Smackdown
Date: January 6, 2012
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews

I’m presuming Booker will be on commentary here. Anyway tonight we have a double main event with two title matches. First of all we have Booker challenging Cody for the IC Title in their rubber match in what should be good. We also get Bryan defending the world title against Big Show in what should be an interesting match as I’m really not sure how well Bryan will be able to manage against a monster. He’s a great seller though which should help. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Orton vs. Barrett last week.

Booker isn’t on commentary.

Intercontinental Title: Booker T vs. Cody Rhodes

Feeling out process to start and Booker has a very mild advantage. Cody takes over and works on the arm. They chop it out with Booker winning. They’re starting slowly here which implies they’ll have a lot of time to work with. Booker sends him to the floor where he gets dropped onto the railing. We take a break with Rhodes in control. Back with the same circumstances, just in the ring this time.

Backslide gets two for the challenger as does a big kick. Rhodes blocks a shot into the corner and tries the top rope standing moonsault, which only partially hits. Cody seemed to have hurt his leg coming down. He isn’t limping so maybe it was just a quick flash of pain. Off to a double arm hold, as in imagine if Booker is sitting down and Cody has Booker’s arms like he’s trying a double arm DDT or butterfly suplex.

Spinebuster takes Cody down but Booker can’t hit the scissors kick or the Book End. The second attempt at the kick gets two. Big reaction on the kickout too. Cody gets up and sends Booker into the corner where he sets for the Jack Brisco sunset flip but Cody stays in the middle of the ring. Booker tries a side kick but Cody ducks and hits the Beautiful Disaster for the pin at 9:12 shown of 12:42.

Rating: C+. Pretty good match and they made Booker look good here as it came off like he got caught rather than he got beat. I’ve heard rumors he might have something else like this and I wouldn’t be all that opposed to it. There’s nothing wrong with a guy that still gets a reaction from the crowd being used to put someone over like he did for Rhodes here.

Cody is walking in the back and Dustin pops up to congratulate him on a big victory. Cody yells at him, saying this is why they don’t talk. He’s already more of a success than his brother and he might be a better one than his dad. If Dustin considers putting on the gold paint for one more run, think twice because he’s a joke but not a laughing stock. Cody can change that though, so don’t try it.

Ryder is with Teddy and says he’s stepping down as assistant to the GM. Drew pops in but Ryder offers up Santino to be the new assistant, which is accepted. Zack leaves and Santino mentions some of the things he can do for Teddy, including syncing his iPod. As for Drew, he’s got Santino tonight and if he loses, he’s on very thin ice. If Santino wins, he’s officially the assistant. Drew leaves and here’s Aksana. Santino leaves while the two of them make dinner plans.

Royal Rumble moment: Cena returns. Screw WWE.com’s list. That’s the #1 moment in the history of the Rumble…..maybe. It’s probably either that or Hogan vs. Warrior. Either way it’s better than their’s: Shawn survives from #1.

Alicia is talking to AJ and AJ is really happy with Daniel. She’s worried about his match though. Bryan pops up to a pop which I don’t buy. He brags about beating Big Show and Alicia leaves. AJ is nervous about the match and Bryan is very confident. Sex is implied for later.

Hornswoggle vs. Heath Slater

This is an over the top rope challenge, so basically a two man battle royal. Horny looks at something in the lights and when Slater looks, Horny stomps on his foot. Slater chokes in the corner as we’re certainly in a comedy match. Horny tries a middle rope cross body but gets caught. Slater tries to dump him but Horny uses leverage and hair for the win at 1:37. This was just for the kids.

Slater beats him down post match but Gabriel makes the save. He hits the 450 and we cut to a very closeup shot on Slater, as in it looked like it was about a foot from his body on the mat and pointed at the corner.

Don’t be a bully.

Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico

Camacho, the bodyguard, has a mic. Oh wait it’s Hunico with the mic and Camacho is riding the bike. Both of them talk and aren’t happy that they didn’t get invited to join the DiBiase Posse. That Lowrider bike just isn’t working for me. Hunico tries to speed things up to start and hooks a headscissors which DiBiase countered into kind of a reverse sitout powerbomb. That could be a solid finisher if used by some power guy.

