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Smackdown - October 19, 2012

Smackdown
Date: October 19, 2012
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Back to the blue show after things have taken a fresh turn on Raw. We're closing in on the Cell where apparently Show vs. Sheamus isn't in the Cell, likely leaving them open for a rematch next month. I'm enjoying this story way better than I likely should but having a clash of two titans like this is always fun. Hopefully things pick up a bit on here. Let's get to it.


Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is a barn that my uncle fell off yesterday.

Here's the now non-Intercontinental Champion Miz for MizTV. He has a NASTY looking gash above his eye from where Kofi kicked him on Monday. He's cashing in his rematch clause and he'll prove why he's must see. No date is given but presumably it's at the PPV. His guests tonight are HELL NO. Yeah the match is officially at the PPV. Miz says if they were a real tag team, they would come out together. Bryan offers to separate Miz's teeth from his mouth. Miz makes fun of the Goat Face and says the lack of continuity is going to cost them the championships.

Kane says that he's won tag titles with giants, psychopaths with multiple personalities and a dead man so Bryan is no problem. Bryan says that he's the reason they'll keep the titles because he's the world's toughest vegan. Kane says that's like being the world's tallest dwarf, but Bryan has that covered too. Miz: “Can I say something here?” Kane and Bryan: “NO!”

The champions argue again with Bryan mentioning the MITB cash in over Big Show, drawing out the big man for a rebuttal. Show says he has no issue with Kane (even though they're fighting on Monday) but he has one with Bryan. He doesn't want to hear about Bryan beating him in 45 seconds again or he's going to knock Bryan out. He says he'll knock Bryan out now but Kane gets in Show's way, saying they don't have to wait for Monday. This brings out....Dolph Ziggler?

Ziggler talks about how talking about Bryan and MITB is so last year and he should be the focus because he's cashing in on either Sheamus or Big Show. Ziggler says if Bryan can do it to Big Show, how hard can it be? An argument breaks out and Booker comes out but Miz says that Booker can save his time because he knows what's coming. Instead Booker makes HELL NO vs. Show/Ziggler and Miz vs. a surprise. When they have this huge tag division all of a sudden, do we need to have these one night only tag teams to fight them? Here's Miz's surprise.

The Miz vs. Randy Orton

Orton is looking a bit more like he did in 2004. I think it's the not being orange and having a bit more hair. This is joined in progress after a break with Randy clotheslining Miz down and stomping away. Del Rio and Ricardo are watching from a sky box. Miz pounds away in the corner but Orton comes right back and pounds away as well. A belly to back suplex gets two for Orton but Miz comes back and knocks Randy off the apron and into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Orton in a chinlock which Miz follows up with a Reality Check for two. Striker is in the sky box to talk to Ricardo and Alberto. For all we know, right now Miz and Orton are doing the Charleston. Del Rio says he's the new Apex Predator in the WWE and that's about it. Back in the ring Miz hits the corner clothesline but Orton crotches him on the top. Orton superplexes Miz down for two and a clothesline puts Miz on the floor.

Back in and Orton glares at Del Rio before dropkicking Miz down for two. Miz comes back with the short DDT for two of his own. Orton comes back with a quick elevated DDT before going insane and loading up the RKO. Miz avoids it and tries the Finale but Orton rolls away and hits the RKO for the pin at 7:30 shown of 11:00.

Rating: C. Well at least Miz isn't a champion anymore. The match wasn't anything great but these two have never had the best chemistry. Miz seems to be the latest victim of of writers being bored syndrome as he came back, got a quick push, and then the push just stopped for the sake of someone else getting a push. It's stuff like that which causes no one to be over or credible anymore.

Del Rio says they're going to do this on his terms at HIAC.

Sheamus runs into Teddy in the back and the champ wants Barrett tonight. Teddy says he'll talk to Booker about it and he'll try to make it a lumberjack match. Sheamus: “I feel you playa.” Eve is lurking in the background.

Rhodes Scholars vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Gabriel and Cody start but it's off to Tyson very fast with a kick to the back for two. Cody and Sandow head to the floor with Gabriel taking Damien out with a dive. Cody gets in a cheap shot and we head back into the ring for some heel beating. Sandow takes him down and drops the windup elbow for two. Gabriel gets in a kick to the face to take Rhodes down and it's off to Kidd. He cleans a few rooms of the house with a dropkick to the side of Sandow's head but as he puts Damien in the Sharpshooter, Cody gets a blind tag and hits the Disaster Kick for the pin at 3:20.

