WWE Smackdown Review (September 23, 2011)

Welcome to another WWE Smackdown review. I will try to keep the review short this time. One thing I need to mention is that I will no longer mention best/worst spot for every match. If I notice some good or bad spots, I will mention them in my match reviews but if I don’t see any then I will simply not mention them. That was the only thing I needed to tell you before I start the Smackdown review.

No pyro to start the show. Also, there was no announcement of what city the WWE are in. I think Smackdown is in Ohio but I’m not sure and I’m not looking it up so you better hope Smackdown tells me what city they are in if you are interested. Smackdown starts with the entire Smackdown roster standing around the ring. I see only one Sin Cara and I can’t tell if he is the real or fake Sin Cara. John Laurinaitis is in the ring. John introduces himself for those who weren’t paying attention during the 86 times John introduced himself in the last several weeks. John says he has assembled all of the Smackdown Superstars to discuss the issues that Triple H perhaps as COO has lost total control of the WWE. John talks about the firing of The Miz and R-Truth on RAW. John believes Triple H has control of the situation. John says he sees the resolve and determination in Triple H’s eyes. John then introduces the World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry. When Mark gets into the ring, Mark says that it has taken him 15 years to win the World Heavyweight Championship and it will take 15 years before someone takes it away from him. Mark Henry is 40 years old. Does he plan to wrestle in the WWE until he is 55? I doubt it. Mark Henry said there is no one who is going to take what he has. Mark starts calling out people for not believing in him. He says Ezekiel Jackson and Teddy Long didn’t believe. The two black men other than Mark Henry…interesting.

Before Mark can say anything else, Triple H’s music starts. Triple H walks to the ring and extends his hand for a handshake from Mark Henry. Mark refuses to shake Triple H’s hand. Mark Henry then gives his microphone to Triple H. Oh…I guess Triple H just wanted the microphone and had no intention of shaking Mark Henry’s hand. Wow…that’s not nice. Before Triple H can say anything into the microphone, Christian starts talking. Whoa, I didn’t even notice that Christian was at ringside with the other Superstars. Christian says Triple H is doing a great job as COO. Uh-oh…Christian is being nice again. Please do not say it. PLEASE DO NOT SAY IT! Christian also says that Triple H has treated the Superstars well. Christian says that all of the Smackdown Superstars look to Christian as a leader. Christian says Mark Henry is not a good champion for the WWE. Christian asks, “Can you see his face on a billboard? Can you see his face on a cereal box? Can you see him reading to a bunch of school children?” Christian says he deserves to be the face of Smackdown and he needs to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Don’t say it. Christian says he deserves ONE…MORE…MATCH to become the World Heavyweight Champion. AHHHHHHHH!!!! WHEN WILL IT END?! Christian predicts that Mark Henry will lose to Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell and Christian will then beat Randy Orton to become a three-time World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H says he appreciates that Christian is stepping up as a leader. Triple H announces that Christian will face Mark Henry in a lumberjack match for the World Heavyweight Championship later tonight. Christian is not happy because he wanted to face Randy Orton. I don’t know why Christian is upset. He probably has a better chance at beating Mark Henry than Randy Orton.

In the locker room, Sheamus is putting his knee pads on. Why wasn’t he at ringside with the rest of the Smackdown roster? Sheamus getting ready for his match against Heath Slater.

Sheamus vs. Heath Slater

Before the match, Michael Cole said that this match-up is like Ronald McDonald vs. the girl from Wendy’s. Ha…he’s right! This is also a match-up between two gingers. WWE ginger fans are probably happy. This was an okay match but it wasn’t really enjoyable. I have seen much better Sheamus matches but Heath Slater had a really good performance. This was probably one of the best singles matches Heath Slater has had on Smackdown. Sheamus wins after hitting the Brogue Kick.

Winner: Sheamus

Rating: Average

Christian is backstage talking to The Great Khali. Christian tells The Great Khali that someday Khali will get a World Heavyweight Championship match. I hope he doesn’t! Christian says that when that day comes, Khali will want to face someone small and not someone big like Mark Henry. Christian is trying to convince Khali to help Christian beat Mark Henry. Christian asks him if he understands what Christian is saying. The Great Khali says that he understands Christian is small. Wow The Great Khali speaks English! Christian and Khali share a laugh and then Christian says that he will see Khali out there. That short segment was not really entertaining.

Up next is Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett. This is a match-up between two original Nexus members and I am expecting a good match.

Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett

This was a short match but both Justin and Wade had nice performances. Justin had an impressive looking over the top rope flip to the outside onto Wade and also did a nice lionsault in the ring. Wade gets the win after hitting Justin with his Wasteland finishing move.

