Smackdown
Date: January 21, 2011
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

With only two weeks left before the Rumble, things should be starting to get interesting.  It should be interesting to see where the new-but not new because we already gave the other team the name New-Nexus goes from here.  Other than that we’ll also get the next step in Edge vs. Ziggler which hasn’t been built badly at all so far.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps Barrett vs. Show from last week and the whole Caesar concept of Barrett, which oddly enough makes sense.

Here are Barrett and company to the music that I’m still not sure what to think about.  Barrett says that Big Show won’t be here this evening.  You may know him from his time on Raw leading the Nexus, which he led until they threw him out.  Now he’s learned his lesson and now it’s about the team, not just him.  This is the Core.  Not thinking I like that name.

Jackson speaks for maybe the first time ever and has a slight French accent.  He’s proud to be part of the Core.  Slater says he’s the One Man Rock Band.  I guess he didn’t have enough friends to play Xbox with him.  Gabriel says he has a great finisher.  Barrett says that what the original Nexus did will pale in comparison to what the Core does.

Here’s Teddy and he more or less says he’s the boss.  Barrett says they respect him and will be representing Smackdown in the Royal Rumble.  Teddy says he doesn’t buy what they’re saying and he isn’t going to let Barrett just lead these men.  Barrett says he’s not the leader and the Core is about equals.  Teddy basically says no more gang attacks and if you don’t like that then you’re gone.

After Teddy leaves and the Core is still in the ring, here’s Alberto of all people.  He welcomes them to Smackdown, but lets them know that Smackdown is his show.  Alberto says he’s going to win the Rumble which is his destiny.  That’s all he saws, making this a very short promo.  I like how they’re making it seem like he actually has a chance to win and while it’s very unlikely, it seems like it’s possible actually.

Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth

Has Del Rio fought anyone other than Truth or Rey this year?  Striker sings with him and Cole has his head in his hands.  Del Rio gets him into the corner to start and strikes away.  They head to the ring for just a bit and Truth locks on an armbar.  We cut to the back where Teddy is laid out on the floor of his office.  Vickie, Ziggler and someone that looked like Michael Tarver standing near him while paramedics look at him.  To be clear, Tarver, Vickie and Ziggler weren’t being accused of having done it but were apparently the people that found him.

Back to the ring now with Truth in control.  Alberto gets sent to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Truth getting a boot up to stop a charging Alberto and that’s about it for his offense in this part of the match.  We start talking about the Rumble and Alberto’s chances to win it.  To the back again where Teddy is being put on a stretcher and being taken to the hospital.  The medics throw Ziggler, Vickie and Tarver out.

Back to the ring again and a sitout Gordbuster by Truth gets two.  Running enziguri in the corner by Alberto gets two.  Cole gets information from a source on the scene that Teddy has suffered severe trauma to the back of the head.  Could this be the return of the vegetative state?  The undefeated Ricardo distracts Truth so that Alberto can drape the arm over the top rope.  Cross Armbreaker ends it moments later at 7:53 shown of 11:23 total (as always assuming 3:30 for commercials).

Rating: C. This is a hard one to grade as a lot of it was thrown to the back where the scenes took about a minute or so each.  The match was nothing special at all but it wasn’t terrible.  These two really need to find some new opponents though as I’m getting tired of seeing them against each other.  With Rey and Alberto the matches are at least pretty good.  This on the other hand was nothing special at all, albeit decent.

Teddy is loaded into the ambulance.

Back from a break with Vickie and Dolph being nervous.  They come into an office and the Core is standing there.  They had nothing to do with it apparently.  If they need anything tonight, the Core is at their service.  Vickie uses her incredible acting skills to say one of them will face Edge tonight.  Two things to note here: first is that Tarver was nowhere to be seen so based on this alone he may not be associated with Ziggler and Vickie.  Second, where else but in wrestling would it be ok for a woman to walk into her office and find four adult muscle men in their underwear, telling her they’re at her service tonight?

We get the Rumble numbers package which I always love.

40 participants

24 winners

656 entrants

39 eliminations for Shawn, a record

26 Hall of Famers in the match

183,932 pounds in total, equal to 409 Big Shows

2 women in the Rumble, including Beth who eliminated Khali

11 eliminations by Kane in one Rumble

62:12 is Rey’s record for length in the Rumble which is a lie if you believe the 92 Rumble’s commentary

1 second is the record for fastest time for an elimination

3 is the most wins by a single man, in this case Austin

1 is the worst number but it has produced the most winners as the #30 spot (Shawn and a guy not listed who would be Benoit)

70 which is the percent of winners that have won the title at Mania

Music video about the Rumble follows.

Rey vs. Cody later tonight.

Layla vs. Beth Phoenix

Laycool’s entrance is weak tonight as there’s no snap to it at all.  Pretty decent reaction for Beth.  Layla charges to start which gets her nowhere.  She tries a running dropkick and gets caught in a giant swing.  Striker has a crush on Beth.  Glamazon’s arm gets sent into the buckle and Layla a tornado one arm DDT (as in the DDT on the arm) out of the corner.

Key Lock/Short Arm Scissors by Layla as she’s using decent psychology here.  Beth does the Davey Boy Smith/Shawn Michaels spot and lifts Layla up with one arm.  She hammers away with forearms and sells the arm like a good girl.  Slingshot suplex takes Layla down for two.  Backbreaker sets up the Glam Slam to end this at 3:32.

Rating: C+. The arm work was good here and again I’d like to point out that the Divas are looking far more competent in the ring lately.  They’re seeming far more natural out there instead of going step by step and Layla has improved dramatically.  Not a terrible match at all for three minutes.

Stand Up For WWE won some awards.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Josh thinks Rey will win the Rumble.  I think I’d have to shoot myself if that happened.  Question for you guys: is Cody the best self-obsessed/I’m better looking than you/fashion dude character ever?  Naturally the talk is about the Rumble which I can live with for once here.  I usually can’t stand a match being ignored but this is one of the instances where I think it’s ok.

Cody works on the legs to start and we take a very quick look at the crowd which may not have been intentional.  Rey tries to speed it up again but gets kicked in the gut and thrown to the floor in a heap.  Cody charges again but gets caught in a drop toehold to send him face first into the steps.  We may need the ambulance again for Cody if he goes into convulsions from his face getting messed up.

Cody gets a sunset flip back in the ring but Rey rolls through.  A swinging kick misses but the seated dropkick hits.  619 connects and the top rope splash ends this at 4:05.  What in the world is going on with these quick matches tonight?  This is Smackdown, not Impact.  Also, kind of a squash here, and no that does not mean a burial.

Rating: C+. Again I’m surprised by the quickness of this match but it was ok.  I don’t remember the last time Cody got this little time in the ring and he’s a guy that definitely takes some time to get going.  Nothing bad here though and it came off pretty well I thought.

Cody may have a broken nose due to the knee brace of Rey hitting him in the face.

Grisham has an update on Long but is interrupted by Alex Riley.  Miz is here and Cole hits high notes by shouting HE’S HERE!  Miz says he’s here because he can be.  This is really just to establish that he’s in the building.

After a break the trainer says that Cody has a broken nose.  We never see his face but when he looks in a mirror he almost cries.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

This is under amateur rules where it’s either a pin or the most points after three minutes.  The scoring system is two points for a takedown, one for a reversal, one for an escape, if you get your opponent on your back for two seconds that’s good for two points and if you get a pin you win here.  So it’s points or pin to win.

This isn’t something that’s easy to talk about.  Swagger gets a quick takedown for two points.  Kofi got a point from something that wasn’t explained but I think is an escape.  Another takedown and one point for an escape, which is from Swagger standing up.  4-2 Swagger with two minutes to go.  Another takedown makes it 6-2 but Swagger let him up so it’s 6-3.

We stand around and Swagger tells the referee he needs two more points so he gets them.  8-4 for Swagger and he adds on two more to make it 10-4.  Less than 20 seconds to go as this has been one sided.  Kofi gets a reversal and a quick takedown and a two count which makes it 10-9 and the time runs out.  Was there a point to this?  They fights post match and Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise and the cross body.  I’m not going to rate this due to it being such a different format but it wasn’t incredibly entertaining at all.

We recap the Cutting Edge from last week where Ziggler beat up Edge to save him from spearing Vickie.

Last week’s show was the highest watched show in five years on Syfy.

Trent Barreta vs. Drew McIntyre

We get a clip of last week’s incident between these two and Kelly telling Drew to grow up.  Drew hammers him down to start and gets a snap suplex for two.  Drew throws him into the air but Trent gets a dropkick to take Drew down.  A springboard dropkick is caught in a sitout powerbomb for two which ticks Drew off.  Trent goes up and Drew him the Kurt Angle running up the corner suplex to win it at 2:17.  Drew beats on him a bit afterwards and Kelly comes out to break it up.  Too short to grade but Drew looked good.