Rating: C-. Nothing much to see here as it's just another Rhodes Scholars squash to set up the tournament final on Raw. This was a squash but it was nothing interesting. Also, we have another case of the back and forth booking as Kidd and Gabriel had good competitive matches with Cesaro but here's they're jobbers for a tag team. Either push the guys as good, tough opponents or make them full on jobbers.

Eve is sucking up to Booker in the back when Teddy comes in to pitch the lumberjack match idea to Booker. Eve says she's been talking about that for weeks and Teddy stole his idea. Since apparently Booker doesn't watch the show and no one with a brain in wrestling ever WATCHES THE TAPE FROM EARLIER WHICH THEY KNOW EXISTS BECAUSE THERE WAS A CAMERA RIGHT THERE, Teddy has no defense. Instead he looks at an iPad after the other two leave.

HELL NO vs. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show

No entrances for either team. Bryan and Ziggler start things off with Bryan being taken to the mat in a bit of a surprise. A dropkick puts Daniel down and it's off to Big Show. The other monster gets the tag and they slug it out with Show spearing Kane down. Show pounds away in the corner but misses a charge, allowing Kane to bring in Bryan for the NO kicks. The big kick to the head is blocked though and Show gorilla presses Bryan to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Ziggler ramming Bryan's face into Show's boot for one. Off to Show but Bryan avoids the chop in the corner. He tries to dive for Kane but Show easily throws him down. The chokeslam is countered into the DDT but Ziggler breaks up another tag with a neckbreaker on Bryan. Ziggler drops a bunch of elbows including a jumping version which gets two. Back to Show who punches Bryan in the ribs and puts on a stomach claw.

Off to Ziggler but he misses a Stinger Splash in the corner and there's the hot tag to Kane. The Fameasser misses Kane but a big boot gets two on Ziggler. Bryan tags himself in of course, and hits a running clothesline on Dolph, followed by a running dropkick in the corner. Bryan dives at Big Show and gets shoved down as everything breaks down. Kane takes Show down and the NO Lock submits Ziggler at 10:02 shown of 13:32.

Rating: C. Dolph tapping out was the only way they could go here. I mean, he didn't get beaten on Monday and by law he absolutely must job once a week so that his cash in will be as shocking as possible, and by shocking I mean really freaking obvious. Also I could go without having these random teams facing HELL NO every week.

The champs argue on the stage when Rhodes Scholars jump them. They're not even pretending that the tournament is up for grabs anymore.

We recap the end of Barrett vs. Sheamus from Raw.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Ted DiBiase

Before the match we get a vignette of Cesaro at Sun Studio (where Elvis recorded a lot of his stuff) and criticizing country music. These kind of things are way better than seeing the people in the back all the time. Ted starts with a dropkick but gets sent to the floor almost immediately. Antonio drops Ted face first on the apron and we're entering squash mode. Cesaro hits the gutwrench suplex and puts on a cravate. DiBiase makes a quick comeback with a clothesline and sitout spinebuster, but he jumps into the uppercut to stop him cold. There's the Neutralizer for the pin at 2:39.

Raw ReBound is about the end of the show with the contract signing and Ryback killing Punk.

Heath Slater vs. Brodus Clay

The Band continues to look hilariously stupid. Slater jumps Brodus in the corner to start but the big man will have none of that. A suplex puts Slater down but Brodus charges into a boot in the corner. A middle rope missile dropkick staggers Clay but Slater gets killed by the overhead suplex. Clay has to chase off the Band and Slater hits that falling cutter of his for the pin at 1:55. It was nice looking at your girls Brodus. Sorry you had to die this badly.

Barrett isn't sure Sheamus is a tough guy but he's certainly stupid. Why fight Barrett tonight when you have to defend against Big Show? Wade hopes that Show remembers the beatdown tonight and wants the favor repaid once Show wins the title.

Layla vs. Natalya

They head to the mat and then the floor almost immediately with Nattie taking over. Eve continues to talk about the attack on Kaitlyn because that's still a thing for some reason. Natalya hooks a modified abdominal stretch which is quickly escapes and a kick to the face gets Layla the pin at 1:55. It's really hard to take Layla seriously when her song is about not being able to get enough sex and her video is of her dancing.

Teddy is with Kaitlyn and the iPad apparently belongs to Eve. Apparently there's information on there that proves Eve is evil and needs to be stopped. Gee, who would have seen that coming? Kaitlyn takes a picture of the iPad screen. She says keep this quiet for now. You know, BECAUSE DOING THIS IN FRONT OF A CAMERA ON NATIONAL TELEVISION IS GOING TO KEEP THIS A SECRET!

