WWE Smackdown review
April 6, 2012
Taped 4/3/12 in Orlando, Fla.
Aired on Syfy
By Michael Cupach, PWTorch contributor

[Q1]

-Tribute to “Chief” Jay Strongbow.

-WWE open.

-Josh Mathews starts the show with a still shot of Team Johnny winning last Sunday at WrestleMania. Michael Cole declares that it is the time of People Power now that John Laurinaitis is in charge of Raw and Smackdown!

-David Otunga’s music hits and he makes his way to the stage to introduce the new General Manager of Smackdown, John Laurinaitis. John comes out with triumphant music and a big smile on his face. Cole sings his praises to Booker. John starts off by saying that he thinks that everyone is just as excited as he is for his first episode of Smackdown with him in charge. Laurinaitis takes a second to say hi to Booker, then say that he isn’t a guy to abuse power instead he wants to give the power to the people! Johnny then says that he would like Teddy Long to make his way to the ring so he can thank him for his years of service on Smackdown as G.M.

Teddy comes out looking solemn. The crowd chants Teddy’s name as he gets in the ring. Teddy interrupts Johnny in the middle of him thanking Teddy. Teddy says that one of the perks of being out of a job is that is gives him the opportunity to tell John to go to hell! Long says that he isn’t out to whine and complain about what happened and he is living with the results. He says that what is hard is walking away from Smackdown, which was the best job of his life, and he wants to thank everyone before he finally walks away for good. Teddy asks the crowd to give him a “holla holla holla” before he leaves, they oblige, and Teddy starts to leave. Laurinaitis calls Teddy back in the ring and offers him a job in his new administration. Long says that he needs a job, but not working for him and tells him to shove it! Johnny says that while he might be a proud and noble man, he should think of his grandkids and their college education and he passes the microphone to Otunga to explain.

Otunga says that a few years back Teddy made a deal with the Board of Directors that his grandkids's college would be paid for, but only as long as he is the G.M. He asks them not to mess with his grandkids. Johnny says that he didn’t want to bring it up out here and that he needs to think of his grandkids. Laurinaitis says that what Teddy has to do is tell everyone that Johnny is better than him and he can have his job back and wouldn’t have to worry about paying for college. Teddy says that Laurinaitis is better than him and John tells him to leave the ring and head backstage to do his job. Long asks what it is and John says he hasn’t thought of it yet. Teddy leave and John makes a few matches for tonight - Kane vs. Randy Orton in a No DQ match and R-Truth vs. David Otunga and Mark Henry in a handicap match. Mark Henry makes his way to the ring for the match. The handicap match is next!

Mike’s Reax: Good opening segment, and I like the hook of what will be done with Teddy Long. I had a feeling that he wasn’t going away and the crowd seemed to be behind him. I’m curious to see what demeaning jobs they have Teddy do in the coming weeks.

(Commercial)

[Q2]

1 - R-TRUTH vs. DAVID OTUNGA & MARK HENRY - handicap match

Truth has a few words with Little Jimmy to start things off as Cole informs everyone (including Booker T) that Booker has a closed door meeting in Stamford next week with John Laurinaitis. Truth starts off with Otunga by hitting him with the Lie Detector that gets a two count. Otunga tags in Henry who takes a few shots form Truth but then headbutts him down to the mat. They then cut backstage and Abraham Washington is shown watching this match. Truth tries a scissor kick, but gets caught by Henry, who delivers the World’s Strongest Slam. Otunga demands that he be tagged in. Henry looks at him for a second, then says that he owes him one. Otunga comes in and makes the pin.

WINNERS: Mark Henry & David Otunga by pinfall in 2:00.

-In the middle of their celebration, Kane’s music hits and the Big Red Machine makes his way to the ring. His re-match with Orton is next!

(Commercial)

-Promo for the live Smackdown this Tuesday. The theme is “Blast from the Past” and guys like Mick Foley, Jim Duggan, and Mean Gene Okerlund are expected to make appearances.

2 - RANDY ORTON vs. KANE - No DQ match

Why did WWE have to mess with everyone's predictions by having Kane win at WrestleMania? Both men trade shots with each other and Kane gets the upper hand by clotheslining Orton to the floor. Both men brawl around ringside and by the announce table.

[Q3] Orton blocks Kane's attempts to slam his head into the steel steps and Orton instead tosses Kane over the announce table. Kane then blocks Orton's attempt on the steel steps and finally smashes Orton head first into the steps. Both men start fighting up the ramp towards the stage, neither man seeming to get the advantage. Kane slams Orton's head into the edge of the steel stage, then both men start trading more shots in top of the stage. Kane tries chokeslamming Orton off the stage, but Orton blocks it, but ends up getting DDT'ed on the stage as Smackdown takes a break!

(Commercial)

Back on Smackdown, they are back in the ring and Kane is exposing the steel ring underneath the turnbuckle. Kane tries ramming Orton's head into it, but Orton blocks. Kane whips Orton into the far turnbuckle and connects with a running clothesline in the corner on Orton. Kane tries to go for the cover, but gets a two. Kane then snapmares Orton and takes off the ropes, connecting with a low dropkick on Orton for another two count. Kane goes to the top rope for his signature clothesline, but Orton makes him lose his balance.

Orton makes a comeback with a dropkick followed by a powerslam for a two count. Kane rolls to the apron, Orton goes for a DDT, but Kane headbutts him instead then pulls Orton to the floor. More brawling on the floor until Orton is able to whip Kane in the barricade followed by a clothesline into the crowd. Orton tries a DDT again, but Kane fights out and kicks Orton in the face. Kane then throws a few chairs into the ring and rolls Orton back into the ring.

Kane grabs another chair and goes to get into the ring, but Orton hits him with his own chair in the kidney and then hits him with his signature DDT onto a chair! Orton goes for a pin, but comes up short. Orton goes for an RKO, Kane counters and whacks Orton over and over with a steel chair and only gets a two count! Kane then sets up a chair in the middle of the ring and sets up a chokeslam, but Orton slips behind Kane, shoves him chest-first into the exposed turnbuckle, and nails him the RKO on the rebound. Orton wins!

WINNER: Orton by pinfall in 13:00 by pinfall.

-Still to come: John Cena got shocked by Brock Lesnar on Raw!

-Up next: Sheamus!

(Commercial)

[Q4]

-Stills from the World Title Match where Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds were shown. Afterwards they showed clips of Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus’s interaction from Raw.

-In the ring, Lillian introduces Barry Stevens. He has a mic and he calls the people there the rudest people on earth. They then cut to the back where a bunch of mid-carders are watching the TV awaiting the debut of Ryback. Ryback then makes his way to the ring. Josh Mathews mentions that Ryback was on Season One of NXT.

3 - RYBACK vs. BARRY STEVENS

Ryback powers Barry into the corner and runs some shoulders into his sternum. Gorilla press into a powerslam by Ryback followed by a Fisherman's Suplex into a slam for the win.

WINNER: Ryback by pinfall in 1:00.

-Daniel Bryan is backstage, and he will speak next!

(Commercial)

-More stills from WrestleMania were shown.

-Daniel Bryan, accompanied by A.J., makes his way to the ring. He isn’t yelling “Yes!” and looks pretty upset. Bryan says that if there is one positive thing about this week, it was that he had time to think about how everything was going right, until it went wrong. He then says that the moment things started going off the tracks, then stops talking.

A.J. takes the microphone and calls him a great wrestler and a great person as the crowd boos what she is saying. The crowd then starts chanting “Yes!” and she tells him to listen to these people who cheer for him and have signs, or to the crowd from Raw that was chanting his name when he wasn’t even in the ring. She says that everyone is here now to support him. Bryan takes the microphone back and sarcastically asks, “Supporting me? This is supporting me?” as the crowd chants, “Yes!!” again.

[Q5] Bryan says that he feels like everyone is mocking him with their chants. Bryan calls the crowd sheep and says the chants don’t make it better. He then accuses A.J. of costing him his World Championship in 18 seconds. He yells pretty loud at her that all his hard work is flushed down the toilet because she had to have a kiss. He says that the kiss of good luck turned into his kiss of death. She tries to explain, but Bryan won’t let her re-write history because it is her fault. He calls her selfish and a spotlight hog, then asks her if she is happy that she ruined his life and his big moment.

Bryan goes on to say that he has his re-match clause and when he gets that match he is doing it the right way - by himself. Bryan then tells A.J. to get into her gas guzzling S.U.V. and eat her disgusting cheeseburgers and get away from him. She asks him to talk about this privately. Daniel says that he hopes the kiss was worth it at WrestleMania because they are through. He then tells her to get out of his ring! He turns his back on her and A.J. holds back tears. The crowd does the good-bye chant as A.J. goes up the ramp.

Mike’s Reax: Excellent promo from Bryan! He managed to take back "Yes!" and turned the crowd away from him, but somehow not on A.J.’s side. I think she could become a mega-face Diva once she stands up to him. This was the good stuff!

(Commercial)

-Josh Mathews thanks Metallica for The Cell’s theme song at WrestleMania. They then show stills from WrestleMania.

-At ringside, Cody Rhodes is at ringside for commentary on the next match. Big Show comes out and Cody says over and over that Show has his title belt.

-Big Show throws to another Cody Rhodes embarrassing WrestleMania moment. It was the same one shown from last Monday.

4 - BIG SHOW vs. HEATH SLATER

Show overpowers Slater in the corner and hits him with lefts to the ribcage. Cole asks Cody if he thinks that he went too far with his videos before Mania. Cody says that he did research and the statistics were on his side. Big Show spears Slater and chokeslams him for the win.

WINNER: Big Show by pinfall in 1:00.

[Q6] Post-match: Cody gets up and into the ring at the invitation of The Big Show. He balks to the last minute. Show then punches out Heath Slater as Rhodes looks on. Show turns his back for a seconds and Cody tries sneak attacking him, but Show sees him and Cody exits the ring as fast as he entered it.

-Michael Cole throws to a replay of what Chris Jericho did to C.M. Punk Monday on Raw.

-Backstage, Johnny is telling Nikki Bella that she chose the right team. He tells Nikki to get ready for her match with Beth, as it is next. Sheamus then comes in and Laurinaitis says that Sheamus isn’t acting professionally as a champion. He says that he has informed the referee for his match with Del Rio tonight to make sure that both men are face to face before ringing the bell. Sheamus then tells John a story about a bully and what happened to that bully when it was all said and done.

-Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio Is still to come!

(Commercial)

5 - Divas champion BETH PHOENIX vs. NIKKI BELLA - non-title match

Kelly Kelly makes an entrance and she is out to observe the match. Beth starts off going to work on Nikki, choking her with her boot. Whip into the corner by Beth and she charges in with a boot to Nikki. Kelly distracts Beth, though, and Nikki hits Beth with a X-Factor for the win!

WINNER: Nikki Bella by pinfall in 0:45.

-Up next, a recap of Brock Lesnar’s return.

-Video package remembering Jay Strongbow is shown.

[Q7]

-A promo from Damien Sandow is shown. He rants about pop culture and calls the fans mediocre and ignorant. Saving everyone form their ignorance is his true calling, apparently.

-The Raw Rebound featuring The Rock, John Cena, and the return of Brock Lesnar is shown.

-On Raw this Monday, The Three Stooges are the special guest stars!

-Alberto Del Rio makes his entrance as Smackdown takes a break.

(Commercial)

[Q8]

6 - World Hvt. champion SHEAMUS vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO – non-title match

Sheamus with a headlock takeover to start things off. Del Rio powers Sheamus off, but gets shoulder blocked twice. Sheamus tries to wring Del Rio's arm, but Alberto fights him off with kicks to the leg. Del Rio stomps Sheamus down. Alberto powers Sheamus into the corner, but walks into a boot to the face. Sheamus goes to the top rope for his shoulder block from the top, but Del Rio moves and Sheamus rolls through, getting to his feet quickly. Rolling fireman's carry slam by Sheamus gets a two count on Del Rio. Sheamus drives his knee into Del Rio’s back, forcing him onto the apron when Del Rio gets a hold of Sheamus's arms and hangs it up on the top rope. Del Rio then works over the arm of Sheamus, softening him up for the Cross Armbreaker. Del Rio tries the Cross Armbreaker, but Sheamus reverses and tries The Brogue Kick, but Del Rio ducks and rolls to the outside to catch his breath as Smackdown takes a break!

(Commercial)

Catapult shoulder block from Sheamus gets a two count when Smackdown returns. He then ties Alberto up in the ropes and clubs him across the chest ten times! Sheamus tries a running clothesline, but Del Rio ducks, sending Sheamus to the floor. Sheamus tries getting back into the ring, but Del Rio sends him back to the floor after a running enziguiri. Del Rio then rolls to the outside and sends Sheamus first into the steel stairs and then rolls him back into the ring.

Back in the ring, Del Rio puts Sheamus in a submission move, putting pressure on his injured shoulder, but Sheamus fights out of it, but Del Rio goes back to the arm to put Sheamus back down. Armbar by Del Rio wears Sheamus down. Del Rio tries the Armbreaker again, but Sheamus catches him with The Irish Curse Backbreaker and both men are out! Sheamus is back to his feet first and he takes Del Rio down with some running Irish Hammers and Sheamus calls for The Brogue Kick.

Ricardo Rodriguez then gets up on the apron to distract Sheamus; Del Rio grabs a chair and runs into a clothesline from Sheamus. Sheamus picks up the chair and the ref turns around, then thinks Sheamus hit him with the chair, so the referee disqualifies Sheamus.

WINNER: Alberto Del Rio by DQ in 12:00.

Post-match: Sheamus Brogue Kicks the referee as Del Rio escapes with Ricardo. Michael Cole comments that the new General Manager will not like that as Smackdown fades out!

Thank you for reading. For more thoughts on wrestling and other topics, please follow me on Twitter @MJCupach. I tweet live during Raw and WWE PPVs!

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