WWE Smackdown review
October 28, 2011
Taped 10/25/11 in Houston, Tex.
Aired on Syfy
By Michael Cupach, PWTorch Contributor

[Q1]

-WWE Open.

-Official video package with voice-over guy opens Smackdown this week. The package shows the Superplex that broke the ring last Sunday at Vengeance. The video also hypes that tonight there will be a answer to what is up with the World Heavyweight Title!

-In the ring, Teddy Long has a microphone and he says that the World Heavyweight Title and the situation between Henry and Show is in flux, but both men are in attendance, and everything will be addressed by both men tonight! Just then, Christian’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, his own microphone in hand. He says that what happened at Vengeance is historic because it is history, now it is time for the present. Big Show ruined his opportunity to win the World Title, so there is now a void in the World Title picture. He says that he has dominated the WWE landscape over the last five months. Teddy Long says that last time he looked, he saw Christian getting his head kicked off by Sheamus. Christian replies that that is an example of his resiliency!

C.M. Punk interrupts Christian to a nice ovation. Cole flips out, saying that he shouldn’t be here because he is a Raw Superstar. I guess Cole doesn’t follow the product, he doesn’t know that there is no more Raw or Smackdown Superstars, just WWE Superstars. The crowd chants Punk’s name and before he can say anything, Christian says that he deserves one more match. Teddy then goes on to say that since Smackdown guys have been on Raw, it is time for the Raw guys to return the favor.

Punk finally gets a chance to speak. He says that it is nice to be on a show with a competent leader. He says that John Laurinaitis is so bad that he makes Long look like FDR. Punk goes on to say that Christian is very effective because he looks around and he sees some “One More Match” signs. Christian cuts him off to state that he doesn’t need any more lecturing, especially from a guy like Punk who has blown his chances at title shots. Punk says he is sick of people who come out here and do nothing but bitch about how they don’t get any chances. Every time Christian tries to speak, Punk cuts him off with “bitching!” Christian gets sick of it and tells Punk that he needs to go back to Raw, even if he was invited, no one wants him here, and he needs to take his pipebombs and hit the bricks. Punk asks “no on wants me here?” So the crowd in Houston chants his name loudly so Punk speculates that they want him here and they want him in a match with Christian tonight! The crowd pops, so I think Long will make it official and indeed he makes it so! Punk poses and walks off while Christian argues off microphone with Theodore Long.

-At the announce table, Cole complains about how Punk went about getting a match with Christian. He also announces that, next, Air Boom will compete in a tag match with Awesome Truth!

(Commercial)

[Q2]

1 - WWE Tag Team champions AIR BOOM vs. AWESOME TRUTH - non-title

Before the match, they go to stills of Miz and Truth interfering in John Cena’s match with Alberto Del Rio at Vengeance followed by footage of their match with Cena last Monday and the “announcement” that Cena and The Rock will face them at Survivor Series in a tag match. Booker T starts the match by putting over the streak that Air Boom has been on lately. Kofi and Miz start things off with some feints and dancing around. Miz takes advantage by grabbing Kofi by the hair and kneeing him in the face. He makes the tag to Truth who aggressively goes after Kingston and Booker loves the aggressiveness of the heel! Truth whips Kofi into the corner and eats boot when he charges in. Kofi makes the tag to Bourne and they double team R-Truth with a high-flying move. Bourne tries a charge into the corner, gets back body dropped over the ropes, but catches himself on the apron and kicks Truth in the head. Bourne starts to go up top for Air Bourne, but Miz distracts him and Truth recovers and knocks Bourne to the floor.

(Commercial)

Bourne fights out of a headlock when Smackdown returns, but Miz cuts the comeback off and tags in Truth. Miz chop blocks Evan while Truth clotheslines him down. Hot tag attempt is stopped by Truth at the last second, buts ends up getting enziguiried and Bourne finally makes the tag. Kofi clotheslines and dropkicks The Miz, then connects with a top rope cross body for a two count. Truth sneak attacks Kofi to help Miz take over and then he sends Evan Bourne to the outside. Truth tags himself in and they do their finishing move combination, called The Little Jimmy Finale, for the win!

