WWE Smackdown review
August 31, 2012
Taped 8/28/12 in Green Bay, WI
Aired on SYFY
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open.

- After the in-arena pomp and circumstance, the returning Josh Mathews plugged Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton tonight.

- Michael Cole chimed in and previewed a video package on Triple H’s interview from Monday that we’ll see later tonight.

- Lilian Garcia introduced Sheamus to the live crowd. He first spoke on “one of the toughest men I’ve had the honor of fighting – Triple H.” He reminisced about his Wrestlemania match against Triple H a few years ago and said Triple H has his respect, as well as the respect of the entire WWE Universe. He said Hunter represents everything Alberto Del Rio doesn’t. Instead of Del Rio interrupting, it was Damien Sandow who came out onto the stage with a microphone.

Sandow offered to help Sheamus, offended by Sheamus offering positive words to Triple H when it was Hunter and his band of degenerates who attacked him on Raw 1,000. Sheamus was called an “ignorance-spewing hooligan.” Sandow said Sheamus brings disgrace and dishonor to the Irish by promoting a stereotype. Sheamus interrupted, saying he was getting bored, and told Sandow to shut up. He asked Sandow to say what he has to say to his face. Sandow, however, deemed Sheamus unworthy of his time. Sandow was about to take his leave when Booker T.’s music began and the Smackdown General Manager walked out.

“No one wants to see an intellectual thrashing,” said Booker. “But they do want to see a physical thrashing.” Booker made the match: For the first time on Smackdown (ever?), Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow. This’ll be an early test for Sandow to see if he can hang with a main-eventer and a guy WWE will be building around for the future in Sheamus.

- Rey Mysterio was walking backstage, adjusting his mask and saying a prayer. He’s in action next.

[Commercial Break]

- The statue of Vince Lombardi outside Lambeau Field was shown.

1 – REY MYSTERIO vs. CODY RHODES

An inset promo by Rhodes on his way to the ring, where he gave away the secret of why Mexican wrestlers wear masks: Panic, fear….and ugliness. Cole immediately brought up the past feud between Rhodes and Mysterio, connecting that with Cody’s feud with Sin Cara. Well-done storytelling there. The match began slowly with Rhodes getting the advantage. Mysterio set Rhodes up for the 619 1:15 into the match. Rhodes escaped to the outside and Rey came out as well, but Rhodes bounced Rey’s head into the announce table. They went to break 1:33 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:29 of the match. Mysterio’s momentum was halted by a twisting suplex by Rhodes for a two count. Rhodes continued to ground Mysterio, preventing him from hitting his signature offensive flurry. Rhodes went after Mysterio’s mask, which backfired. Rey went to the top and hit a seated senton. Once again, Rhodes stopped Mysterio, this time with a jaw-breaker and a running knee to the face. Rhodes caught a 619 attempt, but this time Rey hit a jaw-breaker and flipped Rhodes into a roll-up for the pinfall win.

WINNER: Mysterio, at 9:23. Nice finish, and no surprise Rey won as Rhodes owned the body of the match.

Post-match, Rhodes attacked Mysterio, going once again for the mask. Sin Cara ran out for the save (it looked strange him coming out with no music or theatrics). Cara set Rhodes up for Rey’s 619, which Mysterio hit. Cara then took out one of his masks and put it on Rhodes.

- The announcers reacted to what just happened and tied it in with Daniel Bryan and Kane’s anger management segments from Raw. They replayed the first one in its entirety.

- Eve Torres came out to join the commentators for the next match. They showed the Battle Royal from Raw two weeks ago where Kaitlyn won a shot at Layla’s Divas Championship. But Kaitlyn vs. Natalya is up next.

[Commercial Break]

- Kaitlyn and Natalya had a war of words (or Tweets) throughout the week, which were shown on the screen.

