WWE Smackdown alt. perspective review
June 24, 2011
Taped 6/21/11 in Hershey, Pa.
Aired on Syfy
By Michael Cupach, PWTorch Contributor

-WWE open and Smackdown opens with its music video and full pyro display!.

-Josh Mathews welcomes everyone to a Smackdown after a very controversial week in WWE. Teddy Long’s music plays and he makes his way to the ring. I guess since he is in the ring to start Smackdown, he will be named number one contender for the World Title! Nevermind, he is settling the World Title situation after last Sunday’s finish to the match between Orton and Christian where Christian’s foot was under the rope when a three count was made. Teddy calls out Captain Charisma who comes to the ring as Michael Cole makes a argument that Christian was screwed and should be awarded the title tonight.

-Christian wants another shot at the title and wastes no time letting Long know it (woo woo woo!) and Long catches up the audience on what happened at Capitol Punishment. Teddy calls it a bad call on the referees part and he apologizes to the WWE Universe, but says that the ref’s decision is final. Christian takes offense to Long apologizing to these people and he wants his shot NOW! Teddy says that it depends, it depends on if Christian earns another title shot. Teddy Long makes a number one contenders match tonight and it will be Kane vs. Christian! Christian gets face to face with Teddy and argues with him, Teddy sidesteps him and walks to the back.

Tonight: Wade Barrett invokes his rematch clause against Ezekiel Jackson!

(Commercial)

-This Monday, Raw returns to Las Vegas for Raw Roullette and Shawn Michaels will be in attendance! Also since there was a error in voting last Monday, there will be a make up match between Evan Bourne and Sin Cara.

1 -- SIN CARA vs. TED DIBIASE

Random DiBiase fact from Josh Mathews: Ted is good friends with Ryan Reynolds! This week marks the return of the Sin Cara mood lighting and Sin Cara starts the match with a wristlock reversal into a arm drag followed by leg scissoring DiBiase out of the ring. Sin Cara follows Ted out with a springboard cross body to the floor! Back in the ring Sin Cara goes for a pin but comes up short. Cara tries another springboard splash, but Ted intercepts it mid-air with a dropkick. The crowd starts chanting for Sin Cara, it sounds suspiciously like a 6-1-9 chant ad Sin Cara counters what looks like a Samoan Drop into a sunset flip. Ted rolls out of the pinning combination and kicks Sin Cara squarely in the face.

Ted grounds his elbow into Sin Cara’s face while both are on the mat. He does his clothesline fakeout move and tries a pin on Sin Cara to no avail. Ted misses a charge twice, then gets dropkicked and hurricanrana'ed. A few fancy armdrags from Sin Cara leads into a attempted springboard dropkick, but Ted catches him in mid-air and delivers a vicious spinebuster. DiBiase whips Sin Cara against the ropes and Sin Cara turns it into a leg scissor into a face plant that gets the victory!

WINNER: Sin Cara by pin in 5:00.

Mike’s Reax: Another match that really highlighted Sin Cara’s high-flying followed by what appears to be his new finisher that looks pretty impressive. As for Ted...sigh...poor Ted, they need to figure out if he is going to be something or if he is going to be Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara’s exclusive jobber to the mid-card stars.

-Michael Cole throws to footage from Raw where Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes competed in a Viewers Choice match that ended with Bryan getting the surprise win followed by putting Rhodes in the LeBell Lock. Ted made the save and Bryan was beaten down by Rhodes and DiBiase and a bag was put on Daniel’s head. That said, up next is a rematch between Bryan and Rhodes!

(Commercial)

-I miss Cody Rhodes’s old music. There, I said it! He made his way to the ring, microphone in hand, and asks everyone to put the embarrassing loss by his friend, Ted DiBiase, out of their minds. He says that he loves chocolate and when he is in Hershey it reminds him of chocolate. He also compares Hershey, Pa. to Sodam and Gomorrah. Cole then cackles over Cody’s promo by laughing that Booker T was handed a paper bag by one of the Bombastic Bagmen.