Here are the lumberjacks for the main event.

Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus

Non-title of course and Show is a lumberjack. Barrett pounds away in the corner but the champion slugs right back. Barrett comes back with a kick to the ribs and a pumphandle slam for two. Sheamus gets sat on the ropes for the big boot, knocking the champion to the outside. Back in that gets two as Big Show is just standing there watching. Sheamus is sent chest first into the buckle as the dominance continues. Matthews says it's a stalemate. I'd hate to see a beating then.

We take a break and come back with Sheamus making a comeback and hitting a Regal Roll for no cover. There are the ten forearms in the ropes followed by White Noise. Sheamus loads up the Brogue Kick but the 3MB pulls Barret to the floor. The champ dives on all of them to take them out but Barrett hits a running back elbow and a big boot for two back inside.

Wasteland is escaped and the Brogue Kick misses too. Barrett clotheslines Sheamus to the floor and it's time for the big lumberjack brawl. Back in and Wade charges into the Irish Curse....and here's HELL NO to get the Rhodes Scholars. Brogue Kick ends Barrett at 7:24 shown of 10:54.

Rating: C+. I usually love the brawls these two have but this was the short and not that great version. The focus was on the lumberjacks and while Sheamus got beaten up, it never felt like he was in any real danger. That made the main event more about waiting for the ending rather than being an interesting match. That's not good but the match still wasn't bad.

Post match Ziggler knocks Sheamus down and tries to cash in but Big Show knocks Ziggler out cold with the punch. Show says he's taking the title at the PPV.

Overall Rating: D+. This show didn't do anything for me. Aside from how uninteresting the Eve stuff is, now it's just getting stupid as they have the evidence they need to prove she's lying on tape and they won't use it, and then they do something in front of a camera and say keep this secret. On top of that, the tournament final on Monday looks like a waste of time given what we saw here. Smackdown is just worthless at this point and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Results
Randy Orton b. The Miz – RKO
Rhodes Scholars b. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel – Disaster Kick to Kidd
HELL NO b. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show – NO Lock to Ziggler
Antonio Cesaro b. Ted DiBiase – Neutralizer
Heath Slater b. Brodus Clay – Falling Cutter
Layla b. Natalya – Kick to the head
Sheamus b. Wade Barrett – Brogue Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com

Comments

  1. All of your match reviews were C's but you gave the show a D. You must have really hated the non-wrestling.

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  2. It's weird but watching a two-hour Smackdown tonight felt like more of a chore than the 3 hours of RAW and it isn't like RAW was any good. Cesaro is quickly becoming the only reason I watch at all, and I just don't care about anyone else on here, except possibly Rhodes Scholars, but I'm so used to WWE's put a team together one month, next month tag titles victory, third month title loss, fourth month breakup formula I just can't buy them as a great reason to watch.

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  3. It's not just that. There's nothing I would call really good on this show, which doesn't make for a good episode overall.

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  4. Wow, I usually really like Smackdown but this was a let down. How big of a letdown you ask? Let me tell you:

    I flew to the east coast for sisters wedding this weekend, and I'm staying at my parents house which is close to the wedding. (Yes I am currently watching wrestling/talking about it on the internet from my mom's basement) So I get in last night and start watching some tv and decide, "Hey I should record smackdown, love that show and I will need something to do friday night!" So I record it.

    Then today I'm hanging out there early this afternoon, and my sister, her fiancee, and the accompanying groomsmen/bridesmaids come over. Eventually they go to the living room to see a DVD of some activity they did. I don't know how it happened it but whoever was trying to switch the tv input brought up the future dvr schedule. Bam, there was smackdown! So I cringed and hoped no one saw it, but within seconds my dad groaned, "Oh my god tell me you don't still watch that shit." After that it was a shit storm of wrestling insults for at least 90 seconds from the whole crew, it was intense. I got the standard gay jokes, the it's so fake speech, my sister asked "Do the people you work with know you actually watch this?", and the old fashioned "I only like real sports" jest. Just a bunch of (basically playful but still embarrassing) trash talk from friends, family, and complete strangers. Wouldn't even be that big of a deal except I was/kinda still am high of my ass from eating a bunch of edibles I brought on the plane with me. Normally I could have at least been quick enough to lie and say I didn't even know I recorded it, must have been an accident. Or even give shit back/defend the show. Instead I just gave the worst "Ha" ever, and then said "Whatever" with really bad cotton mouth. Not my finest moment, but I was extra high.

