We open Smackdown with a promo from the Big Show. Show says he thought he would be standing out here as WHC, but he isn’t. He says Daniel Bryan is the champion and everyone has been asking him how he’s been feeling about things since Sunday. Show says he was finally there after nine years on Sunday. He puts over Mark Henry for his strength and brutality and talks about how he was proud to be the new champion, only to have it taken away just like that. He says he has mixed emotions. We get a flashback of Raw on Monday with Josh Matthews pointing out that Big Show has the shortest World Title reign in history. Show says he is going to give us his honest feelings about things when he is interrupted by Mark Henry. Henry asks Show what he’s proud of. He points out that Show has nothing to be proud of by having the shortest reign in the history of WWE. Henry says Show feels embarrassed and humiliated. Henry tells Show he should take a week off and quit the business. Henry says he wants his rematch tonight with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan interrupts. Bryan says most people can’t believe he is champion, including himself. He goes on to list all the traits he doesn’t have and insults himself. He points out that he is a very good wrestler. He says despite all the things he isn’t, he is the World Heavyweight Champion. Henry says every time he touches Bryan, he beats the hell out of him. Henry and Show both want rematches tonight. They get interrupted by Teddy Long, who books Show vs Henry in a number one contender’s match tonight. Bryan offers Henry a handshake as he goes to leave and pulls away when Henry goes to shake it. There really isn’t a better way to start the show than with your World Champion and the potential title contenders. Unfortunately, I was hoping the title contenders might be other superstars. I guess Big Show won’t be out of the main event scene just yet.
Next up we have a champion versus champion match with Zack Ryder taking on Cody Rhodes. These guys go back and forth and give us just a few minutes of fighting before Booker T jumps on the announce table and starts singing about “Cody the red nosed reindeer” and his broken nose. This distraction allows Zack to hit the roughryder finisher and score the pinfall on Cody. I like what this does for the rematch setup between Booker and Cody, but again I hate seeing Ryder pick up the win with help from others. Ryder is a good enough wrestler that he doesn’t need help to win matches. He does however need help with adding a variety to his moveset so that he doesn’t become the next John Cena. Good match overall, though.
Backstage segment where Santino asks Teddy Long if he can have Zack Ryder’s job as assistant to the GM of Smackdown. Aksana comes in and talks to Teddy about knowing multiple positions and being there to give him a hand if he needs it. She leaves and Santino raises the cobra arm up and goes away. Vicky Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler then come into Long’s office and Ziggler asks for a match tonight with Daniel Bryan. Long has no problem with it and makes it official. I always like Smackdown backstage segments better than Raw’s, and I think it’s partly because of Teddy Long’s character and it’s partly because the show always seems to be more productive. It’s not usually just match hype in the backstage segments like on Raw so much as it is making matches and establishing things for future shows.
Big Show and Mark Henry come out for their match. David Otunga comes out and says that Henry’s ankle damage caused his blood pressure to go up(?) and that Henry is not medically cleared to compete tonight, therefore the match is off. Big Show hits the weapon of mass destruction on Otunga as Henry leaves the ring. I know Henry is nursing a groin injury but I’m guessing the severity of it can’t be that bad if they won’t take him off tv for any length of time. Thank you WWE creative for saving us from another match between these two.
The Miz and Teddy Long are shown backstage. Miz says he was told to be at Smackdown. Long says he knows nothing about it. Miz says he is going to take the show hostage unless Teddy has someone who can stop him. Long tells him he will find someone. Miz is in the ring gloating that nobody on Smackdown compares to his talent. Out comes Sheamus. These guys wrestle a fast squash that results in Sheamus picking up the win with the brogue kick. What did this do for Miz? I know it helped add to the role that Sheamus has been on as of late, but what exactly is the plan for him heading towards WrestleMania? I fail to see how Miz can be seen as a top contender for the WWE Title if he is going to be destroyed in fast matches like this one.
Wade Barrett comes out to cut a promo. Barrett says the barrage has been on a role as of late with just a few minor speedbumps. Barrett has a video package played of his rivalry with Orton over the past month. Barrett goes to leave and Orton comes down and attacks him. They brawl to the back where Orton gets the upper hand and sprays Barrett down with a hose before slamming him onto a car and hitting and RKO on the roof of the car. This was quite the intense scene and it makes me think the next match between these two at the Rumble will have some sort of falls count anywhere/street fight stipulation to go along with it. I honestly look forward to getting more from these guys.
Primo goes one on one with Kofi Kingston in our next match. This one is quick but loaded with the athleticism that we’ve come to love out of Kofi. Kofi gets the victory in quick fashion with Bourne and Epico at ringside as well. I like these one on one matches between tag team wrestlers; again I just wish WWE would add more tag teams so that we can see some variation outside of our three regular teams as of late. Good win here for Kofi. I hope that Kofi is able to hold some singles gold this year if they decide to split him and Bourne up sometime in 2012.
Dolph Ziggler vs Daniel Bryan in our main event is up next. Jack Swagger comes down during the competition, closely followed by the Big Show to even the odds. Bryan and Ziggler showcase some of their moves and Bryan even hits a huge back suplex on Ziggler from the top rope. These guys are going on quite nicely until Big Show chases Swagger around ringside and they jump into the ring. Teddy Long comes running down and turns the bout into a tag team match. I really don’t see that this was necessary to take away Ziggler and Bryan’s singles match. I’m a little disappointed with it. Bryan ends up tagging himself in when Show gets knocked down and reverses an attempted ankle lock by Swagger into a labell lock, and Swagger taps out. Bryan is shown celebrating the win with the World Title as Big Show looks on from the outside and Smackdown goes off the air. It seems pretty safe to say that Big Show will be Bryan’s challenger at the Royal Rumble for the title. Swagger goes down as the guy that always loses once again. Ziggler doesn’t get pinned and Daniel Bryan gets put over as being a great wrestler. I’m not sure if the best way to market your champion is by putting him down in every single category outside of actual wrestling. Wouldn’t that make him Bob Backlund? Scary thought.
Raw was feel good and celebratory for three out of our four main champions. Smackdown was productive. We weren’t forced to deal with divas. Show and Bryan is setting up nicely for a good feud to formulate. Swagger and Ziggler will turn on one another soon enough. Barrett and Orton continue to leave me wanting more. Sheamus needs his own talk show segment or something. I enjoyed the show tonight. I’ll be back Tuesday with Raw and we’ll start kicking it into high gear with some extra columns heading into the new year. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