-Daniel Bryan interrupts by saying that he is sick of hearing Cody talk and while he knows that he will never be on the cover of GQ, he knows enough to know that you don’t wear a clear cup on your face like Cody does. Cody then calls Bryan ugly and Bryan calls for a picture of Dusty Rhodes on the Titan Tron and he says that Cody will never live up to the standards of his father. It seemed to hit a nerve with Rhodes as he threw the microphone down and the match started.

2 -- DANIEL BRYAN vs. CODY RHODES

Chain wrestling to start followed by some arm drags by Bryan. Both men do a slew of pinning combinations until Daniel dropkicks Cody out of the ring and Ted DiBiase makes his way to ringside as Smackdown takes a break!

(Commercial)

Back to Smackdown, Cody tossed Daniel out of the ring where Ted got in some cheap shots behind the referees back. Cody goes to the outside to continue his offense and he rolls Bryan back into the ring where he clotheslines him then knees him in the back and locks him into a armbar. Side Russian Legsweep by Rhodes followed up with a stomp on Bryan’s face. Rhodes is showing a aggressive mean streak as Cole goes over all the small towns in Pennsylvania that need paper bags for their faces. Faceplant suplex by Rhodes and he almost loses his mask and that upsets him so he stomps away at Bryan in the corner.

Daniel regains control with a Hart Attack-like clothesline. Bryan then sets up Rhodes on the turnbuckle and delivers a “Hurricane-rain-uh,” as Booker calls it. Bryan tries for the LeBell Lock, but Cody blocks it and this turns into another pinning reversal sequence and then both men knock each other out trying crossbodies at the same time.

Both men are back up and DiBiase tries tripping Daniel, so Bryan suicide dives onto DiBiase and pounds away on him! Cody kicks Bryan in the face as he tries re-entering the ring and Bryan gets twisted in the ropes and he goes to work on Bryan's shoulder. The ref untangles Bryan and checks on him. When Bryan gets to his feet, Rhodes hits him with a shining wizard followed by Cross Rhodes for the win.

WINNER: Cody Rhodes by pinfall in 11:00.

Mike’s Reax: Another-back and-forth match that was designed to make both guys look good and showcase each one equally. I think this 50/50 booking doesn’t do either one any good, though. WWE needs to utilize jobbers or someone else to put each guy over strong instead of trying to use each other.

-Still to come: Christian vs. Kane in a number one contenders match

(Commercial)

-Did You Know: On Facebook, WWE is more popular than all major sports and Pepsi? Watch out, Coke, you’re next!

-Johnny Curtis is backstage addressing why he hasn’t made his official debut after winning NXT. He also can’t cut the mustard.

-Matt Striker is backstage with Raw Superstar, The Big Show. Striker asks Show how he is feeling and Show has nothing to say. Striker then asks about Mark Henry and Show says that he is someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Matt says that it is being said that Big Show has lit a fire under Mark Henry and he throws to a music video showing Mark Henry’s greatest hits. Matt then suggested that Big Show brought this upon himself and Show says that it is a good thing that Henry is on fire, because he is going to need it. Just then, Henry spears Show through the set and yells at Show that “Bigger isn’t always better, better is better!” Henry then didn’t allow any medical personnel to help him out.

(Commercial)

-A shot of The Giant Center is shown and I have to admit that I have seen bigger centers! Hello? Is this thing on? Nothing?

3 -- Intercontinental champion EZEKIEL JACKSON vs. WADE BARRETT -- IC Title match

Barrett jumped Jackson before the bell while Ezekiel was making his way to the ring. Wade rolls Jackson into the ring and the ref tells Barrett that he won’t ring the bell before he is in his feet and ready to compete. Ezekiel gets up and says he is fine so the ref calls for the bell to make it official and Wade pounds on Zeke in the corner then suplexes him in the middle of the ring. Jackson kicked out of a pin attempt and shrugged off the previous offense with a flurry of punches of his ow, but failed a charge and walked into a boot. Chinlock out of nowhere by Wade and Jackson fights out with some elbows to the stomach but fails to get any momentum going as he gets Bossman Slammed by Barrett. A punch by Barrett gets ducked and Zeke plants Wade with what looked like a Rock Bottom and Jackson is fired up! Big clothesline in the corner by Zeke and Wade rolls out of the ring. Jackson follows him out and gets caught by a big boot to the face! Wade had a tough time rolling Zeke into the ring and tries Wasteland, but Ezekiel reverses it and put Wade in the Torture Rack where he taps out!

WINNER: Ezekiel Jackson by submission in 4:30 minutes.

Mike’s Reax: If you want my thoughts on Barrett, go back and read what I said about DiBiase, it is pretty much the same thing. I’ll also say that I am noticing a pattern that the faces are pretty strong on Smackdown and the heels are, at best, treading water.

-Backstage, Jack Korpela is with Randy Orton to get his thoughts on Kane vs. Christian tonight. Orton calls himself a serious guy, but he is finding this situation with Christian comical. He says that if Christian wins, he will gladly face him again, but the closest that Christian will come to touching the World Title will be when Orton smashes it on Christian's head!

(Commercial)

-Backstage, Wade Barrett is walking hurt after his match and he chances into Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. They clap and laugh at him for losing three in a row to Ezekiel Barrett. Wade says that he had forgot about them and is already forgetting about the Intercontinental Title. They then say that tonight they will do what he can’t and win a re-match!

4 -- USOS vs. HEATH SLATER & JUSTIN GABRIEL

Justin and Uso #1 start things off, but not for long as Uso #2 gets tagged in. I learned that this is Jey Uso in and he pulls a northern lights suplex out of nowhere for a two count. Jey cheap shots Heath and tries a high risk maneuver, but Gabriel dropkicks him off the top rope to the floor. Tag to Slater who dives off the apron onto Jey and he calls himself “The One Man Rock Band.”

Back in the ring, Heath puts the boots to Jey then tags in Justin who gets a two count and tags Heath back in. Punching, kicking, and clotheslining commences and Gabriel is back in and he blocks Jey from tagging out. Cross armbar by Gabriel as Booker and Cole argue about originality of finishing move names. Gabriel tries a splash from the top rope and gets caught and Samoan Splashed.

Hot tag to Jimmy and he is a house of fire shoulder tackling Slater then nailing him with a Bubba Bomb followed by a charge in the corner. Jey takes out Justin and Heath walks into a superkick by Jimmy. Jimmy goes up top and he dives off but Heath gets the knees up, then small packages Jimmy for the win!

WINNERS: Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel by pinfall in 4:30.

Mike’s Reax: More back and forth, Even-Steven booking. Okay match from all involved and I guess I have to give credit that they are attempting a tag division on Smackdown.

(Commercial)

-Yoshi Tatsu is in the ring ready for action. Jinder Mahal and Great Khali make their way to the ring as we learn that Jinder eats fish heads and rice. Josh and Cole then wonder what the dirty little secret that Jinder has over Khali. Tatsu tries getting in early offense on Jinder to no avail as Jinder turns the tables quickly. The referee says that he hasn’t rang the bell and won’t until Khali gets out of the ring. Full Nelson Slam by Mahal then he tosses Tatsu from the ring. Mahal then gets on the microphone and says that this is what is going to keep happening until his potential is met. He then says that Great Khali will no longer dance or kiss American women (I guess Canadian women are okay) and he is going back to his Eastern ways and he will be feared again!

Next: Christian vs. Kane.

(Commercial)

5 – KANE vs. CHRISTIAN – IF CHRISTIAN WINS, HE GETS ANOTHER SHOT AT THE WORLD TITLE

Everyone is surprised to see Kane on Smackdown tonight, after the horrific beatdown he got form Mark Henry on Raw last Monday. Right and lefts by Christian to start until Kane catches him in the corner and clotheslines him hard. Christian then ducks a left from Kane and misses his clothesline in the corner. Cole puts over the size differential and calls this a bad match-up for Christian. Kane is manhandling Christian and staying one step ahead of his offense. Christian catches Kane with a hard right hand then goes to the middle turnbuckle and dropkicks Kane. Christian then uses the middle rope to choke Kane then rolls him to the corner and chokes him some more with his boot.

Rear chinlock by Christian that Kane easily fights out of. Kane tries clotheslining Christian out of the ring, but Christian ducks and pulls the rope down and sends Kane to the outside. Kane is slow to get up and barely makes a ten count. Christian meets Kane with some boots to the face when he rolls back into the ring. Christian then goes to the top rope and shows some shades of Chris Benoit with a diving headbutt from the middle turnbuckle that gets a two count. Smackdown takes a break which is surprising because neither guy in on the outside of the ring.

(Commercial)

Hard right hands by Christian turned into a sidewalk slam by Kane as Smackdown came back. Kane whips Christian into the ropes but Kane put his head down and it got kicked. Christian then went to the middle rope and dove off, only to be caught by Kane and slammed. Low dropkick by Kane only got a two count and out of nowhere Christian tried the Killswitch only to be reversed by Kane.

Kane misses a charge in the corner and Christian took advantage trying a sunset flip that only gets a two count. Pele kick and Tornado DDT by Christian gets another two count and Christian tries catching his breath back in the corner. He calls for the Spear and runs right into a big boot by the Big Red Machine! Kane to the top rope and Christian yanks him down to the mat and can’t get the win and Christian starts to show some frustration. Christian goes to the tope rope and gets caught coming down with a right hand and now Kane goes back up and he comes connects with his top rope clothesline! Kane calls for the Chokeslam and Mark Henry runs in and causes a DQ.

WINNER: Kane by DQ in 13:00

-Christian is livid with Henry, but not for long as they team up to dump Kane from the ring. Teddy Long then came out and told Christian that he lost again, but it wasn’t his fault this time, so he gets another shot. If he wins his tag team match he will be the number one contender again. Long says it will be Randy Orton and Kane vs. Christian and Henry when Smackdown returns!

(Commercial)

6 -- CHRISTIAN & MARK HENRY vs. World Hvt. champion RANDY ORTON & KANE

Orton and Christian start things off and Orton shoulder blocks Christian to the mat. Orton clotheslines Christian down and stomps away on him. The ref breaks it up and Christian pushes Orton in to the heel corner and tags in Mark Henry who comes in and manhandles Orton. Henry gets Orton down for Christian and tags Captain Charisma back in and he walks into a small package from Orton that gets a two count. Christian tags Mark back in and he clubs away at Orton then tries a Earthquake butt splash that Orton rolled out of the way of.

Tag to Kane, who gives Henry some lefts and rights, Henry catches Kane and tries to send him packing form the ring, but Kane lands on the apron and hangs Henry up on the top rope. Christian tries interfering only to punches off the apron as Kane goes to the top and clotheslines Mark from the top rope. Body slam attempt by Kane but Henry is too heavy and Kane falls backwards.

Christian gets tagged in and he starts working over the kidneys and back of Kane. Henry comes back in and he double teams Kane with Christian. Lots of pin attempts on Kane. Henry tries a big splash in the corner only to get caught by Kane and chokeslammed in the center of the ring.

Orton gets hot tagged and he tries taking out Christian who moves out of the way. Orton calls for the RKO on Henry, but Christian comes in and he gets absolutely destroyed by Orton. This beatdown gives Henry a chance to recover. Henry tries the World’s Strongest Slam, but Orton wiggles out of it and RKO’s Christian, then turns around into the Slam and Henry gets the win!

WINNER: Mark Henry and Christian in 7:00 by pinfall, thus giving Christian a shot at the World Title.

-Cole put over that Christian took the beating for the better of the team and it paid off with Henry recovering and catching the pin on Orton.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/1: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Kevin Owens vs. Ryback in an Intercontinental Title Match

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/24: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Kevin Owens & Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler & Ryback

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/17: Ongoing coverage of the Thursday night show, including Seth Rollins & Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns