WWE Smackdown house show results
April 23, 2011
Lyon, France
Report by Antoine Cagne, PWTorch reader

The Smackdown event in Lyon on Saturday was more or less the same line-up as the other European shows of this tour. I've read negative comments on one of them, but I thought it was pretty good for a house show. Here is my report.

(1) Kofi Kingston won an over-the-top-rope battle royal to become number 1 contender for the Intercontinental Title. No big spots in the match; every elimination was pretty straight-forward. The final three were Kingston, Swagger, and Masters. The other participants were Chavo Guerrero, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Trent Barreta, Brodus Clay, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater.

(2) Trent Barreta beat Tyler Reks with a Tornado DDT in a very short match. Notable spot: Barreta escaped Reks's finisher by landing on his feet (everyone thought Reks would have hit it and won).

(3) Beth Phoenix & Kelly Kelly beat Layla & Rosa Mendes. Long heat sequence on Kelly by the heels, hot tag to Phoenix, and she hit her finisher for the win. Simple, but very effective.

(4) Jack Swagger beat Chris Masters via submission with the Anklelock in the match of the night. Not only was Swagger excellent, but Masters really carried his end of the match. Very impressed by the two of them.

(5) WWE tag champions Kane & Big Show beat Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater to retain the Tag Titles. The champions hit simultaneous chokeslams on their opponents. Most of the match was Big Show hitting chops, but it got the crowd going.

[Intermission]

(6) Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett beat Kofi Kingston to retain the IC Title. Barrett retained thanks to Ezekiel Jackson, who distracted Kofi while he was climbing the ropes. Barrett then picked up Kofi on his shoulders and hit Wasteland.

(7) Rey Mysterio beat Cody Rhodes after a 619 and a top rope splash. This was the only disappointment of the night. Lots of stalling to begin, then many rest holds from Rhodes, and the crowd (already burnt out) almost died. A nice moonsault from Rhodes brought them back into the match, but otherwise the rest of it was below average.

Edge then made his entrance, addressed the crowd, and was interrupted by Alberto Del Rio, who taunted him into fighting him. Edge said he wouldn't, but as General Manager on this tour, he brought Christian to replace him in a Street Fight (fans's choice).

(8) Christian (w/Edge) beat Alberto Del Rio in a Street Fight. The only weapons used were a steel chair and a kendo stick. Del Rio's shots with the kendo stick looked ridiculous, as he visibly hit the mat while aiming at Christian on the ground. Brodus Clay interfered, but Del Rio hit him with a kendo stick by mistake. Edge came back and got the crowd to chant "Spear," then Christian hit the spear on Del Rio and pinned him.

Afterward, Edge took the microphone and announced tomorrow's main event (in the same venue): Alberto Del Rio & Brodus Clay vs. Christian & Rey Mysterio.

To close the show, Edge and Christian played with the crowd and did a Five Second Pose for those with the benefit of flash photography. Then, most of the faces (Mysterio, Masters, Kofi, Chavo, Kelly, etc.) came back from the dressing room and hugged Edge in the ring. Mysterio had a camera and filmed this moment. Overall, pretty good night.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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