WWE Smackdown Review
Jan. 6, 2012
Taped 1/3/12 in Little Rock, Ark.
Aired on Syfy
By Michael Cupach, PWTorch Contributor

[Q1]

-WWE open.

-Smackdown starts with a video recap of last week's Last Man Standing match between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett. At the end of the match, Orton got tossed down a flight of concrete stairs and was left for dead (not really).

-Smackdown opening video followed by a full pyro display. Josh Mathews welcomes everyone to the first Smackdown of 2012. He says that they have exclusive news pertaining to Randy Orton condition. Michael Cole then announces that tonight, Daniel Bryan will defend his title for the first time against Big Show. They then cut to the announce table where Josh notes that Booker isn’t with them because he is challenging for the Intercontinental Championship…right now!

1 - Intercontinental champion CODY RHODES vs. BOOKER T -- Intercontinental Title match

Booker is bouncing in the ring like Brock Lesnar used to and is grinning like an idiot (or Chris Jericho). Booker wrenches Rhodes arm to start and hip tosses him into the corner. Fair analysis by Cole, who says that Cody has to weather the storm because Booker is going on pure adrenaline. Booker continues to work over the arm and Cody gets a break by backing into the corner. He doesn’t give the ref a clean break and cheap shots Booker. Hard whip into the far turnbuckle by Cody and now he starts working Booker’s arm with an armbar. Booker chops his way out as the crowd “woos” along with him and takes Cody down with a high back body drop. Crescent kick gets a two count for Booker. More knife-edge chops from Booker. Booker tries ejecting Cody out of the ring, but he hangs on and skins the cat back in behind Bookers back. Booker turns around and clotheslines Rhodes to the outside where he follows him out. At ringside, Cody whips Booker into the barricade and nails him in the face with a running knee as Smackdown takes a break!

(Commercial)

Cody in is control when Smackdown comes back as he rams Bookers head into the turnbuckle. Wild swing by Cody and Booker hooks the arms, only to get a two count on a backslide. Another superkick from Booker gets a two count. Back elbow by Cody as Booker tries a clothesline in the corner. Cody follows it up with a moonsault that connects for a two count! It looks like Cody tweaked his knee on that one.

[Q2] Cody berates Booker in the corner then locks him in a submission, pinning his arms behind his back and putting pressure on the neck. Booker fights out and gets a flying forearm and a spinebuster for a two count. Cole comments that the longer this goes the better it is for Cody because this is a young mans game. Scissor Kick by Booker misses, Bookend gets reversed, and Cody misses a Beautiful Disaster kick in a cool sequence. Scissor Kick finally connects but Cody barely kicks out. Booker tries the Scissor Kick again, but Cody ducks and springboards off the ropes with the Beautiful Disaster for the win!

WINNER: Cody Rhodes wins and retains his title by pinfall in 11:30.

-Booker, alone in the ring, shows disappointment and it looks like he is holding back tears after his loss. He stands up and the crowd gives him a good ovation as Cole says, “Good try, Booker.”

-Tonight: The status of the Viper revealed.

(Commercial)

-Moments ago, Cody Rhodes kicked out of Booker T’s finisher as Cole declares that Bye, Bye Booker would be a great Broadway Play.

-Backstage, Cody is heading back to his dressing room, proud of his win when his brother, Dustin, stops him to congratulate him on his big win. Cody then cuts him down and says that Dustin never had anything good to say to him last week, so why start now. Cody goes on to say that he is a bigger success than Dustin ever was and maybe more than Dusty ever was. He says if Dustin wants to do anything about it, he should put on his gold make-up and do something about it.

-Zack Ryder is with Teddy Long and he says that now that he is the U.S. Champion, he no longer has time to be Teddy’s assistant, so he has a replacement all lined up. Drew McIntyre walks in and Teddy complains that he is the replacement. Zack says that Drew isn’t the guy and welcomes Santino Marella, who is his pick to replace him. Santino makes a comment about Drew losing last week and Drew loses it in Teddy’s office. In response Teddy makes a match tonight pitting Santino vs. Drew, if Drew wins he isn’t on thin ice, if Marella wins he becomes Teddy’s assistant. Drew walks off and Aksana walks in. Santino makes an innuendo with his Cobra sock puppet then leaves. Teddy asks Aksana out on a date after Smackdown.

