Smackdown
Date:
November 29, 2013
Location:
Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
main story coming into tonight is Cena vs. Orton being confirmed for
TLC, but I can't imagine we'll get much on that at Smackdown. Other
than that the big questions are what did the Wyatts do with Daniel
Bryan and why did Shield take out Punk on Raw. The show likely won't
answer any questions but we might get a food fight because that's how
wrestling works around a holiday. Let's get to it.
Theme
song.
Here's
Renee Young in the ring to introduce Randy Orton. We look back at
the end of Survivor Series where the Authority helped Orton beat Big
Show with the Punt. Orton says he begs to differ with Renee's
version of things. First off he was playing possum instead of being
knocked out. He didn't need the Authority to prove he could beat Big
Show. All that did was taint his inevitable victory. That brings us
to Monday where Cena showed up to challenge Orton to the title
unification match at TLC. Renee asks Orton about why he didn't
accept the match himself but Orton walks away.
We
go to the back for the Thanksgiving party. Everyone is having a good
time so here's Vickie to let us know that this is a leftover party.
She has everything anyone could want, but this will NOT turn into a
food fight. There will however be an eating contest between Titus
and Khali but we have to wait on the winner.
Curtis
Axel vs. Mark Henry
Ryback
and Langston are here as seconds. Henry throws Axel around as you
would expect to get us going. Ryback gets in a cheap shot on
Langston and the distraction lets Axel get in some cheap shots on the
knee to take over. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Henry gets
to his feet and throws Axel around like a small ferret. The JYD
headbutts put Axel on the floor between two large muscular men and
Ryback's interference doesn't work at all. Henry throws Curtis back
inside for the World's Strongest Slam and the pin at 3:08.
Rating:
D. Axel is a guy in desperate
need of a repackaging. The talent is there, but he needs something
completely different after how badly he's been crushed. At least he
doesn't have the title anymore. It looks like we're setting up for
Langston vs. Ryback, which is going to hurt someone in the short term
when neither guy can really afford that.
Truth
and Xavier Woods (in a Power Rangers shirt) are in the back when a
ticked off Brodus Clay shows up. He gave them permission to use the
music and Funkadactyls, not steal them. Brodus tells the rookie to
watch his attitude and slaps him in the face. Truth and Tensai break
up the fight as Brodus seems to have turned heel.
Back
to the eating contest when AJ and Tamina crash the party. Vickie
threatens to turn this into a food fight with the two of them against
everyone else. That goes nowhere and we pan over to Khali passing
out and Titus winning the contest. The win earns him a match with
Antonio Cesaro tonight. Khali is covered in mashed potatoes.
Plymouth
Rockers vs. Los Matadores/El Torito
3MB
coming out to the Rockers' music isn't something I ever expected to
see. JBL is WAY too excited to see El Torito. Torito gets things
going with Slater as JBL refers to this as an inter-species match.
The other Band members try to jump Torito but the Matadores dropkick
them to the floor.
Torito
dives through the ropes to take them out as the crowd is silent.
Fernando gets stomped down in the 3MB corner with Drew draping
Fernando's feet on the ropes and firing off forearms to the back. A
hot tag brings in Torito with a top rope hurricanrana followed by a
flying headscissors. Off to Diego and the double Angle Slam ends
McIntyre at 2:57. Comedy match and not a funny one.
Video
on the European shows.
Tons
of Funk vs. Xavier Woods/R-Truth
Tensai
and Truth get us going with both guys escaping various hold attempts.
Truth finally gets slammed down but blocks a charge in the corner
with a boot to the face. Off to Woods who pounds on Tensai and kicks
him in the jaw to little effect. An enziguri sends Tensai into the
corner and it's off to Brodus for the headbutt to the chest. A
middle rope splash crushes Woods for the pin at 2:18. I like the
idea of this feud. Stealing music seems like an easy way to start a
feud but I don't remember it being used since.....the late 80s?
Punk
is worried that he hasn't heard from Bryan and that he has bad ribs
thanks to Reigns. He thinks Shield is acting on orders from someone.
