ThunderStruck: Smackdown! Analysis 11/11/11

Happy Veteran’s Day and welcome to ThunderStruck! Smackdown is coming at us just nine days before Survivor Series. Let’s go right to the action!

We open the show with Randy Orton coming down to the ring. We get a flashback of Orton defeating Rhodes in last week’s street fight. Orton talks about Survivor Series and how he doesn’t play well with others on a team. He talks about the groups he’s been apart of and how they’ve imploded. Orton says he has no problem being team captain and giving Rhodes the beating of his life, again. He goes on to talk about each member of Team Barrett and how he has no problem doing the same to them. He is interrupted by Wade Barrett. Barrett says Orton has a huge problem with him. Barrett said they’ve both been in groups in the past but that he never started as a leader of any of them. He said because he is a natural born leader, people always gravitate toward him. He says no one will ever trust Orton on the other hand. Barrett says he has achieved a lot during his short time in the company but he is yet to become World Heavyweight Champion. He says he needs to beat Orton for that to happen, and that is why his team will be victorious at Survivor Series. Orton says he isn’t listening because he’s thinking about giving him and RKO. They are then interrupted by Christian. Christian is wearing a neck brace. Christian claims his injury is from being chokeslammed by the Big Show last week. He thanks Barrett for beating Sheamus and says he inspired Barrett to be better. He says he was offered the position to captain the team before Barrett and he declined because of his injury. He gives Barrett his full endorsement as captain of the team. Christian says it might be time to send a message to Orton’s entire team. Orton punches Christian and Barrett attacks Orton. Down comes Sheamus with the save. Orton tosses Barrett out of the ring and Sheamus pulls the neck brace off Christian. Out comes Teddy Long. I wonder if he’ll book a match now. Long calls Christian spineless. Christian is booked to face Sheamus for the one hundredth time. Orton and Barrett are booked for a one on one match in the main event. Survivor Series 2010 main event rematch anybody? I guess things do come full circle. It’s too bad the promo was interrupted by Christian as it was nice to see Barrett and Orton exchanging words.

Christian vs Sheamus:
They lock up and bounce back and forth off the ropes and Sheamus with a shoulder block. Christian slaps Sheamus. Sheamus mounts an offensive fury of fists and kicks as Christian goes down. Sheamus clubs his chest ten times and flips him back in the ring. Two count. Christian baseball slids under Sheamus then charges him but gets backdropped. Sheamus pummels him in the corner and then whips him to the other corner and then back again. Sheamus with a gorilla press and drop of Christian. Great bit of offense by Sheamus so far. Sheamus with a big shoulder block to come back in the ring as Christian falls to the outside. Sheamus bounces Christian head off the table and then Christian pushes him into the outside ring post. Christian tosses Sheamus back in the ring. Christian hits a drop kick from the middle rope. He hits Sheamus in the head multiple times but Sheamus stands up and hits him with fists. Sheamus charges Christian and he pulls down the middle rope. Christian jumps to the outside at Sheamus but is caught by the great white and given a fallaway slam into the barricade. Commercial break. Back in the ring and Christian is hitting multiple elbows to Sheamus’ head. Kneeling headlock applied on Sheamus. Christian with more offense. Sheamus hits him in the stomach and stands up. He tosses Christian over the top rope but he stays on the apron and catches Sheamus with a neckbreaker. Christian goes up top and goes for a double axe handle but is hit in the stomach by the great white. Christian is whipped into the corner now and falls to the mat. Sheamus with a series of knockdown blows and then beats down Christian in the corner. He hits a powerslam and gets a two count. Christian goes for a middle rope maneuver but gets caught by an “Irish Curse Backbreaker” as referred to by Cole. Sheamus gets a two count. He calls for the Celtic Cross but Christian slides out and goes to the middle rope. Sheamus catches him and hits another fallaway slam and a clothesline in the corner. Sheamus after Christian and gets clipped by Christian. He hits a dropkick and goes up top with Sheamus on the ground. Sheamus gets up and goes after Christian. Christian comes down and kicks Sheamus in the head in the corner. He then hits a jumping Tornado DDT on Sheamus from the middle rope. Sheamus goes up top and hits a diving shoulder block for a two count. Sheamus goes for the brogue kick and misses and Christian goes for an Unprettier and gets countered. Sheamus hits the Celtic Cross for the victory! This was yet another good match from Sheamus and Christian. These guys have awesome ring chemistry and continue to impress me despite their numerous battles in the past. Christian puts his neck brace back on after the match and looks to be shaken up pretty badly.

