Extreme Rules 2011
Date: May 1, 2011
Location: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Booker T, Josh Matthews

I see this show as being like TLC from last year: there isn’t much of a difference in the stories from here and Wrestlemania so here are a bunch of gimmicks tacked on and we hope that you watch our show and don’t notice that we haven’t put much thought into this past month.  The main event tonight (possibly) is Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio for the vacant world title.  If Christian doesn’t win here, I doubt he ever will.  Not really but it sounds good.  Let’s get to it.

Opening video is pretty much what you would expect: TONIGHT IS EXTREME!!!

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

 

Last man standing here.  New Nexus is with Punk as they continue to try to validate their existences.  And never mind as an E-Mail throws them out.  Punk takes the pad off a buckle before he even gets in.  Hot start as they go right at it.  We go to the floor quickly with Punk getting introduced to the barricade.  They hit it off and are taking in a movie next Tuesday.

They go back into the ring as they’re keeping up that fast pace.  The problem of course is that in last man standings, there’s no real point to buying into any counts until after at least 8 minutes.  Punk grabs a kendo stick and the “brutal” part of the match starts.  Multiple shots by Punk (Straightedge anyone?) gets about seven and now it’s payback time.  Finisher attempts are exchanged and Orton sends Punk into a chair wedged in between the ropes to the floor for about 6.

Punk gets a solid kick to the head for about 8.  As always in these matches, a lot of time passes with little happening due to the counting and setting up for the counting.  Orton sends him into the barricade for six and we head back to the ring.  GTS actually hits and Orton gets up at 9, only to fall back down a second later.  That counts as being up though as it should.  Punk throws in a chair and a Russian leg sweep onto it gets about 8.

To their feet and Punk tries another leg sweep.  Orton pulls an RKO out of nowhere and both guys are down.  Orton gets up as does Punk but he stumbles to the floor just after he gets up.  Punk fights off the elevated DDT and wraps a chair around Orton’s throat to send it into the post.  THAT gets 9 and Punk is ticked off.  They go to the table and Punk tries the GTS on it….which wouldn’t add anything to the move but whatever.  There’s the counter into an RKO onto the (non-breaking in this case) table and Punk stumbles to his feet somehow at 9.  I would have bet on that being the ending.

Orton sets for a Punt but gets caught in a GTS into the steps.  When I say the GTS I mean he gets dropped face first onto the steps which is really about all you can do with that move.  Up at nine and Punk has a kendo stick.  Punk sends Orton in and goes up top for some reason, only to have Orton intercept the stick and WEAR PUNK OUT with it as he’s hanging from the top.  SUPER RKO from the top ends this with Orton barely beating the count.

Rating: B. I rather liked this one, mainly because they gave it a lot more time than I expected them to.  I would have thought the ending was going to happen multiple times in there but they let it keep going.  I think it was pretty clear Orton was going to win, but they had a lot of very close calls in there and it worked rather well.  Much better than I expected actually.

Lawler heads to the back to get read and we recap the Draft.

Morrison is warming up.

Sheamus is ticked off that Teddy has added an extra match with him defending against Kofi in a tables match.  He’s the US Champion and is defending against someone not from the US.  He demands to see the birth certificate.  This is FAR less stupid now that that whole issue is over.

US Title: Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston

 

Booker continues to imply Kofi should turn heel as we hit the floor early.  First table is brought out by the pale one and set up on the floor.  Back to the ring and Sheamus gets caught on the apron, only to hit a slingshot shoulder block to take Kofi down.  Table #2 comes in and lands on top of Kofi.  We hear about how Sheamus beat Cena in one of these to win the title which still blows my mind.

Table gets set up in the corner but Kofi fights out of it.  Sheamus moves to avoid Kofi’s dive but Kofi is like screw it and does the splits in midair to land on the ropes with the table between his legs.  Big boot sends Kofi flying over the table on the floor as Sheamus takes over again.  The corner table is set up in front of the corner and Sheamus hammers away.  Sheamus can’t suplex him onto a table on the floor and gets caught by Trouble in Paradise but it doesn’t put him through the table.  The Boom Drop as Sheamus turns around does however to give Kofi the title.

Rating: C+. Not bad here and considering it was just a way to get a midcard title on Raw this was fine.  Kofi of course is his usually solid self and Sheamus loses the title without getting pinned.  This was perfectly fine and the ending plus some cool spots by Kofi were enough to push it over the top.

Truth complains about Morrison because that’s what he does anymore.  He can’t spell conspiracy.  The one thing he can’t stand is a thief which is what Morrison is.  Back in the 80s this would have been a squash over a jobber and the point is just to establish that Truth is here for when he likely runs in later.

Michael Cole/Jack Swagger vs. Jim Ross/Jerry Lawler

 

Country whipping match here, which means they all have straps.  Cole, I kid you not, is wrapped in bubble wrap.  Ross has a legit broken hand after beating Cole up Monday.  Cole gives us his resume as a reporter and insults all of Florida by saying everyone is old.  Lawler vs. Cole to start as Lawler can’t hurt him.  Lawler goes for the only unprotected part: Cole’s face.  There goes the bubble wrap and it’s off to Swagger.

Basically this is Lawler vs. Swagger for all intents and purposes as they have a one on one match for a few minutes.  Lawler gets him down but takes a chop block as he goes after Cole.  Ankle Lock goes on for like 30 seconds as Ross WEAKLY hits Swagger to break the hold.  Off to JR who puts an ankle lock on Swagger!  Swagger escapes and I think accidentally tags Cole.  Ross wastes WAY too much time for a clothesline and whips Cole a bit.  Ankle lock goes on Cole and even takes Swagger out with a low blow.  He turns to whip Swagger….and gets rolled up by Cole to end it.  Dang it this is going to keep going isn’t it?

Rating: F. Hey look, Cole wins again and gets to run his mouth a bit more.  Not as bad as Mania but still, DO SOMETHING ELSE!  This has been done and it’s been done multiple times already so why do they keep going with it?  Cole can still be a jerk but give us SOMETHING for a change instead.  Match sucked too.

Over the Limit is in three weeks.  Well of course it is.

Cena says he hasn’t been champion since June and will be champion again tonight.  Short interview here.

We recap Rey vs. Cody.  Not much to say here other than it’s been awesome from Cody and Rey messed up Cody, turning him into someone that thinks he’s grotesque despite looking the same as he always has.  That’s some solid psychological stuff there.

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

 

Falls count anywhere.  People hand out the bags which is a nice touch.  Cody has promised to send Rey to the hospital on his way to Raw.  Cody charges at Rey to start us off but Rey speeds thigns up to send him to the floor.  They go up the ramp and Rey gets a seated senton off the stage for two.  Out into the crowd as Rey kicks away at the head.  NOT IN THE FACE!!!

Up towards the back of the arena with Cody kind of in control now.  Into the back as this is more or less an old school hardcore match.  Cody mangaes the Beautiful Disaster off a concession stand window for two.  That looked awesome.  Back to the ring as this has been a very stiff looking match.  Rey tries his sitout bulldog but Cody reverses with a wheelbarrow drop onto the steps for two.

Cody picks Rey up like a 24 pack and throws him into the ring.  Rey fights back and sets for the 619, intentionally exposing his knee brace.  Cody counters and hits an Alabama Slam for two.  Up we go but Rey FIRES GREEN MIST at Cody to send him flying.  619 out of nowhere and the springboard splash finishes completely clean.

Rating: B. Another good match here, mainly due to them beating the tar out of each other.  This feud was solid and at least Cody got the win at Mania which looks better on his resume and will be what is remembered.  Good stuff overall here and the mist was a nice touch despite messing up the racial stereotypes again.

Layla apologizes to the Divas for being mean to them over the years.  They say they don’t like her but they like Michelle less.

Cole is back on commentary.  Oh joy.

Michelle McCool vs. Layla

 

More or less a street fight here and the loser leaves WWE.  Michelle wisely jumps Layla during her lay on the rope entrance.  Out to the floor as this is another intense brawl.  A shot into the table gets two for Michelle.  Big boot misses and here comes Layla.  Belly to belly gets two for Michelle as we hit the floor again.

They fight on the barrier of all things with Michelle taking over.  DIAMOND DUST gets two for Layla as they come back in.  Faithbreaker is countered into the Layout for two.  Michelle counters a jackknife cover into a Faithbreaker (Styles Clash) but can’t cover immediately.  Layla counters the cover into a rollup/crucifix pin to get rid of Michelle.

Rating: C+. I liked this again.  The Divas can do pretty well if they’re given the proper amount of time.  Layla winning here is probably due to Michelle leaving soon if not tonight apparently which is fine.  Definitely one of the better matches with the females in awhile as this worked fine.  Layle is getting a lot better every time she gets in there, which is definitely a good sign.

Layla cries as she leaves.

Michelle gets the goodbye song treatment but Kharma (Awesome Kong) debuts.  Implant Buster kills Michelle dead with ease.  All of the Divas are freaked out.  Beth is made to look the most prominent here.

Alberto gives Ricardo instructions on how to announce the ending.

We recap Edge’s retirement and the title being vacant.  This gets the 3 Doors Down video again which makes me smile.  Edge was supposed to defend in a ladder match but had to retire due to a neck injury so Christian took his place by winning a battle royal.

Smackdown World Title: Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio

 

Ladder match here.  Well we’re in Christian’s match with Edge’s momentum behind him in his (kind of) hometown.  If he doesn’t win here, he’s never going to have a better chance.  Brawl to start and Christian goes for the ladder only for the king of the golden banana hammock to take over.  Baseball slide into the ladder into Del Rio as Christian takes control right back.

First ladder is brought in and Del Rio gets in a shot to take over.  Christian is knocked to the floor as Del Rio gets the big ladder set up between the table and the ring like a platform.  Suplex is blocked but Christian is kicked into the steps hip first.  The Canadian gets knocked off the top onto a ladder and then jumps onto Del Rio to keep the advantage for the most part.

Up goes Christian but we’re only about 8 minutes into this so that’s not the ending.  They slug it out but the Killswitch is avoided.  Del Rio is sent into the ladder arm first.  Big ladder goes up in the middle of the ring but Del Rio chucks a stepladder at Christian for the save.  Codebreaker to the arm with Del Rio on the small ladder and Christian coming off the big ladder which looked awesome.

Del Rio works on the arm a bit as Cole declares Christian done.  The small ladder (I smell an alliance with Horny) is used again but Del Rio goes crashing into the big ladder to put him down.  Christian goes up again, only to get caught by Alberto in a kind of powerbomb move which is countered by a rana by Christian.  They fight over a chance to put the other through the ladder platform but Christian gets a suplex onto a ladder to put Del Rio down.

