REVIEW: Smackdown – April 13, 2007: A Different Kind Of Team

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over twelve years now and have reviewed over 6,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?

Smackdown
Date: April 13, 2007
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 8,000
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

We’re on the way to whatever the next Smackdown pay per view is and Batista wants his rematch with Undertaker for the World Title. That’s fine with Undertaker, but he isn’t cool with King Booker jumping him to end last week’s show. It sounds like something he is going to deal with sooner than later and that isn’t likely to go well for Booker. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Teddy Long is in the ring to get things going. He isn’t wasting time tonight and announces Batista vs. Undertaker for the Smackdown World Title at Backlash in a Last Man Standing match. That’s a big upgrade but a violent match like that makes sense for guys who are going to beat on each other than hard.

Finlay/Hornswoggle vs. Mr. Kennedy

Fallout from Kennedy attacking Hornswoggle at Wrestlemania. That being said, there is no Hornswoggle to start, meaning this isn’t much of a handicap match. Before the match, Kennedy gets quite the positive reception and tells Finlay that they don’t have to do this. Things got out of hand in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania and tension was high.

Kennedy apologizes but Finlay says he has never met anyone who whimpers and grovels like Kennedy does. He’ll give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt though so apology accepted. Just don’t touch Hornswoggle again. Hold on though as that isn’t cool with Teddy Long, who wants these two to wrestle tonight. They can do it as a team….against Batista and Undertaker. Anger ensues, possibly because Hornswoggle never appeared.

Michelle McCool is in the back and hears a suspicious sound (from like five rooms away). It’s Jillian Hall attacking Ashley because she wants to be in the Timbaland video instead of her. Michelle chases Jillian off as Paul London and Brian Kendrick come in too late.

Tag Team Titles: Deuce N Domino vs. Paul London/Brian Kendrick

Deuce N Domino, with Cherry are challenging. London’s waistlock doesn’t get very far on Deuce but a small package gets two. London kicks at Deuce’s leg to get on his nerves so Domino comes in. Kendrick joins him for an armdrag and then another one into an armbar. It’s back to London and the champs clear the ring in a hurry, setting up London’s big dive onto Domino.

We take a break and come back with Kendrick armbarring Deuce but a distraction lets Domino get in a cheap shot. A suplex gives Domino two and it’s off to the chinlock. Back up and some choking on the ropes ensues, as the camera angles show you how small the building really is. The slow beating continues until Kendrick rolls away and dives over to London for the hot tag. House is cleaned in a hurry, including a top rope double stomp to the back for two on Domino. Deuce comes back in and sends Kendrick outside, setting up Crack Em In Da Mouth…but the referee DQ’s them for being in the ring too long.

Rating: C+. These teams have chemistry but I’m sick of seeing them fight. Either change the titles already or move on to something else because this is getting really repetitive. The ending leaves the door open for another rematch and I’m sure we’ll get that sooner than later, but they need to get somewhere with this already.

Teddy Long tells Kristal about how awesome next week’s 400^th show will be in Milan, Italy. Deuce N Domino and Cherry come in and aren’t happy with the result. They get tossed out anyway.

The Condemned.

MVP vs. Chris Benoit

Non-title. MVP drives Benoit into the corner to start to show off a bit of power. An armdrag sends MVP into another corner though and it’s time for a standoff. That’s fine with Benoit, who takes him to the mat for an armbar without much trouble. The threat of the Crossface sends MVP bailing to the floor but he’s right back in with some forearms to the face. A running boot in the corner gives MVP two but Benoit snaps off a suplex.

Benoit hits a backbreaker and kicks away but MVP gets in a shot of his own to take back over. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Benoit gets to the apron and teases the German suplex to the floor. That’s broken up as expected and MVP posts him to send us to a break. Back with Benoit fighting out of another chinlock but charging into a belly to belly. A hard whip sends Benoit into the corner and MVP starts in on Benoit’s banged up arm.