2 – NATALYA vs. KAITLYN

Neither woman got an entrance. Headlock take-over by Nattie as Eve continued to play the good soldier on commentary. Jumping shoulder knock-down by Kaitlyn, but a baseball slide missed and Nattie took Kaitlyn down outside the ring. Back inside, Natalya applied an abdominal stretch and also picked up Kaitlyn’s leg for further torque. Eve gushed over Booker’s performance as Smackdown GM. Kaitlyn took Natalya down with a dropkick as Mathews reminded Cole and Eve that there was a match going on. Discus clothesline from Natalya for two. Small package by Kaitlyn out of nowhere for the win.

WINNER: Kaitlyn, at 2:46. Not exactly a strong endorsement of Kaitlyn with the slip-on-a-banana-peel finish.

It was announced that Kaitlyn would challenge for the Divas Championship at Night of Champions. The image of Kaitlyn on that graphic makes her look about 20 years older than she is.

- Matt Striker was backstage with Booker T. Striker showed Booker the tirade by Vickie Guerrero on Raw as well as A.J.’s response. Booker said the pressure may be getting to A.J., as she never should’ve made the Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler match the week before, saying A.J. overstepped her bounds. Vickie butted her way into the interview, saying A.J.’s friends have turned their back on her. She said she’s received messages from many people saying she should take action for the attack that occurred on Raw. Vickie vowed A.J.’s reign of terror will come to an end. The Board of Directors assured her they will take action. And if they don’t…she will. A.J. is only about five weeks into this job and they’re already starting a story about her getting ousted?

- Next, we’ll see what happened with C.M. Punk, Jerry Lawler, and John Cena on Raw.

[Commercial Break]

- After a graphic showing John Cena vs. C.M. Punk at Night of Champions, the Raw Rebound aired, complete with black-and-white video after Punk began bleeding. Afterward, Tweets from WWE Superstars were shown reacting to what happened.

- The announcers sent it to the second of three anger management segments from Raw.

- Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow is next.

[Commercial Break]

3 – SHEAMUS vs. DAMIEN SANDOW

The two fought over a lock-up until Sandow grabbed Sandow by the bottom lip and beard and pulled him around the ring. Sandow took a break outside the ring. Is this Sandow vs. Sheamus or a Bobby Roode PPV match? Two shoulder tackles by Sheamus and again Sandow fled to ringside. Sandow took the brawl to Sheamus on the outside, including throwing him over the ring steps, as it appeared, rather than into them for some reason. Sheamus came up holding his thigh and he beat the count back into the ring. Side Russian leg-sweep by Sandow. The Elbow of Disdain did not hit, but he did connect on a neck-breaker for two. Cole noted that Sandow was trained by Killer Kowalski. Sheamus hit a back body-drop to signal the start of his offense. After a knee-lift, Sheamus put Sandow on his shoulder, but Sandow got down and rolled out of the ring. Sheamus brought him back in quickly, clubbing him over the chest with forearms. He hit his diving shoulder tackle over the rope and into Sandow’s back. White Noise attempt, but Sandow got down. He narrowly avoided a Brogue Kick and again went outside the ring. Sheamus could not keep him inside the squared circle. Sheamus grabbed Sandow and pushed him into the side of the ring then sprinted up the ramp. Sheamus rolled into the ring for the easy count-out win.

WINNER: Sheamus, via count-out, at 6:48. Not designed to be a great match by virtue of the booking, which was meant to get over Sandow’s character. Sandow does have a strong, confident presence though.

- Still to come, Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler.

- Later, did Triple H wish farewell to the WWE Universe on Monday night?

[Commercial Break]

- A few Green Bay Packers uniforms in display cases were shown, and Packers WR Donald Driver was on-camera at ringside.

- We had a few teams ready for tag action, but first, they showed the backstage schmozz involving five teams last week.

4 – THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. TYSON KIDD & JUSTIN GABRIEL

As the match got underway, they showed a Tout from the Usos, who called themselves the one true tag team in WWE. A Tweet from Epico was shown on-camera too. Gabriel, whose hair is a little longer in the back than when we last saw him, worked well with Kidd early on. Titus O’Neil put a stop to Kidd and brought him to the heel corner. Gabriel worked over Darren Young with strikes and kicks, then knocked Titus off the apron. Gabriel went to the top, but Titus distracted him. Kidd knocked him from the apron and flew onto him. Gabriel was crotched on the top rope (catching a lot of air in the process) and Young hit his finisher, a particularly dangerous-looking version, for the win.

