World Champion Daniel Bryan is out to open Smackdown. Bryan talks about Big Show running over AJ last week and says Show had no real remorse. He says Show is bitter because of his short title reign. Bryan continues to talk smack about Show and calls him a freak. He dedicates his match with Mark Henry tonight to AJ. Bryan says he is not afraid of Mark Henry or the Big Show. Bryan says Show should do the decent thing and just quit.
^Vintage heel champion promo here. Bryan pulls it off nicely and continues this rivalry with two guys that are double his size. I like what WWE is doing here with having the World Champion open the show, just as Punk did on Raw. Bryan cutting his promo for the main event really sets the tone for the entire show. Taking your champion and making him the centerpiece of your program only makes sense.
Backstage segment #1: We’ve got a vegas scene in the back for Sin City Smackdown. Teddy Long is standing with Aksana and they have a wheel behind them. We get the usual undertone comedy here. Cody Rhodes comes in and spins the wheel. He gets dealer’s choice, which means he gets to pick his opponent. He picks Hornswoggle. Michael Cole laughs and says the troll’s luck ran out. Good bit of backstage fun here to set up our next match.
We have the 4 foot, 4 inch Hornswoggle taking on Cody Rhodes now. Cody attacks Hornswoggle on the outside and Justin Gabriel comes down to make the save. Gabriel attacks Rhodes and gets on the mic and challenges Rhodes. Rhodes agrees to the match but only if it’s non title. Rhodes is able to hit crossrhodes on Gabriel after he drops him on the ropes and pick up the pinfall. Cody celebrates and shows off the title to Hornswoggle after the match.
^I was almost irritated when the match with Cody and Hornswoggle was first made, but figured somebody would get involved to possibly aid the dwarf to a victory. Justin Gabriel, on the other hand, is a real talent and the potential for him and Rhodes to work great matches together is huge. I hope Gabriel is able to challenge for the title in the near future after watching these two go at it. I feel like it’s time for Cody Rhodes to move onto bigger and better things, and dropping the title is the first step in doing that. If he loses the title to Gabriel and elevates himself up, there would be a line of guys like Hunico, McIntyre, Dibiase, Mahal, and Ezekial to challenge Gabriel for the gold. Despite the ideas, I like seeing Rhodes’ dominance continue this week.
Backstage segment #2: Mark Henry spins the wheel and his match with Daniel Bryan will be a lumberjack match. Henry says Bryan will enter the hall of pain tonight. I love the heel vs heel heat that you get from these two!
Epico and Primo are out next to take on the Usos in a tag team tornado match. Solid tag team wrestling all around in this match. This one is over in less than four minutes and Epico and Primo pick up the victory.
^On a positive note, these are two very good tag teams that are capable on putting on good matches. On the flipside, they are the only two official tag teams in WWE with Air Boom on hiatus. I’m curious how long these two teams will be booked in matches against one another before new teams are brought in.
Backstage segment #3: More undertones from Aksana and Teddy. Sheamus comes in and spins the wheel for his match with Wade Barrett. It will be a tables match. Sheamus says that’s alright with him.
Next up we have a dance off. Yup, I said dance off. Vickie comes out and runs her mouth. She dances, sort of. Brodus dances next. Lillian Garcia polls the audience for a winner. Brodus wins. Vickie demands her music and keeps dancing. William Regal interrupts??? Regal asks the audience not to laugh at this poor unfortunate lady. Lady? Vickie? What show am I watching right now? Regal has Vickie leave the ring. Regal goes to leave and Brodus calls him a funky chicken and tells Regal to dance. Regal dances. Brodus plows him over and says it’s his bad.
^There isn’t much to say here. William Regal could work a better match than half the current roster. This isn’t Raw and this wasn’t necesary. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny, but it’s not what I want to watch on Smackdown. I’ll repeat myself for the millionth time and ask WWE to take Vickie off tv.
Wade Barrett takes on Sheamus next in a tables match. This was a decent match between these two. Sheamus goes for the celtic cross but Mahal runs down and jumps on the ring apron. Sheamus knocks him off and gets caught by Barrett and tossed through the table. Wade Barrett wins. Mahal sets up a table after the match and attacks Sheamus. Sheamus powers out and hits a brogue kick before picking up Mahal and driving him through the table.
^Barrett is looking like a better and better candidate to win the 2012 Royal Rumble as his streak of good fortune continues into this week. Sheamus looks solid as he dominates his rivalry with Mahal, but you have to wonder what WWE has planned for this guy next. His feud with Mahal can only go so far before we become bored by it. I say bring back the European Championship and put some significant meaning into these rivalries.
Hunico takes on Ted Dibiase next in a flag on a pole match. They wrestle both inside the ring as well as on the outside. These guys put on a really good match where Dibiase is able to hit dream street before pulling down the American flag!
^Outside of Sheamus and Wade Barrett, this was probably the most exciting match so far on the show. Dibiase and Hunico are very impressive in the ring together. I see more coming from this rivalry and I don’t think the fans will mind it. I hope both of these guys have a strong showing at the Royal Rumble.
Backstage segment #4: Teddy Long fires Drew McIntyre. Santino comes in and asks for another match with McIntyre first where it’s double or nothing. He throws out a bunch of Vegas terms. Teddy spins the wheel and they are booked in a blindfold match.
Next up is Drew McIntyre vs Santino in a blindfold match. Santino blindfolds the cobra on his arm before the match. Hilarious! They prowl around the ring blindfolded and McIntyre tackles Santino through the ropes to the outside. They work their way back into the ring. McIntyre cheats to see and then charges Santino. He misses and goes over the top rope. Santino uses the noise from the crowd to find Drew and hit the cobra for the win!
^Does this mean Drew will finally be fired, or will he be back next week for yet another match? Santino continues to have a significant role on WWE tv, which I feel he deserves. The crowd always loves this guy and it’s a smart move to keep him relevant every week. Start to finish, Santino segments are always funny and this one was no different.
Next up we have 210lb Daniel Bryan defending his World Title against Mark Henry in a lumberjack match. They brawl back and forth and both get tossed out a few times, only to be tossed back in by the lumberjacks. Daniel Bryan kicks some of the lumberjacks and manages to piss them off to the point that they jump in the ring and attack both him and Henry. The match ends in a no contest as Bryan crawls away from the brawl inside the ring. Bryan meets up with Teddy Long backstage who books him in a triple threat steel cage match at the Royal Rumble with Mark Henry and the Big Show.
^Compared to last week, this was a smart ending to a World Title match. Lumberjacks attacking the competitors in the match is actually a legit reason to declare a no contest. A diva breaking a nail is not. You can already see how the WHC match at the Rumble is setting up for the finish. I’ll have more on this in my predictions column next week.
Overall this was a solid show. No divas! Hunico/Dibiase and Sheamus/Barrett really shined through as stars of the night. The show opened and closed with the World Champion. The tornado tag showcased what WWE could do with their tag team division if they had more competitors. The dance off wasn’t my favorite but I’m sure some of you out there are enjoying the dancing Brodus Clay. Creativity award to the Smackdown writers for putting Santino in a blindfold match! I loved it! Overall, this definitely wasn’t a repeat show and it steered clear of another Heath Slater squash. I’m impressed. Raw column will be up next week. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
www.facebook.com/thunderstruck11 – add me!