Hunico takes it to the mat and hooks a Fujiwara Armbar. DiBiase comes back and hits some dropkicks but Dream Street is countered. The arm goes into the buckle and Hunico locks in one of the weirdest pinning combinations I’ve ever seen. Basically DiBiase looked like he was in a backslide but Hunico was on one knee with DiBiase’s legs on his shoulders and was looking the other way. No idea what that’s called but it gets the pin at 3:06.

Rating: C. I liked this a lot as there was some basic psychology in it. Hunico worked on the arm which weakened DiBiase’s finisher, then DiBiase couldn’t hit Dream Street, Hunico went back to the arm and it led straight to the finish. Now why can’t we see something that simple a lot more often?

At the end of the day though, they’re riding away on a bicycle. Not working for me.

Here’s Barret and apparently this is supposed to be an update on Orton. Barrett says he’ll be handling this update instead of the doctors. We see a clip of the end of the show last week. As for the medical update, he has a herniated disc. As for his career update, he’s done. Oh sure he might try to come back someday but his mental edge is gone.

That brings us to the Royal Rumble in Orton’s hometown, where Orton will have to sit in the crowd and watch him win. There isn’t a single superstar that can stop him from winning. Cue Sheamus with a rebuttal. I like the idea of this feud as Sheamus needs something to do until the Rumble and Barrett can’t get to Bryan yet while the monsters are still after him. Sheamus says Barrett is like his uncle: a big talker, but just a sheepherder. Well at least he’s not a bushwhacker. However the uncle had been kicked in the head as a child so he wasn’t all there. Now what’s Barrett’s excuse?

They’re about to fight when they’re interrupted by…..Jinder Mahal? He doesn’t say anything but slaps Sheamus in the face. Sheamus fights them off but sets for a Celtic Cross on Barrett. Mahal gets in a shot but Sheamus destroys him again. Sheamus walks into Winds of Change and Barrett leaves. Sheamus gets put in a camel clutch and Jinder stands tall. Why are they going with this match again? Sheamus has destroyed him every time they’ve been together and they’re doing it again? Why? Hopefully so it’ll lead to Barrett vs. Sheamus, which is what it probably is.

We recap the Show/Bryan/Henry ordeal at TLC.

Santino Marella vs. Drew McIntyre

If Santino wins he’s the assistant to the GM and Drew is on very thin ice. Santino does his splits and hammers away. Drew comes back with a suplex, getting two. Futureshock is countered but Drew keeps control. Drew sets up a superplex but Santino slips off the top (intentionally) and sends Drew into the post. Cobra ends this at 2:28. Cole: “We’re going to go the way of WCW with these two running the show.” I’m fine with Santino here as it’s going to be played for comedy and it gives him something to do. No harm no foul here as Drew isn’t doing anything anyway.

In the back, Drew is freaking out when Teddy comes in. Drew says that can’t count because of a greased rope or something. Teddy says that’s strike two and next week, if it’s strike three he very well may be out.

Epico/Primo vs. Air Boom

Non-title here. Rosa is rather enjoying to watch. We haven’t seen the champs in awhile. I think that’s Epico starting with Bourne. Bourne lands on his feet out of a snapmare attempt and it’s off to Kofi. The champs combine to do AJ Styles’ dropdown to the dropkick spot. Rosa: “Ay caramba!” Off to Primo as we hear about Epico playing baseball at Western Michigan University. Kofi gets in a shot and double tags bring in Bourne and Primo. Bourne speeds things up and everything breaks down. Kofi sets to dive but Rosa blocks I think Primo. Bourne tries Air Bourne but Epico pulls Primo out and Bourne crashes, getting pinned at 3:50.

Rating: C-. The match was ok with a little change of pace since it’s usually Kofi that plays cleanup. I’m really not wild on the way Epico and Primo seem to be getting their push towards the title here because they’ve already lost to the champs a few times so now why should they be getting more shots? It’s FAR too common of a way of building to a title match and I’ve never been a fan of it.

Big Show says that tonight he’ll be conscious and he’ll get the title back. Bryan may be a good wrestler….and here he is. Bryan comes off like a total jerk here, talking about how Show is all natural and Bryan had to work to get where he is. If Bryan had been born as big as Show is, it wouldn’t have been 9 years between his title reigns. Show puts his hand on his shoulder and says don’t make me hurt you out there. Bryan doesn’t like being touched and is very defensive about it. Pretty heelish promo by Bryan here.

Sheamus vs. Jinder next week.

Natalya vs. Tamina

We get a quick highlight package of both of their papas before the match. Natalya takes her down quickly and pounds away at Tamina, shouting about family. Tamina tries a cross body but bounces off Natalya instead of falling on top of her. A Samoan Drop sets up the Superfly Splash and we’re done at 1:42. Standard Divas match anymore.

Raw ReBound.

Still don’t be a bully. If we have to Stand Up For WWE this fall again I’ll pull my hair out.

The same Rumble moment from Raw is shown here: Hacksaw winning it.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan

Henry joins us for commentary, probably giving away the ending already. We get big match intros. Cole asks Henry who would win between Bryan and Hornswoggle. Henry GOES OFF, ranting about how that has nothing to do with this match and how it has nothing to do with him not having the title, which is all that matters here. Henry: “If you don’t got nothing intelligent to say, don’t say nothing at all.”

Show charges right at Bryan so the champ has to use speed maneuvers. Josh asks Henry if he thinks it’s fair that Show gets the first shot. Henry says no so Josh points out that Show was the champion that Bryan beat. He gets cut off by Henry who tells Josh to shut up. I’m LOVING Henry on commentary here. He’s all ticked off and tells people what he thinks. Show grabs him by the throat and throws him to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Bryan firing away kicks to no effect. He goes to the floor and after a quick switch, Bryan hits a baseball slide to send Show back to the table. Henry: “Why you all jumping?” Cole: “It might have something to do with a 500lb man coming at us.” A plancha is caught but Show’s knees go into the post. His head does the same and Bryan tries to win via countout. Back in and Show is mad.

Bryan manages to get his to his knees and fires off the kicks which have no effect. Cole and Henry are cracking me up with Henry refusing to admit he’s wrong on anything, even stuff that makes no sense and scaring Cole into agreeing. That’s what a monster should do. Bryan goes outside again so Show pulls him up by the hair. FREAKING OW MAN! Bryan tries something off the top but jumps into a chop. Show comes out of the corner and spears Bryan down for a very delayed two.

Henry is standing up now. He actually gives Bryan credit for kicking out of that. Show pulls the straps down and calls for the chokeslam but Bryan counters into a guillotine. Why Show doesn’t use his free hand to punch Bryan in the ribs is beyond me but whatever. Bryan is bleeding from the mouth and he shifts to a LeBell Lock. Show breaks it pretty easily and pulls up the big punch but Bryan hits the floor. Bryan gets in Henry’s face and Henry shoves him, so Bryan yells to the referee and it’s a DQ. Total heel move there by Bryan. Match ran 6:17 shown of 9:47.

Rating: C-. Well it wasn’t awful and Bryan made it more believable than I’d expect but the ending is a good thing. Without a ton of cheating or making Show look like an idiot, there aren’t many ways you can conceivably have Bryan win here. Show easily breaking the LeBell Lock was a good example of it. Bryan does know a bunch of holds, but Show is so big and powerful that it’s a stretch to believe he can keep Show in them. I’m interested in this heel turn that Bryan is heavily teasing though.

Bryan does the huge post match celebration as usual.

Overall Rating: B-. Not a great show but I thought this was pretty good. We got some stories advanced tonight and some new stuff like Barrett vs. Sheamus set up. Bryan’s heelish ways are interesting as he can only be interesting as the face champion that escapes with the title for so long. Good show here and a good way to start the new year.

Results
Cody Rhodes b. Booker T – Beautiful Disaster
Hornswoggle b. Heath Slater – Slater hit the floor
Hunico b. Ted DiBiase – Bridging Rollup
Santino Marella b. Drew McIntyre – Cobra
Epico/Primo b. Air Boom – Epico pinned Bourne after a missed Air Bourne
Tamina b. Natalya – Superfly Splash
Daniel Bryan b. Big Show via disqualification when Mark Henry interfered

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Smackdown
Date: September 30, 2011
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

It’s the go home show for Nigh….oh I’m sorry I seem to have gotten the wrong review. It seems like only a little while ago that it was a go home show and it can’t be another one so soon. Only a bunch of idiots would have two PPVs for 45 bucks with one off week in between them. I mean you would have to be crazy to think that would be a good idea. Since there’s no way this can be another go home show so soon, I’m curious as to what happens. Let’s get to it.

Do you know your enemy? Mine is the Cleveland Indians who can’t win one game to finish .500.

