Smackdown - May 17, 2013

Smackdown

Date: May 17, 2013

Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas

Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Josh Matthews

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It's finally the last show before Extreme Rules. On the Smackdown side (assuming there still is such a thing), the main event has been changed over to Del Rio vs. Swagger in an I Quit match due to Ziggler being injured. As for tonight, expect a lot more hype for the major matches on Sunday, including Ryback vs. Cena. Not with Cena around of course as this is Smackdown but you get the idea. Let's get to it.

We open with the voiceover guy talking about how Ziggler is out of Extreme Rules with a concussion. Also Orton and Big Show will be on MizTV. I believe that was originally going to be the Highlight Reel.

In the arena we have MizTV already set up. Here are Big Show and Orton, complete with clips of both guys being knocked out with the others' finishers. Their match on Sunday will be an extreme rules match meaning anything goes, but Big Show says he has all the weapons he needs on the end of his arms. On Sunday, it's not going to be an RKO but a TKO. Orton says that Big Show is crazy if he thinks Show is going to beat him in Orton's hometown. Randy says this feud is all about trust, so trust him when he says he's taking down the giant at Extreme Rules.

This brings out Swagger and Colter for some reason. Colter talks about how people are really going to remember Sunday night because Swagger is going to become #1 contender, making his America a reality. This brings out Del Rio and Ricardo who say Alberto is going to win on Sunday. Del Rio also calls Colter Jumanji Man.

Now we get to see Mark Henry who says what's going to be remembered about Sunday is Mark Henry setting world records for pulling semis. They're also going to remember him beating up Sheamus within an inch of his life. This brings out Sheamus as we're running out of room out here. He says why wait until Sunday and pulls out a strap to clear the ring.

Post break, Teddy comes out, six man tag, all is right with the world.

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins vs. Usos

The Usos actually get their full entrance for the first time in months. Jey takes over on Rollins to start and rams him into the corner before bringing in Jimmy. Reigns gets the tag and runs over Jimmy with a clothesline. The beating carries on in the corner before Reigns spears Jimmy down for the pin at 1:40. Total squash.

Kofi tries to make the save for the Usos but gets knocked to the floor. Kingston grabs a chair and sends Shield running.

Teddy welcomes Miz back to Smackdown when Damien Sandow comes up. Damien says he should have his own show since Miz nearly started a riot. Teddy is offered to be a co-producer, but instead he makes Miz vs. Sandow.

We look at the end of the elimination tag on Monday and Ryback attacking Cena's leg.

Tons of Funk vs. Prime Time Players

Brodus pounds on Young to start before it's quickly off to Tensai and an elbow/side slam combo. Young bails to the floor and Titus dives on Tensai as he goes after Darren. O'Neil comes in and runs over Tensai, only to miss a charge into the corner. Hot tag brings in Brodus to splash Young in the corner. A powerslam gets two as Titus makes the save (despite being late and the referee having to pause his count early), only to be thrown to the floor. The double splash ends Young at 2:44.

We look at the dance off or lack thereof from Raw.

Chris Jericho vs. Antonio Cesaro

Feeling out process to start with JBL saying Cesaro is the strongest man in the WWE. When you have another guy on the show earlier who is the strongest man in the world, I have an issue buying that. Then again the WWE Championship is far bigger than the World Heavyweight Championship so it's hard to say. On the WWE App we see Summer pretending to hurt her ankle in the back. Interesting that they never give the sales pitch on Smackdown at all but we get it shoved down our throats on Raw.

Jericho knocks Cesaro to the floor but Antonio comes back with hard chops in the corner to take over. The Canadian comes back with a missile dropkick off the middle rope to send Cesaro to the floor and the springboard dropkick puts him right back down there. We take a break and come back with Cesaro holding a chinlock. Jericho fights up and hits some shoulder blocks followed by a top rope ax handle. Cesaro kicks away from a Walls attempt but the Lionsault hits knees. He picks Jericho up but gets caught by a quick enziguri for two.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Jericho as Cesaro stays on the ribs. Cesaro stalks Jericho and puts on another chinlock which isn't exactly working over the ribs. Jericho fights up and goes up top, only to jump into the European uppercut for two. The gutwrench suplex is countered into the Walls and Cesaro taps at 8:28 shown of 11:58.

Rating: C+. Not bad here but Cesaro's stock continues to fall. This is his third straight high profile loss on TV since he said he had no competition, which makes him look even lamer than his losses do. The company line seems to be that he's boring, which clearly couldn't have anything to do with him losing all the time, thereby giving the fans no reason to believe he could pull off a win. It has to be him just naturally being boring, despite being fed every line he says.

Post match here's Fandango through the crowd but Jericho catches him. Fandango is run off so Cesaro gets the Codebreaker, just in case he had anyone believing he wasn't a total loser anymore.

Video from Colter/Swagger on extremism, including stuff about Benghazi and budget cuts.

We look at Langston vs. Swagger from Raw which resulted in Del Rio standing tall.

The Miz vs. Damien Sandow

Cody Rhodes is on commentary as he faces Miz at the pre-show on Sunday. Miz quickly takes him down with a headlock but Damien stomps away in the corner to take over. Miz comes back with a clothesline, only to charge into an elbow in the corner. We discuss Cody's bromance with Sandow as Damien bails to the floor to avoid a left hand. Back in and Sandow hits him with a knee lift to take over. Cody grabs a mic and says that everyone should get on their feet and show Damien some respect.

