ThunderStruck: Smackdown! Analysis 11/18/11

Welcome to ThunderStruck! We are two days away from Survivor Series and Smackdown is our last stop before the show! Let’s get down to business!

 


 

We open the show with Henry slamming Daniel Bryan into a wall repeatedly. Henry asks if he’s going to disrespect him. He carries Bryan into the outer arena and towards the ring. They get in the ring and Bryan tries to recover but gets knocked down again by Henry. Henry hits the big splash and Bryan holds his ribs. Henry then hits him with a WSS and then a second one. Henry grabs a microphone and asks the crowd if they saw that. He says Bryan is in pain and promises there will be more where that came from. He said Big Show felt the pain but it obviously wasn’t good enough and he’s going to have to get more. He promises at Survivor Series one of them will be carried out and it won’t be Henry. This continued beatdown on Bryan makes me think he’s going to cash in that MITB contract sooner rather than later. I’m thinking TLC at this point. DBryan should just start coming to ringside with his briefcase for every Mark Henry match.

Sin Cara vs Dolph Ziggler:
Vickie introduces Dolph as the only competitor in two matches this Sunday at Survivor Series. Dolph slaps Cara to start the match. They lock up and Dolph with a fireman’s carry and a ground submission into a stomp. Dolph with a kick to the gut and an elbow to the back. Dolph applies a headlock and Sin Cara whips him into the ropes but gets hit with a takedown. Back and forth off the ropes ends in a standoff. Dolph with a kick to the gut and a punch. Dolph whips Cara off the ropes and gets hit with an elbow and an early released hurricanrana. Sin Cara then dove through the middle rope onto Dolph on the outside. Dolph gets in the ring and Sin Cara follows but gets knocked off the apron by Dolph. Dolph goes out and throws Cara into the ring. Ziggler then hits a jumping elbow drop and taunts the crowd. Ziggler applies a ground shoulder submission. Sin Cara comes out and does a fancy arm drag and a kick to the head. Sin Cara goes up top and misses a senton bomb. Sin Cara goes for a pin but gets countered by Dolph who grabs the tights and scores the three count. This was a fun match because of how talented these two are. After the match Sin Cara went off on Dolph after he shoved him. Down comes Jack Swagger to make the save. They double team him Sin Cara until Mason Ryan comes down and throws Ziggler into a flapjack. Good way of adding to the hype for this Sunday’s match. When you limit the high flying botches of Sin Cara he actually comes across as a good wrestler. I’m intrigued to see if he goes into the US or IC Title scene eventually.

Mason Ryan vs Jack Swagger:
Mason Ryan is grappling with Swagger when we come back from commercial. These two are too big and boring to be facing off in my opinion. Ryan reverses a waistlock into an armdrag takedown and then slams Swagger into the corner and hits a running spear in the corner. Ryan clotheslines Swagger and then drops him on a running powerslam attempt. Swagger then hits the splash on Ryan and gets a two count. Swagger starts to beat Ryan in the corner while the ref makes it to four twice. Swagger with a clothesline in the corner and then another. He hits a third. Swagger continues to beat down Ryan. He goes for a suplex but Ryan counters and hits one instead. Ryan counters and hits a big boot and then succeeds at the running powerslam. Swagger goes for a powerbomb and can’t lift him. Ryan locks on the full nelson and then slams Swagger down for the pinfall victory. Can’t wait to see this guy continue to be boring and dominate every match he’s in. Batista 2.0 is the understatement of the year for Ryan. The sad about this guy is the fact that he probably knows how boring he is and that he’s just being pushed because of his look.

Backstage segment with Justin Gabriel and Alicia talking. Zack Ryder walks up to them and asks them to sign his petition. They say sure and Big Show walks up and asks to sign the petition. Show gives us a woo woo woo. They tell Show about Henry beating down Bryan and Show asks where Henry is. They tell him they don’t know but Bryan is in the trainer’s room.

