Smackdown
Date: June 28, 2013
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
After Monday we have a lot more of the card set for Money in the
Bank. Tonight we'll find out who the Smackdown MITB guys are as well
as having a Fiesta Del Rio to celebrate Alberto winning the World
Heavyweight Championship again. WWE has picked things up lately so
hopefully the positive trend continues. Let's get to it.
We open with the theme song for the first time in months.
There's a pinata above the ring for the fiesta later.
Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow
This is a Dublin street fight which hopefully ends this stupid feud
once and for all. Sandow says that South Carolina was the first
state to secede from the union and now he wants out of here too.
Ya'll isn't a word. It's pronounced you all, as in you all are a
bunch of ignoramuses. Sandow pounds away to start and hits Sheamus
with a green kendo stick before we head to the floor. Sheamus whips
him into the barricade and puts him over the bar at ringside (Irish
people like to drink you see) for the ten forearms to the chest.
Sandow blocks a suplex on the floor and sends Sheamus into the post
to take over. Sheamus comes back by throwing Sandow into another bar
and pelting a keg at him. Now Sandow has a bag of Irish potatoes
dropped onto him as we're in the “comedy” portion of the match.
Damien sends him into the steps to put Sheamus down again as we take
a break.
Back with Sandow running Sheamus over for two back in the ring.
Sandow throws in some chairs with one being wedged between the ropes.
Sheamus comes back with a green bar stool to the face and the Irish
Curse for two. A running knee life puts Sandow on the floor and
there's the rolling senton for good measure. Sheamus gets two off
the top rope shoulder block but Damien comes back with straight right
hands.
The Terminus gets two and Sandow pounds away with the kendo stick.
Sheamus easily kicks out and throws a chair at Sandow's face to take
over again. Now it's Sandow being beaten with the stick for two but
he still fights out of White Noise. Sheamus hits another kendo stick
shot to send Sandow into the open chair, followed by the Brogue Kick
for the pin at 9:28 shown of 12:58.
Rating: C. To recap this
feud: everyone said Sheamus would dominate Sandow, Sheamus did
dominate Sandow, and the final match (hopefully) was a match in which
Sheamus should have destroyed Sandow and he did just that. How this
does anything to elevate Sandow or help Sheamus is beyond me but
thank goodness it's over.
Sheamus takes the kendo stick with
him and throws the potatoes to the fans.
We look back at the main event from
Raw with Bryan making Orton tap out.
Bryan is whistling in the back but
Kane gets in his face and tells him not to brag. Kane congratulates
Bryan on his win but calls it an upset which sets Bryan off. The big
man shuts Bryan up before he can get anywhere with it but Daniel just
chalks it up to nerves and hugs him. It's Kane vs. Orton with Bryan
on commentary later.
We recap Heyman and Punk's segment
from Raw.
Time for MizTV with special guest
Paul Heyman. Miz asks about Punk and Lesnar being a tag team but
Heyman doesn't want to talk about his personal life. Miz wants to
know about Heyman bullying Renee young last week but Heyman says he's
just an advocate. Heyman turns the tables saying Miz is a former WWE
and Intercontinental Champion by bringing out Curtis Axel. Miz says
that Heyman fooled him just like Heyman fooled Punk on Raw. Heyman
says he invited Axel and this interview is over unless Miz isn't
intimidated by Curtis.
Miz says that Heyman is the walking
version of Star Wars: he talks like Yoda, smells like Chewbacca and
looks like Jabba the Hut. This makes Axel the WWE version of Luke
Skywalker: Luke, you are not your father. Miz says he's going to win
the title and Axel says he takes that threat seriously. A fight is
about to break out but Heyman says if Miz wants to fight there needs
to be a contract and Axel needs to be paid. Heyman makes fun of
Miz's catchphrase but Miz cuts him off, only to have Axel lay Miz out
with a neckbreaker into a cutter.
AJ
Lee vs. Natalya
Before the match Kaitlyn comes out
dressed like AJ to make fun of AJ's issues with men. Apparently AJ
even dated the timekeeper, the ringside doctor and Lillian Garcia.
Unfortunately we get no more elaboration on that as the bell rings.
Natalya takes AJ down but AJ escapes a slam and slams Natalya's head
into the mat. Kaitlyn skips down to the ring to distract AJ,
allowing Natalya to get a rollup pin at 1:05. Kaitlyn in the AJ
outfit works VERY well.
Kaitlyn spears AJ down post match.
Bray Wyatt vignette.
Teddy is in the back when Vince
comes in. Since Raw is having an All-Star MITB match (Vince's
official term for it), Teddy is going to look to the future. His
picks are Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Fandango, Dean
Ambrose, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Vince is impressed and they
practice saying Fandango.
Randy
Orton vs. Kane
Bryan is on commentary. Kane grabs
a headlock to start but Orton fights free with right hands. He
charges into Kane's boot in the corner to put him down as the match
slows up a bit. The low dropkick gets two for Kane but Orton whips
him into the corner. The announcers ask Bryan if he would cost Kane
the briefcase at MITB but get no answer. Kane goes up for the top
rope clothesline but gets punched out of the air to give Orton
control again.
Orton stomps away and drops a knee
for two but ducks his head to get caught in the running DDT. We take
a break and come back with Kane putting on a nerve hold. Orton
fights up as Bryan gets on the announce table to play cheerleader.