Sandow suplexes him down and drops a knee for two. Wade Barrett is talking about Miz on the WWE App. Not that we can hear what he's saying or anything but you get the idea. Sandow drops Miz throat first on the middle rope before hitting the Russian legsweep. The Wind-Up elbow hits for two and it's off to the chinlock. We go back to the same overused joke of Cody having a mustache similar to some guy from the 30s (actor Errol Flynn in this case) and no one knowing who that is. Miz comes back with the corner clothesline and the top rope ax handle. After knocking Cody to the floor, the figure four ends Damien at 4:54.

Rating: C-. This was fine for the most part. I'm still not wild on Miz using the figure four but at this point it doesn't seem like it's going away. Miz fighting Sandow is the perfect way to set up the match on Sunday against Rhodes so I don't have many complaints here at all. Not a bad match here but it was pretty dull for the most part.

Aksana vs. Kaitlyn

Non-title here. Earlier today, Kaitlyn got flowers from her secret admirer. Apparently the secret admirer is now tweeting and Josh thinks he knows who it is. Kaitlyn runs Aksana over with a shoulder block but the reverse DDT is escaped. Josh thinks the admirer is Sin Cara because he wears a mask and therefore is ugly and needs to hide in the shadows.

Aksana drives a knee into Kaitlyn's back as the announcers talk about why JBL should call Aksana. Now we talk about how Josh is poor as Aksana hits a bad Russian legsweep for two. Off to a chinlock on Kaitlyn as the announcers now make thinly veiled references about disgraced Congressmen Mark Sanford and Anthony Weiner, because their scandals were almost two years ago. I'm sure EVERYONE gets what they're talking about, right? Anyway Kaitlyn hits a hard spear for the pin at 3:34.

Rating: D. The spear and Aksana's outfit looked good and that's about all I can say here as far as positive aspects of the match. The commentary here was like a DVD audio track with nothing but stupid jokes and references that almost no one is going to get. I know the Divas are nothing of note, but this is almost all you hear on Raw anymore. It doesn't make me chuckle but rather makes me want to mute my TV.

Video on Lesnar vs. HHH from Raw.

Mark Henry/Big Show/Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio/Sheamus/Randy Orton

Lillian introduces Ricardo in Spanish and Ricardo introduces Del Rio in English, which might be a first for him. Del Rio and Swagger get things going here with Jack grabbing a headlock. Del Rio comes back with a hard kick to the back for two before firing off more kicks in the corner. Off to Orton as Swagger is in early trouble. Randy pounds away in the corner but Swagger comes back with a shoulder block to Orton's leg.

Orton's leg seems to be just fine though as he snaps off a dropkick to put Swagger down. Back to Del Rio for a dropkick of his own for two. Some forearms to Swagger's back sets up the Backstabber to send Jack out to the floor. A suicide dive puts Swagger down again but as they come back in, a Big Show distraction lets Jack slam Del Rio off the top. Big Show comes in now and stands on Alberto's back and fires off some chops in the corner.

Henry comes in and headbutts Del Rio down before bringing Swagger back in. Alberto gets up a boot in the corner to stop a charging Jack, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to put him down. Show breaks up the tag though and we take a break. Back with Del Rio kicking out of a leg lock from Swagger before sending him face first into the middle buckle. Big Show breaks up another tag and tries the Alley Oop (backwards falling powerbomb) but Del Rio counters into a hurricanrana.

Sheamus finally gets the tag and cleans house before hitting White Noise on Big Show. That is scary power. The Brogue Kick is caught though and Sheamus walks into a chokeslam for two. Back to Swagger who drops some elbows, only to be caught in the fireman's carry roll to put him back down. Off to Henry who breaks up the attempted tag to Orton. Henry pounds away while shouting about Sheamus taking his beating like a man.

Big Show comes in again and hits rapid fire chops to Sheamus' chest. Swagger is in again and fires off knees to the ribs and a clothesline for no cover. The Vader Bomb hits for two but as he loads up another attempt, Sheamus catches Jack in an electric chair. Hot tag brings in Orton who goes right into his finishing sequence on Swagger, only to be run over by Henry. Sheamus and Show go to the floor as Del Rio kicks Henry in the head. Swagger tries the Patriot Lock on Del Rio but takes the RKO for the pin at 12:04 shown of 15:34.

Rating: B. Good solid six man tag here which was the right call to set things up on Sunday. The ending was the usual insanity with Orton hitting the RKO for a big pop so no complaints there. I've always been a fan of mixing multiple feuds into one match as you can develop each story while giving us some fresh pairings at the same time. Good main event here.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked tonight's show so much better than anything WWE's main shows have put out in awhile. First and foremost (long recap aside), tonight wasn't about the world title match or the cage match. The other, and far more interesting matches, got the spotlight and it made for a much more interesting and entertaining show. It's also amazing how much easier it is to sit through a show with only one ad for the WWE App.

Results

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins b. Usos – Spear to Jimmy

Tons of Funk b. Prime Time Players – Double Splash to Young

Chris Jericho b. Antonio Cesaro – Walls of Jericho

Kaitlyn b. Aksana – Spear

Randy Orton/Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio b. Big Show/Mark Henry/Jack Swagger – RKO to Swagger

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