Backstage we have Daniel Bryan tellings the divas he was not planning to cash in last week. Henry comes up behind him and asks him if think it’s that easy to become champion. Henry says it took him fifteen years to become champion and to let him tell Bryan something. Bryan interrupts and says let me tell you something. Bryan says he won MITB and if he is still champion at WrestleMania, he will beat him. Henry says Bryan has guts and it’s a shame that he’s going to have to spill his guts all over the ring tonight. Michael Cole says he hopes Henry does just that. Next we are shown a special promo video for Ezekial Jackson showing him with his family and fans, and then we get ring highlights of Jackson destroying opponents. We are then shown Teddy Long in his office with a ref. Long tells him he has done a great job lately and to be on top of his game tonight. Aksana comes in and flirts with Teddy as usual. Teddy says he wants her first time on Smackdown to be special and she says she wants her first time to be special too. Teddy says he wants her to have some experience first. Teddy asks her to be in Alicia Fox’s corner tonight. Funny segment with not so discreet undertones. Commercial break.

Ted Dibiase vs Jinder Mahal:
Mahal kicks Dibiase in the stomach and Dibiase comes off the rope and gets hit with a flying knee. Mahal gets a two count and drives the knee down on Ted. Ted whipped off the ropes and hits a flying knee of his own. Atomic drop and big clothesline from Dibiase. Mahal goes for a full nelson but Dibiase counters out and gets behind Mahal and slams him down with dream street for the pinfall. Another victory for Ted here could mean an opportunity down the road here at the IC Title. I know people don’t like these short squash matches, but this one was definitely a benefit for Dibiase in the big picture. Commercial break.

Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan:
The Big Show has been banned from ringside for this match. Bryan gets in one kick to start the match and Henry just goes on the attack. He tosses Bryan to the outside and mashes Bryan’s head into the steel steps. Henry rolls him back into the ring. Henry with a kick to the stomach. Mark stands him up and punches him back down. He then stands on Bryan’s throat. Henry gorilla presses Bryan into the corner turnbuckle and he lands on top of it. Henry charges the corner and misses. Bryan goes up top with a laying dropkick that doesn’t even knock Henry off his feet. Bryan locks in a labell lock and Henry powers out and slams Bryan to the mat. Henry again goes on the offense and tosses Bryan around like he’s a rag doll. Henry splashes Bryan and goes for the cover but pulls him up at two. Henry then hits the World’s Strongest Slam and gets the pinfall victory. Impressive dominance once again by Mark Henry. Despite him being somewhat lackluster in the entertainment category, Henry’s ring dominance continues to prove why he is a legitimate WHC. Henry grabs the chair after the match and goes to break Bryan’s ankle. Bryan gets the chair and hits Henry twice but it has little effect. Henry hits another slam and then a jumping elbow drop. Henry hits yet another slam. He grabs the chair and goes to set up the chair on Bryan’s ankle. Big Show comes down and makes the save. Henry has the chair so Show won’t come into the ring right away so he hits Bryan with the chair. When he swings at Big Show, Show punches the chair out of Henry’s hand. Show enters the ring and Henry leaves. Show picks up the WHC belt and tosses it to Henry. Show grabs a microphone and tells Henry to stick around to watch his match to see something impressive.

Big Show vs three jobbers:
All three jump on Show at once and beat him to the ground. Show gets up and goes ballistic on all three of them. He hits a double chokeslam on two of them and calls the third one back into the ring. The guy goes to run off and Show grabs him and tosses him back into the ring. Show hits the big fist on the guy and gets the pinfall. Fast squash for this guy but it makes you wonder if there is any chance of Show winning the WHC at Survivor Series. Mark Henry asks if he is supposed to be impressed. He says those guys aren’t him and he is the WHC. Henry says he has impressed Show putting him on the shelve for four months and by beating him down last week. He promises to do the same at Survivor Series and leave a lasting impression.

