By Mike Cupach, PWTorch contributor

New PWTorch contributor Mike Cupach will be providing a weekly alt. perspective TV report on each week's Smackdown show.

WWE Smackdown alt. perspective TV report
January 21, 2001
Taped in Tulsa, Okla.

[Q1]

The show opens with a video package of last week's comments from Wade Barrett about being the new Caesar in WWE and clips from his match with the Big Show. There is also a recap of Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, and Ezekiel Jackson joining Wade and helping him destroy Show. The clip ends with Barrett putting his foot on Big Shows chest and standing over him victoriously.

Josh Mathews welcomes everyone to Friday Night Smackdown and Wade Barrett and friends come down the aisle to their new Boy Band music. Wade informs everyone that Big Show won’t be on the show tonight. He also gives a quick rundown of what he has been up to the last six months such as forming Nexus, taking out John Cena (I’m thinking a nice dinner, maybe a movie, then back to his place to see what happens next...), and being unceremoniously kicked out of Nexus by C.M. Punk. We calls the group he is with now “The Corre."

Jackson, Slater, and Gabriel introduce themselves. Slater calls himself “The One Man Rock Band” in sarcastic manner and Gabriel lets everyone know that he is from South Africa, but now Friday Night Smackdown is his new home!

Teddy Long’s music hits and he comes out and tells The Corre that they are up to shenanigans and he will have none of it. Barrett interrupts to tell Long that all four members of The Core will be representing Smackdown in the Royal Rumble and that Long has the opportunity to be known as the G.M. who was in charge when The Corre came together. Wade tries telling Teddy that he wants to work with him and not against him. Wade also says he doesn’t lead these men and that they are all equals. Teddy lets him know that he isn’t a anonymous G.M., a chirping computer, or a failure of a TNA owner and he won’t stand by and let that happen on his watch, dag-nabbit! Ezekiel generically states that they can take Smackdown to a higher level together, but Long cuts him off to say that they can either love Smackdown or leave it. Long music hits and he exits stage left.

Just when you thought the segment was ending, Alberto Del Rio’s music hits and he comes out in his car and gets full pyro. He excitedly lets everyone know who he is again because a few members of The Corre are new to the show and he wants them to know who is the man on the show. He then says that winning the Rumble is his destiny. Mathews says that Del Rio vs. Raw’s R-Truth is up next! [C]

[Q2]

What's up? I tried turning on the closed caption on my TV so I could follow Truth’s rap, but all I got were musical note symbols. I guess my closed captioner can’t understand him either. Cole can't stand him and mocks R-Truth saying "what’s up, what’s up, what’s up."

1 -- R-TRUTH vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO

Collar and elbow tie up to start the match. Del Rio powers Truth into the corner, and the ref tries to get a clean break, but Del Rio kicks Truth in the gut. Del Rio whips Truth into the opposite corner and receives a kick to the chin when he tries to follow up. Both men are on the outside when R-Truth slams Alberto’s head in the apron and rolls him back into the ring. Truth grabs an armbar and the camera cuts backstage to Teddy Long out on the floor in his office while Dolph Ziggler and Vickie stand over him and try to get doctors to help him out. Back in the ring Truth has Del Rio propped on the top rope and gives him a hurricanrana from the top and Del Rio rolls out of the ring! [C]

Back from the break, Del Rio is back on his feet slugging it out with Truth and gets the upper hand. Quick pin attempt only gets a two count. Alberto gets frustrated and starts stomping him while he is down. Faint Truth chant starts as Del Rio goes to the chinlock. Backstage, Long is on a gurney as a trainer kicks everyone out of the room as they wheel him out. Back to action, R-Truth gets a few drop kicks and slams Del Rio face first into the mat. A pin attempt only gets a two count. Both men are up and Truth gets whipped into the corner and Alberto hits him with a running enziguri. Another two count. Cole reports that Teddy Long has some head trauma and Striker accuses him of speculating. Truth gets distracted by Ricardo Rodriguez and Del Rio hangs up his arm on the top rope. This sets up the cross arm-breaker and R-Truth holds off the pain to try to grab the top rope but it is too far away and R-Truth taps!

WINNER: Alberto Del Rio wins via submission in 10:00.

