rey Mysterio, the high flying of the Tyson Kid, the viciousness of CM Punk, combined with the power and smash moves of DH Smith, Luke Gallows and Darren Young made this match very versatile and constantly exciting. This is the best match of the card but unfortunately for the viewers, the commentators found talking to the Miz more interesting than calling the match. What I found interesting was that Darren Young didn’t seem out of place and hung well with his more experienced colleges. The match ends when DH Smith’s running power slam on CM Punk results in a 123 pin. 8.5/10
Cayden Croft of the Dude busters vs. JTG of Cryme Tyme is a very good match, but again, has a silly story line getting in the way of the wrestling. Turns out JTG has left Cryme Tyme and so a story has to be built for a feud with his ex partner blah blah blah. Although the match was short due to an inevitable interruption, I liked what I saw from both guys. Move of the match was definitely JTG’s double swinging neck breaker; that was nothing short of awesome. 7.5/10
And now for the triple threat championship main event, between our champion Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho and Edge. The match starts quite slowly and if it wasn’t for the hilarious facial expressions of Chris Jericho, I would go as far as to say it was boring. I think my problem is that I want to see the high flying Edge and Jericho instead of the middle aged slightly over weight ones; I just can’t adjust. Anyway, the match starts to get a bit more exciting towards the end when we start to see the first series of fake finishes. I knew I was emotionally involved with the match when I desperately wanted Edge and then Swagger to tap from the Walls of Jericho even though I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The match ends when Edge spears Jericho but has his pin interrupted by Swagger, who in typical cheap heel style gets the 123 from Edge’s hard work. A nice end to the match. 7.5/10
This DVD also contains a good episode of Superstars and a fantastic battle between Bret Hart and Rick the Model Martel.
Overall DVD Rating 7/10
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