Smackdown: John Morrison seeks, CM Punk destroys
Friday night’s episode of Smackdown was about two things: establishing John Morrison as a legitimate main event babyface, and putting an exclamation point on CM Punk’s methodical heel turn.
Mission accomplished on both fronts.
The common denominator in the showcasing of Morrison and Punk was Smackdown’s top star, Jeff Hardy. He successfully defended his newly won world heavyweight championship against Morrison in an excellent, pay-per-view quality match that I was fortunate enough to have witnessed live at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. After the match, Hardy was the victim of a vicious beat-down by Punk.
In pushing Hardy to the limit (including kicking out of a Swanton Bomb) in such an entertaining match, Morrison perhaps gained more credibility with the fans than he did with his two recent victories over Punk. While the live crowd clearly favored Hardy, they didn’t dislike Morrison. The fact that Hardy put Morrison over in his promo at the top of the show also conveyed the message that Morrison is a guy the fans should get behind.
Viewers barely had time to catch their breath after Hardy defeated Morrison when Punk’s music hit and the former champ made his way down to the ring. The look on Hardy’s face was priceless, as he rolled his eyes at the prospect of having to deal with the annoying Punk after just surviving his first title defense.
Punk raised Hardy’s arm and saluted him, while a wary Hardy never took his eyes off of Punk. Punk then got a microphone and began to address Hardy: “You know, Jeff, these past few weeks …” Suddenly, Punk smashed Hardy over the head with the mic and proceeded to brutalize him for the several minutes. Punk then declared that he was invoking his rematch clause and would face Hardy for the title on next week’s show. Punk got massive heat for all of this.
From start to finish, the Punk heel turn has been brilliantly executed, and the Smackdown creative team, headed by Michael Hayes, deserves a lot of praise. During Punk’s tweener phase, a lot of what Punk said and did had a degree of ambiguity, as Jim Ross often pointed out in commentary.
As it began to look more and more like Punk had become a full-fledged heel, one final swerve was thrown in to make fans question whether Punk was really turning or if he was just a babyface who temporarily had lost his way (ala Shawn Michaels in past story lines with Hulk Hogan, Batista, Chris Jericho and JBL).
On Friday’s show, a clip was shown that took place after Sunday’s Night of Champion’s pay-per-view went off the air. In it, Punk offered his hand after losing the title to Hardy, and Hardy reluctantly accepted it. Also during Friday’s show, Punk did a backstage interview in which he noted that, like Hardy, he also has a lot of fans that he doesn’t want to let down.
In another subtle move, Punk gave Morrison a quick pat on the back as their paths crossed on the ramp after the Hardy-Morrison match. When Punk got in the ring and raised Hardy’s arm, every person watching was waiting for Punk to clothesline Hardy – a move that is staple of heel turns. When that didn’t happen and Punk began speaking to Hardy in an apologetic tone, you almost believed that Punk was sincere. That’s what made the microphone shot to the head and the ensuing attack have even more of an impact.
And just to make sure it was clear that Punk had gone all the way over to the dark side, he began to walk away after laying out Hardy, thought about it for a couple seconds, and then went back and took some more shots at the defenseless Hardy.
