Smackdown
Date:
October 11, 2013
Location:
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
main story coming into tonight is Big Show being fired by Stephanie
and then knocking out HHH to end Raw. In other words, certainly not
the WWE Title picture. Big Show was way too happy on Raw, meaning
there's something afoot with him that we don't know about yet. Other
than that we have a Battleground rematch with Truth challenging Axel
for the Intercontinental Title. Let's get to it.
The
opening video recaps the Big Show/HHH/Stephanie events from Raw.
Here's
Vickie Guerrero to open the show. We get a clip of Del Rio kissing
her on Raw, only to earn him a title defense against Cena at the PPV.
Vickie rants about Big Show knocking out HHH on Monday, saying that
he already compromised the main event at Battleground. Big Show
should have been fired long ago but now his problems have just begun.
His house is already for sale which is what he deserves.
Del
Rio comes out and doesn't look pleased. He begs Vickie to reconsider
making him defend the title against Cena but the fans seem intrigued
by the idea. Vickie says it's what's best for business so Del Rio
sucks up to her a bit and flirts with her for good measure. Vickie
says Del Rio should kiss her and the champion complies both on the
cheek and lips, but she had another place in mind.
This
brings out Damien Sandow to call Del Rio a phony. Alberto sees
Vickie as a sex object that he can easily manipulate. Sandow says
Vickie is beautiful but he's most attracted to her mind. She
manipulates her way through life but Del Rio is out here trying to
get out of a match with Cena that he knows he'll lose. That's not
befitting of a champion and when given a chance, Sandow will prove
he's the better man. Vickie makes Sandow vs. Del Rio for later.
Alberto lays Damien out but Sandow fights back and chases the
champion off. Sandow was acting much more neutral than heelish here
but it wasn't a face turn.
Intercontinental
Title: R-Truth vs. Curtis Axel
Axel
takes the challenger into the corner to start and fires off chops,
only to have Truth come back with some right hands. A hip toss gets
two on Curtis and he bails to the floor for a chat with Heyman. Back
in and Truth elbows Axel down for two as this is still in first gear.
Axel knocks him out to the floor and we take an early break. Back
with Truth fighting out of an armbar but getting taken down by a
clothesline to the back of the head for two.
We
hit the chinlock with Heyman coaching from the floor. Axel whispers
some sweet spots into Truth's ear before the champion gets sent into
the corner for the break. They very slowly slug it out until Truth
speeds things up with clotheslines. A dropkick puts Axel down for
two and a wheelbarrow slam gets two more. The ax kick gets the same
but Curtis grabs the bottom rope. No heat on the near fall at all
there. Truth thinks he won and the distraction allows Curtis to hit
his neckbreaker faceplant to retain at 6:38 shown of 9:08.
Rating:
D. This was a really boring
match with neither guy showing much energy at all. Truth's biggest
strength is his athleticism but he only had about two flashy moves in
the whole match. It never felt like the title was in jeopardy and
you don't want Curtis Axel carrying your match for you.
Los
Locales vs. Los Matadores
Los
Locales are Ricardo Rodriguez and Tyson Kidd under masks. Fernando
starts with Kidd (Locale #1) to give us some decent flipping and
diving spots. A double backdrop puts Kidd down and it's Diego
chopping away in the corner. Diego headscissors Kidd down and it's
off to Rodriguez and Fernando with more double teaming by the
Matadores. Ricardo makes a blind tag and Kidd gets in a few cheap
shots including a HARD kick to the back for two. Back to Rodriguez
who misses a charge in the corner, allowing for the tag back to Diego
to clean house. Heel miscommunication sets up the double Angle Slam
to pin Ricardo at 3:45.
Rating:
D+. I'm already over Los
Matadores and I don't see them getting any better. They're a one
idea team and those kind of acts rarely last long. They could
benefit from some over the top vignettes but just doing the same
stuff they're doing now isn't getting them anywhere.
Torito
dives on Ricardo post match.
We
get Shawn's campaign speech to be the guest referee inside the Cell.
Brie
Bella/Funkadactyls vs. Natalya/Eva Marie/Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn
returns. Brie and Natalya shake hands to start before Natalya easily
takes her down by the leg. Brie counters into an armbar and then a
half crab in some surprisingly nice mat wrestling. Nattie can't get
the Sharpshooter and it's off to Eva who gets a quick one off a
rollup. A wristlock drags Brie to the corner and it's off to Kaitlyn
vs. Cameron. That goes nowhere so here's Naomi who gets speared down
almost immediately. Everything breaks down and the Rear View takes
out Natalya. Kaitlyn's rollup on Naomi is countered into another
rollup for the pin for Naomi at 2:53. Above average Divas stuff here
actually.
Post
match the winners and Nikki dance a lot.
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust say they beat the Shield and beat the odds, thanks
to their dad putting himself in harm's way. Their welcome back to
Smackdown tonight: the Wyatts.
Damien
Sandow vs. Alberto Del Rio
Non-title.
Sandow takes over to start and quickly stomps Del Rio out to the
floor. Back in and Alberto kicks away for two before hitting a
chinlock less than a minute into the match. Sandow pounds away even
more, sending Alberto to the floor. The champion tries to walk out
with the title but Sandow sends him into the apron and back into the
ring. Back in and Del Rio kicks him down in the corner again for two
more before hitting a top rope ax handle to the back for the same.
Back
to the chinlock for a bit before Sandow backdrops Sandow up and over
the corner and out to the floor. Sandow hits a quick suplex for two
and the YOU'RE WELCOME shout gets a face reaction. Alberto comes
back with kicks to the leg and forearms to the back of the head, only
to miss a charge into the post. Sandown hits another clothesline to
send Del Rio to the floor as we take a break.
Back
with Del Rio dropkicking Sandown down because all he can do is kick
in this match. Sandow avoids a charge and sends Alberto to the
floor, only to catch Damien with a superkick to take over again.
They head back inside for the Russian legsweep and the Wind-Up
legsweep for two. Sandow lowers the knee pad but misses the knee
drop, allowing Alberto to hit the low superkick for two.
A
Codebreaker to the arm puts Sandow down but he counters the
armbreaker into an Edge-O-Matic for two. The Terminus is countered
into the Backstabber for two more but the corner enziguri misses.
Sandow's running flip neckbreaker gets another near fall but he loses
his cool, allowing Del Rio to kick him in the knee and hook the
armbreaker for the submission at 11:38 shown of 14:38.
Rating:
C+. This wasn't bad but
Sandow's impending face turn needs to see him actually win a few
matches. The fans like what's there with him but being a popular
loser is only going to carry him so far. As I've said many times,
he's desperately in need of a new finishing move as that neckbreaker
isn't worth much at all.
The
Raw ReBound covers the Big Show saga. Apparently HHH might have a
broken jaw which would have to be wired shut. Big Show may be facing
criminal charges as a result.
Great
Khali/Prime Time Players vs. 3MB
Khali
shoves Slater around to start before it's quickly off to Mahal. No
mention is made of them being brothers in law but we do get to hear
about Khali being a snake charmer. Some chops make Mahal scream
before it's off to Young for a northern lights suplex for two. Cole
talks about how 3MB is on a roll because they won a match on Main
Event. JBL: “Barry Horowitz won a match too once.”
Off
to Mahal who kicks Young in the chest for two before it's time for
some triple teaming. Drew tells Darren to reach for his partners
before stomping down on his fingers in a nice heel move. Darren
finally gets in a shot to the ribs and makes the tag off to Titus.
The power man cleans house and gets two on Mahal via a standing
fallaway slam. Everything breaks down and the big chop from Khali
pins Slater at 5:02.
Rating:
D. This wasn't too bad but it
felt like a filler match and nothing more, likely due to a lot of the
roster being on the Abu Dhabi tour. The Players' push seems to be
dead which shouldn't upset most people and really isn't all that big
of a loss. 3MB is perfect for this role as the heels who lose almost
all the time but really don't seem to mind.
Wyatt
Family vs. Cody Rhodes/Goldust
Bray
is the odd man out here but cuts a promo on screen before the
entrance, talking about how people call him strange but the water
around him is fine. Harper starts with Goldust and the painted one
takes over with a quick clothesline. Off to Rowan who is still
wearing the mask so Goldust does the deep breath and punches it off
his face. Cody comes in to work on the arm but a hard shoulder block
takes him down.
