SmackDown - July 13, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana (taped July 10)
Report by Erich West, rajah.com reader

SmackDown comes to us from New Orleans, Louisiana this week and the show opens with Edge wandering the backstage halls, announcing that tonight's show will include his R-Rated Mardi Gras celebration. An ominous looking Kane appears in the background and Edge begins to feel uneasy, although he hasn't noticed him.

Matt Hardy vs Chris Masters
This match included commentary by Matt Hardy's Great American Bash opponent MVP, who was sitting ringside with JBL and Michael Cole, and offering his opinion on both wrestlers and his intention to retain the US Championship belt at the GAB. As they began, Hardy went for the Twist of Fate early on, but was unsuccessful as Masters shoved him of and gave him a double biceps pose in return. Masters dominated the match with the most offense, bearhug bodyslams to the corner, a very impressive gorilla press and bodyslam, several whips into the corner that had Hardy bouncing out like a rocket, one of those into a decapitating clothesline, and an avalanche slam into the corner, among many other great power moves in his arsenal. Hardy continued to come at Masters, mostly with punches, but his offense did not have the same effect as that dished out to him by Masters. After two near pinfalls by Masters, Hardy was pretty groggy but still attempted an offense, trying an avalanche on Masters yet getting nowhere near the effect that Masters had earlier on him. Hardy tried to bulldog Masters, but Masters shoved him off and Hardy came out of the corner with a kick to the head and a flying elbow off the top turnbuckle. A sidewalk slam failed to get the pin on Masters, and Hardy tried for another Twist of Fate with Masters shoving him off as he did at the beginning of the match as well. Masters shoved him into the ropes and Hardy landed in Masters' arms, ready for the adjustment into the Masterlock but Hardy squirmed to the ground and pulled out a surprise Twist of Fate, barely picking up the victory. An exciting match, with Masters gaining most of the offense until Hardy squeaked out a victory at the last minute.
Winner: Matt Hardy

After the match, MVP started giving Hardy a lot of smack talk from outside the ring. Masters got up and applied the Masterlock from behind, a great expression of freaky madness on his face and he kept Hardy locked in, even when Hardy tried to drop on the ground to get out of the hold. MVP was in the ring at this point and dropped an elbow on Hardy, still in the Masterlock, and begins ordering Masters out of the ring, claiming it's his territory. The ref orders Masters out of the ring while MVP takes over and further tortures Hardy with the Playmaker.

Finlay vs Jimmy Wang Yang
Wang Yang tries some fast paced moves but he's quickly brought down by Finlay. A suplex and two uppercuts are setting the stage right away. A whip and Wang Yang goes for the legs but Finlay comes right back at him with his own torture to Wang Yang's legs. One of the high points of this match was Wang Yang, after sending Finlay out of the ring, going for a baseball slide under the bottom ropes but Finlay sees it coming and lifts up the ring apron, making Wang Yang slide into the voluminous fabric like he's wrapping him up for Christmas. Finlay executes a long segment of torture and Wang Yang manages to turn the tide and get out a fairly good segment of his own brand of fast-paced torture. A back body drop lands Wang Yang awkwardly on buckling legs and I wonder if we have another injury on the roster. We don't get the chance to determine that as Finlay quickly pins Wang Yang after that with a modified Samoan Drop. Finlay finishes it up by bringing in Hornswoggle and bodyslamming the little guy on Wang Yang before we move on..
Winner: Finlay

Chavo Guerrero & Jamie Noble vs The Major Brothers
The Major Brothers come out to a great response after their debut last week. This was a fast paced match with both teams showing offense and the most of the crowd behind the Majors. The turning point comes when one of the Majors suplexes Noble over the top ropes (an incredibly dangerous looking stunt) and then they get the pin on Chavo. Noble appears upset with Chavo at the end as they bicker ringside while the victory for the Majors is announced.
Winner: The Major Brothers

Backstage, the Great Khali's translator tries to talk Assistant General Manager Vickie Guerrero out of Khali's match with Batista. He tells Vickie that Batista is a fan favorite and no one wants to see a fan favorite get hurt. Vickie tells him the match is still on and she turns to leave and virtually walks into a wall in the form of the Great Khali. She makes a hasty exit while the Great Khali torments another backstage attendant when the translator falsely claims he called Khali a freak.
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We move to Edge, watching the show on a monitor. One of our themes for the evening, is Edge being haunted by images of Kane, his Great American Bash opponent. Edge sees Kane in the television - for a brief moment - and then begins wondering if he's seeing things.

