Smackdown!

So I DID watch Smackdown last night - usually our Friday nights are otherwise occupied - and it was a decent show. I'm not going to say TOO much about it, as I wasn't feeling well, nor am I still, so paying really close attention to it, or writing pages about it now, is really not where my head's at (although watch me, I'll probably have a bunch to say anyway). But some thoughts

• I was concerned when they had the Hardys' in Qualifying MITB matches that they'd both end up in the MITB. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing from an objective point of view - if they have them fight there, one of them win it, maybe they fight at Backlash for the briefcase, and then later on over the title when the winner cashes it in and inevitably wins the belt. If you can drag a feud on for a few PPVs and get some buyrates out of it, why would you hot shot it in one? But from the perspective of how WWE's been building these two, and my own thoughts and feelings as a Hardy fan, I was looking forward to a 1-on-1 at Wrestlemania - they can cost each other matches and title shots etc. all the same along the way anyway. When Matt lost to MVP clean in his match, however, and cost Jeff his, it worked. I enjoy that Jeff's still hesitant to fight his big brother - we'll see if that continues now. With them both out of MITB now, Hardy vs. Hardy at WM 25 is almost inevitable.
• Speaking MITB, that now sets up the 8 man fight for a title shot as Mark Henry vs. Kane vs. CM Punk vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin. Going by the participants so far, I would want to see - and not be surprised to see - MVP win it all. He and Edge (or either of the Hardys) could have an awesome feud over the World Title. Of course that depends on where the draft all goes, but nonetheless.
• I'm intrigued as to what John Cena said to Vicki that compelled her to move the contract signing between Edge and Big Show for Show's title shot to Monday - I'm interested in the dynamic here between Vicki and her two proteges, and we'll see how Cena insinuates himself in all this. I've got to admit to not being a major fan of any of the possibilities here as you might have picked up from ITVR the other night. Show-Edge doesn't strike me as having that WM main event profile, especially for the 25th installment of it; they just gave away Edge-Cena for free last Monday so unless they really change something around I'm not a fan of rehashing that; and I'm not keen on triple threat WM main events, which they usually have one of in recent years, as it cheapens that match automatically compared to the other title match. Not that this will be bad - it's WM and all involved will step it up as needed - it's just not as intriguing to me as Randy Orton-Triple H, or even Shawn Michaels-Undertaker.
• Speaking of those two - good mic work from Undertaker, as I can't remember him ever discussing his streak so that was kind of cool; and it was appropriate after Triple H all but squashed Umaga that Randy Orton and the Legacy beat him down making him look somewhat fallible - OK it took three men to accomplish such, but it was still accomplished lol. That's something.

OK so I went on a bit, I knew I might. Nonetheless those are my SD thoughts. Before parting two more comments ... or more to the point, corrections/followups to a few things I touched on on ITVR while not being entirely informed:

1. Apparently, as I expressed some doubt, Christian and Jack Swagger have been tearing it up over on ECW, apparently even in a 30-minute contest this past week. Needless to say I'm off after this to Youtube that particular bout. I'm wondering if there will be an ECW title defense at WM, and if so, against whom. I'd guess Swagger-Christian, but again, if we've seen that 2-3 weeks in a row ... ? That's a danger on ECW I guess, having about half the roster and half the TV time of other brands, you don't have as much room to mix it up.
2. I speculated as well, along with Ari, as to Hulk Hogan's participation at WM: it doesn't sound likely at this point it will be in any kind of heavy match capacity due to him having undergone back surgery over the last couple of days. He's up and walking and on pace to a good recovery, however medical clearance for a 'real' match including bumps etc. would be unlikely between now and Mania. A light wrestling appearance, run in, promo or 'in the corner of' appearance, however, is still not impossible, although it's turned out the 'Hulk Hogan' twittering of his return at WM 25 was an imposter.