Winner: Wade Barrett

Rating: Good

Backstage, Matt Striker is interviewing Randy Orton. Striker says Orton’s match with Cody Rhodes tonight will be Orton’s first match since losing his World Heavyweight Champion. Striker asks Orton if he cares to comment and Orton says no. Ha…that was funny. Striker realizes that he shouldn’t have asked Orton a closed-ended question so he asks Orton what Orton has been thinking about since losing the title which is an open-ended question. Orton can’t say “no” this time so Orton answers the question. Orton says he has been thinking about going to Hell and just like the song says, Hell ain’t no bad place to be. What song? I had to Google it and I found out there is a song from AC/DC called  "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be." Could that be the song Orton was referring to? Maybe. Orton says he will be dragging Mark Henry or Christian to Hell. Orton says Christian already has a permanent residence in Hell. I didn’t know that. I wonder if he is neighbors with the Undertaker. Orton says that when he comes back from Hell, he will be bringing the World Heavyweight Championship with him. I hope he brings back a lot of photos too. I have always wondered what Hell looks like. I hear it is nice this time of year.

Michael Cole says that Randy Orton has been three Hell in a Cell matches. Wow…Randy is a Hell in a Cell veteran now. After Cole says that, the WWE shows a PG promo video of Hell in a Cell matches. It was okay but I prefer the intro video to the Hell in a Cell DVD.

Christian is now in the locker room talking to Ezekiel Jackson. Ezekiel thinks Christian is telling him that Christian needs his help to beat Mark Henry. Christian says that’s not true because Christian is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion and how many times has Ezekiel been the World Heavyweight Champion? Ezekiel gets mad so Christian says he meant to say that Ezekiel is a future World Champion and Christian wants Ezekiel up-close to see what it takes to become champion. I understand that the WWE is trying to do a mini-storyline of Christian trying to get help because Christian doesn’t think he can win his match by himself but these segments aren’t really enjoyable. It feels like filler and an excuse to give The Great Khali and Ezekiel Jackson an opportunity to work on their promo skills. 

Up next is a divas match. It is Beth Phoenix and Natalya vs. AJ Lee and Kaitlyn. 

Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. AJ Lee & Kaitlyn

This was a short tag team match but I have to admit this was better than most divas matches. Kaitlyn was looking good in this match but when I say “looking good”, I don’t mean her wrestling skills. Kaitlyn hit Natalya with a dropkick in this match but she kicked Natalya in the gut instead of the head. She didn’t jump high enough but it was a good effort. However, she is definitely not as good as Randy Orton. AJ had a nice running knee in this match and the Divas of Destruction did well too. Beth got the win for her team by pinning AJ after the Glam Slam.

Winner: Beth Phoenix and Natalya

Rating: Average

Up next is Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes. This match again? Does Orton enjoy facing the same opponent over and over again?

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

Before the match, Michael says we are in Dayton tonight. I assume he means Dayton, Ohio so I finally know where Smackdown is this week. Better late than never. I really liked this match. It was more like a fight than a wrestling match. I don’t think Orton used any wrestling moves in this match. Orton did a lot of punching. Cody wrestled a little bit but he was definitely using an aggressive style. My favorite spot of the match was when Cody removes one of the turnbuckle covers and while the ref is fixing the cover, Cody removes his mask and hits Orton with it. Orton gets mad, takes the mask away from Cody, and hits Cody with the mask. This time the referee was watching the match and Orton got disqualified. This was a short match but I enjoyed it. I wish this match was longer. If these two had a Pay-Per-View street fight, I think it could be an amazing match. These two need to have a PPV feud soon.

Winner: Cody Rhodes via disqualification

Rating: Good

After the match, Orton continues to hit Cody with the mask. Ouch…that looks very painful! Orton then hits Cody with his rope hung DDT. Orton throws Cody out of the ring and hits Cody in the head with the timekeeper’s ring bell! OUCH! Cody Rhodes is bleeding and the WWE is trying to edit the blood as best as they can but I can see blood on Cody’s back and ear. One of the refs puts a towel over Cody’s head to cover up the blood but you can still see some blood on Cody. Orton clears off the announce table and hits Cody with an RKO on the table! Smackdown shows a replay of Orton hitting Cody with the ring bell and I can see blood POURING out of Cody’s head almost immediately after Cody got hit with the bell. HOLY SHIT!!! 

I will admit that I read the spoilers before this match and I knew that Cody got busted open. I thought the WWE was trying to become edgier but this week's Smackdown confirmed that the WWE is still mostly PG. It’s a shame that the WWE edited out most of the blood. I’m somewhat okay with the fact that the WWE doesn’t blade anymore but if someone gets busted open the hard way, I want the WWE to show the blood unedited. I can’t believe the WWE edited what would have been one of the greatest Smackdown moments in 2011. I feel bad for Cody because he lost all that blood for nothing. It was an accident but the WWE could have taken advantage of it because it would have added to the show. What is a better way to show Orton’s anger issues than to show Orton causing a man to bleed? I don’t think the blood was edited because of the TV-PG rating. The WWE went PG in July 2008 and Ric Flair got busted open by Chris Jericho on RAW in March 2009. Unlike Smackdown, that show was live but I remember Flair bleeding a lot and the WWE did not really edit the blood. Flair’s head wound was so bad that it was later reported that Flair needed a dozen staples to close the wound.

I really think that if a Superstar starts bleeding on accident, the TV cameras should show it. If Smackdown Superstars can say “ass” and “bitch” regularly than why is blood such a bad thing? Is it because of the kids? I guarantee kids have seen stuff way more violent than what happened to Cody. Hopefully this editing incident causes some controversy and maybe the fans can convince the WWE to change their policy. I doubt it happens but you never know. I just wish someone would explain to me why it’s so important that the WWE edit out blood especially when many fans seem to enjoy seeing it. Maybe if the WWE didn’t do the complete opposite of what the fans want, their ratings would be higher. If the WWE wants to get their ratings back to where they were during the Attitude Era then they need to do some of the things that made the Attitude Era so popular and blood was one of those things. I was trying to keep my review short but I think this rant is going to help make this review too long again. 

Backstage we see Sheamus in the locker room. Christian enters the room and gives Sheamus a potato. Christian says he knows Irish people love potatoes and Sheamus says, “That’s right. Us Irish love our potatoes. It’s all we eat you know.” I think Sheamus was being sarcastic. I’m 25% Irish and I know they eat more than potatoes. Christian is still recruiting help for his match and Christian promises that Sheamus will get the first shot at Christian’s World Heavyweight Championship after he beats Mark Henry tonight. Well actually Sheamus would get the second shot because Christian would then have to face Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell.  Before Christian leaves, Sheamus says “Thank you for the potato. I’ll cherish it.” That sounds really sarcastic. When Christian leaves, Sheamus takes a bite out of the potato. Sheamus spits it out and says, “This isn’t from Ireland. It’s from Idaho.” Ha…I liked that comment. Why is Christian only talking to the faces? Shouldn’t he talk to some of the heels?

Up next is Jinder Mahal vs. The Great Khali. Why isn’t this a PPV match? Everybody has been looking forward to this epic match-up. 

 Jinder Mahal vs. The Great Khali

This match wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but it was definitely a match I could have skipped. Jinder got in some offense but Khali dominated most of the match. I don’t really like either of them. Fortunately, it was a short match. Khali won after performing his two-handed chokeslam.

Winner: The Great Khali

Rating: Boring

Up next is Daniel Bryan vs. Sin Cara. Again? Why are we seeing so many matches we have already seen? Good match-ups but I’ve seen them already. Where is Ted DiBiase tonight? This Sin Cara has blond hair so I’m guessing he is the real Sin Cara.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sin Cara

I enjoyed this match. I can always count on Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara to have a good match. It was a typical Sin Cara match with the same moves we have seen before but Sin Cara is fun to watch. The match ends when the fake Sin Cara knocks the real Sin Cara out of the ring and gets the win after hitting Daniel Bryan with the Swanton Bomb. At least I found a good way to tell the two Sin Caras apart. The fake Sin Cara is the one who steals finisher moves from former WWE Superstars. First he stole Chris Jericho’s Lionsault and now he is stealing Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Bomb. It’s too bad Daniel Bryan lost again. WWE.com had an exclusive video of Daniel Bryan getting angry after his match. I hope he isn’t turning heel soon but Daniel Bryan was a face during the entire video. 

Winner: Sin Cara

Rating: Good

Backstage, Christian knocks on Randy Orton’s locker room door. The door opens and Zack Ryder comes out. What was Zack doing in there? Never mind…I don’t want to know. Christian wants Zack to go back into Orton’s locker room and convince Orton to help him. Zack gets a phone call and it is Hugh. That could be Hugh Jackson but I’m sure Zack has other friends named Hugh. Hugh is a really common name. Christian then decides to leave. Christian is still talking to faces only. He should talk to Wade Barrett. Christian should also talk to Tyson Kidd. I think Kidd is from Canada just like Christian is. 

Up next is Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne, aka Air Boom, vs. The Usos. The Usos do their crazy dance before the match. It’s hard to take them seriously after seeing that.

The Usos vs. Air Boom 

These two teams did a good job. It was a little bit slow at one point in the match but the last minute of the match was very exciting. These two tag teams could have a great match if they were given a good amount of time. The only problem with this match was that it was too short. These two need to face each other again and hopefully next time, they will get close to ten minutes. One of the Usos hit Kofi with a really nice superkick in this match. Kofi kicked out after a pin which was weird because Shawn Michaels used to get wins after performing his superkick also known as Sweet Chin Music. Air Boom gets the win after Bourne hits his Air Bourne finisher.

Winner: Air Boom

Rating: Good

Up next is Christian vs. Mark Henry. If Christian loses cleanly without controversy, will he finally stop asking for ONE MORE MATCH? 

Christian vs. Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship (Lumberjack Match)

I am surprised how much I liked this match. This was a fun and enjoyable match. I like big Superstar vs. small Superstar matches and they can be entertaining if the match isn’t completely dominated by the big Superstar. Mark Henry got a lot of offense in this match but so did Christian. It was fun to see Christian try to get Mark Henry off his feet and eventually he did. Later in the match, both men were outside the ring and all of the lumberjacks were attacking Mark Henry. Mark was able to fight off all of them and knocked most of them down (except The Great Khali) by tossing Trent Barreta at them! After Christian saw this, he did not want to get back in the ring but Sheamus came out from backstage and got Christian back in the ring.. Christian was then hit immediately with the World Strongest’s Slam by Mark Henry and Mark Henry got the win. I don’t think any other Superstar on the current Smackdown roster has more experience than Mark Henry or Christian. I know that Kane (Glenn Jacobs) has more experience than Christian, and maybe Mark Henry too, but he’s out of action right now. With all of that experience from Mark and Christian, I can see why they had such an impressive match on Smackdown. It was one of the best Mark Henry matches I have ever seen. Despite being the main event, it only got about six minutes. I would love to see a ten minute match between these two. It was probably the best big Superstar vs. small Superstar match I have seen since CM Punk vs. Umaga at Judgment Day 2009.  

Winner: Mark Henry

Rating: Very Good

After the match, Randy Orton ran out to the ring and started attacking Mark Henry. Another Smackdown that ends with Randy Orton and Mark Henry fighting? The Smackdown writers are getting really lazy. Randy Orton dropkicks Mark Henry out of the ring which surprises me because I’m so used to seeing Mark Henry dominating Randy Orton. I think this may be the first time Orton has attacked Mark after one of Mark’s matches instead of Mark attacking Orton after one of Orton’s matches. Randy Orton’s music starts playing and I guess the fight is over. That was quick.  Mark Henry raises his championship to show Orton that he is still the champion and Smackdown ends. 

Best Match: Christian vs. Mark Henry

I was planning on giving the Best Match award to Orton and Rhodes but I was really impressed by the Mark Henry vs. Christian match. The match had my interest the whole time and I wanted to see the match go longer. The Orton-Rhodes match did that too but Mark Henry and Christian are much older and still had an enjoyable match so the tiebreaker goes to Mark Henry and Christian. Good back-and-forth action and they did a good job showing how hard it is to knock Mark Henry off his feet. Mark Henry cleanly defeated a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion. That makes Mark Henry look stronger. I can’t remember when was the last time Mark Henry lost a match.

Worst Match: The Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal

Congrats to the divas for not having the worst match of the night. I don’t like The Great Khali and I really don’t like Jinder Mahal. I don’t know why the WWE is giving so much attention to Jinder. I’d rather see Heath Slater than Jinder Mahal. This was not a good match at all. The WWE had a great chance to make Jinder Mahal look good but they had him lose to the world’s largest jobber. If Jinder can’t beat The Great Khali, how can the WWE convince me he is a future star? Awful booking and an awful match. There were not really any botches but it was a boring match.

Best Promo: Randy Orton’s Hell promo

Not many choices this week. The best promo was clearly Randy Orton’s promo but I might have picked Daniel Bryan if his post-match promo was shown on Smackdown and not WWE.com. As for Orton, he did a good job making it sound like he really was going to Hell. Not his best promo but it was entertaining.

Worst Promo: Triple H

Other than Orton’s promo, there were not many Smackdown promos. Christian did a lot of talking but most of them were backstage segments. I’ll go with Triple H because all he said during his one minute and thirty seconds promo was that he is in complete control of the WWE and that Christian would face Mark Henry in a lumberjack match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The WWE didn’t need Triple H to say that. They could have given him the night off and let Teddy Long say it. When I see a microphone in Triple H’s hand, I expect him to deliver a strong promo and that promo was weak and short. I don’t mean to get mad at Triple H but there really weren’t many other options for Worst Promo.