WWE Smackdown review
March 11, 2011
Taped 3/8/11 in Houston, Tex.
Aired on SYFY
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open.

- Much ballyhoo opened the show. The Wrestlemania sign was shown as Josh Mathews alerted fans to the number of days left until the big show. Michael Cole plugged that Triple H would respond to the Undertaker tonight.

- Edge came out to the live crowd. Justin Roberts was doing ring announcing, as opposed to Tony Chimel. Mathews, Cole and Booker T were shown on camera, as Booker said he was at home in Houston. As Edge posed for the fans, they showed Alberto Del Rio and Edge’s physical confrontation at the contract signing last week. Crowd chanted for the Rated R Superstar as he took in the cheers. He said he and Del Rio would face off in 23 days at Wrestlemania 27. He said he wanted to fight tonight, then said if Del Rio didn’t come out right now, he’d find him, no matter where. He even threw in “bingo hall” as one of the places he’d search for ADR. That presents a ton of funny images. “It is my destiny….to call B9.” But it didn’t happen, as Del Rio and Brodus Clay came out.

Del Rio asked Edge, “how dare you call me out?!” Edge called Del Rio a Ricky Martin look-alike, then Del Rio reminded Edge that he sends him home in pain every week and that he’ll replace Edge’s legacy with his destiny. He and Clay entered the ring and said at ‘Mania, he’ll be the new World Champion. “I don’t think so,” said Edge, who then attacked Del Rio and Clay. The numbers game overcame Edge and the heels double-teamed him. They rammed Edge’s shoulder into the ringpost, but Christian’s music played and he ran out to even the odds. He tackled Del Rio, but Clay battered him right in the sternum. Del Rio focused on Edge, while Clay sent a hard right hand into Christian’s chest. Referees finally came out to break things up when Teddy Long came out onto the stage. He said after what happened last week and right now, there seems to be issues that need to be worked through. He announced that tonight would be one of the most historic nights in Smackdown history. Did Dixie Carter write this promo? He said Clay and Del Rio would face Christian and Edge, teaming for the first time in ten years. The faces were in the ring while the heels stared at them from the ramp.

- To the announcers, where Michael Cole said he is not only a broadcast journalist, but a pop icon. But tonight, he’s going back to his roots, where he’ll conduct an interview with John Cena.

[Commercial Break]

- Kane came out for a match, and they showed what happened last week with him and the Corre. Wade Barrett was out next, and said Kane has made some monumental mistakes in recent weeks. He called Kane a “chemical experiment mistake.” That was worded oddly.

1 – KANE vs. WADE BARRETT

Booker called Kane “a molotov cocktail ready to explode.” As Kane had things in control, the rest of Corre ran out for the DQ.

WINNER: Kane, via DQ, at :42. A short match like this makes sense in this context, given that Barrett probably told Corre to come out as soon as he gets in trouble so Kane doesn’t do any major harm to him.

Kane held off everyone, except for Zeke Jackson, who took Kane down. Big Show quickly came out to diffuse the situation, with a chair as his weapon of choice. Corre exited the ring as he entered it. They cut away to commercial faster than usual there.

[Commercial Break]

2 – BIG SHOW & KANE vs. WADE BARRETT & HEATH SLATER

This match had been made and joined in progress out of break. I wonder if they had to edit something off of TV, which is why they went to break so awkwardly and came back in progress. Hard chop to the chest of Barrett by Show, after Slater tagged out. Barett countered a chokeslam and went after Show’s knee. Big boot put Show down, and he stomped on Show’s knee. Slater tagged in and kept Show on the mat. He was aggressive and stayed on Show in order to keep him from getting to his feet. Show picked Slater up, still in a reverse chin-lock, and dropped him. At 2:37, both men were down and looking for a tag. Show successfully brought in Kane, who hit Slater with a sidewalk slam. He took out Barrett, then booted Slater down. As he set up for the chokeslam, but the rest of Corre ran in. “I thought Teddy Long said these guys were banned!” said Booker. Did that happen during the announcement of the match during the break, a part that had to be edited out perhaps?

WINNERS: Show and Kane, via DQ, 3:16 shown. Fine continuation to presumably set something up for ‘Mania.

The attack didn’t last long, as Show fended them off with a steel chair. Then he nailed Kane with the chair, revenge for what Kane did to him last week.

- Rey Mysterio was backstage. He returns to action tonight.

[Commercial Break]

- Still to come tonight, Cole grills John Cena in a “world exclusive” interview. Booker turned the subject to what happened with Cole and Jerry Lawler on Monday. “Why did you have to bring that up?” asked Cole. Booker had the truck roll the footage, and we got a look at the Michael Cole/JBL – Steve Austin segment from Raw. JBL hasn’t missed a beat. They did show quite a bit of the segment. They came back, camera focused on Cole. He coolly said that Austin will be forced to raise his hand at Wrestlemania in 23 days.

