We are actually going to see a match we've never seen before, Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio. It will be nice to see something fresh.

I don't know how you can compare Beth Phoenix to Chyna. They may both be on the muscular side but Beth is for more prettier. Beth hasn't had all the plastic surgery Chyna has had. I would love to see a Beth vs Michelle McCool match instead of Mickie James always getting the title shot.

WWE needs to start putting on some matches we've never seen before. Everything seems so stale already even after the so called draft.

BTW Kevin, I hope you and your family have a great holiday season with many more to come. I'll probably start digging my car out of the snow Sunday morning.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Happy holidays to you as well.

Batista vs Rey Mysterio with Mysterio winning? Not believable. Not in the same universe as believable. Not credible, even for professional wrestling. No, it's not even a plausible upset unless Mysterio pulls a Magnum and a double edged ax out of his tights that the referee fails to see. Mysterio is quite the acrobat, but, seriously, he needs to be wrestling in the little people division.

there were numerous subtle and not-so-subtle hart references on this episode.

david hart smith looks very impressive, too.

hopefully jericho will be involved in the world heavyweight title picture once the taker-batista thing runs its course.

Beth Phoenix is hotter than Chyna by far.

I was hoping Brett was coming back and THD were going to get a big push up but after the comments last night it looks like they will suffer the humiliation of being destroyed by a broken down legend. Don't get me wrong, I liked Brett Hart as a character

Everytime I watch Smackdown I grow more tired of seeing McCool. I don't really see what's so special about her. The Mysterio/Batista fight was really solid and it felt like a ppv quality match. It's unfortunate to see guys like Punk and Hardy do the same things every Friday night because they are both capable of so much more.

Vickie Guerrero was looking really good in that dress Friday night.

Smackdown was a solid show. Glad Mysterio beat Batista, but like you I think that Batista will get involved into the match. Don't read lips that well, but right b4 the pin fall it looked as if Batista said something to Rey and then the small package occured.

It was good to have a solid show to wrap up an inconsistent week. What is interesting is seeing all the possible storylines that can be explored with Bret Hart. It seems pretty obvious that the main story will be Hart Dynasty vs. DX, but Jericho's reference to a screwjob onhim, Batista's reference to a screwjob on him, and the still lingering screwjob on the Undertaker leaves a lot of possible routes.

By the way, the Batista/Mysterio match was awesome for a non-PPV match. Clearly Batista will interfere in the title match next week. What I am curious about is if they will do a triple threat at the Royal Rumble, or just get it to one of them with the other in the Rumble.

We are finally getting to the good part of the year and seeing quality storylines and quality matches for the buildup to Wrestlemania.

Wow I am looking forward to next week to see some advancement in Beth Phoenix. It's nice to see her get a push after so long since her last one. I love Mickie but she doesn't need every title shot.. she looked gorgeous on Smackdown though. You think WWE maybe seeing the fans being unhappy with this "Piggy James" stuff which is why the focus was on Beth and maybe she'll beat McCool? I hope so!

Ay another thing is Kane is back as a face right? So he faces a guy who is supposed to be a face yet nobody cares about, Escobar facing Kane is not a way to get anyone to cheer for Escobar no matter how much people don't like Vickie. He can insult a woman but can't back up his mouth in the ring, he's basically all talk so why should the "WWE Universe" care about him?

for the first time since hardy – I think this was a great smackdown
so many favourite moments

If all this Bret Hart rumour is true – I think they should use him to give an early GIANT push the the hart dynasty = into a 6 belt holding dominant faction
make Bret’s entrance theme play during the Christmas smackdown dx match – distracting dx and giving the unified belts to THD then and there. then during his following few months of contract he can manage them – and natalya, which will give her both the womens and divas titles – which he would enjoy ringside cause he can have funny pervy moments with her diva opponents – costing them their belts etc.
then THD can be used to break up Michaels and Hunter
Bret can maybe ref their match at wrestemania
then some time during, mcmahon is put in his sharpshooter - done

Bret can then live happy, and so can mcmahon cause WWE would have squashed TNA in those months – like seriously… Hogan aint going to do anything new:(

I don't get the Michelle McCoole fascination, she's attractive, but in my opinion less attrative then Maria, Mickey, the Bellas, Kelly Kelly etc...

Is being the Taker's (....?) what keeps the title on her?

Hey Kev,

I have an interesting take on Bret Hart signing with the WWE.

Recently, I had an opportunity to talk to some young wrestling fans. They spoke with much excitement about AJ Styles, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Batista, Rey Misterio, and Matt Morgan.

However, when I mentioned Bret Hart, they just sort of looked at me. Some hadn't even heart of him! Now, these were relatively young fans -- probably pre teens or early teens. My point is, do you think the WWE has over-estimated the return of Bret Hart? I'm beginning to feel about his return the way I felt about the Main Event Mafia. I just don't see him as being competitive against the young, strong talent of today. I guess we'll see.

Speaking of Vince's tape library, is he the one making the money on the old AWA broadcasts shown on ESPN Classic?

I'll tell you, Vince must be making more money than he can count by taking the old broadcasts and putting out all these DVD's and having his WWE On Demand Network. Probably one of the best moves he's ever made.

I was kind of hoping they would build up the DX-Hart program, instead of rushing through it. That match could draw on PPV, especially with Bret involved.

Eric Escobar needs to be future endeavored immediately.

A face turn for Beth Phoenix is long overdue.

"In regard to getting the boot from Raw, Jericho said he was the victim of the “biggest screwjob in the history of the business.” Wink, wink. ..."

Wouldn't it be interesting to see Jericho and Bret Hart vs. DX in Canada. The place would go nuts for Hart and Jericho.

I thought Smackdown was a solid show as usual. Every week its the same story, that Smackdown remains the "anti-RAW". Week in and week out it presents solid matches. Its almost old school in its approach. And every week I like it as a result. I thought this week's episode was the best DH Smith has ever looked. Jimmy Wang Yang made him look like a star in the making.

I agree that this was a solid edition of Smackdown, which was a nice change from the Miller-led catastrophe of Monday night. The most intriguing part of this show, for me, was the fact that Batista didn't beat Mysterio again, which was what I thought was bound to happen. It's good though, because now we get a fresh match up between Mysterio and Undertaker, although I do agree that Batista will most likely get involved, which will probably set up a match at the Royal Rumble between Undertaker and Batista.

The Vickie Guerrero/Eric Escobar stuff? Enough already. It's only been a few weeks but I'm already bored with it. WWE is wasting a potentially strong performer in Escobar by lumbering him with skits that are the same as the ones Vickie and Edge did months ago now..- Man and woman fall in love. They break up. Man humiliates woman in public by poking fun at her weight and calling her childish names. Change the record please. They should get Escobar on a win streak like Drew McIntyre's and the crowd would accept him as a serious performer.

Really looking forward to the DX/Hart Dynasty match next week (although I don't know if wrestling on Christmas Day will be accepted in my house.. :s). Anyway, it should be a good match if Kidd and Hart-Smith are allowed to get competitive with Hunter and Shawn.

It kind of feels weird to see Jericho wrestling by himself again. I was getting too used to seeing him with Big Show over the last few months. Even though he wrestled Khali on this show, I still think he'll go on to do better things and he'll be able to just be by himself, which I think suits him better than if he's in a tag team.

Batista will probably assault Mysterio backstage and take his place in the match.

I am siding with the other posters, Kevin. Beth is good-looking while Chyna is Chyna.

I should copy and paste this from now on

Smackdown was amazing again!!! You were spot on with everything, nothing needs to be added

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the readers here, and of course to Kevin!!!

Jimmy Wany Yang and Slam Master J are most likely gonna get the boot when the next round of WWE talent cuts comes around. Ya dig?

Good match between Rey and Batista, but if Batista says" come on " one more time, I will throw the remote control at my TV. Still not 100% sold on the Hart Dynasty but next weeks match with DX should be interesting. Wrestling on TV on Chrismas Day. How good is that. Seasons greetings to you Kev and all readers of this blog.

It's pretty bad when fans don't root for someone who is feuding with Guerrero.

"By the way, is it me or is Phoenix starting to resemble Chyna?"....

Interesting thought - hopefully her personal video collection will hit the internet soon
:o)

If Taker can waltz back in and wina title in an 8min match from an on-fire superstar, he can certainly wangle a belt for his missus! That has to be the only explanation for McCool's push right?

And how on earth is Taker going to keep up with Mysterio, if he is hurting as bad as he looks, that match could be pretty poor. At least with Rey/Batista the big guy is athletic enough to roll with it.

Also,

Im reading the Bret Hart return as a way for Vince to placate older fans who are turning off from his Disney Channel version of wrestling.

Could he be worried that more dedicated wrestling fans (smarks, IWC etc) would switch to TNA if they start to improve so he pulls out the Hitman to bring them back?

I agree that Bourne/Colon and Yang/SMJ would be pretty good too. Just make sure that they have more than ten minutes.

The only way this McCool body image story line can pay off with any level of satisfaction is with some video of Michelle's friend Ralph.

Could the Jericho-Big Show loss to DX mean Edge is close to coming back and we will see Edge and Jericho in a feud?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I believe the plan all along was for a Jericho-Edge match at WrestleMania. The question is whether Edge will be back in time from his injury. Last thing I read was that it's still too early to tell.

After all the reports about Rey being injured and having to take time off, what is the deal with him still appearing on Smackdown. I know he has had lots of injuries in the past, so what is the deal with him bypassing surgery.

Was it that the injuries aren't as bad as originally thought, or what? Is he just pushing the envelope and risking getting hurt far worse?

I am a huge Rey fan, and I love that they have him fueding with Batista and all. But isn't there a point where you put your health and career above a storyline?

RESPONSE FROM KE: From what I have read about his injury, he is taking a big risk by attempting to put surgery off until after WrestleMania.

Beth did resemble Chyna for a brief second. They're both beautiful in their own way. Hopefully Beth gets a great push on SD.

Since Bret Hart is supposedly coming back do you think his "storyline" will be screwjob related (Punk, Batista, Jericho)
or more to push The Hart Dynasty ?