A Brilliant Conflict

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In a PPV where nearly all the results (except maybe for Rey retaining his title) were wrong (IMO, of course), the two worst decisions were: 1) The dismantling of one of the few legitimate tag teams left in the WWE (MNM), and 2) The Undertaker jobbing cleanly to a man who can barely wrestle and has a chop to the head as his finisher. Anyway, let me do a short run-through of the matches: MNM vs. London & Kendrick (for the WWE Tag Team Titles): Very entertaining match with lots of athleticism on display and some added spice from Melina (***). BENOIT vs. FINLAY: A good old-school match with many technical holds (***). MELINA vs. JILLIAN HALL: How often do you see a bodyscissors in a WWE women's match? **1/2 for that reason alone, the rest is nothing much. GREGORY HELMS vs. SUPER CRAZY (for the Cruiserweight Title): Decent, but it could have been better (**1/2). KURT ANGLE vs. MARK HENRY: It takes someone like Angle to pull out something even watchable out of the World's Fattest Man, and he succeeds...but only just (**). BOOKER T vs. LASHLEY (King Of The Ring Tournament Final): Pretty boring, also the wrong man won (**) THE UNDERTAKER vs. THE GREAT KHALI: A bad squash - with Taker on the receiving end of it! Khali should change his name to The Great No-Seller (*). REY MYSTERIO vs. JBL (for the WH Title): This would be a solid enough undercard match, but as a main event it's pretty mediocre (**1/2).

Wasn't the 2006 edition of Judgment Day a pleasant surprise? Feature many highly entertaining matches on the undercard and red hot main event, Smackdown's pay-per-view effort was well worth the price tag unlike Raw's Backlash one month before.I couldn't help but be on the edge of my seat for the main event. This was the best JBL main event I think I have ever witnessed. He was perfect in the cocky, bullying role he played. And anyone who claims now that Rey Mysterio does not deserve to be the World Heavyweight Champion needs to think again. This was the match of the night by far. Total captivating, great story telling, helped on by the white hot fans in the U.S Airways Centre in Pheonix.The undercard had its fair share of surprises also. MNM are no more after a disastrous night that saw them first lose the WWE Tag team Championships to Paul London and Brian Kendrick in an excellent match and then after Melina was defeated by Jillian Hall she managed to slap her way to a P45 along with Johnny Nitro at the hands of Teddy Long. What will happen to Joey Mercury now? Bobby Lashley had his hopes of becoming the 2006 King of the Ring dashed thanks to a vicious shot from Finlay and his trusty shillelagh. The one good thing to come out of that is that King Booker and Queen Sharmell should have some entertaining segments on the upcoming editions of Smackdown. They are the modern day Macho King and Queen Sherri. It was Lashley's best match yet. Speaking of Finlay, he lost a physical battle with the Rabid Wolverine, Chris Benoit. This was as hard hitting as they come. These too proved that they still have the chemistry in the ring they had back in 1998 when they were battling for the TV Championship in WCW.I expected the worst match of the year to take place at Judgment Day. Of course the match I am talking about is The Undertaker and The Great Khali. The match was a lot better than I expected with Khali going over clean against the Dead Man. I guess worst match of the year honours may still go the Big Show and Kane for their snorefest at Backlash.In other notes from Judgment Day. Kurt Angle lost by count out to Mark Henry but snapped in the process to a thunderous reaction from the Phoenix crowd. Angle went nuts and destroyed Henry with steel chairs and put him through the announcers table. Also on the card Gregory Helms defeated Super Crazy in a good match for the Cruiserweight Championship.With an event like this one, things are looking up for Smackdown. The Animal, Batista is due back from injury soon and Randy Orton's suspension will also be lifted in time for the next Smackdown only pay-per-view The Great American Bash in July. Combine this with the rumoured return of dX at Raw's Vengeance in June and ECW hitting New York for another One Night Stand in a few weeks the WWE's summer looks to be the best for many a year.

This years judgment day was great with lots of great and unpredictable matches, i think it was better than most smackdown ppvs, heres my review.MATCH 1 - PAUL London AND BRIAN KENDRIK(win) vs MNM. This was a great opener, to bad that mnm broke up because i thought they were a great tag team. Anyways the match was non-stop action all the way through, plus new tag team champs. 7/10MATCH 2 - CHRIS BENOIT(win) vs FINLAY. Another great match,it was a mix of hard hitting action and technical wrestling, i didn't think Finlay could put a match like this on but he proved me wrong. 8.5/10MATCH 3 - JILLIAN HALL(win) vs MELINA. Pretty good womens match but nothing special. 5/10MATCH 4 - GREGORY HELMS(win) vs SUPER CRAZY. Good cruiser-weight match but way too short, it was was given 5 to 10 minutes more it would have been a perfect cruiser-weight match, lots of high flying moves though. 7/10MATCH 5 - KURT ANGLE vs MARK HENRY(win via count-out). I loved this but not because of the match itself but the brutal beating angle gives henry, he absolutely lost it, he destroyed him with the chair, put him in the ankle lock and angle slammed on the announcers table. the match itself was better then their rumble match in my opinion, but watch the ending aftermath. 6/10MATCH 6 - BOOKER T(win) vs BOBBY LASHLEY. This king of the ring final was very average, nothing special also very short. booker wins with help from Finlay. 5/10MATCH 7 - UNDERTAKER vs GREAT KHALI(win). Your typical big men match, very slow and short, though i was very surprised that taker got manhandled. 3/10MATCH 8 - REY MYSTERIO(win) vs JBL. This was solid main event, i thought jbl would win but i guess the wwe wants Rey as champ, personally i don't agree with him being champ but back to to the match, jbl dominating most of it then Rey fought back, and finished him with the frog splash. good match. 8/10Judgment day was a pretty good ppv view for smackdowns standards, the good matches were, tag team match, Benoit and Finlay and the main event plus the henry and angle match was very entertaining. overall a solid ppv.

Smackdown really delivered this year for Judgement Day. ALL the matches were excellent, surprising, entertaining, and unpredictable. This ppv really brought back some of the great atmosphere and feeling that we haven't felt since the attitude era. All in all, the event was great and really satisfied not just SD fans, but all WWE fans.1st match - Mercury and Nitro vs. Brian Kendrick and Paul London for the wwe tag team titles - Great opener with high flying action and exciting moves. The second the bell rang, the action started with back to back offense and defense with some high spots like when Kendrick flew over the top rope on to MNM, and Paul London's amazing drop kick to Nitro and then shifting his weigth to get the pin on Mercury. The after math was hilarious when MNM fell apart and started turning on each other. WINNER - London and Kendrick to win the tag team titles Rating - 7/102nd match - Chris Benoit vs. Finley - wow, this match really stole the show. This match wasn't that much hyped about, but once the viewers and audience started recognizing the great physicality of both performers they really got into it. Both Benoit and Finley battled in a grueling 25 minute bout with hard hits and smashing moves. The audience started getting really rowdy and the fight kept getting more brutal and brutal. Some highlights of the match are when Benoit suplexed Finley onto the concrete floor, and when Finley almost broke Benoit's jaw. The fighting in this match was so brutal, fans loved seeing a rare and brilliant bout. In the end, Finley tapped to Benoit's crossface.WINNER - Chris Benoit Rating - 9/103rd match - Jillian vs Melina - surprisingly good divas match, actually was very physical at times. This was suppose to be a comedic time filler, but turned into a interesting bout. Melina and Jillian's match actually rivaled some of RAW's diva matches, and proved these two can fight. Jillian won after reversing a powerbomb to pin Melina. Another aftermath followed when Kristal came to ringside and insulted Melina, resulting in a cat fight.WINNER - Jillian Rating - 6/104th match - Gregory Helms vs Super Crazy for Cruiserweigth championship - For a Cruiserweight match, it was a bit slow except for 1 or 2 high flying moves. Both stayed grounded most of the time, but in the end, Helmes used the ropes to pin Super Crazy for the win and retain.WINNER - Gregory Helms Rating - 6/105th match - Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle - After their horrible match at the Royal Rumble, fans were hoping for redemption in this rematch,.... they did. A great match with hard hits from both opponents and great athleticism from angle and surprisingly Henry as well. After crushing blows, Mark Henry squashed angle between himself and the ring pole and won by count out. Aftermath was brutal when Angle began beating Henry with chair shots and angle slamming him through the announce table.WINNER - Mark Henry Rating - 8/106th match - Booker T vs. Lashley for King of the Ring - A solid match with both men performing at their best. This match was very exciting and unpredictable, but after Finley interfered and gave Lashley a cheap shot, Booker capitalized and got the win to become 2006 King of the Ring. Yet another aftermath happened when Booker made his way to the throne only to be speared through it by Lashley.WINNER - Booker T Rating - 8/107th match - The Undertaker vs. The Great Khali - Wow, this was a very exciting and edge of your seat match. The second Undertaker made his return and made his entrance into the ring, Fans went crazy and witnessed these two giants stare face to face. Undertaker did everything he could but would just be tossed aside like nothing by the Great Khali. Most people believed that Undertaker would win after all the hype of his return, but after a vicious beating by Khali and a hard fought match, Khali got the pin and of course the win. All of a suddend, the 15,000 people in the arena became quiet and watch in disbelief as their hero and legend the undertaker layed knocked out cold on the mat as The Great Khali walked away triumphant.WINNER - The Great Khali Rating - 7/10Main Event - Rey Mysterio vs. JBL for World Championship - Good main event with unpredictability and at time very close calls. JBL gave Rey a harsh beating, even busting him open with blood flowing out of Rey's mask. Rey overcame his offense though giving him the 619 and with a high flying 5 star frog splash, got the pin and win over JBL.WINNER - Rey Mysterio Rating - 7/10OVERALL PPV RATING - 8/10