WWE Smackdown Blog
June 14, 2013
Report by Michael Cupach, PWTorch contributor

Team Hell No in ring promo

I loved this opening segment with Daniel Bryan and Kane cutting a promo in the ring about their matches at Payback. It seemed to me like an instance of “if you love something let it go, if it comes back its yours” with Team Hell No breaking up. Daniel Bryan felt that he had a better thing going on with Orton and Kane felt he had a better thing going on with winning the U.S. Title. It looks to me like both guys will lose on Sunday and then find their ways back to each other.

Orton also fit into the picture pretty well even with the ridiculousness of him playing the voice of reason. The segment ended with The Shield appearing on the TitanTron and acting extra cocky and arrogant, claiming that they guys in the ring finally believe in The Shield. Excellent opening segment!

1 - SHEAMUS vs. ANTONIO CESARO

Damien Sandow cut a pre-match promo about Sheamus has been humiliated mentally and physically, and on Sunday he will host his Irish Wake. Throughout the match, Cole and JBL planted seeds of an alliance between Cesaro and Zeb Colter after Colter had nothing but positive things about him last Monday on Raw. Colter is too good to have nothing to do right now (considering Swagger's injury) and putting him with someone like Cesaro who is so talented in the ring but doesn’t talk much might be a good fit.

As for the match, these two have faced each other 100 times in the last year on Smackdown, Raw, and Main Event. If you have seen it once, you have seen every match. Not to say they have bad matches, it is perfectly fine wrestling, it is just getting a tiresome to watch again and again. Eventually, Sheamus won with a Brogue Kick out of right field. Just like the Diamond Cutter, he can hit that Brogue Kick from any angle...

-Post-match, Sandow jumped Sheamus from behind to soften him up for Sunday. I don’t think anyone believes that Sandow can stop Sheamus, but this gives him a little heat going in their match at Payback.

-A vignette for The Wyatt Family aired. I think these are very well done create intrigue for their debut. One thing I worry about is that WWE knows how to write that great first chapter, but after that, Creative often-times loses interest and turns whatever they were playing with back into a generic act like the other toys in the toy chest.

-Teddy Long enjoyed a cheeseburger, then told Dolph Ziggler to get out because he is busy running Smackdown. Before Teddy could take a bite, that dastardly heel, Big E. Langston, stole the cheeseburger. So, Ziggler steals the show, and Langston steals the beef.

-Cole gave an update that Booker T had successful surgery and will be back managing Smackdown any day now.

2 - GREAT KHALI (w/Natalya and Hornswoggle) vs. HEATH SLATER (w/Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal)

I think 3MB’s gimmick is evolving because Heath now wrestles in jeans instead of leather pants. Drew has also added a white sport jacket and sunglasses to his ensemble. I wonder if Jinder Mahal and Khali are still related and still have a history through Khali’s sister. 3MB distracted Khali and that gave Heath an opening to DDT Khali and pin him. I’m glad that segments like this are included on the show and not scrapped...

3 - ALBERTO DEL RIO & CHRIS JERICHO vs. World Hvt. champion DOLPH ZIGGLER & BIG E. LANGSTON

Just so I am no longer confused – speaking Spanish makes Ricardo a heel and speaking English makes him a babyface? That is pretty messed up! I will also comment that I don’t like that Ziggler wears the World Title backwards around his waist. Maybe he is paying tribute to Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly from Kris Kross and I have misunderstood why he wears his belt like that, but if he isn’t paying tribute, I don’t care for it.

As for the match, it was all Big E. in the ring for the heels. He tagged in Ziggler when one of their opponents was down, but they would get up at the last second and scare Dolph out of the ring in a classic coward heel spot. Ziggler eventually got in and took a few bumps and had a sequence with Del Rio ahead of their title match at the PPV. Ziggler took another kick to the head from Del Rio, which should have been sold like death by Ziggler, but he got right up for the finishing sequence that saw Del Rio pin him with a small package.

-A match has been made between The Shield and Kane with Team RK-No! Unless this took place on the App (don’t get me started with that!) would it have killed them to have Teddy Long do a segment booking this match? I know that eating a bacon cheeseburger was important, but they should have done something with Long, Bryan, Kane, and Orton instead.

-Renee Young talked with Chris Jericho, asking for his final thoughts on his match with C.M. Punk. Jericho called it a rare match-up that has taken on a life of its own. He tried making himself a babyface for the Chicago crowd by bringing up his big moments in that town. Jericho vowed that his will be their greatest encounter, not to overhype the match too much! Paul Heyman showed up on screen and wish Jericho good luck, but Y2J wouldn’t shake his hand. Heyman commented that Punk always says luck is for losers, which is why he wished him good luck.

4- WWE Divas champion KAITLYN vs. AKSANA – non-title match

List of things Kaitlyn should never do: Act. That’s it! You can’t, so you shouldn’t. Kaitlyn viciously attacked Aksana and beat her up around rindside for a minute until she struck the referee, who tried pulling her off. The referee disqualified her and she was eventually fined for striking a referee.

5 - IC champion WADE BARRETT vs. CURTIS AXEL (w/Paul Heyman) - non-title match

Wade chatted with Paul "businessman to businessman" and tried to get out of the match and not risk either man being too hurt to compete at the PPV. But, as Paul and Axel thought it over, The Miz interrupted and calls them names. He got the crowd to chant, “Fight,” so they fought. It’s a good thing they didn’t chant for them to kiss! Axel ended up pinning Wade Barrett cleanly after his version of a swinging neckbreaker.

Why do the IC and U.S. title holders regularly lose on TV? On top of that, Wade got pinned in a short match that went like three minutes! I know that when we think back to the "good old days," we remember the good times and don't dwell on the bad, but I don't remember Bret Hart losing on TV every week. And, I never saw Dean Malenko lose week after week on Nitro as U.S. champion. So, when did it come about that when you win a mid-card title, it is a license to lose?

6 - THE SHIELD vs. KANE & TEAM RK-NO! - six-man tag match

Back in 2002, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Chavo Guerrero were dubbed the “Smackdown Six” because of the amazing matches they had week in and week out. Are The Shield, Kane, Orton, and Bryan the new “Smackdown Six?” Nothing bad happens when these guys are in the ring with each other.

The crowd seemed hot for this match, cheering the faces and booing the heels, and this was one great crowd! Bryan does so many great, little things and is able to get the crowd involved with “Yes!” chants that I don’t know how much longer he can stay out of the main event. The match ended when Kane chokeslammed Reigns and Ambrose over the barricade and Orton nailed Rollins with a RKO in the ring, which let Bryan put him in the No Lock to get the win. The place ERUPTED when The Shield lost and Bryan got the tap-out victory! This will go down as a great Smackdown match and Smackdown moment!

The build-up and psychology that went into this match was terrific with the faces at the end of their rope with each other after losing so much that this became the last ditch effort to defeat The Shield. Daniel Bryan getting the win will be the cherry on top that continues storylines forward for the next few weeks and months. Tremendous match.

Thank you for reading, for more from me, please follow me on Twitter @MJCupach. Also check out my Main Event reports every Wednesday right here on PWTorch.com .

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