WWE Smackdown review
August 3, 2012
Taped 7/31/12 in Indianapolis, IN.
Aired on SYFY
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open.

- After the usual intro, Lilian Garcia introduced Mr. McMahon. He walked to the ring, making his first Smackdown appearance in some time. McMahon milked the crowd a little bit before beginning. He talked about the search for the Smackdown General Manager, and how difficult it has been. McMahon then announced the new Smackdown GM…Booker T. Booker walked out, having not been at the announce table. Michael Cole loved the move because he said Booker would no longer be on commentary. I see he’s taking the Mike Adamle route to the GM job. Josh Mathews reminded Cole to be careful, as this makes Booker his boss.

After some celebrating, Booker took the mic and McMahon disappeared. Booker thanked Vince and the WWE Board of Directors for giving him this opportunity. Booker wanted to get things kicked off right, but before he could announce his first move as GM, Alberto Del Rio’s music played and he walked out. He came to the ring and congratulated Booker for being the new GM of Smackdown. He said he must be happy to be working with him, since he’ll be the new World Champ at Summerslam. Booker saw right through Del Rio’s attempts to suck up to him. He confronted Del Rio about comments he made about Sheamus on Raw, but Del Rio just went further with them. Predictably, Sheamus’ music interrupted and he entered the ring.

Sheamus asked to celebrate with Booker after the show and said the first pint was on him. Sheamus said he’s proud of where he comes from and proud of who he is. He asked Del Rio if he was really not going to compete until their match at Summerslam. Del Rio said that was right, but Booker had something else to say about it. He said both Del Rio and Sheamus would be competing. Del Rio took umbrage, reiterating his stance that he won’t compete until Summerslam. Booker said Del Rio’s money must not make him hear better: He’s the GM and he’s the boss. Del Rio was put in a match…with Randy Orton. Del Rio was shooed out of the ring and told to get ready. As for Sheamus, he’ll be taking on Tensai. Tensai cut an inset promo, mixing in some Japanese in plugging his match with Sheamus. The match is next.

[Commercial Break]

1 – SHEAMUS vs. TENSAI

A rough-and-tumble lock-up was broken in the middle of the ring. Tensai knocked Sheamus back on a shoulder tackle, but not off his feet. The two big men exchanged forearms. Each man took a turn dominating the other in a corner. Double-leg take-down by Sheamus and the fight went to the mat. After a rear chin-lock, Sheamus kicked Tensai to the outside of the ring. Tensai shoved Sakamoto into Sheamus, but Sheamus shoved him back and Tensai tossed him into the barricade. Back in the ring, Tensai took control of the match. Sheamus went back on offense with a clothesline over the top rope. He jumped onto Tensai, who caught him in mid-air and rammed him back-first into the ring post. They went to break at 4:43 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned at 8:39 of the match. Tensai went to the middle rope and landed a Vader Bomb on the back of Sheamus, who kicked out of a subsequent pin attempt. A bear-hug was applied by Tensai. Sheamus tried a slam, but Tensai was too much for him. Running boot to the face by Tensai for two. Tensai went to the middle rope again, but Sheamus clubbed him in the back and hamstring. He tried to put Tensai on his shoulders, to no avail. Sheamus finally knocked Tensai off the ropes and to the floor. Tensai had some impressive bruises on his stomach. Tensai re-entered the ring , but Sheamus was able to slam him for two. Tensai came back with a Baldo Bomb for two. A missed charge by Tensai led to a Brogue Kick by the champ for the win.

WINNER: Sheamus, at 13:32. The second week in a row Sheamus fought in a physical bout. Something tells me Tensai was a bit more of a challenge as far as absorbing the hard blows than Cody Rhodes last week.

- Backstage, Eve Torres was waiting for Booker in his office. She discussed her credentials as the assistant to John Laurinaitis and Booker did say he’d let her know if something opened up on his staff. Teddy Long then walked in and complimented Booker for getting the GM position. Booker offered Long a spot on his staff: Senior advisor to the GM. Long accepted with Eve standing right there. Booker asked Teddy to show her out. Eve, unhappy, left. “It’s gonna be on like a pot of neckbones,” remarked Long to Booker.

