WWE Smackdown
October 7, 2011
Biloxi, Mississippi
Report by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
They play a video highlighting the problems WWE’s COO Triple H has been having over the last few weeks. They then show Triple H asking for a vote of confidence from the roster this past Monday. The roster, including the referees, camera men, and announcers, turned their backs and walks out on him.
General Manager Teddy Long is backstage and on the phone. Zack Ryder walks up and asks Long if that was Triple H. Ryder says he was only doing what everyone else was doing. Long says Triple H called because he didn’t want to risk another walk out like they had on Raw, so he’s leaving the show in Long’s hands. Ryder asks if Long knew what Triple H was going to do to the people that walked out. Long says he doesn’t know, but mentions that Raw’s loss is Smackdown’s gain.
The Smackdown video plays, and we’re brought into the arena with a big fireworks display. Josh Mathews, Michael Cole, and Booker T welcome us to the show. They promote that Big Show is returning tonight and he has his sights set on Mark Henry.
EXCUSE ME! Vickie Guerrero is in the ring surrounded by Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, David Otunga, Christian, Wade Barrett, and Jack Swagger. Vickie welcomes us to the one-year anniversary of Smackdown being on SyFy. Christian grabs the microphone and welcomes the crowd to the beginning of “the walk out”. This all started because he had the courage to stand up to Triple H, telling him he didn’t like, or appreciate, how he was running Raw. Christian questioned his motives, lack of respect for others, and many other things. Because of Christian’s actions, he inspired this entire uprising.
Dolph Ziggler grabs the microphone and says the walk out was because of all of them. They all banded together because of Triple H’s leadership skills being ineffective. Ziggler mentions that almost every WWE Superstar followed their lead on Monday and walked out. Ziggler says he’ll leave the reason why their on Smackdown to their legal council, David Otunga.
Otunga says the situation is Triple H’s actions have fostered an unsafe work environment on Raw. In the interest of their own safety, they had no choice other than to walk out. The fact that Triple H chose to abdicate his power on Smackdown is a nice step. Otunga says if Triple H doesn’t step down on Raw this Monday night, they’re prepared to walk out on Smackdown, live events, and pay per views.
Wade Barrett says Triple H needs to have a long look in the mirror. Then he’ll realize that everything that’s happened has been his own fault. When he realizes that then he’ll relinquish control of Raw. Cody Rhodes grabs the microphone and says the crowd has disrespected his colleagues enough. Rhodes says they’ve endured the reign of Triple H for weeks, a lacking leader whose head grew so large there wasn’t a paper bag that could cover it. Typically he stands alone, but a united front was warranted. Now there’s hope for true change, but they couldn’t have done it without one man. Rhodes hands the microphone to Jack Swagger and he introduces WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio to the ring.
Alberto Del Rio gets in the ring, and says when the WWE Champion talks you shut up and listen. Del Rio says despite Triple H’s games, he survived Hell in a Cell and he’s standing here as WWE Champion. Because of his influence, he inspired everyone to walk out. They’re never going back to Raw until Triple H steps down. Del Rio says the question is why he’s here. Del Rio says he’s here to compete and show the entire world what they’ll be missing next Monday on Raw.
Teddy Long’s music hits, and he says if they’re going to just keep blabbing on, then the next walk out will be by the audience. Long tells Christian and Rhodes that they should be in the back getting ready for tonight’s main event against Sheamus and Randy Orton. As for Del Rio, Long appreciates him gracing us with his presence, and says Del Rio’s match is next. Long says that Del Rio specifically requested this opponent. Long says Alberto Del Rio will face the Mexican sensation Sin Cara next. Del Rio takes exception to Long calling Sin Cara a Mexican sensation. Del Rio says there’s only one Mexican sensation – him.
