Monday, April 24, 2023

SmackDown 12-8-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, December 8th, 2006
Florence Civic Center
Florence, South Carolina

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Mr. Kennedy is out to kick off the show and there is a hearse that Kennedy is checking out on his way to the ring. He talks about Armageddon and then Undertaker's music hits and the hearse is moving with no driver. The trunk opens and out walks Undertaker. Kennedy escapes through the crowd before he can get to him. This was all pretty predictable Undertaker schtick.

Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. William Regal & Dave Taylor

London and Kendrick dive at their opponents on their way to the ring. We are stuck listening to Michael Cole and mostly JBL talk about Ashley. From there Regal and Taylor slow things down and dominate the match. Kendrick makes a hot tag and he hits Sliced Bread #2 on Taylor, but Regal makes the save. Regal starts going after Ashley and London and Kendrick make the save. London kind of takes over taking care of her and this distracts Kendrick. Taylor takes advantage and Kendrick eats the pin for the loss. This was a pretty good match, but they continue to focus on teasing dissention.

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a pre-taped interview of John Cena talking about Armageddon. He hasn't forgotten kissing King Booker's feet.

We get a backstage promo from Batista and he tells Finlay to be careful what he wishes for tonight.

We now get King Booker, Finlay and Queen Sharmell talking in the locker room. 

Batista vs. Finlay

Things get off to a slow start, as this one is going to get some time. They go outside the ring and we get a weird commercial break as they are about to head to the crowd. When we come back, they are in the ring and Batista hits Finlay with an elbow. Finlay is able to grab Batista's arm and turn it into some offense. Batista makes a comeback, but not a particularly great one. Batista catches Finlay off the second rope and hits him with a boot. Finlay is able to throw Batista off the apron and into the ring post. Finlay now goes to work on the arm and it just seems like they are working a little too slow here tonight. Batista hits a Samoan drop and a big clothesline. Batista hits a powerslam and a spinebuster before Hornswoggle comes out. He leaps off the top rope, but Batista catches him and throws him at Finlay. Out comes Booker and they use a strange camera angle for that. Batista gets rid of him and goes out of the ring. Finlay hits him with the shillelagh and there's our disqualification. They team up and throw Batista into the steel post and hit him with a steel chair. Lots of steel. 

Match Rating: *3/4

WWE Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contender Match
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Jamie Noble

Gregory Helms is out as guest commentator. It's obviously time for a SmackDown only pay per view, aka the only time they pretend to care about the Cruiserweight Championship. Yang hits a back elbow and a nice second rope kick, but the Noble catches him for a powerslam for a 2 count. Yang catches Noble with a boot in the corner, hits the moonsault and gets the victory. They only got a couple of minutes, which I'm sure is shocking to everyone. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *

MVP is complaining about the inferno match at Armageddon to Teddy Long. Teddy says that if he doesn't get in the ring with Kane, he's fired. Next week, Kane and Undertaker will take on MVP and Mr. Kennedy.

Sylvan vs. Chris Benoit

Sylvan is talking in French and is interrupted by Benoit's music. Benoit attacks Sylvan right away and we get a rehash of the Orlando Jordan matches. He puts on the Crossface and that's it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Miz vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Scotty catches himself between the top two ropes and baits Miz into charging at him. He misses and falls to the floor, but Miz hits a thumb to the eye and a slingshot shoulder tackle. We've got JBL rooting for Scotty here, which makes no sense. Scotty comes back with a modified bulldog. He goes for the Worm, but Miz blocks it and rolls him up for the victory. Miz attacks Scotty after the match and then goes for the Worm. Boogeyman's music hits and Miz slides out of the ring. Boogeyman is right behind him and hits Miz with a clothesline. He throws Miz back and forth between the barricade and ring apron before throwing him into the steps. Out come the worms and Boogey eats some, which gives Miz some time to escape. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We have Kane singing "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" with some of the worst acting you'll ever see. He's almost as bad as that as he is at being a mayor. Almost.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Kane

Kane hits an elbow that looks like he had no intention of actually trying to make it look real. Kennedy is able to dropkick Kane off the apron, which leads to Kane doing a fake looking leap off the apron into the barricade. Kennedy hits a side Russian leg sweep for a 2 count. Kennedy goes for a boot in the corner, but Kane catches him by the throat. Kennedy escapes but gets thrown across the ring instead. Kane hits a side suplex and then hits Kennedy with a right hand when Kennedy goes off the top rope. Kane is up top now and hits the clothesline. Out comes MVP, but Kennedy grabs him by the throat. Kennedy attacks him and we have a disqualification. They're really doing this finish for the second time tonight? The lights go out and Undertaker's music hits. When the lights are back on, Kane is gone and there's no Undertaker. Kennedy goes up the steps in the arena and then Kane's flames go off. Whatever.

Match Rating: 1/2*

This was a disappointing show. The main event was not good at all and the Finlay/Batista match was very disappointing. The opening tag match was pretty good, but that's about all there was to see here.

Overall Rating: 39%

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