Alberto goes up, only to be stopped but the arm goes out on Christian as Alberto keeps control.  Chair slipped in by Ricardo which goes nowhere.  Back in the ring Christian busts out a SPEAR to put Del Rio down.  I guess he isn’t a master of it though as Del Rio makes the save by pulling Christian through the rungs of the ladder.  Christian slips free, sending Alberto into the corner where the stepladder gets kicked into his face again.

Christian gets laid out on the platform ladder and Del Rio goes up for an elbow/legdrop/splash/whatever.  Christian moves though and the ladder DOESN”T BREAK.  FREAKING OW MAN!  There goes the Canadian but Brodus runs in to move the ladder and pull him down.  Stepladder shot puts Clay down as Del Rio comes back in to take over.  Cross armbreaker with the arm in the ladder makes Christian tap which means nothing.

Christian is busted open so we bust out the towel.  Alberto sets up the ladder and has to take his time as first aid is administered, making this look REALLY FREAKING STUPID.  He goes up but a horn honks and Edge is in a car.  Brodus is busted BAD.  The distraction lets Christian shove Alberto onto Clay and Christian is champion.  One important thing here: Edge stands off to the side for a good while to let Christian celebrate on his own.

Rating: B. Another rather good match here and this is the right move.  I’m skeptical about Christian as champion still, but this was 100% the right call given the circumstances.  He gets the chance to run with things here, despite being 37 now.  It’s a gamble, but it’s not a huge walk the plank one so I don’t have many complaints here.  Rather good match too but nothing we haven’t seen before for the most part.

Edge celebrates with Christian but DOESN’T STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT.

Package on Orton’s movie at a film festival.  I think they’ve figured out the idea here: let the actors do the acting and let the WWE guys have supporting roles.  It’ll do a lot better.

Riley gives Miz a pep talk as the fans can be heard heckling Del Rio.

Tag Titles: Kane/Big Show vs. Wade Barrett/Ezekiel Jackson

 

Lumberjack match here which is really needed as it’s 10:15 and we only had the Raw title match left.  Show vs. Barrett to start us off as Show dominates.  Kane comes in with his low dropkick for two.  Everything breaks down quickly as Show beats up various jobber lumberjacks as Jackson runs over Kane to take over.  Double clothesline puts both guys down as this is a bit of a mess.  It’s a bonus match though so you really can’t complain that much.

Off to Show who cleans a few rooms but gets sent to the floor by Jackson.  Jobbers pound on him which means they’ll be his dinner later.  DH Smith is actually here.  Wow indeed.  They finally get Show back in and Jackson slams him, but Barrett wants the glory.  The glaring between the foreigners allows Show to grab a chokeslam to retain over Barrett.  Just a quick match here.

Rating: D+. Again, it’s a bonus match so you really can’t complain much here.  They filled in the card and pushed the whole Corre breaking down thing.  This was fine for what it was as they weren’t expected to do anything of note.  I’m done will filling in space here but with this sentence I get four lines out of it so I’m happy.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison

 

In a cage and it’s pin, submission or escape.  Miz tries to run but the not brothers John save him.  Midnight Express flapjack puts the champ down as we’re firmly into the three way formula already.  Everyone beats on everyone as the former tag champions……and by that I mean Miz and Morrison…..go up but Cena makes the save.  Miz and Cena fight on the top rope for a bit and down goes Cena.

Morrison tries to make a quick escape as Miz tries a pin but the champion saves.  They sit on top of the cage and slug it out as Booker says they’re 20 or 30 feet in the air.  I give up.  Cena pops up and it’s a double suplex to Miz but they kind of botch it into almost a double brainbuster.  That looked SICK.  Back to the formula again and down goes Morrison.

Cena locks on the STF but Miz tries to escape.  Cena lets go for some reason and no one escapes.  Morrison gets thrown into the cage, only to jump up the wall and almost escape.  He’s a wildcard in this and changes the whole thing, as wildcards are designed to do.  With the Johns on top, Miz tries to go out the door.  Morrison kicks the door onto his head but gets crotched on said door.

Miz wisely pulls Morrison back into the cage because Morrison was about to just fall onto the floor.  Cena gets two on Morrison.  BIG DDT on Cena by Miz gets two.  Miz rams Cena into the cage and Morrison almost escapes, only to be caught again by Miz.  They slug it out on top of the cage again and Miz can’t quite get down.  Miz goes down so Morrison launches a Starship Pain off the cage to take out both guys in a cool spot.

Morrison almost gets out but of course here’s Truth to slam the door on Morrison’s head.  Truth comes into the cage and destroys Morrison.  Axe kick to Cena as Booker is confused.  Jumping downward spiral (NAME THAT MOVE ALREADY!) to Morrison as Truth climbs the cage.  He hasn’t touched Miz.  Truth climbs out of the cage and has the big freaky eyes going on.

Everyone is down now and Miz is the first one up.  He goes to escape, for some reason not going through the door, only to be caught by Cena.  They slug it out with the boo/yay which is required for Cena matches anymore.  Skull Crushing Finale is blocked into a big old FU off the top (stealing moves from Orton Cena?  Really) and Cena is champion again.

Rating: B-. Well we all knew the Truth interference was coming and that Morrison wasn’t walking out with the title which is fine.  The ending sets up a rematch and Truth vs. Morrison which is fine on both counts.  This was a pretty solid main event to a pretty solid show which is always a good sign.  They worked the formula and they worked it well here, so no complaints for the most part.

Overall Rating: A-. Dude this show was pretty awesome.  There are good matches throughout, some history thrown in there and two bonus matches, one of which was pretty good.  This is a lot like TLC: it wasn’t meant to be an epic show but rather fun instead and that’s just what they did here.  Good stuff throughout and not boring at all with everyone working hard.  That’s what you want here and it paid off.  Very good show and rather fun overall.

Results

Randy Orton b. CM Punk when Punk couldn’t answer the ten count

Kofi Kingston b. Sheamus – Boom Drop through a table

Michael Cole/Jack Swagger b. Jim Ross/Jerry Lawler – Cole pinned Ross with a rollup

Rey Mysterio b. Cody Rhodes – Springboard splash

Layla b. Michelle McCool – Crucifix Pin

Christian b. Alberto Del Rio – Christian pulled down the championship

Big Show/Kane b. Ezekiel Jackson/Wade Barrett – Big Show pinned Barrett after a chokeslam

John Cena b. John Morrison and The Miz – Cena pinned Miz after an Attitude Adjustment off the top

Smackdown
Date: April 22, 2011
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Tonight Alberto Del Rio is going to have a going away party for Edge who apparently will be in attendance tonight.  Things are all leading to the Draft on Monday where things are going to get turned upside down as they typically do.  This should be fun as Smackdown was pretty good last week.  They’ve changed their style to more of a squash heavy show which works in a different way than the style they had used before.  Let’s get to it.

We open with the 3 Doors Down video from Raw which works for me as they’re my favorite band.  This is a clipped down version, as in like 45 seconds long.

We also get a recap of the ending of the battle royal last week with Christian winning the spot in the match against Del Rio.

Do you know your enemy?  Mine at the moment is people that can’t understand what “no lettuce” means.

The world title belt is hanging above the ring.

Big Show and Kane vs. Corre for the tag titles later as well as Kofi vs. Barrett for the IC Title.  Didn’t he get a rematch already?

Cole gets a big introduction as Sir Michael Cole.  Wouldn’t he be subservient to King Booker?

 

Cody Rhodes comes out with a paper bag.  There are also people in suits with a shopping cart.  Cody says his mask is for protection but Rey’s is for hiding his fears and hatred for the fans.  He talks about how the fans are all wearing masks as we’re getting philosophical here.  He has a remedy though at his own expense.  In the shopping cart are paper bags with faces cut out of them.  Not quite the cars that Oprah gives away but a nice gift I guess.  Cody has a bag saved for Rey.

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Rey gets a kick in early and we head to the floor.  Rey gets a seated senton off the apron as we take a break.  Back with Cody knocking Rey off the top and taking over.  Cody tries a powerbomb which is reversed for two.  Big old clothesline gets two for Rhodes as Cody is being all psycho.  Dropkick looks to set up the 619 but Cody reverses with a backdrop to the apron.  They fight on said apron with Cody sending Rey into the post as we take ANOTHER break.  We’ve had two breaks with three minutes of actual wrestling to watch.

Back with Cody hammering away as Booker and Cole get into it again.  Rey does the Bret Hart chest into the buckle bump so Cody can ram the mask into the head of Rey.  Booker thinks Cody has amnesia.  What in the world is Booker on anyway?  Rey fights Cody off of the top and gets some high flying stuff including a cross body for two.  The swinging kick to a seated Cody misses as he rolls Rey up for two.

Top rope….something….jumps into a dropkick by Cody for two.  It might have been a cross body but it wasn’t actually cross.  Cody sets for Cross Rhodes but Rey fights out of it.  Another powerbomb is attempted but Rey counters again, this time into a rana for the pin at 7:10 shown of 14:10.

Rating: C+. Well what we saw of it was good.  This will likely be setting up the tiebreaker match at Extreme Rules which I really hope Cody wins.  He has the potential to be a decent main event jobbing heel and I hope they let him do that rather than having him job to Rey like so many others have done in the past.

Cody keeps beating on Rey post match and they go into the crowd for a bit.  They get bored out there I guess as they head back to ringside.  Cody sends Rey into the steps and they fight on the barricade.  Rey sends him into the crowd again and takes over.  Rey LAUNCHES Cody over the railing to send him back towards the ring.  Cody looked like a mannequin flying through the air.  Cody takes over again and hits Cross Rhodes on the floor.  He puts a paper bag over Rey’s head and leaves him laying.

Gabriel and Barrett are in the back and Gabriel says it wasn’t personal when he eliminated him.  Barrett says it was personal and Slater says they both would have sold their mother down the river to get ahead.  Jackson comes up and says calm down because he’s the leader.  Barrett glares at him so Jackson says he’s just kidding.  Barrett and the tag champions still aren’t happy.

We recap Laycool’s therapy from last week.  They had more therapy earlier today and McCool says Layla wouldn’t be here without her.  They argue even more and yell at the therapist.  McCool says maybe they should split because Layla might not be flawless.  Michelle apologizes and they hug to a nice pop.  And never mind as McCool grabs her by the hair and throws her onto the couch.  I’ll let that image sink in for a few moments before I point out it was to hurt Layla.  She cries as McCool leaves.