Next up is the contract signing between Batista and the Great Khali. Batista turns this event into a nice highlight for this card. After some delays, and some smack to Batista by the translator, Khali signs the contract. Batista puts out his hand, but Khali refuses to shake it. In the world of gentlemanly conduct, that sort of thing is frowned upon and Batista slaps him. The translator is appalled and he ushers Khali to the ropes and guides him away toward the back, but not before Khali throws the steel stairs into the ring to intimidate Batista. Batista picks up same stairs and hurls them over the top ropes, probably farther than Khali threw them. The chair goes next and then the table - Batista throws it about ten feet from the ring in an amazing display of strength and control. Over it goes, a big table, like a frisbee. And then the other chair. Great promo for their match at the GAB.

Chuck Palumbo vs Luke Hawks
Palumbo, all 280 pounds of him, wheels into the arena on his motorcycle to take on a tiny guy that looks less than half his size. Needless to say, there is very little offense and Palumbo puts him away with his Full Throttle slam before revving off backstage.
Winner: Chuck Palumbo

Backstage with Deuce, Domino, Cherry and Eugene. Eugene wants a ride in Deuce & Domino's car. Eugene accepts Domino's suggestion that he take on Deuce's opponent in order to get a ride in their car. Eugene looks happy but until he gets in the ring and sees his opponent.

Eugene vs Mark Henry
Henry squashes him. Deuce & Domino taunt the fallen Eugene but it's interesting to note the sobering look on Deuce as they exit the ring. Not sure if that was intended, but the idea of getting in the ring with Mark Henry, whether you like him or not, must be a somber idea.
Winner: Mark Henry

We cut to a Michelle McCool, "Lovin' Life" promo, followed by some footage of the encounter between Torrie Wilson and Victoria from last week. They are slated to take their differences to the ring later on. But first we get our second promo for Monday Night RAW and the upcoming PPV match between John Cena and Bobby Lashley. Lashley is referred to as the "uncrowned champion" in reference to being stripped of the ECW title on his trade to RAW. If that's the case, the appropriate word might be "de-crowned" to indicate the title being removed as in "dethroned," or someone losing a status they once held. "Uncrowned" implies that one is lacking a title they deserve. Perhaps this a slip-up on the WWE's part, and giving us the outcome of the Cena vs Lashley match at the Great American Bash? We'll have to wait and find out. Before we move on to the next match, we are backstage again, where Kristal asks Vickie to be her maid of honor at their upcoming wedding - she accepts.

Victoria vs Torrie Wilson
Victoria gets the appropriate props to show off her ability as a great wrestler and entertainer. No shame to Torrie Wilson, though, who is magnificent in her own right and she compliments Victoria beautifully. I think this was one of the longest women's matches I've seen and it was very entertaining as both of these ladies gave it their all and it was one of the highlights of the show. Torrie managed to get Victoria out of the ring and she followed her out, the two of them brawling ringside while the ref began counting them both out. Torrie must have heard the count as she stepped back onto the apron and kicked Victoria to the floor. When Torrie rolled back into the ring, she beat the count and was awarded the match by count-out. Victoria exited up the ramp, swearing that Torrie hadn't really beaten her.
Winner: Torrie Wilson

Edge's Mardi Gras parade rolls into the arena and as Edge gets the party going with his float of Mardi Gras characters he seems to feel uneasy and looks at the Mardi Gras "queen." You know he suspects something and he suddenly spears "her" to the ground, but it turns out she's just a hired performer. Meanwhile, behind Edge, the Mardi Gras "king" is removing his costume and revealing himself as Kane. Edge retreats into the ring and Kane follows him, stripping down to wrestling gear and trashes Edge and the rest of his Mardi Gras revelers who attempt to protect Edge. Edge escapes and leaves the ring, claiming "you're mine!" Edge is a great actor - that was a long segment to work and he did it admirably.

It's the 5th show since draft and we had three major highlights in the show: Chris Masters showing he's Matt Hardy's and MVP's equal, Batista clearing the ring during the contract signing, and Torrie Wilson and Victoria giving us a helluva show. Hopefully next week we can get the same and perhaps add even more high points.