Three straight elbows give MVP two but a snap northern lights suplex gives Benoit the same. The Crossface goes on, with MVP getting his foot on the ropes in a hurry. Some rolling German suplexes have MVP in trouble but he avoids the Swan Dive. MVP hammers away and kicks Benoit in the head but can’t German suplex him to the floor. Instead Benoit tries a rollup but MVP grabs the rope for the pin.

Rating: C+. These guys work well together and the cheating pin moves MVP back into the title match while also protecting Benoit. I’m sure they’ll be set up for Backlash as a result and that should be another good one. MVP has been ready to win the title for a long time now so Benoit dropping it is the right move in the near future.

Post break, MVP says he told us so and promises to win the title.

We recap King Booker attacking Undertaker last week and being slaughtered. He has suffered neck, knee and elbow injuries, meaning he’s out of action indefinitely. That’s a heck of at Tombstone to injure his knee.

Raw Rebound.

Kane vs. Daivari

Kane unloads on him to start like he’s Kane unloading on Daivari, including a hard shot to the face in the corner. There’s the side slam into the top rope clothesline, followed by Daivari’s ribs being bent around the post. The chokeslam finishes Daivari in a hurry.

Post match here are William Regal and Dave Taylor to go after Kane but they can’t even get him off his feet. Eventually they give up and run off.

Mark Henry is coming back.

Undertaker/Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy/Finlay

Finlay ducks away from Undertaker to start and hands it off to Kennedy, who gets taken into the corner for the pummeling. Undertaker charges into a boot though and the villains take over as Batista looks like he’s trying to remember where he parked. That’s broken up and Undertaker launches Kennedy into the corner to start throwing more right hands. Snake Eyes has Finlay in trouble but Batista tags himself in, allowing Kennedy to jump Undertaker. Batista tosses Finlay and spinebusters Kennedy but this time it’s Undertaker tagging himself in.

We take a break and come back with Undertaker rather forcibly tagging Batista. Kennedy gets stomped down and this time it’s Batista slapping Undertaker in the chest for the next tag. A Finlay distraction breaks up Old School but Undertaker shrugs off anything Kennedy throws at him. Batista comes back in for two off a suplex with Finlay making the save. Finlay comes in and is thrown right back into the corner for some right hands to the face.

There’s a heck of a clothesline to give Batista two and it’s back to Undertaker to keep pounding. This has been almost completely one sided so far as Undertaker drops the apron leg to Finlay. Old School is broken up by another blind tag and that’s not cool with Undertaker. The distraction lets Finlay jump Batista, with Undertaker just glaring instead of helping. Kennedy comes back in to start on Batista’s knee and a chop block cuts him down again. Finlay grabs the leg part of an STF and Kennedy sits down on the bad leg.

A Shillelagh shot to the leg makes it worse and Kennedy drives Batista’s back into the apron. The Indian Deathlock doesn’t work for Kennedy so he goes with some right hands to the face instead. It’s back to Finlay to pull on the leg a bit more, including a half crab. That’s finally enough to turn Undertaker into an unenthusiastic cheerleader, which seems to work as Batista is back with a spinebuster. Undertaker comes back in to clean house but Batista tags himself in again. As Undertaker beats on Finlay on the floor, the Batista Bomb finishes Kennedy.

Rating: B-. This was a different kind of match as it was much more about the storytelling than the action itself. Undertaker and Batista toyed with the two of them here and it was an effective way to build things up. They don’t like each other but they had to work together here. Granted it wasn’t the best teamwork, but the story was advanced and that’s what they were shooting for here. Nicely done, in a different way.

The staredown and title gesturing finishes the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m not sure what to think of this show but I liked enough of it. Backlash is already starting to take shape, though you can tell that they’re still in a bit of the post Wrestlemania zone. That can fade away even more next week, but for now it is just a good show instead of anything great. WWE continues to be on a roll though, and that is getting more impressive the further they are removed from Wrestlemania.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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