Cole is in the ring and we see a clip of the knighting and feet kissing thing from Raw.  He brings out Swagger for the following squash.

Jack Swagger vs. Trent Barreta

 

Total squash as Swagger beats him up with ease, hitting the Vader Bomb.  An enziguri hits and Trent tries a springboard, only to get caught in a powerbomb.  Angle lock ends clean at 1:13.

Big Show was at the Kids Choice Awards.

Tag Titles: Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel vs. Big Show/Kane

 

Slater vs. Kane to start as we’re talking about John Kennedy for some reason.  Cole says Booker is jealous because he’s not a King anymore.  Maybe he’s an 8 or 9 but not a King.  Show comes in for some pounding and it’s back off to Kane.  Slater gets a shot to the knee and immediately tags out.  Gabriel comes in and before he takes two steps takes a right hand from Kane to take him down.  That looked great!

Kane goes up but Jackson shoves him off to set up the Ricky Morton stint.  Slater grabs a chinlock and tags out again to Justin.  Gabriel at least makes it more than a few seconds before getting drilled this time that’s an upgrade for him.  Kane pops him with another hard sounding shot and tries the side slam.  Gabriel reverses into a spinning DDT for two.  Slater comes off the top and Kane pops him as well.  He’s been sharp with those punches in this.

Hot tag to Show who cleans house.  Slater gets sent to the floor onto Jackson and Kane hits that uppercut on Jackson as well.  He must have been following his brother with only big right hands or uppercuts.  Anyway Slater runs into Big Show and we remember who is who here, meaning the chokeslam gives us new champion at 4:04.  Kane and Big Show were never once in anything resembling jeopardy here.

Rating: D+. Pretty boring match here but Kane’s uppercuts, while basic, were cool looking as they made every member of the Corre go flying.  Also they didn’t make things ridiculous by having the two small guys fight against the monsters which would have been a good bit realistic.  Not much here but the right ending and it gives the English fans something special to remember.

The Corre argues in the back with Jackson blaming Slater for getting pinned and Slater shoving Gabriel and walking away.

Drew McIntyre vs. Chris Masters

 

When is the last time Masters won a match that wasn’t on Superstars?  Masters shoves him into the corner to start and sends Drew to the apron.  Masterlock out there doesn’t work so Chris blasts him to the apron.  Back in and Drew wakes up a bit as he hammers away for two.  Futureshock is reversed into a small package for two.  Sky High gets two for Masters as he makes a nice comeback.  Middle rope shoulder gets two and he goes for the Masterlock again.  Drew walks up the corner and slams back onto Masters to reverse.  Futureshock ends this at 3:35.  Nice pop for McIntyre.

Rating: C. Better match here with Masters looking competitive again but eventually he has to beat someone.  He really needs a move that is a pinning move like a powerbomb or something as most heels simply aren’t going to give up to end a match.  That Sky High of his could work.  If he gets some pins with it then it makes him a far better threat to anyone else he fights, which he really isn’t at the moment.

Raw ReBound is the R-Truth heel turn from Raw.  The video they have is the one from NXT which is much better than the actual turn itself.  Eats up about 4:30.

We recap the Rhodes/Mysterio match and post match stuff from earlier.  The match at the PPV will be falls count anywhere.  That fits with the crowd thing earlier I guess.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett

 

Jackson is with Barrett.  Kofi hammers away to start as Booker says Kofi worries about the fans too much.  Barrett gets a boot in to take over.  Kofi sends him to the floor and hits a BIG cross body to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Barrett holding a bow and arrow hold on Kingston.  During the break Barrett sent Kofi into the steps to take over.

Back to the floor again as Barrett might have a bad wrist or hand.  Jackson accidentally takes Barrett out and we head back in.  Barrett yells at Jackson and sends him to the back.  Small package gets two for Kofi and it’s comeback (was he ever in trouble) time.  Boom Drop hits and Kofi sets for Trouble in Paradise.  Wade catches him in a fireman’s carry and puts Kofi on top.  Kofi tries a victory roll/rollup off the ropes but Barrett kneels down and grabs the ropes for the pin at 4:24 shown of 7:54.  Well that was short.

Rating: C-. Kofi’s big spots were nice but he needs to go to Raw.  There is nothing left for him to do on Smackdown and it’s very clear.  He hasn’t had any direction in forever and he needs a change of scenery.  This was a pretty weak match overall but the time is to blame for that.  Even though the whole thing was almost 8 minutes, just seeing about four and a half didn’t work.  Not a fan of this one but it was ok from a technical standpoint.

Time for Alberto’s party for Edge.  Clay and Rodriguez are there with him of course.  There are presents apparently and they’re under sheets.  Alberto pulls the first sheet off and it’s a grandfather clock.  Gift number two: adult diapers.  Make you own jokes there.  The third gift is her.

Cue LITA of all people….and it’s a fat chick.  Yeah I think we all saw that coming.  Del Rio says she never looked better.  Edge can go on a romantic stroll with her because he has this: a walker.  Time for the final gift which is a motorized scooter driven by Ricardo.  He does the Edge pose for the pyro to go off.  Oh and it comes complete with a handicap parking pass.

Cue Edge, looking a bit more like himself in jeans and a t-shirt with sunglasses.  Edge RSVPed on Facebook (that was on the graphic every time they showed it tonight) and this party sucks.  After some bad insults, Del Rio sends Brodus after Edge.  Christian pops up from nowhere with a ladder to drill Brodus and Del Rio as Alberto charges.  Christian sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring and pulls down the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Considering this was one of the England show, this worked pretty well I though.  They let it be a regular show instead of a boring one like they tend to have on the British episodes.  Things are kind of on hold until the Draft which is a problem as we have the PPV right around the corner.  Cody was good tonight and the PPV is a good place to blow that feud off at.  Solid show overall and it worked rather well.  Good stuff.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. Cody Rhodes – Hurricanrana

Jack Swagger b. Trent Barreta – Ankle Lock

Big Show/Kane b. Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel – Chokeslam to Slater

Drew McIntyre b. Chris Masters – Futureshock

Wade Barrett b. Kofi Kingston – Rollup

Smackdown
Date: April 15, 2011
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Well all of a sudden this is a far different looking show.  As of Monday, Edge, the current World Heavyweight Champion, has to retire immediately due to neck problems.  Obviously this changes everything for both Extreme Rules and Smackdown as we’re going to have to crown a new champion.  I’d bet we’ll find out something about that tonight.  Let’s get to it.

This is a version where the commercials haven’t been edited in yet, so when they go to a break the match continues right where it left off so the traditional 3:30 won’t be added.  The show also has a long post main event segment which I’d bet is after the cameras went off and since the whole video is two hours, I doubt it’ll air on TV.  This is a bonus for you I suppose.

The opening video is of course about Edge and how he has to relinquish the title after retaining it at Wrestlemania.  The line used is destiny can change in the blink of an eye.

No theme song this week as Ricardo Rodriquez brings out Alberto.  The car of the night is a 1950 Rolls Royce.  He says his name but tonight isn’t about him.  WWE lost a hero on Monday.  He’s held more titles than anyone ever in company history, which is surprising for some reason.  It was Alberto’s destiny to be champion but he didn’t expect it like this.  He does however think it’s fair that the title be surrendered to him.

After a long delay, here’s Teddy.  No one is going to present Alberto with anything tonight.  Teddy says that Del Rio did win the right to fight in a ladder match at that PPV and that’s what he’s going to do.  The opponent for Alberto will be determined in tonight’s main event: a 20 man over the top rope battle royal.  Alberto says it’s a conspiracy.  This is in WWE, not TNA dude.  Del Rio takes credit for retiring Edge and Teddy says shut up and leaves.

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Kofi Kingston

 

The rest of Corre is on commentary here.  Barrett says he won the title on his own and Slater isn’t sure he agrees.  Jackson shoves Kofi away to start and Barrett says Jackson isn’t all that smart.  Jackson is a scary looking man.  We talk about the battle royal a bit and Barrett says the Corre is going to work together to make sure Barrett gets the title shot.  Slater and Gabriel both disagree.

Booker says the back of Jackson’s head looks like a tsunami hit it.  Not the best choice of words there former King.  We hit the floor and Jackson press slams Kofi onto Corre, wiping them out.  Back into the ring, Kofi tries the SOS but Barrett tries to get in.  Jackson takes advantage of the distraction and hits his release Rock Bottom (and no I won’t call it a Uranage) to end this at 2:22.  Short and mostly dominant here.

Jackson says he’s going to dominate the battle royal tonight.  Well according to his own song everything he does in life he dominates.

We see Laycool’s couples counseling with a therapist that looks like Paul Giamatti.  Layla is holding Michelle’s hand for some reason and says they’re like Bert and Ernie or Thelmer (yes Thelmer) and Louise.  “So now you’re comparing us to two puppets and two characters that drove off a cliff?”  The bluntness in that made me chuckle.  Layla asks Michelle how her back is and Michelle says it’s hurt since she’s been carrying Layla since day one.  The doctor is shushed and Michelle rips into Layla and is a total jerk to her before leaving.  Layla was borderline face here.

Back to the arena with Cody in the ring with a hood over his face.  He doesn’t feel anything anymore and tonight he’s going to hurt Rey tonight in the battle royal.  Rey is a father and there may not be any monsters in his kids’ closets but he wants Rey to become the monster they’re afraid of.  He’s going to make sure that happens but here’s Rey to interrupt and start a brawl.  619 misses but Rey eventually manages to get one in the ribs and send Cody running.

Kong vignette which is rather awesome.

Rey Mysterio vs. Drew McIntyre

 

How in the world did Drew fall so far in just a year?  Also I guess the whole Kelly thing is just going to be abandoned?  Drew absolutely towers over Rey.  He grabs a powerslam for two on Rey as we talk about the battle royal a lot.  Booker thinks Drew can be a world champion.  That’s so cute.  Snap suplex gets two for McIntyre.

Rey fights him off and uses some of his speed/high flying stuff to fight Drew off.  The fans really don’t seem to care as we head to the floor.  Drew rams him into the railing in a swinging powerbomb motion as we take a break.  Back with Drew holding Rey in an armbar.  Booker thinks Drew is Wade Barrett for some reason.  I thought it was Thomas Tallahassee Jefferson or something but whatever.