Other thoughts on Friday’s show:
Another element of the Punk-Hardy angle that I really liked was that Hardy didn’t come off like a naïve babyface. He never really bought Punk’s act. …
After Punk announced that he was going to face Hardy for the title next week and the Smackdown taping ended, Punk got on the mic again and said that, on second thought, he wasn’t going to wait until then. He said that he was demanding to wrestle Hardy for the title right now, and that it was going to be in a steel cage (a cage match between Hardy and Punk had been advertised locally as the main event of the card). As it turned out, building the cage took more time than the match. After Hardy kicked out of the GTS, he hit the Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb to pin Punk after about three minutes. The crowd popped huge for Hardy’s win, and I got the sense that a lot of fans didn’t realize that Smackdown was off the air and that there was no way the title was going to change hands. …
Coincidentally, Smackdown also was held in Baltimore right after Hardy won the WWE title back in December. I think he cut pretty much the exact same promo on this show as he did then, about how he was dedicating the title to all the rejects and outcasts like himself. I noticed that he got some boos when he said that everyone “just said no to being force-fed Punk’s point of view,” and that the “world would be boring if everyone was like Punk.” Hardy also said that his life “was cool.” I can’t imagine parents in attendance feeling too thrilled about that message. When Hardy added that everyone “has the God-given right to choose to be who we want to be,” he came off sounding just as preachy as Punk. …
Morrison still needs to get better on his promos. The one he cut backstage before his match against Hardy sounded like he was reciting lines rather than speaking with any real emotion. …
There was no doubt that Cryme Tyme was going to defeat The Hart Dynasty when it was announced that the winner of their match would get a shot at WWE unified tag team champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show at the SummerSlam pay-per-view on Aug. 23. WWE obviously had started the build for a Jericho/Big Show-Cryme Tyme program on Raw Monday. Plus, Jericho and Big Show’s heel versus heel match against Legacy at Night of Champions didn’t get over, so there was no way WWE was going that route again. …
Jericho and Big Show were great on the mic when confronting Cryme Tyme. Big Show wearing a suit like Jericho is a nice touch. Having two strong singles wrestlers holding the tag title definitely elevates the championship, but it’s still a shame to see a guy as talented as Jericho wrestling in a tag match against Cryme Tyme at a big event such as SummerSlam. …
I was disappointed that Dolph Ziggler was pinned by Rey Mysterio during the tag match that also involved Mike Knox and Finlay. With Ziggler coming off a loss to Mysterio at Night of Champions, a win here would have sent a message that Ziggler is for real. I was encouraged by the fact that Ross pointed out that Ziggler proved at NOC that he “can hunt with the big dogs” and that he had more near falls than Mysterio did in that match. Perhaps the story will be that Ziggler’s persistence pay offs and he ends up scoring a big victory over Mysterio at some point. …
The cross-body block that the huge Knox hit on the diminutive Mysterio made for a great visual. …
The women’s tag match that saw Melina and Eve Torres defeat Michelle McCool and Layla wasn’t bad. Melina’s Last Call finisher – which she used to counter McCool’s Faith Breaker – looked really good.
Note: Sorry this wasn't posted earlier. I had family obligations all day Saturday.
Comments
Without Punk there to carry him, I got a reminder that promos are not Jeff's strong suit. Oh well. Jeff still shines in the ring.
I was genuinely surprised when Punk bopped Hardy with the microphone. It's hard to believe that the same people who brought us Pretty Ricky are the ones behind Punk's heel turn. What can I add to what you already covered, Kevin? Ah! One thing: Punk grudgingly offered his hand to Jeff at the pay-per-view, and he played the reluctant but accepting loser when he entered the ring for the climax. Contrast this with Matt's Hardy's excessive applause for his brother at The Slammys. Had Punk done the same thing as Matt, his attack on Jeff would have been too predictable and carried less impact.
Posted by: Christopher | August 2, 2009 2:56 PM
"Note: Sorry this wasn't posted earlier. I had family obligations all day Saturday."
Your family comes first. I commend you for keeping up with this, in full blown detail, like you do. Keep up the great work.
RESPONSE FROM KE: Gwen, thanks for the kind words.
Posted by: Gwen | August 2, 2009 2:56 PM
Big Show and Chris Jericho is the unified tag team champions, not undisputed
RESPONSE FROM KE: Yep. Thanks for pointing out the distinction. It's been changed.
Posted by: Martin | August 2, 2009 3:12 PM
Was Jeff actually bleeing during Punk's beatdown of him?
RESPONSE FROM KE: It looked as if he may have been legit busted open, perhaps from the mic shot. WWE did not focus on it and the announcers did not mention it, so obviously the no-blood rule is still in effect.
Posted by: walk_w/o_aim | August 2, 2009 3:12 PM
Smackdown has become my favorite wrestling show to watch. Compared to Raw, its amazing how much better it is. On Smackdown at least there are mid-card story lines. They also seem to care about moving new stars up. I can't wait to see what happens next week.
Also, thanks Kevin for your great blog. Most other wrestling sites just give recaps on the shows, not their opinion. Which is useless to me, because its easy to record and watch. As a fairly new wrestling fan, having a seasoned professionals opinion on each show is really helpful. I wish more news papers would cover wrestling the way you do.
Posted by: Michael7 | August 2, 2009 3:17 PM
Punk is doing a great job. I hope he is proving some of his previous critics wrong.
Although the JeriShow unit is not a bad storyline. I still believe Jericho deserves to stay a top singles mega-heel.
On another small note...it would be more proactical to swith the actual titles. Having the WWE title on SD seems to make more sense as currently the top guys are not true heavyweights and is the free tv show. A "WWE" title on free tv promotes the company more than a "World Heavyweight" title. The World Heavyweight title would work better on the likes of Orton, HHH and Cena. No big deal jus sayin...
