It's bad enough that such a talented performer is stuck with the name Dolph Ziggler, but can't we get a better name for his finisher?

i loved it when jericho used the lion tamer, had a feeling youd like it too. from personal experience with my brothers its way more painful that way.
i brought up the point about zigglers finisher in a previous comment. it still makes me laugh whenever i hear the announcer try to put it over. "zig-zag! he hit the ZIG-ZAG!!" hilarious.
hes gotta change that name, the Ziggler Tickler perhaps?

Beth Phoenix was first brought in by Trish Stratus as a long time enemy of Mickie James. But she got hurt before anything really happened between the two of them. Will we finally see that story line play out?

or did the story go the way of Melina's sexual harassment charge against Batista?

One thing that constantly baffles me is why the strap is still with The Undertaker. That's 2 weeks in a row now that the champion hasn't appeared on the show. He also hasn't had any meaningful feuds since he took the title by squashing Punk. His matches since returning have all been pretty meh. He might as well not be active; he's adding absolutely nothing to the show right now.

Punk's immense talents in the ring and on the mic are being wasted. If this is the best booking he is going to get on Smackdown, then I hope that he is next in line for the ECW Title.

I personally think Matt Hardy stinks. If the rumors are true that he may go to TNA, I say good riddance.

Luke Gallows is a ratings killer. That gimmick puts me to sleep. At least Festus was an entertaining gimmick. It equals the aweful decision of changing the Godfather to the Goodfather. Gallows is about as interesting to watch as Dan Severn. What? Sylvester Terkay. What? Gunner Scott. What? The Highlanders. What? The Smackdown Mini's. What? Scott Putski. What? Funaki. What? Triple H. What? Freddie Joe Floyd. What? The Sultan. What? Disciples of Apocalypse. What? Well ... you get the point.

I will say this, hoping i can copycat into line of the week. Matt Striker: These baldies, are the soldiers, for the Ringmaster, of the phsycho circus, of CM Punk. Truly from the hip. Kudos to Matt. I laugh even when I read it again!

Hey Kev,

You may have your own comment of the week.

When JTG got a very close near fall on Jericho – which would have been the second time JTG pinned Jericho in the past five months – my head nearly exploded. ...

Kev, do think we are seeing a setup for a Rey Mysterio title run?

They should do a storyline where Jesse goes to confront Gallows. He tries to snap him out of it, only to be turned into a follower as well.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I was thinking something along those lines, only Gallows beats him up first.

I was glued to the tv with the Punk scene. Especially when he brought out the clippers. I personally thought Punk was the highlight of the show!

On a side note Kev, what do you think smackdown needs to do to equal the raw ratings? We all know it is the better product by opinion but technically it is not. Maybe Going live etc?

RESPONSE FROM KE: For Smackdown to get better ratings it needs to get off MyNetworkTV

matt hardy is a decent worker and has been getting better on the mike. i really cant see how anyone could say he stinks with a straight face. honestly id love to see him head to tna and team with his brother again. and the luke gallows angle makes more sense than the festus one ever will.

Let me begin by saying that Tyson Kidd needs to join Punk's Straight Edge Society. Not because he has a substance abuse problem, but because he needs somebody to make that tiny, stupid-looking patch of hair above his forehead go away.

I'll say this for Kidd, though. He seems to be improving on the mic. Natalya's always been good. Smith has a ways to go.

"The one thing about their latest encounter that I didn’t care for was Kane kicking out of Ziggler’s Zig-Zag finisher."

Me neither, but given that I was reading not too long ago that WWE had supposedly given up on Ziggler (which seemed to be backed up by him doing job after job at the time) I'll take this. Plus, if anybody should be able to kick out of a finisher, it should be somebody like Kane. Hey, at least he sold the thing, which is more than I can say for a certain other Brother of Destruction who totally no-sold the 619 a couple of weeks ago. (Which I know isn't Rey's actual finisher, but still.)

"It was good to see Jericho apply the Walls of Jericho the way he used to when the move was known as The Lion Tamer in WCW (he also has done it on occasion in WWE)."

Yeah, I have a hard time imagining opponents twisting their legs around and flinging Chris across the ring as a counter to that.

"However, I thought Morrison came off like a sore loser, while McIntyre seemed like a babyface for standing his ground."

Not all heels can be cowards, and I don't think they should be. That's one of the reasons I like Randy Orton, because while he has sometimes ran away in terror, that hasn't happened on a weekly basis or anything. I do understand the problem with making a heel look tough, btw (fans cheer him instead of boo him the way WWE wants them to, like a lot of them cheered Stone Cold when he was the heel to Bret's face) but when done right the fans will still boo the guy if he's a jerk.

"I personally think Matt Hardy stinks."

I wish I could disagree with you, but it looks like his best days are behind him. I remember watching him way back when he was just starting out as a singles competitor with the "Version 1.0" gimmick, and he was great back then. In those days when he went to the middle rope, he'd hit his opponent with a nasty-looking leg drop. Now? He lands on his feet and drives an elbow into their head as they stand up.

Whether he is Matt Hardy Version 1 or he Will Not Die, Matt is the more versatile of the two Hardys. Matt is also the more stable. As a standard bearer for a brand, Matt proved that he is capable of having great matches with everyone he wrestles and Vince doesn't have to worry about him embarrassing the WWE.