Rhodes vs. Sheamus for the title and Christian vs. Orton 10 later.

Here’s Booker to open the show and he’s going to interview Henry. Booker says he was a fan of Henry since the beginning and that since he’s a 6 time champion, he knows what it takes to get there so congratulations. Henry wants to know if that means Booker thinks he’s six times better than he is. Henry yells a lot and says he could put Booker through that announce table but he’s here for Orton, not Booker.

Night of Champions was about the World Heavyweight Championship. He talks about how at home he has the heads of Lawler, Kane and Big Show mounted on his wall (I guess being future endeavored erases your head from existence) and there’s a special place on the wall for Orton. Booker wants to know why it’s all about the violence and pain. Henry says lower your tone and that for fifteen years he did the good things and took pictures and kissed babies. Now he wants to be dominate.

Booker asks about Sunday (wow they really are that stupid) and if Randy can hit the RKO…but Henry cuts him off saying that won’t happen because it can’t happen. Orton can’t beat him and everyone knows it. Henry is going to beat down Khali tonight like he did on Monday so bring him out right now so we can do it. Henry won’t shake Booker’s hand to end this.

Mark Henry vs. Great Khali

Khali pounds away and Henry is staggered. It’s a heavyweight slugfest and Henry is in trouble. Two chops put Henry down for two and here comes Henry’s comeback. He pounds away and puts Khali down where two splashes only get a two count. I’d have thought that was it. There’s the Slam and we’re done at 2:51. This was a lot more fun than I was expecting but battles of the giants are an old standard and they almost always are worth at least a glance.

Post match Henry Pillmanizes Khali’s leg.

Khali is being taken out on a stretcher and Mahal comes up to yell at him.

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

Bourne gets the big hometown boy pop. Swagger comes out to Ziggler’s music to annoy me. I’m really liking these guys being on both shows as it lets you keep these stories going. Swagger takes over early as is his custom. Bourne fires off some kicks but Swagger catches a headscissors into a side slam.

Vader Bomb misses and Bourne fires off some offense, including that double knee to the neck thing he does. Ziggler interferes but the powerbomb is countered. Bourne sets for the Shooting Star but Vickie breaks it up and the ankle lock ends this at 2:32. Another fast paced match that sets up the probable tag title match at the PPV.

We get a video on the Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud and the match at the PPV is announced.

Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater

Slater has a boring southern rock song as his theme music now. At least it’s supposed to be southern rock. It sounds like bad country. It took me longer to say that than the whole match which ends in 42 seconds with a Swanton Bomb.

The other Sin Cara pops up on screen and takes off his mask to reveal a new black one. He says the other Sin Cara stole his identity as Mistico so now it’s time for him to do the same thing. Cool to hear an actual reason for what’s going on.

Video on HHH and how things are going crazy in the company at the moment. He’s not here tonight.

The group that wants to sue HHH is in the back and there are a lot of them: Team Vickie, Johnny Ace, Rhodes, Christian and Otunga as the lawyer. Otunga has an idea put together that could work. Christian says he’s cool with Otunga doing this. It goes down Monday.

Kelly Kelly vs. Natalya

Well at least Kelly is in the white shorts. No entrance for Nattie. Beth sits in on commentary. Kelly goes off on her to start and hits a Thesz Press off the ropes but Nattie pounds away and hooks a chinlock. A victory roll gets the pin at 1:25. Can we get a match that breaks three minutes?

Post match Beth hits the Glam Slam and Natalya puts her in that freaky submission she used on Monday. Beth talks trash and Kelly screams a lot.

Intercontinental Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus

This is happening because Christian cost Sheamus the battle royal Monday. Cody says he’s being discriminated against by the WWE, referencing being put in a battle royal after having his head injured by the bell. They slug it out to start and guess who gets the better of that. Sheamus tries his forearms in the ropes but Cody escapes. Sheamus is like ok then and beats Cody down a bit and then hits them the second time.

Cody gets in a mask shot and the Beautiful Disaster for two as we take a break. Back after a video about the Cell and Cody has a hammerlock on. Sheamus fires back but a single arm DDT gets two for the champ. This is a pretty boring match. Sheamus gets sent into the post for two.