Drew counters a headscissors into a backbreaker and we hit the chinlock.  Booker messes up the name again and it’s back off to the armbar.  Rey avoids a corner charge to send Drew’s shoulder into the post.  Seated senton off the top and here comes Rey.  Springboard cross body gets two.  Big boot nearly takes Rey’s head off for two.

Powerbomb is blocked so Drew shifts to a hot shot.  Rey escapes and lands on the middle rope and hits a nice tornado DDT for another two.  In a very odd looking finish, Rey reverses a clothesline into a 619 and goes up for the splash.  The odd looking part is that Rey jumps for the splash while McIntyre is still on his feet.  Drew falls quickly and the splash hits to end this at 9:20.

Rating: B-. This started pretty boring but the stuff after the break had a lot more near falls and better looking moves, making it a better match.  I don’t think the ending was ever in doubt, but that’s what the position of jobber to the stars was invented for and that’s exactly what Drew is at this point.  That’s kind of a shame too but it is what it is.

Edge is walking to the ring and various people applaud him and hug him.  He runs into Kane and gets a handshake, I guess which says “sorry for the whole causing your dad’s death thing.  His….3^rd death I believe.”

Here’s Edge in his suit and sunglasses to surrender the title.  The fans chant thank you Edge and he says he’ll never get tired of hearing that.  He says this has made him think about a lot of things, like his entrance and how insane some of the matches he’s been in have been.  Wow Edge has been in a lot of gimmick matches.  Edge thinks his music is the coolest in WWE and he thanks Alter Bridge for it.  He wants to do his entrance one more time.  He’s going to go up the ramp and come out to the song one more time.  And that’s exactly what he does.

Edge does his full entrance again, complete with pyro and heads back to the ring.  Cool moment there.  He says he’s out of shape already because that tired him out.  Edge talks about how good it was that the doctors caught this early before he got hurt even worse and couldn’t get up.  He’s happy about everything he gets to do now, including wearing one of his two suits.  He bought it for $100 at JC Penny.  Well at least he’s honest.

His first world title came here in Albany so this place is special to him.  He also came up with the name Edge in Albany.  Edge’s mom is here tonight too.  What’s her name?  Cliff?  The fans chant “Thank you mom” which is rather funny.  Edge thanks her for everything and says that without her he wouldn’t be here.  Well yeah there was that whole giving birth thing.

He shifts over to the title and says that everyone holds a piece of it.  But now it’s time to do what he came here to do: relinquish the title.  Edge thanks the fans again and puts the belt down in the middle of the ring before leaving to go hug his mom.  That’s a sad moment at first but at the end of the day, it’s for his own good for the sake of his neck and his health.  Classy speech too.

That’s What I Am trailer.

Rosa Mendes says something to Edge in Spanish and Edge says he has no idea what she just said but she had him at quiero.  Alberto pops up behind him and offers a handshake but Edge leaves.

Kelly Kelly vs. Layla

 

On the way to the ring we recap the tag match last week with Michelle’s bad back.  Josh says he doesn’t buy it and asks Michelle about it.  She says no one ever accused him of being smart.  Layla goes off on Kelly to start but gets taken down and hammered on.  Cole and Michael chat a bit as Booker asks about the back injury.  Out to the floor and Kelly rams Layla’s face into the floor.  Layla is almost sent through the Cole Mine and is almost counted out before Michelle throws her back in.  Kelly gets the easy pin at 2:08.

Laycool argues post match and Michelle drills her.

The Raw Rewind is the announcement of the tag match at the PPV.

Booker wants to know how Cole could be that stupid.  Cole apologizes to Jack which I doubt will get him anywhere.

We get the same video from Raw talking about how awesome HHH vs. Undertaker was.

Battle Royal

 

Big Show, Brodus Clay, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Curt Hawkins, Drew McIntyre, Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater, Jack Swagger, JTG, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Trent Barreta, Tyler Reks, Wade Barrett, Yoshi Tatsu

There is a TON of time left for this so it’s getting the big match treatment.  Alberto is on the floor also.  Kane comes out last when most people came in during the commercial.  Booker says someone has to make a pact with someone else.  There we go and I’m not going to try to call this for the most part.  Show throws JTG out to get us down 5% already.  Barreta tries to get Show out and guess what happens.  Yeah we’re down to 18.

Something I’ve always wondered: other than the final guys, is there a set order to the eliminations?  I mean I know the big stars have marching orders, but for guys like say Chavo (assuming he doesn’t make it to the final few people) is he supposed to stay in for like 8 minutes and then go when he has an opening to be eliminated, or is he told that he goes out say 7^th via Trouble in Paradise for instance?  I’ve always been curious about that.  Anyone know anything regarding that?

Anyway, Show gets the knockout punch to put Slater out and get us down to 17.  Slater is a great seller.  Show charges at Jackson and BOTH go out!  Wow I wouldn’t have bet on that one.  Del Rio applauding that is a nice touch.  Swagger and Reks can’t get Kofi out as we take a break.  We come back and nothing has changed.  They’re in the exact same place with maybe 3 seconds of time going by.  Ok then.  For the sake of timing at the end of the match I won’t be adding the 3:30 for that.

We get to the part of the show where everyone hammers on everyone and nothing is really happening.  Kofi fires some kicks at Swagger as Cole sucks up to Swagger.  Cody goes over the top but catches himself on the apron, only for Rey to hit him in the face and put him down.  Rey doubles up and gets Hawkins out with a forward roll out of an electric chair.  Kind of like a victory roll minus the pin.

Brodus takes out I think McIntyre as Chavo jumps on Clay’s back.  Chavo is gone and yes it was McIntyre.  Kane and Clay have our battle of the monsters and Kane beats him down with ease until like an idiot he tries a chokeslam.  Headbutt to the chest stops Kane but the big fried freak manages to fight back and send the big fat tub of goo up and over as we take a break.  Nothing changes again so we don’t add in 3:30 here either.  That’s really weird to see.

Barrett tries to throw Kofi but Kofi hangs on and tries to skin the cat.  I say tries to because he gets tossed out by the IC Champion.  We’re down to roughly 8-9 at this point.  There goes Reks at the hands of Christian and we are indeed down to eight.  The remaining competitors: Swagger, Mysterio, Kane, Christian, Tatsu, Gabriel, Masters and Barrett.  As I type that Christian tosses Yoshi and we’re down to seven.

Booker says everyone should go after Kane which isn’t a bad idea.  Kane goes after the members of Corre but they manage to toss him to get us to six.  They’re the only two standing as well.  Barrett goes after Masters who fights back with some valor.  Masters is sent to the apron and like an IDIOT puts the Masterlock on while on the apron.  Barrett breaks it with relative ease and kicks Masters in the face to eliminate him.  Gabriel sneaks up on Barrett and we’re down to four!  It’s Christian, Gabriel, Mysterio and Swagger.

Rey vs. Gabriel and Swagger vs. Christian are the pairings.  Rey sends Gabriel into the 619 position but can’t connect.  Gabriel charges, only to get caught in a headscissors and put out.  Christian has put Swagger down but not out and squares off with Rey.  Christian is put down but not out and Swagger tosses Rey but Rey holds on.  Rey comes back with a rana off the top that sends Swagger into 619 position.

Cole jumps up on the apron and takes the brunt of the move to score points with Swagger I guess.  Rey goes after Swagger when he realizes what’s going on and tries what can best be described as a monkey flip position to get him out.  Swagger holds on though and tosses Rey to get us down to Christian vs. Swagger.  Vader Bomb is countered but Christian can’t shove him out.

Back to Swagger in control as Cole is more or less dead on the floor.  They’re both on the apron and Christian tries the pendulum kick, only for Swagger to catch the ankle in the ankle lock for a nice counter.  Christian tries to toss him but Swagger kicks him in the chest to break that up with ease.  Christian is tossed to the apron but like an idiot heel, Swagger stops looking and Christian gets back up.  Del Rio tries to pull Christian off but can’t do it either.  Swagger charges and Christian puts him out at 17:00.

Rating: B-. Good match here with Swagger vs. Christian being a nice ending to it.  I don’t think anyone doubted who would win but it’s the right choice given who he’s replacing.  Battle royals are hard to grade but this one certainly was pretty good.  Nothing was bad and it didn’t get boring, so this worked fine.

Edge comes out to celebrate and Del Rio stares them down.  This is where I’d bet the show goes off the air.  I’m sorry if this is confusing but this is the version I found at the site I use and I can’t watch it as it airs.

Christian gets a mic and it’s time for a 5 second pose!  They even do the hands at the sides which is very cool to see.  The locker room comes out and everyone, faces and heels alike, applaud Edge.  That’s always cool to see.  Edge starts crying as he and Big Show hug.  Chavo and Rey come in and hug him also.  And here comes HHH!

He’s getting the Vince walk going so you can tell he’s waiting to get in charge.  The ring clears out other than Edge.  He goes to the apron but climbs back in and picks up the mic.  He says he didn’t know this was coming and it was the ultimate show of respect.  Edge talks about how this is great and he loves being respected by his peers.  He especially talks about Taker (not there) and Kane who he calls one of his best friends in the business.

He talks about everyone that sets up the show, down to the production people and the graphic designers and the catering.  If he goes into the Hall of Fame he can thank all of them too.  He even thanks the writers (yes he said writers) and names a few them individually.  He thanks Vince, specifically saying it’s not Mr. McMahon.  Vince apparently was the one that thought he could run with the World Title.  He’s afraid to thank Booker because it would mean an Edge-a-Rooni which hurt the only time he tried it at Wrestlemania.

The fans chant Hall of Fame and Edge says he wants to thank people he’s worked with over the years.  He says Vickie and the people boo.  Edge says that’s a sign of how great she is.  He thanks Lita for all the fun they’ve had over the years.  “Hey get your minds out of the gutters…..even though we did.”  And now, he thanks Christian.  He talks bout them growing up together and wanting to be tag champions and at Wrestlemania 16, that’s exactly what they did.

Christian has been there all the time for him and Edge wants to see where he goes.  The Edgeheads should get behind him if they could.  He says he’s said enough and the fans boo slightly.  He says he doesn’t have any spears left in him and he’s gotten to live his dream.  He has no complaints and he’s had an amazing life and a lot of that is due to the fans.  If anyone sees him come up and talk to him.

He’ll always be part of the WWE in some respect so we’ll probably see him again.  He’s going off the radar for awhile though so he can be with his dogs.  A fan shouts to give his mom a hug and he says like you have to tell me to do that.  A huge thank you Edge chant takes us back to Alter Bridge.  Edge goes out to thank the commentators and high five some fans.  He hugs his family and goes up the ramp, throws his arms up and walks to the back, ending the show.  I really hope this is put on DVD somewhere at some point as it’s awesome stuff.

