Smackdown
Date:
August 31, 2012
Location:
Resch Center Arena, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators:
Michael Cole, Josh Matthews
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
After
last week's huge mess, hopefully Smackdown can turn things around
tonight. Last week was one of the worst shows I can remember in a
long time, which is a shame as I used to love Smackdown. Anyway,
we're getting very close to Night of Champions now and unfortunately,
Del Rio hasn't been hit by a bus or anything like that to keep us
from having to sit through another title shot for him. Let's get to
it.
Do
You Know Your Enemy? Mine at the moment is Del Rio vs. Sheamus. I
can't stand this feud and about 80% of that is on Del Rio.
Orton
vs. Ziggler later. Gee I wonder how that's going to end.
Here's
Sheamus to open the show. First up, he needs to praise HHH. Sheamus
isn't sure what HHH's future holds but he has Sheamus' respect. HHH
is the embodiment of a champion, which is everything Del Rio isn't.
This brings out Damien Sandow of all people. He talks about how
Sheamus is as ignorant as he is enormous because of his praise of
HHH.
He
goes on about Sheamus and HHH promotes a stereotype to the WWE
Universe but Sheamus cuts him off. The champ doesn't want to hear
Sandow yap for twenty minutes so why not come into the ring right now
and have a fight. Sandow says Sheamus isn't worth his time but
here's Booker with a dissenting opinion. He makes Sandow vs. Sheamus
for later, which is already more exciting than anything else from
last week.
Rey
Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Cody
talks about how Rey is just like Sin Cara, hiding behind a mask.
Rhodes uses his power advantage to start but he ducks his head,
letting Rey get in a kick to the face. Cody sends him out to the
floor and we take a break. Back with Cody hitting a spinning suplex
for two. A release gordbuster gets two followed by some knees to the
back and a chinlock.
Cody
goes for the mask but gets sent face first into the buckle. Rey
speeds things up and hits a seated senton followed by a big kick to
the head for two. A knee to Rey's head gets two but Mysterio kicks
Cody into 619 position. Cody catches Rey's legs but Rey counters the
counter into a sunset flip for the pin at 5:31 shown of 9:01.
Rating:
C. This was fine. It's nice to
see Cody having an actual story on Smackdown instead of doing nothing
on Superstars every other week. I didn't catch anything being
mentioned about Rey and Cody's history, although at least we're
hearing about how Cody used to be obsessed with his looks to give a
reason to the Sin Cara feud.
Cody
beats up Rey post match until Cara makes the save and puts a Sin Cara
mask on Cody.
We
get the first anger management segment from Monday.
Kaitlyn
vs. Natalya
Eve
is on commentary. Nattie takes her down with a headlock to start and
the place is eerily quiet. Kaitlyn shoulder blocks her down and they
head to the floor where Kaitlyn gets her head slammed into the floor.
Natalya hooks an abdominal stretch and slaps Kaitlyn's side which
has to hurt bad. Kaitlyn comes back with some armdrags but Natalya
clotheslines her down. The Canadian runs her mouth and gets small
packaged for the pin at 2:45. Getting extra time is helping the
Divas a tiny bit but this was more about Eve, who spent the whole
match being the corporate suckup, which does nothing for me at all.
Booker
is worried about the pressure of being Raw GM is getting to AJ. He
says the match between Jericho and Ziggler never should have been
made. Vickie comes up and says this is more proof that AJ needs to
go. Sweet Christmas enough with the power struggle storylines
already.
Raw
ReBound talks about Punk/Lawler/Cena from Monday.
Anger
management segment #2.
Sheamus
vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow
is taken into the ropes to start and requests that the referee does
his job. Sandow tries to take it into the corner but Sheamus grabs
his beard. To avoid getting punched in the face, Damien drops to the
floor and things slow down again. The champ starts running him over
with shoulders and Sandow heads to the floor again. This time
Sheamus is tired of waiting so he goes out after Damien, only to have
his knees sent into the steps by Sandow.
That
gets an eight count and Sandow stomps away back inside. Off to a
chinlock which Sheamus breaks pretty quickly. A regular neckbreaker
(as opposed to the double arm version) gets two for Sandow and it's
back to the chinlock. This one is broken even faster and Sheamus
starts his hard hitting offense.
Damien
bails to the floor for the third time but Sheamus throws him right
back in and hits the ten forearms. A slingshot shoulder block to the
back gets two and Damien heads to the floor for I think the fourth
time. White Noise is escaped and the Brogue Kick is ducked. Sandow
rolls to the floor and sprints up the ramp for the countout at 6:51.
Rating:
C. This wasn't a great match,
but it was a logical one. The idea of Sandow not being able to hang
in a fight with Sheamus makes perfect sense and having him constantly
trying to run and clear his head was a nice touch. This is exactly
what Sandow needs: to be able to rub elbows with bigger names. He
didn't need to win here and certainly shouldn't have, but having him
in there is a good step in the right direction.
Prime
Time Players vs. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd
Kidd
and Gabriel have matching yellow shirts which look like dresses on
them. Kidd and Titus get things going as the Usos Tout about how
they should be #1 contenders. Off to Young vs. Gabriel after the
starters do nothing of note. Justin takes Young to the mat after
making a blind tag, allowing Kidd to kick Darren in the face.