-Commercial Break-
Ricardo Rodriguez is in the ring as we return from the break to do formal introductions for Del Rio.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sin Cara
Del Rio quickly kicks him down and punches away at him. Del Rio sends him to the ropes, but Cara ducks a clothesline and hits a hurricanrana. Cara ducks another clothesline, and goes for a springboard back elbow, but Del Rio counters by German Suplexing on his head for a near fall! Del Rio gets a chin lock applied, but Cara fights up and punches out. Del Rio whips him down, kicks, and covers for a near fall. Del Rio goes back to the chin lock and rips at the mask. Cara fights up and tries to punch out, but Del Rio head-butts him down. Del Rio charges into some boots, and Cara hits a nice top rope hurricanrana.
Del Rio shoves him to the corner and runs into a back elbow. Cara charges, and hits a head-scissor DDT combo. Cara goes to the top rope and leaps. Del Rio was looking to hit the arm breaker on the way down, but they mistimed it. Del Rio hits the double knee arm breaker before applying the Cross Arm Breaker for the submission victory.
Winner by Submission: Alberto Del Rio
Match Rating: *
Sin Cara II’s music hits and he walks down to the ring. Cara II punches away and works on Cara’s arm. Cara II hits a nice hammerlock suplex before going to the top rope and hitting a Swanton Bomb. Cara II talks some trash to end the segment.
Booker T explains that he walked out on Raw because he thought the show was over and he had to go to the bathroom.
Matt Striker is backstage with Air Boom. Striker asks why they walked on Raw. Evan Bourne says they did what they did, and it has nothing to do with The Miz or R-Truth. It just feels like a culmination of everything that has happened on Raw. Kofi Kingston says until Triple H steps down on Raw, then things will remain in the same chaos. They won’t compete on Raw as long as that happens, but they will compete on Smackdown.
-Commercial Break-
Air Boom is making their way to the ring for a match when Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger attack them from behind. They beat Bourne and Kingston down at ringside as Vickie Guerrero happily watches on. They leave the Tag Team Champions on the ground as referees try to break it up. Ziggler hits the Zig-Zag on Bourne on the floor.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see a livid Kofi Kingston being restrained by referees as Ziggler and Swagger smile at him from across the ring. Bourne is being helped up outside the ring. The referee then calls for the bell despite all the competitors not being ready.
Air Boom vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger w/ Vickie Guerrero
Kingston immediately gets his hands on Swagger and viciously beats him down in the corner. Swagger kicks him away and desperately tags in Ziggler. Kingston punches and kicks Ziggler in the corner. Ziggler eventually gets the best of him and tags in Swagger. Swagger body slams him down, but Kingston is able to kick him in the head. Swagger quickly beats him down and tags in Ziggler. Ziggler hits a high angle back suplex and stomps away at him. Ziggler goes for a second one, but Kingston flips through, ducks a clothesline, and they take each other out with a double clothesline. Kingston crawls to his corner, and Bourne quickly gets up from the floor to tag in.
Bourne kicks away at Ziggler. Bourne hits a high knee and a jumping kick to the face. Bourne dropkicks Swagger trying to interfere. The dropkick hurts Bourne’s injured head. Swagger is tagged in and he hits the Gutwrench Powerbomb for the win.
Winners by Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger
Match Rating: 1/2 *
Ziggler kicks away at Kingston for good measure before celebrating in the middle of the ring with Swagger and Vickie.
Tonight’s main event will be Randy Orton and Sheamus taking on Christian and Cody Rhodes.
-Commercial Break-
As Beth Phoenix and Natalya make their way to the ring, they show a replay of Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres beating them down on Raw.
Beth Phoenix w/ Natalya vs. Alicia Fox
Beth quickly kicks and punches Fox down. Beth sends her to the corner and runs into some boots. Fox tries to roll her up, but Beth doesn’t go down. Beth hits the Glam Slam for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Beth Phoenix
Match Rating: N/A
Natalya gets in the ring and applies that nice Mexican Surfboard variation. Beth grabs the microphone and puts it to Fox’s face to hear her screams and cries. That was uncomfortable to say the least. It probably went longer than the match did.
They show a replay of Mark Henry taking Big Show out at Money in the Bank this past July. Big Show will return tonight to confront Henry.
