Smackdown: Where Heels are Heels and Faces Don't...

(In Part 3 of 6 The Billdozah takes a stream of consciousness gander at Friday Night Smackdown. The purpose of these blogs is to find out what, if anything, each television program is doing correctly and more importantly gives said Billdozah the opportunity to vent, because he has a lot of venting to do. Coming soon we will read his thoughts on TNA Impact, ROH TV, and a hope for more alternatives)

On Friday nights I am at my local bar establishment, taking a look into another empty glass of the Special Brew, not giving a care in the world towards missing WWE’s Smackdown program. You see, Fridays are not a great day for pro wrestling in my mind. But, there is a but…

Smackdown, girl, I may have missed you on Friday, but don’t worry baby, we’ll get together soon. Basically you’re my bitch. Hey, it’s not my fault I pretend to have a social life. Still going to get to that but, don’t worry your pretty little head wrestling fan.

Think about it. I’m not wasting my time on Friday nights watching wrestling. But watching Smackdown and wasting time are not mutually exclusive as in years past; not since Trips went back to Monday Nights anyways.

Modern technology allows one to watch a program like Smackdown any day or time that I choose. Much like ECW in recent years, this has allowed me to fast forward the diva matches and generally anything that looks or smells like Kane. I still skip a little bit, but that’s an exception to the rule now.

Ah Smackdown, where heels are heels and faces don’t try to deliver unfunny jokes that are really lame anyways (ahem, Monday Night Raw for the past 7 years).

Jeff Hardy. CM Punk. Edge*. John Morrison. Chris Jericho. Rey Mysterio. Those above names have carried Smackdown since the draft with a myriad of epic contests. Mysterio and Jericho were on fire for a long time. Edge Asterisk has been one of if not the most consistent performer in WWE for at least 3 years. Asterisk included because he’s on the shelf and I was really hopeful of the team of him and Jericho. And just when you thought he was getting a little stale, absence makes the fan forget that. And a face run against Jericho will be just what Dr. Pepper ordered.

Whoops, I might have to argue with myself a little bit for a moment. Jericho as a heel is fantastic. Perhaps, he’s more consistent than Edge. The former Y2J took away all the catch phrases and now berates the fans to the point where they can’t cheer him. It’s a hard thing to do these days and a performer has to be almost perfect in execution to pull it off. But I want to go back to the core of what makes Smackdown an almost weekly can’t miss program.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages…World Wrestling Entertainment proudly brings to you the closest thing they can come to having an actually current wrestling product.

What’s current about Smackdown? Jeff Hardy. The unfortunate thing is it took WWE way to long to capitalize on his unique personality and marketability at the top of the card. Now he’ll be gone soon. That story sound familiar? I’ll give you three letters. RVD.

But let’s not take away from the past several months where Jeff has been placed in main events betweens feuds with Punk and Edge. It’s a shame he is leaving, but it probably opens the door for his brother to get a chance to finally prove if he can make it as a top of the card draw. Color me skeptical on how that experiment will go, but we will see.

CM Punk is a heel. He always has been and always will be. Punk in ROH was exactly what that company needed. Someone who can have hate in his eyes and be different than you and me. The Straight Edge character is what Punk kept in his back pocket during his entire WWE run. He’s a good face, but he’s a dude that people will hate. Not love to hate, but people will hate him. The best part about his turn was the month with shades of gray between being a heel and face because all of his comments were the truth. In his mind, why would someone cheer for a screw up like Jeff Hardy over him? What did he ever do to us?

Give a heel conviction in his voice and the rest is cake dude. TITTB..no not what you’re thinking, take it to the bank. Much like his Money in the Bank victories.

Billdozah liked what Billdozah saw here. And I’m hearing of an Undertaker/Punk feud. Intriguing, and that’s coming from someone who isn’t so high on the Dead Man all the time. A blog for another day, I assure you.

We have seen the upward progression of two characters on the food chain as well. John Morrison is now a face; I don’t like the overall package (tights need to change and his promos are pretty eh), but he’s better in the ring building to his highspots, and we have great matches to look forward to for years with the young heartthrob (so say the ladies, I don’t look at guys like that).

One guy who I would have figured never would have made it is Dolph Ziggler. The dude is the only man left standing from the Spirit Squad manure drop from the sky on Raw. At least Vinny Mac loved it. But Ziggy (Dolph you don’t mind if I call you Ziggy do you? Ok thanks!) is another young guy with a world of potential. You have to figure he’s going to be Intercontinental Champion sooner rather than later. In the immortal word of Jeremy Piven, Summerfest might be that day. From there he doesn’t have to run into Cena or Triple H to take him down a peg and to ensure he never gets over.

Smackdown is close to what professional wrestling should look like in 2009. Their best heel (Chris Jericho) brings out the best in whoever he’s feuding with. Did anyone see his match with JTG a few weeks back? Case in point.

As a fan I root for the stars of tomorrow because you usually can see it quite obviously. I have that in the Hart Dynasty. Tyson Kidd is developing better than I imagined. David Hart is assuredly going to get more breaks in WWE, but Kidd feuding with Rey Mysterio is going to steal some shows, mark my words.

I joked earlier about Smackdown being my bitch. If it were on Mondays I would watch it live every week. That’s what I wish we were seeing, but it isn’t the case. At the end of the day I am Smackdown’s bitch. Because she’s giving me what I want. Umm, yeah that’s today’s stars in main event slots. They are fresh, athletic, and are different from each other. Well, and then there’s Kane and the Great Khali to fast forward through. Oh yean and I still hate the Diva matches. Don’t worry ladies, the Hess Express is still watching and salivating over your, um lets call them hip tosses and arm drags. Works of art.

Michael Hayes, I like what you’re cookin’ these days…keep up the good work.

-The Billdozah