Smackdown
Date:
September 21, 2012
Location:
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators:
Michael Cole, Josh Matthews
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Night
of Champions is over and not a ton has changed on Smackdown. Sheamus
is still the champion after pinning Del Rio with a Brogue Kick. This
is of course more exciting than the other two times he pinned Del Rio
with the Brogue Kick because in this, the move wasn't legal until
seconds before the match. Hopefully someone new challenges the champ
before HIAC. Let's get to it.
Do
You Know Your Enemy? Mine is a hospital that is letting its service
to customers fall apart because it let a ton of its workers go to cut
costs.
The
main event is a tag match of course. In this case it's Ziggler/Del
Rio vs. Orton/Sheamus.
We
open the show with EDGE! It's Philly so you know the fans erupt for
him. He has really short hair now which is a look that kind of works
for him. Edge says coming out here like that never gets old. He's
here because Philly is the home of the Broad Street Bullies and
because it's been 18 months since his retirement. He's been able to
sit at home and watch WWE as a fan again, but he's never seen
anything as crazy as he's seen lately.
We
get a clip from Monday with Bryan and Kane arguing over the titles
and then hugging it out before shouting at each other that they're
the tag team champions. He doesn't understand how this could happen
and would like an explanation, which leads to him being cut off by
Bryan. Bryan corrects Edge on his use of pronouns. THEY didn't
become tag team champions. Bryan is the tag team champions.
Bryan
starts yelling again but Edge says chill. He asks Bryan about the
little world Bryan lives in now but Bryan says he's a rock and at one
with his emotions. Edge says excuse me when Bryan says all this,
which Bryan interprets as repressed thoughts about Vickie. Bryan
says Edge's theme music (You think you know me) tells the whole
story: no one really knows Edge. If Bryan really knew Edge, he would
know that hasn't been his theme music in years.
Bryan
says there is nothing anyone can do to make him snap. Edge: “Well
played grasshopper.” Edge says that wasn't his intention but it
sounds like a challenge. It turns into the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck
routine of yes it is/no it isn't before Edge turns the tables and
Bryan goes into a rant of NO IT WASN'T which draws out Kane.
Kane
and Bryan argue over the same thing they always argue about before
Edge shouts them down. Kane: “Edge, calm down buddy. You know Dr.
Shelby has some great relaxation exercises.” Edge snaps again
because while he gets Bryan being at peace and such, he doesn't get
Kane at all. Edge gives us a quick history of himself vs. Kane,
including the weddings and the torture they've put each other
through. He leaves out the time that he caused Kane to seemingly
murder his father but there's a lot of history to get through.
Kane
wants to rectify this right now and steps back as if to fight. Edge
takes his jacket off but Kane opens his arms to hug it out. Edge is
a combination of reluctant and shocked but he eventually hugs Kane.
Bryan SNAPS, shouting NO over and over again for no apparent reason.
Edge and Kane open their arms for a group hug and Bryan looks like
it's Christmas morning.
This
draws out Sandow for no apparent reason. He's here to help of course
because for the last fortnight, this serial has been brought down by
the attempts at hugging it out. He blames the fans for bringing down
the show before Edge cuts him off. Edge talks about how he'd rather
watch the champions hug it out for the whole show instead of
listening to Sandow for thirty seconds. Edge says Sandow should come
out and fight one of these two and after a lengthy audience poll,
Kane is picked as the opponent.
Kane
vs. Damien Sandow
This
starts after a break and at the end of the previous nearly 20 minute
segment. It was entertaining and got the job done though which is
all that matters. Kane knocks Sandow to the floor with a shoulder to
start and an uppercut knocks Damien to the floor. Back in and a big
boot takes Sandow down again.
Damien
bails to the floor but runs into Bryan. Sandow guillotines him on
the ropes to take over The offense only lasts a few seconds as Sandow
walks into the side slam and there's the top rope clothesline. Bryan
gets on the apron as Kane is loading up the chokeslam. The
distractions lets Sandow hit his neckbreaker for the pin at 3:05.