Off
to Titus who powers Tyson down and brings Darren back in. The
Players are very good about tagging in and out quickly. Tyson sends
Young into the corner and tags out to Justin. An STO puts Darren
down and Justin loads up the 450, only for Titus to distract him.
Darren crotches Gabriel and hits the fireman's carry gutbuster for
the pin at 3:13. This one looked better as he launched Gabriel into
the air and Justin was in free fall when he hit the knees.
Rating:
C. I know I've used that rating
a lot tonight but this was exactly what the rating implies: it was ok
and right in the middle. I do like that the guys in the tag division
are actually getting a little time every week. If nothing else it
lets a lot more guys get on TV as opposed to showing up every other
PPV and have a title defense that means nothing. These matches don't
exactly equal the Harts vs. the Bulldogs but they're an improvement
over what we've been getting the last few years.
The
final anger management segment airs. Kane's explanation of his
history is still hilarious.
Here's
Del Rio with something to say. Alberto brags about beating Orton
last week but doesn't care to be reminded that Sheamus has beaten him
every time. Del Rio threatens Josh but here's Kane for protection I
guess. Kane says he's here to apologize for attacking Josh at
Summerslam. Teddy comes out and makes Kane vs. Alberto.
Alberto
Del Rio vs. Kane
This
is joined in progress after a break but it doesn't look like we
missed much. Kane pounds on Del Rio in the corner but Alberto comes
back with some kicks to the legs. Kane comes back with a low
dropkick to the head for two and an uppercut that sends Del Rio to
the apron. Del Rio rams Kane's arm into the buckle and follows it up
with a kick to the shoulder. Kane will have none of that and hits a
sidewalk slam to set up the top rope clothesline for no cover. Kane
loads up the chokeslam but Ricardo pulls Kane's leg. The distraction
lets Del Rio hit a Backstabber for the pin at 2:46.
Post
match Kane snaps and chokeslams Josh, but he apologizes while he does
it.
HHH
video from Raw.
Randy
Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler
dropkicks Randy down to start and struts a bit. Dolph shows off a
bit so Randy dropkicks him down as well in a nice touch. A slingshot
suplex gets two on Dolph but Ziggler comes back with a neckbreaker
and some elbow drops. Orton wins a slugout and fires off his
clotheslines. The powerslam sets up the elevated DDT but Ziggler
counters. Ziggler doesn't get back inside though and Orton pulls him
to the top rope for a superplex.
That
only gets two and Ziggler comes back with a jumping DDT for another
near fall. The crowd is starting to get into this. Dolph charges at
Randy but gets caught in the Elevated DDT for another two. Orton was
laughing while he hit that which was kind of a nice touch. They head
to the floor with Ziggler being thrown over the announce table. Back
inside and Ziggler misses the Zig Zag, allowing the RKO to pin him at
7:10.
Rating:
C+. This was a fast paced main
event style match, but man alive did they have to have Ziggler lose
AGAIN? Orton is leaving for a few months to film whatever the next
WWE movie is. Ziggler is indeed Mr. MITB and probably will win the
title before the year is over, but as always in WWE, the idea seems
to be to have him lose time after time so he can surprise everyone
and win it all back at once. You know, because no heel can look
strong in WWE and they all have to be cowards that steal every win
they get.
Vickie
immediately announces that Dolph is still Mr. MITB and says he did a
good job. Yes, make sure you hammer in that the guy who is going to
get a title match is such a loser.
Overall
Rating: C+. This wasn't a great
show at all but man alive was it better than last week. It's amazing
how much better things are when you don't have Alberto and Sheamus
interacting. Seeing Sandow getting a match against the champ, even
when he was mostly dominated and lost, was a good sign that there are
big things in his future. This show toned down the stupid stuff and
they got a better show out of it.
Results
Rey
Mysterio b. Cody Rhodes – Sunset Flip
Kaitlyn
b. Natalya – Small Package
Sheamus
b. Damien Sandow via countout
Prime
Time Players b. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd – Fireman's carry
gutbuster to Gabriel
Alberto
Del Rio b. Kane – Backstabber
Randy
Orton b. Dolph Ziggler – RKO
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com
Ziggler's jumping DDT looked really good. He should make that his finisher instead of the stupid Zig Zag.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of the power GM struggle (going all the way back to Eric Bischoff's reign) and I'm sick of every heel being a chickenshit who loses or flukes (Mark Henry, SAVE US!). SD is 2004-levels of horseshit right now, or even worse since they're squandering a better roster than the Blue Brand had eight years ago.
ReplyDeleteSmackdown has basically become "don't even bother watching" material for me, good matches be damned, especially when the main draws of the show are three guys I could seriously live without. Sheamus is a midcard champ, and Orton and Del Rio are basically the same boring character.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, after Punk beats Cena, they should have him go after the "other champion", beat Sheamus, then have him toss the belt in the garbage. That might actually make the fans hate Punk.
Or you know, turn him face and forget this disaster of a heel turn even happened.