After a break here’s Miz.  He says there’s a saying that says Awesome is as Awesome Does.  That means if you do awesome things you are awesome.  We get a clip from Raw where Miz beat up Orton.  He sets for the catchphrase but here comes Edge.  He’s tired of the Raw rejects coming here and bragging so much.

Edge says that Miz is like #27 on things that he has to do and he’ll deal with Miz on Raw.  Now get out of his ring, which Miz and Riley do.  Actually Riley comes back to run his mouth and gets speared before he can get much out.  Miz teases going after him but changes his mind.

After a break here’s Core to announce the opponent for Edge.  All four members get into the ring but before they can say anything here’s Vickie.  Ziggler is going to be a guest commentator for the match.  He’s a funny guy so I can’t complain there.

Edge vs. Justin Gabriel

He’s the only one that stays in the ring and might be the most entertaining main event.  After a brief skirmish Edge hits an Edge-O-Matic for two.  Gabriel gets him into the corner and hits a nice spin kick which gets him nowhere.  The commentators argue again and Ziggler gets them back on track.  Edge sends Gabriel to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Gabriel getting a pair of covers for two.  During the break Justin went after the ankle of Edge.  Koji Clutch by Gabriel has Edge in trouble.  STO takes Edge down.  WWE has been doing a nice job with expanding the movesets recently.  Gabriel goes for the 450 but Edge is up so he has to settle for a cross body.  It gets feet though as Edge gets a dropkick and both guys are down.

Flapjack puts Gabriel down and then sends him to the floor.  Back in Gabriel gets a jumping enziguri as Edge is going up top.  This is a nice back and forth match so far.  Edge fights him off and gets a top rope cross body for two.  Here comes the spear but Barrett gets up on the apron.  Edge takes him but as the referee is distracted, Jackson drills Edge and Gabriel gets the pin at 7:20 shown of 10:50.

Rating: B-. It was good while it lasted but I really wanted another three or four minutes here.  Nice way of getting the Core over on their first full night together and Edge saves some face here as he doesn’t lose clean.  They’re letting Gabriel look good in the ring when he’s in there and it’s working pretty well for the most part.  Good match but not great for the most part.

Core beats Edge down post match of course, including the majority of the finishers.  Ziggler comes in and puts his foot on Edge’s chest to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was more like Impact of all things and that’s not typically a good thing.  The wrestling was way too short tonight with no matches getting over ten minutes of air time.  It’s not a bad show but it’s really nothing special.  It’s like they were stalling before next week, which I’d assume to mean they’re going to do the same thing next week.  I wasn’t thrilled with this, but it wasn’t anything awful.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth – Cross Armbreaker

Beth Phoenix b. Layla – Glam Slam

Rey Mysterio b. Cody Rhodes – Top Rope Splash

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston by a score of 10-9

Drew McIntyre b. Trent Barreta – Belly to Belly Suplex Off the Top Rope

Justin Gabriel b. Edge – Pin after a clothesline from Ezekiel Jackson

Smackdown
Date: January 14, 2011
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

We continue on the path to the Rumble with this week’s Smackdown.  The main story will be Dolph building up to his title match with Edge which the website confirmed would be there.  I like them giving a guy like Ziggler a quick test run in the main event.  Also this goes to show you: never let a bad gimmick convince you that a guy can’t succeed.  The WWE Champion was a chick magnet and the biggest star in the company was a rapper.  At least he wasn’t saying Yo Baby Yo Baby Yo.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Barrett vs. Show which I had completely forgotten about.  That can’t be a good sign.

Cue theme song.  Something tells me the Insurgency is never going to rise as there is no blood to sacrifice in WWE.

Dolph and Vickie will be on the Cutting Edge tonight.

Here’s Alberto to open the show.  It’s a 59 Jag this week.  Seeing Del Rio live gave me a new respect for him.  He talks about how Southerners are slow but there is no one like him in WWE.  Also he’s still going to win the Rumble and go to Mania.  It’s nice to see them build up a few people this time as it’s boring when they don’t.  Truth comes out to interrupt him and says Del Rio has a rabbit mind.  What the heck is this guy on?

He says Del Rio can’t win the Rumble because of having cars or a creepy ring announcer or because of destiny.  Actually if it’s his destiny, yeah that would make him win.  He says that Del Rio steps up by beating the one guy he can’t beat….who is named Lucy.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?

They’re interrupted by Cody Rhodes who says that Dashing is in the Rumble this year.  He’s only 25 and has been in three Rumbles so he’ll win.  Cue Rey who says it’s not about looking like a Diva or destiny but about what’s inside you.  If this turns into another I HAVE A BIG HEART speech I’m going to be sick.  Also shouldn’t he get a heart that big looked at by a doctor?

Anyway, he and Albert make fun of each other some more and Rey says that he’s won a Rumble while Alberto has won zero.  Oh that’s so cute.  He still thing that he won that Rumble and not Eddie.  Such a delusional masked annoyance.  Cody says that’s What’s Up.  Truth asks if Cody is stepping on his pinkie toe.  Rey says he’s stepping on your pinkie toe.  Is this some new language that I don’t understand?  Truth drills him and the fight is on.  Teddy pops up and we get a tag match.  Truth and Rey hug at the announcement.

Rey Mysterio/R-Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio/Cody Rhodes

The match starts after a break.  Rey vs. Cody to start us off.  Rey dominates to start and it’s off to Del Rio.  Alberto is officially an arch-nemesis so you know he’s awesome.  Cole asks a good question: how many times do Truth and Mysterio have to lose to Del Rio before they shut up?  Alberto sends Rey to the floor and rams him into the barricade.

Cody comes in and misses a knee drop.  I love his old school style.  Top rope cross body by Rey takes him down.  That move has been coming back lately which is a good thing.  I love simple moves like that.  Off to Truth and Del Rio now.  Sitout Gordbuster (dang it Striker stop saying the same things I do) by Truth.  He sends both of his opponents to the floor where Rey kills them both with a big moonsault and we take a break.

Back with Truth holding a chinlock on Del Rio but Cody is in seconds later.  It’s confirmed that all four guys will be in the Rumble as I think everyone expected.  For some reason the commentators keeps speaking Spanish seemingly at random.  Del Rio gets two on Truth with a move that isn’t important enough to make note of.  That and I was typing and didn’t see it.

Cody beats on Truth a bit more and gets two off a Russian leg sweep.  Crossface Chickenwing (what is with so many people using that recently?) and a body scissors makes Bob Backlund say “Oh, to be dashing”.  Truth fights out of it with an Electric Chair and gets the tag off to Rey.  For no apparent reason Cody doesn’t tag and gets a seated senton for his troubles.

Rey cleans house and we get a pinfall reversal sequence, won by Rey into a sunset flip for two as Del Rio saves.  Truth sends Del Rio to the floor with a side kick and it’s down to Cody vs. Rey now.  I don’t like the Dashing one’s chances.  Cody almost counters a headscissors into an Alabama Slam but gets caught anyway.  619 sets up the Springboard Splash at 10:28 shown of 13:58.

Rating: C+. Not the best tag match here but these guys have no history as teams so that makes up for it a bit.  This was the usual decent Smackdown tag match of the week which means it was at least good.  They have the formula for these things down pat and this was no exception.  Fun match to start off the show.

Time for Straight Out of the Hood with JTG as I refuse to butcher English like the title card does.  Basically it’s his take on recent events in WWE which is actually kind of entertaining.

We get a clip of Barrett costing Show the #1 contender spot last week.

Barrett says he came back to Raw as a conquering hero like Julius Caesar but was thrown out.  He came to Smackdown to continue his dominance and picked the Big Show because he’s the biggest star on Smackdown, and Barrett only goes after the best.  When he’s done, all will hail Caesar.  I’d rather Hail Sabin but whatever.  Also, please not another British gladiator character.

Video package on Ezekiel who talks about the Book of Ezekiel.

Trent Barreta vs. Drew McIntyre

I liked Barreta last time he was on Smackdown so this should be good too.  Drew gets a semi-face pop.  Trent goes straight for him to start but Drew takes his head off with a clothesline.  He still isn’t completely healed from his big dive two weeks ago apparently.  Drew destroys him here, taking him to the floor and possibly knocking out a tooth.  Trent is more or less dead a minute into this.  The fans are cheering for Drew here.

Dropkick gets two as Drew adds something new to his arsenal.  He must be emulating Mr. Cena.  Off to an armbar now and Cole plugs the video game by saying Trent is only going to win there.  Trent makes a brief comeback and gets a one footed dropkick for two.  Drew counters into a belly to belly and the referee is thinking about stopping it.  Drew goes for a gorilla press instead of the Futureshock and gets countered into a sunset flip/rollup for the shocking pin at 3:24!

Rating: C+. I like this Barreta guy.  He’s likely not going to go anywhere and this is probably just a plot device for the Kelly/Drew story but at least they’re letting someone new get some TV time and even a clean win here.  This wasn’t quite a squash but it was kind of close to one.  Trent got beaten badly here but he hung in there and it became a good match.  This was fun and the ending wasn’t contrived, which is always a big plus.  Fun stuff.

