5 YRS AGO – KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT (11/30/12): The show that Keller said Ziggler showed he was ready to be main event player, Cena says Ziggler has teenage girl’s body, Sandow tutors a fan

By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

Dolph Ziggler (Art credit Grant Gould © PWTorch)

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
NOVEMBER 30, 2012
BOSSIER CITY, LA.
AIRED ON SYFY

-They opened with a narrated video package focused on The Shield attacking Ryback and where C.M. Punk fits into all of that, plus hype that Big Show and John Cena are both present and a main event of Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler.

-Josh Mathews welcomed everyone to Friday Night Smackdown as the camera panned the crowd. Then came Cena’s ring entrance. He said to the camera as he stood on the stage, “I know it’s Friday; we’ll get to the bottom of this.” They went briefly to ringside with Mathews and JBL as Cena absorbed cheers from the crowd. A clip aired of A.J. running out to stop Ziggler from taking a turnbuckle pad off. Mathews asked, “Is it because A.J. just can’t stand Ziggler or because she has a relationship with John Cena?”

Back to Cena in the ring, he said something seems mysterious since he’s on Smackdown. He said, “Not a regular so much here on Friday Night Smackdown.”


(WK Reax: Interesting phrasing. No acknowledgment that there are actual specific rosters for each brand. He just words it to indicate he just happens to not be on Smackdowns usually.)

He said he was there because of the main event – Ziggler vs. Sheamus. He said he’s primarily interested in Ziggler because he has taken an interest in him, pointing fingers and making accusations. He said tonight he points his finger directly back at Ziggler. He said Ziggler’s greatest accomplishment is being World Hvt. Champion for two minutes.

(Quotebook – John Cena: “Dolph Ziggler, whose biggest fear is that he’s a grown man stuck in a teenage girl’s body – is losing the Money in the Bank briefcase.”)

(WK Reax: Cena must have missed anatomy class in school when they explained what a teenage girl looks like compared to a muscular man. It shows how out of whack his perspective on body types is if he thinks Ziggler is going to be seen by anyone but the most muscle-infatuated bodybuilding types as anything but a jacked up muscular adult male.)

Cena said Ziggler time and time again hides behind the power of Vickie Guerrero. He said on Monday he was put in a match with Ziggler. “Five day spoiler alert – he lost!” he said. He said he was there not because Ziggler has a match, but because he’s got a fight against Sheamus. Alberto Del Rio’s music played and he walked onto the stage with Ricardo Rodriguez.

They walked to the ring. Del Rio said Cena should be worried about him, not Ziggler. Del Rio said this is his show. Cena said he’s wrong, it’s a WWE show which means it belongs to the WWE Universe. Del Rio said the last time they were there in the ring, he destroyed him and beat him. He told him to leave his show and leave his ring right now. Cena said he can’t leave because he is interested in tonight’s main event, plus since he was going to be there, he made sure he had a match, which is “against you right now!” He punched Del Rio. Del Rio rolled to ringside. They cut to a break. [c]

(1) John Cena pinned Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo) in 16:00. They joined the match in progress after the break. Cena leapfrogged Del Rio and then armdragged him. Del Rio bailed out to ringside. Mathews talked about Cena-Del Rio being an intense rivalry in mid-2011 over the WWE Championship.

[Q2]

They cut to a break at 5:00 with Del Rio working over Cena’s arm. [c]

Cena avoided a Del Rio senton right after the break. Cena rallied and went into his You Can’t See Me routine. Del Rio attempted to make a comeback, but Cena dropped him with a neck breaker. Cena struggled to rise, but climbed slowly to the top rope. Del Rio gave him the running round kick to the head for a near fall. JBL said, “Cena may be sorry he came to Friday Night!” Del Rio climbed to the top rope, but Cena countered with a dropkick while Del Rio was in mid-air.

Ricardo paced nervously at ringside as both men were slow to get up. Cena applied the STF. Del Rio tried to pry Cena’s fingers away, but then reached the bottom rope. Del Rio then surprised Cena with an armbar while tied up in the ropes. The ref made him break before five, and Cena yelled out in pain. Del Rio went for a sunset flip, but Cena caught him in an STF attempt. Del Rio countered with a German suplex for a near fall at 14:00. JBL said this match is a battle of pride between two alpha-males. A minute later Cena flew off the top rope and hit Del Rio with a legdrop to the back of the neck and got the pin.

(WK Reax: Really good match. These two clearly had experience working with one another and hit some nice sequences smoothly and told a nice story start to finish. JBL’s commentary definitely added to it, too.)

-As Cena celebrated on the stage, Ziggler charged at him and hit him from behind with his Money in the Bank briefcase.

-They went to JBL and Mathews at ringside. Mathews said that wasn’t right what Ziggler did. JBL asked why not and said Ziggler is trying to take out a top guy. “Call a wambulence! We’re real men here!” JBL added. Mathews narrated clips of The Shield on Raw on Monday.

