Smackdown
Date:
October 18, 2013
Location:
Spring Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
practically at a standstill here with the Cell PPV a little over a
week away. Orton is still feuding with Bryan, Big Show is still a
vigilante and no one cares about the Bellas as the new saviors of the
Divas. However Goldust and Cody Rhodes are the new tag team
champions after a great match on Monday night. We need to get to the
PPV already to get us on to anything new. Let's get to it.
We
open with a recap of the main event from Raw with Big Show costing
Shield the titles.
Theme
song.
After
the theme song we open with Brad Maddox and Vickie Guerrero in the
ring. Vickie screeches about running a tight ship here on Smackdown
and guarantees that Big Show will not be causing havoc here tonight.
There will be order and discipline and Brad is here to assist her in
achieving those goals. Brad says he'll be keeping Big Show out of
here tonight and Vickie praises the regime for their guidance. Cue
Daniel Bryan who says he's glad these two are doing what's best for
business.
What's
best for business though is Bryan beating Randy Orton inside the Cell
with guest referee Shawn Michaels. As for tonight however, there's a
rumor that a 7'0 monster has gotten through security and here he is.
Actually it's just Big Show's music and there is no giant. Bryan
says he's just messing with the two of them, drawing a laugh from the
crowd. Big Show isn't here yet but Cody Rhodes and Goldust are.
Vickie yells about wanting discipline and makes Bryan/Cody/Goldust
vs. Shield for tonight before cackling a lot.
Wyatt
Family vs. The Miz/Kofi Kingston
Miz
jumps Rowan to start and hits a quick corner clothesline to knock him
into the corner. Off to Kofi to attack the arm before Harper comes
in and sends Kingston into the corner. A quick cross body gets two
on Luke but he dives into a big boot for two. Back to Rowan for a
slam before Harper comes in for a chinlock. Kofi avoids a charge in
the corner and goes to tag Miz, only to have Erick pull him off the
apron. Harper sneaks in and takes Kofi's head off with the discus
lariat for the pin at 4:05.
Rating:
D+. No time to go anywhere here
but it furthers the Miz vs. Wyatt feud. With Bray on the shelf we're
going to have to build it up on promos but luckily that's where Bray
shines more than anything else. Kofi was his usual jobbing self here
but he never loses any popularity. It's also good to see the Wyatts
get a win to make up for their loss last week.
Post
match the Wyatts circle Kofi but Bray calls them off. It's ok that
Miz is afraid because Bray is the hammer that everyone fears. Miz
should enjoy his world as long as he can because the Wyatts are going
to take it all away.
Brie
Bella vs. AJ Lee
Brie
has a banged up shoulder. AJ immediately bails to the floor a few
times but Tamina blocks Brie from going after her. Tamina finally
moves and Brie gets in a right hand before sending it back inside.
AJ absorbs everything Brie throws at her and snaps the bad arm over
the top rope to take over. Off to an armbar as Brie screams a lot.
Brie's arm is wrapped around the middle rope and it's already back to
another armbar. The twin comes back with an elbow in the corner and
a middle rope missile dropkick for two. Nikki throws Tamina into the
steps, allowing Brie to grab a TERRIBLE looking Bella Buster for the
pin at 3:55.
Rating:
D. If this is supposed to make
me sympathize with or care about the Bellas, it's not quite working.
I have a hard time caring about two beautiful women on a reality show
who happen to be sleeping with two of the three top guys in the
company. The whole feud started because AJ said she was a wrestler
and Brie is a reality TV personality but we're supposed to like the
reality TV star on the wrestling show. Yet WWE is surprised it's not
working.
Lillian
is introducing a match when Big Show comes through the crowd. He
gets in the ring and holds up a ticket given to him by Daniel Bryan.
Big Show thanks the fans for all the support he's given to him
through social media and it seems the fans want Big Show to get his
job back. He holds up his fist but here are the GM's (Hanzel and
Gretel according to Show) to try to throw him out. Brad says Show
has nothing to lose which Show says is the worst thing you can say.