Overall Rating: B. Good show here and the rating isn’t including the post show stuff.  They had to throw this together at the last minute due to the injury and we got good stuff out of it.  The post show stuff was a nice treat that you should track down as it’s a very classy exit for him.  Good show that handled a surprising change very well and left you with a good feeling.

Results

Ezekiel Jackson b. Kofi Kingston – Release Mat Slam

Rey Mysterio b. Drew McIntyre – Top Rope Splash

Kelly Kelly b. Layla – Kelly pinned Layla after ramming her into the Cole Mine

Christian won a battle royal by last eliminating Jack Swagger

Smackdown
Date: April 8, 2011
Location: Times Union Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

We’re kind of in the new year here on Fridays as Edge is still World Champion.  Tonight we’ll probably start the build to Extreme Rules.  Since we’ve kind of passed go here, it’s rather hard to tell what else is going to go on.  It should be interesting as things usually are on this show.  Let’s get to it.

The theme song opens us up.  I guess the enemy this week is wrestling as this isn’t a wrestling company anymore.  The fact that Vince thinks this will get them more accepted by the mainstream is absolutely hysterical and head shaking at the same time.

Cue Alberto minus his car.  Is there a reason why he doesn’t have one as he apparently has like 50 of them?  He says that destiny can be delayed as it was at Wrestlemania.  He blames Edge and Christian for delaying his destiny and destroying his car.  It’s not about the money though, but those cars are like his children.  He starts to talk about revenge but is cut off by Edge.

Edge comes out in a tow truck which is pulling the Rolls Royce.  Nice bit there.  He says that if this car is like his child, Del Rio needs to love it unconditionally.  With a little tender loving care it can be fine again.  Edge pulls out some spray paint and writes something that I think was just scribbles.  Del Rio says he almost got him to tap out at Mania but Edge points out that he didn’t do it.  Alberto wants a rematch and Edge says no because there are people more deserving of title shots.

The driver of the tow truck honks the horn and it’s Christian.  Edge says Christian has beaten Del Rio multiple times so obviously Christian is ahead of Del Rio in line.  Here’s Teddy who makes Del Rio vs. Christian for the shot at Extreme Rules.  The match at the PPV will be a ladder match.

We’ll get to see Cena and Rock again tonight.  By that I mean the same thing from Raw.  They say highlights though which helps a bit.

There’s a rematch of the 8 man tag from Mania next that Josh says has a twist tonight that they’ll explain when we come back.  Now I’m no genius, but given that the graphic of the match says “2 out of 3 falls”, I’m thinking it’s in a cage.  I could be wrong though.

Corre vs. Big Show/Kane/Kofi Kingston/Santino Marella

 

We get a clip from the PPV of Show knocking out Slater and that looked AWESOME.  Kofi’s tights are lime green tonight.  It looked like there was a small edit during Kofi’s entrance but I could be wrong.  The video and song seemed to jump forward a bit.  Gabriel vs. Santino to start us off.  Slater comes in quickly and Corre takes over.  Remember that this is 2/3 falls.

Santino reverses a right hand into a throw and it’s off to Kane.  Show beats on him for a bit also and we get the Andre/Snuka splash with Kofi on top of Slater for two.  He sets for Trouble in Paradise but Gabriel and Barrett make the save as we go to a break.  Back with Kane working over the Intercontinental Champion in the corner.  Booker sounds out of breath for some reason.

Off to Jackson to face Kane.  Jackson gets Kane into the corner and Corre alternates in and out very quickly to hammer away on him.  Finally it’s off to Gabriel who gets a missile dropkick on Kane for two.  Kane finally remembers he’s fighting a cruiserweight and launches Gabriel to the mat.  Off to Kofi who cleans house and gets the first fall off a top rope cross body at 5:30 shown of 9:00.  Kofi looks shocked that he actually got a pin.

We take another break and come back with Slater vs. Santino.  Booker keeps going on and on about being ahead on points or something like that.  Santino escapes a sleeper but is taken down by a forearm for two.  Santino speeds things up and loads up the Cobra (I still can’t believe a move that Jon Lovitz taught him caught on like it did) but gets his head kicked off by Barrett.  Wasteland ties us up at 7:23 shown of 14:23.

Why doesn’t Barrett just cover him again?  There was no mention of a rest period or anything like that.  Barrett hammers away and it’s off to Slater again.  Jackson comes in and this should be a slaughter.  Clothesline in the corner gets two as Big Show DIVES to make the save.  Off to Gabriel and we hit the chinlock.  Show starts a weak Santino chant.

Gabriel misses a cannonball kind of move and it’s off to Kane.  Big side slam to Barrett gets two as does the top rope clothesline.  Everything breaks down as Corre takes over.  Kane sets for a chokeslam but all of Corre comes in to take him out for the DQ in the third fall at 11:10 shown of 18:10 (assuming 3:30 for commercials.  I watch a preairing from Australia so it’s hard to say for sure).

Rating: B-. Nice long match here to treat this like a match that deserved to be on Wrestlemania.  I like that they allowed this to play out so that Corre doesn’t look completely inept.  Also, when’s the last time you remember getting a nearly 20 minute match on free TV after getting a 15 minute one on Raw?  This worked rather well and was better than I expected.

The winners beat up Corre post match, including a triple (Santino helped) chokeslam to Jackson.

Sin Cara is still coming, even though he’s already been on Raw.

Cody Rhodes vs. Trent Barreta

 

I love Cody’s character right now.  At the forums I post on someone made a great point: Cody’s reaction to this is all the more psychological because everyone can see he looks exactly the same but in his mind he’s hideous now.  That’s very interesting.  Cody takes him down quickly and hammers away.  Trent gets a springboard dropkick to get two though so maybe this won’t be a total squash.  Russian leg sweep gets two for Cody.  This is the aggressive Rhodes as he sends Trent into the post shoulder first and Cross Rhodes ends this at 1:30.  Ok so maybe it was a squash.  Too short to rate.

Post match Cody beats on Trent some more until Rey makes the save.

We get the Rock vs. Cena confrontation from Raw again.  Eats up almost 15 minutes.  I get that it’s a major moment, but you could easily trim it down by at least half.  There’s no real need to use 1/8 of your total show and about 1/5 of your TV time to just show a segment from the more watched show.  I get that it’s huge, but they do this every week.  I’m curious about Corre if nothing else.

Edge says he hopes Christian wins because he’d love to have a ladder match with Christian.  Christian implies he’d win in the ladder match and says Edge can cheer for Alberto if he likes.  The camera stays on Christian after Edge leaves and he looks at the belt which Edge forgot.  Edge comes back and Christian says keep an eye on that, referring to the belt.  No sign of tension or anything here.

Laycool vs. Kelly Kelly/Beth Phoenix

 

Is Natalya injured or something?  I haven’t seen her in months.  Apparently she’s been on Superstars.  Ok then.  Josh asks Cole why he’s not in his singlet tonight.  Cole almost says he’s not wrestling tonight but cuts himself off to say entertaining.  The level of idiocy of this continues to astound me.  So remember people: this is an entertainment feature, not a match.  So in other words we have girls in small outfits performing choreographed moves while coming out to hip hop/R&B music while on a platform above the guests and gyrating around with other women.  Sound familiar to anyone else?

Beth vs. Michelle to start us off with Beth destroying her.  Michelle is knocked into Layla so Layla is yelled at.  Backbreaker gets two for Beth.  Layla is tagged in as Laycool argues.  After a scary press slam, Kelly is brought in and does her Tarantula kind of move to Layla.  X Factor gets two.  Layla reaches for a tag and McCool falls to the floor like Layla did, allowing Kelly to roll Layla up for the pin at 2:50.  Far more story advancement than match and that’s fine.

Laycool argues in the aisle.

We get a clip from Raw of Cole spraying barbecue sauce on Lawler.  In the arena Cole asks who shot JR.  HE DID!  Cole brings out Swagger who says training Cole was easy because Cole is smart and talented.  Swagger declares Cole the new Mr. Wrestlemania.  They take a victory lap but some music hits.  It’s Sin Cara who does his trampoline jump into the ring and takes Swagger down using a variety of speed moves including a corkscrew plancha to the floor.

We get the end of the Miz/Austin clip from Raw which was good.

Layla comes up to Michelle in the back and hands her a paper.  They’re going to have couples counseling.  Michelle says they’re not a couple.  Layla says just show up.

Decent length video recapping the Hall of Fame inductions.

Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio

 

Lot of time for this one.  We take a break before Christian’s entrance which is a nice perk because it means there will be some more time before the first break in the match.  Edge comes out to be on commentary.  Edge isn’t sure who he prefers to face as Christian is good with the ladders also.  Edge has been in 19 ladder matches.  That’s insane.

Christian takes Del Rio down with a headlock to start us off.  Both are sent to the floor at different times with Christian being the last one in the ring.  Big dropkick sends Del Rio crashing onto the floor again.  We take a break and come back with Christian being slammed into the steps.  Del Rio takes over and chokes him on the ropes back in the ring.

Time to start on the arm now as is Del Rio’s custom.  Christian fires off a bit right hand and goes up which gets him nowhere.  Well he went up but it didn’t advance him in the match anywhere.  Maybe I should just move on.  Superplex puts both guys down and Christian plays possum to get a cradle for two.  Edge is ripping into Cole here and it’s rather funny stuff.

Back to the floor again with both guys via a Cactus Clothesline from Christian.  Better than up their noses with a rubber hose I guess.  Christian fights back and gets an elbow off the middle rope for two.  Top rope cross body gets two.  Ricky Steamboat he is not.  Killswitch is reversed into an attempt at the armbreaker but that is broken up also.  Del Rio sends him into the corner and grabs the armbreaker but Christian gets a rope.  Christian sets for something but Brodus stops him.  Edge spears Brodus but the distraction allows Del Rio to hit the enziguri off the top for the pin at 10:30 shown of 14:00.

Rating: C+. Surprisingly enough this wasn’t very good.  It’s not bad but I couldn’t get into this one at all.  They were trying but at the same time nothing ever really got going.  Del Rio winning is probably the best choice as Edge vs. Christian is a potentially big match that needs to be on a big stage.  That being said I think we can pencil it in for Over the Limit.  Not bad, but I wasn’t huge on this one.

