WWE Smackdown Storyline Tracker
By Robin Scannell, PWTorch specialist

Episode - February 21 live special

(1) Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus / Teddy Long vs. John Laurinaitis

Smackdown opened with Daniel Bryan, accompanied by A.J., cutting a promo on people not believing that he’d wrestle for the World Title at WrestleMania. He said that he was the real Rocky story, not Santino. Bryan said he would be victorious at WrestleMania against Sheamus.

Miz then came to the ring and sided with Bryan. Miz congratulated Bryan on being in the main event at WrestleMania. He suggested they form a tag team after Mania.

Sheamus then came to the ring and called Bryan a hypocrite. He said that Bryan would get what he deserved at Mania. Miz stood up for Bryan and Sheamus pushed him. Sheamus turned to Bryan, who slapped him. Then, Miz attacked Sheamus as Bryan ran. Sheamus threw Miz out of the ring, heading into a commercial break. In the match that followed, Sheamus defeated Miz.

Reax: If Bryan is to lose the title, and Miz still isn’t going anywhere, then why not form a tag team? It’s better than nothing, plus, they have history.

Later, backstage, Laurinaitis and Teddy Long had a segment where they insulted one another. Later, David Otunga (with John Laurinaitis) defeated Ezekiel Jackson (with Teddy Long) in a short match that was a re-match from Raw. Laurinaitis 2, Long 0.

Also, Punk praised Long, but insulted Laurinaitis. He said he would address Chris Jericho on Raw. He then drew parallels between Bryan's veganism and his Straight Edge Society. He said that he would teach Bryan how to lose.

In the main event, Punk pinned Bryan after Sheamus threw Bryan back into the ring. John Laurinaitis then restarted the match. Bryan pinned Punk, using the ropes. Teddy Long then restarted the match. Finally, there was a double pinfall that was counted. Long and Laurinaitis each sided with the champion from the other show (Long supporting Punk, Laurinaitis supporting Bryan). They got in each other’s faces as the show went off the air.

Reax: John Laurinaitis shouldn’t be able to overrule the official, when it’s not his show, even if it is “Super Smackdown.” I’d like for WWE to outline what people’s powers are, so we can hold them to it.

***

(2) Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes

A video was shown of Cody Rhodes helping eliminate Big Show on Raw. In a backstage interview, Big Show said that he would snap Cody’s neck.

Big Show faced Mark Henry in a match. Cody Rhodes interrupted and showed an embarrassing WrestleMania clip of the Big Show. Big Show ended up knocking out Mark Henry with the WMD. Instead of getting the win, he chased Rhodes.

Reax: Perhaps the logic is that if Big Show doesn’t pin Henry, then it doesn’t hurt Henry as much. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Big Show pin Henry after he did all the work? It would take three seconds. Instead, Show walked away from the match, and a result wasn’t even announced. Every time WWE fails to reward the viewer with an outcome, it teaches them to not be as invested the next time.

***

(3) Tag Title Picture

Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger defeated Kofi Kingston & R-Truth in a short tag match.

Reax: Kingston and Truth had previously beaten the Tag Team champions on Raw. Since Smackdown, Raw had a three-way tag match, so perhaps they will develop the three-way feud until WrestleMania. Without a Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, they could choose to go with a Tag Ladder match between the three teams. It would put needed focus onto the Tag Titles, it would put six guys onto the card, and it would feel that athletic void that could exist without a Money in the Bank match. Despite my optimism and hope, the tag match was a little short, if that really is the direction they are going in.

***

Other Stories

- Backstage, Santino was striking red cups with the cobra. Heath Slater interrupted. Santino then used the spitting cobra, with the cobra spitting something into Slater’s eyes.

- Great Khali defeated Drew McIntyre in less than a minute.

- It seems that Santino and his tag partner of the week stopped after a couple of weeks. That might qualify as a forgotten storyline.

Current Feuds Active this Week (# weeks)

Smackdown

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (1)
Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes (1)
Teddy Long vs. John Laurinaitis (1)

Feel free to email any comments to scannell.torch@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @robinocracy for my thoughts on the pay-per-view and non-wrestling related things.

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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