Alicia Fox vs Tamina:
Natalya is on commentary for this match. Tamina mounts a quick offense in the corner on Fox. The two exchange blows and Tamina throws Fox to the mat and stomps on her. Tamina continues to throw Fox around. Tamina applies a submission hold and Fox powers out with a backtoss. Fox knocks Tamina down with two clotheslines and two dropkicks. Tamina bodyslams Fox and misses a big splash. Fox kicks Tamina in the head and then hits the flipping leg drop. Aksana hugs Fox in the ring after the victory. Interesting to see more divas getting included tonight. Let’s hope this streak continues.

Backstage we have Matt Striker with Sheamus. Striker says Sheamus seems to be a hothead and shows last week’s backstage interactions between he, Christian, and Wade Barrett. Sheamus says he’s generally a nice guy. He says he doesn’t have a temper. Striker asks him if he has a vicious mean streak when someone crosses him. Sheamus stares at him and then laughs. He calls himself spirited. It’s nice to see the funny side of Sheamus more and more. Out comes Hunico, Epico, and cousin Primo. Insert Booker T line here. Commercial break.

Epico and Hunico vs The Usos:
It’s good to see the Usos being used again on WWE TV. Good back and forth action between Epico and one of the Usos. Epico tags in Hunico who beats down the brother. Hunico and Epico exchange tags twice and beat down the same brother repeatedly. Booker says he likes these three guys as a clique. Jey comes in and gets some offense on Hunico. He knocks him down with a spinning clothesline. Jey hits the hip smash in the corner to Hunico’s head and gets a two count interrupted by Epico. Primo goes to get involved but gets knocked off the apron. Hunico sets up a swanton on one of the brothers amid the chaos and gets the three count victory. A three man clique of Mexicans dressing as gangsters. Why does this sound so familiar? The three beat down the brothers after the match.

Wade Barrett vs Randy Orton:
Main event time! Orton and Barrett lock up and dance around the ring. Orton works Barrett into the corner and presses his forearm into his neck. Orton backs off. They lock up again and Barrett works Orton into the corner himself. Dead even match so far. Barrett kicks Orton and applies a headlock into a takedown. Orton lands a standing dropkick when Barrett bounces off the ropes and Orton gets a two count. Orton applies a headlock of his own. They exchange blows and Orton comes out on top with a big clothesline. Orton works the crowd and stomps on Barrett’s arm repeatedly. Orton gets a one count. They go back and forth and battle on the outside where Barrett gets the upperhand. Commercial break. Back and forth action and Barrett uses the abdominal stretch. Barrett applies a rope choke submission illegally and takes a four count. He then knees Orton in the head over and over until he hits a big boot on Orton. Barrett is working the crowd himself while Orton is on the ground outside. Barrett rams Orton into the ring apron and rolls Orton inside. After Orton recovers he hits a big suplex from the top rope on Barrett. Orton gets a two count. They go back and forth some more and Orton hits his patented DDT with Barrett’s legs draped on the middle rope. He goes for the RKO and misses and Barrett goes for a school boy attempt and gets the pinfall on Orton! Barrett had apparently used his thumb on Orton’s eye after blocking the RKO before getting the pinfall. This was good for Barrett to get the big win like this. It says a lot about Barrett and how the WWE thinks of him when they let him pin Randy Orton, but yet they won’t do the same for Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes not being on the show was disappointing. Ziggler not being on the show was also disappointing. I suppose they were selling Rhodes being beatdown by Orton last week. So we were given seven matches. I don’t like Dibiase being in such a fast match, but I’ll take TV time over nothing. The Ezekial promo leads me to believe that he’ll be moved up sooner rather than later. I enjoyed Barrett and Orton just as much as the last time they fought. It’ll be interesting to see if the new trio of Hunico’s gets themselves into a possible elimination match for Survivor Series. That’s all for this one! My WW3 column should be coming soon. My RAW column won’t be up until late Tuesday due to me being at the show. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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