There's the KO punch and Show leaves through the crowd.
CM
Punk vs. Big E. Langston
Langston
easily breaks Punk's grip and pounds him down before running Punk
over with a shoulder block. A big knee lift puts Punk down again but
CM fights up and slugs away at Langston before low bridging him out
to the floor. Punk's slingshot plancha is caught in midair and Punk
is rammed back first into the post as we go to a break. Back with
Langston caught in a half crab but powering out, only to have his
hurricanrana caught in another half crab.
Langston
lets him go but a Warrior splash only hits knees. Punk comes back
with the leg lariat to the face but the swinging neckbreaker is
countered. Langston misses a charge into the post and falls out to
the floor, setting up a nice suicide dive from Punk. Back in and a
high cross body gets a close two. The fans are liking this. The top
rope elbow gets another two count but Langston escapes the GTS and
runs Punk over. Warrior Splash gets two but Punk slips out of the
Big Ending and it's high kick/GTS for the pin at 7:38 shown of 11:08.
Rating:
B-. Fun match here with Punk
playing a good David to Langston's Goliath. I'm a fan of Big E. and
it's annoying to see him fall through the cracks like he has in the
last few months. He's more than capable of talking and his look is
enough to keep him around for years. Good match here.
Post
match here are Heyman and company to congratulate Punk on his win
over a marginally talented rookie. However Punk has to face a
professional inside the Cell and he wants no part of that man. Punk
says that makes Heyman an idiot rather than the best in the world.
There are two words that Heyman needs to focus on.
The
first is Cell, as in what they're going to be locked inside of. The
second word is Hell, which is what Heyman and Ryback are going to go
through. Heyman quotes AC/DC and threatens to come explain what he
means personally. The Heyman guys head to the ring to beat down Punk
but Langston makes the save. Looks like a face turn which could be
intriguing.
After
a break Del Rio is in the ring waving a Mexican flag. Josh
introduces us to the Cena video from Raw. Alberto says that he was
waving that flag because he's the champion of Mexico. Unlike
himself, the people here have no passion or soul at all. John Cena
is the ultimate gringo representing these people and Del Rio can't
stand him.
Who
does Cena think he is by coming back and being handed a world title
shot? Cena has only been gone two months but his ego keeps growing
day by day. After he loses to Del Rio, he'll be just like all these
people: a nobody. Josh gets put in the armbreaker as an example of
what's happening at the PPV.
We
recap Big Show knocking out Maddox. Brad sold the heck out of that
punch.
Real
Americans vs. Usos
Colter
is on commentary. Cesaro gets elbowed down by Jimmy to start as
Colter rants about Los Matadores. Off to Swagger to run over Jimmy
in the corner and Colter is blaming the government shutdown for the
arrival of Los Matadores. Cesaro does a remarkable 27 rotation giant
swing to Jimmy to one of the biggest reactions of the night.
Back
to Swagger for some stomping and a double chickenwing. Colter wants
to know what kind of people kidnap a little person and make them
dress like a bull. Maybe they owe child support and have been
passing bad checks. Cue Los Matadores so Torito can gore Colter a
few times. Jey comes back with a NASTY looking superkick to set up
the Superfly Splash on Swagger for the pin at 5:45.
Rating:
D. This was a squash with a
screwy ending. It's very annoying to see Cesaro get more and more
over because of a great display of physical strength, only to be used
to put over a worthless tag team like Los Matadores. The Usos need
to get the tag titles eventually and there's a chance they can take
them from the Rhodes Brothers, perhaps in a three way match.
Swagger
gets beaten up post match.
Raw
ReBound shows Shawn and Orton's showdown.
