10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2008

10. The 25 April Episode Was Blockbuster

Right, so disclaimer time: The 25 April 2008 edition of SmackDown featured such top tier bouts as Shannon Moore vs. The Miz and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Marty Garner (yes, that Marty Garner). In other words, not everything was bang on the money, but 2 matches sprinkled throughout the card helped the overall quality skyrocket.

This go home show for Backlash boasted a first ever meeting between Edge and CM Punk as well as a ‘No DQ’ World Title showdown pitting champ The Undertaker vs. Batista. Honestly, the PPV quality was rife during this era on free TV. That's something most of us fans watching at the time took for granted!

Shamefully, but loads of us did. This writer was one of them, so he's not throwing stones without taking a few pelters himself.

Punk had just won his first Money In The Bank briefcase at WrestleMania XXIV when he tangled with the 'Rated-R Superstar', and WWE fans were ready for it. They'd yearned to see Punk prove himself on the main roster away from 'C' show ECW, and now it was happening live and in living colour (ahem).

What a blockbuster 2 hours, man. No, Moore vs. Miz and Kozlov vs. Garner wouldn't live long in the memory, but Edge vs. Punk and a 'Mania 23 rematch between 'Taker and big Dave - are you freakin' kidding?! That pair wouldn't be out of place on the biggest supershows of the era.

This was also a few months before Punk cashed in his case on Edge during a June Raw. Weirdly, Batista was involved in that too. Brand synergy, people.