Smackdown
Date: November 30, 2012
Location: CenturyLink Center, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

Remember when Smackdown used to be good? Like when it was the best wrestling show on TV? I’m trying to give myself a nice feeling before I get into this show. We’re going to get the Shield interview from Raw I’m sure, along with Cena and AJ’s latest kiss at least once or twice on top of that. Oh and the world champions will get a quick bit of time too if we can squeeze them in. Let’s get to it.

The opening voiceover is about Shield and Show vs. Sheamus at the end.

Here’s Cena to open the show. Before Cena can eve talk, we get a recap of him vs. Ziggler. Cena talks about now being on Smackdown that often, but he’s here tonight because Dolph is in the main event. He makes fun of Ziggler for being world champion for about ten minutes once and for losing the MITB case whenever he cashes it in. Tonight it’s Sheamus vs. Ziggler and Cena is excited about it.

This brings out….Alberto Del Rio? Cena sucks up to the fans a bit as Alberto says the show belongs to him. Del Rio lists off his accomplishments, all of which Cena himself has done if I remember correctly. Alberto tells Cena to get out but Cena wants to see the main event. Cena says he won’t leave now because he has a match with Del Rio RIGHT NOW.

John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio

After a break we come back for the opening bell and to see Cena shoulder block Del Rio to the floor. We head to the outside and Cena gets rammed back first into the announce table. Back in and Alberto hits a top rope ax handle/punch to the face for two. We get a recap from before the break that set this match up via a splitscreen. Do they really think we need that much assistance in getting through a show?

A running kick to the face puts Cena down and a suplex gets two. Ziggler is watching in the back as Del Rio hooks an armbar. Cena blocks a second suplex attempt into one of his own, only to have Alberto hit a running kick to the arm in the corner. Another ax handle gets two and it’s back to the armbar. We take a break and come back with Del Rio missing a backsplash off the middle rope.

Cena initiates his finishing sequence and hits the Shuffle but the AA is countered into a Backstabber for two. The armbreaker is countered into a neckbreaker by Cena and both guys are down. John heads up top but Del Rio takes him down with an enziguri. Another enziguri misses but Cena can’t get the STF. A backbreaker puts Cena down for two more so Del Rio goes up yet again. His third attempt at an ax handle is blocked by a Cena dropkick to put both guys down. The AA is countered into the armbreaker which is countered into the STF by Cena.

Alberto FINALLY makes a rope and heads to the apron. As Cena tries to pull him back in, there’s an armbreaker over the ropes to slow Cena down. Alberto tries a sunset flip but gets caught in another AA attempt. THAT gets reversed into a German suplex for two so Alberto puts Cena in the Tree of Woe. Del Rio tries a spear to an upside down Cena but hits the post shoulder first instead. The top rope Fameasser hits perfectly for the pin on Alberto at 11:23 shown of 14:53.

Rating: B. This was a solid nearly PPV quality match with one thing that really set it apart: the ending. It’s nice to see something other than one of Cena’s two finishers ending a match for a change. Seeing the same moves get the same two counts over and over can start to seem like a waste of time after awhile, so having one of those moves get a pin every now and then is a good thing. The match was good stuff too and one of their better matches.

As Cena poses on the stage, Dolph blasts him in the back of the head with the briefcase. Josh: “You don’t want to see something like that happen to John Cena.” John: “Why not?”

Time for another recap, this time of the main event of Raw where Punk beat Kane and then the Shield ran in to beat up the monster. The beatdown on Ryback isn’t shown.

HELL NO is glaring at each other in the back when Kofi comes up to tell them to get along because they have a six man tonight. The tag champions shout compliments to each other and agree that they can get along. Kofi doesn’t know what to think of this.

Cena yells at Booker that he wants Ziggler. Booker says let the match with Sheamus vs. Ziggler take place tonight. Cena agrees because of his past with Booker.

Great Khali vs. David Otunga

Josh says this might be harder for Otunga than passing the bar exam, causing JBL to go on a big rant. Khali knocks Otunga to the floor where Horny jumps him, only to get chased away. Khali pulls Otunga back into the ring for the big chop and the pin at 1:26.

Horny and Khali dance post match.

Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett vs. HELL NO/Kofi Kingston

Take two feuds, put them into one match. This is something that could be done far more often. Kane vs. Darren gets things going here with Young getting punched down very quickly. Off to Bryan for a running dropkick in the corner and some regular kicks to a seated Young as well. Kane hits a seated dropkick of his own for two as Young shouts for Titus.

Darren finally gets in a single shot and runs over to Titus for the tag. O’Neal has his head kicked off for two and he’s sent to the floor. There’s Bryan’s running knee off the apron and we take a break. Back with Kofi getting two on Young off a dropkick. Back to Kane who does nothing so here’s Bryan again. Daniel fires off kicks and chops but Titus comes in off a blind tag to take over for the first time.

