WWE Smackdown house show report
April 10, 2010
Glasgow, Scotland
Report by Gary Manson, Torch reader

The arena was full except for a few seats here and there. The crowd was mostly kids in Rey Mysterio and John Cena merchandise. Interestingly, Cena's stuff was the only merchandise from a settled Raw brand Superstar. Anyone who is going over the next week or two to a SD show will find Undertaker, S.E.S, Mysterio, and John Morrison merchandise (£15 for glasses!).

Tony Chimel was the ring announcer for the night, thanked us all for coming out, plugged the tour's sponsor, and went into the first match.

(1) Kane beat Ezekiel Jackson in 8:00. Kane got a huge pop, but I think this was partly due to the anticipation building before the show. Jackson came out to some minor heat and then went on to get a lot of boos as he postured mid-ring. The match consisted of the two big men running the ropes with Jackson getting the better of Kane by repeatedly knocking him over with shoulder blocks. Jackson then jumped out of the ring holding Kane's head to rope choke him and things went a little quiet as techs and medics rushed to ringside to check on Jackson. It wasn't clear what had happened and Kane stood mid-ring hands on hips waiting. After about four minutes, some WWE employees helped roll Jackson into the ring where Kane covered him for the three count and the win. Kane then left immediately looking slightly annoyed. More delay with a doctor and even Chimel standing over Jackson. It seemed like his leg had gone, but it was hard to say how bad. He was carried back up the ramp by four guys. In a nice touch from the Glasgow crowd, Jackson was given a rousing ovation as he was carried off. I'm sure he appreciated it. If it was as bad as the commotion suggests, I'm sure we'll all hear about it.

(2) Beth Phoenix beat Layla in 12:00. Layla made her entrance energetically and posed on the turnbuckles mocking hurt feelings when the crowd booed. Phoenix came out to a good reaction while Layla played the scared rabbit ducking away. WWE could do worse than give these types of matches a go on TV. They obviously had some time to fill from the earlier match and they had a good, athletic 12-minute contest with NO botches. Eventually, Phoenix hit the GlamSlam, which looks good live, for the win.

(3) Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & D.H. Smith w/Natalya) beat Dudebusters (Caylen Croft & Trent Barreta) in 15:00. Croft and Barreta came out to almost no reaction as the majority of the kids in attendance hadn't a clue who they were. Hart Dynasty's music hit for the night's biggest pop thus far. The match was standard tag fare and very athletic while Kidd was in ring. Kidd dominated the early exchanges before being worked over for five minutes. Natalya then slapped both of the Dudes so hard it drew a massive gasp. Eventual, Smith took the hot tag and hit some well-placed "big man" moves including an impressive suplex, which he held for about 25 seconds while pumping the crowd up with his other hand. The finish came with a double Sharpshooter, although D.H. looked awkward putting his on. It was still a good finish for the double tap. Natalya then did some high-fives around the ring while Tony Chimel looked on impatiently in the ring.

R-Truth rapped his way to the ring and danced for about 30 seconds. We were all expecting John Morrisons for another tag match but Dolph Zigglers music hit next. Ziggler had some major heat with the crowd.

(4) R-Truth beat Dolph Ziggler in 10:00. The first five minutes were the two men having a battle to see who could pump the crowd up, with Truth saying "Whats Up!" around 417 times. Well...close. Ziggler threw some amusing tantrums when he was booed off the turnbuckles.
Decent match with Ziggler trying to slap on the sleeper unsuccessfully three times. The finish came after Truth went through his athletic splits routine, hit a high kick, and rolled up for the win.

Afterwards, Truth danced some more and invited Tony Chimel into the ring to dance. Chimel obliged with some very comedic dancing and a bunny hop. Good laugh really.

Chimel then announced Gallows with Serena to some major heat. Loads of people seemed disappointed with the lack of C.M. Punk. I figured he'd have a bigger billing later. Gallows went on the mic and said this win would be dedicated to his savior, C.M. Punk...and Queen Elizabeth, because just like the Queen of England, Punk was far superior to any of the fans. A good stab at some cheap heat from the Scottish crowd, but again, since the majority of fans were kids, it didn't have the desired effect. Morrison came out and took the mic and said Punk and Queen Elizabeth have one thing in common..."They can both kiss me arse" in a very good Braveheart/Scottish voice. Great pop, and quite funny. Again, Serena looks amazing in person.

(5) John Morrison beat Luke Gallows (w/Serena) in 9:00. Gallows looked surprisingly good and dominated the match, until Morrison made his comeback, eventually hitting Starship Pain for the three count.

At that point, C.M. Punk rushed the ring as the SES began to beat down Morrison. Huge heat for Punk, except for one or two, myself included who were pumped to see him. After a minute or two, the roof nearly came off the arena as Rey Mysterio ran down with a chair to make the save. He then went on the mic and asked if JoMo wanted to join him for a tag match later against Punk and Gallows. He asked if we wanted to see it and the place went nuts. Morrison's music came on without confirmation but we figured it was on anyway.

[Intermission]

After the intermission, Drew McIntyre's music hit. There was a very clear split in the crowd, with some going nuts for him and some booing like crazy. He took the mic after smiling at all the cheers and said he'd tell us a story only Glasgow would understand. He told us it was his dream to come back to Glasgow and wrestle for WWE. After moving to America, he realized that it was a far superior country, that our weather was rubbish, our football team was terrible, we sucked at Rugby, the country was overrun by neds (delinquents) like those guys (points to a boisterous batch of guys), and that the only thing we had to be proud of was him. Hardy's music hit to a massive pop. He looked quite out of shape, but apparently interacting with his fans on Twitter has kept himself over. We saw a few "Hardyshowmark" signs to capture that.

(6) Intercontinental champion Drew McIntyre beat Matt Hardy in 15:00 to retain the Intercontinental Title. Decent match, good back and forth, and Hardy went on the attack halfway through the match. Hardy hit two side effects, but then was methodically beaten down and eventually took an underhook DDT from McIntyre for the win.

The next match was the tag match made earlier. Punk's music hit to HUGE heat. He started to cut a promo, but was drowned out by a red-hot reaction. His promo wasn't "area specific," but rather the standard "accept me as your savior" promo. Morrison was out next selling a rib injury from earlier (as was Gallows). Decent continuity. The lights went completely out and Mysterio's music hit - the full version that starts "Whatcha gonna do when they come for you" then the arena lights up at "Booyaka" and he received an insane reaction. Kids everywhere were going mental. Rather than have Mysterio pose on the turnbuckles, the bell rang just as he was getting into the ring and the SES charged them to start.

(7) Rey Mysterio & John Morrison beat C.M. Punk & Luke Gallows in 15:00. Solid match, with Punk hitting the GTS on Morrison at about ten minutes, then teasing the same on Mysterio, only to have it reversed into a 619 attempt. Predictably, Serena blocked Rey on the ropes. As Punk charged, he took a drop toehold for the second 619 attempt, which Mysterio hit this time. He followed with a springboard frog splash for the three count. The crowd chanted for 619 throughout and the finish got a good pop. Mysterio didn't spend much time at ringside after taking in the win.

Curiously, about one-fifth of the crowd left after this. They either thought the show was over or that their kids had seen their hero and that was good enough. It was presented in such a way that it could have been the last match.

Tony Chimel came on the mic to say the next match is the last match and main event for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jack Swagger's music hit and he came out and posed mid-ring with his belt. Swagger is a giant of a man. He cut a promo on not having a speech impediment and how no one was to cheer for him because he was the "Mr. Money in the Bank All -American American American American Jack Swagger." He said Scottish people don't know how to act. If anyone said he had a speech impediment they would be escorted from the building. Secondly, if anyone chanted "Spear Spear Spear," they'd be kicked out. Cheap, but effective heat. Edge's music hit to a huge ovation, and the biggest pop of the night by a long shot. Edge was crazy over. Edge then mocked Swagger by asking the audience to shout Sssswagger and Ssspear, which of course they did. He then mocked Swagger's chest bashing by jumping about like an Ape and suggesting he was a Neanderthal. Swagger looked furious, and it was funny.

(8) Edge beat World Hvt. champion Jack Swagger via DQ; Swagger retained the World Hvt. Title. This was a quite slow and very technical match, with Swagger doing most of the running with some good mat wrestling. The crowd got restless, so the guys cranked it up and Swagger worked over Edge with a couple of mid-rope splashes. Edge made a comeback and tried to hit a spear, but missed and hit the ringpost. Swagger tried to bail up the ramp with his belt as we sensed the finish coming. Swagger was going to hit Edge with the belt, but the official took it away. Swagger then went outside and smacked Edge on the upper leg as he tried to step out the ring with a chair for the DQ.

Post-match: Swagger came into the ring to hit him again, but Edge hit the spear to a massive pop. Swagger made his way to the back and Edge asked for a chair to sit down as he was "tired, sore, and old." He then had a competition to see if we could be louder than Germany and Ireland. Edge said Germany sucked, but I suspect he would say Scotland sucks in England and England sucks in Germany, etc. The crowd ate it up anyways. He pointed at all sections of the crowd for cheers and said Scottish crowds are great. He plugged the shows in November and thanked us while giving four guys who were booing him a hard time because those were the guys last year who would have cheered him. Again, pretty funny. He signed some autographs and took some photos going up the ramp to close the show.


Overall, a really enjoyable show. I hope Jackson's injury wasn't as bad as it looked. Swagger impressed me the most. He interacted well with the crowd, his promo was crisp, and his wrestling was good. I hope he isn't a transitional champ.

Biggest Pops
(1) Edge
(2) Rey Mysterio
(3) Matt Hardy

Most Heat
(1) C.M. Punk
(2) McIntyre (after his anti-Scotland rant)
(3) Swagger

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