WWE Smackdown house show report
April 24, 2011
Lyon, France
Report by Julien Macret, Torch VIP member

I went to both Smackdown shows in Lyon on April 23 and 24, which was the last show of the tour on Sunday. My wife and buddy Hakim were with me and the show was far from a sell-out. What a difference from Saturday evening. I would say almost 3,000 people were in attendance. Not bad for a Sunday, but with it being Easter weekend, it could have been worse. We were on the fourth row for the show.

(1) Chavo Guerrero beat Tyler Reks. Chavo got a nice pop. Some "Eddie" chants in the front rows. Reks threw some good offense and his moves looked precise and powerful. Chavo won after a classic sequence of the Three Amigos and frog splash. Good effort by these two for a good start.

(2) Jack Swagger beat JTG via submission Swagger arrived first. He took the microphone after milking the heat from the crowd, and acted so upset to get booed that he gave the mic back to Tony Chimel, which only grew his heat. I see a lot of potential in Swagger. During the match, JTG took some offense and hit his trademarks moves, but Swagger made him tap out to the Anklelock.

(3) Trent Barreta vs. Cody Rhodes went to a No Contest. Trent made his way to the ring and was attacked from behind by Cody Rhodes. The match never really started, I think. Rhodes hits the Cross Rhodes to KO Barreta. He then placed a grocery bag with three holes for the eyes and nose and on Barreta's head. He said that was what the French People are - "moche," which is the equivalent for ugly. He said we did not deserve to see his face. We didn't really have time to see it since the match never took place. It could have been a nice match between these two.

(4) Kofi Kingston beat Drew McIntyre. Kingston with his SOS finisher in a really great match. As always, Kofi got a superb reaction from the crowd. This match could have been on a television show; it had the crowd energy and the two Superstars really delivered on this one. They had a sequence where Kofi hurt his knee while jumping over McIntyre, who ran the ropes. I am not sure it was really planned, as I got the impression that Kofi was just short on his jump and could not land properly on his feet. Anyways, the two went from there and played up the injury well, including Drew applying the figure-four leglock around the ringpost a la Bret Hart. Kofi eventually came back with the SOS for the win.

(5) WWE tag champions Big Show & Kane beat Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel to retain the WWE Tag Titles. Great pop for Show and Kane. Kane botched his preparation for his flying clothesline as he stumbled while climbing the ropes. I think the ropes were not tight enough. Slater covered for him and Kane landed a boot to the face followed by his flying clothesline. Big Show then KO'd Gabriel with his Knockout Punch for the win. This one was better than Saturday night, overall.

[Intermission]

(6) Beth Phoenix beat Layla (w/Rosa Mendes) with Kelly Kelly as special referee. As Kelly checked both competitors, she slapped them on the butt, which got a good laugh from the crowd. Nothing too particular on this one. Phoenix won with her finisher. It was a solid Divas match just like the previous night. Thumbs up to all the competitors, as the Divas did not disappoint on the two nights.

(7) Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett beat Chris Masters to retain the IC Title. I was intrigued to see how Masters would fill in as an opponent since Barrett had a really good match the previous night with Kofi while Masters delivered a superb effort with Swagger. Barrett got great heat for his entrance. I saw referee Charles Robinson check the top turnbuckle during the entrances. Apparently it was really to soften it up for Barrett later in the match. Really good performance once again by Masters. I hope for his sake that management noticed. For the finish, as Masters tried to lock in the Masterlock, Barrett dove to the floor to drive Masters's head near the exposed turnbuckle. He then hit his Wasteland finisher to get the win. Two things that I would change with Barrett: his haircut and his finish, which I think looks rather weak. The rest is great. Not the match of the evening, but very pleasant to watch.

Time for the main event of Christian & Rey vs. Del Rio & Clay, which was advertised Saturday evening at the end of the show. Del Rio played it up for the crowd shaking like he was afraid of Christian during his entrance. When Mysterio arrived, Christian managed to put his hand on Del Rio's scarf, whose body language was a must-see. Christian threatened to throw the scarf into the crowd to make him back up in his corner. He then wrapped it around his head like a bandana and posed like in Karate Kid. The crowd loved it, really hilarious. Del Rio's scarf then ended up where it belonged - in the ringside seats. Excellent.

(8) Christian & Rey Mysterio beat Alberto Del Rio & Brodus Clay. The match itself was the best of the night as the crowd was really into it, and was a very solid house show tag match. In the ending sequence, Brodus threw Rey in the corner and Rey escaped an attack at the last second. Rey then placed Brodus in 619 position. As Rey tried to hit the ropes, Del Rio caught his foot and locked Rey in his armbar finisher. But, Rey countered and sent Del Rio into Christian, who hit the Impaler to take him out of the ring. Brodus then took both faces down before Edge's music hit. Edge ran down the entrance ramp and used his retirement t-shirt to distract Brodus. Rey dropkicked Brodus to place him in position for the 619, then hit the move, and Christian followed with a spear. Rey finished off Brodus with a top-rope splash for the win. Nice ending.

Overall, it was a really good night. Edge took the show to a whole new level during the main event. Christian then asked the crowd to chant "good bye" to Del Rio since he was leaving France to the delight of the crowd. Edge then thanked the crowd, which chanted "Thank you, Edge, "619," and "Christian." Edge then accelerated the rhythm of his speech for a rap. He admitted he was doing it on the fly and we followed him. He said that it was his last show and appearance for a long time. Very intense moment for the crowd and Edge. They hit Edge's music and some Edge t-shirts were thrown into the crowd.

The others faces joined him in the ring dressed in street clothes as the crowd chanted, "Thank you, Edge." Edge did Kofi's signature entrance as the crowd exploded each time with "Boom." He then intimated Kofi running the ropes for his special running double leg drop. The crowd gave him a special French chant, "Il est vraiment phénoménal," which Edge seemed to enjoy. Meanwhile, Rey filmed the crowd with a camera. What a superb ending sequence. I am glad to say that I was there to see Edge take a more than well-deserved retirement. Truly, thank you, Edge.

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

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