Back from commercial and Ted Dibiase and Hornswoggle are playing WWE 12 in Teddy’s office. Long walks in and they talk about the game. Long congratulates Ted on his impressive wins the last couple weeks and talks about how much he loves the Dibiase posse. As Ted continues talking, Aksana walks in. Long asks them to leave so he can be alone with her. Dibiase has to drag Hornswoggle away. Aksana said she heard someone was playing the WWE 12 game and she is an expert with a joystick. Long says they can play together later. Despite how attractive Aksana is, I’m getting sick of the segments.

Out comes Christian with a boot and crutch. Christian says he was chokeslammed by Show two weeks ago for no reason whatsoever and was injured. He said Long didn’t take the injuries seriously and Long booked him in a match with Sheamus last week. He said he fought Sheamus all over Europe and injured his ankle. He said this injury might keep him out a couple months. Christian says he will help inspire team Barrett onto victory at Survivor Series. Christian says it’s because he inspires everyone and makes them better. He says normally he’d be asking for one more match, but instead right now he’d love to have any match but that dream has been taken away by Teddy Long’s incompetence. Christian says he’s surprised by the lack of respect from the WWE Universe. He asked if they care that he’s injured. They crowd says no over and over. Christian says he is ashamed of all of them. He says he’s through with them and leaves.

Bryan is laying down in the trainer’s room and Show walks in. Show says it’s his fault and it wouldn’t have happened if he had been there. He says he needs to go find Mark and leaves. Commercial break.

Ted Dibiase vs Derrick Bateman:
Bateman is apparently one half of NXT’s power couple(I don’t keep track of NXT that closely). This looks like a potential squash match. Dibiase puts on a headlock and gets whipped off the rope but hits a takedown block on Bateman. He then does a hip toss and a drop kick on Bateman. Another knockdown on Bateman. Bateman gets the upper hand and clotheslines Dibiase for a one count. Bateman hits a weird neckbreaker and then whips him into the corner and kicks Ted. Ted comes out of the corner and pummels Bateman. Bateman whips him into the corner and he falls to the ground and Bateman goes for a pinfall but gets a two count only. He puts Ted in a headlock but Ted counters out with a snapmare and an atomic drop. They go off the ropes and Ted hits the clothesline. Ted then hits dream street for the pinfall. I love seeing this finally move up with a real push. The mid card talent pool in WWE is so large that I’m surprised Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler aren’t defending their titles more often. The lack of traditional Survivor Series matches is amazing given the talent not yet scheduled for the show.

Backstage segment with Jinder Mahal and Big Show with Tyson Kidd. Mahal says something to Show and Show punches him in the face. Tyson stares at Show and steps over Mahal and walks away. Show comes out to the ring. Show says it’s too bad Henry left the building because they could’ve had their Survivor Series match tonight. Show asks the crowd if they want him to become the new WHC. They crowd cheers. He shows the replay of Henry beating him at MITB and talks about how it’s his inspiration for beating Henry. Show says he heard Henry say that one of them will be carried out at Survivor Series. Show says after all the atrocities Henry has committed, he promises Henry is the one who will be carried out after their match. He says Henry is going to lose his WHC. Show says the fist is coming for him and he punches at the camera. Show’s music hits and he continues to pretend to punch the camera. Show has never been that bad on the mic and the overall promo came off good, but the aftermath where he punched at the camera over and over just seemed foolish to me.

Kofi Kingston vs Hunico:
They lock up and Hunico applies a wrist lock. Kofi reverses out into a takedown and gets a one count. Hunico goes on offense. Kofi goes for a foot springboard launch and Hunico stops and kicks him instead. Hunico hits a suplex and gets a two count. They go back and forth for awhile. Hunico applies a ground submission and gets up and stomps on Kofi. Kofi comes back and mounts an offense and hits a dropkick and a flying clothesline. He then hits the boom drop. Kofi does the three booms and misses trouble in paradise. Hunico throws Kofi into the corner but runs into a kick. Kofi hits the big splash from the top but Hunico goes for a cover and gets a two count. Kofi stands up and takes Hunico down while he’s complaining and gets the pinfall. This was great to see these two high flyers give us a match that was more balanced with ground action. They proved their versatility in this contest. Again, more hype added to the classic elimination match this Sunday.