- Still to come, Edge and Christian take on Brodus Clay and Alberto Del Rio.

- Cody Rhodes was walking backstage, wearing a suit and his facemask. Mathews said he returns to action next, but certainly didn’t look ready to compete.

[Commercial Break]

- “Written in the Stars” by Tinie Tempah is the official theme song of Wrestlemania.

- Cody Rhodes came out, still in his suit, shying away from the attention of the crowd. Before the match, they showed the turn by Dusty from two weeks ago.

3 – CODY RHODES vs. JTG

Rhodes went after JTG in his dress shirt, pants and dress shoes. He headbutted JTG several times in the corner. Cross Rhodes by Cody and the man who is “Dashing” no longer picked up the win.

WINNER: Rhodes, at :51.

- The video of Shawn Michaels, part two from Raw, aired here. Triple H responds to Undertaker tonight.

- Michael Cole headed to the ring to talk to John Cena, and that’s next.

[Commercial Break]

- After showing a wide shot of the city, they went to the ring where Michael Cole introduced John Cena. Once Cena entered the ring, Cole threw it to a video of Miz blind-siding Cena from Raw. Cena had his hat in his hand, looking a little embarrassed, when they went back to the arena. Cena took the mic from Cole before he could ask a question. He told Cole to return to the hole he puked out of. That doesn’t even make any sense! Cena admitted that Miz got one by him on Monday, but he made the biggest mistake of his career in doing so. He said all Miz needed to do was stay under the radar and head to ‘Mania where he MIGHT have a chance of winning. Cena said he’s done wasting his time on B.S. He said if Miz thinks he’s the new face of WWE, then his focus has shifted to breaking the face of WWE. Cena’s music played and he handed the mic to Cole, and said “we’re done.”

Cole stopped him, saying he isn’t finished with his interview. He asked Cena if he was underestimating the Miz, perhaps scared that he’d blow his Wrestlemania opportunity. Cena didn’t want to answer and pretended to leave the ring. Cole said he’s not asking Cena to rap for him, he just wants him to answer the question. But maybe he can’t answer, since Miz shut him up so eloquently on Monday night. Cena took off his t-shirt and tossed it into the crowd. He grabbed Cole by the lapels, but Jack Swagger rushed the ring. He attacked Cena, but couldn’t hook the ankle-lock in. Cole trash-talked on the mic, telling Swagger to teach Cena about respect. Cena kicked Swagger off of him, which sent Swagger out of the ring. Cena picked Cole up for the Attitude Adjustment, but Swagger ran into the ring to save his protégé. Instead, Cena gave the AA to Swagger. Cole and Swagger regrouped on the top of the stage.

- Edge and Christian take on Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay tonight.

- Hey, it’s a sneak peek at the Chaperone!

[Commercial Break]

- The Sin Cara vignette from Raw aired.

4 – LAYLA vs. KAITLYN

They are in Kaitlyn’s hometown, hence her appearance. She’s looking a little like Ashley Massaro, which can’t be a good sign. Kaitlyn dropped Layla on her tail-bone. Michelle McCool got on the apron and Kaitlyn pulled her hair a bit. She turned around into a kick from Layla, followed by her patented neckbreaker for the win.

WINNER: Layla, at :54. I wish they could find a non-wrestling role for Kaitlyn.

After the match, Layla set Kaitlyn up so that she was sitting in the corner, legs around the post, facing the turnbuckle. McCool ran at her and kneed her in the back. LayCool celebrated to end things.

- Rey Mysterio returns next, for the first time since the attack by Cody and Dusty Rhodes.

[Commercial Break]

5 – REY MYSTERIO vs. DREW MCINTYRE

As Rey came to the ring, the announcers discussed Cole’s big interview with Cena. McIntyre took Rey down right off the bat. He booted Rey in the face, then gave him a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker. Drew shouted that Rey wasn’t going to Wrestlemania. Cole volunteered to be Booker’s life coach. Drew was set up for the 619, but McIntyre avoided it. Rey slid outside and McIntyre greeted him with more abuse. In a sweet move, he gave Rey a sidewalk slam onto the apron. They went to break a little over 2:00 in.

[Commercial Break]

Back at the 5:50 mark, with Rey in a bow-and-arrow submission. After Rey worked his way out of it, Mysterio was whipped hard into the buckle. Rey came off the top with a seated senton, but missed a cross-body. McIntyre wrapped Rey up in a pinning predicament, getting only a two-count. Booker spent most of the match putting McIntyre over. Mysterio came back with a 619, then splashed McIntyre off the top rope, picking up the victory.

WINNER: Mysterio, at 8:16. Good match…McIntyre doesn’t lose much by losing to Rey, who is pretty high on the totem pole, plus it was a competitive match.

Cody Rhodes came out, clapping into the mic so we could hear it. Rhodes said he was waiting for his answer to the Wrestlemania challenge. Mysterio asked Rhodes what was the matter, was his daddy not there to help him tonight? He said he wears his mask with pride, and he’ll wear it at Wrestlemania when he beats Cody. It’s official then.

- Next, Triple H responds to Taker next.

[Commercial Break]

- Triple H came to the ring to address Undertaker. He took his time, perhaps trying to out-Undertaker Undertaker’s entrance. He paused to soak in the cheers, as per his usual. Trips said that Taker was gracious enough to remind him of what he’s capable of in the ring. He wanted to show Taker what he can do, so we got a video package on The Game. “Long Live The King” were the words at the beginning of the video. After the video, he said the last two years he has seen two of the greatest matches he’s ever seen: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker. He said he couldn’t understand why Shawn couldn’t get the job done in either match. He said Shawn answered it in his video on Monday: emotion. Shawn has always had trouble separating emotion from his matches, and he said in his own words, he was “overwhelmed” standing in front of the legacy that Taker represented. Trips said Shawn went to the ring, not to win, but just not to lose. Triple H talked about him not having that problem, setting aside the emotion, since he has a dark side. I feel like this promo would better fit Randy Orton’s character. Triple H said Shawn made him sound like a horrible person, but it’s true. He said in the biggest match in his life, he’ll stand across from the biggest legend there has ever been, or ever will be in this business. He said he’ll do what no man has ever done before: He’ll beat The Undertaker. He said he will have no emotion, nor will he care about the legacy standing in front of him. He said he won’t hesitate, nor come unglued by things that go bump in the night. “Undertaker, you made this match no holds barred. Thank you.” That was the final line of a pretty solid promo from Triple H.

- Christian was warming up backstage when Matt Striker came in and asked him about his reunion with Edge. Christian talked about all of the technological advances and entertainment stories that have happened since he and Edge last teamed together. He said Houston, and more specifically Alberto Del Rio, “we have a problem.” Edge walked up and asked Christian if he was ready. They both walked out of camera range to head to the ring for the main event.

[Commercial Break]

- More shots of the city of Houston, then Justin Roberts handed it off to Ricardo Rodriguez (seconded by Brodus Clay) to introduce Alberto Del Rio. First, however, he did introduce Clay.

6 – BRODUS CLAY & ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. CHRISTIAN & EDGE

E&C had separate entrances. Clay manhandled Christian at the start, but Christian went to the top rope to attempt a Tornado DDT, but Del Rio distracted him. Clay with an overhead suplex that sent Christian to ringside. Del Rio whipped Christian into the barricade while the ref was dealing with Edge. Edge chased Del Rio, who fled into the crowd. He came back over when Edge went back to the apron. Clay brought Christian back into the ring and dropped an elbow. Bodyslam by Clay, then a tag to Del Rio, who connected on a running kick to Christian’s arm/shoulder. Arm-bar by Del Rio as the crowd chanted for Christian. Christian continued to take the punishment from the heels. He pulled Christian’s elbow pad off, exposing his injured arm. Christian was able to recover and counter Del Rio, leaving both men on the mat. They both made tags at around the 4:00 mark. Big slam by Brodus for two. Edge tripped Clay up into the turnbuckle. He clotheslined Del Rio off the apron and lined up for the Spear. Instead, he ran into a Clay clothesline. He set Edge up in the corner, but missed a butt splash. Del Rio attacked Edge from behind, but Christian made the save. Del Rio got flipped to the floor, then Christian was Tornado DDT’d. Edge came off the top rope with an elbowdrop and made the pin.

WINNERS: Edge and Christian, at 5:48. Serviceable main event. Clay didn’t look too out of place.

After a replay of the finish, Del Rio looked on from the arena floor as Edge and Christian had their arms raised in the ring.


What do you think? If you saw this show, we invite you to send your thoughts. Send your name, hometown, a 0-10 score rating the quality of the show, your picks for best and worst segments, and then a brief paragraph of thoughts on the show that we can publish in the Reader Reax segment later tonight or tomorrow. Send to pwtorch@gmail.com.

Greg Parks has been covering WWE Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. His new audio show, “Gonzo and The Greg,” debuted last weekend on the Torch VIP Page. A new show will be posted this Sunday. Give it a listen! Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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