Smackdown
Date:
November 2, 2012
Location:
Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Commentators:
Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
in the Big Show Era here and for the life of me I'm not entirely sure
why. Sheamus was doing ok as champion (other than the three months
that Del Rio sucked the life out of him) so they put the title on Big
Show of all people? At least the match was good though so that helps
a bit. Other than that we're going to have to speed through the
build to Survivor Series in three weeks. Let's get to it.
We
start with a kind of commercial for the show, talking about what
we're going to see. Most of it is related to Raw of course, because
being bored by that stuff on Monday isn't enough anymore.
We
open with MizTV and Miz talks about Ryback a bit before moving on to
Sheamus getting knocked out. Sheamus is the guest tonight and as he
comes to the ring, we see another clip from Raw of Sheamus hitting
White Noise on Big Show. Miz asks Sheamus about being a loser, but
Sheamus asks him about losing to Kofi on Sunday. Miz says the
difference between the two of them is that he can beat Kofi and will
do it again to get back the IC Title. Sheamus agrees that he's never
beaten Big Show but he's not going to hide.
Miz
cuts him off and says he doesn't want to hear cliched stock answers.
See, it's Miz that can be blamed for Sheamus losing the title. He
won the match at Wrestlemania that got Johnny Ace power, which led to
Show getting his job back, which led to Show's change in attitude,
which led to Show winning the title. Sheamus: “So it's you whose
head I should be kicking off?” Miz backs off and says he'll win
his title back from Kofi.
Before
Miz can say his catchphrase, here's Kofi. Kofi says Miz hasn't been
on the Real World in awhile, but apparently Kofi has kicked the sense
out of Miz, because Miz can't beat him. Miz says he'll beat Kofi at
Survivor Series, but here's Big Show for another interruption. He
isn't happy with Miz taking credit for Show's victory, so he's siding
with Kofi in saying there's something wrong with Miz. Why is Sheamus
getting interviewed instead of the new champion? Why ask Sheamus
what it's like to get knocked out when you can ask Show what it's
like to knock him out.
Miz
asks him just that but as Show starts talking about euphoria, Sheamus
cuts him off and asks what it felt like to take White Noise on
Monday. Show laughs it off and says no rematch at Survivor Series.
Miz tries to jump Kofi and is immediately knocked to the floor. I'm
pretty sure you can figure out the main event already.
After
a break, Big Show is in the back and runs into Booker who makes the
tag match with the four guys in the opening segment.
Sin
Cara vs. Darren Young
Things
start fast and Cara spins Young around with a rana and armdrag off
the middle rope. Darren wisely slows things down and hits a
neckbreaker for two. Off to a chinlock but Cara fights up and grabs
a small package for two. Back to the chinlock by Darren which
doesn't work again as Sin fights up and hits a middle rope dropkick
to take over. A jumping back elbow gets two for the dude in the mask
but Young knees him in the ribs to put Cara right back down. The
gutbuster gets the pin for Young at 3:37.
Rating:
D+. Not bad here but the time
hurts it. It's nice to see these guys doing something other than
having the same tag match over and over again as it'll keep the feud
somewhat fresher. I'm still amazed by how much better Young and
O'Neil are than when they were on NXT, just by doing some stupid
dance.
Post
match Titus starts blowing on a whistle and talks about beating on a
pinata in the ring. Those little dogs tried to get in the ring with
some big dogs and Titus is going to give another little dog that
chance. He calls out Mysterio and we're getting another match.
Before we get to that, quick sidebar about something Titus said:
regarding pinatas, is there a more bizarre tradition ever for
children? “Here son, here's your favorite cartoon. NOW BEAT HIM
WITH A STICK UNTIL HE BREAKS IN HALF AND EAT WHAT FALLS OUT OF HIM!”
Rey
Mysterio vs. Titus O'Neil
We
get the bell after a break and Rey fires off kicks to the leg. Titus
gets in a single shot to knock Rey down and the beating begins. A
slam gets two for Titus and it's time to stand around. O'Neil misses
a running boot to Rey who was against the ropes. The partners fight
on the floor as Titus catches the 619. He takes Rey to the corner
and gets down in a three point stance, only to hit the middle buckle,
allowing Rey to roll him up for the pin at 2:55.
Cara
and Rey do the Players' dance on the stage.
We
get a recap video from the end of the PPV with Maddox hitting Ryback
low to give Punk the pin, followed by the Shell Shock on top of the
Cell.
Maddox
will be on Raw on Monday.
We
get the full ending segment from Raw, starting with Heyman
introducing Miz as Punk's first team member.
Teddy
and Booker are in the back and Teddy thinks there's going to be
mutiny in the Raw locker room. Natalya comes in and wants to be the
assistant since Eve is on the European tour. Otunga comes in and
says he'll do anything Booker needs. Booker says he needs Otunga to
compete against a returning superstar. Otunga says ok but Booker
says it's Great Khali. Otunga spits his coffee on Nattie. After an
insult from Otunga, more coffee goes flying at Teddy. This was
supposed to be comedy I believe.
Wade
Barrett vs. Randy Orton
Del
Rio is on commentary. While Orton is doing his pose on the ropes,
Del Rio tries to run in and jump him, only to get knocked right to
the floor. Ricardo rams Orton into the post and a double beatdown
ensues as we take a break. Back and the scheduled match is in
progress with Orton clotheslining Barrett to the floor. They head
back in with Barrett taking Orton down upon reentry.
Wade
chokes away on the middle rope and does the same on the top rope so
it doesn't feel left out. There's the running big boot while Orton
is sitting on the middle rope, knocking him back to the floor. After
ramming Randy into the steps a few times, it's back inside for ye
olde chinlock. Orton tries a comeback with a belly to back suplex
but immediately after taking Barrett down with it, Wade kicks him in
the ribs to slow Randy back down.
They
slug it out and Orton takes over, which even Josh thinks is very
surprising given that Barrett is a bareknuckle fighter. Barrett
comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope elbow for two.
Back to the reverse chinlock followed by Barrett slamming him down.
Wade goes up for another elbow but Orton crotches him and hits a
superplex to put both guys down. Orton busts out some clotheslines
and the powerslam followed by the Elevated DDT. Before the RKO can
be loaded up, Del Rio shows up on the stage. Orton has to knock
Ricardo to the floor and Wade gets a rollup win at 8:43 shown.
Rating:
C+. The match was pretty good
here but I'd like for Barrett to be more than a prop in someone
else's feud, which is all he is anymore. These two have fought three
times now and have alternated wins every time. It's hard to get
behind either guy, especially when Barrett isn't even getting any of
the focus. Has he even gotten an entrance in any of the matches?
We
get the segment from Raw of everyone talking about breast cancer and
a clipped down version of Cena presenting the million dollar check to
the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Striker
asks Alberto why he keeps tormenting Orton. Orton comes up from
behind and they brawl. They head to the catering table and Orton
throws hot coffee on Ricardo. Once Alberto is down, Randy pours what
looks like barbecue sauce on Rodriguez as well. Alberto gets thrown
over a table. The desserts are spared and when Del Rio runs away,
Striker tries to talk to Randy, earning him a trip into a cake. When
did Striker become the whipping boy of Smackdown?
Great
Khali vs. David Otunga
Khali
recently had to have some kind of surgery on his brain so it's a good
thing to see him back. During Otunga's entrance, we actually recap
the scene that set this match up. Teddy and Nattie having coffee
spat on them deserved a recap? Seriously? Otunga takes him down but
Khali chops him from his knees. More chopping in the corner follows
and Natalya is watching in the back. Khali misses a boot but comes
back with the big chop for the pin at 1:35.
Post
break Natalya thanks Khali for beating up Otunga. They shake hands
and Nattie thinks his hands are big. Ok then.
R-Truth
vs. Justin Gabriel
Feeling
out process to start and Truth starts gyrating. Gabriel avoids a
shot of his own and gyrates a bit as well. Truth hits the spinning
forearm for two but Gabriel dropkicks him down and kicks away a bit.
Off to a chinlock by Justin as JBL is talking about Shawn Michaels.
A spin kick puts Truth down and since it worked so well the first
time, Justin does it again. Gabriel tries a springboard I'm assuming
clothesline but Truth ducks out of the way and hits Little Jimmy for
the pin at 3:23.
Rating:
D+. Wasn't Gabriel supposed to
get a push? Now he's losing to R-Truth clean of all people? This
was a rather random match between two faces with no tease of either
guy turning or anything. This whole show has felt like it doesn't
need to exist and this is another match that would fit on the same
list. It wasn't bad or anything though.
ANOTHER
recap from Raw, this time about the AJ/Vickie/Cena/Ziggler segment.
You know, WWE's PG version of TNA's horrible Clair Lynch story.
Show
tells Miz to follow his lead tonight because Show is in charge out
there.
We
recap Alberto and Ricardo costing Orton the match earlier as well as
the brawl. Next week on the live Smackdown (as in taped earlier in
the day) it's Del Rio vs. Orton in a falls count anywhere match. In
other words, the Barret matches meant nothing at all.
Sheamus/Kofi
Kingston vs. Big Show/The Miz
During
Sheamus' entrance, we get I believe the sixth video from Raw of the
night, this one being Sheamus hitting White Noise on Show. Didn't we
see that already? Miz and Show keep changing places to decide who
faces Sheamus. It's eventually Miz with Sheamus hammering away to
start in the corner. I'm so used to calling Sheamus the champ but I
can't do that anymore, so it's just Sheamus working on the arm.
Off
to Kofi who comes in off the top with a shot to the arm, only to be
clotheslined down by Miz. Kofi hits the same move to knock Miz to
the floor, followed by a suicide dive to take over. Show and Sheamus
stare at each other on the floor as well and we take a break. Back
with Show slamming Kofi down before doing some amateur stuff (yes you
read that right) to take Kofi to the mat.
A
side slam puts Kofi down for the third time and Show keeps looking
over at Sheamus. Off to Miz to work on the downed Kofi. A knee drop
gets two and Miz puts on a reverse chinlock which doesn't last long.
Kofi tries to dive over Miz to get to Sheamus but the right route is
apparently going through the legs instead. Sheamus gets the hot tag
and destroys Miz, hitting a powerslam and the ten forearms in the
ropes. The Regal Roll takes Miz down and it's off to Kofi for his
top rope cross body. Show gets knocked off the apron but as Kofi
pounds on Miz in the corner, Show knocks him cold, giving Miz the pin
at 6:42 shown of 10:12.
Rating:
C-. Standard main event tag
match here that wasn't anything great. Thankfully Show didn't lose
in his first match as champion and Miz FINALLY pins Kofi to give us a
reason to care about a fourth match between them. Other than that
though, this was a pretty dull match with nothing significant
happening at all.
Miz
poses over Kofi post match and Sheamus kicks his head off. Well he
was too busy yelling at the referee while Show punched Kofi so he had
to do something good here.
Overall
Rating: D-. This is officially
a Raw supplemental show. They recapped EVERYTHING that happened on
Raw and nothing here was anything new. Between meaningless matches
(Gabriel vs. Truth and Khali vs. Otunga) and the same match we've
seen on the last two TV shows which apparently is just to set up Del
Rio vs. Orton again, what's the point in watching Smackdown anymore?
I certainly can't think of why anybody would sit through this.
Results
Darren
Young b. Sin Cara – Double Knee Gutbuster
Rey
Mysterio b. Titus O'Neil – Rollup
Wade
Barrett b. Randy Orton – Rollup
Great
Khali b. David Otunga – Chop
R-Truth
b. Justin Gabriel – Little Jimmy
Big
Show/The Miz b. Kofi Kingston/Sheamus – Miz pinned Kingston after a
WMD from Big Show
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com
Worst smackdown in a long time
ReplyDeleteRemember when this used to be the haven for fans who wanted to see wrestling matches? I can't imagine the day when this show matters again.
ReplyDeleteSmackdown has gone from 'Can't miss TV' to 'I'll read the recaps' to 'I'll just skim through the review on the blog'. Boo-urns.
ReplyDeleteI realize Mistico has fallen a long way in his time in WWE but man, it's still very weird to read "Darren Young b. Sin Cara" cleanly.
ReplyDelete"ANOTHER
ReplyDeleterecap from Raw, this time about the AJ/Vickie/Cena/Ziggler segment.
You know, WWE's PG version of TNA's horrible Clair Lynch story."
Hehe, glad that I wasn't the only one thinking this, besides Kurt Angle anyway.
"The desserts are spared and when Del Rio runs away,
Striker tries to talk to Randy, earning him a trip into a cake. When
did Striker become the whipping boy of Smackdown?"
I was personally hoping that after he got attacked by Hell No a couple weeks back that he would join up with Rhodes Scholars as their manager. Not so much because they need him, but Striker just fits perfectly with that group. He might be kind of a weird guy on commentary, but I've always thought he's a good mouthpiece.
How did you manage to watch this show without falling asleep?
ReplyDeleteIt took about 6 hours to get through.
ReplyDelete"Maddox
ReplyDeletewill be on Raw on Monday."
I've kinda just been recap-following lately, so it took me a minute to realize you probably meant the referee that hit Ryback in the nuts and not the Best Page in The Universe guy. Although I'm still not sure.