Sheamus comes out to open Smackdown. He talks about Daniel Bryan wanting to fight him tonight and how he said “yes” to his challenge. He leads the crowd into a yes chant. Daniel Bryan comes out for their one on one, non title match. Ricardo Rodriguez hits a flying crossbody on Sheamus to cause the DQ and then Del Rio leads him in an attack by using the cross armbreaker. Bryan then puts Sheamus in a yes-lock to further inflict injury. Sheamus is shown in the trainer’s room being checked out after the commercial break.
^Leave it to WWE writers to stop a pay per view quality match. On the flipside, Ricardo’s crossbody was quite impressive. I wonder why he hasn’t been doing double duty in FCW for awhile. I would expect that he would be wrestling somewhere to keep up with his training. Can anybody else picture Del Rio being a sarcastic face that pisses off the heels?
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth face off against Hunico and Camacho in a non-title tag match. AW, Primo, Epico, and Rosa watch from the stage in chairs during the match. Truth pins Camacho to win the match for the champs.
^Truth and Kingston work well as a tag team, but both of these guys are solid enough to be working the main event scene. Hunico is on that level of needing a mid card title push so people can realize just how talented he really is. Camacho looks fairly green in the ring, but I could easily see him being like his father and working that sort of gimmick for years. Decent tag team action from these four; I enjoyed the match a lot.
Jack Swaggers runs away with the aide from Dolph Ziggler and gets himself counted out when Brodus Clay destroys him in a short match.
^Um, yeah. The regular readers know that I’m sick of Brodus. This has to lead to something. Swagger can work solid matches, too. I’m just not impressed with this booking if it doesn’t have some sort of resolution.
Backstage segment with Del Rio, Bryan, and Eve. They both want Sheamus. Eve says she will consult with the ringside physician about Sheamus’ condition and then make a decision. She tells them to get out.
^Something about Eve as the authority figure…hmmm. This segment was effective for showing her position of power. She’s quite the entertaining character for this role.
Damien Sandow cuts a promo before his first scheduled match on Smackdown with Derrick Bateman. Sandow refuses to face Bateman because he is a “sinful minded ignoramous.” He says he will not be competing in a match this evening for the benefit of the crowd.
^This just seemed like something Chris Jericho would’ve done when he came back(it also reminds me of 1995 HHH before the Hog Pen Match at the 12/95 In Your House). I like the originality of it, but now I’m wondering if Sandow is going to be booked to lose a lot once he’s “forced” to wrestle matches. It seems like his character will be quick to get an actual rivalry because of this “too good to be touched” gimmick.
Bateman cuts a promo after Sandow leaves and says he wants a match. Ryback comes out and destroys him for a quick win.
^I want Ryback and Brodus to wrestle, and I want it to be more than two minutes. WWE, make it happen! Seriously though, Ryback is going to be pushed hard. They should let him lose a few matches by outside interference, and then put him in a rivalry with a guy like Dolph Ziggler. I could just see awesome matches from those two if Ryback has any endurance to work more than two minutes.
Kane and Cody Rhodes team up and take on the Big Show and Randy Orton. Show wins the match using the WMD.
^More solid tag team action! These four vets working together made for a decent two on two showcase. Rhodes needs a new opponent for the title though.
Sheamus is shown bandaged up and interviewed by Matt Striker. Sheamus says he came here tonight to fight, and that’s what he’s going to do.
^What’s with Irish guys wanting to fight? First it’s Finlay, now Sheamus. I actually just watched the Best of the King of the Ring DVD and was reminded of how well Sheamus used to work matches against John Morrison. Anybody else remember their Survivor Series match in 2010? Those were an impressive series of matches.
Layla defeats Natalya in a one on one, non title match.
^Speaking of bringing legitimacy to WWE, how about Layla bringing it to the Divas division? It’s about damn time a new face for the Diva’s Championship besides can work consistently good matches. I’m glad Layla was able to get back so quickly. With Layla, Beth, Natalya, Kaitlyn, Maxine,AJ, and Kharma eventually, the Divas division appears somewhat more legit(I excluded K2 because she still needs work, but I know she’s working hard to get better, just watch her match on Superstars against Eve a few weeks back).
Backstage segment with Aksana, Antonio Cesaro, and Eve. Aksana and Antonio are doing a photoshoop. Eve forces Teddy Long to rub Antonio with massage oil.
^If I’m Teddy Long, I’m asking for a bonus for doing this segment or I’m walking out. I have pride. I’ve always dreamed of working for WWE, but knowing the humiliation factor makes me somewhat leery of doing any sort of on-screen position. Anybody else want to see Cesaro wrestle again? He’s booked for a 30 minute F15 Championship match against Richie Steamboat coming up on FCW. It’ll definitely be worth checking out.
Backstage segment with AJ and Kaitlyn. AJ apologizes to Kaitlyn for slapping her last week. Kaitlyn accepts but tells AJ that her pity party needs to stop. AJ slaps her again and she falls to the ground.
^I’m excited to see these two wrestle. AJ’s psychotic gimmick is making me wonder how far they’re going to push the stalker angle on DBry.
Alberto Del Rio comes to the ring to do commentary. Daniel Bryan and Sheamus go one on one again tonight. Del Rio attempts to distract Sheamus when he goes for the Celtic Cross, and Bryan goes for a diving dropkick from the top, but he is caught in mid air by a brogue kick from the Great White. Sheamus gets the three count victory! He celebrates with the title after the match as the show goes off the air.
^I don’t know about you, but I could’ve used at least one more ppv match from Sheamus and Bryan. These two work very well together in the ring. Their match tonight was no exception and it would’ve been better in my opinion for a triple threat match to have been booked for Over the Limit. However, WWE has put Bryan into a match with CM Punk and it’s probably going to become match of the year. Guess I can’t complain about that.
Smackdown smoked Raw in terms of wrestling. For quality and promos and entertaining segments, I’d have to say Raw wins out. This was definitely a quality Smackdown though, and it’s the reason I always look forward to Friday nights. That’s all for this one; make sure you check out my NXT Redemption and ROH Wrestling columns that also went up today. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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