Backstage, Teddy Long is loaded into the ambulance and driven away. [C]

[Q3]

Vickie and Dolph are back in Teddy’s office and The Corre is there to say that they had nothing to do with what happened to Mr. Long and they offer Vickie their services while Teddy is gone and she is in charge. She reminds them that Dolph is facing Edge at the Royal Rumble and that she will have one member of The Corre face Edge tonight and she wants that person to wear Edge down before his Rumble title defense. She excuses The Corre and shows concern for Teddy.

Cole, Striker, and Mathews are ringside and go over what happened to Teddy and let us know that Vickie is definitely in charge now.

Video package of the Royal Rumble “by the numbers." I wouldn’t have guessed that Shawn Michaels holds the record for throwing out the most people. It was also nice that someone figured out how much weight has been in the Rumble. I’ll remember that if I’m ever on Jeopardy. I always liked this package. When pointing out that Mysterio has the record for longest Rumble performance, I went back and watched the 2004 Rumble to see if Benoit was the actual holder, but he missed the record by a few minutes. There is also a shot of the bingo hopper with all the wrestlers names. Was that how they used to pick Rumble entrants or was that what WCW brass used to book Nitro?

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes is coming up tonight! [C]

Did you know that Vince McMahon invented the question mark? C’mon Vince that is just ripping off Austin Powers...

Here comes Lay-Cool to the ring and Michael Cole gives a update on Teddy Long that he is on his way to a hospital and he has severe head trauma. Beth Phoenix is out next to the ring.

[Q4]

2 -- BETH PHOENIX vs. LAYLA

Beth powers Layla into the corner, but eats Layla’s foot. Layla tries to whip Beth into the ropes but to no avail. Layla comes off the ropes to give a dropkick, but Beth catches her and Layla gets swung around! Striker informs us that top men are working around the clock on ways to counter the Glam Slam. Top rope, springboard armbreaker by Layla connects and Layla goes to work on the arm. Short arm scissor by Layla as the crowd gets behind the Glamazon as she powers out and drops straight back to slam Layla to the mat, but it comes at a price as Beth sells the arm. Beth favors the arm as she hits Layla with a series of clotheslines. Cole reminds everyone that last year, Beth Phoenix eliminated The Great Khali. Layla kicks the arm and goes for a Fujiwara armbar to no avail and Beth sets Layla up for the Glam Slam and it connects! Beth gets a three count.

WINNER: Beth Phoenix via pinfall after a Glam Slam in 4:00.

Tribute to the Troops video package. (Only 332 days away!) [C]

Back from commercial with a shot of the BOK Center. "Stand up for WWE" won a Mashable award for Most Creative Social Media Campaign. Move over Nobel Peace Prize...

Rey Mysterio's music hits and the crowd goes crazy. Nice pop for Rey as he comes out and does his usual pyro nonsense. It looks like Tulsa loves Rey. On the other side of the coin, Cody Rhodes is out next and gets a nice smattering of boos.

3 -- REY MYSTERIO vs. "DASHING" CODY RHODES

Side headlock by Rhodes as both men take to the ropes. Rey shoves him off and Rhodes clotheslines Rey down. Rey is quickly back up and Rhodes runs into a leg scissors takedown. Rey backs to the corner and Rhodes charges into a boot that has little effect as Rhodes attacks Mysterio’s knee. Cole points out that Rey has had a lot of problems with his knees. Rhodes works the knees by driving his unprotected knee into Rey’s protected knee (?). Rey kicks Rhodes off and Rhodes tosses Rey to the outside. Attempted baseball slide comes up empty and Rey throws Rhodes face-first into the stairs. Word on the street is that Cody doesn’t like being hit in the face. Cody gets rolled back into the ring and Rey goes up top and comes off the ropes with a sitdown senton. Pinfall only gets a two count.

Cole lets us know that there will be a update on Teddy Long coming up. Rhodes whips Rey into the ropes and he springboards off and catches Rhodes with a quick two count. Rey tries to kick Rhodes in the face, but he saw it coming and executes a side Russian legsweep on Rey. Both men back up, Rey tries a sunset flip to no avail, then a boot to the face that Rhodes ducks, but Rey dropkicks Cody in the face. Rey then sets up Rhodes for a 619 that connects. Rey goes up top and dives off with a splash onto Rhodes and Rey gets the clean pin for the win!

WINNER: Rey Mysterio via pinfall after a top rope splash in 4:00.

[Q5]

To the announcers table where they have on their "serious faces" because there's an update on Teddy Long. Backstage, Todd Grisham starts to update the audience on Teddy Long’s condition, but he gets interrupted by A-Ri and The Miz. The Miz is here to share on Smackdown what he did to Randy Orton last week on Raw. Cole says that Alex Riley and The Miz are the best, Jerry, the best!

The Best of Raw 2010 will be coming out on DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday. [c]

Backstage, Cody Rhodes is with a trainer who informed him that his nose is broken. Cody asks for a mirror, looks in it, and he is disgusted by his appearance. Maybe he will go with a two-face gimmick!

Out comes Jack Swagger, who will be taking on Kofi in an amateur wrestling match. Kofi is out next and he gets a nice response from the crowd. Striker goes over the amateur wrestling match rules. I guess Kofi has a high school amateur background and will be able to hold his own.

4 -- JACK SWAGGER vs. IC champion KOFI KINGSTON -- non-title Amateur Wrestling match

Jack starts with a double leg takedown that gets two points, but he backs up and Kofi gets a pity point. Swagger with another takedown for another two points and Kofi escapes to give himself another point. Another takedown by Swagger gets another two points. Jack lets Kofi up again and Kofi gets another point. Striker makes a poor "Back to the Future" reference and Cole lets him know it. Swagger is up 6-3 with 40 seconds left as Swagger slams Kingston down with authority for two more points. Jack plays with Kofi, who comes up with a surprising double leg takedown to give him two more points. The bell rings after 3:00 and Jack Swagger wins the match 10-9.

WINNER: Jack Swagger wins via points 10-9.

Jack tries to jump Kofi from behind, but the champ must have ESP because he turns the tables and hits Swagger with Trouble in Paradise. Kofi then goes up top and dives onto the All-American, American to shut him up.

They move to the announce table where Cole makes fun of Mathews for being happy for Kofi getting second place. Next is a video package of what happened last week on The Cutting Edge with Edge-Dolph-Vickie.

Coming up tonight, Edge will face The Riddler. No wait, that is just a question mark because they don’t know which member of The Corre that Edge will face tonight. [c]

"Living in a Dream" by Finger Eleven is the theme for the Royal Rumble this year.

At ringside, the announcers tout that last week's Smackdown was the most watched show on Syfy on Friday nights in five years. Cole tries to take credit.

Trent Baretta wastes no time heading out to the ring and he will face Drew McIntyre, who is out next. I wish Striker would stop making "American Psycho" references. It didn’t work with Lance Hoyt; it won’t work with Drew.

5 -- TRENT BARRETA vs. DREW MCINTYRE

Both men circle each other until Drew nails Trent with a fist to the face, then suplexes him to the mat. Drew mounts him and gives him some more fists to the face. Drew pulls Trent up and snap suplexes him over into a cover that only gets a two count. Drew whips Trent into the ropes, Drew tries to toss him up into the air but Barreta dropkicks him instead. Trent crawls to the apron and catches Drew with some kicks and stuns him. Trent to the top rope, and it looks like he is trying a missile dropkick, but McIntyre catches him for a powerbomb to the mat. Drew pulls Trent up, places him on the top rope, and suplexes him off the top. That is enough to get the win.

WINNER: Drew McIntyre via pinfall after a superplex in 3:00.

Afterward, Drew offers to shake Trents hand, but Barreta shoves him off. Drew sets him up for the Future Shock, but Kelly Kelly is out and Drew lets him go. The Chosen One tries to explain himself, but Kelly doesn’t want to hear it and tells Drew to leave as she tends to Trent.

Tonight: Edge vs. a member of The Corre. [c]

[Q7]

Did You Know that WWE is The Juggernaut? I didn’t.

Tony Chimel welcomes The Miz to the show and Cole is glad to finally have some class on Friday night. Cole calls Miz the N.Y. Jets of WWE because he backs up what he says. Striker tries to one up Cole by calling Miz the Ricky Gervais of WWE, but he butchers the name and Cole corrects him. Good for you, Michael!

The crowd does not like The Miz, who delivers a Mike Mizanin original – “Awesome is as awesome does.” Classic. Miz runs down what he did to Randy Orton last Monday after his match with Dolph Ziggler. The Miz and Alex Riley destroyed Orton by sending him into the steel post and throwing him through the barricades in front of the timekeeper's table.

iz then starts to give his catch phrase, but gets cut off by Edge. Edge lets him know that he is The Miz and he is done. Edge isn’t too impressed with what Miz did to Orton because Randy just came off a grueling match. Miz doesn’t care because he will show Edge what he can do next Monday on Raw when they have a free match for everyone to see. Edge says he isn’t worried because he has more important things to do and tells Miz to leave. Much to my surprise, he walks away, but Alex comes at Edge and catches a spear from WWE's World Champ. Miz feigns intensity and fakes going into the ring and he collects himself and heads to the back as Edge’s music hits.

The Royal Rumble is the beginning of the Road to Wrestlemania and it is only one week away! Who will be the one? [c]

This Monday, there will be a champion vs. champion match on Raw as Edge takes on The Miz. Also, who is C.M. Punk's mystery man? We will find out Monday on Raw.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Edge waits in the ring for The Corre to come out. Have I pointed out how bad this boy band music is that they have for a theme?

[Q8]

Vickie is out and wants to be excused. Vickie says Dolph Ziggler will be ringside as the special guest commentator. Nice hoodie/dress shirt/tie combo, Dolph! Everyone but Justin Gabriel clears from the ring.

6 -- World Hvt. champion EDGE vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL (w/The Corre) -- non-title match

Dolph is on headsets. The match starts with Edge clubbing down Gabriel, who then gets whipped hard into the corner as Dolph goes over his game plan for his match against Edge at the Rumble. Edge whips Justin into the ropes, and Justin slides between Edge’s legs. Edge hits Gabriel with a Edge-cutioner that only gets a two count. Quick cut to Ezekiel looking mean outside. Gabriel takes over with a kick to the gut as Striker asks if wedding bells are in Dolph and Vickie's future. Dolph plays it off.

Gabriel puts his foot in Edges face while he is down in the corner and the ref breaks it with a four count. Gabriel works Edge over in the corner with some kicks, but Edge fights back with some punches and fights his way out of the corner. Justin goes for a head scissors in the corner but Edge blocks it, tosses Justin onto the apron, and kicks him in the face. Gabriel falls hard to the outside. [c]

Back to action, Gabriel has Edge down giving him some boots. They replayed what happened during the break – Gabriel kicked Edge in the ankle while Edge tried to bring Justin back into the ring. Back to live action, Gabriel hits a side Russian legsweep and ties Edge up in some interesting submission move. That doesn’t last long, as Edge elbows his way out. Edge charges Gabriel, who catches him and trips Edge to the ground. Justin goes up top and, on the way down, gets drop-kicked by Edge. Dolph is doing a great job mentioning that Edge has a weak neck and that he plans on taking advantage of it at the Royal Rumble.

Both men are down. Edge heads to the outside to roll Gabriel back in, but locks eyes with The Corre. That distraction costs him, as Justin is able to clear the cobwebs and catches Edge with some blows as he rolls back in. Gabriel puts Edge on the top turnbuckle and Edge pushes him down and dives off the top with a cross-body that gets a two count. Edge is calling for the Spear, but Barrett gets on the apron to distract Edge and the ref. Ezekiel then nails Edge with a strong clothesline. Gabriel goes for the pin and gets a three count?!

WINNER: Justin Gabriel via pinfall after outside interference by The Corre in 11:00.

Edge is out cold in the middle of the ring as The Corre surrounds him and each member hits Edge with their finishing move. Dolph says he wishes Edge would be 100 percent at the Rumble and he doesn’t want to see this, but if he has to win by forfeit, so be it. The Corre stands over Edge victoriously and leaves the ring.

Ziggler then slithers into the ring and kneels next to Edge. He gets up and puts his foot on Edge's chest as the show fades out.

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