WINNERS: Young and O’Neil, at 3:10. I like Gabriel and Kidd as a tag team and think they’d work well against any of the teams in the division.

- Part three of anger management.

- Next: An exclusive interview with Alberto Del Rio.

[Commercial Break]

- Josh Mathews was in the ring. He introduced Alberto Del Rio. But first, Ricardo Rodriguez had to come out and intro his man himself. Del Rio talked about making Randy Orton tap out last week. We then got a video of said tap-out. Mathews mentioned how Sheamus has beaten Del Rio at every turn when the championship has been on the line. Del Rio got upset with Josh’s line of questioning and called him a “weasel.” He reminded Mathews what Kane did to him at Summerslam and said it’s nothing compared to what he’ll do to him now. Instead, Kane’s pyro hit and he walked to the ring. Mathews, Del Rio, and Rodriguez all left the ring.

Kane got a mic and apologized to Mathews for throwing him over the barrier at Summrslam. He thanked Mathews for playing a role in his recovery program. Before Kane left, Teddy Long’s music played. Del Rio and Rodriguez were still in the aisle, and Long ordered a match between Del Rio and Kane for right now. The match takes place after break.

[Commercial Break]

5 – ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. KANE

The match was joined in progress out of break. Mathews didn’t trust Kane’s apology despite Cole lauding the doctor’s work. I guess that just means Mathews has actually been paying attention the last 15 years. Kane was taking the fight to Del Rio, but Del Rio softened up the arm by ramming it into the turnbuckle. Chokeslam attempt, but Del Rio kicked the shoulder. Cross arm-breaker countered into a big boot. Sidewalk slam by Kane for two. Top rope clothesline found the mark. Rodriguez tried to grab Kane’s leg when Kane set up for the chokeslam. Kane grabbed him and brought him on the apron. Del Rio came from behind and hit the back-stabber for the win.

WINNER: Del Rio, at 2:46. Surprised they jobbed Kane so quickly here, even with the distraction.

Kane, upset at the loss, ran to ringside and once again grabbed Mathews, tossing him to the arena floor. “I’m sorry Josh!” he started yelling, but he picked Mathews up again and put him in the ring. He picked Mathews up by the throat and chokeslammed him. Kane did seem somewhat distraught after setting off his corner pyro. They replayed the loss and the post-match attack.

- Triple H’s interview from Raw will be shown next.

[Commercial Break]

- During the break, Mathews was helped to the locker room by referees and a trainer. In slow motion! Michael Cole pled with A.J. and Booker T. about Superstars attacking announcers.

- Cole tossed it to Triple H’s speech from Raw.

- Cole showed reaction to Triple H’s interview on the new WWE App, as well as the WWE Superstars and legends Tweeting about Hunter.

- Vickie Guerrero introduced Dolph Ziggler for the main event. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

6 – DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. RANDY ORTON

During Orton’s entrance, they showed the RKO Ziggler received last week on Smackdown. Slingshot suplex by Orton after a dropkick for a two-count. Neck-breaker by Ziggler to turn things in his favor. He stayed aggressive, dropping numerous elbows on Orton. The crowd got behind Orton (with a few males chanting for Ziggler) as he broke out of a rest-hold. Right hands were exchanged, and Orton won out with a back-breaker. Boot to the jaw by Ziggler, then a running clothesline out of the corner. Jumping elbow missed and both men were down at 4:17. Ziggler missed a dive in the corner and Orton got fired up. Superplex by Orton. Rope-assisted DDT was next. Ziggler kicked out at two. In the end, Orton nailed the RKO for the win.

WINNER: Orton, at 7:11.

Before the ring announcer could announce Orton as the winner, Vickie took the mic and announced Ziggler as the Money in the Bank contract winner. Not much time for Orton to celebrate before Cole signed off.


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.

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