The Players take Bryan down with a double shoulder for two by Young. Off to a surfboard hold with the knee in the back by Darren. That goes nowhere so here’s Barrett for the first time. Pumphandle slam gets two on Bryan and it’s off to a reverse chinlock. Titus hits a reverse slam on Bryan before suplexing Young down onto him for two.

Darren hooks a chinlock but Bryan fights up with a bunch of forearms. Young comes back with a northern lights suplex for two as we’re waiting on the big hot tag. Titus works on the back of Bryan but charges into a boot in the corner to give Bryan a breather. There’s the tag to Kane who beats the tar out of Young, getting two off a side slam.

The top rope clothesline connects but Titus breaks things up. Kofi comes in sans tag (such a bad influence on the children) and everything breaks down. Young tries to come in of the top but jumps into a chokeslam. Swan Dive and the NO Lock from Bryan get the tap at 10:38 shown of 14:08.

Rating: C. This might as well have been the Players vs. the champions with Kofi and Barrett as managers. The two singles guys were in the match for maybe a minute each at most and I actually forgot who they were when I was writing up the results. The match wasn’t bad or anything, but I’m not sure why Barrett and Kingston didn’t get more time.

Sheamus is very excited about kicking Ziggler in the head later.

Raw ReBound is the ending of the show, most of which we saw earlier.

Here’s Damien Sandow, who says he’s going to be focusing on individuals instead of the masses from now on, which is why he’s going to search for an apprentice. He goes through the front row and finds a guy in a Punk shirt that suits him. Damien asks the fan some basic questions (how many wheels on a tricycle and how often does the US hold presidential elections) before asking what the velocity of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Sandow’s reply of “YOU IGNARAMOUS!” when the guy doesn’t know is hilarious. He says the fan has disgraced Louisiana and wants him out of his country.

Damien Sandow vs. Tyson Kidd

Kidd chases Sandow to the apron but Damien rams him face first into said apron to take over. Back in and the Wind-Up Elbow gets two but Kidd comes back with kicks to the head for two of his own. Sandow heads to the floor and gets caught in a suicide dive from Kidd. Back in and Kidd tries his springboard elbow but it lands on Sandow’s knee. For some reason this hurts Kidd instead of Damien’s knee is beyond me but whatever. Terminus ends this at 2:49.

Video on Cena’s 300^th Make-A-Wish granted.

Ziggler says that Cena is a liar and liars get what they deserve: MITB case shots to the back of their heads. There’s a really bad superhero parody skit in there somewhere.

Usos vs. 3 Man Band

It’s Slater/Mahal again. Slater vs. Jey to get things going here as the fans go pretty silent after booing 3MB’s entrance. It’s quickly off to Jimmy who now has a sleeve tattoo which helps tell them apart. A middle rope splash gets two on Slater but it’s off to Mahal to take over with a knee and chinlock. A hot tag brings in Jey for some fast paced offense including a shot to the face and a Samoan Drop for no cover. The running Umaga attack in the corner gets two but some Slater interference lets Mahal hit the full nelson slam for the pin at 2:41. This was nothing.

We recap Show and Sheamus’ staredown from Raw with Show breaking a chair.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Ziggler takes over to start but the showing off lets Sheamus get in a few shots to take control away. Dolph sends him to the floor but dives into a fall away slam into the barricade. Ziggler is thrown back in, only to fall right back to the floor. Sheamus throws him back in again but Ziggler guillotines him down to break up the ten forearms. We take a break and come back with Ziggler hitting a splash in the corner for two.

Off to a chinlock by the smaller guy, followed by a kick to Sheamus’ head for two. Ziggler chokes and stomps away in the corner but his charge is countered by a backdrop to the apron. There are the ten forearms to the chest but Ziggler avoids the top rope shoulder. Brogue Kick misses and Ziggler gets two off the jumping DDT. The Fameasser misses as well and there’s the Irish Curse for two. White Noise is countered but Sheamus counters the counter into the Cloverleaf but here’s Big Show for the DQ at 8:45 shown of 12:15.

Rating: C. Nothing significant here as it was all leading up to a run-in finish. It’s nice to see Ziggler not lose clean for once which happens way too often for a guy who is likely going to be a world champion in the next few months. Other than that though, nothing to see here for the most part but it wasn’t bad.

Cena comes out to save Sheamus from a double team. There’s an AA to Ziggler and a double suplex to Show. A double shoulder puts Show on the floor and the good guys celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Let’s see: recaps kept far lower than previous weeks, some pretty good and long matches, nothing being horrible for the most part, and a 3 Man Band sighting. By comparison to most of what we’ve gotten from WWE lately, this was one of the best shows in months. I’d be much happier with Smackdown if it were like this all the time, as in NOT ABOUT RAW.

