Skip to main content

Smackdown - June 22, 2012


Smackdown
Date: June 22, 2012
Location: 1st Mariner Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We're past No Way Out and we have the same world champion in the form of Sheamus. We're starting the build up to MITB as well so maybe we'll have someone added to the ladder match here. If I understand it right we have eight people in it again, but I'm really not sure if they have enough people to put 16 guys in two ladder matches. Besides that's too many in a single match anyway. Let's get to it.


Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is this heat. It's way too hot to be early summer.

Bryan vs. Kane later tonight plus Sheamus vs. Ziggler in a non-title match.

Here's Teddy to open the show. Ace is officially fired and tonight, Mick Foley is in charge. Here's Big Show instead though for a chat. He doesn't care that Ace is fired because he didn't care about him. Show doesn't care about the fans either and now he can do whatever he wants. He congratulates Cena for the win on Sunday but doesn't care about that anymore. Yep, another main event loss is being written off.

Instead Show is moving on to something, but the fans have to chant for Cena first. Since Show doesn't care about them though, he's moving on to the MITB match. He says there are no five men that can stop them, which is a great sounding thing as it might mean that there are only going to be six people in the match. Once he wins the case and cashes in, he's going to be champion for as long as he wants to be. He's going to win the title for himself instead of the people in the back or the fans, because it's all about him.

Cue serious Brodus who is a little hard to take seriously when he has the girls with him. Brodus charges in and is immediately taken down by knee strikes. Brodus hits the headbutt and Show goes down fast. He pounds on Show in the corner but Otunga comes out and hits the bad knee to put Clay down. Show hits him in the knee a few times as the fans chant that Show can't wrestle. The WMD leaves Brodus laying. Otunga gets in the ring and says someone should call Brodus' mama. He'll do it himself and tell Mama Clay that Brodus can't get up. Otunga does the Carlton Dance and the Thriller Dance. Ok then.

Ryback vs. Frank Venanzia/Jared Walker

Booker says Walker is Brickhouse Brown's cousin. There's a name out of the past. Ryback calls them stupid a lot and powerbombs Walker onto Frank. Double Samoan Drop gets the pin at 1:43.

Foley is in the back with Yoshi Tatsu when Vickie comes up. She's the guest GM of both shows next week. If Foley doesn't behave, she'll make him her assistant. Foley likes the idea and offers Khali as an assistant instead. Khali and Foley dance.

Bryan's memorable Raw moment is Jannetty beating Shawn for the IC Title.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

Non-title of course. Christian hits a shoulder block to take Del Rio down and hooks the sunset flip out of the corner for a fast two. Del Rio responds by kicking him in the head to take over but Christian sends him to the floor. The champ dives onto Del Rio as we take a break. Back with Del Rio holds Christian in an arm lock. During the break Christian's shoulder went into the steps to start the attack.

Elbow drop gets two for Del Rio and he stays on the arm. A kick to the arm gets two. Alberto goes up but Christian gets in a right hand and a top rope rana for two. With Del Rio in the rope Christian hits his uppercut but the top rope cross body misses. The corner enziguri misses and Christian hits the tornado DDT for another two. The Codebreaker to the arm slow Christian down again but he shrugs it off and hits a missile dropkick for two.

The Killswitch is countered into a Stunner on the arm for two. Christian takes him down and loads up the spear but he charges into a kick to the face. Cross armbreaker is countered into a countered Killswitch. They go to the corner but Rodriguez interferes, allowing Del Rio to hit the corner enziguri and the Armbreaker for the tap at 6:14 shown of 9:44.

Rating: B-. So to be clear, Del Rio has now beaten both midcard champions in four days. Shouldn't he still be #1 contender by default, or do they really need to have him crush the champions in order to get there? At least this wasn't a 90 second long match like the one against Santino was. Christian is still solid here and I've been liking his face run a lot.

Cody comes out and beats up Christian post match because this feud isn't done for some unexplained reason. Cody shouts that he is Smackdown and that Christian is stealing his time.

We get a recap from Raw on Monday with Bryan/Kane/Punk/AJ.

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

AJ is guest timekeeper for this for no apparent reason. Bryan fires off kicks to the legs but charges into a slam. Kane pounds away but charges over the top by mistake. That doesn't seem to matter much as he keeps beating on Bryan on the floor, only to get sent into the post. Bryan loads up the knee off the apron but Kane gets back inside instead. Running dropkick in the corner gets two and it's time for the kicks.

