WWE Smackdown
February 17, 2012
Fresno, California
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
We see a video highlighting the Big Show vs. Randy Orton match from this past Monday’s Raw. Orton and Big Show were in the middle of having a decent match when Daniel Bryan interfered and hit Orton in the back of the head with his World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan then hit Big Show over the head with the championship as well.
Randy Orton is backstage in Teddy Long’s office. They’re sitting on a couch, and Orton does not look happy. The crowd is chanting his name. Long says he’s sorry, but it’s out of his hands, as well as Orton’s. Long says that he can see that Orton is dressed to compete, but he can’t allow that. Long says that Orton has a concussion, and he’s not medically cleared to compete. Long says Daniel Bryan will get his, but it won’t be from Orton, at least not tonight. Bryan isn’t even there yet. Long says there is security on the other side of the door, and they’re ready to escort Orton out of the building. Long says the reason he’s doing that is because he knows how Orton is, and he can’t blame him one bit. Long says he’s concerned for Orton’s head and his health. Orton cannot compete tonight or in the Elimination Chamber. Long says he’s sorry. Orton gets up and slowly leaves.
The Smackdown video plays, and we’re brought into the arena with a big fireworks display. Josh Mathews, Booker T, and Michael Cole welcome us to the show.
Big Show and The Great Khali vs. Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett
Khali will start the match out against Barrett. Barrett circles Khali and kicks him a few times. Khali eventually blocks one, and he pushes Barrett down. Khali elbows him in the corner and chops the chest. Barrett forcibly tags in Rhodes. Rhodes taunts the crowd before ducking a lockup and slapping Khali. Khali grabs him by the throat, pushes him into the ropes, and clubs him down. Khali chops the chest in the corner, and Rhodes curls up into a ball in the middle of the ring. Barrett blind tags in, and Rhodes kicks Khali in the knee. Barrett kicks Khali in the face and knocks him down with a forearm for a one count. Barrett kicks away at Khali and chokes him. Rhodes tags in, and he continues to choke Khali. Rhodes stomps and applies a chin lock. Rhodes releases it as Khali was getting up, and he takes him out with a diving elbow. Rhodes goes to the second rope and dives, but Khali catches him by the throat. Khali throws him away.
Big Show and Barrett are tagged in. Big Show hits a pair of clotheslines, sends him to the corner, hits a butt bump, and he finishes him off with a spear. Big Show catches Rhodes interfering, and he throws him over the top rope. Big Show quickly follows up with a Chokeslam on Barrett, and that’s the end of this match.
Winners by Pinfall: Big Show and The Great Khali
Match Rating: * 1/4
The Great Khali wants to celebrate with the Big Show, but Big Show instead knocks him out with the WMD! Big Show quickly walks off.
Teddy Long is on the phone with someone explaining that Randy Orton isn’t in the Elimination Chamber because he has a concussion. Long says he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. Mark Henry walks in, and he says he’s here to be put in the Elimination Chamber. Henry tells Long to do the right thing. Henry tells him to not let his foolish pride get in the way of this business. Henry says now Long sees it his way, and he needs him in the Elimination Chamber. Big Show walks in, and he says he just did Long a favor in the tag match. Big Show says he wants Daniel Bryan tonight. Henry tells Big Show to hold on and wait his turn. Henry tells him to take his heavy breathing and drooling somewhere else. Big Show takes Henry out with the WMD, and he demands Long give him what he wants. Big Show then destroys Long’s office, and Long runs away. Big Show gave the flat-screen TV a WMD.
-Commercial Break-
Teddy Long is backstage with security, and he tells them they have to escort Big Show out of the building. Long says he can’t have anyone threatening him. One of the security guards says he doesn’t want to go anywhere near that angry giant. Long says he’ll call for backup.
Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico w/ Camacho
Hunico said before the match that DiBiase stole a victory from him last week, and that’s illegal where he comes from. Hunico says when you steal from him he takes it back. DiBiase is wrestling this match with a soft cast on his left wrist.