Cody keeps working on the arm which is kind of stupid since one of Sheamus’ big moves and the easier of his big moves to hit is a kick. Now Cody goes into the post and Sheamus makes his comeback with power moves and the the shoulder block. Brogue Kick misses but he breaks up the Beautiful Disaster for a close two. He sets for the Celtic Cross but here’s Christian for the DQ at 8:37 shown of 12:07.

Rating: D+. The ending was a little better but man the ten minutes it took to get there were boring. I like both of these guys but this was a very boring match all around. The arm work was really slow and it didn’t add anything to the ending of the match as his arm wasn’t really hurt all that badly (or maybe he’s just bad at selling it) and the match just went on and on. Not horrible, but nothing interesting at all.

Video on HHH’s movie. No one cares.

Zack Ryder vs. JTG

I know I’ve been liking NXT more but I don’t want to see JTG anywhere else! Cole makes fun of JTG who wants to take over the WWE. Ryder is in the Fave Five which is currently at about 28 members. JTG takes over to start and makes fun of Ryder at the same time. Off to a chinlock and Booker has four nicknames for JTG already (and Cole makes fun of them all). Ryder starts his comeback and the Broski Boot gets two. Rough Ryder ends this at 2:56. Just a way to get Ryder on TV as his push continues.

Johnny Ace is texting someone when HHH comes up. HHH wants to know what’s up with the meetings Ace has been having. Ace says he’s behind him but HHH says it’s about trust. Future endeavors are implied.

The same video that we’ve seen a million times on the Cell airs and we run down the card.

Orton says he’s crazy and evil and isn’t afraid of Henry. He doesn’t regret hurting Orton last week.

Randy Orton vs. Christian

Feeling out process to start which is odd since they’ve spent more time with each other this summer than is healthy. A clothesline gets two for Orton but Christian hits a middle rope dropkick to take over. Spinebuster gets two and we take a break. Back with Christian having a neck crank broken so he hits a neckbreaker for two instead. Oh this is Orton’s hometown too. I forgot about that.

Orton comes back for a few seconds but Christian smacks him down (nice touch) again and keeps the advantage. Orton comes back with his usual stuff including that awesome dropkick. WWE developmental can teach a pretty awesome one of those. Orton hits that powerbomb into a neckbreaker which is a favorite of mine and it gets two. In a nice bit of psychology, Christian escapes the DDT and goes to the corner for the sunset flip out of it. Orton jumps for the RKO but Christian fakes him out. Orton counters Christian’s fake out though and gets a fast rollup for two. NICE.

Orton hits his powerslam but Christian misses a cross body. RKO is countered and Christian sets up for the spear. I’m so over the spear that I cant fathom it anymore. It hits this time but it only gets two because Christian is an average sized guy hitting a power move so it doesn’t work as well. Killswitch is countered into the elevated DDT and Orton is all fired up. Christian hits the floor and runs but Orton catches him. He sends the Canadian into the steps and stalks him long enough for the double countout at 10:56 shown of 14:26.

Rating: B-. Not exactly Over the Limit but this is a different kind of match. I did like the incorporation of older stuff into this match as it’s good psychology and stuff you rarely get to see in WWE. The ending hurts it a lot too but these two have very good chemistry together and Christian brings out the best in Orton which is hard to do.

Orton goes after Christian post match and loads up the announce table. Cody comes out to beat down Orton but Sheamus makes the save and chases Christian through the crowd. Here’s Henry and the Slam puts Orton down in just a few seconds. Henry goes to get a chair to Pillmanize him but Orton grabs an RKO out of nowhere to put Henry down and stand tall to end the show. They needed to do that before the PPV.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here as they had a lot of wrestling on it and a lot of stuff got TV time (take notes TNA). Orton getting in the RKO on Henry is a great thing as they need to give fans a reason to think Orton can beat him. I’m hoping Henry keeps the title but it’s hard to say as WWE might get nervous that a guy is actually over as a heel. Anyway good show, although they needed to add in some new matches for the PPV and they didn’t get much in that area.

Results
Mark Henry b. Great Khali – World’s Strongest Slam
Jack Swagger b. Evan Bourne – Ankle Lock
Sin Cara b. Heath Slater – Swanton Bomb
Kelly Kelly b. Natalya – Victory Roll
Sheamus b. Cody Rhodes via DQ when Christian interfered
Zack Ryder b. JTG – Rough Ryder
Randy Orton vs. Christian went to a double countout

 

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