Big Show comes out to open the show. Show says Alberto Del Rio has never pinned him and never will. Chris Jericho interrupts and comes to the ring. Y2J points out that if he wins the Chamber on Sunday and Show wins back the title, then it will be Jericho vs Show at WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight Championship(and Jericho will win). Show says if he faces Jericho at WrestleMania, it will be the last WM appearance of his career. Booker T interrupts and makes Jericho vs Show in the main event tonight.
^I enjoyed the interaction between Jericho and Show, and a match between them tonight is something to look forward to. I applaud WWE’s effort to keep Show at the top of the roster, despite his age and the growing list of talent waiting for their shot. Good segment here.
Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton about facing Mark Henry again tonight. Mark Henry walks up and stares down Orton as his music hits in the background.
^We just saw these two wrestle last week. What happened to originality? No words exchanged; it’s time to fight…again.
Henry defeats Orton by DQ when Orton hits Henry with a steel chair on the outside. Orton hits Henry with the chair after the match until Henry catches the chair and hits the world’s strongest slam on Orton.
^The physicality here was pretty good, but this isn’t something that I’ll remember for any length of time. The aftermath of the contest just makes me think that Henry’s dominance is going to be a key element in his match against whoever he faces at WrestleMania.
Henry is shown backstage and he grabs a microphone from Striker. Henry said he’s been frustrated about his return for nine months, and the hall of pain is now open for business. He suggests they have law enforcement handy after the lock Henry in the chamber with five other guys, because nobody is stopping his road to WrestleMania.
^I can see one of two scenarios happening here, but I’m going to save those for my predictions column on Saturday night. I expect Mark Henry to have a huge effect on the Chamber match this Sunday.
Tamina defeats Layla in a short match.
^At least they’re promoting the divas before they have a match this Sunday. Nothing special, but nice to see both ladies get some air time.
The Rock comes out and cuts a promo. He says CM Punk traded six days of holding the WWE Title in his possession for an ass kicking that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Punk and Heyman show up via satellite and Punk says Rock took what belonged to Punk at the Rumble and committed grand larceny. Punk says the nightmare we’ve been living in(the “people’s era”) will be over this Sunday. Rock says Punk’s words are worthless.
^I’m bored by the Rock. Sorry to those who want me to be excited about him and think I should bow down, but he’s boring now when he’s only wrestling matches on pay per view. The rematch on Sunday will be good regardless, but I’m just tired of anyone saying that Rock as WWE Champion is a good thing overall. Sure, the media takes notice and WWE gets publicity, but the fans lose out on the WWE Champions wrestling matches every week on TV and that to me if far more important.
Brodus Clay and Tensai defeat Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal. The Shield beat down Tensai and Brodus after the match. Dean Ambrose says they will believe in the Shield after the match this Sunday.
^Tensai and Brodus scream awful, but if WWE wants them for entertainment purposes then I guess we’ll just to have to continue watching them.
The Miz defeats Cody Rhodes in a very short using the figure four leglock.
^I like Miz being put over, but this match was insanely short and could’ve been more entertaining. I still think Cody Rhodes doing this jobber gimmick has something to do with a potential rivalry with Goldust. The only alternative reasoning would be that Cody is in the doghouse for some reason and losing so often has become his punishment.
Zack Ryder jobs to Jack Swagger in a short match. Swagger wins using the patriot act. Swagger introduces Zeb Coulter again and Coulter cuts a promo about the country being broken and knowing how to fix it.
^We just saw this match on Raw. Zeb Coulter does not make Swagger more interesting to me, especially when he says the same thing twice in one week. You think finding a boring parrot to replace a boring figure is going to make things more entertaining? That’s some loopy logic.
Del Rio and Ricardo are interviewed by Matt Striker. Del Rio says Show is right about Del Rio never pinning him, but he will defeat him this Sunday at the Elimination Chamber.
^I like Ricardo by Del Rio’s side, and I think this face turn could’ve helped Del Rio out a long time ago.
Big Show defeats Chris Jericho with the KO punch in roughly six minutes. Del Rio stands at the top of the stage and stares at Show as Smackdown ends.
^This was a very short main event, and I feel like ten more minutes would’ve made it pretty decent. Show’s monster side gets put over again, but that tells me two things. First, it’s very likely that Show won’t regain the World Title with this streak of dominance making that too obvious. Second, Jericho likely won’t win the Chamber match when he’s only around to put people over.
This was another very average Smackdown, and somewhat less than average in the sense that nearly all of it(with the exception of the Shield) was rushed and hardly did anything to increase the hype for the Chamber on Sunday.
I’ll have our Elimination Chamber preview up on Saturday night, and trivia before the show will be hosted in a private chat on facebook. If you’d like to join, make sure to add me as a friend and shoot me a message! Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
add me on facebook – facebook.com/thunderstruck11