    Then I get back here tonight. Sit down, and think "Hey, that shit was super lame earlier but now I can watch smackdown." And this is the mediocre fucking episode I get. Bullshit!

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  5. How many weeks in a row will Sheamus fight Barrett?

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  6. I also am starting to enjoy Cesaro as a character. The thing I kind of hate about Rhodes Scholars is that both of those guys are awesome singles wrestler heels who should be getting a push. I think I am the only guy who posts here that likes Del Rio but I really think they should put Sandow or Rhodes in that spot right now. Wouldn't the show be much better with one of those guys or both as main eventish heels (even if means they job all the time)?

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  7. One positive. It was cool miz got the opening segment instead of having db and kane do their own thing.

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  8. "BECAUSE DOING THIS IN FRONT OF A CAMERA ON NATIONAL TELEVISION
    IS GOING TO KEEP THIS A SECRET!"

    See, the inside joke with that is that if you look at the ratings, no one's watching anyway. :P (Okay, not technically, but ratings suck so yeah)

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  9. I can't believe you watch wrestling from your mom's basement. Ha.


    Okay, that's not the only thing I got from that story. Seriously, I can't believe some adults still act like that. The majority of the people I know either have watched wrestling at some point in their lives or do realize it could be classified as a male or athletic soap opera. And while they'll give an eye-roll of sorts (like some do for daytime soaps), they don't get into how fake it is or any faux macho "I only like the real stuff."


    I know with my brothers and neighborhood friends, we knew about how "fake" it was by the time we were, like, 8 or younger. We'd practice pulling punches and stomping the ground when we punched big rubber cones (like ones you'd see on the highway). I'd force a friend to be The Anvil so that I could be the Hitman, or force him to be Shawn Michaels so that I could be Jannetty (how wrong was I about that one?). The bottom line was that--just like today--we didn't give a crap that it was fake. It was fun.


    What wasn't fun was Smackdown (I did miss what looked like an entertaining Miz tv segment, though). And I concur with the rest of the group on Cesaro, and the announcers even made an excuse for Dibiase, which is something they should do more often for guys that lose. If Cesaro continues with this "this no longer a part of my America" and "America needs me" shtick, then this could get pretty fun. Knocking landmarks, cities, and entire states off the map in his quest to mold America in his image could eventually get some 97 Bret Hart heat if they play it right.

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  10. Wow I so want that wwe rumblers blaster breakdown set! How did they not have this when I was a kid.

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  11. I still like Del Rio, mainly because his smarmy act is one of the few clear-cut heel acts in the E....but I'm beginning to think he's mostly all style. His squashes are great, and remind me of the old squashes I would watch on Superstars on Saturday mornings, so formulaic you could set your watch to them, but still enjoyable. But his long matches are somewhat tedious, as his style just doesn't seem to mesh with almost anyone else. I grew to love Rhodes during the paper bag era and he should long have been tested in the main event. Sandow still hasn't made me a believer in his singles ability in the E, but as a tag team guy, I'd be happy for more him.

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  12. The issue with Del Rio is that few babyface are willing or capable from working on their back most of the match. Notice that his best matches have been with guys that are willing to let him dominate. Just look at his matches with Mysterio and Punk.


    ADR is a great worker, but he relies on psychology and a good babyface comeback. Making his matches with Sheamus and Cena fall flat (not necessarily bad, just not up to what ADR is capable of). Watching ADR run like a scalded dog isn't particularly interesting.


    Honestly, I'd like to see what ADR can do as a face, he's got strong offense and did wrestle most of his career as one. Instead of being the Mexican JBL, they should turn him into the Mexican Kurt Angle. I think the crowd could go for an arm-breaking suplex machine.

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  13. It was a pretty inoffensive Smackdown but I actually really enjoyed the opening segment... also liked Team HellNo vs Ziggler/Show. Whilst it was hardly a classic Smackdown it was hardly awful either.

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  14. It is kind of embarrassing to be a wrestling fan, though not for the reasons they were mocking you. All you had to do is ask if any of them watch the innumerable piece of shit "reality" shows on TV. Guaranteed they do, which are all just as bad as wrestling.

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  15. And then they're going to wonder why people think the WHC is worthless after Ziggler wins it.

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  16. No question his ring work is suited to a face and honestly they need more good baby faces. There's like 8 entertaining upper card heels. With the rumored blandy boreton turn that is going to be a real logjam. Also is adr just going to job to orton for the next 3 ppvs? Anyone else remember the days when both guys got wins during long feuds? Shameus beats db twice, then adr what seems like 50 times.

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