Results

John Cena b. Alberto Del Rio – Top Rope Fameasser

Great Khali b. David Otunga – Chop

HELL NO/Kofi Kingston b. Wade Barrett/Prime Time Players – NO Lock to Young

Damien Sandow b. Tyson Kidd – Terminus

3 Man Band b. Uso Brothers – Full Nelson Slam to Jey

Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Big Show interefered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: November 28, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, Jim Ross, Tom Phillips

Back to the Florida guys this week as we approach the title match between Rollins and Mahal. We’re also getting towards the point where this show will catch up to WWE and we’ll see Mahal as a leather clad rocker and potentially Rollins as a guy in a police themed gimmick. Other than that we’ve still got Langston vs. Vickie’s guys for the bounty. Let’s get to it.

We open with Bryan, saying that he’s coming back to the place where it all started for him. Since he was here, he became world champion, started a successful line of t-shirts and now HE IS THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! Tonight he demands that no one say YES and that no one call him a goatface. He also says that Kane, who is standing next to him, must stay out of his way. Kane says HE is the tag team champions and for Bryan to stay out of his way. You know where this is going. Bryan lets out the biggest NO ever but Kane says yes to counter.

Theme song.

Trent Barreta vs. Leo Kruger

Trent has banged up ribs due to the presumed attack by Kruger last week. He takes Kruger down with some running shots to the head to start, but the ribs keep him from being able to follow up. Leo sends the ribs into the corner and rips off the tape. A knee drop keeps Trent down and Kruger goes after the ribs. Off to an abdominal stretch as the tape is rapidly disappearing from Barreta’s ribs.

Kruger goes up to the middle rope but jumps into a dropkick for two. Trent keeps hitting moves but he has to stop to breathe after every single one. The running elbow in the corner staggers Kruger but a release flapjack stops the momentum cold. The Kruger End (neckbreaker into a cutter) gets the pin on Trent at 4:39.

Rating: C-. The match makes sense from a logic and psychology standpoint which I like, but it wasn’t exactly an interesting match due to all of the slowing down. Trent is a guy who will go out there and give you a good match most of the time, but he wasn’t able to be himself here. Odds are we’ll get another match soon when Trent is healthy.

Xavier Woods vs. Memo Montenegro

Woods is billed as being from Angel Grove, California. Isn’t that where the Power Rangers were from in the first few seasons? Woods likes to dance apparently and also is good in hip hop kido. JR doesn’t care for whatever that is but likes headlocks. The voice Ross uses when saying that was hilarious. Woods continues to control with the headlock as JR continues to sound like he cannot stand Woods’ gimmick. Memo misses a clothesline and a dropkick puts him down. In a stupid/AWESOME ending, Woods shouts that IT’S MORPHING TIME (awesome) and hits a rolling clothesline for the pin at 2:14.

Wait a second. During the match, Dawson said that Woods was trained by Zack Taylor in Hip Hop Kido. A quick Wikipedia search shows that Taylor was the name of the original Black Power Ranger and his fighting style was in fact Hop Hop Kido. I take what I said earlier back. Woods is AWESOME!

Audrey Marie vs. Emma

Emma is from Australia and Audrey is officially a cowgirl. A dropkick puts Emma down quickly and Audrey hooks a “unique submission” according to Tom. JR: “It’s called a bodyscissors Tom.” That gets a few rollups for two on Emma and it’s off to a move I’ve heard called a Tumbleweed for more twos. JR continues to be funny because he’s annoyed and/or bored, saying that he feels sorry for these girls because neither has a last name. Tom calls a cross body a giant play to annoy JR even more. After a backslide gets two for Emma, Audrey finishes her with a Catatonic (spinning Rock Bottom) at 2:40.

Roman Reigns has issued a press release, saying that he doesn’t want to give an interview right now. He has meetings with his “team” to determine various endorsements because he’s a blue chipper, but he’ll participate in this interview at a later date. Ok that’s pretty awesome.

Here’s Michael Cole to moderate a face to face meeting between Rollins and Mahal. Cole’s music sounds like it’s being sung by a bad Frank Sinatra impersonator and is called Never Thought My Life Could Be This Good. It sounds like it’s describing a scene from Leave It To Beaver, talking about having a mowed lawn and a picket fence. It’s kind of catchy actually.

Anyway he brings out Rollins and Mahal for the face to face confrontation. Mahal says what he did last week wasn’t an attack. Rollins says it was the action of a desperate man, because Mahal knows he can’t beat Rollins one on one. Mahal talks about how it’s his birthright (his destiny if you will) to be a champion. Rollins talks about being a man of the people and sharing a mind and a spirit. Rollins says he’s better than Mahal because he has the heart of a champion. Mahal goes on a rant about prejudice and attacks Rollins, putting him in the camel clutch.