They circle the ring, and Hunico punches him to the corner. Hunico backs up, and DiBiase turns him in the corner. DiBiase punches him down, and Camacho quickly gets on the apron. Hunico flips through a back suplex, hits a head-scissor takeover, and he runs into a big boot from DiBiase for a one count. Hunico quickly takes DiBiase down with an arm breaker. Hunico applies an arm bar, but DiBiase quickly fights up. Hunico clubs him and goes for a head-scissor takeover, but DiBiase counters with a face-buster. Hunico sidesteps DiBiase charging in the corner, and he goes to the top rope. DiBiase dropkicks him out of mid-air, but he may have tweaked the wrist. The referee is checking on Hunico as Camacho snaps DiBiase’s arm off the top rope. Hunico rolls DiBiase up and grabs the tights for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Hunico
Match Rating: 3/4 *
They announce that Daniel Bryan is on his way to the arena. He’ll appear later on tonight.
-Commercial Break-
They play a highlight video of Shawn Michaels’ return to Monday Night Raw. HBK confronted Triple H about his decision to not face the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVIII. HBK says that Triple H has become a corporate sellout, and Triple H said he looks at Undertaker as a brand. Undertaker was then shown cutting off his hair in a video.
The Usos make their way to the ring for a tag match. Their opponents will be Epico and Primo.
-Commercial Break-
Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Epico and Primo w/ Rosa Mendes
The bell rings, and Primo will start out against Jimmy Uso. Jimmy wrenches the arm, but Primo twists out. Jimmy head-butts him, dances, and hits another head-butt. Jey is tagged in, and he hits a clothesline for a one count. Jimmy tags back in, and they hit a double elbow/elbow drop combo for a near fall. Jimmy punches him to the corner, and he starts the ten punches on Primo. Epico distracts the referee, and Primo crotches Jimmy on the top rope. Primo punches and slams him down. Primo punches him some more before hitting a back leg sweep. Epico is tagged in, and he hits a slingshot senton for a near fall. Epico punches away at him, puts him in the corner, and stomps him down. Primo is tagged in, and he hits a dropkick. Primo does a cartwheel, and Rosa dances on the outside. Primo applies a chin lock. Jimmy fights up, but Primo slams him down. Primo taunts Jey, and he goes back to the chin lock on Jimmy. Jimmy fights up, and he punches out. Primo kicks and sends him to the corner. Jimmy sidesteps him, and Primo misses.
Jey and Epico are tagged in. Jey hits a pair of clotheslines, kicks him, uppercuts him, and hits a nice corkscrew forearm to the face. Jey gets the crowd into it before missing a running butt bump. Jey quickly connects with a nice Samoan Drop for a near fall. Epico quickly tags in Primo, and Jey throws Epico over the top rope. Jey counts a Backstabber, and Jimmy clotheslines Epico on the outside. Jey hits a thrust kick, and he tags in his brother Jimmy. Primo gets his knees up on a top rope splash, and he quickly connects with a Backstabber for the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Epico and Primo
Match Rating: **
Michael Cole announces that Big Show has voluntarily left the building. Daniel Bryan is seen walking backstage.
-Commercial Break-
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan addresses the crowd
The crowd boos Daniel Bryan as he makes his way to the ring. Bryan smiles and says the people must have seen what he did on Monday Night Raw. Bryan says he got two for the price of one. Bryan says it was time for him to declare himself and show everyone who he is and what he’s about. They then show a replay of Bryan hitting Orton and Big Show with the championship on Raw. Bryan says he understands that Big Show has been escorted out of the building just like Randy Orton. Bryan says it’s convenient. If either of them were real men and had guts, they would be out here facing him in the ring right now. Bryan says they aren’t because they are afraid. Bryan says he can smell it in the arena and locker room. Everyone is afraid of Daniel Bryan. They’re afraid of tapping out and making them look ridiculous by beating them once again. Bryan says he just keeps on winning.
Bryan says he knows that no one in the crowd ever thought that he would be the World Heavyweight Champion. No one had faith in him, but he proved everybody wrong. This Sunday at Elimination Chamber, he will prove everyone wrong yet again. Bryan says he knows that he’ll be facing overwhelming odds, but he’s been beating the odds his entire life. As sure as he would have beaten Randy Orton in tonight’s main event, he will be victorious at the Elimination Chamber. The crowd chants that he sucks.
Because Randy Orton isn’t there, just to make it official, Bryan tells Lillian Garcia to announce that he has won the match by forfeit. Lillian Garcia looks confused, and she reluctantly does it. Bryan celebrates wildly in the ring with the title.
Teddy Long’s music hits, and he comes out to the stage. Long says before Bryan starts celebrating his big victory, he hasn’t even competed yet. Long says that’s what he and everyone in the arena wants to see. Due to medical reasons it won’t be Randy Orton. However, he has someone who was happy to accept the challenge. Sheamus’s music hits, and he makes his way to the ring. This match is next!
-Commercial Break-
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Charles Robinson, my favorite referee in the world, is the official for this match. The bell rings, and they circle the ring. They lock up, and Sheamus gets a quick side headlock takeover. Bryan fights up, whips Sheamus off, and takes a shoulder block. They go into the ropes, over and under one another, and Bryan blocks a hip toss. Bryan back flips over, and Sheamus hits a clothesline. Sheamus puts him in the corner and punches away. Sheamus sends him to the ropes and hits a back elbow for a one count. Sheamus wrenches the arm and tries to hyperextend it. Sheamus takes him down and applies an arm bar. Bryan fights up and kicks away at Sheamus. Sheamus blocks one, but Bryan comes right back with more kicks. Sheamus back body drops him to the apron, and he catches Bryan with a knee to the face. Sheamus then unleashes those vicious clubs to the chest. Bryan falls to the outside.
Bryan grabs his championship and goes to leave, but Sheamus cuts him off with a shoulder block. Sheamus throws him into the ring, and Bryan dropkicks him off the apron. Bryan hits a flying knee off the apron, and he gets in the ring to look for a count-out. Sheamus gets back in the ring at five. Bryan kicks away at Sheamus, and he hits a vicious running dropkick to the face. Bryan drags him away from the ropes and picks up a one count. Sheamus punches him a few times, and he punches away at him. Bryan takes him down with a single leg, and he slams the leg on the apron. Bryan backs up and hits a running dropkick in the corner.
Bryan viciously kicks him in the chest, but Sheamus comes back with some punches. Sheamus hits a couple of hammer throws, clotheslines him in the corner, and hits a nice powerslam for a near fall. Sheamus goes for the Irish Curse, but Bryan counters into a LeBell Lock attempt. Sheamus whips him off and hits a nice clothesline. Sheamus taunts and goes for the Celtic Cross. Bryan slides off, has a kick blocked, and Sheamus throws him to the corner. Sheamus punches away at him, and Charles Robinson backs him up. Bryan slaps Sheamus in the face, and Sheamus goes nuts with kicks in the corner. Robinson backs him up again. Bryan spits in Sheamus’s face, and Sheamus goes nuts on him. Robinson backs him up for the third time, and Bryan motions for Sheamus to “bring it”. Sheamus throws Robinson off him, and Robinson calls for the disqualification.
Winner by Disqualification: Daniel Bryan
Match Rating: ** 1/4
Wade Barrett walks into Teddy Long’s destroyed office. Barrett wants to know who Randy Orton’s replacement is. Cody Rhodes walks in, and he says he’ll beat everyone in the Elimination Chamber. Rhodes says he needs to know who the sixth man will be. Long says anyone who has ever put on a pair of wrestling boots will get the opportunity to enter the Elimination Chamber. Long says he’s inviting everyone in the building to be a part of the Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal. Rhodes says you can’t just put some no name in the Elimination Chamber. Long says someone is going to get the opportunity of a lifetime. They sulk away.
-Commercial Break-
Jinder Mahal vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Mahal kicks and clubs Jackson. Mahal knees him a few times in the midsection, but Jackson pushes him away. Jackson avoids a knee and sends him to the ropes for a big shoulder block. Jackson clubs him, sends him to the corner, and hits some clotheslines. Jackson sends him to the other corner and splashes him. Jackson hits a sidewalk slam, and he goes for the Torture Rack. Mahal gets off and hits a DDT. Mahal applies a Camel Clutch, but Jackson fights out. Mahal applies a chin lock and tries to jump on the back, but he slides off. Mahal eventually does jump on the back, but Jackson backs him to the corner. Mahal eventually hits a falling face-buster and applies the Camel Clutch for the win.
Winner by Submission: Jinder Mahal
Match Rating: 1/4 *
They show clippings of how similar Tamina’s top rope splash looks to her father’s. Tamina Snuka and Alicia Fox will take on Beth Phoenix and Natalya next.
-Commercial Break-
Tamina Snuka and Alicia Fox vs. Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Alicia Fox and Beth Phoenix will start it out. Beth gets her in a full nelson, but Alicia slides out. Alicia kicks her and dropkicks her down. Natalya tags in, and she’s all smiles. Natalya gets a waist lock applied, but Alicia whips her off. Natalya kips up, and she congratulates herself. Alicia bends under a clothesline, leapfrogs her, and hits a monkey flip. Alicia smacks her on the posterior, and Natalya shoves her. Natalya runs out of the ring, and Alicia follows. Natalya gets in, and she quickly gives Alicia a nice face-buster for a near fall. Natalya chokes her on the ropes, and Beth gets a quick kick to Alicia’s face. Natalya applies an overhead wristlock, but Alicia fights up and whips her off.
Alicia goes for a leapfrog, but Natalya takes her down for a Sharpshooter. The referee acts like Natalya just farted in his face, and he doesn’t see Alicia tapping out. Tamina is tagged in, and she hits Natalya with a Samoan Drop. Tamina goes to the top rope and hits a Superfly Splash for the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Tamina Snuka and Alicia Fox
Match Rating: * 1/4
Tamina immediately takes Beth Phoenix down with a superkick. Tamina goes to the top rope for a Superfly Splash on the Diva’s Champion, but Beth gets out of the ring before she jumps. Beth grabs the championship and hugs it at ringside.
Teddy Long is on the phone in his office when John Laurinaitis walks in. Laurinaitis asks what Long is doing. The Elimination Chamber is about star power, and he says he can’t just let someone with no charisma in the match. Laurinaitis says he’s going to bring some excitement into the match, and he’s going to enter David Otunga into the Battle Royal. Otunga shakes Long’s hand. Long asks what the smell is, and Otunga says it’s his designer cologne. Long says Otunga is a lawyer, and he has that lawyer stink on him.
We’ll see Kane’s attack on Zack Ryder next.
-Commercial Break-
They show the Raw Rebound with Kane’s attack on Zack Ryder being featured. Kane threw Ryder off the stage while he was in his wheelchair. They then run down the entire Elimination Chamber card.
The Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal is next.
-Commercial Break-
Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal
Santino Marella vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Curt Hawkins vs. Tyler Reks vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Ezekiel Jackson vs. Epico vs. Primo vs. Heath Slater vs. Alex Riley vs. Darren Young vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Derrick Bateman vs. Percy Watson vs. Michael McGillicutty vs. Titus O’Neil vs. Hunico vs. Johnny Curtis vs. Camacho vs. David Otunga
The bell sounds, and absolute mayhem ensues almost immediately. Santino seems to be weaving in and out of the fights. Derrick Bateman is hanging on the top rope, but David Otunga punches him off, eliminating him. Justin Gabriel puts Hunico over the top rope, but he hangs on. David Otunga eliminates Percy Watson. Heath Slater is trying to throw out Michael McGillicutty. Ezekiel Jackson throws out Titus O’Neil, and Drew McIntyre soon eliminates Jey Uso. Tyson Kidd attacks McIntyre. Santino and Otunga are going at it. McIntyre press slams Kidd out of the ring and onto Jey Uso. McIntyre quickly knocks Slater down. Jackson has Heath Slater on the apron, and Mahal eliminates him with a kick to the skull. Darren Young tries to eliminate DiBiase, but he lands on the apron. Young charges, and DiBiase pulls the top rope down. They’re both hanging off the top rope, inches from the floor, and DiBiase kicks Young off to eliminate him. Very soon after, Hunico eliminates Yoshi Tatsu. DiBiase back body drops Camacho to the apron and dropkicks him to eliminate him. Gabriel slingshots McGillicutty over the top rope for an elimination.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see DiBiase nearly eliminate Mahal. Santino Marella tries to eliminate Tyler Reks, but Reks hangs on. Curt Hawkins tries to catch Gabriel with a head-scissor, but Gabriel throws him over the top rope. Primo and Epico eliminate Alex Riley from the match. Hunico and Santino try to eliminate Otunga. Primo and Epico front suplex Reks onto the top rope. They then throw Johnny Curtis into Tyler Reks to eliminate the two of them. Primo and Epico eliminate Jimmy Uso, and Primo soon eliminates Epico. Epico can’t believe it. Hunico eliminates DiBiase with a hurricanrana, and he gloats on the apron. DiBiase rips him off the apron to eliminate him, and he clotheslines him down.
Primo throws Gabriel over the top rope, but Gabriel hangs on. Gabriel throws Primo over the top rope, but he hangs on as well. Primo charges, but Gabriel slides through his legs. Gabriel clotheslines him to the apron, Primo flips in, and Gabriel attempts to suplex him out of the ring. Primo drags Gabriel to the apron, and Gabriel spin kicks him in the head to eliminate him. Ezekiel Jackson quickly eliminates Gabriel. Jackson clotheslines Mahal down, puts him in the Torture Rack, and dumps him out of the ring for the elimination.
The final four are Santino Marella, David Otunga, Drew McIntyre, and Ezekiel Jackson. Santino puts the Cobra on his arm. McIntyre and Otunga take him down, but Jackson breaks it up. Jackson clubs Otunga down, and he clubs away at McIntyre. Jackson sends McIntyre to the corner, and he runs into his boots. McIntyre then takes Otunga down with a big boot. McIntyre gets pumped up, and Santino eliminates him. Otunga sneaks up and tries to eliminate Santino, but Jackson attacks him. Jackson goes for a powerslam on Santino, but he slides off. Jackson charges, and Santino pulls the top rope down to eliminate him!
Otunga quickly clotheslines Santino down. The crowd is chanting for Santino. Otunga puts him in the corner, but Santino begins to pump himself up. Otunga punches away at him, but Santino marches around the ring. Santino shakes the ropes, absorbs a punch, and he punches away at Otunga. Santino splits under a clothesline and hits a hip toss. Santino goes for the diving head-butt, but Otunga moves at the last second. Otunga hits a neckbreaker, and he taunts the crowd. Otunga goes to throw him over the top rope, but Santino turns it at the last minute to eliminate David Otunga for the win!
Winner: Santino Marella
Match Rating: **
Santino Marella celebrates wildly in the ring. Santino Marella will be the final entrant into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match!
Quick Match Results
Big Show and The Great Khali def. Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett
Hunico def. Ted DiBiase
Epico and Primo def. Jimmy and Jey Uso (non-title)
Daniel Bryan def. Sheamus via DQ (non-title)
Jinder Mahal def. Ezekiel Jackson via Submission
Tamina Snuka and Alicia Fox def. Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Santino Marella won the Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal
Bump of the Night: McIntyre press slamming Tyson Kidd out of the ring
Match of the Night: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan ** 1/4
Mike’s Thoughts
I liked the opening tag team match tonight. Big Show was obviously unhappy about the Randy Orton concussion, and he was an absolute force in this match. Big Show showed great intensity in the short match, and he definitely looks to be one of the favorites heading into the Chamber. However, with Wade Barrett flying under the radar so much and taking all the pins, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come out as the victor this Sunday. It was a decent little match to open the show with, and Big Show was definitely the focal point of it. I also enjoyed the backstage segment right after with Teddy Long, Mark Henry, and Big Show. It was nice to see Mark Henry, even if it was just for a moment. Big Show’s knockout punch was nasty on him, and the destruction of Long’s office was fun to watch. I actually laughed when he gave the TV a WMD.
The mini-storyline that will never end with Ted DiBiase and Hunico had another chapter written tonight. Other than what I thought was a gutsy showing last week, this has been terrible. This was the same match that they’ve been having for two months now. The only thing they do is switch victories every week. They hardly ever change up the rigid formula they’ve made for each other. It’s the same moves, same counters, and almost the same spots every week. I don’t want to hear the excuse that they’re not given a lot of time or that I hate the mid-card. This was garbage. You make the most out of the time you’re given, and I don’t think they utilize their time wisely. It was a boring and uncreative two-minute match.
I really enjoyed the Usos/Epico and Primo match tonight. Week in and week out, Epico and Primo have been working their butts off to put on entertaining matches. These guys are something special to watch in the ring, and so are the Usos. They did a tremendous job in this as well. We’ve seen the match before, but they’re able to use their skills to switch things up and make it exciting and unpredictable. This is great work from these four men.
I actually thought Daniel Bryan did a very decent job with his promo tonight. Bryan came in with a tremendous reaction, and this time he didn’t kill it off with a boring promo about being a vegan. This time he was intense and to the point. This is what he’s needed to do for the past few weeks. It wasn’t a huge homerun, but it was good enough. Bryan then went on to have a very good match against Sheamus. Sheamus is absolutely tremendous and red hot right now. These two match up well, and it would be a great WrestleMania match if Bryan somehow manages to win this Sunday. How interesting would that be? Last year these two were supposed to fight for the United States Title only to have the match be the dark match of WrestleMania. This year they could be one of the main events. I don’t think it’ll happen, but it’s a thought. Anyway, the facials by Sheamus after getting spat in the face were great as well. This was a fun, hard-hitting match, and one I would like to see again.
Jinder Mahal wrestled, and it wasn’t pretty. The guy can’t even jump on another guy’s back without messing it up. What can I say? Ezekiel Jackson did his best.
I enjoyed the diva’s tag team match tonight. They were given more time than they usually are given, and they turned out a very decent match. Even Alicia Fox wasn’t bad in this. I liked how they worked in Natalya’s bowel movements to the finish of the match. That was pretty funny.
So Santino Marella is going into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber, and I like it. Would Santino be my first choice? The easy answer is no. The simple fact is that the Smackdown roster has been decimated by injuries. Mark Henry is obviously too banged up to be in the match, they can’t do anything with Sheamus, and Christian’s injury must be healing slower than expected. The injury bug continues to strike Smackdown into 2012. The only other “over” guy on the brand is really Santino. Santino has been around long enough. Granted he’s been used like a joke, but who else do they have? Booker T? It’s a decent idea, but it’s time for him to be an announcer. Santino is the right choice and the only real choice that they had. That being said, I enjoyed the Battle Royal tonight. For a match that had no main eventers in it, they did a decent job with it. Some of the spots, particularly the stuff with Primo and Justin Gabriel, were very well done. It was a fun match with a great ending that the crowd responded well to.
Final Rating: ** 3/4
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Thanks for reading! Enjoy Elimination Chamber!