Overall Rating: B. Good show this week as it was very wrestling heavy and we had multiple storylines advanced at the same time.  Things seem to be staying the same after Mania but that’s ok I guess as it tends to be the custom after Mania.  Good show here but then again that’s par for the course here.  They’ve gotten very good at the use of squashes to advance stories which is incredibly hard to do in today’s product.  Solid show overall here though.

Results

Kane/Big Show/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston b. Corre via DQ when all four members of Corre were in the ring at the same time

Cody Rhodes b. Trent Barreta – Cross Rhodes

Beth Phoenix/Kelly Kelly b. Laycool – Kelly Kelly pinned Layla with a rollup

Alberto Del Rio b. Christian – Enziguri

Smackdown
Date: March 25, 2011
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

After last week’s awesome show we’re here at the last real show before the big one.  Next week is going to be a clip/review/highlight show which I can’t say I blame them for.  I’d want to get to Atlanta as intact as I could also.  Probably more with Alberto vs. Christian/Edge tonight which I really hope doesn’t turn into a triple threat at Mania.  Anyway let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event inside the cage and the big beatdowns that followed, one to Edge and one to Christian.  Edge has a bad arm now due to Del Rio and his Conchairto to the arm.

Edge is complaining to Teddy about the injuries.  There’s been a ruling apparently that Edge thinks is geared towards Alberto.  Teddy insists it’s in the best interests of the company.  Edge can’t touch Del Rio and vice versa or they’re both off Mania.  The classics never die.

Theme song hits.  Get your reinforcements.  And get a new joke for me because that one has gotten really old.

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

 

Not a bad way to start things off.  This is another Wrestlemania Rewind match.  We hear a lot about Cody, more or less saying he’ll be making an appearance in this match.  We get a clip from the bus incident from Monday which is just a failure.  This feud started out white hot and is now awful.  Wow we’re only 9 nights away from Mania.  That’s awesome.

Punk takes him into the corner and stomps away to start us off.  Rey speeds things up a bit and gets a headscissors to send Punk into the 619 position.  Big swinging kick to Punk’s head gets two.  Springboard cross body misses and here comes Punk.  They’re going through the motions here which is rather odd from these two.  Can Booker say anything besides “almost got him right there”?

Abdominal stretch goes on which doesn’t last long as Punk is sent out to the floor.  Rey jumps on his shoulders but is launched ribs first into the barrier.  Back with Punk in control in the ring with a body scissors.  Punk uses various offense on the ribs which makes perfect sense.  The fans chant 619 and Punk smiles.  Cross body gets two for CM.

An attempt at a second cross body off the top eats a dropkick though and both guys are down for a few seconds.  Rey uses some leverage to send Punk out to the floor and hits an Asai Moonsault to take Punk down.  And just as it was obvious about, here’s Cody to send Rey into the post for the DQ at 5:30 shown of 9:00.

Rating: B-. This was good while it lasted but the length and the ending hurt it a bit.  They started off going through the motions but it got better after the break.  See what happens when you put good workers together and give them a few minutes?  You get a pretty good match.  What are the odds of that?

Cody beats up Rey post match and exposes a metal knee brace which he rams into the head of Mysterio to leave him laying.  Nice little touch of continuity there.

Edge is in his locker room when Christian comes in.  Christian isn’t sure that Edge fighting Drew McIntyre later is a good idea.  Edge says it’s cool and that he’ll be in Christian’s corner against Alberto.

Undertaker responds to HHH later tonight.  Dude can they do ANYTHING but respond to each other?

Edge vs. Drew McIntyre

Both guys have cool music.  What in the world happened to Drew?  He was the hottest thing in the world what, six months ago?  Tiffany better be awesome in bed to cost him this much of a push.  Edge stomps a Canadian mudhole into Drew but Drew goes right after Edge’s arm like a smart man.  The psychology has been good here tonight.  After some more work on the arm, Drew goes up and Edge is able to pull him off.

So much for the momentum though as Edge can’t use the Edgecution.  That’s a good thing as instead of just shaking his arm, Edge is selling the move to the point that he can’t use his offense.  Little things like those make a big difference.  Futureshock is reversed by a backdrop and it’s the Edgecator (the kneeling Sharpshooter hold) for the tap out at 2:25.  No rating but this was fine.  Edge spears Drew post match.

The Taker/HHH video from Smackdown eats up a few minutes.

Kelly Kelly/Rosa Mendes vs. Laycool

 

Laycool is dressed up like Snooki including the hairdo.  The non Flawless girls take then down and it’s a big brawl to start.  This is totally nothing as it’s more or less just a quick brawl with Layla beating Rosa in 1:08 with the Layout.

Laycool runs down their Mania opponents and say that Snooki may be famous but she’ll never be *fist pump* flawless.

We recap Corre vs. Show/Kane last week and the big beatdown.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett

 

Kofi fires off some strikes and gets two off a dropkick.  Lots of early covers by Kofi here.  Corre is outside the ring, meaning in this match we have: a guy from Ghana (Ghanan?  Ghanian?  I’m really not sure what the right term is there), an Englishman, a South African, a South American and an American.  It’s remarkable how international WWE is getting, including people like Sheamus, Mason Ryan and Sin Cara.  Good idea too.

Kofi tries to go to the middle rope for something with his back to Barrett but gets kicked off as Barrett takes over.  Big boot puts Kofi on the floor.  That looked great.  Boss Man Slam gets two and it’s off to a bow and arrow.  Middle rope elbow misses for Barrett and here comes Kingston.  The cross body gets two and there’s the Boom Drop.  He sets for Trouble in Paradise but Corre distracts him.  The delay doesn’t really work as Kofi fires the kick but Barrett ducks and catches Kofi on his shoulders for the Wasteland.  That was awesome looking and it gives Barrett the title at 5:10.

Rating: B-. I like Barrett’s in ring style and this was a good example of that.  He mixes things up out there and it works rather well when he gets to use his various stuff.  Most importantly though: this gives Barrett something.  He hadn’t won anything since the first season of NXT and now he has something concrete on his resume.  That’s been lacking for him so I’m well pleased here.  Pretty good match too.

Alberto wants to hurt Edge but Teddy says he’s not allowed.  Albert says Teddy doesn’t have the guts to ban him from Mania.  Teddy says there have been 26 Wrestlemanias without Del Rio and Teddy can make it 27.  That was a good comeback actually.

Cue Undertaker with the Johnny Cash music so I guess it’s staying.  He stays on the stage to address HHH.  Taker says the more things change, the more they stay the same.  HHH thinks he can break the Streak, which is what everyone has said.  Taker says that soon HHH will learn he can’t do it.  This is all going to be said to HHH’s face on Monday.

HHH’s number is coming up and everything goes on the line at Mania.  That number is nineteen.  Good ending to the promo, but good grief I could not be less hyped about this match if I tried to be.  The lack of contact has really hurt it a lot.  Also the lack of an actual reason for them to fight.

Jack Swagger vs. R-Truth

 

We get a clip from Monday of Swagger beating up Lawler.  Truth’s singing sounds off.  Cole goes into full on psycho heel mode here as we get going.  Belly to belly by Swagger gets two.  Cole and Booker get into a cheerleading contest as Swagger takes over.  Truth pulls the top rope down and a charging Swagger hits the floor.

Truth seems to be limping a bit and he dives out to the floor.  He’s clearly not on full strength as that dive was weak looking and he landed on his shoulder it seemed.  Back in the ring and Truth goes up, only to get dropped and have his leg caught in the rope.  Swagger gives Truth’s leg a DDT and the ankle lock ends it at 2:50.  Cole talks about being in a dojo with Swagger which freaks Booker out.  Just a glorified squash for Swagger here.

Cole “raps” to Truth post match and runs him down.  He and Swagger take a victory lap.  That’s going to be an epic beating when it finally happens.  I’d love to see an army of people come out and hit their finishers on him like what happened to Bischoff at the first One Night Stand.

We see the ending of Raw with the Miz/Cena segment which was great.

That transitions into running down the Mania card.  Del Rio’s graphic has him in a robe kind of thing.  When has he ever been in that?

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

 

There’s a ton of time left in the show here so this could be long.  I think it’s a Mercedes this week.  Brodus and Edge are the seconds here.  Solid pop for Christian.  Christian gets the clapping going and it’s time to go.  Shoulder gets two for the Canadian.  Alberto gets Christian in the corner and stomps him down but is backdropped over the corner and out to the floor.

Big cross body takes Del Rio down on the outside as we take a break.  Back with Christian getting a sunset flip out of the corner for two and Del Rio hits the floor.  Baseball slide misses and Del Rio shoves Christian into the barrier to take over again.  Fast paced stuff here.  Arm bar goes onto Christian which doesn’t last long.

Senton back splash off the middle rope gets two for Del Rio.  Armbar again doesn’t stay on long as Christian is put on the mat.  Edge distracts Del Rio a bit and Christian gets a rana off the second rope for two.  Christian starts a comeback but a top rope cross body misses.  The corner enziguri misses and Christian gets a tornado DDT for two as Ricardo puts the foot on the rope.

Edge goes after Ricardo but it’s Brodus with the save.  Cross armbreaker is attempted by Del Rio but Christian flips into the Killswitch.  That gets countered also and Del Rio hits an enziguri to put Christian down for a long two.  Crowd is way into this.  Cross armbreaker goes on but Christian grabs a rope.  Both guys are down as Edge spears Clay and pops him with a chair.  Christian reverses the armbreaker into the Killswitch to end it at 8:49 shown of 12:19.

Rating: B+. Good stuff here indeed as again you give two guys time and the match works much better.  The arm was the story throughout the match and in the end another attempt at going for it cost Del Rio.  Good match here but I do kind of question Alberto losing back to back matches mostly clean in a row heading into Mania.

Christian pops Del Rio with a chair since Edge isn’t allowed to, ending the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Another strong outing from Smackdown this week as they go into Mania on a high note, yet with almost none of the focus being on them as usual.  It’s really starting to get awkward with Christian as he’s been in the main event scene the entire time for this feud yet he doesn’t have a match at the PPV.  I don’t want a triple threat though as we need a one on one match for the title.  Very good stuff here and my faith in Smackdown is restored.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. CM Punk via DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered

Edge b. Drew McIntyre – Edgecator

Laycool b. Rosa Mendes/Kelly Kelly – Layout to Mendes

Wade Barrett b. Kofi Kingston – Wasteland

Jack Swagger b. R-Truth – Ankle Lock

Christian b. Alberto Del Rio – Killswitch

Smackdown
Date: March 18, 2011
Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Tonight we have another Edge and Christian reunion, but this time they get a shot at the Corre and the tag titles.  I really hope they don’t go with the switch here as it means the Corre gets them back in a screwy finish later, making them 4 time tag champions.  This is what people talk about when they say the titles have been devalued over the years.  Other than that there isn’t much to talk about.  Let’s get to it.