[Commercial Break]

2 – ANTONIO CESARO vs. SANTINO MARELLA

Cesaro and Aksana got no entrance. They did get mic time though and Cesaro showed off the fact that he can speak in several different languages. He said “hello” in five languages. This is, for some reason, another non-title match. Cesaro fell victim to a roll-up for two, but immediately knocked Marella down afterward. He lifted Santino off the mat and gave him a gutwrench suplex for two. Rear chin-lock by Cesaro less than a minute into the match. Backslide by Marella for two. Hip-toss, then a diving headbutt. The sock came out and the Cobra was ready, but Cesaro gave him a shot to the mid-section. Cobra found the mark and Santino went for the cover, but the referee realized at two that Cesaro’s leg was under the bottom rope. Santino argued with the ref as Cesaro went to ringside. Santino came out and Cesaro grabbed him and slammed him into the barricade. Back in, Cesaro gave Santino his finisher.

WINNER: Cesaro, at 2:36. I don’t think it was necessary to have Cesaro basically luck into not being pinned by Santino, but I guess I should just be happy Santino didn’t get a win to go even-steven.

- Tonight in six-man tag action, Chris Jericho, Kane and Christian take on The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler. That seemed to come out of nowhere.

[Commercial Break]

- “Don’t Give Up” by Kevin Rudolf is the official theme song of Summerslam.

- Matt Striker was backstage with Daniel Bryan. We got clips of Bryan and his doctor’s visit last Monday, spliced in with footage of previous mishaps. Striker asked if Bryan had any comments. “No,” said Bryan. Bryan said he’d be saying “no” a lot more often. The camera pulled back to show Bryan wearing a “no, no, no” t-shirt. He said the fans better not be chanting “yes” anymore. He said he’s the one who gets to say “yes,” not the people in the crowd. “No, you can’t chant yes!” shouted Bryan. Bryan then went in a rage and started screaming “no!” The interview transitioned seamlessly to the lights going out and Chris Jericho coming out for the six-man tag. The babyfaces made their separate entrances. The match is next.

[Commercial Break]

3 – CHRIS JERICHO & CHRISTIAN & KANE vs. THE MIZ & DOLPH ZIGGLER & DANIEL BRYAN

They took the time to show all three heel entrances upon return from break. Early on in the match, Cole noted that Bryan now wants his Yes Lock to be known as the No Lock. Daniel Bryan was able to escape Kane’s clutches long enough to tag The Miz. Ziggler distracted Jericho long enough for Miz to boot him in the face. Ziggler then tagged in and was on the receiving end of Jericho’s offense. Ziggler took a breather as the show cut to break at 3:45 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

They returned at 7:16 of the match. Miz and Christian were fighting it out and after a near-fall by Christian, Miz clotheslined him back down. Bryan tagged in and kicked at the chest of Christian, shouting “no!” all the while. The heels made frequent tags in an attempt to isolate Christian from his corner. The announcers have been talking about Tout more than anything else on this show thus far. It feels like every other mention is something about what a wrestler Touted. Finally Christian and Miz were both vulnerable and tags were made on both sides. Jericho and Bryan were the recipients of said tags, with Jericho getting the better of Bryan. Lionsault for two at 11:12, with Ziggler breaking up the pin. Kane took Ziggler out and Miz disposed of Kane. Christian and Miz both went over the top, landing on Kane in the process. Walls of Jericho on Bryan (the real version). Vickie Guerrero got on the apron to distract the ref, while Ziggler entered the ring with his briefcase. Jericho gave Ziggler the Codebreaker, but Bryan rolled Jericho up for the win.

WINNERS: Bryan, Miz, and Ziggler, at 11:59. Jericho takes another loss. About the kind of six-man you’d expect with the participatns involved.

Bryan argued with fans at ringside, “yes” and “no.”

- Backstage with Matt Striker was Randy Orton. It’s a bit funny hearing everyone talk about Orton being away for so long, yet not mentioning the reason. Orton gave a “WWE is my life and I hate being away” speech. He said tonight, he wants to give the fans something they want to see: Him hitting Del Rio with an RKO.

