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Smackdown - June 28, 2013

Smackdown
Date: June 28, 2013
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

After Monday we have a lot more of the card set for Money in the Bank. Tonight we'll find out who the Smackdown MITB guys are as well as having a Fiesta Del Rio to celebrate Alberto winning the World Heavyweight Championship again. WWE has picked things up lately so hopefully the positive trend continues. Let's get to it.


We open with the theme song for the first time in months.

There's a pinata above the ring for the fiesta later.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow

This is a Dublin street fight which hopefully ends this stupid feud once and for all. Sandow says that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union and now he wants out of here too. Ya'll isn't a word. It's pronounced you all, as in you all are a bunch of ignoramuses. Sandow pounds away to start and hits Sheamus with a green kendo stick before we head to the floor. Sheamus whips him into the barricade and puts him over the bar at ringside (Irish people like to drink you see) for the ten forearms to the chest.

Sandow blocks a suplex on the floor and sends Sheamus into the post to take over. Sheamus comes back by throwing Sandow into another bar and pelting a keg at him. Now Sandow has a bag of Irish potatoes dropped onto him as we're in the “comedy” portion of the match. Damien sends him into the steps to put Sheamus down again as we take a break.

Back with Sandow running Sheamus over for two back in the ring. Sandow throws in some chairs with one being wedged between the ropes. Sheamus comes back with a green bar stool to the face and the Irish Curse for two. A running knee life puts Sandow on the floor and there's the rolling senton for good measure. Sheamus gets two off the top rope shoulder block but Damien comes back with straight right hands.

The Terminus gets two and Sandow pounds away with the kendo stick. Sheamus easily kicks out and throws a chair at Sandow's face to take over again. Now it's Sandow being beaten with the stick for two but he still fights out of White Noise. Sheamus hits another kendo stick shot to send Sandow into the open chair, followed by the Brogue Kick for the pin at 9:28 shown of 12:58.

Rating: C. To recap this feud: everyone said Sheamus would dominate Sandow, Sheamus did dominate Sandow, and the final match (hopefully) was a match in which Sheamus should have destroyed Sandow and he did just that. How this does anything to elevate Sandow or help Sheamus is beyond me but thank goodness it's over.

Sheamus takes the kendo stick with him and throws the potatoes to the fans.

We look back at the main event from Raw with Bryan making Orton tap out.

Bryan is whistling in the back but Kane gets in his face and tells him not to brag. Kane congratulates Bryan on his win but calls it an upset which sets Bryan off. The big man shuts Bryan up before he can get anywhere with it but Daniel just chalks it up to nerves and hugs him. It's Kane vs. Orton with Bryan on commentary later.

We recap Heyman and Punk's segment from Raw.

Time for MizTV with special guest Paul Heyman. Miz asks about Punk and Lesnar being a tag team but Heyman doesn't want to talk about his personal life. Miz wants to know about Heyman bullying Renee young last week but Heyman says he's just an advocate. Heyman turns the tables saying Miz is a former WWE and Intercontinental Champion by bringing out Curtis Axel. Miz says that Heyman fooled him just like Heyman fooled Punk on Raw. Heyman says he invited Axel and this interview is over unless Miz isn't intimidated by Curtis.

Miz says that Heyman is the walking version of Star Wars: he talks like Yoda, smells like Chewbacca and looks like Jabba the Hut. This makes Axel the WWE version of Luke Skywalker: Luke, you are not your father. Miz says he's going to win the title and Axel says he takes that threat seriously. A fight is about to break out but Heyman says if Miz wants to fight there needs to be a contract and Axel needs to be paid. Heyman makes fun of Miz's catchphrase but Miz cuts him off, only to have Axel lay Miz out with a neckbreaker into a cutter.

AJ Lee vs. Natalya

Before the match Kaitlyn comes out dressed like AJ to make fun of AJ's issues with men. Apparently AJ even dated the timekeeper, the ringside doctor and Lillian Garcia. Unfortunately we get no more elaboration on that as the bell rings. Natalya takes AJ down but AJ escapes a slam and slams Natalya's head into the mat. Kaitlyn skips down to the ring to distract AJ, allowing Natalya to get a rollup pin at 1:05. Kaitlyn in the AJ outfit works VERY well.

Kaitlyn spears AJ down post match.

Bray Wyatt vignette.

Teddy is in the back when Vince comes in. Since Raw is having an All-Star MITB match (Vince's official term for it), Teddy is going to look to the future. His picks are Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Vince is impressed and they practice saying Fandango.

Randy Orton vs. Kane

Bryan is on commentary. Kane grabs a headlock to start but Orton fights free with right hands. He charges into Kane's boot in the corner to put him down as the match slows up a bit. The low dropkick gets two for Kane but Orton whips him into the corner. The announcers ask Bryan if he would cost Kane the briefcase at MITB but get no answer. Kane goes up for the top rope clothesline but gets punched out of the air to give Orton control again.

Orton stomps away and drops a knee for two but ducks his head to get caught in the running DDT. We take a break and come back with Kane putting on a nerve hold. Orton fights up as Bryan gets on the announce table to play cheerleader. Orton hits the backbreaker to escape and Bryan's chant becomes NO. A Thesz Press puts Kane down but he kicks Orton's head off for two. Back up again and Orton hits a dropkick for two of his own, only to get caught in a side slam. This back and forth stuff is working very well.

The top rope clothesline is broken up again, but Kane fights out of the superplex and hits the clothesline on the third try. A back elbow blocks the chokeslam attempt and Orton's powerslam gets two. The Elevated DDT is countered but neither finisher can hit. Instead it's the Elevated DDT to send Kane to the floor where Bryan encourages his partner. Bryan helps Kane get back in but he walks into the RKO for the pin at 9:13 shown of 12:13.

Rating: B. I've always been a fan of the chemistry between these guys and this is another good example of them working well together. The back and forth stuff with both guys hitting bigger and bigger stuff was a good story capped off by Orton finally hitting his home run move for the win. Bryan accidentally costing Kane the match fits their story very well and advances them towards Money in the Bank. Good stuff.

Ryback vs. Justin Gabriel

Gabriel fires off some kicks to start but Ryback comes back with a hard kick to Gabriel's chest to take over. Ryback misses another big boot and catches himself on the top rope, allowing Justin to fire kicks into the leg. Gabriel charges into the corner but dives into the Shell Shock for the pin at 1:51. Much like Monday, this was basically a face match by Ryback as he fought through trouble to win.

Immediately after the match here's Jericho to talk about how Ryback may be a killer, he's also a whiner, a complainer, a butcher, a baker and a giant excuse maker. Ryback shouts that he's injured so Jericho starts a Cryback chant. Jericho says he's going to give something to make Ryback cry about and goes after the big man, only to have Ryback bail from the Walls. Ryback whines that he should be WWE Champion and leaves.

I'll never get WWE's theory of turning guys like Ryback. “Well this guy is over as a face, so let's change everything that got him over and wonder why he isn't over as a heel.” It works for people when they've had great success, but Ryback never actually won anything, so you're taking the only things he has going for him away and making him less of an intimidating monster and more just pathetic.

Bray Wyatt vignette.

Shield vs. Usos/Christian

Shield beat down Christian again on Main Event but the Usos made the save. Jey and his cousin Roman quickly fall to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Ambrose stomping on Jey before it's back to Reigns. The big guy hooks a front facelock but lets go to Superman punch Jimmy off the apron. The double tag brings in Ambrose and Christian cleans house with the jumping back elbow.

Rollins breaks up the spear but Christian backdrops him on the floor. Back in and Dean rolls through a cross body for two, only to get caught in a tornado DDT for the same. Reigns comes back in and sends Christian to the floor but gets taken out by Jey. Rollins dives on both Usos and Dean looks to do the same but he walks into a spear from Christian for the pin at 5:18 shown of 8:48.

Rating: C+. This was a good fast paced tag match but did Shield really need to lose another match in such a short span of time? The good thing though is the titles are now the main focus for the team once the big loss was already out of the way. The match was entertaining enough and it sets up the PPV as well so there isn't much to complain about here.

It's time for Fiesta Del Rio so here are the mariachis to play the champion to the ring. Ricardo does the full entrance and insults the crowd for some good cheap heat. There are red white and green balloons and a big bowl of chips and salsa. The pinata has Ziggler's face on it which makes more sense than most pinatas (sidebar: I've never understood the mentality behind pinatas. “Hey kids, here's one of your favorite cartoon characters. Now let's beat it with a stick until it busts open and you can eat whatever comes out!”).

Del Rio says it's time to celebrate him being a four time champion and we're going to do it his way. He says he's going to speak Spanish tonight, drawing a USA chant. Del Rio speaks Spanish and says this is a party for him and not for any of the people. When he won the title, he didn't need to use a Money in the Bank contract like Ziggler did. The fans chant USA so Del Rio calls them ignorant and switches back to English.

