Smackdown – November 2, 2012: It’s Raw 2 And They’re Not Even Hiding It Anymore

Smackdown
Date: November 2, 2012
Location: Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re in the Big Show Era here and for the life of me I’m not entirely sure why. Sheamus was doing ok as champion (other than the three months that Del Rio sucked the life out of him) so they put the title on Big Show of all people? At least the match was good though so that helps a bit. Other than that we’re going to have to speed through the build to Survivor Series in three weeks. Let’s get to it.

We start with a kind of commercial for the show, talking about what we’re going to see. Most of it is related to Raw of course, because being bored by that stuff on Monday isn’t enough anymore.

We open with MizTV and Miz talks about Ryback a bit before moving on to Sheamus getting knocked out. Sheamus is the guest tonight and as he comes to the ring, we see another clip from Raw of Sheamus hitting White Noise on Big Show. Miz asks Sheamus about being a loser, but Sheamus asks him about losing to Kofi on Sunday. Miz says the difference between the two of them is that he can beat Kofi and will do it again to get back the IC Title. Sheamus agrees that he’s never beaten Big Show but he’s not going to hide.

Miz cuts him off and says he doesn’t want to hear cliched stock answers. See, it’s Miz that can be blamed for Sheamus losing the title. He won the match at Wrestlemania that got Johnny Ace power, which led to Show getting his job back, which led to Show’s change in attitude, which led to Show winning the title. Sheamus: “So it’s you whose head I should be kicking off?” Miz backs off and says he’ll win his title back from Kofi.

Before Miz can say his catchphrase, here’s Kofi. Kofi says Miz hasn’t been on the Real World in awhile, but apparently Kofi has kicked the sense out of Miz, because Miz can’t beat him. Miz says he’ll beat Kofi at Survivor Series, but here’s Big Show for another interruption. He isn’t happy with Miz taking credit for Show’s victory, so he’s siding with Kofi in saying there’s something wrong with Miz. Why is Sheamus getting interviewed instead of the new champion? Why ask Sheamus what it’s like to get knocked out when you can ask Show what it’s like to knock him out.

Miz asks him just that but as Show starts talking about euphoria, Sheamus cuts him off and asks what it felt like to take White Noise on Monday. Show laughs it off and says no rematch at Survivor Series. Miz tries to jump Kofi and is immediately knocked to the floor. I’m pretty sure you can figure out the main event already.

After a break, Big Show is in the back and runs into Booker who makes the tag match with the four guys in the opening segment.

Sin Cara vs. Darren Young

Things start fast and Cara spins Young around with a rana and armdrag off the middle rope. Darren wisely slows things down and hits a neckbreaker for two. Off to a chinlock but Cara fights up and grabs a small package for two. Back to the chinlock by Darren which doesn’t work again as Sin fights up and hits a middle rope dropkick to take over. A jumping back elbow gets two for the dude in the mask but Young knees him in the ribs to put Cara right back down. The gutbuster gets the pin for Young at 3:37.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but the time hurts it. It’s nice to see these guys doing something other than having the same tag match over and over again as it’ll keep the feud somewhat fresher. I’m still amazed by how much better Young and O’Neil are than when they were on NXT, just by doing some stupid dance.

Post match Titus starts blowing on a whistle and talks about beating on a pinata in the ring. Those little dogs tried to get in the ring with some big dogs and Titus is going to give another little dog that chance. He calls out Mysterio and we’re getting another match. Before we get to that, quick sidebar about something Titus said: regarding pinatas, is there a more bizarre tradition ever for children? “Here son, here’s your favorite cartoon. NOW BEAT HIM WITH A STICK UNTIL HE BREAKS IN HALF AND EAT WHAT FALLS OUT OF HIM!”

Rey Mysterio vs. Titus O’Neil

We get the bell after a break and Rey fires off kicks to the leg. Titus gets in a single shot to knock Rey down and the beating begins. A slam gets two for Titus and it’s time to stand around. O’Neil misses a running boot to Rey who was against the ropes. The partners fight on the floor as Titus catches the 619. He takes Rey to the corner and gets down in a three point stance, only to hit the middle buckle, allowing Rey to roll him up for the pin at 2:55.

Cara and Rey do the Players’ dance on the stage.

We get a recap video from the end of the PPV with Maddox hitting Ryback low to give Punk the pin, followed by the Shell Shock on top of the Cell.

Maddox will be on Raw on Monday.

We get the full ending segment from Raw, starting with Heyman introducing Miz as Punk’s first team member.

Teddy and Booker are in the back and Teddy thinks there’s going to be mutiny in the Raw locker room. Natalya comes in and wants to be the assistant since Eve is on the European tour. Otunga comes in and says he’ll do anything Booker needs. Booker says he needs Otunga to compete against a returning superstar. Otunga says ok but Booker says it’s Great Khali. Otunga spits his coffee on Nattie. After an insult from Otunga, more coffee goes flying at Teddy. This was supposed to be comedy I believe.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

Del Rio is on commentary. While Orton is doing his pose on the ropes, Del Rio tries to run in and jump him, only to get knocked right to the floor. Ricardo rams Orton into the post and a double beatdown ensues as we take a break. Back and the scheduled match is in progress with Orton clotheslining Barrett to the floor. They head back in with Barrett taking Orton down upon reentry.

Wade chokes away on the middle rope and does the same on the top rope so it doesn’t feel left out. There’s the running big boot while Orton is sitting on the middle rope, knocking him back to the floor. After ramming Randy into the steps a few times, it’s back inside for ye olde chinlock. Orton tries a comeback with a belly to back suplex but immediately after taking Barrett down with it, Wade kicks him in the ribs to slow Randy back down.

They slug it out and Orton takes over, which even Josh thinks is very surprising given that Barrett is a bareknuckle fighter. Barrett comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope elbow for two. Back to the reverse chinlock followed by Barrett slamming him down. Wade goes up for another elbow but Orton crotches him and hits a superplex to put both guys down. Orton busts out some clotheslines and the powerslam followed by the Elevated DDT. Before the RKO can be loaded up, Del Rio shows up on the stage. Orton has to knock Ricardo to the floor and Wade gets a rollup win at 8:43 shown.

Rating: C+. The match was pretty good here but I’d like for Barrett to be more than a prop in someone else’s feud, which is all he is anymore. These two have fought three times now and have alternated wins every time. It’s hard to get behind either guy, especially when Barrett isn’t even getting any of the focus. Has he even gotten an entrance in any of the matches?

We get the segment from Raw of everyone talking about breast cancer and a clipped down version of Cena presenting the million dollar check to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Striker asks Alberto why he keeps tormenting Orton. Orton comes up from behind and they brawl. They head to the catering table and Orton throws hot coffee on Ricardo. Once Alberto is down, Randy pours what looks like barbecue sauce on Rodriguez as well. Alberto gets thrown over a table. The desserts are spared and when Del Rio runs away, Striker tries to talk to Randy, earning him a trip into a cake. When did Striker become the whipping boy of Smackdown?

Great Khali vs. David Otunga

Khali recently had to have some kind of surgery on his brain so it’s a good thing to see him back. During Otunga’s entrance, we actually recap the scene that set this match up. Teddy and Nattie having coffee spat on them deserved a recap? Seriously? Otunga takes him down but Khali chops him from his knees. More chopping in the corner follows and Natalya is watching in the back. Khali misses a boot but comes back with the big chop for the pin at 1:35.

Post break Natalya thanks Khali for beating up Otunga. They shake hands and Nattie thinks his hands are big. Ok then.

R-Truth vs. Justin Gabriel

Feeling out process to start and Truth starts gyrating. Gabriel avoids a shot of his own and gyrates a bit as well. Truth hits the spinning forearm for two but Gabriel dropkicks him down and kicks away a bit. Off to a chinlock by Justin as JBL is talking about Shawn Michaels. A spin kick puts Truth down and since it worked so well the first time, Justin does it again. Gabriel tries a springboard I’m assuming clothesline but Truth ducks out of the way and hits Little Jimmy for the pin at 3:23.

Rating: D+. Wasn’t Gabriel supposed to get a push? Now he’s losing to R-Truth clean of all people? This was a rather random match between two faces with no tease of either guy turning or anything. This whole show has felt like it doesn’t need to exist and this is another match that would fit on the same list. It wasn’t bad or anything though.

ANOTHER recap from Raw, this time about the AJ/Vickie/Cena/Ziggler segment. You know, WWE’s PG version of TNA’s horrible Clair Lynch story.

Show tells Miz to follow his lead tonight because Show is in charge out there.

We recap Alberto and Ricardo costing Orton the match earlier as well as the brawl. Next week on the live Smackdown (as in taped earlier in the day) it’s Del Rio vs. Orton in a falls count anywhere match. In other words, the Barret matches meant nothing at all.

Sheamus/Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show/The Miz

During Sheamus’ entrance, we get I believe the sixth video from Raw of the night, this one being Sheamus hitting White Noise on Show. Didn’t we see that already? Miz and Show keep changing places to decide who faces Sheamus. It’s eventually Miz with Sheamus hammering away to start in the corner. I’m so used to calling Sheamus the champ but I can’t do that anymore, so it’s just Sheamus working on the arm.

Off to Kofi who comes in off the top with a shot to the arm, only to be clotheslined down by Miz. Kofi hits the same move to knock Miz to the floor, followed by a suicide dive to take over. Show and Sheamus stare at each other on the floor as well and we take a break. Back with Show slamming Kofi down before doing some amateur stuff (yes you read that right) to take Kofi to the mat.

A side slam puts Kofi down for the third time and Show keeps looking over at Sheamus. Off to Miz to work on the downed Kofi. A knee drop gets two and Miz puts on a reverse chinlock which doesn’t last long. Kofi tries to dive over Miz to get to Sheamus but the right route is apparently going through the legs instead. Sheamus gets the hot tag and destroys Miz, hitting a powerslam and the ten forearms in the ropes. The Regal Roll takes Miz down and it’s off to Kofi for his top rope cross body. Show gets knocked off the apron but as Kofi pounds on Miz in the corner, Show knocks him cold, giving Miz the pin at 6:42 shown of 10:12.

Rating: C-. Standard main event tag match here that wasn’t anything great. Thankfully Show didn’t lose in his first match as champion and Miz FINALLY pins Kofi to give us a reason to care about a fourth match between them. Other than that though, this was a pretty dull match with nothing significant happening at all.

Miz poses over Kofi post match and Sheamus kicks his head off. Well he was too busy yelling at the referee while Show punched Kofi so he had to do something good here.

Overall Rating: D-. This is officially a Raw supplemental show. They recapped EVERYTHING that happened on Raw and nothing here was anything new. Between meaningless matches (Gabriel vs. Truth and Khali vs. Otunga) and the same match we’ve seen on the last two TV shows which apparently is just to set up Del Rio vs. Orton again, what’s the point in watching Smackdown anymore? I certainly can’t think of why anybody would sit through this.

Results

Darren Young b. Sin Cara – Double Knee Gutbuster

Rey Mysterio b. Titus O’Neil – Rollup

Wade Barrett b. Randy Orton – Rollup

Great Khali b. David Otunga – Chop

R-Truth b. Justin Gabriel – Little Jimmy

Big Show/The Miz b. Kofi Kingston/Sheamus – Miz pinned Kingston after a WMD from Big Show

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