Kane comes back with his low dropkick for two and follows Bryan into the corner with a clothesline. Bryan comes back with more kicks but Kane grabs the leg. That gets him nowhere as Bryan sends him into the buckle. He slips coming off the top with the dropkick but a second attempt at it gets two. Kane gets all fired up and pounds away in the corner. Big boot looks to set up the chokeslam but Bryan dropkicks the knee.

A hard kick to the head gets two for Bryan but his Swan Dive is caught in a choke. That gets countered into a failed YES Lock but the chokeslam is countered into a guillotine. Kane powers out of that too but Bryan gets the YES Lock. AJ rings the bell without a tap at 7:25. That gets waved off because Kane didn't tap and the chokeslam gets the real pin at 7:54.

Rating: C+. I was getting into this at the end until we got to the psycho AJ segment of it which was also fine. The near falls at the end were getting good and I was wondering if Kane was going to tap or not, which is a good thing. Another interesting thing here is that Bryan is on the verge of being turned face by crowd reaction alone, which usually results in a monster push. This was a nice surprise.

AJ skips off of course.

Here's Foley for a chat. He's glad Ace got fired so he can come back for one night only in Baltimore. Cue Heath Slater to a big cheer from Cole. Slater complains about what happened on Raw with Lauper and Piper, but Foley says there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Foley makes a match for Slater here tonight though.

Heath Slater vs. Zach Ryder

You know, because the LONG ISLAND GUY couldn't be on Raw in LONG ISLAND right? Ryder takes over quickly but Slater hides in the corner. He comes back with a neckbreaker for two but walks into knees out of the corner. Rough Ryder gets the pin at 1:12.

Foley and Ryder celebrate in the back but run into Sandow. He's disgusted by what he just saw and says that Ryder has brought the WWE Universe down to new levels of stupidity. I guess Sandow has his first feud.

Usos vs. Prime Time Players

Darren and Jey start things off with the Uso taking over. They head to the corner and the brothers double team Darren. Titus avoids a double superkick and it's off to Jimmy. Darren drives him into the corner and it's off to Titus for some power. We hit the chinlock which Jimmy escapes pretty quickly. Hot tag brings in Jey but he and Darren go to the floor quickly. Jimmy goes up for the Superfly Splash but Titus pulls him down and hits the Clash of the Titus for the pin at 3:24.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but the Prime Time Players getting another win is a good thing for them. With the tag champions being gone for awhile now until Truth's foot heals, Young and O'Neal need to be built up as much as they possibly can. The match was nothing of note but it did its job pretty well.

Post break Epico and Primo jump the Players in the back.

Here's Santino for Sign of the Night. Most of these signs suck. Some chick has an I Love Santino sign and he invites her into the ring. She's dressed like Santino and their Cobras kiss. Then she kisses him and Santino faints.

Jerry Lawler likes Vince in the hospital. This is the third time I've seen this in a week.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Non-title here. Ziggler gets behind Sheamus to start but Sheamus easily powers out of it. Sheamus takes him down to the mat with a headlock followed by a shoulder for two. Ziggler gets a boot to Sheamus' face and sends him to the floor. Dolph is hitting and running here which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is diving at a power guy, resulting in him getting caught in a fallaway slam into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with the guys in the ring and Ziggler putting on a chinlock. They go to the floor and Sheamus sends Dolph into the steps but he stops to yell at Vickie. Dolph comes back with a sweet Fameasser off the steps to take over. Neckbreaker gets two as does an elbow drop. A quick sleeper is countered but Dolph dropkicks him down for two. Another neckbreaker gets two so let's hit the chinlock again.

Sheamus breaks out of that one just as easily as he has all of the other ones. He starts running over Ziggler and loads up White Noise but Ziggler escapes into a rollup for two. Dolph comes back with a jumping DDT for two and Sheamus goes to the apron. He goes up top and knocks Ziggler out of the air when Dolph tries to run the ropes. The top rope shoulder gets two and there are the ten forearms in the ropes. Irish Curse is broken up but Ziggler charges into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 10:00 shown of 13:30.

Rating: B-. I liked this one more than the PPV match. Ziggler used a lot of sleepers and chinlocks, but there's something about him where you think that he could pull off an upset here. He can hit that Fameasser from anywhere and it would do him a lot of good to make that his primary finisher. This worked well though and for a TV main event, this was fine.