Tag Titles: Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis vs. HELL NO

Curtis is already dancing and is apparently a stripper now. Oh joy. Apparently THIS is Johnny’s cash in for winning NXT Season 4. Wow they actually remembered that. Points for continuity! Bryan and Kane argue before the match, which starts with McGillicutty vs. Bryan. Michael takes him down to start and Bryan pretends to tag Kane, just to tease him a bit. Now be nice to that monster.

Kane tags himself in and clotheslines McGillicutty to the floor, only to have Bryan tag himself back in. The challengers take over with some double teaming and Goatface plays Ricky Morton. Curtis puts on a bow and arrow submission hold before it’s back to McGillicutty for some shots to the ribs. Johnny hooks a chinlock for a bit before a double clothesline puts both guys down. Hot tag brings in Kane and house is cleaned. Bryan tags himself in again and the champions argue. McGillicutty gets two off a rollup as everything breaks down. A chokeslam puts Curtis down as the NO Lock submits McGillicutty at 7:05.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as the whole match was just killing time until McGillicutty and Curtis realized they were McGillicutty and Curtis. Why in the world Curtis is getting repackaged and put on the main roster instead of McGillicutty is beyond me, but it might be because Michael is talented and might get over, and we wouldn’t want that.

The champs hug it out to close the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t their best show. The Power Rangers thing is a great geek out moment, but the rest of this show doesn’t work for me. The main guys other than Rollins weren’t here and they were clearly missed. I can’t complain about seeing Audrey Marie on my screen, but JR being belligerent is sad to hear. He just doesn’t care anymore and that’s very clear. Not a terrible show, but their worst in months.

Results

Leo Kruger b. Trent Barreta – Kruger End

Xavier Woods b. Memo Montenegro – Rolling Clothesline

Audrey Marie b. Emma – Spinning Rock Bottom

HELL NO b. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis – NO Lock to McGillicutty

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: November 23, 2012
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the night after Thanksgiving and we’re just after Survivor Series. Big Show is still champion and it looks like we’re getting Show vs. Sheamus III in a chairs match at TLC. Other than that it’s hard to say what we’re going to get at that show, but I have a feeling it’ll be a lot of rematches. Let’s get to it.

It’s the voiceover deal to start, recapping Raw with the Cena/AJ stuff. You know, in case seeing it five times on Raw wasn’t enough for you. We also see the ending with Ryback getting beaten down again.

We open with MizTV. The guest tonight? John Cena. Well you can’t say they’re being weak with the guests on this one. Cena sits on a couch and says this is awesome. Miz talks about how Cena is more famous for his in ring stuff but lately it’s been like a TMZ story. To prove it, we see the Cena/AJ kiss for the second time in five minutes. Miz asks how the kiss was and how Cena’s knee is after the attack by Ziggler. Apparently Cena has a tweeked knee but it’s nothing serious.

Well that’s enough about wrestling, so let’s talk about AJ some more. Miz wants to know if Cena and AJ are more than just friends, but Cena is tired of hearing that question. Cena does admit that AJ is a good kisser though. Riveting stuff here people. Miz again asks if they’re more than just friends and here’s AJ before Cena can answer. AJ says Cena was just doing that to prove a point to Vickie but Cena seems to dispute this. Miz makes fun of them for being in love, but Cena calls Miz an idiot.

This brings out Ziggler because this segment needs to keep going for some reason. Ziggler says that it’s AJ’s fault that Cena hurt his knee because she burst into the men’s locker room. Pay no attention to the fact that Cena hurt his knee jumping out of the ring after Ziggler which we already saw a video of today I guess. This of course leads to ANOTHER video from Raw with AJ going into the locker room and yelling at Ziggler, leading to a brawl between Dolph and Cena.

Since we haven’t covered this entire storyline yet, here’s Vickie to run her mouth a bit more. Vickie says Dolph kisses real woman which Cena calls a lie because there’s no proof Vickie is an actual woman. Guerrero insists their relationship is just professional and Dolph says he’d bring the woman out of AJ. Cena says Vickie is nuts and Dolph is still looking for his. The segment finally ends with nothing at all new being added.

Ryback vs. Darren Young

Young comes out second which is kind of odd. Titus sits in on commentary. Young pounds away to start but Ryback casually shoves him down. Young gets his head slammed into the mat and Titus blows the whistle at him. Ryback takes Young’s head off with a clothesline on the floor and we head back in. Titus: “Somebody get that boy some medication. Something’s wrong with him.” Meat Hook and Shell Shock end this in 2:03. I’m sure Young will in a title match soon after this and WWE will be confused when no one buys him as a title contender.

Titus yells at Ryback post match and gets a Shell Shock too.