[Q3]

(Commercial)

-Royal Rumble flashback to 2008 when Cena made a surprise return to win the Rumble.

-Backstage, A.J. and Alicia Fox gossip about the men folk. A.J. is worried about Bryan and his match tonight with Big Show. Alicia Fox doesn’t want to get in the middle of this, so she excuses herself. A.J. calls Bryan “baby” and says that she is worried about him. Bryan says that he will beat Big Show tonight, and then later tonight, he will “celebrate” with A.J. WOO!

-Hornswoggle's mouth has been getting him into trouble since Santa Foley gave him the gift of being able to speak. Last week, Hornswoggle mouthed off to Slater, so they will settle things tonight.

2 - HORNSWOGGLE vs. HEATH SLATER -- Over the Top Rope Challenge

Slater offers Hornswoggle the chance to surrender. Hornswoggle points up and Slater looks up, so Swoggle kicks him in the shin. Running knee from Hornswoggle, but Slater no sells it and tosses Horny into the corner and chokes him out with his boot. Slater props Hornswoggle on the top rope and Hornswoggle tries a cross body, but Slater catches him. He tries slamming him out of the ring, but he grabs Slater's hair and gets Slater over the top and onto the floor.

WINNER: Hornswoggle in over a minute.

-Post-match, Heath Slater kicks Hornswoggle in the face and starts stomping away on him. Justin Gabriel runs in and makes the save and hits a 450 Splash on Slater, then celebrates with Hornswoggle.

-Still to come: The wellness of The Viper.

(Commercial)

-Josh lets everyone know that DiBiase is such a loser that he invited Twitter followers to his New Year's Eve Party. Hunico and Camacho ride down on their lowrider bike and they are offended that they weren’t invited to party with the posse on New Years Eve.

3 - HUNICO vs. TED DIBIASE

Headlock takeover by Ted to start, Hunico reverses out and Ted takes him down over and over with hip tosses. Inverted powerbomb by Ted gets a two count. (That looked like it hurt and should become his new finisher.)

[Q4] Hunico takes over with an armbreaker. Reverse armbreaker almost has Ted tapping out, but he makes the ropes. Ted reverses a whip into the turnbuckle and delivers an inverted atomic drop and a running dropkick for a two count. Dream Street gets countered into a move that looks like a submission, but turns out to be a pinning predicament. He was tied up like a pretzel.

WINNER: Hunico by pin in 3:00.

-Backstage, Wade Barrett is talking with WWE trainers. The update on Orton is coming up next!

(Commercial)

-Wade Barrett is out and Josh plugs WWE Magazine where Wade does a question and answer interview. Wade starts his promo by saying that he told WWE trainers not to bother coming to the ring, because he would handle the update himself. He calls for a replay of the events from last Friday. Barrett comments that Randy Orton's injury was a byproduct of a match with himself. He says that Orton has a herniated disc in his lower back and he is finished! Wade goes on to say that The Viper is extinct, thanks to him. Wade then shifts gears by saying at the Royal Rumble, in Orton's hometown, no one will see the hometown boy win, instead the crowd will see The Barrett Barrage roll on.

Sheamus’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, microphone in hand. Sheamus asks Wade, “What's the crack, fella?” Sheamus tells a old Irish ditty about his old Uncle Wilford who told stories that turned out to be fantasy, just like Wade is doing. Sheamus says that Wade has lots of problems and that Sheamus will be the biggest problem at the Rumble. He then goes back to Wilford and claims that he was kicked in the head by a mule when he was nine, so he wants to know what Barrett's excuse is for telling these stories and being a horse's arse?