WINNERS: Awesome Truth by pinfall in 8:00

-Truth and Miz cut a promo in the middle of the ring, going over their accomplishments the last week, beating the tag champions tonight, beating Hunter and Punk last Sunday, then beating the wheels off Cena and Ryder last Monday. The Miz says that they beat Cena so bad that he went and picked the only man who hates Cena more than Awesome Truth, The Rock. They tease the dissent with Cena and Rock.

Mike’s Reax: I like the remix version of What’s Up! This match was needed to make Miz and Truth a threat, but it didn’t need to be done at the expense of the tag champions and in less than ten minutes. I would have liked to see them beat some other teams and worked their way up to a match with Air Boom, but I digress. The teasing of the potential in-fighting between Cena and Rock was to be expected, seems like booking 101 to me, so I had no problem with that, other than how unoriginal it was.

[Q3]

-The status of the World Heavyweight Championship will be addressed tonight. Also, Punk faces Christian!

(Commercial)

-Extra long commercial for the "Rivalries: Shawn vs. Bret" DVD is shown. Then, backstage the mid-carders are discussing the DVD. Justin Gabriel asked if Daniel Bryan was really trained by Shawn, he confirms. Tyson Kidd walks in and asks if he saw the DVD yet and asks him if his favorite part was when Shawn cried at the beginning, middle, or end of the DVD? They argue over who was better, then agree that they will meet in the ring tonight to decide who is better.

-Long is backstage with Hornswoggle who is dressed like Zack Ryder, hilarity ensues. Vickie Guerrero, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger interrupt the conversation and say that despite his best efforts, Dolph is still the U.S. Champion and that he stole the show (questionable). Long says that it wasn’t his intention to get the title off Ziggler. He makes a match for tonight, Ziggler vs. Orton, and Jack says that they have this, and Teddy tells him that he is banned from ringside! Hornswoggle gives a Woo Woo Woo and Teddy tells him to settle down. The sexy music plays and Aksana saunters in. She asks if this is a group thing going on and Teddy says that it isn’t the case. He shoos Hornswoggle away and he take Aksana to his office.

-Michael Cole at ringside throws to a video package of the drama that has been unfolding between Triple H and Kevin Nash last Monday on Raw. Clips of Hunter and Nash hugging a more than acceptable amount of times is shown. They show the vicious sledgehammer shots from Nash in slow motion and I’m thinking of going to church and lighting a candle for Hunter, hoping a speedy recovery. Hopefully his broken heart won’t keep him out of action longer than Shawn Michaels Smile-ectomy did 14 years ago.

-Cole, in his serious voice, says that Hunter was taken to a medical facility and his broken heart will keep him out of action for six weeks. Now when he says out of action, what does he mean? Hunter isn’t a full-time wrestler, so I have to assume that he means that he won’t be in the office in Stamford for the next month-and-a-half. I don’t know, but I do want to see that workers compensation request form!

(Commercial)

[Q4]

-This week's Wade Barrett phrase that pays is “Barrett Barrage.”

2 - WADE BARRETT vs. TRENT BARETTA

Barreta runs into a Bossman Slam to start things off. Wade works the slam into a Bow and Arrow that Trent fights out of, but runs into a knee to the midsection. Wade ties Trent in the ropes and Booker corrects Josh Mathews who says that Wade is a bare knuckle fighter, saying he is a pugilist! Wade pushes Trent to the floor, clotheslines him hard, rolls him back in the ring, and gets a two count. Mule kick to the stomach by Wade, Wasteland by him, and he gets the win.

WINNER: Wade Barrett by pinfall in 3:00. Much-needed squash match victory for Barrett.

-Up next: Orton vs. Ziggler.

(Commercial)

3 - U.S. champion DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. RANDY ORTON - non-title match

Cody Rhodes's music hits before the match starts and Cody comes out with the bagman to do guest commentary. Booker doesn’t want Cody on commentary because he thinks that he has cooties. Sigh. Cody has a droll, monotone voice as Michael kisses his butt about bringing the vintage IC Title back. Orton starts the match with a tantalizing headlock. Cody is happy to say that last Sunday he went one on one with the devil and he walked out! Ziggler works his own headlock and it gets reversed and Ziggler gets shoulder blocked down.

[Q5]

Kicks to the midsection by Ziggler and he puts a headlock on Orton and Orton counters into an armbar. Ziggler powers out of it and comes up short on a neckbreaker. Garvin Stomp by Orton and the crowd comes alive for The Viper, who drops a precise knee on Ziggler's face! Orton works over the arm of Ziggler, who uses some momentum to shake Orton off. He kicks Orton in the face and gets some offense of his own going. Orton appears to shake it off, so Dolph makes like a tree and splits. Orton chases him and Vickie tries getting in Orton's way and he leapfrogs her and clotheslines Ziggler down in a nice spot!

(Commercial)

Picture-perfect dropkick by Ziggler gets a two count as Cody takes credit for Dolph’s success, saying he softened Orton up last Sunday. Orton runs into a knee to his midsection that gets a two count. Dolph pulls out a beautiful shoot style maneuver, trying to get a submission, Orton fights out for a second, but Dolph has some quick thinking and DDT’s while Vickie barks instructions. Josh and Booker grill Cody on his protective mask and Cody has terrible response, he keeps asking if someone said something instead of some heelish excuse. Neckbreaker from Dolph gets two and Dolph goes to the top rope for a high-risk move, but Orton cuts him off and superplexes him. Writers note: the ring didn’t break this time.

Both men are out in the middle of the ring and slowly make their way to their feet where they trade blows. Orton wins the battle of fisticuffs with a clothesline followed by a powerslam and his hangman DDT. Orton calls for the RKO, but Ziggler pushes off and nails Orton with Sweet Heel Music, but only gets a two count! The crowd was buying that as a near fall! Ziggler tries a Zig-Zag, but Orton grabs the ropes to block it and catches Dolph with a RKO out of nowhere for the win!

WINNER: Randy Orton by pinfall in 14:00

-Post-match, Cody and his bagmen start to go backstage, but he stops and pulls out a bag and starts yelling at it as if it were Orton. Kind of weird.

Mike’s Reax: Slow-starting match that really picked up after the commercial break. I don’t know what to think of Ziggler using Sweet Chin Music, but I guess if Shawn isn’t using it, why not use it. I think Dolph needs a win over Orton or he runs the risk of becoming his designated job-boy. Same thing happened to Jericho when he was facing Hunter in the early 2000s and it made their matches foregone conclusions. Nonetheless, I thought this was a good TV match!

-Backstage, Matt Striker is with Sin Cara Negro. He asked how it felt to lose his mask. Obviously it didn’t feel good. Negro is dressed like Konnan circa 1997. He starts speaking Spanish and I become lost.

[Q6]

(Commercial)

-Brodus Clay vignette

4 - DANIEL BRYAN vs. TYSON KIDD

I am optimistic in thinking that this match will definitively decide who is better: Bret or Shawn! Bryan catches Tyson on a leapfrog with an ankle lock, Kidd reverses out of that and catches Bryan in the face with a dropkick. Kidd locks in a dragon sleeper that Bryan easily gets out of, Bryan gets whipped into the corner and does his back flip off the top rope and nails Kidd with a running clothesline. Booker rambles on about Tim Tebow and Cole asks what he has to do with Bryan or Kidd. Answer: nothing. Both men reverse out of each others submission moves – LeBell Lock and Sharpshooter – until Bryan rolls Kidd into a LeBell Lock that he can’t fight out of, and is forced to tap out.

WINNER: Daniel Bryan by submission in 3:30

Mike’s Reax: Anti-climatic end to Bryan’s losing streak gimmick. I know they want to sell some DVDs, but, once again, they do something at the expense of storyline development.

-Raw Rewind featuring the events leading up to John Cena picking The Rock as his partner of choice at Survivor Series to face Awesome Truth.

-Michael Cole gets the attention of the crowd and he shows the pictures from Monday night of J.R. working out and in a cheerleader outfit. He reiterates the stipulations of the match. If J.R. wins he gets his chair back at Raw and Michael Cole will quit. If Cole wins, well he beat up J.R., so I guess that is what he gets out of it.

-The status of the World Championship is next!

(Commercial)

[Q7]

-Josh Mathews has an official diagnosis of Big Show and Mark Henry following their match, they have strained muscles. That’s it.

-Big Show starts his promo off by saying that “oops he did it again” and Britney Spears is rolling in her grave. I mean I don’t know who sings that song… Big Show puts over Mark Henry, saying he put up one hell of a fight, he has been in matches with Legends, Superstars, Hall of Famers, and after all that, Mark Henry brought it as much as any of those guys did. So Big Show suggests that they reinforce the ring and go at it again because he can beat Mark Henry! He says that he has been in meeting with Long all day and they negotiated that their will be a re-match when both competitors are healthy.

Mark Henry comes out, looking ready to go, but limping a little bit. Henry says that he ain’t getting no re-match because he walked into Vengeance as the champion and left as champion! He handled his business. He said that he is sore because the ring broke, but Big Show is sore because Henry put a beating on him. Both men trade fighting words and Henry starts to get into the ring to take on Show, but grabs his back in pain and thinks twice about it. The crowd is boo'ing pretty heavily to that as Henry walks away holding the belt up high!

Next: C.M. Punk vs. Christian!

(Commercial)

[Q8]

5 - C.M. PUNK vs. CHRISTIAN

Christian wins a battle of headlock takeovers and Punk applauds. They re-do the same battle and Punk wins this time, but doesn’t get the reciprocation from Christian. Test of strength and Christian kicks Punk in the gut early into it and celebrates to the crowd. Dropkick by Punk and he rings the arm of Christian and rams his shoulder into the wrenched arm. Punk puts Christian into a hammerlock and Christian back elbows his way out of it and goes to the middle rope and connects with a back elbow to the jaw of Punk. Top rope headbutt from Christian comes up short and Punk tries to put Christian to sleep, but Del Rio’s music hits and he distracts Punk. Christian wiggles out of the Go To Sleep and hits an inverted DDT as Smackdown takes a break!

(Commercial - The Muppets will be the guest hosts of Raw this Monday!)

Christian has Punk in a sleeper as they show of Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez at ringside, watching on. Still right hands by Christian on a prone C.M. Punk and he hits another inverted DDT for a two count. Christian sends Punk to the outside right in front of Alberto and he follows him out to stalk Punk. Christian slams Punks face into the announce table and rolls him back into the ring for a one count. C.M. Punk starts to mount some offense, a few punches and a Muay Thai kick gets a two count. Big back body drop on Christian followed up with a swinging neckbreaker that didn’t look pretty. Christian tries a Killswitch out of nowhere and Punk reverses into a Go To Sleep, but Christian fights out and tries a sunset flip, but Punk rolls through and kicks him in the teeth! Another Muay Thai kick misses and Christian jacks Punk in the jaw and comes off the top rope with a crossbody that Punk rolls through for a two count.

Punk goes to the top himself and Christian catches him mid-air and delivers a big powerslam! Captain Charisma calls for a Killswitch and Punk counters out and hits Christian with a running knee to the jaw. Rodriguez distracts Punk, for no reason, as Punk springboard clotheslines Christian. Punk then goes for a top rope elbow smash and Rodriguez is back to distract the ref and Del Rio trips Punk up on the ropes. Christian is calling for a Spear and Sheamus’s music hits, he charges down, runs off Rodriguez and feigns going after Christian, this gives Punk the chance to recover and he hits the Go To Sleep for the win!

WINNER: C.M. Punk by pinfall in 14:00

Mike’s Reax: Christian continues to bring it on Smackdown main events, not to say that Punk didn’t do his fair share! Really good match from these guys! The Del Rio dynamic would have worked better if they had a official match for Survivor Series. I mean, I know it is happening, but it isn’t official yet. It also appears that WWE is going with another month of Sheamus vs. Christian and hopefully they will finally do a number one contender's match as a hook for the third PPV match between the two.

Overall, a good episode of Smackdown. Good wrestling from start to finish and they are moving things along for Survivor Series. I also enjoyed the Mark Henry promo, I never thought I would say it in a million years, but I look forward to seeing him and his matches every week now. Thumbs up show!

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @MJCupach! I tweet during Raw and WWE PPV’s frequently.

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