[Q3]

-Backstage Kane and Daniel Bryan stared at each other. Kofi Kingston walked up to them and said they all have a big tag match later and he needs them to get on the same page. Bryan said he can’t see why not. He said his partner will eviscerate anyone who stands in his way. Kane said his partner is one of the most dangerous submission specialists in WWE history who can and will make men twice his size squeal in pain and tap out. He said the world hasn’t even begun to see how dangerous and lethal they can be, but they’re about to starting tonight. Kane turned to Kingston and said the answer to whether they can get along is yes. Kane and Bryan then yelled “Yes!” together over and over. [c]

-Cena was hot backstage and promised to attack Ziggler as soon as he sees him later, but Booker told him to calm down. Cena said he just got jacked. Booker asked Cena to do him a favor and let that match take place. “I’m talking about ratings,” Booker said. Cena said he’s lucky they go back a long way.

(WK Reax: First of all, ratings should not be the reason Booker doesn’t want Cena interfering. There should be something on the line in the match that matters which Cena’s interference would interfere with. Second, Booker isn’t “lucky” Cena goes way back with him. On the contrary, Cena is lucky Booker doesn’t suspend him because, in the WWE Universe, Cena works for G.M. Booker T and has the power to back his orders with fines and suspensions. The whole message there by both men was a mess.)

(2) The Great Khali (w/Hornswoggle) pinned David Otunga.

(Quotebook – Josh Mathews: “It’s a little odd that The Great Khali is over seven feet tall and he’s befriending Hornswoggle.”)

(Quotebook – JBL: “I saw Hornswoggle backstage and he said he wasn’t happy. I said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, little fellow, which one are you?'”)

Hornswoggle sit-splashed Otunga at ringside. Then he crawled under his legs when he went after him. Khali then hit Otunga and threw him back into the ring. JBL said Otunga is on the same career path as the 44th President. Khali finished Otunga with a chop to the head. Hornswoggle celebrated with Khali afterward. Hornswoggle and Khali then danced.

-Mathews commented on Vince McMahon and some WWE Superstars and Divas visiting troops overseas. [c]

[Q4]

(3) Daniel Bryan & Kane & Kofi Kingston beat The Prime Time Players & Wade Barrett in 14:00 when Bryan tapped out Young. Coming out of the break, the Players were doing their intentionally obnoxious over-the-top dance and Barrett just gave them a look of disgust that said “These are not my type of people.”

JBL took offense at Mathews suggesting Punk might be aligned with The Shield. JBL also gave Mathews a hard time for saying “complimentative.” JBL asked if that was even a word. At 3:00 Titus tagged in and took a boot to the face from Kane. Bryan then knocked Titus down with a running knee off the ring apron at ringside. They cut to a break. [c]

JBL called Bryan “the world’s toughest vegan.” Adrian Foster recently ate chicken again, so he’s out of contention for that title. There are still some UFC fighters, though. At 10:00 Young illegally leg dropped Bryan over the edge of the ring apron as Titus distracted the ref. Titus tagged Young in officially and Titus suplex splashed Young onto Bryan for a two count.

[Q5]

Kane hot-tagged in at 13:00 against Young.

(Quotebook – JBL: “Mr. No Days Off may need a day off tomorrow after this.”)

Kane hit a second rope clothesline. Titus broke up the pin. Kofi leaped at Titus and knocked him down, then took Barrett off the ring apron with a spin kick. Young clotheslined Kofi over the top rope, then dropped Kane throat-first over the top rope. Young dove off the top rope at Kane, but Kane caught him by the throat and chokeslammed him. Kane then tagged Bryan who hit a flying headbutt. He followed immediately with a No Lock for the win. JBL said when Bryan and Kane are on the same page, they’re scary.

-Matt Striker interviewed Sheamus backstage about facing Ziggler in the main event. Sheamus said the good for Ziggler is Cena won’t get involved, but the bad news for Ziggler is that he still has to face him.

(Quotebook – Sheamus: “You and me know, Ziggler considers himself a bit of a showoff. Well, tonight, after our match, he can walk away and show off his head because I’m going to kick it clean off his shoulders.”) [c]

-The Raw Rebound aired with clips of The Shield.

-Damien Sandow strolled to the ring and said his attempts to enlighten the masses has failed, so now he is going to tutor one person at a time. He walked around ringside rejecting various volunteers including telling one he can’t believe they even let him in the building. He finally picked a twenty something male fan in a yellow “GTS” shirt. He kept saying “woo! woo!” Sandow, hilariously, told him curtly, “Stop that.” Sandow then said he had three questions for him. He asked him how many wheels on a tricycle. The fan said three, then celebrated. Sandow said, “Sir, bad form.” The crowd laughed.

[Q6]

Sandow asked how often the U.S. holds presidential elections. The fan said every four years. He then asked about the orbital velocity of a moon of Jupitor. The fan didn’t know. Sandow called him an ignoramus. He said he embarrassed himself, his family, and the entire state of Louisianna. JBL said that’s tough to do. He insulted the fan’s “ridiculous haircut” and told him to leave the arena, the state, and the country. Sandow closed with, “You’re welcome.”

(WK Reax: That could have been a disaster or just blah, but Sandow’s reactions to the “fan” acting up was spot on and really funny, yet in the end he came across as a conceited heel rather than a comedian trying to entertain. So, in other words, he struck the right chord. The fan was obnoxious, but played his role pretty well without overdoing it on hamming it up.) [c]

-More photos were shown of Vince McMahon, Miz, Layla, Eve, and R-Truth visiting soldiers last weekend in the Persian Gulf.

(4) Damien Sandow pinned Tyson Kidd in 2:00. When Mathews said the cliche “Tyson Kidd doesn’t take opportunities lightly,” JBL challenged him in response by asking, “Who does? Who takes opportunities lightly on Smackdown?” Good for him. Mathews said he just meant Kidd doesn’t get a lot of opportunities on Smackdown. Sandow finished Kidd off with the Terminoose. JBL called Tyson Kidd “up-and-coming” which is a definite level higher than referring to someone as “very capable.”

-The video package on Cena’s 500th Make-a-Wish visit aired. They showed fans applauding afterward.

-Striker interviewed Ziggler backstage about facing Sheamus later. He said Cena didn’t seem to mind taking full advantage of the situation on Monday, yet somehow he’s the bad guy in all of this. He said Cena lied about his affair with A.J. and liars get what’s coming to them. He then channeled Ric Flair and said, “I’m the Showoff. I’m the show-stealer. I’m the sole-survivor. I am so damn sick of being so damn sick and I am the best thing going in sports entertainment today.” He said when Sheamus looks his way, Sheamus is looking at the next World Heavyweight Champion. He closed with “Show… Off.”

(WK Reax: That was an old school promo in the sense that it was Ziggler backstage with an interviewer holding a mic in front of a backdrop, and it may have been the best promo Ziggler has ever given. That is the type of promo that drew me to pro wrestling in the first place. He channeled Ric Flair and even Jesse Ventura circa 1980 with that one with the cadence, catch-phrases, body language, and facial expressions all spot on and top shelf. The concusses was that the area where he had to catch up to his work rate was his promos. This interview showed he has closed that gap considerably and is in the top tier of promos today. That was the final piece for him to be a true main event draw, and this show more than any other may have been where he removed all doubt.)

[Q7] [c]

(5) 3MB (Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal w/Drew McIntyre) beat The Usos. Jey hot-tagged in at 3:00 and went to work on Jinder. A minute later after Slater kicked Jey from the ring apron, Mahal finished him with a urinage for the three count. JBL and Mathews wondered when 3MB would finally premiere their mystery single and how they’d be received at TLC in Brooklyn.

(Quotebook – JBL to Josh Mathews: “How do you think you’re going to be received [in Brooklyn, N.Y. at TLC] with that little spiky hair you wear and your thumb ring. Good grief, grow up and be a man.”)

-Mathews and JBL hyped the announced matches for TLC so far.

-Ziggler made his ring entrance. [c]

[Q8]

-A clip aired of Ziggler hitting Cena earlier in the show.

(6) Sheamus beat Dolph Ziggler via DQ in 13:00. At 2:00 Ziggler did a running dive at Sheamus off the ring apron to the floor, but Sheamus caught him and then overhead slammed him into the ringside barrier. Mathews said he’s never seen anyone do that move with such power and forced. JBL, who did that move a lot, said, “I’ll ignore that.” Sheamus threw Ziggler back into the ring. Ziggler dropped Sheamus neck-first over the top rope and then dropkicked him to the floor. They cut to a break. [c]

At 10:00 Ziggler head-butted Sheamus a couple times, showing an edginess to his offense in contrast to the usual athletic grace. Sheamus fired back by pounding his chest with a barrage of forearms. Sheamus suplexed Ziggler into the ring, then climbed to the top rope. Ziggler met him there and ducked him when he dove at him. Sheamus then went for the Brogue Kick, but Ziggler ducked and landed a DDT for a near fall. Ziggler then went for the Zig Zag, but Sheamus avoided it and landed a neck breaker for a near fall. Sheamus applied the Texas Cloverleaf, but then Big Show made his way to the ring. Sheamus released the hold and met Show on the ring apron. The ref called for the bell.

-Show and Ziggler then beat up Sheamus in the corner of the ring. Cena charged out for the save. He went after Show first, then gave Ziggler the Attitude Adjustment. Show grabbed Cena and Sheamus by the throat, but they broke his grip and suplexed him. Then they tackled him with flying shoulders, knocking Show through the ropes to the floor. Show threw a fit at ringside as JBL said, “What a night here on Smackdown! We fight on Friday night, Josh. It’s what we do.” Cena and Sheamus celebrated as the show ended.

(WK Reax: Good match to conclude the show. The finish was fine in that it promoted two top matches at TLC and played out in a sensible fashion.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: Good episode of Smackdown. Not particularly newsworthy or storyline-forwarding, but some good polished performers put on some good matches and promos. No Randy Orton. Curious.


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