Boring show as always, interestingly I'd love to know when the last time Sheamus got pinned? I'm pretty sure since he became champion he hasn't been pinned once. You can tell he is one of HHH's boys that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteThis looked pretty blah.
ReplyDeleteIf all these sports entertainers keep stroking HHH WWE is going to have to make this TVMA. What a load of horsehit that was.
- I really like the Sin Cara-Cody Rhodes feud, especially the little things they've done with Sin Cara's mask- Cody blinding Sin Cara last week, costing him the match; this week, Sin Cara masking Rhodes after the match. Great stuff.
ReplyDelete- Sandow was absolutely excellent tonight. I love that he shouts in the ring (do your job referee! Give up Sheamus!), he's not a great technical worker but he's just so aggressive and vicious in the ring.
- Not sure what the point of the Orton/Ziggler main event was. They could've saved that for the dark match main event. I know Ziggler technically "won" the feud with Y2J, but it doesn't seem like they have a plan for him, outside of eventually cashing in the MitB contract. I would hope he gets a decisive win over Orton within the next few weeks, but constantly losing to Cena/Orton/Sheamus in Raw/Smackdown main events won't help him.
Ziggler pinned him in a tag match back in June.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lifetime ago that I was on the Del Rio bandwagon, back when he had a great smugness about him and was put over convincingly with clean taps over credible guys.
ReplyDeleteThe night he injured Christian there was this evil smile on his face as he stood over Christian and you could see the evil in him. Since the Rumble he's gone downhill completely. That loss to Edge just crippled him.
ReplyDeleteSandow is quickly becoming one of my favorites as I like his aggressiveness in the ring in addition to his gimmick.
ReplyDeleteThey DESPERATELY need to do something with Del Rio's character. It's right there in front of their faces and they are just too damn lazy to do anything about it. He's a Mexican aristocrat. He's loaded with cash. Bribe others to do your dirty work. Pay off referees or something. Use the money for something other than cars and Rodriguez. That what irks me the most about WWE.
Give these guys something so I can care about them. I used to find Rhodes interesting and that interest is gone because there's nothing that makes me care about him. I believe most of the roster has the personality to pull off something great if they just get something. Look what three simple letters have done for Daniel Bryan when most people thought he was just a "vanilla midget." It can be accomplished and it's not like they don't have the time to work on it.
And one last thing, STOP having Ziggler lose all the time. If they're trying to build him up into something big, why does he keep losing? I was so pissed that he lost again to Orton. Orton can tap to Del Rio but can't lose to Ziggler? Dolph could have gotten the win by nefarious means and I would have been okay with that. Just let him win. Have him feud with guys like Christian and Mysterio. They can take the losses.
I hate the fucking Zig Zag. That and Truth's Lil Jimmy are my two least favorite finishers. The only finishers I hate more than those are that stupid Playmaker/Overdrive that MVP, Elix Skipper and Orton (pre RKO) used and the Roll of the Dice.
ReplyDeleteI know it's en vogue to hate on head droppy moves but holy hell, can we bring back a piledriver or DVD or something? There's risk involved with those moves for sure but how about just train competent workers instead of banning dangerous moves? Lance Storm said something along the lines of, "Stop banning dangerous moves and ban dangerous workers. I'd rather take 1000 piledrivers from someone like Finlay than one armbar from someone who doesn't know what they're doing." Rant over.
ReplyDeleteI've heard HHH is high on Sandow and that he wants Sandow in the Smackdown main event scene. It makes sense: the guy's basically doing HHH's old gimmick and he was trained by Killer Kowalski. If he sucks up & plays politics half as well as Hunter he'll practically be HHH.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. They want everyone to have a Stunner/Cutter-type move which can be hit on anyone regardless of size...but they all kind of suck. With the Zig Zag, it's hard to see who actually is getting hurt since Dolph takes such a huge bump off it.
ReplyDeleteI hope that's true because I love the guy. Best new heel to come along in awhile.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the rise of sandow.
ReplyDeleteAnd having the world champion not getting pinned is a BAD thing?
ReplyDeleteI like him but he isn't good in the ring. That is his biggest drawback
ReplyDeleteDecent show. Cole did briefly mention the history between Rey and Cody and how it led to Cody wearing a mask, starting the obsession. It seems pretty obvious Ziggler is walking out of Night of Champions as WHC with the 50/50 booking.
ReplyDeleteIt took HHH years before he learned to do moves that didn't involve his knee. He got better. Most guys do.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but Sandow isn't that young and he has been cut from developmental before. Don't know how much better in the ring he will get.
ReplyDeleteHa, it's funny cause Edge is actually crippled....
ReplyDeleteThis is WWE 2012 guys it doesn't matter how good he is in the ring anymore. Can he cut a promo? Does he show the proper respect for his elders? He's in.
ReplyDeleteMain event was good, but Ziggler's selling abilities still concern me. I would have Sheamus kick his teeth in 56,000 more times.
ReplyDeletePunk never turned heel dude.
ReplyDeleteThen don't watch it.
ReplyDeleteHHH is the only hope WWE has right now of becoming better. He has to retire for good though.
ReplyDelete