-Commercial Break-
Big Show’s music hits and he runs out to the ring jumping and high fiving everyone. Big Show gets in the ring and says it feels great to be back. Big Show says the past four months have been brutal with the broken ankle. Big Show watched the footage over and over, and wondered what kind of sane person would watch footage of himself being destroyed. Big Show then rolls the footage of Mark Henry breaking his ankle at Money in the Bank.
Big Show says he thought he was infallible, but Mark Henry humbled him. Big Show begins to choke up and cry a bit. Mark Henry reached into his chest and tore his heart out. He couldn’t even do simple, everyday things. He couldn’t even put his pants or shoes on. He couldn’t even play with his dogs. The crowd chants his name as he wipes tears from his eyes. Big Show wonders what kind of sick person would watch himself being destroyed over and over again, and that sick person is him. There is a fire in his stomach that came from this. Big Show used the pain he felt to fuel his recovery, and promises to give it to Mark Henry ten times over.
Mark Henry has been on a roll. For the past four months, he’s destroyed everything in his path. The funny thing about momentum is that with it comes a downward roll. At the bottom, he’ll be waiting to stop him. Big Show is going to take all the pain and suffering that Henry caused him, ball it up into his fist, and blast him in the side of the head as many times as he can until he’s completely unrecognizable. Big Show is going to cause him physical and emotion pain. Big Show is going to take from Henry what validates his entire career – Big Show is going to take the World Heavyweight Championship from him. The first championship he ever held in his hands at twenty-three years old is the very championship Henry is holding now. Big Show will settle for nothing less than facing Henry one-on-one. Big Show calls the Chairman of the House of Pain out. Big Show asks for a title match.
Mark Henry’s music hits and the champion comes out to the stage. Henry says there have been a lot of changes in the four months that he’s been missing. Henry says he’ll get him up to speed real quick. After he put Big Show out, he put out Kane, ended Vladimir Kozlov’s career, and put Jerry Lawler through a table. The Hall of Pain is getting really crowded. Most importantly, he beat Randy Orton to become the World Heavyweight Champion. Big Show comes out and asks for an opportunity, but Henry wonders what he’s done. Henry says Big Show has beaten nobody. He’s been on a vacation that Henry afforded him. Henry says he’ll let him know about when and IF he’s ever going to get a shot at the title. Henry says it’ll come on Mark Henry time.
Henry goes to walk away, but Big Show warns him that if he doesn’t hear the answer he wants from him by the end of the night, then he’s going to put him through the announcer’s table, put a chair around his ankle, and break it. Big Show wants his answer tonight… or else.
Matt Striker is backstage with Randy Orton. Striker says a lot of people deserve a rematch for the title. Orton says the last thing he wants to do is sound like Christian and keep demanding one more match. Orton says Henry is probably happy that he’s not going to get another rematch since he just beat him relentlessly with a steel chair. Orton says he’s more than happy to tear through the entire Smackdown roster to get another match. Striker wonders where Orton was during the walk out. Orton says if he has a problem with Triple H, then he’ll deal with it personally. Through the years, he’s decided to stay away from groups because he doesn’t play well with others. Striker says that doesn’t bode too well for Sheamus tonight. Orton agrees, but says it’ll be worse for Cody Rhodes and Christian.
-Commercial Break-
They play a hype video for Brodus Clay.
Jinder Mahal is in the ring yelling about something in his native tongue. Ezekiel Jackson’s music hits and he comes out to the ring.
Jinder Mahal vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Jackson puts his finger to his mouth and shushes Mahal. Mahal keeps talking, so Jackson punches him down. The referee keeps Jackson back as Mahal gets up. They lock up and Jackson powers Mahal down. Mahal quickly goes to the ropes. Mahal kicks and punches away at Jackson. Jackson blocks a whip and hits a nice back body drop on Mahal. Jackson hits his body slam clinic before going for the Torture Rack. Mahal slides off and grounds Jackson with some punches and kicks. Mahal applies a front face lock, but Jackson fights up and powers out. Jackson body slams him a few more times before applying the Torture Rack for the submission win.
Winner by Submission: Ezekiel Jackson
Match Rating: N/A
Ezekiel Jackson grabs the microphone and shushes Mahal one more time.
They promote that Mark Henry will answer the Big Show’s question later tonight. We’ll see Randy Orton and Sheamus take on Cody Rhodes and Christian later tonight.
-Commercial Break-
John Laurinaitis walks into Teddy Long’s office. Laurinaitis says what happened on Raw put WWE into uncharted waters. WWE has never been through a walk out before so nobody knows how it will turn out. Laurinaitis says they’re both company men so he’s just showing Long some support. If Long loses control of Smackdown like Triple H lost control of Raw, then WWE could be in a state of turmoil. Laurinaitis says if Long needs some help then he can call him.
Hornswoggle’s music hits and he makes his first appearance on Smackdown in quite some time. Hornswoggle pulls Booker T into the ring and wants him to do the spinaroonie. Booker T gets the crowd into it and he obliges them. Hornswoggle then tries to do it, but fails.
Christian’s music hits, and he’s followed by Cody Rhodes and the baggers. They’ll face Randy Orton and Sheamus next.
-Commercial Break-
Christian & Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus & Randy Orton
Sheamus will start the match out against Christian. Sheamus takes him down with a headlock. Christian whips him off, and Sheamus shoulder blocks him down. Sheamus tries to get him between the ropes, but Christian fights him off and tags in Rhodes. Sheamus punches him and throws him out of the ring, but Rhodes skins the cat. Sheamus punches away and puts him between the ropes. Sheamus viciously clubs away at him and hits a running knee to the face. Christian distracts Sheamus and Rhodes follows up with a leg sweep. Rhodes punches him down and applies a front face lock. Sheamus back body drops him off, and tags in Orton.
Orton hits some clotheslines on Christian and a powerslam. Orton runs into some boots, leapfrogs him, and hits Christian with a nice back body drop. Orton hits the ten punches in the corner and puts him on the apron for the draping DDT. Orton drops down to the mat looking for the RKO, but Rhodes distracts him. Christian gets out of the ring to recover. Orton chases, and Rhodes attacks him outside.
-Commercial Break-
We come back from the break to see Christian in control of Randy Orton. Orton punches out and goes into the ropes only to eat a back elbow. Rhodes is tagged in, and he kicks and punches away at Orton. Rhodes tags Christian back in and he punches Orton down in the corner. Orton punches away at Christian, but Christian comes back with a nice spinebuster. Christian sets up for the spear in the corner, but Orton kicks him in the face.
Sheamus and Rhodes are tagged in. Sheamus hits some clotheslines and a nice powerslam. Sheamus clotheslines him in the corner and hits a nice knee lift. Sheamus goes to the top rope and goes for his flying shoulder block, but Rhodes moves. Sheamus catches him with a backbreaker for a near fall. Sheamus gets the crowd into it and throws Christian out of the ring as he tried to interfere. Orton is tagged in and Sheamus goes to work on Christian. Orton hits Rhodes with the RKO for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Sheamus & Randy Orton
Match Rating: * 3/4
They play the video that opened Smackdown tonight, which highlighted the walk out on Raw.
Mark Henry’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. He’ll give Big Show his answer after the break.
-Commercial Break-
Mark Henry says we know who he is – he’s the Strongest Man in the World, and the World Heavyweight Champion. Henry fears no man and is infallible. As far as the Big Show having a title match against him, he says NO.
Big Show’s music hits and he runs down to the ring. Big Show forces Henry to the corner and viciously punches away at him. Big Show punches and kicks Henry down. Security runs out and forces Big Show back. Big Show breaks through and spears Henry down. Big Show takes out the entire security force with Chokeslams and Knockout Punches. Mark Henry takes the title and leaves the ring. Henry turns around to look and Big Show drills one of the guards in the mouth with the big punch. Henry looks stunned outside. Henry screams “NO” and holds his title up for Big Show to see.
Henry turns to walk away, but Big Show gets him from behind. Big Show punches away at him at ringside. Henry sends Big Show into the barricade and clears the announce table. Henry goes to give him the World’s Strongest Slam through the table, but Big Show gets out of it. Big Show then Chokeslams Henry through the announce table! Big Show gets in his face and screams at him! Big Show grabs a steel chair and puts it around Henry’s ankle. Big Show grabs the steel steps and moves them closer to Henry. Big Show goes to the top, puts his skull cap on, and Teddy Long runs out to the stage. Long says Big Show has his World Heavyweight Championship match, but not if he does what he’s going to do to Henry. Big Show thinks about it and gets off the stairs.
Big Show goes to walk away before changing his mind. Big Show grabs the chair that was around Henry’s ankle and smacks him on the back with it. Big Show stands over Henry and yells at him. Big Show walks off to end the show.
Quick Match Results
Alberto Del Rio def. Sin Cara via Submission (non-title)
Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger def. Air Boom (non-title)
Beth Phoenix def. Alicia Fox (non-title)
Ezekiel Jackson def. Jinder Mahal via Submission
Sheamus & Randy Orton def. Christian & Cody Rhodes
Bump of the Night: Big Show Chokeslamming Henry through the announce table!
Match of the Night: Sheamus & Orton vs. Christian & Rhodes * 3/4
Mike’s Thoughts
This episode felt like they wrote a four-hour edition of Raw, took the two hours that weren’t as interesting or important, and put them together for Smackdown. The show opened up with another segment of the heel wrestlers talking about wanting Triple H to step down. This was just straight up boring. They really could have used Vickie Guerrero coming out of nowhere in the middle of the talking to get the crowd going again like they did on Raw. This just didn’t have any heat. Alberto Del Rio couldn’t even get this segment going. This was just a boring way to open up the show.
They followed this up with a short match between Alberto Del Rio and Sin Cara. There was nothing really of note about this match other than it looks like they’ll be continuing with the Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara II feud. That surprises me. It was flat before Hell in a Cell and it was a flat match at Hell in a Cell. They barely even bothered to pipe in fake reactions for the crowd tonight. I think it’s time to cut the losses on this feud.
After that they had Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger attack Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston before they started a match against each other. Then they had a quick match that saw Ziggler and Swagger go over. I guess this is just to continue their Tag Team Title hunt. The Divas had an even shorter match afterward.
Big Show made his return and cut a promo about what it’s been like since being destroyed by Mark Henry in July. I like Big Show, but this promo felt so incredibly forced. They even had him crying because of the hardship. It just didn’t feel genuine at all and I’m not even sure Big Show was fully into it. Mark Henry came out to taunt him about the injury, and that’s the first time this segment showed any sign of life. Big Show warned him about making him wait and demanded an answer tonight.
The annihilation of Jinder Mahal continued tonight with a squash match against Ezekiel Jackson. Mahal brings nothing to the table so I guess they’re just taking him out.
They had Hornswoggle come out and do a spinaroonie with Booker T. That’s how you could tell they had absolutely no interest in making this show anything other than Raw, Jr. tonight. They used a filler segment with Hornswoggle to do a dance move with an announcer.
The main event was what it was. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch. It was just a match for the sake of having a match. Nothing more, nothing less.
The final segment with Mark Henry and the Big Show was really well done. This was a major improvement over the earlier segment. In fact, if this was all they did with Big Show and Mark Henry tonight, then it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, they didn’t really put any thought into this show beyond this segment and the walk out angle. Still, Henry and Show did a good job. A lot of people will complain about Henry being made to look weak, but I find this interesting. Randy Orton showed some life by exposing a tiny chink in Henry’s armor, but he was by no means a true physical threat to him. Big Show matches Henry in height, weight, and probably muscle. It’s an even match up and Big Show got the best of him tonight. That’ll force the character to go back to the drawing board and come back even more aggressive and lethal. I’m interested to see what they do next week with this.
Final Rating: * 3/4
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