We'll start the games with the pinata. Del Rio busts it open with two swings and says he broke it open like he bashed Ziggler's head in. He'll do the same thing again at MITB to retain the title. Del Rio poses and wants to know where Ziggler is. This brings out Dolph for the brawl but Del Rio throws him into the salsa. Ziggler throws Ricardo through the food table and hits the Zig Zag on the champion. Dolph swings a guitar at Del Rio but Alberto runs away, leaving Ricardo to take El Cabong. Ziggler plays guitar with the mariachis as balloons fall to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I really liked the show tonight as we had some good matches and some solid angle advancement throughout the night. Ziggler looked like the hero they want him to be tonight and there's a reason to hate Del Rio with the head injuries. WWE has flipped a switch in the last few weeks and their shows have been on fire ever since with this being their latest good effort.

Results
Sheamus b. Damien Sandow – Brogue Kick
Natalya b. AJ Lee – Rollup
Randy Orton b. Kane – RKO
Ryback b. Justin Gabriel – Shell Shock
Christian/Usos b. Shield – Spear to Ambrose

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

Comments

  1. A main problem with WWE is how Del Rio has been portrayed the last 6 months. He was a boring heel and turned face on a dime. He was ok to boring as a face (especially up against Big Show & Swagger) so they turned him back on a dime & the fans were completely ok with it.
    Why did Del Rio turn face? Because he was boring as heel. Why did Del Rio turn back to a heel? Because he was boring as a heel. If he sucks at both, get rid of him. Why Did Miz turn face? Because he was in the marine 3 and WWE wanted to make money off it. Why doesn't he go back to a heel? Who knows.

    A wrestler should turn heel or face for a very very very good reason (like Austin at Wrestlemania XVII or Punk in his feud with hardy), they are stagnant in that role (see Cena or Miz now) or because the fans called for it (Orton a few years ago).

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  2. the jack swagger angle killed del rio dead. the fans were confused by the whole thing and didn't react to it much. it's weird, when del rio first turned against show everyone on here was praising him saying how he was so much better and more natural as a face. he started busting out his old lucha moves, hurricanranas and moonsaults and it was pretty sweet. then they did the swagger angle and he never recovered from it.

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  3. That angle was DOA when they refused to go full-bore with it. Heat requires people to be OFFENDED. Del Rio looked puzzled and Swagger looked unsure. I always preferred Alberto as a heel and think Swagger should be a face, so I may be insane.

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  4. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 28, 2013 at 8:57 PM

    It didn't help that a lot of people agree with what Colter was saying. That's one of my biggest issues with most modern heels: they make too much sense. Look at Hogan in 1997 and DiBiase in the 80s: they were so ridiculously off base and flat out lying most of the time that you had to hate them. With today's heels they lay out at least somewhat logical arguments and it's harder to disagree with what they're saying.



    For a counterpoint, look at Bully Ray. He lied, he cheated, and he stole the world title and he brags about it. How do you not hate that guy?

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  5. I think they had to keep swagger from really saying anything racist because this is WWE and he's going to be a face again in 6 months.
    I love Del Rio in either role,but I slightly prefer heel.

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  6. It didn't help that Swagger went from a joke and underling of Ziggler to gone for 6 months to immediately to World Title picture. At the time, I said that I would have built him up for 6 months and then go after the title. Cesaro would have been better against del rio because he had been built up for months in the I'm better than you role.Regarding what Coulter was saying, many Americans do agree with him, and in many parts of the country especially the South, he is a face. Del Rio was also the wrong guy to go up against Swagger because Del Rio is a Mexican Aristocrat. There aren't any rah rah Americans anymore in WWE; Duggan, Dusty Rhodes and Hogan would have made great foils for Swagger.

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  7. Y'know...when you do the same shit the heel does...it makes you a heel.


    Fuck you Kaitlyn.

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  8. you don't think Zeb Coulter is way of base. you think he makes sense.

    that is frightening

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  9. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 29, 2013 at 12:11 AM

    Oh I think he's way off base. He's just saying it in a logical way and there are people who agree with the principles he's saying.

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  10. I'd say he is way over the top and insane though.

    course I'm a liberal, so that makes sense

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  11. Ha, potatoes!

    Because he's fucking IRISH! Don't you get it!?

    I bet there was a lot of high-fives when that one was devised.

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  12. Your_Favourite_AssholeJune 29, 2013 at 12:44 AM

    just wacthed my dvr of the show.

    DAYUM kaitlyn dressed as aj. she needs to get nakies NOW


    boooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing

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  13. That doesn't make it a face act.

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  14. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 29, 2013 at 1:01 AM

    To me insane would be what JBL did in 2004: film himself waiting by the border and chase people down as they stuck across.


