Live Notes From The SD! Tapings In Albany, NY

I just got home from the WWE SmackDown! tapings in Albany, NY. I'm not just saying this because it's my 'home city' but that was a VERY good show and is worth checking out this Friday night. The best part happened after the show ended. Here are some quick live notes:

- The opening promo featuring Alberto Del Rio and Teddy Long was very good. The interaction between Long and Del Rio was great. Teddy Long flubbed a line and they came back out and re-shot that one line. The crowd was a little confused.

- Speaking of the crowd, the attendance sucked for a TV taping. There was not one single seat in the upper-level that was sold. The bottom deck was full but the entire top half of the arena was tarped off. I'd estimate the attendance at around 6,000, if that.

- Ezekiel Jackson vs. Kofi Kingston was basically a squash. Kofi didn't have much offense.

- The Cody Rhodes-Rey Mysterio promo/segment was lacking something. It was OK for what it was though.

- The Rey Mysterio vs. Drew McIntyre martch is very good. They gave it a good 10 minutes and it delivered. Good stuff and worth watching.

- They did the same segment they did on RAW where Edge was backstage shaking hands with the locker-room, as well as Kane. Good stuff.

- Edge gave another retirement speech on SmackDown!. If you liked what you saw on RAW, watch SD! as well because the delivery of his speech was just awesome. Really emotional as well.

- The 20-Man Battle Royal was a great match and worth going out of your way to see. Everyone hit their spots and there weren't many botches. Definitely a great TV main event.

- I'll be writing a separate report with what happened after the show. It was VERY emotional w/ Edge, Triple H, and the entire roster appearing.

- Ryan Clark