Post break Trent is walking in the back and gets jumped by Drew.  Before the beating gets too bad though Kelly comes up and glares at Drew.  He throws Trent aside in an unintentionally funny moment and goes after her.  Drew says he was only going to ask for a rematch but that’s not what Kelly saw.  She says that she was starting to believe him but now that’s not what she sees.  Kelly says she doesn’t want to be with someone that takes pleasure in beating on people and tells Drew to grow up.

Big Show vs. Wade Barrett

As Show makes his entrance, Josh plugs the Hall of Fame introduction ceremony.  He says it’s the most prestigious night of the year, the night before Mania.  Wouldn’t Mania be more prestigious.  Wade has his own music now and….yeah not feeling it.  It’s fast paced and almost techno-lite.  I’m not liking it but maybe it’ll grow on me.  Show goes right at him and the beating is on early.

We talk about Otunga and his jumping of Show on Smackdown as Barrett takes Show down.  Show of course shrugs off the offense and tries for the Chokeslam.  Barrett manages to block it twice though so at least this isn’t a two and a half minute match.  He tries a third time but Slater and Gabriel run in for the DQ.  Show tries to fight them off but the numbers catch up to him.  Only for a bit though as he fights them off again.

Big Zeke of all people pops up on the apron and stares down Show.  Slater tries to jump him again and Gabriel brings in a chair.  Show DRILLS it into his head but Zeke runs in to beat him down further.  The 4-1 assault happens with Zeke getting a nice delayed slam on Show and the 450 capping it off.  The new team raises their hands up.  Replays take us to a break.  No rating as this was like 2 minutes of an actual match.

Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix

Layla looking incredible in a blue dress here.  Beth looking great too.  Sorry, hot women make me write in choppy sentences.  The Divas on Smackdown have gotten a lot better recently so we’ll see if that stays true here.  Michelle beats her down to start as we make NFL predictions and comparisons.  Josh as usual gets us back on track.

Beth fights back but Michelle gets a slick rollthrough to hook the leg and take Beth down again.  That was cool looking.  Crowd does not care for the most part here.  Beth’s knee is killing her here but she manages to get a rollup for two.  Blast it I’m getting tired of Laycool’s song getting stuck in my head every time they have a match.

Michelle tries to cannonball down onto Beth’s knee but gets launched to the floor.  Beth hammers away and gets a slingshot suplex for two.  She tries for the Glam Slam but Michelle counters.  Big boot is blocked into another attempt into the Glam Slam.  Michelle rolls through but Beth rolls backwards to get the pin at 4:10.

Rating: C+. Wow I’ve used that rating a lot tonight.  Everything has been above average tonight but nothing has been incredibly good.  This was good enough though and another passable match from the Divas.  The main thing with them lately has been that they’re looking much more confident in the ring.  Instead of looking like they have to plan each move out individually we see them looking smooth out there and that it’s instinct, much like a seasoned competitor.  That’s a very good thing indeed and something I haven’t seen since Lita and Trish.

Shawn Hall of Fame video.  The line of “I’m going to give you a show you’ll never forget.  Why?  Because I can” sums up Shawn as well as anything ever could.

Vickie is yelling at Teddy who is mad because of some decisions she made last week.  Teddy gets a phone call and has to leave because of something involving the Barrett situation.  Ziggler tells Vickie to not let Edge get to her in the interview segment later.  He also apologizes for yelling at her last week.  They rub noses in an awkward moment.

Here’s Kofi for a match but there’s no opponent yet.  Kofi is another guy that has incredible energy live.  I saw him in his first defense after the televised title change and he was probably the highlight of the show after Edge.  Everything he does he looks like he’s giving everything he can which is a nice this to see.  We get a clip of the title change and defense last week which was a cool moment.

Before the match against whomever, he says that he had the fans in his corner last week and because of them he’s the Intercontinental Champion again.  He learned about himself last week and the first thing he learned was check one two.  Here’s Swagger in case you didn’t get that.  Swagger says he’s proud of Kofi for learning something but 2011 is the year of the All-American.  I still have never heard his lisp that is constantly talked about.  Swagger warns him about the ankle lock so Kofi says let’s go right now.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

Non-Title it seems.  Even though there was a bell before the entrance of Kofi and he was introduced with his weight and all that, this seems impromptu.  We hit the floor almost immediately and Swagger drops him on the announce table as we take a break.  Back with Swagger stomping away as he’s in total control.  Vader Bomb gets two.

All Jack so far.  Another Vader Bomb misses though and here comes Kofi.  Sunset flip gets two.  Kofi can’t get the SOS but Swagger can’t get the Gutwrench Powerbomb.  Out of NOWHERE, Kofi gets the SOS for the pin at 5:00 shown of 8:30 total.  That really was a surprising ending.

Rating: B-. This was probably the best match of the night so far.  Nothing great here but these two work well together which seems to be the case of everyone that Kofi faces.  The SOS is a great secondary finisher for Kofi and this was no exception here.  Good little match and a great way to start the reign of Kofi.

After a final break it’s time for another cutting Edge.  Before Dolph and Vickie come out, Edge says that last week he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the last man standing match, but he did and is still champion.  There’s something cool about a champion holding up the belt slowly like that.  He’s going from facing one monster last week to another this week in the form of Vickie Guerrero.  Cue the challenger and the creature that hangs out with him.

Edge says there was controversy with the victory last week which Dolph and Vickie deny.  Edge accuses Vickie of giving him the eye or something but Dolph says they’re leaving.  The champion makes fun of Vickie with some good lines.  Vickie says she was young and crazy when she married Edge.

Dolph says Edge owes his career resurgence to Vickie.  This is almost a therapy session.  Vickie has a clip to show them which is Edge making out with his wedding planner (not identified as Alicia Fox).  Dolph gets a jab at Edge, saying he looks about 14 in that clip.  Vickie lets loose the screeches.  Edge of course has his own clip which is Dolph making out with Kaitlyn.

Edge asks Vickie who that was and as she’s shaking, Dolph DRILLS Edge who fights back.  Vickie yells that it was their wedding day and slaps him three times.  She jumps on Edge so Edge looks for a spear.  He changes him mind and leaves then changes his mind again.  Dolph pulls him out for the save though and the beating is on.  Great heat on Dolph as he and Vickie stand over Edge to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was still a good show but it wasn’t great.  The wrestling was a bit down this week but after last week it was still pretty decent with no real bad matches.  The main point tonight was two fold in that we had Show vs. Barrett as well as a good focus on Dolph vs. Edge.  The world title match seems like it could be very good and likely will be.  Vickie adds a nice dynamic to it so overall, this should be a fun Rumble.  Either way, good stuff this week but not their best.

Results

Rey Mysterio/R-Truth b. Alberto Del Rio/Cody Rhodes – Springboard Splash to Rhodes

Trent Barreta b. Drew McIntyre – Sunset Flip

Big Show b. Wade Barrett via DQ when Heath Slater interfered

Beth Phoenix b. Michelle McCool – Rollup

Kofi Kingston b. Jack Swagger – SOS

Smackdown
Date: January 7, 2011
Location: Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Josh Matthews

In the first show of the year we have the World Heavyweight Championship on the line in a last man standing match as well as Alberto vs. Rey in a 2/3 falls contest.  The most intriguing thing to me is if Kane vs. Edge is finished tonight, what does that mean for the Rumble?  Hopefully this doesn’t see a double countout or a tie etc as that would make me rather irritated.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is more or less what I just told you.  Now why can’t I get paid to do something like that?  I said more or less the same thing minus a few basic lines.

Do you know your enemy?  That’s a good question actually and I certainly don’t know mine.

After a brief opening statement from the announcers, it’s time for the main event!

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Kane

Edge has the red sunglasses back which I think he’s had recently but not for very long.  This is last man standing remember.  We get the big match intros here which isn’t something you see that often in WWE anymore.  It might be the angle of it but the belt looks quite different for some reason.  Kane puts Edge down in the corner with powerful strikes to start us off.

Edge gets a swinging neckbreaker to put both guys down for about a three.  Sideslam by Kane gets another three on Edge.  The champion hits a spear to Kane while Kane is on the apron and the bald man is down on the floor.  It only gets a six though and we hit the floor.  Up the ramp they go with Kane in control.  Isn’t it amazing how a single shot in one of these matches can send one or both guys off for a good 8 feet?

They go into the back towards the concourse and Edge is slammed into a wall.  Why are the concession stands closed?  Back into the arena in the crowd with Edge blocking a chokeslam off the stands.  They fight up the steps into the luxury suites which have their own concession and merchandise stands.  Dude that’s kind of awesome.  Trashcan to the stomach of Edge breaks his momentum.

