Smackdown – January 20, 2012 – Spin The Wheel, Make The Smackdown

Smackdown
Date: January 20, 2012
Location: Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

It’s another world title match tonight, this time with Henry getting his rematch. We’re in Vegas though so tonight, it’s the return of Spin the Wheel Make the Deal (Always thought Raw Roulette was a weak name). That means gimmick matches a go-go and hopefully a little build up to the Rumble other than like 4 guys. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week with AJ getting run over by Big Show.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is the ice storm keeping my grandmother in Washington.

Here’s Bryan to open the show. He says the name Sin City Smackdown is appropriate because Big Show committed a sin last week by running over AJ. Show is bitter because his reign was so short. AJ is severely injured and her career may be over. She was out there because she loves Bryan, which no one has ever said to him before. AJ will be here in spirit though. He’s not afraid of Henry or Show either, the latter of which isn’t here tonight. Bryan says that’s good because he couldn’t be held responsible for what he would do to Show. Show should just quit.

There’s a casino setup in the back and it’s basically a party. Aksana and Teddy are talking and sexual shenanigans are implied. Cody interrupts them and says Goldust spun the wheel to get a Vegas Showgirls Match. I’m not sure if he’s serious or not. Cody spins and gets Player’s Choice. He can pick his opponent for his match which is up next. Cody points to the left and says he picks him. At first it appears to be Jackson, then Marella, but it’s really Horny.

Cody Rhodes vs. Hornswoggle

It seems that the newest tagline that they’re trying to get over is that Cody is the last hope for the Rhodes’ Family. Cody shoves Horny down in the aisle but Justin Gabriel runs down for the save. Justin jumps on the match and challenges Cody. Cody insists it’s non-title and it’s on.

Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel

Justin pounds him down in the corner and a dropkick sends Cody to the ropes. Cody comes back with a dropkick of his own. Off to a chinlock as Horny plays cheerleader. Cody grabs the arm and cranks on it. Cole makes fun of Booker, Josh gets us back to the match, I’m sure you know the drill. Justin comes back with an enzigrui and loads up the 450 but Cody moves. Cole: “How great was that?” Booker: “He just moved.” Backslide gets two for Justin as does a springboard crossbody. Justin tries a monkey flip but gets dropped on the ropes. Cross Rhodes gets the pin at 3:42.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and for a quick match it was fine. Having this be Justin instead of Horny was good as it gets Justin on TV and lets Cody get another impressive looking win. Nothing bad in that and everyone looks a little bit better. Now why can’t we get more matches like this one?

Mark spins the wheel for his title match tonight. He’s not happy with having to do it and blames Teddy for AJ getting hurt last week. It’ll be his fault when Bryan is hurt later. Mark tells Teddy to spin for him and it’s a lumberjack match. That’s cool with Henry.

Epico/Primo vs. Usos

Please don’t have them get squashed. This is a tornado match, meaning tagging isn’t required and everyone is in the ring at once. We get a Siva Tao which makes me very happy. And Booker is playing with toys. Brawl to start and Epico gets beaten down. Jey gets dropped to the floor and it’s a handicap situation for a bit. Jey finally gets back in and the Usos take over with Samoan Twin Magic. Stereo splashes look to set up stereo Umaga corner bumps and they go to the corner. Rosa yells a lot and Jey gets caught. Superfly Splash gets two but Primo makes the save and a Backstabber ends this at 2:40.

Don’t try this at home.

This Rumble Moment: last year with Booker and Nash. Santino coming in at the end had me freaking out. Brilliantly done.

Aksans talks about slot machines and sex jokes are made. Sheamus comes in before this hits PG-13. Sheamus vs. Barrett is a tables match.

It’s time for a dance off. Listen to that pop for Brodus! And yes I know it’s probably canned but I’m loving this character. Booker and Cole lose it over the dinosaur claws thing. I know it’s stupid but my goodness this is great. His opponent: Vickie Guerrero. Vickie says she can dance but she looks like she’s a puppet. Brodus has Cameron and Naomi dance for him first, then shakes more than federal law should allow.

Clay is declared the winner but Vickie protests. She dances more but cue…..William Regal? He defends Vickie who is crying. She leaves and Brodus asks where Regal is going. He calls Regal a funky chicken (then makes Hawk noises)….and it’s on. Regal says hit his music and it’s better than expected, but Aww Funk It. Brodus says someone call his Mama.

Don’t be a bully.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett

Tables match. Barrett takes him to the corner to start which is fine for Sheamus as he pounds away. It’s a brawl to start and Barrett is sent to the floor. Sheamus’ back is rammed into the barricade and Barrett gets a table. One gets set up on the floor but Barrett escapes and sends Sheamus into the post to take over. Back inside where there is no table. Barrett almost kicks him off the apron through the table but Sheamus hangs on.

A suplex is countered and Sheamus gets the clubbing forearms on the apron. A running forearm knocks Barrett over the table and slams him into the table at ringside. Sheamus puts another table into the ring but Barrett kicks him in the face. Barrett puts it in instead and Sheamus is in trouble. Wasde sets to drive him through it, only to have Sheamus counter with a sunset flip. Sheamus pounds away and puts him on the table.

Barrett breaks up whatever Sheamus was going to try from the top and tries a superplex. Sheamus breaks it up and jumps over the table then catches Barrett in the Irish Curse. Table is put up in the corner but as Sheamus sets to put him through it, Jinder freaking Mahal comes out for a distraction and Barrett puts Sheamus through it for the win at approximately 9:00 (had some clock issues so that might not be accurate).

Rating: C. The match was fine, but for the life of me I don’t get what they’re shooting for with Mahal. I could understand it if they had him beat Sheamus EVER, but it’s been basically a series of squashes every time they face each other. I don’t get the point of it and I don’t get what they’re trying to do with him. He needs to actually win something to be viewed as a threat, which is what it seems like they’re going with in him.

Post match Mahal sets up a table for Sheamus, but just like every other time, Sheamus shrugs him off and puts Mahal through the table after a Brogue Kick.

Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico

We don’t know the stipulation yet. Teddy spins the wheel and it’s a flag match. You have to get the flag from the corner to win it. They run out and put up the posts with flags. Nice to see them having something that seems spontaneous like that. Quick inset interview has DiBiase saying that Hunico and Camacho can have their own party after losing tonight. Hunico takes him down to start but Dibiase gets in a reverse powerbomb to take over. His attempt at the flag doesn’t work but neither does Hunico’s. DiBiase gets launched to the floor but he manages to shove Hunico off the ropes. Back in DiBiase hits Dream Street and wins at 2:19.

Raw ReBound eats up about four minutes.

Teddy tells Drew that he’s fired. Santino pops up and asks him to reconsider. He doesn’t like the idea that his victory over Drew was a fluke. Unfunny dice jokes are made and Drew has one more chance in a blindfold match. Oh sweet hamburgers.

Don’t try this at home, the Kofi edition.

Santino Marella vs. Drew McIntyre

It’s a blindfold match. Let’s get this over with. The Cobra gets a blindfold too. They throw blind strikes but Santino immediately gets two the pointing with the crowd helping. He has the Cobra loaded up already but Drew tackles him and they stumble to the floor. Drew punches the post and they get back in. Drew peaks but still misses a running boot. Using the audience for help, Santino hits the Cobra and gets the pin at 2:09. I can live with this because they kept it short. Usually these things are like ten minutes long.

Here come the lumberjacks.

Smackdown World Title: Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan

Lumberjack match. This gets big match intros, as it should. Bryan gets more boos than cheers. Bryan’s first kick is countered and he gets shoved around with ease. The champ gets knocked to the apron a few times and tells the lumberjacks not to touch him. Henry stands on him chest and takes over with his size. The fans chant Sexual Chocolate. Bryan is knocked to the floor and Barrett tosses him back in.

We take a break and come back to see Bryan getting tossed around again. Bryan goes for the knee and eventually gets Henry down to his knees. A big kick to the head gets two and a power kickout. The lumberjacks won’t throw Bryan back in so once he slides in himself, Mark takes his head off. Henry gets all ticked off and gorilla presses him to the floor. Bryan gets in a fight with the lumberjacks and Henry gets thrown to the floor but they can’t throw him back in. Half of them come in and Henry shoves half of them off. Everyone comes in and it’s thrown out at about 7:15 shown of 10:45. The bell never ended it so that’s a guess.

Rating: D. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: these matches with Bryan vs. giants are only going to be able to be so good, because unless you make one of them look like an idiot, there’s no reasonable way to have Bryan go toe to toe with them. Just like last week, this got pretty boring pretty quickly and there isn’t much of a way around that because nothing Bryan does can hurt Show or Henry.

Bryan escapes and it’s basically a battle royal to end it. Cole freaks at Bryan for leaving. That’s rather smart actually. Teddy yells at Bryan in the back. He makes a triple threat match for the Rumble with Bryan defending against Big Show and Henry in a cage. That’s been the house show main event for a few weeks so that makes sense.

Overall Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one. It’s certainly not a bad show, but it all depends on how well you like the gimmick. The matches were really nothing interesting at all but they fit with the feuds (mostly) and we got our world title match for the PPV. Not a great show at all but it got some stuff for the PPV and had some fun moments so it’s not all bad. I’m not a fan of the gimmick though, so your personal opinion may vary.

Results
Cody Rhodes b. Justin Gabriel – Cross Rhodes
Epico/Primo b. Usos – Backstabber to Jimmy
Wade Barrett b. Sheamus – Barrett put Sheamus through a table
Ted DiBiase b. Hunico – DiBiase captured the flag
Santino Marella b. Drew McIntyre – Cobra
Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry went to a no contest when the lumberjacks interfered

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