Decade of Smackdown Celebration
The Ten Year Anniversary of WWE’s Friday Night Show is a Success
Oct 3, 2009
The Decade of Smackdown celebration show was full of surprises, most of them welcome and interesting. There were plenty of interpromotional matches and guest appearances from WWE Hall of Famers like Sergeant Slaughter and the Iron Sheik. Superstars from ECW and Raw attended the party that went on in the back and mingled with Smackdown stars, and all was light-hearted and amusing.
The Decade of Smackdown Party
The party portion of Smackdown was very comical, with Michael Cole’s drunken antics ending with him spilling his guts, literally, all over Chris Jericho’s expensive shoes, and Zack Ryder being shut out from the VIP lounge of MVP and Mark Henry while everyone else was let in. Teddy Long’s fright when confronted with Santino Marella dressed up as The Undertaker was especially funny.
One unwelcome return was that of Vickie Guerrero, who proclaimed that she would now be managing her “hot new boyfriend” Eric Escobar, much to the displeasure of the fans. Since shortly after this proclamation they aired a tribute to her late husband Eddie Guerrero, the timing of this is odd and a little unsettling, especially considering they showed pictures of Eddie and Vickie together in happier times.
Raw vs. Smackdown, Live
Probably the most intriguing part of the evening was the matches pitting Smackdown and Raw superstars against each other, such as when The Miz teamed with Dolph Ziggler to face off against John Morrison and Kofi Kingston. It was a solid match that saw two former teammates, Morrison and Miz, going against each other, made all the more interesting because they knew each other’s moves so well.
Eight Man Tag Match
The most important match of the night was a brilliant 8-man tag that pitted mostly Raw people against each other on a Smackdown special. John Cena and DX teamed up with Undertaker to face Randy Orton, Legacy, and CM Punk. This was unique, for this meant that Cena, the WWE champion, fought against Punk, the World champion. Jim Ross noted how rare this was, and it was indeed a treat to see two champions wrestle.
Each man seemed to have a go against the other, in a nice mix of action, with hints of the upcoming matches at Hell in a Cell. The Undertaker won the match for his team when he pinned Randy Orton, and the four men stood triumphant in the ring while the losers slinked away.
A Message From The Rock
The Great One gave a very entertaining address to the fans, in which he endorsed the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and announced that he would be one of the next Raw guest hosts. That will be one of the most exciting Raw episodes for a long time, due to The Rock’s still huge following. He also provided one of the night’s best quotes: “Who in the blue hell is Dolph Ziggler?”
A Smackdown to Be Remembered
All in all, the Decade of Smackdown show was good enough that it should possibly be warranted its own DVD, if only for the huge 8-man tag match at the end that had so much star power, as good ol’ Jim Ross noted, that we may not see the likes of it again.
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