I don’t know my enemy this week.  I think TNA’s enemy is wrestling though after having less than nine and a half minutes of it on their show last night.

Wait now Big Show and Kane get the title shot?  They completely changed that from Monday.  I’m sure they said Edge and Christian got the shot.  Well at least they told us early.  That….helps kind of I guess.

Cole has his box made and here he comes to Burn It To The Ground.

Edge vs. Brodus Clay

 

Big pop for Edge but the pyro doesn’t go off for some reason.  Del Rio and Ricardo are with Clay here.  Edge has to stick and move here but he jumps into the T-Bone overhead suplex to shift the momentum.  Brodus works the arm and even adds an old school Heart Punch.  Tornado DDT by Edge doesn’t work and a clothesline takes him down.  The splash misses but Edge can’t get the Edgecution

A top rope cross body puts Brodus down and tries a sunset flip.  Clay uses the old school counter of just sits down on him.  I’ve always loved that counter and it gets two here.  The Umaga hips to the head in the corner misses and here comes the spear.  Ricardo distracts the referee and Del Rio grabs Edge’s foot so that Brodus can run him over for two.  The crowd is into this.  Christian comes out to even the odds and the distraction is enough for Edge to hit the spear on Clay for the pin at 5:08.

Rating: C+. This is what we need more of on Fridays.  It wasn’t anything great but little five minute matches like these are long enough to get into but not long enough to get bored with.  Edge looks good, Clay gets to show off a bit, and the storyline keeps going.  What more can you ask for in just over five minutes?

Del Rio and Christian brawl post match until referees break it up.  Teddy comes out to make the obvious main event, but it’s in a steel cage.  That’s much better than the tin foil cage I guess.

Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston

 

You mean Kofi has another meaningless match with no particular reason to it happening?  I’m STUNNED.  Sheamus grabs the arm to start as Booker questions Kofi’s decision to take this match.  Cole gets on Booker for it as Kofi gets his jumping punches in the corner.  That results in him taking a hot shot into the corner for two.  Neckbreaker gets the same.  Sheamus hits a running elbow and tries another neckbreaker which is reversed into a rollup for two.

Sheamus rolls through the top rope cross body but his powerslam attempt is reversed into some strikes by Kofi.  Then African/Jamaican hits the Irishman with a Russian leg sweep for two.  Boom Drop takes too long and Sheamus I think pokes him in the eye to take over.  SOS gets two and it looked like Sheamus got his head rocked a bit on that.

Out to the floor we go with Kofi being all fired up.  Kofi comes after him so Sheamus kicks the steps into knee of Kofi to send him down again.  Back inside and the Brogue Kick ends this clean at 5:15.  When is the last time Kofi actually won a match?  I actually can’t remember at all.

Rating: B-. Another solid match here that gives us some wrestling to fill out the show.  You have two upper midcard guys going at it and you get a decent TV match out of it.  I’ve long since thought the key to having a solid show at times is just to go out and wrestle.  If you’re having issues, do that and it’ll get fixed.  Smackdown has been lacking a bit lately but the first half hour or so have my attention so far.

We recap Kane/Show vs. Corre which is freaking dull.  Show and Kane want to put their differences aside.  Show reminds Kane of how they dominated as tag champions and says they should do it again.  Kane grabs him by the throat and Show does the same to Kane.  They both laugh and Kane says Show completes him.  At least there aren’t any cheerleaders to take them down this time.

Trent Barreta vs. Cody Rhodes

 

New music for Cody this week.  He also has a towel over his head tonight.  Cole talks about having breakfast with Cody this morning and Cody being treated badly because of his looks now.  Rhodes is in street clothes again and we’re in a squash people.  Cody gets a headbutt with the mask and Trent is in trouble.  Another headbutt and we’re done in 48 seconds.

We get a clip of Christian being injured by Del Rio.

Shawn talks about Undertaker to waste a few minutes.  Same video from Raw.

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly

 

Well at least we get to see Kelly in those shorts.  Michelle is on commentary and makes fun of Snooki for doing nothing.  I guess we’re continuing with the Paris Hilton stuff.  Kelly gets the headscissors over the ropes and a Thesz Press to hammer away.  Why do so many people use that anymore?  Handspring elbow runs into two feet in the corner to give Layla control.  Kelly gets on the middle rope and Michelle yells at her.  The distraction is enough for Layla to pull her off the rope and pin her at 2:10.

Tag Titles: Big Show/Kane vs. Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel

 

Gabriel and Kane start us off and guess how that goes for the champion to start here.  Off to Slater who runs in and gets knocked down with one punch.  Side slam gets two.  Slater gets a dropkick to the knee and it’s off to Gabriel again.  Ok make that Slater as the champion are tagging in and out very quickly.  Gabriel jumps  into an uppercut and down he goes.  Off to Show and the beating continues.  Chokeslam to Slater but Gabriel pulls the referee out for the DQ at 2:43.  Is anyone really surprised here?

Jackson and Barrett come in to stop a worse beating post match.  Barrett actually hits Wasteland on Show.  They beat down Kane also.  The steps are put on Kane and the other steps are dropped onto the steps onto Kane.  The table is taken apart a bit and is dropped on Show.  The big guys are left laying here.  Cole tries to play this off as big and epic but it wasn’t for the most part.

Del Rio says everyone is trying to interfere with his destiny.  He’s not an animal.

Jack Swagger vs. Chris Masters

 

No entrance for Masters so what do you expect here?  We get clips from Raw with Ross and Lawler getting beaten down.  The hold Swagger taught Cole is the An-Cole Lock.  I give up.  Swagger works on the arm but takes a Samoan Drop.  Full Nelson is blocked by ramming Chris into the corner.  Ankle lock is reversed also and Swagger hits the floor.  He pulls Masters down though and wraps the leg around the post.  Ankle lock ends it at 1:56.

Post match Cole comes in and puts the ankle lock on Masters also.  Cole shouts COME ON LAWLER and does Swagger’s run around the ring.

WWE Rewind is the Dusty/Cody/Rey segment from three weeks ago.

Rey Mysterio vs. Ted DiBiase

 

Maryse is called Ted’s on again/off again girlfriend.  That would hint towards her face actions on NXT which is good I think.  Shame she’s not in camouflage though.  Rey tries his speed stuff so DiBiase hammers away on him.  Rey tries coming off the middle rope but jumps into a dropkick for two.  The following clothesline gets two.  Off to the chinlock now as Rey hasn’t been on offense at all here.

A couple knees to the back have Rey in trouble again.  Rey tries a headscissors and spins into what I think was a DDT.  Some ranas by Rey with the second one being countered into a reverse powerbomb.  That’s a great finisher for someone to use.  Dream Street is countered into the 619 position.  That and the top rope splash ends it at 3:35.

Rating: C-. Just a TV match here but nothing very interesting.  DiBiase is flat out boring and there was no threat at all to Rey here.  Granted I don’t think there was supposed to be so I guess that was the point.  Pretty bland match here that doesn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know.

Maryse leaves without DiBiase.

We get a clip of the Edge/Christian/Alberto stuff from Elimination Chamber.

We see the Snooki stuff from Raw.  I can’t stand that show and people like her (meaning people that have no talent yet are millionaires for being loud or getting drunk).

We run down the Mania card.  I can’t believe it but there’s no long video from Raw.

The cage is lowered.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

 

Lot of time for this too.  No word on how you can win here so I’d assume pin, submission and escape.  Christian is all ticked off here.  Josh confirms that you can win through those three ways.  Killswitch is blocked early on.  The announcers are really playing up this being the first cage match for Alberto.  He tries to get out but Christian stops him and they fight on the top rope for a bit.  German off the top doesn’t work for Alberto but the visual was awesome.

Christian tries to get out but Del Rio hits a vertical suplex from the top of the cage.  Not quite Hogan/Boss Man but not bad.  With both guys down we take a break.  Back with Del Rio hammering away and sending a charging Christian into the cage.  Alberto gets two and we hit the chinlock.  After slamming Christian’s head into the mat, Del Rio goes up.

Christian grabs the leg and Alberto hits the top rope throat first.  He blocks being rammed into the cage and a reverse DDT gets two.  Del Rio is sent into the cage for two.  Christian goes up and gets knocked back down.  The running enziguri in the corner takes Christian down for two and Alberto tries to leave.  His torso gets out but Christian makes a diving save.

Del Rio sets up the cross armbreaker but it’s reversed into the Killswitch for two.  I would have bet on that being the finish.  Christian goes up again and one more time Del Rio kicks him down.  Christian is hung over the ropes so Alberto uses him as a stepping stone tos tart his climb.  That was rather awesome.

Why is it that every time someone gets to the top they become as slow as a slow Christmas?  Anyway it happens here to Alberto and Christian catches him.  They sit on the top of the cage and slug it out with Christian getting his head slammed into the cage.  Christian climbs down over Del Rio and Alberto kicks at him, knocking him down and giving Christian the win at 9:35 shown of 13:05.  Good ending.

Rating: B. Good stuff here with the false finish and the ending making this work rather well.  The problem with cage matches tends to be that the endings are basic, which is why shifting this one to something different helps a lot.  I liked this match and it got better as it went.  Good stuff.

Post match Alberto beats down Christian and says he’s going to be to Christian what he’s going to do to Edge at Wrestlemania.  He’s interrupted by a horn honking and Edge is in the car.  Edge talks about how nice it is and how much of a shame it would be if something were to happen to it.  He pulls a chair out of the passenger seat but Brodus pops up to drill Edge.  The double beatdown ensues and it’s a Conchairto to the arm.  Edge is in a lot of pain as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: A. Now THIS is how you do it!  In a two hour show we got 8 matches with about 30 minutes of action overall.  That’s the difference between having a lot of wrestling and pacing what you have.  This didn’t have a ton of wrestling, but they paced it out to make it seem like they did.  Instead of one match in an hour and fifteen minutes and then 3 matches in 45 minutes, there was a steady stream of them all night and it’s a MUCH more entertaining show.  Far better here than in previous weeks and a great show overall.  I’m well pleased.

Results

Edge b. Brodus Clay – Spear

Sheamus b. Kofi Kingston – Brogue Kick

Cody Rhodes b. Trent Barreta – Headbutt

Layla b. Kelly Kelly – Pin after pulling Kelly off the middle rope

Big Show/Kane b. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater via DQ when Gabriel pulled the referee out

Jack Swagger b. Chris Masters – Ankle Lock

Rey Mysterio b. Ted DiBiase – Top rope splash

Christian b. Alberto Del Rio – Christian escaped the cage

Smackdown
Date: March 11, 2011
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Off the top of my head there’s nothing that I know of to expect here.  I think we get Christian vs. Del Rio but I’m not entirely sure.  The show last week was a lot better than the previous ones so hopefully they can continue that mini streak that they’re on.  Also I’d expect more from HHH vs. Taker tonight so that should be good.  Let’s get to it.

Yes I do know my enemies: the people that picked the cast of NXT Season 5.

HHH is on Smackdown for the first time in over a year to respond to Undertaker.

Here’s Edge to a BIG pop.  At least I think it is.  His music sounds like cheering at first.  We recap the contract signing from last week.  Teddy hoping it could go well just once was funny.  Christian made the save.  Edge says a busted nose isn’t going to stop him from getting to Del Rio at Wrestlemania.  Tonight he wants a fight, not a match, and he’s demanding Alberto come out here right now.

Cue Alberto and Brodus with the boss looking all ticked off.  No car for this entrance at least.  Alberto asks if Edge knows who Alberto is.  Edge says Alberto is the Ricky Martin look-a-like trying to reform Menudo with King Hippo over there.  Funny line but in a serious manner.  Albert says he’s going to replace Edge’s legacy with Alberto’s destiny.  Edge says he doesn’t think so and jumps both of them but Brodus gets in a shot and the beatdown is on.

Edge’s shoulder goes into the post and here’s Christian for the save again.  Christian and Brodus are very good additions to this feud as you can only have Alberto and Edge talk to each other and brawl so many times.  With the non-Canadians dominating Teddy Long is here, making the obvious tag team main event.  For some reason this is historic.  I’m not sure why but that’s just what you say in wrestling.

Cole says that he’s a pop icon, not just an announcer.  Tonight he has the “interview of the year” with Cena.

Kane vs. Wade Barrett

 

We get a recap of the Corre vs. Big Show with Kane getting involved in said feud last week.  Barrett says Kane has made some mistakes, including not accepting what Corre did for him recently.  Barrett calls Kane a great big chemical experiment mistake.  Barrett goes right for him and takes over to start us off.  Kane fires back and it’s a brawl in the early going.

And never mind as Corre is here 42 seconds in.  Big Show comes out with a chair for the save and we take a break.

Big Show/Kane vs. Heath Slater/Wade Barrett

 

This is in progress when we get back as Show beats up Slater.  Off to Barrett now who gets beaten down also.  Show chops away at him in the corner and adds a clothesline.  Chokeslam misses though and Barrett goes after the knee.  He stomps Show down and it’s off to Slater.  How did Barrett go from the biggest heel in the company to this in just a few months?

Slater chokes away and Booker doesn’t seem that worried about Show.  Apparently the champion should be listened to as Show gets up and drops Slater on his back to break it up.  Lukewarm tag to Kane who destroys Slater and takes down Barrett also.  Big boot sets up the call for the chokeslam but Corre comes in AGAIN and it’s another DQ at 3:20.

Rating: D+. This was more or less a squash for the whole match.  Show and Kane were never in any real danger as all Barrett was doing to Show was stomping him.  I’m still waiting on Corre to actually do something of note (the tag titles haven’t been noteworthy in forever) and I think I’m waiting in vain.

Big beatdown follows until Show grabs a chair.  Down goes everyone in Corre as Show stands very tall.  And then he takes the chair and cracks Kane over the back with it as payback for last week.

Rey is up next.

Scratch that as instead we’re going to waste about 10 minutes on the Austin/JBL/Cole segment first.  Again, couldn’t we use this time on a wrestling show for, like, wrestling?

Back with Cole comparing that night to being a war correspondent.  That’s almost like comparing 9/11 to a steroids trial.  Wait….

Now Cody is up next?  Was Rey just forgotten or something?

Cody Rhodes vs. JTG

 

Cody is in a suit here.  Well at least he took the jacket and tie off.  JTG, the NXT pro mind you, doesn’t even get an introduction.  We get a clip of Dusty helping his son jump Rey a few weeks ago.  Dusty telling his boy to apologize is kind of funny.  Apparently Cody doesn’t want to be called Dashing anymore.  Cody jumps him to start and hammers away as we get a Texas Outlaws reference.  He hits JTG in the face with a headbutt complete with the loaded mask and then Cross Rhodes ends it in 53 seconds, somehow the second longest match tonight so far.

We waste another 4 minutes or so by showing the HBK thing from Raw where he talks about HHH.  That marks about 14 minutes of this show dedicated to just showing stuff from Raw again, or roughly 1/8 of the total time of the show including commercials.  Great job guys.

Here’s another Raw guy, this time John Cena, for an interview with Michael Cole.  First up, another minute long clip added on from Raw, this time of Miz jumping Cena to end the show.  Cena sends Cole back to the announce table and addresses Miz.  He says he’s done with wasting his time with BS and if Miz wants to make a statement and be the face of the WWE, then Cena’s new goal is breaking the face of the WWE.

Cena gets ready to leave but Cole says he isn’t done yet.  Cole says Cena is underestimating Miz as Miz shut Cole up Monday.  This prompts Cena to rip his shirt off and cue Swagger for the save.  He gets Cena in the ankle lock but winds up taking an FU for his troubles.

Sin Cara video, which is still awesome.

Kaitlyn vs. Layla

 

Kaitlyn is from Houston and therefore a hometown girl.  Booker says quack, quack for some reason.  Are the girls are animals now according to commentators?  Kaitlyn dominates to start as Layla wants help from Michelle.  McCool distracts and Layla gets a kick and the Layout Neckbreaker to end this at 54 seconds.  Have we warped back to Superstars in the 80s and I wasn’t told???

McCool knees Kaitlyn in the back of the head post match.

Rey Mysterio vs. Drew McIntyre

 

The bell rings and Drew kicks Rey’s head off.  All Drew to start as he uses size and power to take over.  He shouts that Rey isn’t going to Wrestlemania as we hit a modified bow and arrow.  Rey fights up and tries the 619 but we head to the floor.  They fight on the apron with Drew shoving him into the post and adding a backbreaker onto the apron which I’ve never seen before.

Back from a break with a modified surfboard on Rey.  Drew continues his dominance by sending Rey into the buckle chest first for two.  He sets for the Futureshock off the top but Rey knocks Drew down for a seated senton.  He tries a rotating cross body but Drew ducks for two.  Drew charges into the post shoulder first and Rey hits the 619 and the top rope splash to end this at 4:30 shown of 8:00.

Rating: C+. Pretty basic match here as the whole idea was about Drew trying to impress people to get a shot at Mania.  This wasn’t a squash as Drew controlled for the most part but I don’t think anyone really thought Rey was in any real trouble.  It does help however that this got a bit of time (yes on Smackdown 8 minutes is now considered time) and Drew got to look decent.

Post match Cody comes out and wants an answer to his challenge.  Rey says he wears the mask with pride and will wear it with pride at Wrestlemania when he beats down Cody Rhodes.  So the match is official.

Here’s HHH to respond to what Undertaker said on Raw.  What you’re not going to show us that too?  Ah instead we get a video on HHH, reminding us of how awesome he is.  Why do I have a feeling this was laying around the office just waiting on a chance to be aired?  He talks about how he saw the two greatest matches he’s ever seen in the last two Wrestlemanias between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.

The question is why couldn’t Shawn win?  Shawn said on Raw that it was because of emotion.  Shawn went to the ring to not lose rather than win.  HHH’s dark side is going to keep him from having to worry about that.  He can do terrible things to people and not care.  That sounds like a horrible person but it’s true.  HHH says he’ll beat Taker at Wrestlemania because he’ll have no emotion or care about what stands before him.  Things that go bump in the night don’t scare him.  Please, not another “I’m not afraid of the dark” promos.  He thanks Taker for making it no holds barred and we’re done.

Christian is getting ready and Matt Striker asks him what it’s like to have Edge and Christian back together again.  Christian talks about all the things that have happened in the last ten years, listing things like Facebook, Twitter (Christian4Peeps apparently), Charlie Sheen losing his mind and about 15 other things, but we’ve never seen E and C back together.  Tonight we do.  Edge pops up to say nothing of note.

Edge/Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay

 

It’s a Ferrari tonight.  No entrance for Brodus but he gets his name read by Ricardo.  Christian vs. Brodus gets us going here.  Christian sticks and moves while firing a lot of right hands.  A corner splash misses and Christian wants the tornado DDT.  Alberto distracts though and it’s a suplex off the top for Brodus to give him control.  Alberto rams Christian into the railing outside but Edge chases him off.

Off to Del Rio as Edge hasn’t been in yet.  He starts in on Christian’s arm and drops a knee to the back for two.  The elbow pad gets ripped off and Christian is in trouble.  To the corner they go and Christian is able to knock him backwards and get a jumping back elbow off the middle rope to get us to even.  Tag in to Edge and Brodus at the same time with Brodus landing a powerslam on Edge for two.

He’s Big Bad Brodus Clay according to Cole.  Booker gets way too excited as usual as Edge gets up to set for the spear.  Instead Brodus flattens him but misses an Umaga-like charge in the corner.  Christian and Del Rio are sent to the floor.  Christian pops back up and hits the tornado DDT so that Edge can drop a top rope elbow on Clay for the pin at 5:53.  Never seen Edge use that before but if it’s a change from the spear I’ll take it.

Rating: C. Just your normal run of the mill main event tag match here.  There was more or less no way Edge and Christian were going to reunite for the first time in forever and lose so it’s not like the ending was ever in doubt.  Still though, this is good as it changes things up a bit, keeping us from having to sit through the same stuff time after time until Mania.

Overall Rating: C+. This is another odd show as the wrestling is incredibly light but a lot of stuff happened.  I can live with the lighter wrestling as they moved some stuff forward and got us a bit more ready for Mania.  This was a good show but with more wrestling and less Raw stuff it could have been a lot better.  I really hope this isn’t the new norm after Mania, because that would be very saddening.

Results

Kane b. Wade Barrett via DQ when the Corre interfered

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

Cody Rhodes b. JTG – Cross Rhodes

Layla b. Kaitlyn – Layout

Rey Mysterio b. Drew McIntyre – Top rope splash

Edge/Christian b. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay – Top rope elbow to Clay