[Commercial Break]

4 – JINDER MAHAL vs. RYBACK

Ryback did an inset interview and compared WWE to the laws of the jungle. Mathews said Booker made this rematch because Mahal was counted out in their match last week. Ryback attacked right off the bat. Back-drop by Ryback, then a kick to the gut. Belly-to-belly overhead suplex by Ryback, but Mahal fought back with a jumping knee to the face. Another one was dodged, leading to a Ryback spinebuster. Mahal again fled the ring. He grabbed a mic and socked Ryback with it. Mahal then ran to the stage to avoid Ryback’s wrath.

WINNER: Ryback, via disqualification, at 1:13. They were wise to not let Mahal get as much offense in this week as he did last week.

- Titus O’Neil, Darren Young and A.W. walked up to a guy at a table with some merchandise backstage. They weren’t happy to see R-Truth and Kofi Kingston shirts, but none of the Prime Time Players. They’re in action next.

[Commercial Break]

5 – R-TRUTH vs. DARREN YOUNG

Both man’s partners were at ringside, with Kingston looking particularly dapper. Scoop slam by Young on Truth. A.W. continued his gimmick of audibly talking about the match at ringside. O’Neil took a shot at Truth on the outside, so Kingston jumped O’Neil (though it looked like the landing should’ve hurt Kofi more than O’Neil). A.W. stuck up for his men by volunteering to fight Kofi, throwing his jacket at him. Kofi backed A.W. up the ramp. O’Neil interfered again, but Young couldn’t get the pin. Kofi ran back out, but O’Neil put him down. Truth kicked O’Neil through the ropes, but Young gave Truth his gut-buster finish for the win.

WINNER: Young, at 1:52. They packed an awful lot of extracurricular activity in that 1:52.

- Up next, C.M. Punk’s actions from Raw will be shown.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the arena in Indianapolis was shown.

- Mathews sent it to a video package of C.M. Punk’s promo and actions from Raw on Monday.

- A graphic aired showing C.M. Punk vs. Big Show vs. John Cena at Summerslam.

- Various fan Touts were shown reacting to Punk and the Triple Threat Match.

- The announcers were shown on camera as they discussed (and showed a replay of) Booker T being named GM of Smackdown.

- Booker was on the phone backstage when Layla walked in. She congratulated him on his new job when Cody Rhodes walked in. Layla left and Rhodes gave Booker some backhanded compliments. He said he hoped the fact that he ended Booker’s in-ring career earlier in the year won’t affect their business relationship. Booker put Cody in a match with Sin Cara next week on Smackdown. A frustrated Rhodes walked off. Layla was back and she seemed ready with suggestions for Booker when they cut back to the arena.

- Randy Orton made his entrance for the main event. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

6 – RANDY ORTON vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO

Del Rio got his full ring entrance. Del Rio kicked and headbutted Orton in the corner. He tried to work the arm and shoulder of Orton for Del Rio’s finisher. Orton exploded out of the corner with a clothesline. Orton with a headbutt of his own, then ten punches in the corner mounted on the middle rope. Del Rio went to ringside to convalesce. He went right back into the ring and into a back body-drop. He rolled to the apron, allowing Orton to set him up for his patented DDT. Instead, Del Rio sent him to the apron and gave him a neck-breaker across the top rope. Orton was thrown into the barricade by the World Title #1 Contender. Orton worked out of a chinlock, but Del Rio headbutted Orton again. Del Rio mocked Orton’s RKO ready position. Hard Irish whip into the turnbuckle. Orton made his comeback at 5:20. Rope-assisted DDT by Orton, who then set Del Rio up for the RKO. Ricardo Rodriguez interfered for the DQ.

WINNER: Orton, via DQ, at 6:13.

The brawl continued after the match, with Del Rio trying the cross arm-breaker, but ending up outside the ring when Orton dropkicked him off the middle rope. Rodriguez tended to his charge and the two decided to head to the back, but Sheamus threw Del Rio into the ring to get RKO’d. Orton celebrated in the ring to end the show.


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. Follow him on Twitter @gregmparks for live Tweeting during Raw, Impact, and PPVs, as well as other bits of wisdom. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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