Rating:
C. As I've said for a few
weeks, the idea of Sandow getting ring time with these bigger names
is a great thing for him. While it wasn't clean, a pin over Kane is
by far the biggest win of his career so far and it's a great sign
that he was put into a segment with a hall of famer and the hottest
act in the company. That's a great sign for Sandow and the match
wasn't terrible. Another good thing here: Bryan didn't attack Kane.
It was Sandow's finisher alone that got the pin on him.
Back
from a break....and it's more Kane. He's freaking out looking for
Bryan but finds Dr. Shelby. Shelby tries to calm him down but Kane
calls Bryan a goatface. Bryan pops up for ANOTHER argument until Dr.
Shelby snaps. Shelby wants to try a trust exercise. Kane promises
to not rip Bryan's beard off in exchange for his title back. That's
not enough though as Bryan cost Kane a match. Shelby offers to talk
to Booker and get Bryan a match tonight. That makes Kane feel better
and he says he's the tag team champions before leaving.
I'd
like to note we're about 35 minutes into this show and we've seen
NOTHING but Bryan and Kane stuff. They're going to run this into the
ground and they're going to do it soon.
Tonight
the Brogue Kick controversy continues. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO CONTINUE?
It's over.
Booker
comes into his office to find Del Rio. Alberto calls Booker a coward
and wants to know why the Brogue Kick was reinstated. Booker says
his investigation was over. The kick is dangerous but it's legal.
If Alberto doesn't want to get hurt, don't mess with Sheamus. PREACH
IT BOOKER MAN! Alberto asks for another title shot but Booker says
Alberto has to earn it. He can do that in the tag match apparently.
Eve
comes out for commentary.
Layla
vs. Natalya
Layla
easily takes Natalya down to start but she keeps pointing at and
glaring at Layla. Natalya gets in a shot to the ribs and puts on an
abdominal stretch which Layla rolls out of. Sharpshooter is
countered and the Layout gets the pin on Nattie at 1:30.
Alberto
Del Rio/Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus/Randy Orton
Pretty
early for the main event. This is joined in progress after a break
but it doesn't look like we missed much. Sheamus and Del Rio start
things off and Alberto pounds Sheamus down into the corner. Sheamus
shrugs him off and brings in Orton for a dropkick for two. Back to
the champ to pound on Del Rio some more, only to be sent into the
corner and get caught by a running kick to the shoulder.
Cole
talks about JBL climbing a mountain because Sheamus vs. Del Rio isn't
capable of holding his interest. A shoulder block takes Del Rio down
but the managers get on the apron, letting Ziggler get in a shot to
take over. Off to a chinlock from Dolph before it's back to Del Rio.
This is dull stuff so far. Del Rio hooks a chinlock of his own but
Sheamus gets up with ease.
A
powerslam puts Del Rio down and it's off to Orton who cleans house.
Both heels get powerslams but Del Rio hits a Backstabber for two.
It's Ziggler vs. Orton now with Ziggler hitting a dropkick for two.
It's back to Del Rio but Orton dropkicks him to the floor almost
immediately. Hot tag brings in Sheamus who cleans house again but
Dolph avoids the Brogue Kick. Irish Curse gets two on Ziggler and
there's an RKO to Alberto. Brogue Kick takes out Ziggler for the pin
at 8:19.
Rating:
C. Standard main event tag here
but the most important thing is that Del Rio didn't get to prove
anything. Hopefully that means a new opponent will show up for HIAC
which would be great news. Ziggler losing again is annoying but
that's what you have to expect in WWE. The match started slow but it
picked up by the end.
Daniel
Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes
Feeling
out process to start with Bryan taking over, only to yell at the
crowd and let Cody get in some offense. Bryan moonsaults out of the
corner and clotheslines Cody down followed by a dropkick in the
corner. He loads up the NO Lock but here's Kane. The hold never
goes on and Cody uses the distraction to hit Cross Rhodes for the pin
at 2:10.
Back
from a break and Kane and Bryan are fighting some more. Well it had
been a full ten minutes so it's to be expected. Bryan wants to know
why Kane did that but Kane has no idea what Bryan is talking about.
