2007 Discussion

Discuss 2007 in Smackdown

The Undertaker Vs Mr Kennedy - Smackdown 19th Jan 2007
Both guys had just come out of a feud with each other, but circumstances brought them together once again on SD. The week before, Mr Kennedy screwed The Undertaker out of a title shot at the RR, by preventing the Dead Man from beating Kennedy's time in the Beat the Clock challenge. Teddy Long knew 'Taker had been screwed, so this match was made. If Undertaker won, he would be added to the RR title match with Kennedy against Batista. Batista is also sat at ringside.

Typical Undertaker match start, with him chasing around his opponent and mauling them . Kennedy come back into the match a little, but the first half of this one is almost all 'Taker.

Then from out of nowhere, BAM! Kennedy dropkicks the knee, and viciously goes after it in an attempt to turn the tide in his favour, and to keep The Undertaker grounded. He gets a nice, but very short, control segment, then Undertaker comes back and nearly gets the win, only for Kennedy to go back to the knee, only for Undertaker to come back again. Basically, it turns into a fight for control of the match, with both guys going back and forth.

Undertaker looks to be in firm control towards the end though, as he sends Kennedy over the ropes. Kennedy walks over to Batista... and punches him in the face then runs back into the ring! Undertaker sets him up for a Chokelsam, but Batista spears Kennedy... giving Kennedy the DQ win!

Only 10 minutes, but a damn good 10 minutes. Undertaker and Kennedy had great chemistry together, and its amazing how much they did in such a short amount of time here. Kennedy's attack to the knee first time around was glorious, with it coming out of nowhere and being vicious as fuck; probably my favourite part of the match lol. And then the end with Kennedy intentionally hitting Batista knowing what would happen was genius .

Rating: ***1/2

Smackdown 2007 (9th of November) - Finlay vs Rey Mysterio
This is the conclusion to their feud, so the bad blood between them is at a peak of sorts. The proof is in the pudding with Rey using a lot more heavy strikes. I always enjoy his high end offence when you get the feeling that he actually wants to HURT his opponent out of a genuine dislike. It just makes more sense. I also enjoy him in this role against a guy like Finlay that knows how to lay out a match to make a guy like Rey look good. Of course for starters these two have an awesome clash of styles, one of the better ones you could find. Finlay dishes out great physical beatdowns and slows Rey down with submissions, while Rey occassionally breaks through and hits an amazing spot or heated flurry of offence. Then the excellently timed cut offs, teases and mini comebacks are thrown in too.

Rey's like my favourite guy ever at taking a Finlay rag dolling exhibition. His selling is top notch. They both know how to complement each other so well, meaning there are literally no offensive exchanges that look weak or bland. There's one sequence in particular that's fantastic, ending with Rey getting powerbombed into the turnbuckle. It even makes a hot twenty something chick in the audience hold her head in her hands. Finlay from this point on is even more of a cold hearted, merciless bastard and the sympathy card for Rey is played up to the max. Finlay starts throwing Rey around like a football and laughs. AWESOME. He even specifically targets Rey's back to add an element of strategy to his work. Another terrific moment is Rey delivering a big knee to the head during a comeback, then Finlay replying with a massive clothesline.

The momentum shift in the last 5 minutes works because Rey gets a short surge on and a nearfall or two, before Finlay gets back on top with a big move. After the huge beating Rey's taken this desperation offence from him makes perfect sense too. Finlay ends up resorting to cheating once Rey's heart becomes the biggest factor of the match, adding another layer to the story. Finlay countering the 619 two consecutive times in different ways is neat too. He wrestles such a smart, effective match here with a heap of awesome touches and additions that just make sense. He ends up winning clean too, with the Celtic Cross! A post match beatdown caps it all off. Clocking in at 15 minutes, with a lot of crowd heat, this one felt like a war. More importantly, it felt like one of the more meaningful matches Rey or Finlay has been in over the last few years. It's Finlay 101 and Rey tuning in a performance that reminds us just how good he is/was. This is a worthy contender to both highly talked about Finlay/Benoit TV matches, possibly surpassing them. Outstanding, criminally undertalked about contest between two excellent workers.

****

Smackdown (09.03.2007) - Finlay vs Undertaker
Badass Finlay stepping toe to toe with post 2006 Undertaker is something everybody has to see. Finlay's got a perfect balance of being cautious but not cowardly, wary but cunning. He takes the fight to Taker without looking foolish because of the way he goes about it. They start out with both guys delivering a heavy flurry of strikes. Taker then works the arm and man, Finlay makes him look incredible with some amazing selling. Finlay takes Taker's offence better than 95% of his opponents EVER, going all out to make the Phenom look like an unbelievable force, but not going over the top and coming across as goofy. Taker actually sticks with working the arm AFTER old school is hit too, which I liked. Finlay's desperate to get out of it, pulling the hair and eventually making a break through with an eye rake. Both men's strikes throughout this are very convincing and tough. Finlay takes Taker outside of the ring to make it a brawl and utilise the environment to his advantage. He headbutts him and slams his head into the announce table, so Taker replies by kicking his fuckin' head off. Finlay uses a midget distraction and sneaky chair shot to stop the momentum shift. I love him pulling everything out of the book and being so vicious in order to survive.