Jinder Mahal makes his way to the ring, now sporting a turban. Wade slinks out of the ring as Jinder gets in. Mahal slaps Sheamus and the two start brawling. Barrett sneak attacks Sheamus and the two men double team Sheamus for a few seconds until Sheamus makes a Superman comeback. Celtic Cross attempt on Barrett, but Mahal makes the save and Sheamus walks into the Winds of Change finisher from Barrett. Wade walks off and Jinder takes advantage of a knocked out Sheamus (not like that) and applies the Camel Clutch to a chorus of boos.

[Q5]

-Last month at TLC, Big Show defeated Mark Henry for the World Title. Henry then knocked out Big Show with a DDT on a steel chair and that gave Daniel Bryan the opportunity to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and beat Big Show for the title. Tonight, Daniel Bryan defends his title against Big Show.

(Commercial)

4 - SANTINO MARELLA vs. DREW MCINTYRE

If Santino wins, he becomes Teddy Long's new assistant. Drew needs to win so he doesn’t get fired from Smackdown. Drew pushes Santino down over and over again like a bully. Santino fights back with some lefts and rights, but not for long. Snap suplex from Drew gets a two count. Drew kicks Marella in the teeth and sets up for Future Shock DDT, but Santino rolls him up for a two count. Drew got frustrated by that and throws Santino in the corner and unleashes lefts and right before being broken up by the ref. Drew sets Santino up on the tope turnbuckle, Santino shoves Drew off and gets a Cobra for the win.

WINNER: Santino Marella by pinfall in 3:00. Santino is now the official Assistant General Manager (Assistant to the General Manager)!

-Drew is in shock outside the ring and they decide to cut to the announcers who plug the WWE ’12 video game. They show what would happen if Michael Cole faced Daniel Bryan for the title. Cole wins the match with an Anklelock. Sigh.

[Q6]

(Commercial)

-In the locker room, Drew is holding his head in shame. Teddy approaches Drew and says that all he saw was another loss. Tonight was strike two, and if next week is strike three, then he might be out. Decisive.

-Primo and Epico are out for a match. Rosa cuts an inset promo in Spanish on Air Boom. She looked confident, even though I couldn’t understand her.

5 - WWE tag champions AIR BOOM (EVAN BOURNE & KOFI KINGSTON) vs. EPICO & PRIMO (w/Rosa Mendes) -- non-title match

Epico and Evan Bourne start things off as Evan tries getting a quick roll-up. High knees from Bourne gets a two count. Kofi gets tagged in they double-team Epico. Primo gets a cheap shot on Kofi so Epico can take control. Tag into Primo and both men pound away at Kingston in the heel corner. Kofi fights out of a headlock and hits Primo with a cross body off the middle turnbuckle.

Both men tag out and Bourne comes in with a drop kick and some kicks to take the heels out. Bourne with knees to Primo's chest from the top rope. Epico breaks up the pin and Kofi throws him out of the ring and goes for a plancha, but Rosa steps in front of him to stop him. Epico pulls Kofi out of the ring and throws him into the barricade. Bourne then goes up top and misses the Shooting Star Press when Epico pulls Primo out of the way. Primo then pins Bourne for the win.

WINNERS: Primo & Epico by pinfall in 4:00.

-Backstage, Matt Striker is with Big Show backstage and both men seem upbeat. Big Show starts off by saying that he never underestimates an opponent. He doesn’t want to take anything away from Bryan, but he was unconscious when he got beat, tonight he will be awake for the match. He calls Bryan a good wrestler. Bryan then walks in and is very cocky and arrogant calling himself a great wrestler, but he says he earned it and worked hard at it. He says that Big Show was born big, while he was born great. Show puts his hand on Bryan's shoulder and tells him that he doesn’t want to hurt him. Bryan responds by telling him to get his damn hands off him in a way that would make George McFly proud. Show asks if he is a tough guy now and walks off.

[Q7]

(Commercial)

-Next week, Sheamus tries to get retribution against Jinder Mahal. Well, good thing they announced that for next week, I’m going to set my DVR now!