R-Truth vs. Antonio Cesaro

This is non-title and is happening because Cesaro has only beaten Truth clean once so far, which means absolutely nothing in the modern WWE. Cesaro insults Thanksgiving before the match as you would expect him to do. Cesaro immediately hits the gutwrench suplex followed by a double stomp and a body vice. Truth comes back with punches and a side kick before countering the Neutralizer with a backdrop. Little Jimmy hits for the clean pin at 1:33.

Just to recap: Cesaro pinned Truth 100% clean at Survivor Series, then Truth gets another match with him and pins him in under two minutes. I SO want to see another match between them now and this certainly doesn’t hurt Cesaro’s credibility at all. My goodness they bring so many problems on themselves it’s unreal. Have Truth beat ANYONE else to earn another shot and this problem does not exist. Is it any surprise that Cesaro is a total afterthought at this point?

Sheamus arrives and Booker stops him from going to the locker room. Due to the attack at Survivor Series, Sheamus can’t compete tonight. Instead Booker gives him a chairs match for the title at TLC. Sheamus gets to go to Booker’s personal suite and watch the show. Big Show has a handicap match later against HELL NO.

Sin Cara vs. Alberto Del Rio

The lights are back. JBL says Del Rio is a former AAA champion but I can find no record of that anywhere. Cara immediately knocks him to the floor and hits a big dive on Del Rio and Rodriguez for two back inside. A big running kick misses Del Rio and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two for Alberto. Cara’s right shoulder goes into the post and we take a break.

Back with Alberto pulling on the mask before shifting over to a chokehold. Del Rio fires off kicks to the back as JBL continues to amuse me. Josh talks about how he and JBL watched the 2/3 falls match earlier today, but JBL makes sure to point out that they were in separate rooms so people don’t think they’re friends. Back to the chinlock by Alberto but Cara comes back with a rana for two. Del Rio hits a kick to the side of the head, drawing a big gasp from the crowd but only getting two.

Things slow down a bit as JBL rips into Mil Mascaras a bit more. Alberto slams Cara down as the announcers stay in their argument. At least this one is entertaining though, unlike Titus and Jerry’s debate about washcloths on Raw. Back to the chinlock for a bit but Cara speeds things up and hits an armdrag and cross body for two. The Tajiri Elbow looks to set up the Swanton but Del Rio arm drags Cara off the top and the Cross Armbreaker gets the tap at 6:21 shown of 9:51.

Rating: C. The commentary was more entertaining than the match here but the match wasn’t bad. Seeing Del Rio ground Cara and work the arm over was another example of the solid psychology that Alberto has, which is one of the things that makes him so fun to watch. Pretty decent little TV match here.

Bryan tells Kane to stay out of his way tonight because he can beat Big Show in 45 seconds. Kane asks Bryan if he thinks that’s going to happen again. Guess what Bryan says. Kane says he and Show used to be tag champions and thinks Bryan and Show could be a team called No Show. Bryan: “Is this because I didn’t invite you to my house for Thanksgiving?” Kane: “…….maybe.” Bryan says it was great because they had vegan turkey. Kane wants to know what the point is. If they win tonight, Kane gets to come over for Christmas and beat up Santa Claus. These two are still hilarious.

Big Show vs. HELL NO

The champs (as in the tag champs) have to tag here and Bryan starts with Big Show. Bryan’s trunks are partially black tonight which is a new look for him. Bryan fires off kicks to the leg but Show shoves him down with ease to take over. Show sends him shoulder first into the buckle and works over the arm a bit which isn’t usually his custom. Show lifts him up in the air by the beard as JBL kind of rips into Josh for calling Bryan a goat face.

Bryan comes back with more kicks but Show casually shoves him back down. Back to the arm as Show drops a knee on it and shouts at Kane a bit. Do all the shouting you want as long as we don’t have to sit through another Show vs. Kane match. Show misses a middle rope elbow as Regal and Sheamus are watching from the sky box. Bryan has a chance to tag but shouts NO instead and fires off kicks to Show.

A big kick to the head puts Show down but Show LAUNCHES Bryan off of the cover at two. The chokeslam is countered into a guillotine choke but Show (who is supposed to have a knee injury isn’t he?) throws him off. It’s a sleeper now from Bryan which lasts for over a minute without Show going down at all. There’s the hot tag to Kane who dropkicks Show’s knee out and hits a top rope flying body attack (it was supposed to be the clothesline) but the chokeslam is broken up. A DDT puts Show down but Bryan tags himself in. Bryan tries the NO Lock and Kane walks. The hold is broken and the chokeslam ends Bryan at 10:02.

Rating: C. Not bad here but did this need to be against the tag champions? That’s the problem with the way they’ve set up the roster: there are only a handful of teams that could challenge Big Show, but Show has been booked so strong that no one can give him a legit fight. Also you don’t want Show vs. Kane again as that might be considered torturing the audience. At the end of the day, there wasn’t much they could do here but job the champions. Again.

HELL NO beats up Big Show post match, because we need to make sure everyone stays strong. I know the idea of DON’T HAVE THEM FIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE is hard to grasp, but it might be a better way to go.

Show yells at Sheamus, saying that he’ll have a chair too. Sheamus is all BRING IT ON!

Barrett comes out for commentary for the next match.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow

Damien hits a quick suplex for two but Kofi rolls out of a belly to back suplex and sends Sandow to the outside. Kofi gets sent into the buckle and to the floor as well as we take a break. Back with Damien holding a kind of crossface chickenwing before hitting a knee to the ribs to keep control. Apparently Barrett has earned an IC Title shot from his win on Monday. What exactly did Damien do to get this show?

The Wind-Up Elbow gets two for Sandow followed by the running hip attack to the back of Kofi while he’s in 619 position (you come up with a name for it) for two. Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long. A quick slugout goes to Sandow because of Kofi’s bad eye and Kofi’s back gets rammed into the apron.

Sandow stomps away but Kofi gets up top for the cross body for two. Damien sends him into the middle buckle for a rollup for two, followed by the SOS for the same result for the champion. Kingston speeds things up and fires off chops and a dropkick to put Sandow down. There’s the Boom Drop and Trouble in Paradise for the pin at 5:57 shown of 9:27.

Rating: C+. As usual, the midcard champion is in need of a win to get any kind of momentum back. You know, because we had to have him lose on Monday to Barrett. The better idea would have been to have Barrett win by referee’s stoppage, making it so that Kofi didn’t get pinned but acknowledging that he’s in danger against Barrett. But instead let’s just have him get pinned and have him lose some credibility because, you know, who cares about stuff like that. The match was fine.

Barrett says he’s coming for the title.

According to my watch, we’ve gone a whole twenty minutes since we talked about something on Raw, so here’s a recap of the end of the show with the Championship Celebration and Ryback getting beaten down again.

Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose will speak on Raw.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton

Main event time here. Orton pounds away to start and Ziggler hides in the corner. Ziggler takes him to the mat before pounding away on Randy’s head in the corner. Orton comes back with his dropkick for two and a slingshot suplex for the same. They head to the outside with Ziggler trying to hide in the crowd, but it’s kind of hard for a large man with blonde hair and pink trunks to hide, even in a mass of people.

Ziggler gets knocked down on the concrete as we take a break. Back with Dolph breaking out of a chinlock before Orton suplexes him right back down for two. With Ziggler laying on the apron, Orton stomps away and hits a slingshot to send Dolph throat first into the bottom rope and out to the floor. Ziggler throws Orton into the announce table and dropkicks him down, but Dolph might have injured his own knee in the process.

Back in and Ziggler erupts on Randy, pounding away on him with kicks and punches. The jumping elbow gets two and it’s off to a chinlock. Ziggler’s knee seems to be fine. Orton fights up and gets that rolling cradle out of the corner for two. We get a dueling chant from the crowd as the chinlock goes on again, this time resulting in Orton punching his way out of it. Ziggler stops the comeback dead with a DDT for a close two. This is starting to get better.

Dolph goes up top and is immediately superplexed right back down. It’s cool to see Orton expanding his moveset with stuff like the superplex and the slingshot suplex he used earlier. There’s the powerslam followed by the Elevated DDT but the RKO is countered into a rollup with trunks for the surprise pin at 9:37 shown of 13:07.

Rating: B-. Solid TV main event here but it’s a match we’ve seen several times before. It’s nice to see Dolph win here and a little bit of cheating never huts a good heel. Orton is one of those guys who isn’t going to be hurt badly by a loss so there’s no problem on his end. Dolph seems to be getting a push lately, which is nice to see as it seems that he’ll be cashing in his case soon. Then again it’s felt like that for months now.

Post match Ricardo and Alberto try to run in but Orton hits the RKO on Ricardo and Alberto stops on the apron. WHY IS THIS STILL GOING??? Cena comes out and puts Ziggler in the STF on the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Did I miss something or did almost nothing happen on this show? It felt like a supplement to Raw, and while it usually feels like one of those, this was even worse than usual. There was just nothing going on here at all and the booking made limited sense at best. The main event stuff seems to be pointing to a tag match which is fine, but other than that I’m not sure what the point of this show was. Nothing to see here at all.