With Edge down after being rammed into various things and hammered a bit, Kane finds a flight of stairs and a wheelchair.  I think you know what’s coming here.  Edge counters at the last second and only the chair goes flying.  A big boot puts Kane down for 5.  We take a break with Edge in firm control.

Back with Edge in control still and the fight going on in the crowd near the announcers’ table.  Kane clears off the announce table but Edge manages to reverse to send Kane into the steps.  That gets a 9 which sounded a lot like ten but they kept it going anyway.  Edge does one of those jumps off the top that exist only to jump into a shot from their opponent, in this case an uppercut.

The uppercut is good for 8 and here comes Kane.  Top rope clothesline misses though and Edge gets the Edgecution to put both guys down.  Cole informs us that if it’s a tie then we keep going.  That makes me feel all tingly.  Chokeslam out of nowhere has Edge and the title in big trouble.  Edge is up and 9 and heads/falls to the floor.

Kane wants a Tombstone on the steps but Edge counters into an Edge-O-Matic onto the steps and the big fried freak is in trouble!  Kane gets up at ten but is down at eleven.  Edge sets for the spear but runs into a huge boot to the face to put him back down again.  That gets 9 but Kane gets a chokeslam onto the table to half kill Edge!  Striker was sent flying and is partially pinned under the table in a funny looking visual.  Edge uses Striker to pull himself back up and beat the count.  That was kind of funny actually.

The challenger is all fired up here and he throws a chair into the ring.  Make it a pair of them.  He goes up but Edge pelts a chair at his head to take Kane down one more time.  That looked sick.  BIG chair shots to the knee have Kane in big trouble.  The spear hits but Edge isn’t happy yet.  He goes out and gets the pelted chair and hits a Conchairto to the knee of Kane, which is enough to end this at 17:20 shown of 20:50.

Rating: B. This was a fun brawl with some fairly creative spots, namely Edge using Striker to get up.  I like the ending as instead of the spear it was instead the spear that set up the Conchairto to end Kane.  That’s a nice touch and it prevented the match from ending stupidly with a spear ending Kane when nothing else could.  I liked it rather well and the ending only made it better.  Good match.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

They’re certainly pushing this as a huge show with the title matches and all that jazz.  Striker calls Vickie the female version of Rosie O’Donnell.  Why are so many people obsessed with Rosie?  What has she ever done?  Nice reaction for Kofi here.  We get a quick video of last week’s match where Dolph more or less stole the win from Kofi which is true only to a degree.

Kofi hammers away to start as Cole says that Kofi needs to move on instead of trying to get the title back time and time again.  Neckbreaker by Dolph gets two.  Off to a clear choke that they’re going to call a chinlock because they want to I guess.  Splash in the corner misses though and here comes Kofi.  These two have some solid chemistry together to be sure.

A rollup by Ziggler with some tights gets two.  They’re moving very fast out there.  Trouble in Paradise misses and it’s off to the Sleeper!  Kofi simply grabs the hands and rips the hold off and gets the SOS for an incredibly close two.  Middle rope suplex is blocked by Dolph.  I know it seems like I’m flying through this but there is almost nothing between these fast moves.  After Kofi knocks Dolph off the ropes to block the suplex, the HUGE crossbody ends this perfectly clean at 5:31.  That came out of nowhere!

Rating: B. Ok, this grade is going to require some explanation as to how it can be equal to the first match and I think it might clear up a bit about my grading system in general in case some people think I’m a bit inconsistent.  While I’m giving this match the same grade, it’s certainly not as good as the first one.  There are two key differences though.

The first is that the opener was meant to be a long brawl, as evidenced by giving it nearly four times as long to work with.  That match had time to work out spots and to be a brutal fight, whereas this was supposed to be fast paced and exciting.  Different styles of match, but both well done.

Second, which ties into the first, was the ending.  Dolph literally turned around to get hit by the cross body.  Kofi is already horizontal when Dolph sees him.  I love matches that end very quickly and with moves that aren’t finishers.  To the fans it looked like another big move that Kofi would hit to get a two count.  Instead it’s over and the fans are surprised.  That’s an excellent touch and it keeps the matches interesting.

As for the match itself, one important thing to make clear is that this was NOT a squash.  Dolph was definitely in this the whole time and Kofi got a big shot in to get the win.  That’s very important as it keeps Dolph looking strong while still switching the title.  This was a very fun and fast paced match which is what you come to expect from these guys.  Good stuff.

Dolph, ever the villain, destroys Kofi post match.  Vickie gets on the mic and says that since Teddy isn’t here tonight, Dolph gets a rematch RIGHT NOW!

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

LOUD Kofi chant but he’s more or less d…..and screw that as he hits Trouble in Paradise and it’s over in 43 seconds!  That kick looked great.

Rating: B-. Well the opening 13 seconds were very weak but they picked it WAY up in the next 19.  The final 21 were completely awesome though and it definitely was good enough to make this a passable match.  Dang man those final 21 seconds with Kofi rolling Dolph over for the cover were more exciting than the entire Flair vs. Steamboat trilogy.

After a break Dolph is yelling at Vickie and telling her that was a boneheaded move.  Vickie blames him so Dolph says that maybe she should get a new boyfriend.  He leaves and she screeches in a terrifying voice.  I’ll be sleeping with the lights on tonight after hearing that.

Long recap of the cage match Monday.

Kelly is on the way to the ring when Drew stops her.  He says he’s a different person than he is out there.  This was allegedly supposed to be used for Tiffany and not Kelly, which means absolutely nothing but this is a short segment and I need something to talk about.  Drew wants to earn her trust and wants her support in his #1 contenders match tonight.  She smiles and says thanks and leaves.

Cody vs. Drew vs. Show for the #1 contender spot up next.

Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show

See I told you it was up next.  Cody does look good in the jacket.  I have to give him that.  Could Drew look any more like a natural face than he does?  And here’s Vickie of course.  She makes it a fatal fourway with Dolph thrown in too.

Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler

Drew has a headache and is still tired from the previous two matches.  Show looks very ticked off about the extra person being added in.  They all surround Show who is like screw it and beats up all three guys.  Drew is tossed to the floor first and then the other two get beaten on a bit as well.  Down to Show vs. Cody which is a mini-feud at least.  Dolph breaks up a pin by Show which gets him picked up by the hair and slammed down.

All Show for the first two minutes or so.  Channeling his inner Bobby Heenan, Cole says Show could have won this five minutes ago.  Stinkface to Cody has him gasping for air.  Show is busting out some of his old spots here like the Final Cut (Nightmare on Helm Street) and the one where he lifts up his leg and drops it onto the other guy’s chest like a standing legdrop (Wiki calls it the Showstopper but I’ve never heard that name for it before)

Drew has been in the ring maybe 20 seconds so far.  Big chop in the corner misses Dolph and Cody teams up with Dolph to beat down the Giant.  And that fails completely as Show blocks a double Irish Whip and sends both guys flying over the top with a simple tug.  Out on the floor Show is triple teamed and sent through the time keeper’s area.  He’s down but so is everyone else as we take a break.

Back with Cody vs. Dolph in the ring.  Cody goes for a moonsault but Drew shoves him off the top into the waiting arms of Big Show.  Cody gets back in to stop Drew from destroying Dolph and shouts that he’s #1.  He’s Paul Jones all of a sudden?  Drew back in now but Show is back up to a big reaction.  He picks off Drew and sends him flying on the floor and I think we’re about to pick up again.

Cody gets crushed in the corner and down goes Ziggler.  Show calls for the Chokeslam and out of nowhere Wade Barrett comes in to destroy Big Show!  A few big boots and a top rope elbow take down Show and Wade leaves.  Something to note there: Barrett just took down Show when three guys couldn’t.  Cody can’t steal the pin after the Beautiful Disaster but Ziggler manages to get the Zig Zag for two.

Futureshock gets two as this is ridiculous.  Show took a beating from Barrett, Cody’s second best move, Ziggler’s pin finisher and Drew’s finisher and is up a few seconds later.  We get that he’s a giant but don’t make him look invincible.  Cody and Dolph team up again but Dolph grabs the Zig Zag on him out of nowhere and gets the pin at 10:12 shown of 13:42.

Rating: C+. Fun match and told a decent story, but for the love of heck I can’t stand Show being made to look invincible like he does with those power kickouts.  Doing that to one move is ok, but how weak does the Futureshock look when it can’t get a pin after all that softening up mere seconds before it?  This still was more good than it was bad though so points for that.

Michelle McCool vs. Kelly Kelly

Kelly looking GOOD tonight.  They’re flying through this show too with maybe two backstage segments so far tonight.  Michelle charges into the corner to start but Kelly gets a choke with her legs while hanging upside down over the ropes.  Michelle fights that off with ease and goes after Kelly’s leg.  Kelly manages to get a headscissors to take her down and sets for the K2.  Michelle casually counters into the Faithbreaker to end this in 1:42.  Not quite a squash but you could call it that pretty easily.