In the ring, Matt can play the technical game, the power game, and he can fly. Moments such when he ascended the ropes for a sweet moonsault nicely contrast with clotheslines, bulldogs, DDTs, and a myriad of other technical maneuvers.

The mark of the greats is the ability to play both sides of the fence equally. Jeff is popular and exciting, but he doesn't have the technical acumen of a Steamboat, Michaels, Jericho, or Matt Hardy. Nor does he have the breadth of range in charisma and connection with the crowd of his brother.

Matt can have the crowd eating out of his hand or hating him with every breath. He needs one of the major world titles, to be booked WELL with it, and then consistently be in the main event scene winning titles. He and Edge put on great matches together. Can you imagine Matt in a PPV 20+ minute match with Shawn Michaels or Triple H?

Hated the ending of this match..as I do most non finishes, nothing new same old,same old.I liked the Mickie James angle..but again you saw it coming.I wish the WWE would either give Matt Hardy a long over due push or release him..he can't be a mid card jobber forever..still believe he is way over with the fans. Thank you for letting me share. God Bless

I'm pretty sure I remember that the lion tamer involves Jericho pressing his knee into his opponents back while applying an elevated boston crab.

Re: Chris

I think the guy who plays Luke Gallows is very talented. Unfortunately, he's been saddled with unsuccessful gimmicks in his previous stints in WWE. He was Fake Kane in 2006 and that didn't work. Festus was fun to watch, but he was a novelty act. The Luke Gallows type gimmick, one in which he acts as a bodyguard, has proven to be successful in the past, most notably when Kevin Nash was Diesel, and Batista (he wasn't Triple H's bodyguard, but he was the muscle of Evolution and had Triple H's back). Gallows is tied to a talented wrestler right now. That's step one. The next step is up to WWE. If they're just using him to be Punk's bodyguard, then he's screwed. You never know, though. They may see him as having a future after he's done with Punk. He's not as talented as Matt Morgan, but he can definetly have a good career as a big man.

Havent watched smackdown yet but it sounds great
@ the guy above talking about zigglers name, if they change it to Tickler his finisher would be the TIC-TAC

Hey Eck
What's the situation with Edge's injury? Isn't he due back soon?

RESPONSE FROM KE: WWE is hoping to have him back soon to shoot an angle for Edge-Jericho at Mania.

I was also very frustrated with the Undertaker's mystical meddling. Like Anonymous above, I have *not* been impressed with Undertaker's current title reign in the least.

That tag match was the show's hilight, but why wasn't Davey Boy Smith involved at all? There has to be a reason.

I took Jericho's use of the Lion Tamer, coupled with Jericho's wrathful facial expressions at the end (rather than his cocky smirk or deadpan pucker), as a sign of Jericho possibly trying to send JTG a message of some kind, although having rewatched the match I don't see JTG giving visible cause. Ah, chalk it up to my overactive imagination.

Funniest line of the night belonged to Striker, as it often does... during the (TOO LONG) headshaving sequence, Luke Gallows had his hands all over the new convert's shoulders, neck, etc, and Matt Striker said in a hushed voice, "The tender touch of Luke Gallows."

Gallows is noticeably super-touchy with Punk too... always massaging, petting, etc. I think this quirk adds to Gallows' character, it's creepy and funny. Reminds me of "The Animal" fawning over Steamboat.

I can't stand McCool, but must admit the Diva storyline is one of Smackdown's best right now, and consistently interesting.

What? How original.Geez.Ravens are a rockin", keep it up fella's, yeah I'm a Redskin fan but I'll always keep it in the family. Bet you are having a pretty good Sunday right about now big Kev.

I received two books for Christmas:

The new DX book with their history called Are You Ready? It's basically written for junior highers and doesn't add much new information regarding to what we've all heard before. Certainly not what I expected. Don't waste your time or money on this on in my opinion.

I also received Bret Hart's lengthy best-seller that's been out for quite some time. I can't put it down and have never read hundreds of pages so quickly. Since I've read Shawn's book multiple times, it's pretty hard to tell who is telling the truth as they have very different views on the exact same events. Nonetheless Hart's book is an interesting read and I'd recommend it for veteran wrestling fans.

Ranking the wrestling books I've read, my favorites based on content and how interesting they are would be 1) Shawn's 2) Hart's 3) Flair's 4) Foley's 5) Piper's 6) Hogan's first bio 7) DX History

Oops! I meant David Hart Smith, of course, not Davey Boy (RIP)... the resemblance *is* pretty uncanny, though...

I thought this was a terrible way to end the show. It is bad enough we have to pretend Mysterio wouldn't get slaughtered by a guy like Batista in the first place. Then we have to have the lights cut off twice and both lay there pretending to have been laid out by no one? I am tired of the Undertaker gimmick. This was a disappointing show. I can't wait till TNA on Thursday.

Chris. What?

Maybe Todd Grisham wasn't trying to censor his language, but rather, he just really likes hockey!

How good is CM Punk. He was so awesome in his segment. Absolutely outstanding. Stupid ending to the Rey Baptista Match though.

WWE should change Ziggler's finisher to a stinkface and call it the Ziggler Wiggler...

From a Lance Storm commentary:

Q: Why is Jericho using, as a finisher, a simple Boston Crab, instead of his classic, elevated version? It's quite disappointing.

A: He is working with a lot of guys who have bad backs and can’t get into that position easily.

"A: He is working with a lot of guys who have bad backs and can’t get into that position easily. "
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That's what she said