Overall Rating: C+. What an improvement over last week. This show felt like it was actually decent even though nothing really happened. The main event was good and we got another good match in Bryan vs. Kane. Above all else though, nothing was really bad and we got some good matches too. That makes this about ten times better than last week's show which is the best thing that could happen for Smackdown this week.

Results
Ryback b. Frank Venanzia/Jared Walker – Double Samoan Drop
Alberto Del Rio b. Christian – Cross Armbreaker
Kane b. Daniel Bryan – Chokeslam
Zach Ryder b. Heath Slater – Rough Ryder
Prime Time Players b. Usos – Clash of the Titus to Jey Uso
Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick

Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Comments

  1. Only one match that lasted a minute this week?  Keep it up please.

    It's also a good sign that midcard feuds are developing and not just over titles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thread Jacking:

    NYT NEWS ALERT: Sandusky Is Found Guilty on 45 of 48 Counts in Child Sexual Abuse Case

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't care what anyone says, as an unabashed Hogan mark I am TOTALLY getting No Holes Barred, (and watching it piss drunk to enhance the experience)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well...now the sisters are going to dish out some vigilante justice, (or for those that watched OZ, the brotherhood if you will)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Has anyone thought about how stupid having two MitB matches is going to be? Onces going to be for the "Raw" WWE title and one is going to be for the "Smackdown" World title but everyone goes back and forth between the brand anyway. Never before have the belts been so clearly defined as #1 and #2, so why am I going to compete in a dangerous match for what is so clearly a midcard title (the world belt). And also, what roster is anyone on anyway? Ziggler is a raw guy challenging for the world belt, same thing the month before, Jericho was a raw guy competing for the World belt. And Bryan is a Smackdown guy and he's been competing for the WWE belt for months.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well both ladder matches were awesome **** bouts last year so I have no problem with it although I will never be a fan of the two World titles.

    In reality the WHC is more like the 80's intercontinental title in that the fans care about it but its clearly #2. As if curtain jerking the past 2 Manias didn't make that point clear.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I figured they would go back to six man MitB matches due to the current roster depth.  Dammit I hope Barrett will be able to come back by the PPV.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another thread jacking--if ever a case called for The Law Offices Of David Otunga, Esq...I present to you The Case Of Chyna's Kidnapped Dog: http://allwrestling.com/news/43592/chyna-goes-twitter-rant-over/

    ReplyDelete
  9. I believe No Holes Barred is the name of that enthralling Swiss Cheese documentary.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I thought it was the name of Chyna's next movie.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wish the Money in the Bank match was the main event of the PPV and it gave a shot for the WWE title at Summerslam. The briefcase gimmick cheapens championship wins, because everyone wins their first title as a fluke.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh god, please, no, not that...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tommy, you're right about Bryan, his reactions are huge at the moment. However, I hope he stays heel as he's been phenomenal in the role, and if nothing else it means he would control the matches which - I think we can all agree - is better for all concerned.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have decided that I think Ziggler needs to turn face. The guy is so naturally talented that I think the awesome stuff he does in the ring is making it hard for people to hate him. He can still be cocky, and he'd basically just be in the Shawn Michaels mode: pretty boy who bumps and sells for everyone. I think he could get really over in that role. Of course, so as not to crowd the main event face scene, someone would have to turn heel. I vote Orton, but even Sheamus wouldn't be bad.

    ReplyDelete
  15. it gets more people on the card ane the matches are good so im cool with it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i wish they would give them more mic time though. it just makes me sick that someone like road dogg never shut up and once the bell rang the matches were the shits while bryan doesnt talk as much and his matches are good to great.

    imagine how much over he would be if he got road doggs mic time.

    ReplyDelete
  17. so instead of zigs jobbing to the kick as a heel he would jobbin to the kick as a face...

    move along nothing to see here.

    a face turn is too soon imo.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Road Dogg relied on catchphrases to get over.  Besides Bryan constantly screams his gimmick before, during, AND after matches.

    ReplyDelete
  19.  Yeah totally. It's the cash in at anytime thing that annoys me.

    ReplyDelete
  20. i agree with that part.

    ReplyDelete
  21.  He debuted as Ziggler in what, 08 or 09? 3 or 4 years is too soon for a character change?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment