Friday Night Wrestling Blog
June 21, 2013
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Live-blogging WWE Smackdown and FWE's big Internet PPV card at WWNLive.com tonight...

- Smackdown, which was a half-full arena show, opened with as many crowd shots as WWE could find to make the arena look full. Daniel Bryan then came out to complain about WWE management (is that Vince, Stephanie, Hunter, Teddy, Booker, Vickie, or Brad?) stopping his match against Randy Orton on Raw and Orton going along with it.

Orton came out to respond that he respects Bryan and was looking out for Bryan's safety, which Bryan took offense to. Orton had enough and wanted to put Bryan in the hospital tonight. They're in the main event.

- Meanwhile, now working on second browser and third script installation to view the Internet PPV on WWNLive. And, FWE is joined in-progress with Matt Striker in the ring fresh off being released from WWE yesterday. "Tonight, we wrestle," Striker concluded.

#1 Smackdown Match - Sheamus beat Cody Rhodes via submission to the Texas Cloverleaf to get revenge on his handicap match loss on Raw. Then, Damien Sandow jumped Sheamus after the match and put a beating on him. Sandow is back in business as a vicious heel.

#1 FWE Match - Petey Williams beat Brian Kendrick in 11:00. On commentary, Striker quickly got "WWE Universe" out of his system in reference to wrestling fans. The story early on was Kendrick selling injuries and Petey slowing down the pace. Kendrick was then dropped on the back of his neck, prompting Striker to wonder if they stop matches for injuries in FWE, making a slight WWE reference. Petey followed with the Canadian Destroyer for the win.

- The Wyatts are coming.

#2 Smackdown Match - IC champ Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) beat Wade Barrett with the neckbreaker to retain the Intercontinental Title. The Miz, who was on commentary with Cole and JBL, sold being impressed with Axel's victory. Miz then hit the ring to confront Axel, but Heyman pulled Axel out of the ring to make people pay to see them fight.

#2 FWE Match - Young Bucks beat Anthony Nese & Jigsaw in 11:00 with a combination spike Tombstone Piledriver on Jigsaw. Striker offered a quick one-liner that he tried to introduce himself to the Young Bucks earlier, but they wouldn't shake his hands. Striker followed with a Vince McMahonism: "We're telling stories, dammit!," complete with the voice. Overall, good tag match and nice to see the Bucks in action.

- Back on Smackdown, Cole set up a video package on Mark Henry tricking John Cena with a fake retirement on Raw. JBL called it one of the greatest ruses of all-time. This led to a full replay of Henry's speech. Such great storytelling and execution to sell the PPV title match. For the conclusion of the speech, WWE went to different camera shots to take a few different looks at the World's Strongest Slam set-up.

This Monday on Raw: John Cena responds to Mark Henry's ruse.

Time for dueling women's wrestling.

#3 Smackdown Match - New Divas champion A.J. Lee (w/Big E. Langston) beat Natalya. The match was given a two-segment spotlight, concluding with A.J. forcing Natalya to submit to the Black Widow. Backstage, Aksana rubbed it in Kaitlyn's face that she's not the Divas champion anymore, so Kaitlyn attacked her and a brawl broke out.

#3 FWE Match - Angelina Love & Katarina Lee (Winter) beat FWE Women's champion Maria Kanellis (w/Mike Bennett) & Ivelisse Velez in tag action when A&K combined for a double-team on Velez while Maria was out of the picture. Early in the match, the announcers tried to figure out TNA's booking of Angelina & Katarina prior to the bell sounding, which proved to be a fruitless discussion. Striker called Maria's title the "Divas Title" twice before he was corrected that it's a Women's Title. It will take time.

SECOND HOUR OF FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION

#4 Smackdown Match - New World Hvt. champion Alberto Del Rio beat Chris Jericho via DQ in a non-title match. Del Rio made his entrance with very subtle heel mannerisms. WWE is very nicely and gradually bringing him back to the heel side of the ledger. The two-segment match featured Jericho forcing Ricardo to tap out to the Liontamer, then a scruffy-looking Dolph Ziggler hit the ring to attack Del Rio as chaos broke out. After Jericho was announced as the DQ loser, he dropped Ziggler with a Codebreaker. Jericho left, so Del Rio returned to the ring to drop Ziggler, further "injuring" Ziggler.

Next up on FWE: Paul London vs. Akio Yang. Prior to the match, there was a long intro for London, a long wait for London to appear atop the building, and London went through the entire crowd before entering the ring.

#4 FWE Match - "Intrepid Traveler" Paul London beat Akio Yang (formerly Jimmy Yang) in 16:00 with a Shooting Star Press to retain the FWE Tri-Borough Title. The match "started" with a back-and-forth discussion of cake on the mic. The crowd then taunted Yang with a "Mr. Fuji" chant, prompting Striker to call out the crowd on their ignorance. Striker got into it with the lead announcer and "Gerry with a G," prompting Striker to call a time-out. Plenty of good nearfalls and back-and-forth before London topped Yang with the SSP. After the match, London wanted a handshake, Yang no-sold, and London dropkicked him out of the ring from behind.

- Back on Smackdown, 3MB was in the ring.

#5 Smackdown Match - Christian beat Drew McIntyre (w/3MB) in a quick match. Christian is 2-0 in his return to television, but does not have a program. Yet...

After the match, Christian took the mic to discuss his return. He said he came back for that One More Match. Suddenly, The Shield's music hit to bring out the trio from the entrance-ramp as opposed to through the crowd. Shield surrounded Christian, then put a beating on him, finishing with a triple powerbomb. Christian vs. Ambrose for the U.S. Title has some potential.

- Rob Van Dam is returning to WWE. And he'll be on FWE later on tonight.

- WWE ran a dramatic video package on C.M. Punk returning to WWE at Payback last Sunday. Then, a look at Punk ditching Paul Heyman on Raw before Brock Lesnar showed up at the end of the show to confront Punk and drop him with the F5.

- Backstage on Smackdown, Renee Young asked Paul Heyman why Brock Lesnar attacked Punk and whether he had anything to do with it. Heyman blew off the question before turning the question on Renee, asking about her personal life. "It's not fun talking about your personal life on TV," Heyman said.

- On the FWE show, "Gerry with a G" left the announce booth to bring out Katie Lee a/k/a Winter for commentary. Next out was inflated Tommy Dreamer against slimmed-down Rob Van Dam, who appears to be in better shape than he was in TNA. Cosmetically, he looks ready for a WWE return.

#6 Smackdown Match - Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan. The bell sounded 15 minutes before the top of the hour. The two-segment match went back-and-forth until Bryan got frustrated with Orton thinking he's the weak link. Bryan couldn't put away Orton, though, then match moved to the outside, where Orton dropped Bryan shoulder-first on the guardrail a la the end of Monday's Raw. As the ref continued to count out both men, Bryan responded with a running knee from the ring apron. Bryan then made it back into the ring at nine, and Orton made it back in at ten. Orton was counted out, giving Bryan the win. But, Bryan wanted the match re-started to prove he can beat Orton. "Yes!" Bryan shouted. "No!" the ref replied. And Smackdown went off the air with Bryan still demanding a re-start. It's as if they weren't sure how to end the show, so they just went off the air.

#5 FWE Match - Rob Van Dam beat Tommy Dreamer with the Five-Star Frogsplash in 17:00 in an Extreme Rules match. After long, entertaining ring intros listing both men's title histories, the nostalgia match quickly moved into the crowd. Dreamer incorporated the audience into his offensive attack, but FWE couldn't get a camera to the action, so the only camera shot available was the back of a fan's Yankees jersey. The announcers put a spin on it that people should come to a show to get up-close to the action. And, Striker went through a collection of fat jokes until RVD and Dreamer returned to the ring. Back in the ring, tables were broken and Dreamer delivered a piledriver, but RVD won with the Five-Star. Overall, this was your basic hardcore nostalgia match to give the fans another taste of their fading memories of ECW and allow Dreamer to live out his tough-guy fantasy one more time.

As Smackdown went off the air, Dreamer took the mic on the FWE show. Dreamer sold being emotional as he told RVD to enjoy perhaps his final run in WWE.

THIRD HOUR OF FWE SHOW

- John Morrison came out for the semi-main event match. Morrison shared a moment with Matt Striker before entering the ring. Out next was Carlito to defend the FWE Hvt. Title.

#6 FWE Match - John Morrison beat FWE champion Carlito with Starship Pain in 17:00 to capture the FWE Title. As the former WWE stars felt each other out, the lead announcer plugged FWE's Twitters. Striker asked if he's going to plug "THE APP" and "TOUT" next. Striker then slipped in another WWE item that if you're deemed athletic, you're expected to do athletic things all the time. The match slowed to a crawl, so the very-entertaining Katie Lea Katarina Lee Winter Burchill offered some nicknames for Morrison a/k/a John Hennigan. For the finish, Morrison hit Starship Pain on his second attempt for the pin and the win. The crowd poo-pooed this WWE Superstars-style match. Effort was there, but the match didn't click.

As Morrison celebrated in the ring, one fan near the arena mic chanted, "You still got it" over and over. Morrison contemplated smacking him, but opted to keep celebrating, finish posing, and leave with the title.

#7 FWE Match - Jay Lethal, no, Tommy Dreamer won a 30-man battle royal main event in 61:00 after Lethal was initially declared the winner before Dreamer won; Dreamer earns a future title shot. Early on, Striker was in culture-shock mode watching odd-looking independent wrestlers enter the battle royal early on. Included was a 120-pound guy wrestling in an ET mask doing a Stone Cold gimmick. Chris Masters, Mike Bennett, and The Patriot were mixed in early on to keep the match honest. After the half-way mark, Jimmy Yang returned, this time as one of the Flying Elvises.

About 20 men into the battle royal, some of the ringside fans chanted for Striker to enter the match. Instead, The Sandman showed up in the crowd dressed in a cargo shorts and a striped t-shirt from Kohl's. Striker said this man shouldn't be here. "It looks like Hak just came off the street," Striker said. Suddenly, Striker dropped the headset, undressed, put on the cardigan, and entered the battle royal to attack Sandman. Next in was Tommy Dreamer to battle Striker and eliminate him. Striker did not return to commentary, as he sold an elbow injury on the elimination.

The third phase of the match featured Petey Williams give Tony Nese the Canadian Destroyer to eliminate Nese. The Young Bucks then took out Tommy Dreamer on the outsode. The 30th and final entrant was Jay Lethal ahead of Lethal's ROH iPPV appearance tomorrow night. Lethal and the Bucks had a Superkick Exchange, then London eliminated both Bucks. The Final Three were Lethal, London, and Petey. London and Petey were eliminated, so Lethal was declared the winner, but then the ref decided that Dreamer was not technically eliminated. Confusion, then Lethal rolled Dreamer back into the ring to battle. Dreamer then Hulked Up and barely got his foot up for the Big Boot. Lethal came back with a figure-four to continue the Fantasy Camp deal. They went to a finish where Dreamer shoved Lethal over the top rope to the floor to "win."

After the match, Dreamer did the unintentional comedy selling that he went through a marathon as he collected himself in the ring. Dreamer then slipped out of the ring and took a victory lap. The announcers sounded like Cole & Lawler talking up Triple H before Dreamer cut a post-match promo thanking the guys in the back. The show then wrapped up with lead announcer Jordan and Winter wrapping up the show.

Overall, if you're looking for a replay recommendation on the FWE show, there were some decent-to-good matches, lots of names on the undercard, some nostalgia stuff if you're into that, and very entertaining commentary throughout.

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