WWE Smackdown
October 14, 2011
Dallas, Texas
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…” The WWE video leads us into the show.
The Smackdown video plays and we’re brought into the arena with some fireworks. Josh Mathews, Booker T, and Michael Cole welcome us to the show.
Smackdown’s General Manager, Teddy Long, comes out to the stage. John Laurinaitis, interim General Manager of Raw, joins him. Long says we’re all a part of history. Tonight’s episode moves Smackdown into second place on the list of longest running television programs of all time. Laurinaitis says it’s second to Raw. Laurinaitis says he’s excited to be here not only as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations but also as interim Raw GM. He’s lending Raw’s support for this special night. Long says what better way to celebrate tonight than by having the largest battle royal in WWE history. Laurinaitis says the winner will get a title match of his choosing tonight on Smackdown.
41-Man Battle Royal
CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Alex Riley vs. Curt Hawkins vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Zack Ryder vs. Mason Ryan vs. Tyler Reks vs. Drew McIntyre vs. David Otunga vs. Primo vs. JTG vs. Michael McGillicutty vs. Percy Watson vs. Santino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Christian vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ezekiel Jackson vs. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Wade Barrett vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Sin Cara II vs. Heath Slater vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Trent Barreta vs. William Regal vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso vs. Matt Striker vs. Sheamus vs. Titus O’Neil vs. Randy Orton
The bell rings and absolute mayhem ensues. Cody Rhodes is dumped over the top rope within the first ten seconds, and he is not pleased about that. Rhodes throws a tantrum at ringside, but the referees back him away from the ring. Johnny Curtis is the next to go and we’re down to 39 now. John Morrison nearly gets eliminated, but he hangs on. Morrison tries to pull Jack Swagger out, but to no avail. Dolph Ziggler pulls Randy Orton to the apron, but can’t eliminate him. Santino Marella gets David Otunga over the top rope, but Otunga hangs on to the apron. JTG is eliminated on the other side of the ring. McGillicutty gets Kingston on his shoulder, but Kingston slides off and eliminates him. Titus O’Neil grabs his NXT rival Derrick Bateman and deposits him over the top rope. The field is thinning quickly in this giant battle royal. Yoshi Tatsu and Titus O’Neil are eliminated at pretty much the same time. Both times I couldn’t see who got them out. DiBiase has Swagger in a precarious position, but Swagger slides under the bottom rope. William Regal grabs Matt Striker and tosses him out. Striker’s head bounced off the floor hard. That was nasty. Orton nearly eliminates Christian, but he hangs on. Ziggler is nearly eliminated, but he hangs on the apron. Then someone dumps Primo right on top of Ziggler’s face. Primo hangs on as well. Orton has Christian on his shoulders and tries to eliminate him, but Christian slides off.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break and madness is still going on. Morrison has Ziggler on the apron, but can’t eliminate him. They announce that there’s 32 men left in the ring. William Regal is eliminated by the man he helped train, Daniel Bryan. CM Punk then sneaks up from behind and tries to take Bryan out but can’t. Someone eliminates Percy Watson. Swagger and Ziggler then team up to take out John Morrison. Ryder then eliminates Ziggler. That’s a little revenge stemming from Ryder’s Internet show. McIntyre is hanging on the ropes for dear life. The camera cuts to Trent Barreta being eliminated. Barreta hits the ground hard. Jey Uso is eliminated as well. Orton and Punk are both hanging on the ropes. That was a cool visual. Kingston and Ryder try to eliminate Swagger as Ezekiel Jackson eliminates Ted DiBiase. Tyson Kidd is eliminated on the other side of the ring. Sin Cara II nearly eliminates Primo, but he hangs on.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break and Ryder nearly has Christian eliminated. Daniel Bryan is eliminated on the other side of the ring. They didn’t show who did it. Punk nearly eliminates Reks, but Reks hangs on. Primo is nearly eliminated, but he hangs on as well. Sheamus nearly gets Ryder out of the ring, but Ryder hangs on. Mason Ryan eliminates Tyler Reks and then hip tosses Curt Hawkins over the top rope. Miz and R-Truth beat down CM Punk in the corner. Mason Ryan back body drops McIntyre out of the ring and press slams Gabriel out. Wade Barrett then sneaks up and eliminates Ryan. Punk back body drops Primo to the apron and gives him a roundhouse to eliminate him. Santino gets knocked to the apron, takes the cobra out, and Christian punches him off the apron. Miz pulls the rope down and Alex Riley eliminates himself.