Kane says they're even so Bryan says Kane belongs in a basement.
Kane says Bryan belongs in a petting zoo. They yell some more until
they see Sandow and Rhodes standing off to the side. A tag match is
made for later tonight. The champs argue over who the other guys are
more scared of.
We
recap the end of the PPV and Raw.
Brodus
Clay vs. Heath Slater
Brodus
does his full intro again. It's a dance off to start as you would
expect. Brodus takes over with his usual power stuff and there's the
release suplex. And here are Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre to jump
Brodus for the DQ at 1:10. So is Brodus feuding with these two now
instead of Cesaro which was teased on Monday? Or is it the rest of
the world vs. Planet Funk?
Santino
Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro
Well
of course Brodus can't fight Cesaro. It's time for Santino to fight
him for the 95th time this month. Cesaro immediately
takes him down and hits the gutwrench suplex. Off to the cravate but
Santino comes back with his usual. There's the Cobra but Aksana
distracts him again. Aksana tries to get the sock but falls into the
ring. Cesaro hits the European Uppercut and in the distraction,
Santino rolls him up for the pin at 1:50. Well of course since there
is NO ONE ELSE IN THE COMPANY that can fight Cesaro.
Cesaro
dumps Aksana post match in five languages.
Kane/Daniel
Bryan vs. Damien Sandow/Cody Rhodes
This
is a lumberjack match for no apparent reason with the Usos,
Kidd/Gabriel and the Prime Time Players at ringside. The
non-champions don't even get an entrance. Kane and Cody start things
off with Rhodes being pounded down very quickly. Cody brings in
Sandow but Kane has to pull him into the ring. There's the low
dropkick but Bryan tags himself in before Kane can cover. Guess what
that leads to.
Cody
got tagged in during the argument and Bryan fires off kicks at the
chest. Bryan goes to tag Kane but shouts NO instead. The Disaster
Kick gets two on Bryan and Sandow jumps Kane on the floor. Cody and
Bryan collide in the ring and it's off to Kane a few seconds later.
Sandow avoids a chokeslam once but the second attempt works, but
here's Cody with a chair for the DQ at 4:09.
Rating:
C. Another match that didn't
have time to go anywhere but wasn't horrible. I guess we have a
fifth team now which is ok, and it's good that this wasn't long and
didn't have a definitive ending. It's good to see these guys having
something to do, which has been the problem for guys like Cody for
awhile. When all else fails, throw them into a tag team. It can
work a lot of the time.
Post
match Bryan stops Cody from using the chair but can't bring himself
to hit Cody with said chair. Instead he hands it to Kane who blasts
Cody out of the ring. Bryan gets his own chair and they take turns
destroying Sandow with it. They probably hit him twenty times
between the pair of them. Kane puts his chair down and beats up the
other three teams, feeding them into Bryan for chair shots. Bryan
and Kane stand in the ring with their titles and chairs as bodies
surround them. They argue one more time to end the show.
Overall
Rating: B. Well.....that was
certainly different. Throughout the show I was thinking that this
was a bad idea as it was all about Bryan and Kane. Then it occurred
to me that the biggest complaint I've had for months about Smackdown
is that it's the same stuff week after week. On this show, Sheamus
and Del Rio were an afterthought and that was a nice change of pace.
I'm worried about them running this angle into the ground, but man
the ending here was fun. Now that they've got a hot act, they need
to use that to build up the division as a whole. Fun and different
shot tonight, which might be what they needed.
Results
Damien
Sandow b. Kane – Double Arm Neckbreaker
Layla
b. Natalya – Layout
Sheamus/Randy
Orton b. Alberto Del Rio/Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick to Ziggler
Cody
Rhodes b. Daniel Bryan – Cross Rhodes
Brodus
Clay b. Heath Slater via DQ when Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre
interfered
Santino
Marella b. Antonio Cesaro – Rollup
Kane/Daniel
Bryan b. Damien Sandow/Cody Rhodes via DQ when Rhodes used a chair
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