We
take a break and come back with Cody sending Harper into the corner
and making the tag off to Goldie. The painted one cleans house and
rains down right hands in the corner on Luke but the bulldog is
easily countered. Off to Rowan for a neck crank as Bray adjusts his
hat on the floor. It's quickly back to Harper for a headlock before
he misses a dropkick of all things. Luke still manages to break up
the hot tag and pounds away with elbows in the corner to the golden
jaw.
Back
to Rowan for even more power on a hard whip into the corner. We hit
the bearhug for a bit before Rowan takes him into the corner for some
shots to the head. A charge hits Goldust's elbow but Erick breaks up
another hot tag attempt. Bray gives a nod to Rowan as if to say it's
time and there's a claw hold to Goldust. That goes nowhere since
it's not 1984 anymore but Rowan misses a spinwheel kick, allowing
Goldust to bulldog him down.
There's
the hot tag off to Cody who cleans house with the Disaster Kick to
Harper. Everything breaks down and Cody hits a great dive to the
floor to take out Rowan, only to get kicked in the face by Harper.
Back in and Cody grabs a rollup out of nowhere for the pin at 10:05
shown of 13:05.
Rating:
B-. Standard tag team formula
here but they worked it very well. Cody and Goldust are on fire at
the moment and I can't imagine they won't get the tag title shot at
the PPV. The Wyatts losing is ok since Bray is the one that matters
in the grand scheme of things. Good stuff here.
Overall
Rating: C-. The last part of
the show was better but the first hour of this show was about as
worthless as you could ask a show to be. The lack of star power due
to the tour hurt this a lot but it wasn't a disaster. I like the
idea of the Wyatts getting a crack in the main event, even though
it's probably a one off shot for now. Not a bad show here but
nothing worth going out of your way to see at all.
Make sure to check out Andy's PG Report of Raw on Monday when the entire roster will be back in action.
Results
Curtis
Axel b. R-Truth – Neckbreaker faceplant
Los
Matadores b. Los Locales – Double Angle Slam to Locale #2
Funkadactyls/Brie
Bela b. Kaitlyn/Eva Marie/Natalya – Rollup to Kaitlyn
Alberto
Del Rio b. Damien Sandow – Cross Armbreaker
Great
Khali/Prime Time Players b. 3MB – Chop to Slater
Cody
Rhodes/Goldust b. Wyatt Family – Rollup to Harper
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
That was probably the first time ever that a tag match in WWE had all the participants (and managers) wearing masks. I like Los Matadores well enough though, mostly for El Torito but also for giving the Colons a forum to show off their wrestling skill.
ReplyDeleteAlso I was really impressed with Rowan here. Not so much for his move set but for making the bearhug spot look like it actually hurt.
Im actually am starting to think los matadors is a decent gimmick. If they sell it all out and have good matches they could get over.
ReplyDeleteThey really should of used the song from the teaser promos, everyone would of been chanting the Ole bit from it the moment they debuted.
ReplyDeleteYup they need to spice up the theme song too
ReplyDeleteSometimes I like to play devil's advocate, but they have no idea with what to do with Damien Sandow.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but surely an individual with a superior intellect could figure out how to win a wrestling match.
I'm a sucker for heel/heel matches where both heels just try and out-heel each other. Del Rio/Sandow was no Roode/Aries, but it was pretty fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteIt feels early to unceremoniously job the Wyatts. I don't get that move at all. Couldn't they have used the Real Americans in this slot or did somebody on the writing team feel that the Wyatts needed to be humbled a bit, because that's what Best for Business, dammit!
I think the problem this week is that a good chunk of the roster are overseas, so they didn't have a lot of options to utilise, but still needed a main event that felt like a main event, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI agree it was a bit crazy doing that with the Wyatts, but did they not do the same with the Shield as well, just randomly having them lose their first match (albeit via DQ) kinda out of nowhere?
Unless you're trying to build a winning-streak storyline, I don't think one loss every now and then is bad for a new act. It's not like the Wyatts got squashed or lost to a going-nowhere team like Tons of Funk.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I was surprised they didn't go with the song they were using in the vignettes. And once they get established, mixing up the colors/styles of their outfits occasionally would be a nice touch.
ReplyDelete