The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
My Smackdown (4/7) Notebook
The Kingfish Arnie Katz delves into the Flair retirement, the new Big Show angle and other issues raised by the 4/4 edition of Smackdown!
La Familia Faces Futility
The big, multi-performer promo that opened Smackdown is a good example of effective and efficient booking. Although it was a fairly long segment, it accomplished more than enough to justify the air-time it took.
It gave the two defeated champions, Edge and Chavo Guerrero, a chance to transition from WM losses to the rematches scheduled for Backlash and also provided the springboard (and plot support) for the brother versus brother main event that headlined this episode.
I would expect a tag team showdown between Guerrero and Edge and the Brothers of Destruction to ratchet up the intensity of the rematches.
Matt Hardy Gets a Belt
MVP is likely to get the United States Championship back from his former tag partner, but it was great to see someone who had worked really hard get some positive payback. Matt’s spot was the lynch pin of the “Money in the Bank” match at WrestleMania and then he worked an excellent match against Randy Orton on RAW the next night.
While it’s a mistake to think that Jeff and Matt are interchangeable just because they have the same last name, Matt’s return have bookers a chance to do things that might’ve been ticketed for Jeff before his suspension.
One reason I don’t foresee a long run for Matt is that he has not really demonstrated a strong presence on the microphone. He’s fine when the bell rings, but he doesn’t have a character that gives him stature in the eyes of the fans. The champions must be able to talk compellingly and perform well in the ring.
Ultimately, that may have been what kept another, even better wrestler Rob Van Dam, from holding one of the two major WWE belts. His matches excited fans with their action, but he didn’t excite the fans’ passion.
When The Game approaches a big match, there’s tremendous, building heat because of his dramatic abilities. He doesn’t wrestle as well as RVD – or Matt Hardy – but Triple H makes fans care about what he’s doing.
Festus: For Whom the Bell Tolls
What a throwback character! The guy who turns into a dynamo when the bell rings is vintage stuff from the same era as the guy who carried a teddy bear into the ring (Mighty Igor) and the bestial man from the Argentine pampas (Pampiro Firpo).
They’ve pretty much done all the obvious jokes, so it’s probably time to come up with a new character for this guy. Maybe Dr. Puppuffnick could cure his malady. He’s mobile and strong and could probably become a viable singles wrestler if he can spiel on the mic.
That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising daily wrestling column.
– Arnie Katz
Crossfire4@cox.net
(4/7/08)
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