Laycool beats down Kelly post match until Drew runs down for the save.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

2/3 falls here.  This show has been PACKED with wrestling so far at a level I haven’t see in a long time.  Before we start Alberto says that it’s his destiny to win the Rumble.  He talks about how there are pure Latinos and then the rest of them, who are car washers, gardeners, and Rey Mysterio.  I like that.

Rey starts us off here with some speed moves and wants the 619 maybe 75 seconds in.  Alberto ducks and the Cross Armbreaker makes it 1-0 in 1:37.  I was under the impression that there would be no math.  We get a graphic telling us that it’s 1-0.  Are fans really that stupid?  After a quick break we’re back with Rey in an armbar and then taking a big backbreaker to put him down again.

Rey gets sent to the floor as we debate if Rey tapped out just to break the hold, which would make sense.  A big rana takes down Alberto but Rey can’t capitalize immediately.  Alberto gets up and goes for the armbreaker again but Rey turns into it and gets a rollup for two.  619 can’t hit again but a cradle gives Rey the 1-1 tie at 8:12 (total time elapsed) and we take our second break of the match.

Back with Alberto holding another armbar as Rey is in more trouble.  Del Rio gets caught by the usual speed and leverage moves from Rey but Del Rio fights Rey off with a Codebreaker to the arm.  The fans chant 619 over and over and Rey gets a body scissors into a DDT for two.  Rey tries to go up but Del Rio gets to the ropes and down comes the masked man.  He’s caught in the Tree of Woe so Del Rio hammers away.

Alberto goes up for a suplex while being on the outside.  In other words he’s trying to suplex Rey to the floor.  Rey’s arm is really hurting him here.  I’m not sure why Alberto isn’t getting back in the ring but rather is fighting from the apron.  Rey gets a 619 around the post to take down Alberto.  Rey gets a big dive to take out Alberto and Ricardo and get a big reaction from the crowd.  Del Rio gets back in but Ricardo grabs Rey’s ankle and it’s a countout to give Del Rio the win at 11:53 shown of 18:53 total.

Rating: C+. This was pretty good for the most part but I wasn’t feeling it for some reason.  Rey losing on the countout to end the match doesn’t do it for me at all.  If you’re going to have Rey lose in the end, have it be to the armbreaker.  Del Rio still looks good but at the same time the ending feels kind of silly.  Decent match but I didn’t like it for some reason.

Rey beats up Ricardo a bit post match including a 619 and the springboard splash.

The announcers recap the show and announce Show vs. Barrett next week.

Overall Rating: A. This show was packed and it worked the whole night.  With two nearly 20 minute matches plus a title change and a new #1 contender, how in the world can you argue against this one?  Oh and I forgot that Barrett is here now too which is good as the show is dying for star power.  I really enjoyed this show with it being so wrestling heavy.  Good stuff indeed and a great way to kick off the year.

Results

Edge b. Kane – Conchairto to Kane’s Leg

Kofi Kingston b. Dolph Ziggler – Top rope Cross Body

Kofi Kingston b. Dolph Ziggler – Trouble in Paradise

Dolph Ziggler b. Cody Rhodes, Big Show and Drew McIntyre – Zig Zag to Rhodes

Michelle McCool b. Kelly Kelly – Faithbreaker

Alberto Del Rio b. Rey Mysterio two falls to one

Smackdown
Date: December 31, 2010
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

It’s the final show of the year which is almost hard to believe.  The main event tonight is a tag match with Edge/Mysterio vs. Kane/Del Rio which should be pretty solid.  I wonder if they’re going to push the whole end of the year aspect as that could be interesting.  Anyway I’m out of filler lines to put here so let’s get to it.

Oddly enough they start the show by having what more or less was a TV commercial for Smackdown, talking about the previously mentioned main event.  I’ve never seen them do that before.

Theme song has cool visuals along with it.

Out first are Vickie and Ziggler and the raven haired, ahem, beauty, is seemingly a bit sick.  Dolph is clutching her close to him.  Striker: “How can you not love Vickie?  She has the mind of Hilary Clinton and the body of…..uh……well Hilary Clinton.”  Striker can be annoying but when he’s on he’s EXCUSE ME!!!

Vickie is here to file a complaint against John Cena for the Attitude Adjustment he gave her last week.  She says that due to that attack she is now suffering from a severe case of vertigo and is not allowed to be above two and a half feet off the ground.  Wouldn’t that mean she can’t be in the ring or on the stage?

Ziggler reads the definition of Vertigo to get some sympathy.  Josh and Striker crack some jokes about how Josh is dizzy and has no balance every night.  It turns into almost a PSA about Vertigo awareness.  She demands compassion from the crowd.  Kofi finally comes out to break this up.

He asks Vickie to show some compassion because all of the people are getting nauseous from listening to her.  Kofi says that Vickie apparently didn’t have Vertigo at TLC and we get some clips of Vickie trying to get up the ladder and steal the belt.  As Cole points out, that happened before the Attitude Adjustment.

Here’s Swagger to also talk some.  He says that for the first time ever Kofi is right about something.  The ladder match was injustice apparently and we get a clip of Kofi and Swagger pulling down the title at the same time.  Dolph says that the video shows that he clearly won but Swagger disagrees.

Ziggler says that Swagger is just jealous and we actually get some heel vs. heel arguing which is a rarity today.  Kofi and Jack both say they deserve rematches but Dolph and Vickie the guests of honor at Teddy’s New Year’s Eve party so he can’t defend tonight.  A brawl breaks out and here’s Teddy to say that everyone is invited to the New Year’s Holla Holla Holiday Party.  There’s a triple threat match tonight for the title.  Cool.

Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes

Back from a break with this match.  Thankfully Show has stopped with the bandana which I think he dropped a few weeks ago.  We get clips from the TLC bit between them and the Christmas thing last week where Horny got beaten up.  Show throws him into the corner and the chops are on.  The Stinkface returns and Cody is pleading for a mirror.

Show palms his head to get Cody back into the ring.  That’s always impressive.  HUGE backdrop and Cody is in trouble.  Splash in the corner misses and the Beautiful Disaster hits to bring Show….not quite to a knee.  Striker: “Show is about to drop the ball on Cody’s chin with the knockout punch.”  Make your own jokes people.  Instead Cody runs and it’s a countout at 2:50.  No rating as the majority of this was Show destroying Cody and Cody hiding.

Off to the party where Rosa is feeding Horny some cheese and apparently….they’re dating???   O’Brien from NXT comes up to admire the cheese.  Alberto hits on Rosa but Horny growls at him.  Teddy wants to hear some new year’s resolutions.

Drew says that his resolution is to win the world title and also to be a better person.  He said that after looking at Kelly.  Well Smackdown needs more faces so that might be a good idea.

Chavo comes up with a bottle in his hands and says this might be the bottle talking.  He runs down the roster and says Teddy…..actually Teddy cuts him off and says that’s non-alcoholic champagne.  Everyone glares at him and we take a break.

Drew McIntyre vs. Trent Barreta

Moderate face pop for Drew here.  They reference Kaval being gone which is kind of surprising.  We head to the mat rather quickly as Drew hooks a headlock.  Trent gets a nice counter and this is more competitive than you would expect.  And never mind as Drew counters into a Buckle Bomb to counter a victory roll to take over completely.

Striker tries to play up Trent as the ultimate underdog for some reason.  Drew keeps dominating with some clotheslines and off to an armbar.  Barreta goes to the apron and Drew tries to get a belly to back suplex to bring him back in.  Trent counters and lands a running enziguri for two.  A springboard missile dropkick puts Drew on the floor but a tope con hilo misses completely and Barreta is out cold so the referee stops it at 4:35.

Rating: B. This was FAR better than you would expect it to be.  Trent had a great match out there and tried incredibly hard.  Wow that sounded incredibly kayfabe but it’s true here.  Drew was in trouble until that one big move missed and Trent more or less killed himself on the miss.  Very fun match otherwise though and a big surprise.

Drew kills him even worse post match with a Futureshock on the floor.

Back to the party with Chavo pouring his heart out to the Eagle.  Teddy wants to give his new year’s resolution but Laycool interferes.  They don’t need resolutions as they’re flawless.  They say they didn’t lose the table match because they’re too skinny to break one.  They make pigs fly jokes but the blondes come up to argue.  Tag match is made for later in the night.

Edge/Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio/Kane

So the title and the younger guys are main eventing?  Awesome.  Edge makes his entrance before the break and then the rest come out.  Rey vs. Alberto to start us off.  Rey gets a headscissors and it’s off to Edge almost immediately.  The good guys clear the ring and add a move from the No Mercy 2002 match of the year as Rey runs at Edge who lifts him up so he can backflip onto the other guys, taking us to a break.

Edge vs. Kane as we’re back.  We get a random ECW chant going as Del Rio beats on Edge.  Striker and Josh get into a near psychological debate over why Alberto is cruel to others.  Alberto and Kane tag in and out quickly to beat on Edge.  Edge counters Snake Eyes and hits an Edge-O-Matic to bring in Rey.  Seated Senton off the top takes Kane down.

Rey tries a springboard rotating cross body so Kane drills him with an upperkick on the way down.  Out to the floor where Rey gets drilled into the barricade to shift the momentum back again.  Off to Alberto who gets a gutbuster for two.  Body scissors by Alberto and he tugs at the mask a bit.  Off to Kane again with a backbreaker as Rey’s back is being destroyed.

Edge and Del Rio both come in after Rey gets a bulldog to Kane.  Edgecution takes down the Mexican Elitist and it might be spear time.  Kane picks off Edge but the Chokeslam can’t hit.  Rey pulls the top rope down to send Kane to the floor.  619 sets up the Spear to end Del Rio at 9:30 shown of 13:00.

Rating: B. Another good match here that followed the formula almost to the letter.  This worked exactly as it was supposed to with both feuds getting pushed forward a bit more.  Edge and Rey teaming together on and off is nice to see as in an odd way it reminds me of Sting and Luger back in WCW.  This was rather good with everyone looking good.

Back to the party where Chavo hits on Kaitlyn.  His flirty move of the night is supposed to be sucking in helium but it’s regular air.  Masters does the Pec Dance and Horny tries to also.  Show and Kelly are talking and he warns her about Drew.  Cody grabs the mic and talks about how he can’t be the face of Smackdown with Show breaking his nose.  Teddy says no fighting and makes Alberto vs. Rey in a 2/3 falls match.  The other match he makes is a world title match in a last man standing match.  Both are next week.  I’m sold.

Laycool vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya

No entrance for Laycool.  Michelle is absolutely stunning in blue.  Beth and Michelle start us off with Beth grabbing a wristlock and raising Michelle into the air in an always impressive looking move.  Natalya blocks the Faithbreaker but gets dropped on her head anyway.  We take a break and come back with Layla having a body scissors on Natalya.  The crowd is dead.  Striker’s cats are Loverboy Dennis and Beautiful Bobby.  He officially is awesome.

Off to Beth who gets sent to the floor and Michelle kicks her a few times.  Layla hooks a crossface but the Glamazon gets up anyway.  Natalya is back in now and Layla does what she can against her.  Sharpshooter is blocked but Natalya channels her inner Uncle Bret to counter into the hold from the mat.  Michelle makes the save and comes in.  Off to Beth who hits the Glam Slam on Michelle almost immediately for the pin at 6:30 shown of 10:00.  Wow that was a long match.

Rating: B-. Surprisingly a very good match here.  The Divas have been clicking lately and this was no exception.  Michelle and Layla are underrated in the ring and this is a good example as to why.  They more than hung in there with the far more talented in ring workers and made a ten minute match seem short.  Granted it doesn’t help that they both get better looking every week, especially Michelle.

Back to the party where Teddy congratulates them for actually not having a fight.  Naturally Chavo runs his mouth and gets punch poured on him.  The food fight/brawl is on.  It just wouldn’t be a wrestling party without one.

Raw Rebound is the same from NXT with Cena vs. Punk/Nexus.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger

Unless there’s something extra at the end, there is a ton of time for this at over 15 minutes left of time in the videos, not including commercials.  Striker calls Vickie Haystacks.  For an old school fan like me, Striker’s little one liners are awesome.  Commercial before the match starts so we don’t miss the opening.  And we’re off.

They double team Kofi to start as the commentators like Dolph to retain.  Ah Josh goes with Kofi for his athleticism.  The big elbow hits Kofi as he’s in big trouble.  The fans cheer for him as we’re three minutes into this and it’s been the exact same thing the entire time.  Swagger tells the fans that he’s their hero.

The guy that might be from Africa but might be from the Caribbean takes over and takes out both guys with a big old suicide dive as we take a break.  Back with Kofi holding Swagger in an armbar as Ziggler is still on the floor.  Dolph breaks up what was presumably going to be the Boom Drop and takes Kofi down on the floor.

Back in the ring a Fameasser to Swagger gets two for the champion.  Vickie yells when a Ziggler neckbreaker gets two on Kofi.  Swagger tries to get back up so Dolph drills him off the apron to get back to Kofi.  That’s rather intelligent indeed and a good thing to see in matches.  Dolph cranks on a chinlock as Kofi is in trouble.

Swagger has been on the floor for a long time here.  Kofi fights back and hits a Superman Punch to drop Dolph for awhile.  Boom Drop hits and it’s Kofi in control.  Here comes Trouble in Paradise but Swagger pops up and pulls Kofi out of the air with a German.  Kofi and Dolph ram heads on the suplex and both are down.  Swagger covers both for long twos as the crowd is getting way into this very quickly.

Back up Dolph can’t get a superplex on Kofi so Swagger powerbombs the heck out of the champion instead.  HUGE crossbody by Kofi only gets two.  Swagger takes out the knee as we’re about to go after the ankle.  Kofi counters it but whiffs on Trouble in Paradise.  Ankle Lock goes on but Dolph hooks the Zig Zag on Swagger for two as Kofi makes the save.

This is GREAT stuff if you didn’t get that.  Kofi vs. Swagger at the moment and Kofi gets something similar to a tornado DDT as Swagger stopped the spin part but Kofi dropped him straight down for two as Vickie puts Swagger’s foot on the rope.  Doctor Bomb is reversed and Trouble in Paradise puts Swagger out cold.  Dolph runs in and rolls up Kofi to steal the pin and keep the title at 12:50 shown of 16:20.

Rating: A. Now I’m not a person that likes triple threats for the most part.  For a big time showdown for a title I’m a traditionalist and want to see two people square off for the gold.  This match was great though with great storytelling, a TON of close near falls and an ending that fit it perfectly.  Dolph kept making sure he was in the ring for the vast majority of the time because he knew he had to protect the title.

Other than that you had both guys trying to avoid finishers and using their experience against each other to counter the known moves.  This was incredibly fun and well worth watching as even knowing who wound up winning I got sucked into it.  Great match and great to see the young guys get to show off to end the year.

The announcers plug the big double main event next week and that’s it for 2010.

Overall Rating: A. This was an outstanding show with everyone looking on point.  The opening match is the weak spot I guess but it made sense for Cody to run away when his face was in danger.  Trent Barreta of all people put on a very fun match.  The tag match was old school formula stuff and worked very well.

The Divas looks good and had a nice lengthy match and then there’s that awesome main event.  This is one of the better shows I can remember in a long time for Smackdown and the whole thing was great.  Loved it and am looking forward to next week, so have a happy new year and go watch this show if you haven’t already.  Ok watch the ball drop and then go watch the show tomorrow.  Yeah that’s better.

Results

Big Show b. Cody Rhodes via countout

Drew McIntyre b. Trena Barreta via referee stoppage

Edge/Rey Mysterio b. Kane/Alberto Del Rio – Spear to Del Rio

Natalya/Beth Phoenix b. Laycool – Glam Slam to McCool

Dolph Ziggler b. Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger – Rollup to Kingston

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.

Smackdown
Date: December 17, 2010
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, Matt Striker

Back to the Friday show this week after a long wrestling week. It’s the go home show for TLC which I liked last year so hopefully they can give us something good here too. This should be a decent enough show I’d assume as it’s Smackdown after all. We’ll get the fallout from Edge more or less being involved in the death of Paul Bearer. That was his second death I believe? Anyway let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up. It’s getting better every time I hear it.

Here’s Edge to an ERUPTION. He talks about how bizarre the last few weeks have been but has a video about it to truly show us how weird it’s gotten. Cue Benny Hill music. This just hammers in the reality of how stupid this whole thing has been. Anyway Edge says this is all about Kane and it’s all because he’s evil. So says the man that caused a guy to be shoved off a ladder after kidnapping him for a month.

Edge reminds us of how evil Kane has been the year, mainly focusing on the whole Undertaker thing. He wanted to fight fire with fire with Kane so he got down to Kane’s evil level. No one thinks he went to far, at least not the audience. Edge: Kane has lost his mind, even moreso than usual. Fan: HE LOST HIS HAIR TOO! Edge says he’ll win tonight and that’s about it.

Miz vs. Rey tonight. Should be good.

Kane is distraught apparently and might not be at the PPV. Edge asks what we’re going to do as he doesn’t want the title by forfeit. Notice the very subtle face aspect right there. Alberto comes in and says that Teddy wanted to see him. Rey comes in too and says no don’t give him the shot. If Kane isn’t back by Sunday, it’s a triple threat TLC match for the title between these three. That was a bit random. Alberto doesn’t like being a backup plan so Teddy just makes it a fatal fourway for the title in a TLC match. I guess 7 gimmick matches were too many?

Kofi Kingston/Kaval vs. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger

Should be good. Swagger vs. Kaval, who still has a somewhat bad ankle, starts us off. Kaval goes for a Tajiri handspring into a cross body but Swagger catches him in a nice display of power. Kofi comes in and everything goes insane with dives, leaving the good guys in the ring as we take a break.

Back with Swagger holding Kaval on the mat with a double chickenwing. We’re mainly talking about the triple threat IC Title match which is kind of awkward as everyone but Kaval isn’t in it. Off to Ziggler now who keeps it on the mat. Striker picks Swagger for the ladder match as does Cole. Matthews says Kofi will win due to his hunger. Kaval accidentally tries to tag out in the wrong corner which gets a nice reaction from Dolph.

Kaval reverses a German by the American but can’t tag the African. Kaval has been in this for about 90% of the match but he keeps fighting and a double stomp keeps Swagger down. There’s the tag and here comes Kofi. Striker gets a good line: Who needs a ladder when you’re Kofi Kingston? Boom Drop to Ziggler and here comes Trouble in Paradise but Ziggler ducks. SOS gets two as Swagger saves. Kaval takes him to the floor and there’s Trouble in Paradise to end this at 7:05 shown of 10:35.

Rating: B. Fun match here with a shortened version of the standard formula. It was still well done though and the result is a good tag match. Kaval is growing on me every time I see him and this was no exception. Ziggler’s selling of that kick is perfect as he collapses every time it hits him. Good match.

Swagger beats up Ziggler post match, prompting Vickie to reach new levels of screeching.

Some new guy that looks to be about 15 talks to Miz. Miz isn’t sure why he’s here as he already beat Rey to start his week. Miz: How did you start you week Jack? Jack: Actually….Miz: Actually I don’t care. Miz lists off everything he’s done this week which is an amazing list actually. After he lists off all the days, Riley busts out A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE! Good stuff.

JTG has his own segment now where he hypes up TLC. It’s called Straight Outta Brooklyn. See it’s funny because he talks strangely.

Kaitlyn and Kelly are talking when Drew comes up to hit on Kelly. Drew is tall, handsome and has charm. Naturally he’s a heel. Why not? The acting here is pretty awful but Drew says he’s a different person outside the ring. He asks her out but Kaitlyn comes up to save her before there was an answer.

It’s the return of Grooming Tips with Dashing Cody Rhodes! I need these tips! This time it’s about hair, including a special portion on selecting the right hairdryer as it needs to look right and feel right in your hand. It’s going to be spending a lot of time there so make sure it’s the right one.

Cody Rhodes vs. Chris Masters

Decent pop for Masters who now has pyro. Masters takes over with power to start and hits a gorilla press. And never mind as Cody shoves him off the top while he’s getting punched in the corner and the Cross Rhodes ends this in maybe 1:00 at most.

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Should be good again. Stalling to start as Cole praises Miz and how awesome he’s been this year, which is true. Rey slips a bit on a leapfrog and Miz gets a clothesline to take over. Matthews and Striker commend Miz so Cole says there’s plenty of room for them on the Miz Train to Mizville. Miz takes out the ankle of Rey and gets a baseball slide to send Rey’s ribs into the post.

Rey speeds things up but can’t get the 619. Seated Senton to the floor takes down Riley though as we take a break. Back with Miz holding Rey on the mat as the crowd is WAY into this. Rey gets a spinout DDT to take care of the momentum and both guys are down. They slug it out from their knees with Rey winning, allowing him to hit a springboard cross body for two.

Miz stomps away and hits the running corner clothesline to further his dominance. For some reason he goes up though and that of course doesn’t work very well for him at all. Top rope rana puts the champion down for two. He sets for the 619 but Riley distracts. Alberto comes out and trips up Rey to give Miz a rollup for two. Rey gets the 619 and kicks Alberto and sets for the springboard splash. It eats knees though and that’s enough for the pin at 9:30 shown of 13:00.

Rating: B-. Solid stuff again here as Miz gets to rub elbows with guys like Rey. That’s nothing but good for him as he’s going to have good matches with them as well as it makes him look all the more legit. This was pretty good actually as Miz delivers another good but not great match which is certainly his custom.

Alberto beats down Rey again but Edge saves. Teddy makes a tag match for the main event with the teams being exactly who you would expect them to be.

Back from a break and here’s Laycool. They’re here to protest the tables match on Sunday, saying that it won’t happen. They just refuse to do it because it’s barbaric and here come Natalya and Beth with their own table. Natalya asks when Laycool started making the decisions here. Without missing a beat they say in unison: “We run this show.” Laycool says that Natalya and Beth belong in the men’s division based on their looks.

We find out why Beth never talks as she cuts a really weak promo against Laycool. It does amuse me that they find Beth and Natalya masculine when their chests are hanging all over the place. They unwrap the gift table they have and there’s a caricature of Laycool on it. At least I think it’s Laycool. The good girls beat up Laycool but can’t put Layla through it like they want to.

Tag champions in action next.

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Chavo Guerrero/Tyler Reks

Another non-title match for Chavo here. Santino vs. Reks starts us off and the comedy begins early. Off to Kozlov who gets beaten down with ease also. The camera is rather odd here as they’re filming through the middle and bottom rope rather than the typical shot they have. The two smaller guys come in with Santino beating on Chavo. I would say Santino winds up playing Ricky Morton but that feels too wrong to say.

Santino literally swims over to Kozlov who is pounded on by Chavo. His solution: KICK HIM IN THE FACE. Chavo tries to come off the middle rope but runs into Kozlov’s Cranium. Here’s Santino again and the CORBA pins Chavo. You would think him yelling COBRA right before Chavo turned around would tip Chavo off. Match ran about 3:40.

Rating: C-. Glorified comedy match but that’s all it needed to be really. Santino continues his ridiculously popular run and I have no problem with them giving him a tag title given the pops he’s getting. If the fans are as into him as anything else all night, why not? It’s not like the titles meant anything anyway. Match was filler but it wasn’t aiming any higher than that which is fine.

Ezekiel Jackson will be on Smackdown next week. Odd but ok.

Raw Recap and PPV rundown eat up some time.

Alberto Del Rio/The Miz vs. Edge/Rey Mysterio

Ricardo’s mic isn’t working at first and he seems a good bit ticked off about it. Most of the intros occur during a break which is nice as we get more wrestling. Edge vs. Miz starts us off here. Edge gets beaten down by both guys for a good while until he brings Rey in. It’s Rey’s turn to get beaten down for awhile now also.

We’re five minutes into this now and it’s been one sided almost the entire time. After one of the longest extended heel beatdowns to start a match I can remember Edge comes back in but Riley stops the spear on the Miz. Edgecution gets two instead as Alberto makes the save and Josh coughs a lot. Kane is here!

Edge hits the spear on Miz and here comes Kane. He takes down Edge which would be a lot more dramatic if Kane hadn’t already had two matches with him recently. A bunch of Smackdown guys come out to pull Kane off Edge and a big pull apart brawl ends the show. We’ll say the match ended at about 9:00. Edge gets a spear to Kane to end things.

Rating: C-. Kind of an underwhelming main event with the LONG heel beatdown being the vast majority of this one. The ending hurts it a bit but it’s refreshing to see Kane finally showing some anger rather than moaning and yelling about how mad he is. This wasn’t a great match or anything but it worked fine for a main event with all three guys in the at the time triple threat and then Kane running in at the end. Not bad but nothing great.

Overall Rating: B. Solid show this week and a good buildup to the PPV. I’m really not sure why they nixed Rey vs. Alberto. I know Rey is working hurt so maybe that had something to do with it as Rey couldn’t work a one on one match on his own. The show had some very solid wrestling on it combined with the final push for the matches Sunday. I’m not interested in Edge vs. Kane still, but adding the other two in helps a bit as it opens up some more doors. Good show overall with solid stuff throughout.

Smackdown
Date: December 10, 2010
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

Another week comes for Smackdown and hopefully we can get another match scheduled for TLC. If my memory is right we have the world title match, Rey vs. Alberto and Kofi vs. Ziggler, which I assume is at the PPV. Actually maybe that’s enough but maybe not. Sorry for rambling so much on this but I need to fill in space. With all that being said, let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Edge vs. Kane and Rey vs. Alberto, which is your tag team main event tonight. That makes as much sense as anything.

Kane comes out and does his usual stuff: please give me my father back, I’m begging you, this needs to end and all that jazz. Edge pops up on the screen and says this doesn’t end tonight but rather at the PPV. Bearer is next to him and Edge pulls out a chair. He says that he hasn’t swung a chair in awhile so he needs some practice. Edge keeps teasing the chair shot until he finally drills Bearer with it, freaking Kane out.

The champion runs to the back where Edge says don’t take another step or he’ll give him a one man Conchairto (not those words but that’s the idea). Kane for some reason comes forward and there’s the Conchairto to, say it with me, a mannequin. Edge has Bearer in the wheelchair again and they run off. How does he get all these wheelchairs and mannequins to the arena every week?

