WWE Smackdown TV taping report
March 22, 2011
Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena
Report by JR Judy and Wade Skaggs, PWTorch readers

Dark Match: Trent Barreta beat Curt Hawkins. Good back and forth match. The crowd was super behind Trent, who picked up the win with the Tornado DDT. (**)

NXT Notes

NXT commentator/host intros: Grisham was cheered, Regal got a ton of heat. Matt Striker received a generic reaction. Maryse got a mixed reaction, but looked great.

Pro intros: Kidd got no reaction, Kozlov and Yoshi got tons of cheers, Chavo was booed, JTG was cheered, and the building went nuts for Hornswoggle.

Rookie intros: Small cheers for all of the Rookies, but the crowd didn't seem to care.

After the NXT and Superstars taping, they changed the ring for the Smackdown taping.

Smackdown SPOILERS for March 25

Booker T and Josh Matthews entered to decent crowd reactions. More for Booker. Michael Cole came out to a roar of boos.

-Teddy Long started the show informing Edge that if either he or Albero Del Rio touches each other before WrestleMania, the offender will be banned from the main event.

(1) Rey Mysterio beat C.M. Punk via DQ in a WrestleMania Rewind match. Back and forth opener that really got the crowd going. Punk had control in the opening moments, but Rey battled back. The crowd was super behind Rey, especially after he hit a moonsault to the floor on Punk. Cody Rhodes ran down and attacked Rey, causing the DQ. (***)

After the match, Cody continued to attack Rey, headbutting Rey in the face with his mask. He lifted his pants leg up and revealed a knee brace, which he drove into Rey's face. Cody made his way to the back as referees helped Rey to the locker room.

-Backstage, Christian entered Edge's locker room and warned him about his injured arm. He attempted to talk Edge out of wrestling Drew McIntyre tonight. Edge said not only will he wrestle, but he will also be in Christian's corner when he faces Alberto Del Rio in the main event.

(2) World Hvt. champion Edge beat Drew McIntyre via submission in a non-title match. A very short match. Drew took the early advantage attacking Edge's injured arm. Edge was able to fight back, though, and he locked on the Edgecator to make Drew tap out. (**)

(3) Lay-Cool (Michelle McCool & Layla) beat Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes. Lay-Cool came out looking like they belong on "Jersey Shore," mocking Snooki. They resembled Snooki a lot. They fist pumped, brawled for a minute, and then Layla dropped Rosa with a neckbreaker for the win. (1/2*)

After the match, Lay-Cool mocked Snooki, John Morrison, and Trish Stratus. They drew decent heat and claimed Snooki is famous, but not Flawless.

(4) Wade Barrett beat Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston to capture the IC Title. The Corre was at ringside and stayed out of the match for the majority of it. The crowd was firmly behind Kofi and Corre got decent heat. As Kofi signaled for the Trouble in Paradise, Slater and Jackson hopped on the apron. Jackson distracted the ref while Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise on Slater. He then attempted to hit Trouble in Paradise on Barrett, but Barrett caught him in mid-air. Barrett then scored with Wasteland for the win. (***)

-Backstage, Del Rio tried to argue Teddy Long's ruling. Long claimed he can and will ban Alberto from WrestleMania. "There have been 26 WrestleManias with out you, and I can easily make it 27," he said.

-In the arena, the lights went down and The Undertaker made his way to the top of the ramp to a huge ovation. He responded to Triple H, saying that Triple H is becoming less confident the closer they get to WrestleMania. He said he will appear on Monday's Raw to face him face-to-face. He ended by saying Hunter is putting all of his accolades in the pot to become number 19.

(5) Jack Swagger beat R-Truth via submission. Truth was super-over with the Columbus crowd, which chanted "What's Up?" with him. Throughout the match, Cole was very animated, climbing on his table and drawing more heat and attention than the match itself. Multiple "Cole sucks" chants broke out during the match. Nothing too special about this one. Jack locked in the Anklelock for the win. (**)

After the match, Cole entered the ring and mocked R-Truth, even making up his own rap while Swagger maintained hold of the Anklelock. The two took a victory lap as the crowd erupted in boos.

(5) Christian (w/Edge) beat Alberto Del Rio (w/Brodus Clay). A back and forth contest, which really captivated the crowd. They were super behind Christian throughout his comeback. Once he hit a huracanrana from the top rope, the crowd went nuts. Towards the end of the match, Edge chased Ricardo around the ring, only to be blindsided by Brodus Clay from behind. Edge would get revenge a few moments later, though, by delivering a spear to Clay. He grabbed a chair and began to attack Clay, distracting Del Rio, who was looking to put on the Cross-Arm-Breaker. The distraction allowed Christian to sneak up from behind and deliver the Killswitch. (***1/2)

After the match, Edge entered the ring and stalked Del Rio with a chair. Christian, who had rolled out of the ring, rolled back in and took the chair away from Edge. He pointed to the WrestleMania 27 logo and then hit Del Rio in the back himself.

End Smackdown TV taping.

Dark Match: Big Show & Kane & Christian & Rey Mysterio beat Alberto Del Rio & The Corre in a handicap tag match. There was a lot of Gabriel, Slater, Kane, and Big Show in this one,as they were the freshest of the evening. Good reaction for Kane and a huge reaction for Big Show. Just when it looked like Big Show would take over the match, all nine men entered the ring and a brawl ensued. Del Rio and all Corre members except for Heath Slater were sent to the floor. Slater then received a 619, chokeslam, Killswitch, and Knockout Punch in succession. Big Show got the pin for his team. (**1/2)

Biggest Pops:

(1) Rey Mysterio
(2) Christian
(3) Edge
(4) Undertaker
(5) Trent Barreta
(6) Hornswoggle

Most Heat:

(1) Michael Cole
(2) Lucky Cannon
(3) The Corre
(4) Alberto Del Rio
(5) Cody Rhodes
(6) Lay-Cool

Overall Reaction

The opening dark match really got the crowd energized, and, minus NXT, the crowd stayed that way the entire night. NXT was pretty much a let down as far a whole show went. I think Lucky Cannon makes a great heel, but it didn’t make sense for him and Darren Young to go at it verbally, as well as have him again feud with Yoshi, yet he randomly faced Byron Saxton.

The Superstars match was just a repeat of the last few weeks. I feel like more can be done with Reks and Masters.

Smackdown had its ups and downs. The opening match was good, but I would have liked to have seen it go longer. I like the new direction for Cody Rhodes, as it works 150 percent... Good to see something finally being done with the Intercontinental Title. Love him or hate him, Michael Cole may be the most over heel WWE has right now. I didn’t hear a louder roar of boos all night, even after Lucky Cannon cut a promo on Ohio State. The Undertaker’s promo sent chills to the audience, while Lay-Cool put the crowd to sleep. The main event was probably the best match all night. ... The dark match wasn’t anything phenomenal. No Undertaker appearance like in previous weeks. Good to see Big Show get a good reaction.

Overall, the crowd was into the show all night, cheering for the faces and booing the heels. It was a fun, action-filled night, definitely worth taking a look at this Friday. It should be interesting to see how this plays out leading to next week’s final Smackdown before WrestleMania.

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