Orton hits the backbreaker to escape and Bryan's chant becomes NO. A
Thesz Press puts Kane down but he kicks Orton's head off for two.
Back up again and Orton hits a dropkick for two of his own, only to
get caught in a side slam. This back and forth stuff is working very
well.
The top rope clothesline is broken
up again, but Kane fights out of the superplex and hits the
clothesline on the third try. A back elbow blocks the chokeslam
attempt and Orton's powerslam gets two. The Elevated DDT is
countered but neither finisher can hit. Instead it's the Elevated
DDT to send Kane to the floor where Bryan encourages his partner.
Bryan helps Kane get back in but he walks into the RKO for the pin at
9:13 shown of 12:13.
Rating: B. I've always been
a fan of the chemistry between these guys and this is another good
example of them working well together. The back and forth stuff with
both guys hitting bigger and bigger stuff was a good story capped off
by Orton finally hitting his home run move for the win. Bryan
accidentally costing Kane the match fits their story very well and
advances them towards Money in the Bank. Good stuff.
Ryback
vs. Justin Gabriel
Gabriel fires off some kicks to
start but Ryback comes back with a hard kick to Gabriel's chest to
take over. Ryback misses another big boot and catches himself on the
top rope, allowing Justin to fire kicks into the leg. Gabriel
charges into the corner but dives into the Shell Shock for the pin at
1:51. Much like Monday, this was basically a face match by Ryback as
he fought through trouble to win.
Immediately after the match here's
Jericho to talk about how Ryback may be a killer, he's also a whiner,
a complainer, a butcher, a baker and a giant excuse maker. Ryback
shouts that he's injured so Jericho starts a Cryback chant. Jericho
says he's going to give something to make Ryback cry about and goes
after the big man, only to have Ryback bail from the Walls. Ryback
whines that he should be WWE Champion and leaves.
I'll never get WWE's theory of
turning guys like Ryback. “Well this guy is over as a face, so
let's change everything that got him over and wonder why he isn't
over as a heel.” It works for people when they've had great
success, but Ryback never actually won anything, so you're taking the
only things he has going for him away and making him less of an
intimidating monster and more just pathetic.
Bray Wyatt vignette.
Shield
vs. Usos/Christian
Shield beat down Christian again on
Main Event but the Usos made the save. Jey and his cousin Roman
quickly fall to the floor and we take an early break. Back with
Ambrose stomping on Jey before it's back to Reigns. The big guy
hooks a front facelock but lets go to Superman punch Jimmy off the
apron. The double tag brings in Ambrose and Christian cleans house
with the jumping back elbow.
Rollins breaks up the spear but
Christian backdrops him on the floor. Back in and Dean rolls through
a cross body for two, only to get caught in a tornado DDT for the
same. Reigns comes back in and sends Christian to the floor but gets
taken out by Jey. Rollins dives on both Usos and Dean looks to do
the same but he walks into a spear from Christian for the pin at 5:18
shown of 8:48.
Rating: C+. This was a good
fast paced tag match but did Shield really need to lose another match
in such a short span of time? The good thing though is the titles
are now the main focus for the team once the big loss was already out
of the way. The match was entertaining enough and it sets up the PPV
as well so there isn't much to complain about here.
It's time for Fiesta Del Rio so
here are the mariachis to play the champion to the ring. Ricardo
does the full entrance and insults the crowd for some good cheap
heat. There are red white and green balloons and a big bowl of chips
and salsa. The pinata has Ziggler's face on it which makes more
sense than most pinatas (sidebar: I've never understood the mentality
behind pinatas. “Hey kids, here's one of your favorite cartoon
characters. Now let's beat it with a stick until it busts open and
you can eat whatever comes out!”).
Del Rio says it's time to celebrate
him being a four time champion and we're going to do it his way. He
says he's going to speak Spanish tonight, drawing a USA chant. Del
Rio speaks Spanish and says this is a party for him and not for any
of the people. When he won the title, he didn't need to use a Money
in the Bank contract like Ziggler did. The fans chant USA so Del Rio
calls them ignorant and switches back to English.
We'll start the games with the
pinata. Del Rio busts it open with two swings and says he broke it
open like he bashed Ziggler's head in. He'll do the same thing again
at MITB to retain the title. Del Rio poses and wants to know where
Ziggler is. This brings out Dolph for the brawl but Del Rio throws
him into the salsa. Ziggler throws Ricardo through the food table
and hits the Zig Zag on the champion. Dolph swings a guitar at Del
Rio but Alberto runs away, leaving Ricardo to take El Cabong.
Ziggler plays guitar with the mariachis as balloons fall to end the
show.
Overall Rating: B. I really
liked the show tonight as we had some good matches and some solid
angle advancement throughout the night. Ziggler looked like the hero
they want him to be tonight and there's a reason to hate Del Rio with
the head injuries. WWE has flipped a switch in the last few weeks
and their shows have been on fire ever since with this being their
latest good effort.
Results
Sheamus b. Damien Sandow – Brogue Kick
Natalya b. AJ Lee – Rollup
Randy Orton b. Kane – RKO
Ryback b. Justin Gabriel – Shell Shock
Christian/Usos b. Shield – Spear to Ambrose
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