    I'm a liberal as well and I live in a state where people thought Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul were the best options we had. I've seen my share of crazy.

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  15. I hope he's a face soon. He's got potential if not booked by sadists and morons. Bill Watts would have sold out the Superdome several times by now.

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  16. It means that Dutch isn't allowed to do what he knows how to do. It's corporate wrestling. Again, Ole was right on this issue...

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  17. They don't have faces. They have characters with their own personalities that may choose to support if they wish.

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  18. So on RAW, we'll get the backstage segment with Christian and the Usos, with the young tag team putting over their veteran buddy and how they're coming for the tag titles, with Christian also putting over the Usos as the new tag stars in the division and noting how a win over the Shield gives him a ton of momentum going into MITB. To counter, we get a Shield backstage segment where they're arguing a bit amongst themselves but finally, Ambrose clears it up by saying they're a unit first and foremost and that they all believe in the Shield. They cap it off by a gang assault on Christian later that night, but it's broken up by the Usos before Christian gets powerbombed through a table.


    ....oh, I'm sorry, I blacked out there for a minute and went into an alternate reality where the nigh-unbeatable trio losing a six-man match would actually be treated as a big deal and used to get everyone involved over. My bad.

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  19. ADR makes a great heel, especially in the ring.

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  20. Adrs heel promo was one of the best I've seen in months and maybe del Rio's best promo ever. I've been on the bandwagon since day 1 and last night reminded me why

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  21. I found jack swagger getting a push to be the most offensive part of that angle.

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  22. Republicans feel like down voting me i see. that's cool, I thought your opinions were questionable anyway

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  23. Which explains why hardly anyone is over.

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  24. Yeah.. she looked sooo hot in those shorts and those puppies were barking at me.

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  25. So if the Usos have a Tongan Street Fight are they pulling out a bag of coconuts??

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  26. as long as it is a lovely bunch of coconuts

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  27. Your_Favourite_AssholeJune 29, 2013 at 12:58 PM

    yeah i immediately though of the mickie/trish stuff too


    what was weird was that titlyn even looked kinda like trish-as-fake-mickie

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  28. Your_Favourite_AssholeJune 29, 2013 at 1:00 PM

    her strong legs only made it better

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  29. Worst_in_the_WorldJune 29, 2013 at 1:04 PM

    Man, the schizophrenic nature of the Bryan push is really annoying. I don't get why Monday night they set up the HUGE babyface moment for him— where he beats a major star in a main event, thus proving how tough he is— and then 2 days later on Smackdown he's heeling it up again. He acts like an insecure jerk on commentary, costs Kane the match, smirks his way up the ramp. I just don't get it.


    It all could of course be typical WWE-babyface booking, in which the babyface has to act like the biggest asshole in every feud, but there's still part of me that thinks WWE is planning on doing the incredibly dumb thing of turning Bryan full-blown delusional heel for the Cena feud.

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  30. I didn't cheer them either.

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  31. Considering that the name of the character is Kaitlyn and the name of the person playing that character is Celeste Bonin (yes, seriously). I think it's pretty clear that I'm talking in terms of kayfabe.

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  32. Fine.


    Y'know...when you do the same shit as the person that reduced you to tears and you condemn as being evil...it makes you an evil person.


    Fuck you Kaitlyn.

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  33. Maybe you should wait until after Raw for you to get in a tizzy about this?

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  34. I rewatched the Kaitlyn-AJ deal (yes, to see Kaitlyn in the little shorts - sue me), and +1 for Big E the way he dragged AJ out like a ragdoll after the Kaitlyn spear, no-selling every bit of it.

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  35. There is no good or evil. There's just things that people do, that other people may choose to support or condemn.

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  36. Ah, a moral relativist/nihilist. How interesting.

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  37. I wonder if (but highly doubt) the Bryan character is WWE's way of turning a mirror to the "Internet crowd."
    Think about it: Bryan is acting like an insecure jerk obsessed with proving how tough he is, and while he's acting like a heel, in his own mind he's awesome and should be treated as a good guy.
    OK, now go to most Internet comment/message boards and what do you see? Insecure jerks trying to prove how tough they are, acting like heels but in their mind they're awesome good guys.
    The Internet crowd has made Bryan their top guy, and WWE is responding by making Bryan one of them.

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  38. Sadly that wouldn't shock me - take shots at a small but lucrative portion of the fanbase for no good reason, ohandthegeneralfanlovesDBryalso. That's the saddest part - the old Vince would have Bryan all over the place.

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