Jack Swagger vs. Kaval

Kaval isn’t someone I was huge on but he’s growing on me a bit. Striker rambles on about some urban poet and staying true to your roots or something. Apparently Kofi vs. Dolph is tonight. Swagger gets a shot in to the ankle/leg which apparently was a legit injury that he had to get looked at. Swagger works on the knee as Cole makes fun of Kaval. We get into an argument over who discovered Swagger like he was fire or electricity.

Kaval fights out of the powerbomb but hurts his leg even more on the landing. We unleash the kicks which luckily for Kaval it’s his left leg that’s injured. Cole: why is everyone from Brooklyn bald? Modified rolling Liger Kick puts Swagger down. He hits almost a Shining Wizard off the middle rope for two. Kaval goes up but can’t get up for Warrior’s Way. Swagger pulls him down and throws on the ankle lock for the submission at 5:26.

Rating: C+. Just a quick TV match but it was pretty decent actually. Swagger getting simple wins like these is a good thing as it builds his credibility and Kaval isn’t ready to beat a former world champion or anything like that. This was absolutely fine for what it was and we had some psychology to go with it too. Nothing wrong with this.

Swagger says he should be the #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title because Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise when he was in the ropes which is illegal. He’s the future fifth face on Mt. Rushmore. That’s kind of a cool line. He’s going to protest the IC Title match later tonight.

And next up it’s an eagle vs. a leprechaun. Aye aye aye.

Hornswoggle vs. Soaring Eagle

Rosa comes out with Horny. The Eagle is billed at 6’0 tall and with a wingspan of 5’0. This is so stupid. Please make this be quick. Striker lists off facts about eagles before Horny pulls out a bag of, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, ACME (spelled wrong) birdseed. The eagle (allegedly Chavo) goes for it and gets kicked in the head. Rosa hands Horny a napkin which he tucks into his shirt and bites the Eagle’s leg.

Would anyone be opposed to some fast forwarding here? The Eagle misses Ballin (shoot me now….please) and the Tadpole Splash ends this at 2:28. Cole gets in two good lines at the end though. As Horny goes up for the splash, “GET OUT OF THE WAY! YOU’RE ENDANGERED!” and the second being singing Fly Like An Eagle by the Steve Miller Band, even though the Eagle wasn’t the one flying. Was there ANY point to this?

Back from a break with Santino and Kozlov in Teddy’s office. Santino busts into a chorus of We Are the Champions and Kozlov pulls out a lighter and waves it back and forth which legitimately cracked me up. Chavo comes in because he wants a title shot. If he gets a partner, “we will rock you”, followed by two stomps and a clap. Santino: “Cause we are the champions…..of the tag team world!” Kozlov: “Holla Holla.” I don’t know if it was because of how bad the previous segment was but I had to stop the video from laughing so much at Kozlov’s last line.

Cole asks if you know what happens when the Cobra hits. “Another One Bites the Dust”.

We get a quick video on Kofi because of his IC Title match tonight.

Dolph says that he’s a champion and Kofi is a lifelong contender but not a champion.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

Vickie does the intro which makes Striker say she looks like Greg Valentine from Rhythm and Blues. Actually that’s accurate. What’s with the music theme tonight? Kofi gets a pair of rollups for a pair of twos very early. Dolph gets a Hennig necksnap for two. Could they push him as the new Mr. Perfect any harder? Monkey flip by Kofi gets him some momentum.

Trouble in Paradise misses as we take a break. Back with Dolph holding a chinlock. Off to a Cobra Clutch which can put people out in seconds but Kofi can hang on for multiple minutes with it on. We finally get out of that with Kofi blocking a dropkick and getting a slingshot into the post, which is another Hennig trademark. SOS is blocked and we crank things up again.

Ziggler gets out of the way of the Boom Drop but gets a Pendulum Kick. Missile dropkick gets a delayed two due to Vickie interfering. Top rope cross body gets a long two. Kofi goes for something but Ziggler counters into the sleeper. Kofi gets the rope and hits Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere. He gets two as Swagger runs out to break it up and throw on the ankle lock for the DQ at 9:30 shown of 13:00.

Rating: C+. Good stuff while it lasted but the ending hurts it a bit. It fits the storyline but I would have liked Ziggler to get a pin with the cheating. I get why they went this way though and if nothing else it gives us more Swagger vs. Kofi which is almost always good stuff. Pretty good match but it could have been better.

The hold stays on for a good while and Kofi’s ankle is hurt badly.

To the back where Edge is standing on top of something with a guy in a wheelchair. Kane comes up and Edge swears it’s the real thing this time. Kane has finally grown a brain and comes at him and of course it’s a dummy that Edge shoves off whatever he’s standing on and it crashes through a table.

Back and it’s time with a Masterlock Challenge with the Dashing One challenging. Kind of random. Before we start Cody wipes down the chair. He then insists on Masters using a nail file which is thrown into the crowd. Masters slaps Cody in the face which he says was given to him by Ric Flair. Ok so he called him God but you get the idea. Cody yells so Masters grabs his face and Cody yells some more. He tries to leave so the Masterlock goes on anyway and it’s over in maybe 20 seconds with Cody passing out/giving up.

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Chavo Guerrero/Drew McIntyre

This is non-title I think but Striker says the non-champions are going to try to wrestle the titles away. It wasn’t announced as a title match. Yeah Matthews confirms that if the non-champions win they’ll be in line for a title shot. Josh gets on Cole for a bit which is some funny stuff. Double teaming slows down the Russian and Drew pounds on him for a bit. Off to Chavo now which isn’t going anywhere.

The announcers argue about language for some reason until Matthews yells at them to be quiet. Isn’t the point that they’re supposed to talk? Drew sets Santino up for the Futureshock but Chavo tags himself in so he can hit the Frog Splash. At least that was the idea in theory as Santino rolls away. Santino manages to get the Cobra out of nowhere to pin Chavo at 3:10. Nice little first win as a team.

Rating: C-. Nothing special at all here as they flew through this but to be fair it’s not like they were going for Rock N Roll Express vs. the Midnights here. Quick little matches like these are fine for the most part as a comedy team has the titles so they won due to heel miscommunication between heels that hadn’t teamed before. This was fine for what it was.

Futureshock to Chavo post match.

We recap the Kane/Edge stuff so far tonight which hasn’t been exactly interesting stuff.

Quick Raw recap of Miz and Orton setting up the tables match.

We run down the main matches at the PPV to fill some more time. Rey vs. Alberto will be a Chairs Match.

Laycool is up next.

Layla vs. Natalya

I like Laycool’s song for some reason. Beth comes out with Natalya. Striker does his British accent to crickets. Cole says Beth and Natalya are like the Jumping Blonde Angels which Striker corrects him on. The Squatting Suplex gets two. Michelle: “Lay are you ok?” Layla: “NO!” Natalya’s chest may be hurt. Where’s Jerry to make the jokes?

You can tell Josh is getting annoyed with Striker and Cole which is kind of funny. Sharpshooter ends Layla despite Michelle trying to make the save at 2:00. No rating due to this being really short and a lot of it being Natalya on the floor rubbing her ample chest.

Rey Mysterio/Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio/Kane

The entrances kill off about five minutes or so. Big pop for Edge. And we have no Kane. Here’s Teddy Long instead. Is this going to turn into a tuxedo match between him and Rodriguez? Teddy makes it a handicap match. Is there a reason why there’s no Kane? Apparently it’s due to him being on a fat man scavenger hunt. Rey starts for the former tag champions.

Kind of an odd choice to have two faces be a handicap team but it fits the storyline. Edge is called the Master of Puppets as we continue that musical theme tonight. Baseball slide has Del Rio in trouble. Kane comes out about two minutes into the match and Edge meets him in the aisle. Edge lures him to the back and it’s more or less a one on one match now.

Rey tries to speed things up but gets caught in a body scissors. That gets him nowhere for the most part an the running enziguri sends him to the floor. Rey cranks it up one more time and gets his sitout bulldog for two. Sunset flip doesn’t work for Alberto and the 619 plus top rope splash ends it clean for Rey at 6:44. I don’t think Edge was ever legally in the match so this was a singles match for all intents and purposes.

Rating: C. Hard to grade this as officially it’s a tag match but it really can’t be called that. The match was ok but felt like something that was there as a backdrop for the other stuff that was going on which isn’t something I’m a fan of at all. This was ok but really just the epitome of average, hence the grade.

Edge has a pair of ladders with a table set up on top of them like a platform with a wheelchair on top but we can’t see who’s in it. Kane comes up and Edge says you don’t want to do that. Kane says there’s another dummy up there and shoves them over. He then looks over the edge that he shoves it over and sees Paul laid out on the concrete a good 25 feet below with people screaming they need help. Edge says I told you so and we go off the air.

Overall Rating: C+. This was ok but it was kind of off a step if that makes sense. It’s decent stuff and finally the Edge vs. Bearer thing went somewhere which took a month and a half but it’s better than nothing. No match really stood out here but everything was pretty much solid. Decent enough show and stories were developed so I can’t say I’m complaining much here. Good stuff for the most part.