Posted by: rob the barber | August 2, 2009 3:58 PM
WWE has done some excellent work with heel turns lately, particularly with Jericho and Punk. I look forward to seeing what they do with Gail Kim. They could also do a nice methodical turn with Christian on another brand and I'd bet that he gets over big time. He's really not any smaller physically than some of the other big names so I don't really understand that excuse.
The Bella twins are another story.
Posted by: andy | August 2, 2009 4:36 PM
I've been waiting for this just so I can give you quote of the night...
Tom Grisham: "Khali has hands the size of a laptop computer"
JR: "Oh no, not a laptop computer!"
That mad me laugh more than anything else in the last 6 weeks, classic.
Posted by: Mike C | August 2, 2009 5:38 PM
Kev, Id love to know what you think about the no blood, PG change WWE has gone with.
RESPONSE FROM KE: From a business standpoint, I understand it. As a fan, I don't like the no-blood rule. Blood, when not done too frequently, definitely adds to the drama of a match.
Posted by: Pat Coyne | August 2, 2009 6:41 PM
Kev,
That title match was fantastic and the Punk heel turn has been perfectly executed, but why all the hate for Cryme Tyme? At the very least JTG has in ring talent, maybe Shad doesn't have loads but I think JTG in the ring with Jericho can be good.
As for Jericho and Show's spliced music it is AWFUL, may just be the worst ever.
I had a thought with HHH turning 40, HBK and taker already there and some younger guys being pushed now, who do you see as the top 20 stars in the industry in 10 years time, assuming they don;t retire early?
Posted by: PJ | August 2, 2009 8:18 PM
Kevin, I want to echo what Gwen says. There is no need to apologize. Most of us know this blog is not your main duty for the Baltimore Sun and is mostly done in your spare time. After spending Monday and Tuesday at work during the day and at arenas during the evening, I am sure your family appreciated some time with you Saturday.
Could we come up with a better name than JeriShow? Nicknames used to be so much more original. The Yankee Clipper, Joltin' Joe, the Splendid Splinter, etc. Now we have things based on initials or parts of names. TO, Brangelina, J Lo, C Web. What happened to our creativity?
Posted by: Bob Buscaglia | August 2, 2009 8:38 PM
Hey Kev ,
Great Blog. Do you have any idea why smackdown isn't on untill 11:30 in Rhode Island?
RESPONSE FROM KE: I sure don't. So what is on the MyNetworkTV affiliate in R.I. on Fridays between 8 and 10?
Posted by: Nick | August 2, 2009 10:17 PM
I must say... the hot, enthusiastic crowd in Baltimore really helped for another great Smackdown episode!
Also, you don't really need to apologize. It's for your family, so we don't really mind the delay. Besides, it's worth the wait!
Keep up the good work Kevin!
PS: Do you miss HBK? I think I do.
Posted by: nandi | August 2, 2009 10:49 PM
Kevin, I agree with others: there is no need to apologise, family comes first. Plus, like Buscaglia said most of us know this is not your primary duty for the Baltimore Sun and is done in spare time. Most of us didn't have any problem when the blog was acting funny due to changes you were implementing (it was taking a hell lot of time to load here). We can take some trouble for some good free opinion based content. Keep up the good work Kevin!
Posted by: Vishal Nayak | August 3, 2009 12:35 AM
Kev, Had to look twice at “can hunt with the big dogs”
Its a common saying, but was this a subtle reference to the David Schultz promo on Hogan?
If anyone in the "Eckiverse" hasn't heard it. I highly recommend for a few good laughs.
Sidenote: Seems the the page conversion to include comments, made a few months ago, was the right move.
Posted by: RyanB-Rhode Island | August 3, 2009 12:41 AM
Have to disagree with you there, Kevin: Morrison's promos, if you ever watched the Dirt Sheet, are supposed to be monotonic -- he's a `better than you' kind of character, even as a face.s
RESPONSE FROM KE: I thought the monotone deal worked somewhat when he was a heel, but it's tougher to pull off as a babyface. I think he just needs to be more natural in his deliveryfor the audience to really connect with him. Just my opinion.
Posted by: Amy | August 3, 2009 4:30 AM
Another superb Smackdown - the B show is just embarrassing the A show these days!
Great analysis of the Punk/Hardy/Morrison storyline, and what a storyline it is! I really marked out during the match, and was genuinely surprised when Punk finally did attack Hardy. As you said, they played it out perfectly, not going for the "obvious" spot of the clothesline when Punk raised his hand. And the handshake at NoC really helped set it up.
The one thing that somewhat surprised me about it was that I was expecting Morrison to come to Hardy's aid after a few minutes. This would have really gotten Morrison over with the crowd, and having Punk run away from an exhausted Morrison would have brought him even more heat, in my opinion. This could have set up a tag team match in the upcoming weeks, Morrison and Hardy against Punk and...well, I don't know. But the title picture sure could use another challenger (it's really just those three at the moment), and especially a heel. Perhaps MVP in a surprise heel turn/brand switch?
Posted by: Michael in Virginia | August 3, 2009 6:06 AM
Nick - We do not have MyNetwork TV in Rhode Island. Fox 64 is a MyNetwork TV partial affiliate - they show MyNetwork TV's prime time (8-10) schedule from 11:30-1:30 am every night
Posted by: Eric | August 3, 2009 7:51 AM
I also didn't think it was necessary for Ziggler to take the pin to Mysterio, especially given that they're not protecting Knox anymore.
But, like you say, it will be good if the storyline is that Ziggler is getting better with each match and, eventually, he'll be able to beat Rey. They did this story with MVP and Chris Benoit in 2007 over the US title and it was very effective in getting MVP over.
Posted by: jobbers | August 3, 2009 10:35 AM
Hardy also said that his life “was cool.”
I'm pretty sure Hardy said "That's why this life is cool". Because we are all different and have choices. I don't see why any parent would take issue with what Hardy said. He encourages individualism and marching to the beat of your own drummer. Sounds like a pretty American philosophy to me.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I watched it again. Hardy said: "We're different. That's why this life is cool." He said that right after talking about everyone just saying no to being forcefed Punk's point of view and how life would be boring if everyone was like Punk. I interpreted that to mean that life would be boring if everyone was Straightedge. And that because Hardy and others are not Straightedge, their lives were cool. Maybe that's not what he intended, but that's what I took out of it.
I understand your point about individualism and marching to the beat of your own drummer. The problem is that this story line hasn't been about having green hair or being a free spirit or liking abstract art, etc., it's been about Hardy's drug-related suspensions, as pointed out by a guy who doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs.
Posted by: Lynelle | August 3, 2009 10:57 AM
The channel Smackdown is on in Rhode Island is a Fox affiliate and shows MyNetworkTV programming after 11:30pm.
Posted by: John | August 3, 2009 2:06 PM
Kev,
wouldn't you rather see HBK return to Smackdown. Just imagine the matches with all the top stars we havent seen yet. On raw he would get thrown in the same redundant matches.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I would like to see him on Smackdown but I don't think it's going to happen.
Posted by: Jon | August 3, 2009 2:15 PM
hi Kevin, I just read your response to Lynelle and felt like answering, i've had green hair, like abstract art and could consider myself a free spirit. i've also led the straight edge lifestyle for about 7 years and now so I felt compelled to answer. it was a little weird for me to read haha, nothing more.
also, cm punk is the only reason i'm still interested in wrestling right now, really like his character and the stereotype representation that people usually believe about drug free people with the whole "i'm better than you" persona.
I really like your blog, keep up the good work! best regards from mexico.
Posted by: carlxfunk | August 3, 2009 6:47 PM
Hahaaa! Punk is on top of the world. Loved loved loved this article. Sorry for what their doing with to your fave Kev; Chris Jericho really deserves a looot better. Cheers! =)
Posted by: Tonetare | August 4, 2009 3:07 AM
Am I the only person that was really disappointed when Mike Knox disappeared for a few weeks? It really seems like JR is trying to get him over as something more and he can certainly work and provoke "oohs" and "aahs" when he totally destroys people. I wonder if there's a star underneath all that hair (please keep the beard!)
Posted by: Mark | August 4, 2009 1:06 PM
I have to agree with you Kev, and you've said this over the past few months and it's even more true now: Is WWE's position here really "kids, don't try this at home, don't do drugs, don't get suspended or else...you too could be world heavyweight champion!"? (That first part becuase every Hardy video package references his backyard wrestling days.) I think Punk is an excellent heel, but I don't think it's humanly possible to be condescending enough that telling Jeff Hardy he's a bad role model will make me dislike someone.
Posted by: David | August 4, 2009 6:25 PM