Bray
Wyatt talks about seeing mannequins in his dreams. Everyone is
intoxicated in their own vanity but we all see symmetry. Bray
insists that no one knows people like he does and that Daniel Bryan
will be safe with them.
Titus
O'Neal vs. Antonio Cesaro
Titus
has a stomach ache which likely means a bad ending to this one. He
grabs a headlock on Cesaro but gets dropkicked down, sending Titus
into the ropes to hold his stomach. Titus jumps over Cesaro in the
corner and kicks him in the face, only to make himself hurt more from
the bark. Cesaro knees him in the stomach and puts on the Swing but
Young comes in for the DQ at 2:00.
Titus
is sick in JBL's hat (censored of course) for the payoff. Zeb makes
fun of Titus so he gets sick on Colter as well. This went on WAY too
long.
The
Raw ReBound covers the main event.
Tag
Titles: Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Shield
Reigns
and Rollins are challenging and Ambrose is on commentary. We get
some big match intros and we're ready to go. Cody grabs a headlock
to start on Rollins as Cole asks if the Authority had anything to do
with Shield attacking Punk on Monday. Apparently Cole doesn't have
clearance to get that answer so Ambrose says it's Shield's personal
business. Cody slams Rollins down and brings in Goldust for a middle
rope ax handle to the arm. Back to Cody who gets two off the front
suplex and it's back to the arm.
Reigns
comes in and you can feel the match change in a hurry. Goldust bows
up to fight him but is easily knocked to the floor. Back in and
Reigns scores with an uppercut but gets caught by a dropkick for no
cover. Everything breaks down for a bit with the champions clearing
the ring as we take a break. Back with Cody working on Seth's arm
but not being able to hit the Alabama Slam out of the corner.
Instead Seth sunset flips him down for two and kicks Cody in the head
for the same.
The
announcers talk about brothers being tag team champions and Ambrose
asks a question we need a definitive answer to: are Edge and
Christian brothers or not? Reigns comes in for some pounding before
it's quickly back to Rollins who chokes on the ropes. Cody gets
caught in a front facelock by Reigns before getting dropped by a back
elbow. Rollins comes back in but misses a charge, sending him out to
the floor.
The
hot tag brings in Goldust who clotheslines Reigns down a few times
and a cross body gets one. Reigns breaks up the top rope cross body
and sends Goldust to the floor as we take another break. Back with
Goldust in trouble and being knocked into the corner by Rollins. We
hit the chinlock on Goldust but he grabs a small package for two. A
DDT puts Rollins down but Reigns knocks Cody off the apron to break
up the hot tag.
Reigns
clotheslines Goldust down for two and puts on a headlock. Goldust is
taken into the Shield corner but comes out with a double clothesline
to put everyone down. Now the hot tag brings in Cody with a missile
dropkick and a sunset flip gets two on Rollins. Seth counters the
moonsault press and sends Cody face first into the buckle to put him
down.
Everything
breaks down again and Goldust is sent into the barricade. Cody comes
off the top with a nice plancha to take out both Shield members.
Back in and Rollins avoids the moonsault press but misses the top
rope knee. Cross Rhodes puts Seth out but Ambrose breaks it up for
the DQ at 16:03 shown of 23:03.
Rating:
B-. Do I really need to explain
that a Shield match is good at this point? Yeah they do a lot of the
same stuff in a lot of their matches, but they're some of the most
entertaining matches we've gotten this year. Cody and Goldust have
awesome chemistry with these guys also so this was your usual very
good TV match.
Post
match here's Punk with a chair to take out Shield. Vickie pops up on
screen and makes it a six man tag.
Shield
vs. CM Punk/Cody Rhodes/Goldust
The
match is joined in progress as we come back with Punk pounding away
on Ambrose in the corner. An elbow to the head gets two for Punk and
it's back to Goldust for a clothesline. That's enough of the golden
one so here's Cody to pound on Dean in the corner a bit more. A
backdrop out of the corner puts Ambrose down and here's Punk again
with a top rope ax handle to the head.