He moves on to work over the freshly injured ribs. Great progression from one point to the next here. As usual Finlay's offence here has a focus and element of strategy to it, so there's no meandering or filling in time here. Taker sells very well for him too, while still giving you a feeling he could turn the match on its head at any moment which plays well into his character. That subtle sense of vulnerability he has really makes this one standout from most regular Taker bouts. It made Finlay look like a top notch competitor. It may seem hypocritical of me but the big comebacks by Taker at the end weren't annoying at all to me and were rather satisfying. Simply because it plays into Taker's character. He's fucking huge, both literally and figuratively - an immortal, unstoppable freak of nature who has been built up credibility wise as a monster more than anybody ever. It's much easier to buy than small guy HBK no selling 15 minutes of punishment on his surgically repaired back - bouncing around like a jumping jack with uninterrupted offence against a bigger opponent. Finlay stopping the comeback with a low blow, then later a Shillaleigh shot to the injured ribs and one square to the head was great desperate heel stuff. Taker gets payback on Hornswoggle and after 15 minutes finally puts Finlay away. Legit great match. It had drama and story on top of strategy, role playing, physical action and a big fight atmosphere. This one truly does stand out from the crowd of WWE matches and is a big standout Taker TV match. He really went all out and let Finlay create something special with him.

***1/2

The Undertaker Vs Finlay - SD 2007
A brawl to start things off, which I'm sure would shock nobody given the two guys having the match .

They end up on the outside fairly early on, with Finlay in firm control, beating the shit out of the Dead Man! After getting his face smashed into the table a few times, 'Taker gets pissed and just boots Finlay in the face. Lol at The Undertaker facing off with Hornswoggle too . The ref gets distracted by the midget, and Finlay uses a chair to get back in control.

Finlay targets the ribs of The Undertaker, but The Undertaker keeps coming back with big lefts and rights, and a few boots to the face too . They end up on the outside for a second time, and now The Undertaker is in control, and gets some revenge by slamming Finlay's face into the table, then follows it up with yet another stiff boot to the face.

Its the ribs of The Undertaker that cause him to lose control, as the fighting Irishman uses the steel steps to further injure them. Again The Undertaker fights back, but Finlay kicks the ribs and he is back in control.

The Undertaker looks like he is back in the match, sending Finlay into the steel post back first, but AGAIN Finlay throws The Undertaker ribs first into the steel steps. I swear that over half of this match has taken place on the outside lol, and half the moves have been stiff right hands. Yeah, its awesome .

Finlay truly is amazing here, standing toe to toe with The Undertaker in the centre of the ring as they both exchange right hands, and it looks believable. Very few people under 6ft 4 (roughly) can do that lol.

The Undertaker obviously gets the better of Finlay, but just as he looks to take out Finlay with a chokeslam, Horny comes in and nails The Undertaker in the ribs with the Shillelagh! The Undertaker doesn't get affected by this though, and proceeds to do something awesome. He kicks Hornswoggle in the head. The Undertaker KICKS HORNSWOGGLE IN THE HEAD.

Finlay nearly finishes off The Undertaker with the Shillelagh behind the refs back, but in the end, a chokeslam and a Tombstone end this match.

A nice long TV match (15 minutes), with some awesome back and forth brawling from 2 of the legit toughest guys in the company. Like I mentioned earlier, half the match takes place on the outside, and big stiff right hands take up the majority of the moves too. Its fun as fuck, and a very well worked match too. Finlay looks like a champ, and The Undertaker gets a decisive win over a tough bastard going into WrestleMania.

Rating: ***1/2

Finlay v Rey Mysterio (Smackdown!, 10/12/07)
- Good ten minute match, but they've had at least three better and the finish kinda sucks, anyway. Both guys working for ten minutes is always gonna be at least entertaining, though. Not something anybody needs to check out for this, but if you've got ten free minutes and you're like me in that any Finlay is good Finlay, this is still worth checking out.


Finlay v Chris Benoit (Smackdown!, 2/2/07)
- Finish is shit because the Boogyman gets involved and someone sticking their nose in while Benoit and Finlay are wrestling is nothing more than a deplorable cunt, but other than that it's actually pretty similar to the November '06 match. It was even on its way to being as good, if not better, until it was cut short. Worth your time, though. It's good. ***1/4

Finlay v Rey Mysterio - Smackdown!, 11/9/07
- Finlay BULLYING Mysterio for 15+ minutes is such a great dynamic. His offence is so good that you could buy someone being beaten up for that amount of time - especially a guy Mysterio's size - and Mysterio being as good a seller as he is makes everything seem that much more brutal. Rey also turned the stiffness up when he'd wrestle Finlay, and there's a couple instances here, like him roundhouse kicking old man Fit right in the face and giving him a running knee to the side of the head. The majority of time is spent with Mysterio having his back worked over after taking a crazy powerbomb into the turnbuckles. Finlay doing something as simple as repeatedly kicking Rey in the back the instant Mysterio gets to the ropes to break a Boston Crab is a pretty good example of why he's one of the best ever. Match as a whole is a pretty good example of why Mysterio's one of the best ever, too. Couple nasty looking Finlay cut-offs in this, the best of which maybe being the one that leads to the finish with him blocking the seated springboard senton by just lunging at the ropes to throw off Rey's balance. Also gotta love Finlay taking the 619 like a MAN; two feet right to the face, DADDY. I'd probably put their 3/24/06 match ahead of this, even if it's only by a little. But whatever daylight there is between them is enough for that to make my list and this to fall short. ***1/2