Smackdown
Date:
June 29, 2012
Location:
Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Commentators:
Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It
appears to be time to start the MITB build as they did that over on
the Raw show. Now over there we had people that had only been WWE
Champion, but there aren't that many candidates for the Smackdown
World Title. Also I'm not sure if there are going to be more people
in the Raw match or not, but they have more time to change it if they
want. Sheamus defends against Ziggler and Del Rio in a triple threat
tonight too. Let's get to it.
Do
You Know Your Enemy? Mine is yet again this heat wave. Four
straight days of over 100 degrees in Kentucky? That needs to be
destroyed.
We
open with a recap of the triple threat elimination match from Raw.
AJ
vs. Layla
Layla
has Tiffany's old music now because....I have no idea actually. AJ
takes her to the mat but Layla runs her over and blows a kiss. A
rollup gets two for the champ (non-title here though) and she works
on the arm. AJ comes back with a dropkick and corner clothesline for
two. Layla comes back with a spinning facejam but AJ kicks her head
off. Cue Bryan to shout YES a lot and skip around the ring ala AJ.
Layla rolls up AJ for the pin at 3:31.
Rating:
C-. This was better than most
Divas matches. The ending was another advancement in the story as
now Daniel is tormenting AJ. Both girls were looking good here too,
although I still don't like the new music for Layla. Then again I
didn't like the song back when Tiffany had it either. It's amazing
how much better these matches are when they have time.
AJ
snaps on Layla post match. Bryan tells her to calm down and says
there's something that needs to be done. He demands to talk to
Vickie and threatens to hold the show hostage unless she comes out
here. Bryan says YES a lot and AJ does the same. We take a break
for a Raw Moment of Tyson joining DX and come back with dueling YES
shouts. Vickie comes out and says everyone is tired of hearing
Bryan's catchphrase over and over again.
Bryan
says he's the #1 contender to Punk's title and he thanks Vickie for
getting him that shot. He proposes an alliance once she becomes GM.
He wants AJ banned from ringside because she's a liability. Vickie
yells at AJ a lot but Bryan says this is about him, not AJ. Vickie
talks about some poll on WWE.com and based on that, AJ is going to be
guest referee.
This
comes off as incredibly lame to me, as it's taking WAY too long to
make this announcement. Instead of wasting time like this, just
announce this stuff and say the Board of Directors made the decision.
It saves like ten minutes that you can use on other stuff. Bryan
yells NO and leaves. Vickie STILL isn't done because she announces
that there will be MITB qualifying matches over the next two weeks
and everyone is eligible to enter.
Money
in the Bank Qualifying Match: Zach Ryder vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow
does his usual stuff on the way to the ring. Booker says that Sandow
needs to stop idolizing Leaping Lanny Poffo. So there is something
to that theory I guess. Anyway Ryder takes him down to start but
Sandow reverses him into the corner and stomps away. A Russian
legsweep puts Ryder down and Sandow drops an elbow which has some
Latin name apparently. Sandow ducks his head and gets caught in a
facejam followed by the knees in the corner. A kind of powerbomb
gets two for Ryder and there's the Broski Boot. Rough Ryder is
countered into a hot shot and that double arm neckbreaker gets the
pin at 2:25.
Bryan
goes to the Divas locker room looking for AJ but finds Kaitlyn
instead. She doesn't know where AJ is but suggests that Bryan find
her and get on AJ's good side because she's a bit crazy.
Summerslam
hype video.
Money
in the Bank Qualifying Match: Jack Swagger vs. Tyson Kidd
Swagger
quickly takes him to the mat but gets caught in a pair of rolling
cradles for two. He bails to the floor in frustration but gets
dropkicked in the face for his troubles. Back in and Kidd charges
into a wheelbarrow suplex for two. Jack works on the arm and drops a
leg on it for two. Vader Bomb gets two. Swagger hooks a Fujiwara
Armbar but Kidd quickly gets up and hits a DDT to put both guys down.
A dropkick to the side of the head gets two. A victory roll attempt
is countered and there's the ankle lock but Kidd escapes. Another
dropkick sets up a Blockbuster for the pin at 4:30.
Rating:
C. The match was fine but the
ending was a nice surprise. Swagger would be in the match as a warm
body, while Kidd can at least add some dives and high spots which is
what makes those matches work. Also it's nice to see some new faces
getting pushed like Sandow and Kidd. They won't win, but it's nice
to see them getting to rub elbows in a match like this. That's how
you get them pushed which is something WWE really needs to do at this
point.
We
get the McMahon in the hospital moment AGAIN.
We
recap the mess that was the contract on the pole match from Monday.
Ziggler
wants to know why Vickie isn't doing anything but she can't because
the Board is watching her. Dolph wants the Brogue Kick and Cross
Armbreaker banned. She says that'll make her look bad which makes
Ziggler freak out. She slaps him in the face but agrees to be out
there with him tonight.
Money
in the Bank Qualifying Match: Christian/Santino Marella vs. Cody
Rhodes/David Otunga
The
winning team will both get into the match. David gets a fanfare of
music while he poses in the ring now. Santino and Cody start but
it's quickly off to Christian. Christian gets in some right hands
but Cody takes him down with a knee to the ribs. Off to Otunga who
hits a seated shoulder block for two. Off to a chinlock for a few
seconds, but Cody jumps into a punch to the ribs.
Off
to Otunga vs. Marella with the champion hitting his usual stuff. He
loads up the Cobra but Cody pulls Otunga to the floor before Santino
can cover. Rhodes comes in legally and gets a few two counts before
throwing the Cobra sock to the floor. Otunga comes in and drops an
elbow for two, followed by a modified camel clutch.
Santino
suplexes his way out of it and tags in Christian who cleans house. A
flapjack and jumping back elbow to Cody look to set up the Killswitch
but Cody escapes. Another attempt is countered but the reverse DDT
connects. Otunga breaks up the spear but heel miscommunicatio lets
Christian spear Otunga down for the pin at 6:23.
Rating:
C-. This was fine and we have a
warm body and a comedy character into the match now. To be fair,
either team could have won and the results would have been about the
same. Otunga is just barely above being a comedy character anyway
and Cody and Christian probably have about the same chance to win the
case. This was fine but nothing great at all.
Sheamus
says he could win tonight and make it to MITB, only to get cashed in
on. Or he could walk outside and get hit by a car driven by Lindsay
Lohan. He doesn't live by what if's, and therefore he doesn't worry.
Time
to waste another minute and a half by talking about This Is Your Life
Rock.
Bryan
comes up to AJ in the back and says he's worried about her well
being. AJ attacking Layla isn't like her and maybe she should seek
professional help. Bryan knows a doctor that could help her, because
people that care about each other help each other out. AJ says
she'll take the number. Well actually she says YES a lot but you get
the idea.
Dan
Barone/Brendan Burke vs. Ryback
The
jobbers are from Kentucky (YAY!) and they combine to weigh 350lbs.
Where do they find these singing jobbers? Is there a farm where
they're grown? Barone takes a HUGE powerbomb and Shell Shocked
(that's the official name for it) ends this at 1:50.
Aksana
and Cesaro are kissing in the back when Teddy interrupts them. He's
the GM for both shows next week and on the live Smackdown this
Tuesday they're facing Layla and Great Khali. Teddy has power again
for 20 seconds and he's already made a tag match.
The
Raw ReBound is about the ending and the MITB match.
Money
in the Bank Qualifying Match: Justin Gabriel vs. Tensai
This
is quite the downgrade for Tensai. Cody is officially protesting not
being in the MITB match because he didn't lose. Tensai runs him over
with his usual stuff and hits a butterfly suplex for two. A bearhug
is quickly broken up as is Gabriel's sunset flip. Gabriel fires off
some kicks but can't even drop Tensai. A springboard missile
dropkick puts him down though and a Lionsault gets two. Not that it
matters as he jumps into the Baldo Bomb and the running backsplash
gets the pin at 2:45.
The
THIRD Raw Moment of the night is HHH returning from his quad injury
in 2002.
Smackdown
World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler
Del
Rio still wants a one on one match and doesn't like competing in this
little town. Vickie interrupts him and does Dolph's intro. We go to
a break before the match and this is either something only on the
international version or they're REALLY going overboard, as the
fourth Raw Moment is Barker on Raw. Sheamus knocks them both down to
start and sends Ziggler to the floor. Del Rio jumps the champion
from behind but walks into the Regal Roll for one.
Ziggler
tries to jump Sheamus and gets glared at. Sheamus chases him around
the ring and runs over Del Rio on the way back in. Del Rio hits the
DDT on the arm to take over and hooks an armbar. Sheamus gets sent
to the floor and Ziggler follows him out, beating up both guys on the
floor. He covers Alberto for two in the ring and dropkicks Sheamus
to the floor again.
Del
Rio misses a charge into the corner and Ziggler gets two off the
collision into the buckle. The fans are behind Sheamus even though
he's on the floor. Del Rio breaks up a superplex attempt but gets
knocked off the top to the floor. Sheamus comes back in and hits an
electric chair drop on Dolph as we take a break. Back with Del Rio
knocking Sheamus to the floor again. The challengers both fall
outside on their own and work over the champion at the same time.
They
beat on him behind the announcers' desk and send him into the steps
before going back inside for more beating. Alberto double crosses
Dolph and tries to steal the title, resulting in a slug out between
the two of them. Sheamus comes off the top with a double shoulder
block and everyone is down. Ziggler gets thrown to the apron for the
ten forearms to put him down. The DDT to the arm is countered and
the Irish Curse gets two. Ziggler comes back in but the Fameasser is
avoided and there's White Noise.
Del
Rio breaks up the Brogue Kick and gets two on Sheamus. The
Armbreaker is broken up but Sheamus charges into the post. Ziggler
dropkicks the arm into the post but Del Rio kicks him to the floor.
There's the Armbreaker but Ziggler makes the save. Fameasser gets
two on Alberto but Ricardo gets on the apron. Ziggler rolls up Del
Rio but Sheamus kicks his head off for the pin at 11:15 shown of
14:45.
Rating:
B. This was a solid TV main
event with a ton of near falls at the end. Unfortunately it probably
sets up Del Rio vs. Sheamus for the title at the PPV because that's
the match they want, even though it's been moved twice already, one
of which I believe was a sign from a higher power not named Vince.
This was good stuff though with a ton of near falls and chances that
the title could have changed. Sheamus winning was in doubt at some
points, which is a very nice touch.
Overall
Rating: B-. Given the insane
amount of time wasted on this show, they got a lot done. If they had
any sense of time management this could have been an even better
show. Still though with a good TV main event and some build to MITB
including some nice surprises, it's hard to complain much here.
Teddy as GM should be keeping the course just fine so the live show
might actually be good.
Results
Layla
b. AJ – Rolling Cradle
Damien
Sandow b. Zach Ryder – Neckbreaker
Tyson
Kidd b. Jack Swagger – Blockbuster
Christian/Santino
Marella b. David Otunga/Cody Rhodes – Spear to Otunga
Ryback
b. Dan Barone/Brendan Burke – Shell Shocked
Tensai
b. Justin Gabriel – Running Backsplash
Sheamus
b. Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick to Ziggler
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