WWE Smackdown Blog
July 12, 2013
Report by Michael Cupach, PWTorch contributor

1 - CHRISTIAN vs. DANIEL BRYAN

This was an awesome way to kick off Smackdown with the veteran Christian taking on Daniel Bryan, who is on quite the winning streak. I thoroughly enjoyed this match, especially how each wrestler countered the other all the way up to the finish, which was Bryan catching Christian in mid-air and putting him in the (rechristened) Yes! Lock It was a thing of beauty. This was also a perfect example of how Christian plays that veteran role so well and is able to give those above him on the totem pole good matches and credible, meaningful wins.

-Backstage, Teddy Long gave Dolph Ziggler the night off before Money in the Bank and told Dolph explicitly that he doesn’t want him interfering in Alberto Del Rio’s match against Sin Cara later tonight because he doesn’t want to be fired like Vickie was. Dolph and Teddy had an awkward tete a tete in that Dolph thought he was being clever and funny, but came up corny and lame like John Cena.

2 - JEY USO (w/Jimmy Uso) vs. SETH ROLLINS (w/Roman Reigns)

Even though The Shield debuted back at Survivor Series, JBL claims that they have more experience than The Usos. The match contained very acceptable wrestling from both men and was a good preview of what followed at Money in the Bank. Jey had a few nearfalls in the match and looked like he could hang with Rollins, then the finish came when Jey was distracted while on the top rope by a fight on the outside. Seth proceeded to knock Jey off the top rope and put him away with a running knee to the forehead.

3 - Intercontinental champion CURTIS AXEL (w/Paul Heyman) vs. CHRIS JERICHO – non-title match

I find Axel to be a technically sound wrestler - he is crisp in the ring and his moves look good, but I find him to be pretty boring. But, Axel has a lot of good things going for him right now - the IC Title and Paul Heyman managing him - but I think he needs to be his own man. And, while acknowledging his heritage can be a good thing, he needs to not draw so much attention to it. Trying to be Mr. Perfect, Jr. isn’t working out to well for him right now, in my opinion.

As for this match, it was fine follow-up on Axel wanting revenge after Jericho beat him two weeks ago on Raw. A quick inset promo of Heyman and Axel vowing revenge would have fit in well before the match, but maybe it took place on the WWE App, which means few people saw it! For the finish, Jericho won by count-out after he nailed Axel with the Codebreaker on the apron and Curtis rolled to the floor.

4 - RYBACK vs. THE MIZ

Solomon Ryback, born on a Monday! Which Ryback will we get this week? WWE keeps tweaking his character to try to come up with something new that will work. Recently, he has been going with sissy, quitter, and whiner Ryback; this week, he added "faker" to the list when he feigned a knee injury and then cheap-shotted The Miz and won after Shell-Shocked. Overall, Miz got most of the offense and actually looked like he was going to defeat The Ryback.

-Renee Young was backstage with Sheamus. She asked for his thoughts on Randy Orton, prompting Sheamus to vow to run The Viper out of town. Sheamus predicted victory at Money in the Bank, offered a few stereotypes about what he will carry in the MITB briefcase, and hit on Renee before going on his merry way!

Kaitlyn and A.J. Lee Contract Signing

I remember when WWE had a dozen Divas and could make the ring look full. But, in this segment, there were six Divas in the ring for the “monumental” signing, representing nearly the entire roster. Both women signed the contract and then Kaitlyn flipped out on A.J. after she read private texts that Kaitlyn sent to her secret admirer, and just about every text was taking shots at other Divas. Kaitlyn in return called A.J. names and then slapped the hell out of her and Langston. Kaitlyn then speared A.J. and left her laying in the middle of the ring.

5 - FANDANGO vs. WADE BARRETT

Zeb Colter was on commentary for the match. Not much of a match as Zeb took shots at the other members of the “other” Money in the Bank match and Rhodes Scholars came out to confront him. In the fracas, Fandango rolled up Wade Barrett for a quick three count.

-Michael Cole made the announcement that Kane will not compete in the Money in the Bank All-Star match, as he was not medically cleared. Highlights of The Wyatt Family's beat down of Kane aired.

6 - World Hvt. champion ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. SIN CARA

It turns out it wasn’t Sin Cara, but Dolph Ziggler under the mask. He attacked Del Rio and delivered the Zig-Zag before doing his mannerisms as Cole “played along” that he didn’t know it was Dolph under the hood. JBL called Cole a moron for not realizing it was a completely different person dressed as Sin Cara. I hope this doesn’t lead to another Sin Cara versus Heel Cara match like the last time someone impersonated him!

-Vickie Guerrero stole Lilian Garcia’s microphone. Vickie screeched that she had to buy a ticket to get in, then admitted that she jumped the barricade to grab a microphone and that she gets no respect anymore. Teddy Long then came out and had her removed by security.

-Backstage, Teddy Long chased down Sin Cara and he called him “Dolph,” but it turned out to be the real Sin Cara. Dolph entered and pretended like he was in the dressing room the whole time. Ziggler then winked at the audience by telling Cara that he never looked better out there. That is some Cena-approved corniness!

7 - SHEAMUS vs. RANDY ORTON

Nothing to complain about here! Quality big man, power move match from these two and a good lead-in to Money in the Bank. I have also noticed lately that Orton is doing more crowd work during his matches and acknowledging them more, especially when calling for the RKO. Randy is looking focused and motivated for the first time in a long time and it showed tonight.

The match ended in a No Contest when Daniel Bryan ran in with a ladder (how does a wrestler do a run-in with a ladder anyway?) and hit both men with it. Bryan set up the ladder and tried to grab the briefcase that was hanging above the ring, but he was stopped short by Sheamus, Orton, and Christian, who also made appearances. The show ended with Orton on top of the ladder holding the briefcase! This was also the scene two nights later at the MITB PPV.

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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