Beth and Natalya vs AJ and Kaitlin:
Beth and Kaitlyn lock up and Kaitlin hits Beth. Kaitlin hits a dropkick into the corner then charges Phoenix but gets dropped onto the ropes. Beth goes on offense and gets a two count. Natalya is tagged in and Natalya gets a two count on a pin attempt. Natalya grabs Kaitlin by the hair and then applies a chinlock. Kaitlin powers out into a snapmare but Natalya recovers. Natalya goes for a ledrop but misses and AJ is tagged in. AJ hits a flying cross body and goes for a sunset rollup but misses. Natalya applies the sharpshooter and then lays backwards into it and AJ gives up. That was extremely interesting to see the sharpshooter be used in that way. Natalya and Beth taunt AJ after the match. Kaitlin looks pissed after the match. Hopefully the divas match this Sunday with the Lumberjills turns out to be entertaining. I would much rather see an elimination match than a lumberjill match just to get all the divas at ringside.

We get a replay of The Rock in Boston on Monday. This was one of the best promos of the year, by far. I was so glad to be there live.

Randy Orton and Sheamus vs Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett:
Rhodes and Sheamus lock up and Rhodes gets the upper hand to start but Sheamus flapjack drops Rhodes off a headlock. Rhodes tags in Barrett. Barrett with elbows and fists to Sheamus. They exchange blows and Sheamus takes Barrett down with an elbow. Sheamus gives the monster blows to Barrett’s chest as he’s caught between the ropes. Sheamus with a suplex. Barrett with a kick to the gut and a flying elbow for a one count pin attempt. Barrett with a knee to the back and fists to Sheamus. He applies a double arm stretch from behind on the ground. Sheamus stands up but gets put into a headlock but powers out with elbows a flip takedown. Sheamus tags in Orton. Orton hits the big scoop slam on Barrett. Orton hits his vintage DDT and calls for the RKO. Rhodes jumps off the top but gets caught by Orton with a neckbreaker. Barrett gets up and hits a big boot to Barrett’s face. Back from the commercial and Christian is at ringside as Rhodes is dominating Orton. Rhodes tags in Barrett, who continues to beat on Orton. They exchange blows and Barrett sends Orton flying with a knee to the stomach. He tags Rhodes and Rhodes stomps on Orton as Christian claps. Rhodes with a submission as Orton powers out with a flair drop on Rhodes. Barrett runs into the ring and hits Sheamus off the apron. Barrett and Rhodes then double team Orton. Barrett goes for the pin and gets a two count. He dominates Orton with a ground assault and gets another two count. Orton reverses Barrett’s offense and takes him down. Orton makes the tag to Sheamus as does Barrett to Rhodes. Sheamus dominates Rhodes and hits a big clothesline in the corner. Sheamus hits the battering ram on Rhodes and Barrett comes in the ring and Barrett gets tossed by Sheamus. Sheamus sets up for the big kick but Christian sticks his crutch in to get involved and end the match. Orton and Sheamus win by DQ and Barrett and Rhodes beat down Sheamus in the ring. Christian gives Barrett his crutch but Sheamus hits the big boot on Rhodes and then uses the crutch on Barrett. Orton hits an RKO on Barrett. Sheamus hits the celtic cross on Rhodes. Great way to close the show with the dominance of Team Orton!

So they added hype to the one scheduled traditional match for Sunday, and the show also added to the Henry/Big Show match on Sunday with the potential for Daniel Bryan to cash in MITB. I still think TLC will be a better time for him to win the title. I liked seeing Dibiase win yet again, and the divas match wasn’t all that terrible either. I’m sure Dolph Ziggler will give us two good matches on Sunday as well; I just wish they would drop Vickie Guerrero from the picture and let him shine solo. That’s all for this edition. Survivor Series predictions will be up sometime before the show. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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