Even with most of the top stars on Raw, Smackdown may still be the more entertaining show.

Agreed.

I agree that this show was very strong on paper, and extremley well booked and written. With that said, I personally feel that Smackdown is a wasteland of guys that arent stars, that even though there were two long matches and a hot opening segement, I still felt the show was blah. Matt Hardy has looked done to me as a top competitor since his hernia surgery, and Mcintyre hasnt shown anything but a decent look, so even that that was a strongly written segment, I didnt care, because to me neither guy is interesting. And Kane & Swagger is tough to see as a main event, and I'm already groaning with the thought of seeing Big Show in a main event. To me the highlight of the show was the very good Kofi and Dolph match, and the almost as good Christian & Cody Rhodes match. In my opinion this show has only 2 stars right now, Punk and Mysterio.

I could see Mysterio losing and joining the SES before working to turn Luke and Serena against Punk. That seed was already planted in the promo that was cut, so it wouldn't surprise me.

this looks to me like the break up of the SES - gallows and serena both started to look at Punk like their is a twist looming their - i wouldn't be surprised to see gallows or serena cost punk the match at OTL via a turn. that would be a big shame for me cos the SES is the best faction in wwe by a mile

With two faces facing each other in the IC match, it leads me to believe Drew will be back next week after being re-hired and put into a triple threat match. That watch Long gets to save some face by stripping Drew of the title, but McMahon gets his Chosen One back into the ring.

I agree with you that Smackdown is the more entertaining show. It benefits from not having gimmicky "special" guest hosts and seems to be a much more stable vehicle. The McIntyre segment was quite awesome and if he gets any more heat he'll explode. I've no idea what the real reason for his vacation is but I when he returns will he want to fight the new IC champ to try to get the belt back or will he become embroiled in a series of matches with Matt Hardy? He must be the only WWE superstar who fights less than Sheamus! It's a pity Dolph Ziggler isn't in the final as I think he has great Charisma - actually I was hoping for a push (a win) but I guess he won't for the same reason (which I can't fathom) as John Morrison. Perhaps if their names were Dolph Rhodes and John DeBiase they would be higher in the pecking order. Nothing against Ted and Cody but they are not much more than mediocre. Will Punk lose? A bald punk doesn't bear thinking about - yuk. I think Rey joining SES albeit against his will would be a much better scenario and could be a continuing story for a while -a bit like HBk working for JBL.

Correction Kev, i'm pretty sure you missed out the word 'wet' when you came up with your new name for Kelly Kelly and Tiffany.

Maybe McIntyre is on his way to Raw and this was a way to get him over. How does his recent marriage to Tiffany figure into this

Drew is on the card during their Mexico tour, so he's certainly not suspended for anything.

I'm sure a Matt Hardy-Drew McIntyre PPV match will help sell 0 buys.

Luke Gallows and Serena to turn on CM Punk at Over the Limit, than the masked man help and join CM Punk to beat Rey Mysterio...hopefully

Re: the Drew McIntyre "firing": in real life, Drew and one of the Divas (Tiffany, I think) are getting married and going off on their honeymoon -- I assume the beatdown of Hardy followed by McIntyre's "firing" was to keep massive heat on him during his absence. The announcers can play it up next week, and when he returns, he can do so with a vengeance.

The masked man (men?) hasn't been revealed yet, so I doubt that the SES is going away anytime soon.

McIntyre is better than sheamus / cena / hhh / orton .. but i dont know way .. they dont allow to him to wrestle freely .. i kep watchg his matchs with sheamus on youtube over and over again .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VniszsmEGI

The McIntyre angle really was the best of this week's SD. Mr. McMahon could be making his return but it was announced that the character of 'Evil Chairman' was over after the feud with Bret. I doubt that another angle of Vince would get as much heat as it was proved when he was involved in the 'Demolition of the McMahons' program before WM25.

You should indeed be happy that Swagger was not pinned because the fact that Kane was not booked for the Intercontinental tournament leads to the probability that he will be booked as a top babyface competing for the World title.

The non-logical part about the show was about Christian being involved for the IC title. I was really hoping that he will begin to chase the World title after his statements with Edge last Friday. If he wins against Kofi, that will means that he will again lose heat in the World title path. Hence I will bet on Kingston to win. I was impressed with Kofi since his undefeated streak on ECW. His win over Jericho, his quite-long US title reign & his fantastic feud with Orton proved his mettle. He has huge potential as a babyface. However, I'll see him win the IC title, to win the World title at the end of 2010.

I am quite perplexed about the MITB PPV. I havn't got any leaked information and I have the feeling that this PPV will change the WWE for the rest of the year. Kev, have you got any information on your part?

If Long has so much power with firing Drew, he should've done the same thing months ago when the Undertaker adbducted him. C'mon player, treat the heels and faces the same!

I think Smackdown has the potential to develop the next big main event star, if not stars. I don't see Hardy as a main eventer but he will be good to get Drew over to the next level. The "firing" and tournament are great ways to put a spotlight on the new talent and the I-C Championship. I hope Kofi will win or Christian turns heel. His babyface act is keeping him from being as entertaining as he could be.

Hi Kev,

In my mind, Punk shaved would mean the end of the SES : Do you really think that could happen so soon ?

Rey winning and Punk being saved by the masked man would be a better compromise, in my opinion.

My guess about the IC Championship is that just before the match between Kingston and Christian starts, Mr. Vince or Teddy (following McMahon's orders and showing awe and impotence in his face) will appear and say that this will be a triple threat match. Next to that, McIntyre's music will play.

By the way, I think the Misterio vs SES program can last a little longer. It is the first time I can remember I am actually enjoying watching Rey Misterio and that is thanks to Punk. Punk should win the "Over the Limit" match and see a reluctant Misterio following Punk's doctrine along a few weeks. That would be priceless. Obviously, I'm not a fool, and I know Punk's hair will disappear sooner or later, but I wish it's the second one.

I disagree about the opening segment. Whatever McIntyre did to Hardy, it didn't involve weapons or blood or an actual snakebite or any of a hundred things we've seen on wrestling programs that DIDN'T lead to suspensions or firings.

The punishment just wasn't believeable.

Apparently, Drew and Tiffany got married, and they are honeymooning (I think in Mexico). I learned that off of Canoe Sports (Canada) on Tuesday. Could be why Drew was "fired".

"Re: the Drew McIntyre "firing": in real life, Drew and one of the Divas (Tiffany, I think) are getting married and going off on their honeymoon -- I assume the beatdown of Hardy followed by McIntyre's "firing" was to keep massive heat on him during his absence. The announcers can play it up next week, and when he returns, he can do so with a vengeance."--I think that's true, but McIntyre's bio has been removed from the WWE website several days ago, Tiffany's has NOT.

I agree this show was good, but has anyone noticed that the backstage video guys cuts the video replay parts where Matt Hardy got hit? they did it twice, and also cut the part where Jack Swagger got thrown on the announcer's table. Go back and check it Kevin! It's lame and I don't know why they started doing that - i hope it stops

"I think that's true, but McIntyre's bio has been removed from the WWE website several days ago, Tiffany's has NOT."

Of course his is gone, he was "fired." She wasn't, so obviously hers would still be there.

I for one am just not into McIntyre. His performances on mic and in the ring are all quite accurate and skillful but I sense no heart or real interest from him. He looks bored all the time - even when he's pretending to be furious. And I don't even mean bored in the arrogant "I've got better things to do" sense - because that would serve his character. I just don't get the sense that he cares that much about any of it. And honestly his gimmick just doesn't hold up when he and Sheamus have been in the picture about the same amount of time and Sheamus has held the title and had major singles matches at several pay per views while McIntyre has only held the IC title and not appeared at all in several PPV's (and only participated in the MITB at WM).

McIntyre needs a new gimmick or a better push - I lost interest in him about a month after his debut.

Here's hoping Kofi gets the push he deserves - a program between him and former tag team champion partner CM Punk? Please?

It was a good episode overall. I agree with others that McIntyre just is not interesting to me. The problem is WWE has tried to generate lots of heel heat for him with things like sneak attacks, hits outside the ring, etc., but he's not been put over in the ring very well. For the first month or so after he signed, he kept attacking guys before the bell even rang; you knew he was a heel, but you had no idea if the guys was ever going to actually wrestle. HTen he lost what, 3 in a row, but stayed undefeated due to executive interference? Re-writing the W-L record generated some heat, but it's hard to look like a strong wrestler when you have Daddy Vince fix your losses. If he's gonna become a strong heel figure, it's time they started having McIntyre beat some quality opponents on a regular basis without resorting to backstage assaults or head kicks that get him DQ'ed. Sheamus is boring, but with big wins over Cena and HHH, people now respect that he is a legit threat to win clean. Same for the early days when Orton was put over as 'The Legend Killer'. By comparison, Drew's only threat to win if he resorts to another 'heinous' act that gets him thrown out. Weak.

As long as Smackdown keeps Kelly Kelly and Tiffany together and gives them air time, WWE can have Swagger drop the belt to Hornswoggle and you won't hear me complain :-)

I love wrestling a lot, especially, if well contested. Violence involved? yes. But never liked Drew McIntyre's style at all. The dud fights with extreme meanness. Why attack Hardy severally and never respect officials. Drew should learn that he's not asked to commit murder in the name of wrestling. Until he changes, he will never enjoy my support. He's pretty lucky those days of counter attack by other wrestlers from outside the ring has lessened. I miss and regret that for him.