WWE Smackdown house show results
November 6, 2011
Cardiff, Wales
Report by Aled Davies, PWTorch reader

I attended Sunday evening's Smackdown house show at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The following are results.

(1) Daniel Bryan beat William Regal via submission. This was a good opening bout. It started a bit slow, but both men worked over each other in the early part of the match with some good mat wrestling and reversals. Bryan eventually got the win after Regal tapped to the LeBell Lock.

(2) Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel beat Jinder Mahal & Johnny Curtis. This was a good, fast-paced match with Kidd and Gabriel both showcasing their athleticism. Mahal and Curtis worked over Kidd in the early-goings, but Gabriel got the hot tag and finished the match by hitting an awesome-looking 450 splash on Curtis for the win.

(3) Brodus Clay beat Trent Barreta. Not too many cared about this match. Neither has been on the main Smackdown TV show for quite a while, therefore the crowd wasn’t really into it. Early on, Barreta had the better of the offense, but Clay slowed the pace down and used his overwhelming size to out-power Trent. This one finished with Clay hitting a splash on Baretta to pick up the three count.

(4) Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes beat Ted DiBiase and Wade Barrett in a three-way match to retain the IC Title. This was a pretty entertaining match. DiBiase came out doing ‘The Ayatollah’ (a Cardiff City Football celebration), which got him some positive crowd reaction. Barrett and Rhodes both got decent heat, especially Barrett, who is from over the border (England). Barrett and Rhodes double-teamed DiBiase early on before each took turns resting on the outside. Barrett hit Wasteland on Ted, and with the crowd thinking there were seeing a new IC champion, Rhodes came in to break up the pinfall. This one ended with a triple suplex in the corner where Rhodes power-bombed Barrett, who had DiBiase on the top rope. Rhodes then rolled DiBiase up with a hand-full of tights to retain his title. The crowd was really into this one and all three made this an enjoyable match. A side note to the match was that Rhodes worked this one without his protective mask.

Ring announcer Eden Stiles came out to advise the crowd there would be a short intermission and promoted some of the merchandise that was on offer. She also informed the crowd that WWE would be back in Cardiff for the WrestleMania Revenge Tour in April.

[Intermission]

(5) Alicia Fox & A.J. beat Natalya & Tamina. Decent bout from the Divas in this one, but nothing much of note happened. Aksana worked as the special guest referee, but aside from slapping Nattie's backside during the pre-match pat down, she didn’t do much. Fox and A.J. picked up the win after Alicia pinned Tamina.

(6) Hunico beat Yoshi Tatsu. Hunico came out dressed as Sin Cara and there was a big pop for him. There were a lot of Sin Cara t-shirts and masks in the crowd and most of the kids in attendance were really looking forward to him. As “Sin Cara” got into the ring with a fan's sign, he ripped it up and removed his mask to reveal his real identity. The crowed boo’ed and some of them were a bit mystified, but the majority worked out this was the ‘bad Sin Cara.’ Hunico got on the mic and said the real Sin Cara wasn’t here tonight, as he didn’t like the country, and neither did he as well. Hunico won this one with a Swanton Bomb.

Next was the main event of Orton & Show vs. Henry & Christian. Major pops for Orton and Big Show when they made their entrances. Henry and Christian got decent heat, too.

(7) Randy Orton & Big Show beat World Hvt. champion Mark Henry & Christian. This one started with a posing contest between Christian and Orton, Show then got involved by grabbing the house mic and did a really good Hulk Hogan impression by taunting Christian by saying “What’cha Gunna do when The Viper RKO’s you Brother?” This was a decent match with all four participants getting their fair share of in-ring action. There was one scary moment when Mark Henry appeared to drop Big Show on his head following a suplex (something that really should not be attempted!). Both Christian and Orton had their hands on their head following the spot, and Henry did look a little concerned. Show quickly regained his composure, but soon tagged out of the match to allow him some time to recuperate on the outside. This bout ended with Big Show grabbing both Henry and Christian for the chokeslam. Show then tossed Christian to Orton to hit the RKO while Show simultaneously chokeslammed Henry. With both Christian and Henry out for the count, Orton and Show pinned their opponents for a double pin and the win to send the crowd home happy.

Overall, this was a pretty decent show. It wasn’t a sell-out, but the arena was about 90 percent full, and the crowd seemed to enjoy the show. Notable absentees from the card that the crowd were looking forward to see compete were Sin Cara and Sheamus (who was scheduled for MTV's European Music Video Awards show), but that didn’t take away anything from the Superstars that worked the show. Orton and Big Show got the biggest cheers of the night by far, while Christian, Mark Henry and Hunico probably got the most heat. The latter because he wasn’t Sin Cara.

Match of the night would have to be the main event, but the IC Title Match and the Mahal/Curtis vs. Kidd/Gabriel matches were also strong favorites of the crowd.

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

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