-Natalya is in the ring looking intense, so they compared her to her father, Jim Neidhart, and show a video package of her father.

-Tamina is out next to a face ovation that consisted of crickets chirping. They then showed video highlights of Jimmy Snuka, Tamina’s father.

6 - NATALYA vs. TAMINA

Nattie is in control early, getting a Lou Thesz Press. Natalya yells at Tamina who then ducks a clothesline and takes out Natalya with a cross body. Samoan Drop from Tamina followed by a Superfly Splash that connects and gets the win.

WINNER: Tamina in 1:00

-Raw rewind featuring the six-man tag match from last Mondays Raw.

-Daniel Bryan is making his way to the ring. So, is Big Show. They face each other, next!

(Commercial)

-Mark Henry is out to do commentary for the World Title Match.

[Q8]

7 -- World Hvt. champion DANIEL BRYAN vs. BIG SHOW -- World Title match

Henry starts off by commenting that Daniel Bryan is an excellent wrestler in the midget division! Is it the vanilla midget division? Bryan is getting some boos from the crowd tonight. Henry also has a short fuse with Cole, who asks him dumb questions about Hornswoggle. Bryan dips, ducks, dives, and dodges Big Show before being caught in the corner and chopped by Big Show. Big Show picks up Daniel Bryan by the neck and headbutts him a few times, then tosses him down. Bryan rolls out of the ring to catch his breath and Smackdown takes a break.

(Commercial. Commercial for Raw - the voice-over guy says that Jericho was so overwhelmed by the crowd response that he was left speechless. What will he say do this Monday on Raw?)

Back in the ring, Big Show is manhandling Daniel Bryan. Things spill out to the outside and Mark Henry yells at Big Show to stop being a coward and get back in the ring. Bryan knees Show in the face after jumping off the apron. Bryan tries to get a count-out win, but Show gets back in the ring at seven. Bryan chops Big Show and gets him on one knee then kicks the crap out of him. Big Show fights off the onslaught while on one knee and sends Bryan flying out of the ring, in front of Henry. Big Show palms Bryan's head and pulls him to the apron, where Daniel hangs up Show on the top rope.

Back in the ring, Bryan goes up top where he tries a high-risk move, but gets chopped mid-air by Big Show. Clothesline by Big Show gets a two count and Mark Henry is impressed by Bryan for kicking out. Show calls for the chokeslam, but Bryan turns it into a front facelock and Big Show looks like he is going to be choked out. Just as Show starts fighting out, Daniel Bryan turns it into the LeBell Lock, but Big Show powers out. Big Show loads up the WMD and Bryan rolls out of the ring in front of Henry who yells at him to be a man. Bryan gets in Henry's face and Mark shoves him down and starts stalking him around ringside. The ref eventually calls for the bell and Bryan is overly-happy by that since he retains his title.

WINNER: Big Show by count-out in 10:00.

-Post-match, Bryan celebrates in an over-exaggerated way as the crowd boos. Big Show and Henry have a stare down as Smackdown fades out.

Mike’s Reax: This seems to be a 180 out of nowhere for Daniel Bryan, who a few weeks ago was a humble champion. Now, he is playing an obnoxious, arrogant heel who has a penchant for interrupting backstage segments! I’m intrigued to see how far they go with the Daniel Bryan character and his heelish tendencies, as I’m thinking he is being turned heel so he can have a title match against Orton at WrestleMania.

Mark Henry was great on commentary tonight. It reminded me of when C.M. Punk was on commentary during the fall of 2010. Henry knows his character so well and is such a veteran, and that makes him so believable in whatever he does. I felt like he was really sold annoyance from Cole and Mathew's awful questions, and the powers-that-be should make a mental note that this could be Mark’s calling when he retires from the ring. Younger wrestlers should also take note of how Henry carries himself and how he treats his character. He is a textbook case of how to get a character over and how to be taken seriously.

Thanks for reading, make sure to follow me on Twitter @MJCupach as I Tweet during Raws and most WWE PPV’s!

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