Shield
vs. Daniel Bryan/Cody Rhodes/Goldust
Orton
comes out after Bryan and says that Bryan can't beat him and that
he's in way over his head. Goldust and Reigns get things going with
the power man taking Goldie into the corner and the fast Shield tags
start. Rollins stomps Goldust down and it's quickly back to Roman
who gets caught in a Russian legsweep. A kick to the side of Roman's
head is good for two and it's off to Cody for a springboard missile
dropkick.
Rhodes
gets caught in the wrong corner as well with Roman sending him into
the post as we go to a break. Back with Ambrose raking Cody's eyes
on the top rope before it's back to Rollins for a modified chinlock.
Reigns comes back in for a splash and a chinlock of his own before
elbowing Cody down for two. Back to Rollins for some kicks to the
back before Roman comes in again for a standing chinlock. There's a
distinct lack of Ambrose int his match so far.
Cody
sidesteps a charging Roman and sends him out to the floor. Back in
and a dropkick puts Roman down again but Rollins dropkicks Goldust
off the apron. Seth gets kneed in the face for his troubles and it's
a double tag off to Ambrose vs. Bryan. Daniel responds to the YES
chants and hits all his favorites including the moonsault out of the
corner, the corner dropkick and the kick to the head. Everything
breaks down and a Disaster Kick drops Rollins.
Ambrose
and Bryan hit double clotheslines but Reigns' spear hits the steps
instead of Goldust. A running knee to Dean's ribs puts him down but
Bryan can't launch the headbutt. Dean gets two off a butterfly
superplex as Cody makes a save. Cody loads up a sunset flip from the
apron but Rollins counters into a powerbomb throw onto Goldust onto
the announce table. Back in and Bryan almost gets the YES Lock but
has to go after Rollins. The FLYING GOAT takes out Seth and Dean and
the running knee is enough to pin Ambrose at 9:48 shown of 13:18.
Rating:
B. This took time to get going
but the last five minutes or so were such complete insanity that it's
hard not to love. They kind of booked themselves into a corner here
though as you can't have the tag champions lose four days after
getting the belts and you can't have Bryan lose this close to a world
title match so Shield had to go down. Still though, fun stuff.
Overall
Rating: B-. This is what
Smackdown needs to be: focused more on action than the storytelling.
The main event as well as Punk vs. Langston were good matches and the
rest of the matches other than the Divas weren't terrible. I liked
this so much better than Raw as we didn't waste time on recapping
everything and actually did stuff. Nice show tonight.
Results
Wyatt
Family b. Kofi Kingston/The Miz – Discus lariat to Kingston
Brie
Bella b. AJ Lee – Bella Buster
CM
Punk b. Big E. Langston – GTS
Usos
b. Real Americans – Superfly Splash to Swagger
Daniel
Bryan/Cody Rhodes/Goldust b. Shield – Running knee to Ambrose
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
So glad they turned Langston face. Apparently Cena is a huge supporter of his which is good, plus they plan on him feuding with Axel over the IC title which could finally give him some good direction after leaving AJ.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Langston was so much better as a face on NXT it isn't funny.
ReplyDeleteThe leader is good, the leader is great, we surrender our will as of this day.
ReplyDeleteThey've been a NYSE traded corporation since 1999.
ReplyDeleteMaddox deserves a shout-out for selling Big Show's KO punch. Great acting job.
ReplyDeletemaybe his entrance music can make sense again!
ReplyDeleteTake anything Meltzer (or any other wrestling "journalist" for that matter) says with an ocean's worth of salt. Go write an article about how "there's a feeling that Undertaker may or may not work next year's WrestleMania", you mullet-headed hack.
ReplyDelete"They want guys with the impression that their careers in wrestling depend on making it in WWE."
Gee, I wonder why? Oh, I know! Is it because... it's fucking true? You know, unless you consider TNA a great company to work for. You can take that quote or gist in so many ways that reporting it as a negative is dishonest horseshit. For instance, out of context you could read that as "they want their young talent to appreciate their company as the greatest opportunity for stardom, and to respect their ability to make the most of their potential." In the context of WON's newsletter, it reads like "WWE wants their talent to feel like the shit under Triple H's boots."
Can they just wrap their heads around the idea that WWE is extremely corporate and runs their business just like any other? They're not the fucking Illuminati, and they're not reptilia-- well Linda looks like a lizard and Vince looks like a Komodo, but they're people with feeli-- okay, I'm rambling.
To be fair, this is not really much different from the New Japan Young Lions policy. They pick up hot young athletic talents from amateur wrestling, rugby, judo, etc and they've been doing that for decades. At least 90% of their roster at any one time will have come from their own dojo and that place seems to create at least one amazing wrestler every year to eighteen months.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they'll still dip in when they find someone from the indies with the talent level of Zayn, Ambrose, Punk or Bryan, it's just there aren't that many out there. Also, this policy becoming common knowledge will probably mean these indy guys will know what to do etiquette/'bad habits'-wise and will, no pun intended, play the game until they're hopefully at Punk and Bryan level
"Mama Said Knock You Out" is a great pump-up song.
ReplyDeleteThere is a mash-up of Ludacris' "Move" and Metallica's "Sad But True" that absolutely pumps me up. It's very hard not to scream, "Move, bitch, get out the way!" when it's on my headphones.
ReplyDelete"Sandstorm" by Darude
Any track off the Prodigy's Fat of the Land album.
Oh my God, I just had a flash-forward to Royal Rumble 2020. There's twenty people in the ring throwing clotheslines and yelling "Fellaaaaaaaa"
ReplyDeleteWhen the Motor City Machine Guns were tearing down houses constantly a few years ago, I SWORE they could be the next Edge & Christian if given the chance in WWE. Don't know why it never happened. They're talented, they have a good look and they both love THIS BUSINESS. I feel like they're two guys who should be STARS yet they never will be.
ReplyDeleteI want some HHH beans.
ReplyDeletePunk and Bryan would have a hard time getting in the door, as opposed to how easy they slipped in prior to HHH being in charge.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Great story.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk made his debut at Money In The Bank 2011, right?
ReplyDeleteNa na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na... HAITCH-MAN!
ReplyDeleteMo Murda by Bone
ReplyDeleteThe irony about it is 2 of their top guys Brock Lesnar and John Cena go by their real names. Another 2 of their top guys Bryan and Punk were indie geeks. They are talking about having Bill Goldberg (his real name) come back. Cody Rhodes, not his real name but close enough, is getting a huge push. I can't see having a punch of create-a-wrestlers with fake names like Brady King and James O'Brian being very exciting. WWE was always cool because it was a melting pot. Vince and later Jim Ross took great talent from anywhere they could find it, including other promotions. This proposed business is just that - a business model. Triple H started this shit when Jericho joined WWF and needed to learn "WWF style", his obsession has gotten worse. I for one am not looking forward to a bunch of create-a-wrestlers trained by Hugh Morrus taking over the E.
ReplyDeleteI'll say it. I can't get behind Baba O'Reilly. I like the beat but...then it breaks down to that keyboard solo and I reach for the next button. I've failed my rock n roll roots.
ReplyDeleteFantastic.
ReplyDeleteRe: Country Loving pussy: Is it better to make music about something you're not, or adapt to the kind of person you've become?
ReplyDeleteThe Dojo system is so fascinating. It's brutal as all hell, but does it ever produce.
ReplyDeleteMy old boss was the same way, on a smaller scale. He only hired college grads with no experience so he could teach them how he wants things done, pay them next to nothing, and make them feel like there are no other options.
ReplyDeleteThat's his prerogative if he wants to do business that way, but what he doesn't understand is that kind of policy leaves a whole lot of talented, experienced people outside his company, and SOMEONE is going to hire them.
Well Vince kinda resembles a lizard ;)
ReplyDeleteThe thing about guys like Meltzer and Alvarez is that they live in such a bubble that they are unable to relate to the real world. I was listening to their show once and Alvarez (Who comes across as someone who doesnt even have a high school education, listen to his shows and hear him give his thoughts on anything that is not wrestling or MMA related) thought that last year, when Heyman called someone a "Scab," he was ripping off Dana White's insults, without even realizing that a "Scab" is someone that crosses a picket line. The guy is damn near 40 and doesnt know what a scab is. Hell, Meltzer barely did either and corrected him in a half-assed way.
ReplyDeleteBottom line is that Meltzer and Alvarez are unable to relate to how the corporate world works, or even the real world for that matter. The WWE uses corporate techniques that just about every other major corporation does but those two have been in the wrestling/MMA bubble ofr so long that they only can see it from that point of view.
Triple H must be taking lessons from NHL general managers. NHL teams refrain from drafting Russian players at high positions because they are known to bolt back to the motherland to play for the KHL when things go sour in North America, so GMs prefer to draft Canadians and Americans who pretty much have nowhere else to go if they don't make it in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteADR could totally pull off the old Rougeau 'fake loving the US' gimmick. He already did a great job of coming across as a fake when he was a face.
ReplyDeleteBrock lesnar
ReplyDeleteWWE really devalued TNA by never signing any of there home grown stars. There are a lot of guys that would have done very well in WWE, but Vince no sold them. This also made TNA look very bush league when a jobber from WWE would come over and be pushed to the moon.
ReplyDeleteBasically, this is my workout mix:
ReplyDelete"Raining Blood" by Slayer
"Prowler" by Iron Maiden
"My War" by Black Flag
"I Hate Love Songs" by GWAR
"It's Too Late" by The Jim Carroll Band
"Minor Threat" by Minor Threat
"Luxury Condos for the Poor" by Double Dagger
"No Future Part III: Escape from No Future" by Titus Andronicus
"Turn the Season" by Fucked Up
"Cancer" by Iron Lung
You know, it's funny. Years and years ago, I went to a friend's college class on video or videography. Hell, I don't know exactly what it was. But everyone in the room watched student-created videos and there was a vote at the end for the best one.
ReplyDeleteThe best video, IMO, was that someone took scenes from the animated "Alice in Wonderland" and set it to the lyrics for "Rabbit Run" This discussion reminded me of this over ten years later and how much my mind was blown by it at the time.
I also remember that this guy didn't win. In a travesty of justice, the nod went to a "Behind the Music" style documentary starring Chewbaca.
upvote for Slayer
ReplyDeleteAre we sufficiently far enough along in this thread that I can suggest Viva La Vida by Coldplay and not get roasted? If yes, thats mine. Love the instrumental opening.
ReplyDeleteAlso, HHHs Time to Play the Game.
It is the #2 promotion in North America even though it's slowly dying. But with this latest rumor maybe the future CM Punks and Bryan's of the world will start to go there now, and it could(still a long shot) help the company if their still around.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to argue levels of whiteness, but Armenian and Mexican have to be fairly close to the same level of melanin.
ReplyDeleteSo...Million dollar man is to Vince as Bray Wyatt is to HHH?
ReplyDeleteHulk Hogan
ReplyDeleteRule I live by: if you you're the type of person that wouldn't upvote Slayer, I don't even want to know you.
ReplyDeleteClearly I didn't say every star ever used his real name. Actually they called him "Hogan" because he was going to color his hair red and be an Irish-American hero. Hogan pussed out and left his hard blonde.
ReplyDeleteAbout the new Eminem, I was really curious if he was still going to use the gay slurs. I guess he is grandfathered in.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on a big long diatribe about this.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had the same thought. Looked pretty vicious.
ReplyDeleteplease don't
ReplyDeleteHouse of Pain Jump Around. Digital Underground Humpty Dance.
ReplyDelete