Ambrose
avoids a charge in the corner and it's off to Rollins, who is
immediately taken down in a modified Indian deathlock. Back to
Goldust to stay on the leg and here's Cody for more of the same. JBL
goes on a rant against Cole for reporting about the locker room,
which somehow leads to him accusing Shield of helping Stanley Kubrick
stage the moon landing. The tag champions stay on Rollins until Punk
comes in with a backbreaker for two. There's the bridging Indian
deathlock with the facelock before it's off to Cody for a half crab.
Rollins
avoids a charge in the corner and brings in Ambrose as we take
another break. Back with Dean slamming Cody down but charging into a
boot in the corner, allowing for a tag to Punk. CM fires off his
usual strikes followed by the swinging neckbreaker. He loads up the
GTS....and here are the Wyatts. Punk charges at them but runs into
Dean's elbow and a beating from Reigns ensues. Back to Dean but Punk
DDTs him at the same time Rollins is caught in a neckbreaker for a
cool double team. Punk goes over to Goldust but the Wyatts pull
Goldust to the floor for the DQ at 5:50 shown of 9:20.
Rating:
C. This was much less
interesting than the previous match. There's only so much you can do
with this much time, especially when Punk didn't get to extract much
revenge here. It wasn't bad or anything but two tag matches in a row
like this with mostly the same cast is a bit of a stretch.
Post
match the brawl continues until the Usos and Mysterio head out for
the save. Vickie comes out to make it a twelve man tag. Good grief.
Shield/Wyatt
Family vs. Usos/Rey Mysterio/CM Punk/Goldust/Cody Rhodes
Back
with Ambrose bringing in Harper to work over Jey Uso. Harper runs
him over a few times but gets rolled up for two, meaning it's time
for Rollins to come in and stomp away. Seth stomps away in the
corner and it's off to bray for his hard hitting offense. Back to
Harper for the Gator Roll into a front facelock but Jimmy gets in a
cheap shot from the apron.
Rey
comes in off the 495th
hot tag of the matches but can't knock the big man down. Instead
it's a big boot to Rey's face for two and another tag to Wyatt. Bray
hits a running splash in the corner and brings in Rowan for a
swinging bearhug. A side slam gets two on Mysterio and it's back to
Ambrose for a front facelock. Rey gets sent into the corner and
here's Rollins, only to accidentally send Ambrose to the floor.
Mysterio
gets in a kick to Seth's head and it's yet ANOTHER hot tag to Punk.
He cleans house again and hits the suicide dive to Rowan on the
floor. Back in and Punk hits three straight high knees to Erick in
the corner. A neckbreaker sets up the Macho Elbow and everything
breaks down. The Usos superkick two monsters and hit their dives on
Harper and Rollins. Bray breaks up the GTS attempt on Rollins but
Rey breaks up Sister Abigail. The 619 knocks Rowan into the GTS for
the pin at 8:47.
Rating:
D. Is it over yet? I'm almost
afraid to say anything else about the match because it'll probably
turn into a 32 man tag match next. This went WAY too long and almost
nothing had any interest to it by the end. We've seen these guys
fighting so many times over the last few months and the last two
parts of this dragged really badly. It wasn't that it was a bad
match but I was sick of watching these guys by the end.
Overall
Rating: D. This didn't work for
me. The three tag matches are almost literally half of the show and
the rest of the show is a bunch of thrown together nothing. For
once, Impact had this show beaten. Last night's Impact was another
throw away show because of the holiday, but it actually had some
storyline development. We got NOTHING here other than a tag match
that went on twice as long as it should have. It wasn't so much that
the show was bad but it just didn't matter at all, meaning there was
no reason to sit through it.
Results
Mark
Henry b. Curtis Axel – World's Strongest Slam
Los
Matadores/El Torito b. Plymouth Rockers – Double Angle Slam to
McIntyre
Tons
of Funk b. Xavier Woods/R-Truth – Middle rope splash to Woods
Antonio
Cesaro b. Titus O'Neal via DQ when Darren Young interfered
Cody
Rhodes/Goldust b. Shield via DQ when Dean Ambrose interfered
Cody
Rhodes/Goldust/CM Punk b. Shield via DQ when the Wyatt Family
interfered
Cody
Rhodes/Goldust/CM Punk/Rey Mysterio b. Shield/Wyatt Family – GTS to
Rowan
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