Results

Ryback b. Darren Young – Shell Shock

R-Truth b. Antonio Cesaro – Little Jimmy

Alberto Del Rio b. Sin Cara – Cross Armbreaker

Big Show b. HELL NO – Chokeslam to Bryan

Kofi Kingston b. Damien Sandow – Trouble in Paradise

Dolph Ziggler b. Randy Orton – Rollup with a handful of trunks

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Smackdown
Date: October 26, 2012
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the final show before the PPV and I think everything major is set. We finally know the tag title match so you can probably expect to see some more about that. After the disaster of a Raw this week, maybe Smackdown can redeem things a bit. If nothing else, Sheamus vs. Big Show is probably the best feud going in the WWE right now. Let that sink in for a minute. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Orton to open the show. As he comes to the ring, we get a history of Orton vs. Del Rio, including the graphic for their match on Sunday. Does anyone else find it stupid looking when they have the video game graphics in the background? It takes away how serious the feud is supposed to be. Orton says he doesn’t hate Del Rio for attacking him last week, but rather why the attack happened. If it was because Del Rio was embarrassed for losing to Sheamus over and over, that’s one thing. But doing it and pretending to be a tough guy was a mistake.

Orton says he’ll be honest with Del Rio: on Sunday, Alberto is getting the most brutal beating of his life. Alberto cuts Randy off and says they’re doing this on Del Rio’s terms. Randy isn’t a viper but rather a garden snake. Orton says no one here knows what Del Rio just said. Apparently Del Rio is all talk and is a spineless bottom feeder with no cajones. Randy’s words, not mine. Del Rio starts to come to the ring with Orton saying bring it on, but here’s Barrett from behind to jump Orton.

Post break Del Rio is in the back when Teddy comes up. Before anything can be said, Barrett comes up and asks if that was what Del Rio was looking for. It’s Barrett vs. Orton tonight.

Kane vs. Cody Rhodes

Bryan and Sandow are on commentary. Kane takes him into the corner to start as Bryan and Sandow argue back and forth. There’s the top rope clothesline followed by an uppercut to put Cody down. Cody escapes a side slam and hits a running knee to the face of Kane. A Disaster Kick winds up being a dropkick for two and Cody goes for the knee. Sandow and Bryan argue over whose beard is better. Josh: “Damien what is your IQ approaching?” Sandow: “It’s approaching infinity. I become smarter merely by sitting here.” Cody tries that uppercut from the mat of his but Kane grabs him for the chokeslam and pin at 3:15.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to get anywhere but the champions dominated for the first time in this feud that I remember. This is an interesting feud as the champions completely dominate on an individual basis but when they combine it’s not so one sided. That makes for an interesting match on Sunday if nothing else.

Booker comes in to see Show, who is face to face with Sheamus tonight. Booker requests professionalism tonight but Show cuts him off. Show won’t cause any trouble because he’s got nothing left to prove until Sunday. I keep forgetting how tall Booker is.

The Miz vs. Yoshi Tatsu

There’s a name I haven’t seen in awhile. Feeling out process to start with Miz taking him down via a shoulder. They head to the floor with Tatsu having his back rammed into the barricade. A boot to the side of Yoshi’s head puts him down and Miz puts on a reverse chinlock with a hand full of face. Another running boot to the face takes Tatsu down. A belly to back suplex is countered into a cross body for two for Yoshi. Miz’s short DDT puts Yoshi right back down and it’s the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: D+. Another squash here but even less competitive. Like I’ve said for a few weeks now though, WWE is finally starting to use its army of wrestlers in spots like this instead of someone that’s currently being used in a story. Yoshi losing here doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t hurt him at all while giving Miz a boost before the PPV. It’s not hard.

Video on the Egyptian tour.

Raw ReBound is Ryback destroying Punk on Monday.

We also get a video from Main Event with Heyman talking (on the monitor) about how Ryback isn’t in Punk’s league. Now when Miz (who is in the ring at this point. On Main Event that is) faced Ryback, he took his beating like a man. Ziggler losing to Ryback has no correlation with Punk because Punk is a much better strategist than Ryback.

It’s ANOTHER recap about the Divas situation with Kaitlyn saying she has proof of Eve being behind the attack at Night of Champions.

In Booker’s office, Aksana says it was a text from Eve and not an e-mail. Teddy tries to make sense of this whole story, which boils down to Eve is behind everything. Booker says if this is true, then Eve is off his staff. Eve says she’s too trustworthy and leaves her iPad and iPhone out with no pass code on it. More yelling ensues between all four girls in the office until it’s announced as Eve vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn for the title. Tonight it’s a tag match though.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

Barrett is sent to the floor very quickly with Orton following and in full control. Back in and Orton does his circle stomp before hooking a chinlock. Barrett comes back and sends Randy into the buckle but Orton clotheslines him down and drops a knee. They head to the floor with Orton being rammed face first into the apron a few times. As they come back in, Orton’s Elevated DDT is countered and Barrett sends him back to the floor.

Randy gets sent into the table and we take a break. Back with Barrett holding a chinlock, only for Orton to elbow out of it. Scratch that comeback as Orton gets taken right back down by Wade. Barrett puts Orton in the ropes and hits that running big boot to the face that looks awesome. A backbreaker gets two for Barrett and it’s off to a reverse chinlock. Barrett fires off knees to the ribs of Orton followed by a clothesline for two.

