WWE Smackdown 1/12/2007

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Smackdown
Date: 1/12/2007
From: Peoria, IL

Matches:
1.)Matt Hardy fought Finlay to a draw in a Beat The Clock Match
2.)Tatanka defeated Jimmy Wang Yang
3.)Mr. Kennedy defeated Chris Benoit
4.)WWE World Tag Team Champions Brian Kendrick & Paul London defeated William Regal & Dave Taylor to retain the titles
5.)MVP fought Vito to a draw in a Beat The Clock Match
6.)The Undertaker fought The Miz to a draw in a Beat The Clock Match

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.Hardy hits two Side Effects and even goes for a third one, but Finlay blocks it. The Little Bastard distracts Hardy while he is on the top rope looking to hit a leg drop. That distraction allowed Finlay to hit Hardy with a shillelagh in the leg and put an Indian Death Lock on him. Hardy manages to ignore the pain and the time limit expires. After the match, Finlay holds Hardy down to allow Joey Mercury to attack him with a steel chair.

2.Backstage, Kristal catches up with Mercury who tells us that he will not stop until Matt’s face looks like his. I like that idea of an angle.

3.Late in the next match, Yang nearly beats Tatanka on a few occasions after nailing him with a spinning heel kick, cross body and a neck breaker. Tatanka catches Yang as he leaps off the top rope and power slams the cowboy down to the mat to win the match.

4.Benoit mostly has the advantage over Kennedy early on hitting a snap suplex and several German suplexs. Kennedy got some brief offense on the floor but Benoit appeared to be out for revenge. Chavo Guerrero made his way out to the ringside area. Kennedy stops Benoit on the top rope with a superplex. Kennedy works on Benoit’s back until Benoit hits three German suplexs to regain control. Benoit connects with a top rope diving head butt, but Kennedy kicks out at two on the cover attempt. Kennedy connects with a Green Bay Plungs, but moments later misses the Kenton Bomb. Benoit fights back with several more German suplexs and locks in the Sharpshooter. Chavo Guerrero leaves the announcers table and
distracts Benoit so Kennedy can roll Benoit up and uses the tights for extra leverage! That was a solid television bout.

5.The tag titles are on the line up next. Regal and Taylor think they have the advantage in a regular tag match instead of a ladder match like they had to compete in at Armageddon. Regal is worked on early on by the champs until he tags in Taylor. Taylor with a suplex and tags Regal back in the match. Regal and Taylor work over London’s arm for several minutes. London breaks free from a full nelson by Regal and Kendrick tags in to clean house with kicks. Kendrick manages to pin Regal with a backslide to retain the titles.

6.MVP failed at his attempt at winning the Beat The Clock challenge as he wrestled Vito to a draw. After the match, Vito slams MVP’s burnt body on the ring steps.

7.Backstage, Batista talks about how Mr. Kennedy talks too much but that doesn’t mean he will over look Kennedy should he win the challenge.

8.Taker works on Miz early on by hitting Old School in the opening minutes. Taker attempts a choke slam but Kennedy comes out and provides a distraction. Taker choke slams Miz a second time but the referee was knocked down. Kennedy pulls Miz out of the ring. Taker gets Miz back in and hits the tombstone but as he covers the time expires once he gets a two count. Kennedy is going to the Royal Rumble!

Final Thoughts:
This was a really good episode of Smackdown. The match between Kennedy and Benoit was nicely done and gives Kennedy a good quality win as he heads towards the Rumble. Plus, his involvement with the Taker match advances their feud if they feel like continuing that. Also, the tag match was a standard solid match. I’m also actually quite interested in Mercury wanting to destroy Matt Hardy’s face. If that is handled properly it could be an enjoyable under card feud on Smackdown. Two weeks in and Batista hasn’t even wrestled on the program yet. They are doing a good job of not over exposing him, in my opinion. A good episode for sure.

Thanks for reading.