WWE Smackdown TV taping report
August 31, 2010
Albany, N.Y.
Report by Tom Dinardi, PWTorch reader

-- Superstars SPOILERS taped prior to Smackdown.

Smackdown SPOILERS for Friday, Sept. 3

The set was switched over for Smackdown with red, white, and green balloons in the ring. The show started with a recap of the Brothers of Vegetation storyline. Kane has a major announcement tonight.

-- We're starting with Alberto Del Rio shenanigans. At least he has Christian's pyro now. There are a whole bunch of servants in ring. One has a pinata. Aye aye aye. At least he's got heat here for taking out Rey Mysterio. He wrecks the pinata like it's Rey, then toasts to himself.

Speaking of Christian's pyro, Christian must be here to take it back from him. Christian calls him Juan Bradshaw Layfield and Enrique Iglesias. At least he makes PG comedy work. Del Rio backs down from the proposition of a fight tonight, but we will be seeing Christian in action later. Drew McIntyre runs in. He hops the barricade from the crowd to the ring and takes a few shots on Christian on the outside. Drew taunts the crowd as the ring is changed.

(1) Christian beat Drew McIntyre in 5:00. The second match of the night to tease a double count-out at nine. Christian wins with his recent finisher: the roll up. I'm upset I don't get to hear McIntyre's theme music.

-- Big Show vs. C.M. Punk & Luke Gallows still to come tonight.

(2) Michelle McCool (w/Women's champion Layla) beat Kelly Kelly in 3:00. McCool has active duty for Lay-Cool tonight. Layla is on commentary. Michelle wins with the Faithbreaker for the clean win.

-- Kane will have an important announcement later. ... A promo for WrestleMania 27 actually showed Ric Flair.

-- Chris Masters is on his way out to no worse of a reaction than normal. His entrance won't make TV. Vickie is out to RIDICULOUS heat to introduce Dolph Ziggler. I barely made out a word she said. Before the match, highlights of Kofi Kingston chasing Dolph out of the arena last week were shown.

(3) IC champion Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) beat Chris Masters in 2:00 in a non-title match. Masters lit up Dolph with a LOUD chop, but Dolph won with the Zig-Zag after fighting off the Masterlock.

-- Big Show is on is way out to the arena to take on the Straight Edge Society, next. ... Highlights aired from last night's Raw with Punk and Show. Joey Mercury is ringside with the Society.

(4) Big Show beat Straight Edge Society (C.M. Punk & Luke Gallows w/Joey Mercury) in 8:00 in a handicap match. Punk and Show are starting it off, then it quickly changes to Gallows. Big Show delivers the second chop of the night to Gallows. The match is being kept to the floor with the numbers game being used. Show went for a tackle on Punk and ate the stairs. Show beats the ten count at nine, deja vu for the third time tonight. Big Show makes Gallows tap in eight minutes with a Camel Clutch variation. Mercury was taken out half-way through after Show evened the odds. Post-match, Punk with the GTS on Gallows in anger.

-- Next up is the VIP Lounge. Jack Swagger is out to less heat than expected with his "dad" in a wheelchair. Remember that: Swagger, Sr. sells injuries longer than John Cena does. I feel like they have the same trophies out that Show destroyed during their feud...? Swagger is upset at the "What?" chants. They recapped Kane wrecking Swagger, Sr. in case we don't remember why he's in a wheelchair. Swagger might not get to do push-ups in his entrance anymore, but he brought them to the Lounge tonight.

Finally, MVP is out for the interruption. MVP declares this is his VIP Lounge and starts chucking trophies. Swagger uses his dad as a buffer, and Swagger, Sr. takes Pay dirt and "BALLIN'!" Oddly enough, despite getting a pop for the elbow drop, the crowd gave MVP some heat for laying out the old man. Swagger hightails it.

(5) Cody Rhodes beat Matt Hardy in 5:00. Rhodes tries to talk Hardy into some grooming tips pre-match and calls him "fatso." Cody has an old school delivery that makes this crap not as awful. Matt is working over Cody's exposed knees. Still to come - Kane's major announcement and the NXT live finale. The tide reverses and Cody plants Matt for the win in five minutes.

-- More "Legendary" promos. They're covering the stage up, preparing for a Taker sighting perhaps? Kane's pyro wrecks us all, and he doesn't even bother to come out. He confirms his Night of Champions match with Taker via backstage promo. Kane fades out with maniacal laughter, and druids bring a casket out while the arena is bathed in blue.

Kane emerges from the casket. He's still laughing. Is Kane the Hugo Strange to Undertaker's Batman? The live NXT finale starts in ten minutes, yet Kane still is babbling about Taker. At least it's better than more devil talk. The Undertaker gong is more epic when it's stopping non-sense. Here comes the dead man. As Taker jumps in the ring, the lights go out and Kane bolts. The casket ringside is closed now and Taker checks it. No dice, Kane went backstage. Kane has more words of wisdom from backstage, threatening Taker with destruction. More Kane pyro to end Smackdown evily.

***

After the live episode of NXT, they went to the advertised dark match main event of Kane vs. The Undertaker for the live crowd. The chairs for the judges are on stage for both brothers's entrances. Taker's grave stone wall is funny with chairs in front.

Dark Match: World Hvt. champion Kane beat The Undertaker via count-out to retain the World Title. There was brawling by the announce table, so the announcers cleared out. Kane beat the count back in and Taker was counted out in two minutes.

Post-match: The brawl continued back into the ring. Taker countered a chokeslam into one of his own. Tombstone signaled, so Kane hightails it. Kane punched one of the stage chairs in frustration and left. Taker then did the Dead Man pose and dropped the lights down to send the crowd home happy.

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

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