Barrett tries going up top but gets crotched and eventually superplexed down for two. Randy starts his finishing sequence with the clotheslines and a powerslam. The place freaks out over the RKO coming up but Barrett comes back with the Winds of Change for two. Barrett misses the Souvenir and gets caught in Orton’s over the back backbreaker. Now the Elevated DDT hits and Orton loads up the RKO, but here’s Del Rio. The distraction lets Barrett hit the Souvenir for the pin at 9:12 shown of 12:42.

Rating: C+. The more I see of Barrett the more I like him. He’s got a good physical style and looks like he could take down anyone in any given match. Orton losing here is fine as it advances his feud with Del Rio before the payoff on Sunday. I’m already digging this feud WAY more than the Sheamus one, mainly because there’s a chance Alberto could win.

Post match Del Rio attacks but neither the cross armbreaker or the RKO can hit.

Aksana/Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn/Layla

Layla and Aksana get things going but it’s off to Kaitlyn. Aksana continues to be the current worst worker on the roster so thankfully it’s off to Eve. She pounds on Kaitly a bit but a backsplash hits knees. Eve blocks the tag to Layla so we get more Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn runs over both heel girls and Layla kicks Aksana in the ribs. Layla misses a high kick and knocks Kaitlyn out, giving Eve the pin on Kaitlyn at 3:43.

Rating: D+. To be fair, the girls aren’t as terrible as they used to be as Kaitlyn is at least passable in the ring. Layla and Kaitlyn….eh not so much. Aksana continues to be there for looks only but someone has to do that I suppose. Not horrible here, but the NXT Divas matches are much more entertaining lately.

Raw ReBound sums up the Vickie/AJ/Cena stuff.

Sheamus doesn’t believe Show will be calm tonight.

Kane tells Bryan that he won his match so if Bryan loses, it’s clear that Bryan is the weak link.

Daniel Bryan vs. Damien Sandow

Sandow offers the audience some better words than YES to use, such as undoubtedly his beard is better than Bryans and absolutely the Rhodes Scholars will win the titles on Sunday. Kane and Bryan are in on commentary now. They start on the floor before Bryan takes over with kicks in the corner back inside. Bryan works on the arm as we take a break. Back with Sandow on the floor and Bryan firing off kicks.

Back in and Sandow hits the Russian legsweep and the windup elbow for two. Off to a chinlock before Sandow fires away right hands to the head. Kane won’t say a thing. Bryan starts firing off the YES Kicks and backdrops Damien to the floor. There’s a suicide dive and Cody gets in Bryan’s face. Kane goes after Sandow but no DQ has been called yet. Cody posts Bryan and Sandow slides in for the Terminus and the pin at 5:00 shown of 8:30.

Rating: C. Sandow getting a pin on Bryan is a big win for him and splitting up the wins tonight is a good move for the tag match. Nothing great here but seeing Damien hang in there with a guy like Bryan is a great sign. The guy could be a big deal for years to come, and having him get wins like this is a good idea.

Here are Sheamus and Big Show for their face to face time. There’s a ton of security here just in case. Show lists off a lot of famous finishers that the KO Punch is stronger than, including the Brogue Kick which they’ve proven scientifically. Sheamus says the KO Punch has to connect to work, so Show gives us some footage from a few weeks ago where he blocked the Brogue Kick.

Show says the Kick can’t get high enough and it’s a matter of physics that says Sheamus can’t beat him. If Sheamus thinks he can win, he’s either stupid or delusional. Sheamus there there are two thinks he loves: cold ale on a hot day and a good fight. The idea of fighting Show has his mouth watering. Sheamus again says that the title he holds today is the same as the WCW Title.

The champ is looking forward to fighting Show because he’s the ultimate fight. Show says Sheamus is scared but Sheamus says he doesn’t care how many Brogue Kicks it takes. Sheamus shouts that the time for fighting is now and it’s on. The security all gets tossed out but Show leaves before fighting Sheamus. Good hard sell for the title match here which you don’t get enough of anymore.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a solid go home show as the main matches all got a focus. The show isn’t going to be great but they’ve done enough here to make me interested in seeing it, which is exactly what they were shooting for here. I’m pleased by how Big Show vs. Sheamus is looking, as they’ve done a great job of building up the idea of can Sheamus beat him. I’m not at all saying it’s a great feud or that the match is going to be awesome, but they’ve done well with what they’ve got. Good show tonight.

Results

Kane b. Cody Rhodes – Chokeslam

The Miz b. Yoshi Tatsu – Skull Crushing Finale

Wade Barrett b. Randy Orton – Souvenir

Eve Torres/Aksana b. Layla/Kaitlyn – Torres pinned Kaitlyn after a high kick from Layla

Damien Sandown b. Daniel Bryan – Terminus

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews