Smackdown – December 21, 2010 (Tuesday)

Smackdown

Date: December 21, 2010
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

It’s the beginning of Edge’s tenth title reign which doesn’t have much of a ring to it when you think about it.  I think they’ll probably set up Del Rio vs. Edge at the Rumble but we’ll find out.  This is on Tuesday for the first time as they didn’t want to have Smackdown on Christmas Eve which makes sense to say the least.  This should be a good show but it’ll be fun to see it live.  Let’s get to it.

Oh and NXT is on at 11 so I’ll have that up as soon as it finishes as usual.

Edge will address the crowd tonight.

Randy Orton vs. The Miz

 

Dang jerking the curtain this fast?  How the mighty have fallen.  You can figure out which one I’m talking about.  I was thinking the GM would make Miz vs. Lawler tonight but this is probably a better option on all fronts.  Orton goes OFF on Miz to start, beating the tar out of him on the floor.  Riley is of course here also.

Miz gets a guillotine clothesline over the top to take over and a boot to a seated Viper gets two.  Orton comes back and looks like he wants the RKO but settles for a powerslam.  They’re kind of flying through this.  Elevated DDT is blocked but Orton lands on the apron.  Riley interferes and here comes Miz again.  We take a break with Orton ramming into the steps and holding his arm.

Back with Miz holding a chinlock on the Viper which is reversed while the TVPG logo is still in the corner.  Miz goes up but is crotched as we’re talking about Money in the Bank for no apparent reason.  Suplex from the middle rope puts the champion down for two.  This match is getting some time as we’re past ten minutes already.

They slug it out with Orton hammering him down in the corner so he can stomp a mudhole (he does the two fists in the air pose on the corner now, he stomps people in the corner, he uses a quick strike finisher and he’s named after a snake.  He reminds me someone but I just can’t place it.  I’ve got it: The Rougeau Brothers) in the champion.  Miz fights back with a Reality Check for two.

Orton sets for his powerbomb which I guess along with the Angle Slam are his new signature moves now but Riley’s distraction interrupts it.  Clothesline in the corner and a DDT gets both a smile from me (it’s my favorite move) and a two count.  The Finale and the RKO are both countered as Miz gets a backslide for two.

There’s the elevated DDT and Orton sets for the RKO.  Riley gets up AGAIN and there’s the RKO, but Riley runs in for the DQ at approximately 11:00 shown of 14:42.  This was a lot longer than I expected but was still good.  We’re not done yet as Orton sets for the Punt.  Riley comes in at the last second and runs into an RKO for his troubles.

Rating: B-. This was much better than I was expecting.  Miz held his own but escapes again.  For people that complain about making him look weak, have you ever seen a Miz match?  When has he EVER been a dominant guy?  He’s a heel.  He’s not supposed to look all awesome (no pun intended) and get a perfect win.  He escapes with the title and can still point to it and say look what I’ve still got.

I don’t get why so many people complain about heels not looking strong.  Heels have been doing it for years and only recently have I heard them get heat for it.  What’s going to be more annoying/evil, which is what a heel is supposed to be: a guy that is all big and bad, or a guy that you want to see get his beating and finally lose, ala Honky Tonk Man back in the 80s?  He was an incredible heel and never once looked dominant.  Heck how often did Flair look dominant against a big name?  He almost always cheated to win and he’s praised for it.

Show is still Santa and he and Rosa are giving out action figures.  Blast it Hornswoggle is an elf.  Can’t we just look at the hotness that is Rosa?

Back with the aforementioned three throwing out presents and DVDs and such.  There’s a Christmas setup in the ring complete with a small tree, milk and cookies and presents.  Oh wait that tree is bigger than I thought as it was positioned kind of weird.  Show breaks the chair as he sits on it.

Show sits in another chair (still taller than Horny) and reads a WWE version of Night Before Christmas.  It’s about TLC which is a nice little thing actually.  “Santa now must leave before it’s too late.  Go out and get the Knucklehead DVD….IT’S GREAT!”  Cole whines about it of course and they throw out more presents….with no heel attack.  I’m surprised indeed.  Oh I knew it.  Here’s Cody who takes out Horny and the Christmas stuff.

Back with a recap of the Cena segment last night which was absolutely hilarious.  To the people that thought it was childish, get the sticks out of your head and have a bit of fun.  The handicap is still later.

Beth says she’s glad she’s not hurt from the SICK fall she took at the PPV.  Santino and Vlad come in and the Italian/Canadian/Russian depending on which company he’s in wants to know how she’s doing.  For old time’s sake he requests a lip lock and more or less snaps his fingers, making Kozlov produce some mistletoe.

Tamina isn’t an issue as she’s on Raw and this is Smackdown.  Santino is a player!  Santino puckers up and closes his eyes, so Beth grabs Vlad and kisses him.  The look on his face is hilarious as his eyes bug out.  Santino sees the lipstick on his lips after Beth leaves and says it’s like they just kissed as he had kissed Beth before.  Funny stuff indeed.

Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero

 

They’re going to reair this show Friday which makes this airing make more sense.  Smart to offer a reairing of this later but to not try to go against Christmas Eve.  Santino uses his Sambo stuff to start but Chavo uses basic wrestling to take over again.  Santino comes back but the headbutt eats knees.  Chavo does Eddie’s dance and Three Amigos have Marella in trouble.  Third is blocked though and it’s Cobra time, ending it at 3:00.  Basic little match to fill in some time.

Back from a break and it’s time for Edge to address Smackdown. I can’t imagine this won’t be interrupted by Alberto to set up the Rumble match.  He talks about how all the insanity with Paul and Kane is now worth it because he now has his world title back.  Edge talks about how he’s worked his entire career to get here and has accomplished all the goals he’s set for himself.

Kane comes out a bit to my surprise and says no one wants to hear this story.  Edge more or less says shut up and challenges Kane to a world title match RIGHT NOW.  Kane….turns it down?  He wants it to be under his own rules and he’ll get the title back.  PLEASE don’t let that be the Rumble match.

Rey/Kofi vs. Alberto/Swagger later.

Back with a video on Big Zeke who is awesome to look at to put it mildly.  He’s coming soon even though I was pretty sure he was supposed to be on here.

Drew McIntyre vs. Kaval

 

Drew gets a decent face pop actually.  Drew jumps him before the bell and Kaval is barely able to get up.  A big boot and the Future Shock end this in 28 seconds.  Well that was abrupt.  Maybe Kaval’s ankle isn’t healed up yet.

We look at Tribute to the Troops, which was rather good.  Not sure if it’ll be the same as a 2 hour show but it should be solid still.

Jack Swagger/Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston/Rey Mysterio

 

This should be pretty good as the tag match last week was rather awesome indeed.  Back and we see everyone not named Alberto’s entrance as his had already happened.  Rey vs. Alberto to start us off as Swagger still has his t-shirt on for some reason.  He goes after Kofi before the match really gets going and Alberto gets to jump Rey.  OH SNAP Alberto goes for the mask and we saw Rey’s face!

Rey fights him off and here’s Kofi.  Rey and Kofi clean house and the bad guys are both sent to the floor.  Stereo dives have Swagger and Alberto reeling as we take a break.  Swagger was holding his arm and it didn’t look too good.  Back with Alberto holding a chinlock on Rey.  That double dive was pretty sweet as they show it again in slow motion and from a second angle from facing the stage.  Striker: take two hits and pass it on.

Swagger comes in and hits his Vader Bomb as his arm looks just fine.  Bearhug goes on Rey for a bit but even with some kicks Rey can’t get a tag out.  He does however get one after sending Swagger into the buckle.  Big crossbody and dropkick to bring Kofi in but he runs into boots in the corner and a big boot takes him down.

The announcers say Alberto will be a future world champion but they’re not sure about Kofi.  Interesting debate topic indeed.  Kofi takes Swagger down after a long beatdown and both Spanish speakers comes in and Rey shows off a lot with a tornado DDT after a bunch of spins and flips.  BIG swinging kick to the head gets two for Rey.  SICK tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two for Alberto.

Rey gets a dropkick to the back to set up Alberto for the 619 but Swagger gets a blind tag to lay out Rey for a close two.  Kofi has apparently been swallowed by the Earth as Rey gets out of the gutwrench powerbomb.  It’s almost a double 619 but Alberto gets out of the way.  Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere kills Swagger and the springboard splash ends this at 13:40.

Rating: B. Smackdown has this tag team thing DOWN lately as this was another good one.  Also it’s nice to see some tag matches without the team having like two matches and instantly becoming the #1 contenders for the titles.  This was really fun and that double dive with the alternate camera shot is awesome stuff.  Good match again and a big pickup for this kind of lackluster show.

Drew comes up to Kelly and says he’s sorry for last week and acting weird.  She says he wasn’t weird and he says that he’d never hurt her.  She seems a bit receptive this time.

Dolph helps Vickie stretch for her match which is a fairly pointless scene.

Kane/Del Rio vs. Edge/Rey next week.  That should be good, although on New Year’s Eve the ratings are going to TANK.

Dolph Ziggler/Vickie Guerrero vs. John Cena

 

Vickie is in her EXCUSE ME tights.  She’s all whiny to Dolph as they wait for Cena to come out.  Vickie tries to get to Cena immediately but Dolph holds her back.  They have to tag here.  Dolph beats him down and then Vickie tags herself in to stand on John’s head so he lifts her off the ground by bench pressing her.  Keep in mind she’s standing upright and her feet were on his face and he simply lifted her off from his back.  That is SCARY strength.

Back to Ziggles who hammers away and hits a jumping elbow like Sting always used to miss.  Loud Vickie Sucks chant as Cena can’t get the FU and Dolph hits a DDT for two.  It’s the standard formula for these kinds of matches: the heel destroys the good guy while the weaker heel hangs out on the apron and steals a shot here or there.

To the floor where Dolph eats steps after Cena blocks the same kind of shot.  Yep it’s an overrun while NXT is being advertised as starting now.  Back in and Cena gets a suplex to put Dolph down and they slug it out.  Ziggler finally figures out a counter to the shoulder blocks.  After years of studying mystical scrolls, consulting various monks and reaching near nirvana…….he ducks and lets Cena crash to the floor.

The dueling chants begin as Vickie gets some kicks in on the floor.  Vickie distracts again and Ziggler gets a chinlock before that cool Stunner kind of move.  He sets for a Downward Spiral and then jumps to drop into a Stunner.  Vickie tags herself in AGAIN and misses a splash.

Dolph back in and the ancient scrolls fail him as Cena initiates his ending sequence.  Vickie can’t see him apparently.  Ziggler counters the FU and hits a Fameasser for a close two.  This is getting more time than I expected it to by far.  Ziggler goes for another but Cena steps to the side for the STF but Vickie saves.  Cena kisses her hard and the FU ends it at 13:30.

Rating: B-. Another good match here but it was never really in doubt.  It was all to set up the post match stuff which I’ll get to here in a minute.  Ziggler has gotten one heck of a rub from Cena in the last two nights and it’s made him look great.  He’s quite good on his own but this has been a nice bonus for him.  Good match but no classic or anything.

Post match Cena goes for an FU on Vickie but punk runs in for more chair shots and leaves.  Cena getting up in pain ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was ok and had a lot of wrestling on it, but it came off like an episode of Raw with Smackdown guest starring.  That’s not a good thing as they had a great chance to give Smackdown some extra exposure but we didn’t really get that here at all.  This was rather wrestling heavy with over 45 minutes of action in two hours which is solid for any show.  It was good, but definitely a step down from Smackdown’s usual stuff.  Still decent though.