The competition is really thin now. Sheamus is trying to eliminate Heath Slater, but he can’t. Kingston is nearly eliminated, but he skins the cat. As he does that, he tries to eliminate Swagger with a head-scissor takeover. Swagger gets an ankle lock on and kicks Kingston off. Jinder Mahal eliminates Zack Ryder in your “Why?” moment of the night. Sheamus tosses Otunga over the top rope, and he slinks off the apron. Sheamus eliminates Jimmy Uso, gets out of a Torture Rack from Jackson, and clotheslines Jackson over the top rope as well. Slater gets tossed, but hangs on so Sheamus gives him a Brogue Kick to take him out.
We’re down to the final ten men now. Sin Cara II tries to give Sheamus a hurricanrana, but Sheamus doesn’t go down. Sheamus then powerbombs Sin Cara II out of the ring on top of some recently eliminated guys. Christian is behind him and tries to surprise him with a spear, but Sheamus kicks him. Christian nearly takes an Irish Cross, but he slides off. Sheamus then catches Christian and eliminates him. Jinder Mahal then knocks Sheamus down in your second “Why?” moment of the night. CM Punk eliminates R-Truth and The Miz immediately eliminates Punk. Sheamus then catches Miz with a Brogue Kick. Barrett attacks Sheamus from behind and beats him down in the corner. Sheamus comes back and winds up beating him down. CM Punk and R-Truth are going at it at ringside, distracting the referees. Christian then runs in and eliminates Sheamus despite not being in the match. The referees don’t know this. Sheamus chases Christian to the back.
Randy Orton easily throws Wade Barrett over the top rope. Orton ducks a Swagger clothesline and RKOs him. Orton eliminates Swagger and immediately RKOs Mahal. Orton thinks he’s won this, but Miz comes back in and nearly eliminates him. Miz viciously beats on Orton and charges. Orton clotheslines him a pair of times and hits a nice powerslam. Orton stalks his prey and goes for an RKO, but Miz counters into a Skull Crushing Finale attempt. Orton counters with a snapmare. Orton throws Miz to the apron, but he hangs on. Miz shoulders him and pulls him to the apron. They punch it out on the apron. This reminds me of a battle royal from a 2004 Raw where Jericho and Orton do the same thing. Miz pushes Orton into the ring post. Orton then comes back and RKOs him. They both fall to the floor and appear to hit at the same time. The referees consult and a replay is shown. The Miz’s feet were the first to hit, so Randy Orton is your winner.
Winner: Randy Orton
Match Rating: **
Josh Mathews interviews Randy Orton in the ring. Mathews asks which champion Orton will face tonight. Orton says the decision is easy. Orton asks if everyone remembers when he said vengeance would be his on Raw. Orton chooses Mark Henry. Not only will vengeance be his, but also he will take back his World Heavyweight Championship.
Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres are seen walking backstage. Kelly will be in action next.
-Commercial Break-
Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez are walking backstage. Teddy Long runs up to him and asks where he’s going. Del Rio says Orton chose Mark Henry since he knows he can’t beat him. Del Rio says there’s no reason for him to be here so he’s leaving. Long says Del Rio is going to go one-on-one with Sheamus. Del Rio isn’t happy about that.
Beth Phoenix w/ Natalya vs. Kelly Kelly w/ Eve Torres
They fight it out in the corner to start it out. Kelly ducks a clothesline and goes for that head-scissor, but Beth counters into a backbreaker for a near fall. Kelly fights back and hits a Thesz Press. Kelly gets sent to the ropes, barely hits them, and hits a DDT for a near fall. Kelly goes for a handspring back elbow, but Beth back body drops her to the apron. Beth bounces her off the turnbuckle, pulls her into the ring, and hits the Glam Slam for the decisive win.
Winner by Pinfall: Beth Phoenix
Match Rating: 1/2 *
The announcers talk about the WWE Network. Booker T hints at hosting a show called “The Book Show”.
Randy Orton will take on Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship later tonight.
-Commercial Break-
Sin Cara’s music hits, but he doesn’t come out. They cut to a camera backstage to see Sin Cara II beating him up. The referees break it up. Sin Cara II rips Sin Cara’s mask off and puts it on for himself.
Justin Gabriel vs. Sin Cara II
Sin Cara quickly kicks and punches away at Gabriel. Cara chops the chest and punches. Gabriel sends him to the ropes and dropkicks him out of the ring. Gabriel hits a nice corkscrew plancha and throws him into the ring. Gabriel springboards off the top rope into a dropkick. Sin Cara punches, goes into the ropes, and Gabriel catches him with a sit-out powerbomb. Gabriel goes to the top rope and Cara crotches him. Cara goes to the top rope, hits a Swanton Bomb, and picks up the pin.
Winner by Pinfall: Sin Cara II
Match Rating: 3/4 *
Teddy Long is talking to Air Bourne backstage. Vickie Guerrero walks up pretending to cry. Vickie wants Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler to get a Tag Team Championship match tonight. Long turns it down because Evan Bourne is hurt. Zack Ryder comes up and suggests he and Kingston take on her guys. Long likes that and Vickie isn’t happy about that.
Sheamus will take on Alberto Del Rio next.
-Commercial Break-
Ricardo Rodriguez is in the ring and he introduces WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio to the ring.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus
They lock up and Sheamus gets a side headlock applied. Del Rio whips him off, but Sheamus shoulder blocks him down. They circle the ring and Sheamus ducks a clothesline. Sheamus takes Del Rio down and tries to get him tied up in the ropes. Sheamus gets him tied up and hammers away at his chest. Sheamus hits a short-arm clothesline for a two count. Del Rio sidesteps Sheamus in the corner and hits a missile dropkick. Del Rio kicks Sheamus and begins working on the arm. Sheamus punches out, but Del Rio quickly takes him down with a double knee arm breaker. Del Rio applies an overhead wristlock, but Sheamus punches out. Del Rio runs into a back elbow and Sheamus clotheslines him down a few times. Sheamus hits a powerslam and clotheslines him in the corner. Sheamus hits an Irish Curse backbreaker for a near fall.
Sheamus goes to the top rope so Ricardo Rodriguez gets on the apron. Sheamus punches him off and the referee argues with Rodriguez to go to the floor. Christian then runs down and crotches Sheamus. Del Rio hits a step-up enzuigiri and kicks him in the head a second time for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Alberto Del Rio
Match Rating: * 1/2
Alberto Del Rio quickly leaves the ring. Christian then gets in and spears Sheamus down. Christian leaves the ring but turns around to see Sheamus getting up. Christian gets back in the ring and spears him a second time. Christian leaves the ring smiling as Sheamus angrily looks at him. Sheamus fights up to his feet and Christian looks like he can’t believe he did that.
Mark Henry will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton later tonight. Orton chose this match after winning a 41-man Battle Royal earlier tonight.
-Commercial Break-
EXCUSE ME! Vickie Guerrero comes out to the stage and introduces Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler to the ring.
Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger w/ Vickie Guerrero vs. Kofi Kingston & Zack Ryder w/ Evan Bourne
Jack Swagger starts the match out against Zack Ryder. They lock up and Swagger gets a side headlock. Ryder whips him off and takes a shoulder block. Swagger goes into the ropes and Ryder hits a flapjack. Swagger quickly comes back with a belly-to-belly side suplex. Ziggler is tagged in and he kicks Ryder. Ziggler talks a little trash and hits a neckbreaker for a one count. Ziggler elbows Ryder and applies a chin lock. Ryder fights up and punches out. Ziggler sends him to the ropes and Ryder comes back with an X-Factor.
Kingston is tagged in and he hits a springboard chop on Ziggler. Kingston knocks Swagger off the apron and takes Ziggler down a few times. Kingston hits the Boom Drop on Ziggler and sets up for the Trouble in Paradise, but Swagger pulls Ziggler out of the ring. Kingston then charges and takes both Swagger and Ziggler out with a suicide dive.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Kingston trapped in an arm bar. During the commercial, Swagger pulled Kingston off the top rope as he was attempting a springboard. Ziggler punches Kingston down and hits a leg bulldog for a near fall. Swagger is tagged in and he punches away at Kingston. Swagger hooks both arms and applies some pressure. Kingston punches out and tries to tag in Ryder, but Swagger powers him to the corner. Kingston finally comes back with a nice DDT and they’re both down.
Both Ryder and Ziggler are tagged in. Ryder hits some clotheslines and puts him in the corner. Ryder forearms him down and hits the Broski Boot for a near fall. Ziggler comes back with a dropkick. Ziggler charges into Ryder’s knees. Ryder goes for the Rough Ryder, but Ziggler gets out of it. Ziggler applies the Sleeper Hold, but Ryder runs him off and into the ring post. Ryder tries to get Kingston in, but Swagger knocks Kingston off the apron. The referee admonishes Swagger and Kingston hits the Trouble in Paradise as his back is turned. Kingston puts Ryder on top of Ziggler and he picks up the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Kofi Kingston & Zack Ryder
Match Rating: * 1/2
They play the Raw Rebound. That wasn’t the greatest episode.
Randy Orton will take on Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship later tonight.
-Commercial Break-
Matt Striker interviews Sheamus about Christian screwing him twice tonight. Sheamus says Christian is a pain in the arse that he can’t get rid of. Christian reminds him of a troll he knew in Ireland. Sheamus bit the troll in the arse and booted him right off the bridge. Sheamus says Christian is the troll and he’s the bull. Next time he sees Christian, he’ll boot his stupid face right off his skull.
They show a recap of Big Show’s return to Smackdown last week.
Mark Henry makes his entrance. He’ll attempt to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton next.
-Commercial Break-
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Mark Henry (c) vs. Randy Orton
Charles Robinson, my favorite referee in the world, is the official for this match. They lock up and Henry powers Orton to the corner. Orton ducks a punch and punches away at him. Orton ducks a clothesline and he punches away at him. Orton ducks another clothesline and continues punching away at him. Henry drops to a knee and Orton geos for a clothesline, but Henry quickly pushes him out of the ring. Henry follows him out and walks into a right hand. Henry quickly punches him down and tosses him into the ring post. Henry rolls him into the ring for a near fall. Henry punches and head-butts him in the corner. Henry clubs him down and applies a nerve hold to the shoulders. Orton fights out and runs into a back elbow. Henry stands on Orton’s back. Henry picks him up, head-butts him down, and applies another nerve hold. Orton fights up and punches out, again. Orton kicks him in the corner until the referee backs him up. Orton goes into the ropes and eats a clothesline from Henry. Henry drops an elbow for a near fall.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Henry kicking Orton in the corner. Henry apparently dominated Orton during the break. Henry hits a nice delayed powerslam for a near fall. Henry chokes Orton in the corner. Henry hits a nice body slam and hits a big splash for a near fall. Henry sets him up by the turnbuckle and goes for the Vader Bomb, but Orton gets his feet up. Orton tries to clothesline him down, but Henry doesn’t go down. Orton tries it again and meets the same result. Orton then takes him down with a nice dropkick. Cody Rhodes run in and starts beating up on Orton. The referee calls the match.
Winner by Disqualification: Randy Orton
Mark Henry is still the World Heavyweight Champion
Match Rating: * 1/2
Rhodes and Henry beat on Orton for a bit. Rhodes grabs a paper bag mask and Big Show runs down. Big Show wildly punches away at Henry. Big Show takes him down with a shoulder block and catches Rhodes flying. Big Show shoves him into Orton and Orton hits Rhodes with the RKO. Orton punches away at Henry and he stumbles into a Chokeslam from Big Show. Orton and Big Show stand tall in the ring.
Quick Match Results
Randy Orton wins a 41-man Battle Royal
Beth Phoenix def. Kelly Kelly (non-title)
Sin Cara II def. Justin Gabriel
Alberto Del Rio def. Sheamus (non-title)
Kofi Kingston & Zack Ryder def. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger
Randy Orton def. Mark Henry via DQ (Henry retains the World Heavyweight Championship)
Bump of the Night: Matt Striker’s elimination from the Battle Royal
Match of the Night: The 41-man Battle Royal
Mike’s Thoughts
Ok – let’s recap exactly what happened tonight. Nothing – literally nothing happened. They massaged their egos for the entire show about how this is the second longest running show in television history. Then they had a pointless Battle Royal just so Randy Orton could get yet another title shot. You knew Orton wasn’t going to win because that would make Mark Henry’s match against the Big Show pointless, so what did we watch, really? I’ve been saying this for a few weeks now. Ever since they started doing these Raw Supershows, they’ve put almost zero thought into Smackdown and it’s storylines. Tonight’s episode featured absolutely nothing. They put together matches just for the sake of having matches. Basically you could miss this show and miss absolutely nothing.
That being said, I’m still a recapper and it’s my job to give you a full review of the show, including what I thought of it.
The Battle Royal was one giant cluster-you-know-what – but it was an entertaining cluster-you-know-what. Multi-man disaster matches like this normally isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I happen to like them. I thought they did a great job considering how many men were in the ring at once. The ending was a little silly, but the match itself was good. It killed some time and that’s why they put this match together in the first place. Randy Orton chose to face Mark Henry in the “Didn’t see that coming” moment of the night.
The divas wrestled and Beth Phoenix decisively beat Kelly Kelly. I’m not sure why this was a non-title match. Being that it was a non-title match, did Beth Phoenix really need to beat her so decisively? Beth Phoenix destroying her so easily kind of cancels out the point or the effectiveness of the title rematch in my opinion.
How bad is this Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud? The boos for the evil Sin Cara tonight were so fake. This Sin Cara feud is like the war in Iraq – no exit strategy (Credit to my friend John Serpico). This should have ended at Hell in a Cell.
Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus had a pretty decent match tonight. Sheamus is on such a hot streak that it’s nearly impossible for him to have a bad match. It also helps that Alberto Del Rio was in the match, and he’s a solid wrestler. Christian screwed Sheamus for the second time tonight, so I guess something did sort of happen storyline-wise. They’ll most likely face each other at Vengeance in a more important match than the one they had at Hell in a Cell.
After that the show was pretty much a recap show for the next half hour with a tag team match sprinkled in there somewhere. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s videos of stuff that happened a week ago. I don’t mind them throwing in random, pointless matches to kill time. The videos drive me nuts.
The main event was pretty decent. I absolutely love Mark Henry. This was show was desperately in need of a promo from him, especially considering what Big Show has done to him. Henry had a decent match with Orton until Cody Rhodes ran down for the DQ. Big Show then ran in and the faces wound up standing tall. I’m not a fan of Mark Henry being left laying for two weeks in a row, but I guess they have to make Big Show seem like a beast for now. I don’t think Big Show has a chance in hell of winning the title, though.
Final Rating: * 3/4
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