WWE Smackdown review
September 13, 2013
Taped 9/10/13 in Ottawa, Canada
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open.

- Tonight, Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton will be guests on The Cutting Edge, hosted by Hall-of-Famer Edge.

- The Big Show came to the ring. As he did, they showed Show being forced to knock Daniel Bryan out two weeks ago on Raw. Show had a prepared statement that he read, apologizing for his behavior on Raw. No feeling at all in the reading. It was short, all things considered, but when he was finished, Triple H’s music played and he came out. Triple H welcomed everyone to Friday Night Smackdown in a way that reminded me of Vince McMahon, which probably isn’t a coincidence given this role. Triple H said he just needs Show to be professional. He said in any business, if a subordinate defies the COO, it’s grounds for termination. But Hunter wasn’t going to fire Show; instead, he’d suspend Show without pay for the night. Hunter helpfully reminded fans that Big Show is broke. As he advised Show to leave the ring, The Shield’s music played. They came out and surrounded the ring, which still contained Show.

The Shield attacked Show, who was able to fight them off. He took higher ground outside the ring by standing on the announce table. Seth Rollins grabbed Show’s leg and Roman Reigns took a chair to Show. Show was still able to fight off the onslaught. He dove off the table and gave Reigns a shoulder-tackle. JBL generously called it a spear. Show put Reigns in the ring and was about to chokeslam him and Dean Ambrose when Rollins came off the top. Show let go of the two and chopped Rollins. He signaled for a KO punch, but Reigns retrieved the chair again and wailed away on Show with it. Eventually, they gave Show the triple powerbomb. Replays of that segment took place.

- Tonight, Michael Cole interviews Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman.

[Commercial Break]

- A.J. Lee skipped to the ring to join the announcers for the six-Diva tag match.

1 – ALICIA FOX & AKSANA & LAYLA vs. BRIE BELLA & NATALYA & NAOMI

Brie worked over Aksana to start. She also kicked at Fox and brought her into the ring the hard way. Layla made the save when everyone else got involved. Face-plant took Aksana down. Order was surprisingly restored when Fox and Naomi tagged in. A.J. said she was trying to save the Divas division. JoJo, Cameron and Eva Marie were at ringside. Naomi struggled to make the tag and back-dropped Fox. She tagged Natalya after Aksana came in. Nattie tried for the Sharpshooter but A.J. got involved for the disqualification.

WINNERS: Natalya, Naomi, and Brie, via DQ, at 2:08. Not much to it. A little strange that the Total Divas seem to be positioned as babyfaces here.

After the match, the Total Divas surrounded A.J. Nattie slapped her, Brie gave her a face-buster and Naomi gave her a heel kick. Before the Sharpshooter could be applied, Aksana, Fox, and Layla made the save. The fans booed the Total Divas being announced as the winners.

- Dolph Ziggler takes on Dean Ambrose tonight. If Ziggler wins, he faces Ambrose for the U.S. Title at Night of Champions.

- Vickie Guerrero has a huge surprise for the WWE Universe. She was walking backstage…she’ll be out next for the reveal.

[Commercial Break]

- Vickie Guerrero was introduced to the live crowd. She brought out R-Truth for Dancing with the WWE Superstars. Fandango and Summer Rae were out next. Before they could begin, The Miz’s music interrupted. He came out in bell-bottoms and an afro. Miz said they couldn’t have the dance-off without him, and tonight, he’s Miz-co Inferno. He took a sparkly jacket from a fan in the front row. Vickie said he was welcome to compete with the other gentlemen. Before they could start a second time, Great Khali came out.

Khali got the mic and told Vickie, “I want to dance.” Fandango seemed disgusted. Vickie said, the more the merrier. Truth danced first. He did his thing, but it was shorter than I expected. Fandango and Summer Rae were next. Cole claimed Fandango wasn’t doing anything while “dancing.” Miz twerked. Truth seemed excited about the dance. Khali closed out the contest. It was not pretty. The fans voted via applause. Miz won handily. Fandango was not pleased, saying the other three were a disgrace to the art of dancing. He tried to cheap-shot Miz, but Truth and Miz double-teamed him. They threw him out of the ring for Summer Rae to tend to. Man, they didn’t even let Khali get the final chop in.

- Tonight, The Cutting Edge, hosted by Edge, with guests Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan.

[Commercial Break]

- A Los Matadores vignette aired.

- JBL and Cole were shown on-camera. Cole said Vickie told them they need to go back to the locker room for an interview conducted by…Ryback. Backstage, Ryback spoke into the camera, thanking Vickie for giving him the opportunity, as he’s a great interviewer. He brought in some schlub named Robert Evans from Ottawa. He had a pink-and-black singlet. Ryback asked him his stats – he was six-foot-four and 185 pounds. Ryback asked the guy if he dreams of being a WWE Superstar, and competing at Wrestlemania. Ryback said he has dreams too, then he slapped the guy. He said his dreams are beating the holy hell out of people like him. So he kicked the guy. He asked Evans for another comment and the guy just groaned. Ryback then sent it back to ringside.

- Instead, we went backstage to Vickie Guerrero’s office. Ricardo Rodriguez walked in and said someone told him Vickie wanted to talk to him. Vickie said Ricardo is barred from ringside at Night of Champions during the Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio match. She said it was too dangerous. Ricardo begged in Spanish, so Vickie said he can be in RVD’s corner, but tonight, RVD will be in his corner when he faces Del Rio tonight. Rodriguez didn’t like that, either. Ungrateful!

- Michael Cole’s interview with Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman is still to come.

- Damien Sandow came to the ring. He’s in action next.

[Commercial Break]

- In the ring, Sandow cut a generic promo previewing his match with Santino.

2 – DAMIEN SANDOW vs. SANTINO MARELLA

Sandow laid in the knees to Marella, then delivered a side Russian leg-sweep. Elbow of Disdain for two at :58. Side suplex by Marella created some separation. Hip-toss by Santino, then a diving headbutt. He pulled out the Cobra, but Sandow attacked to stop it. Missed shoulder charge in the corner by Sandow, and the Cobra struck. Pinfall followed.

WINNER: Marella, at 2:04. Ridiculous, but par for the course in WWE’s booking of MITB winners.

- Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman were walking backstage. The interview is next.

[Commercial Break]

- Cole was in the ring. He said his guests will face C.M. Punk at Night of Champions. After introducing the duo, Axel and Heyman came to the ring. Cole first sent it to a video package on the “tumultuous relationship” between Heyman and Punk. Heyman, beard still growing, was asked his gameplan on Sunday. Axel interrupted and threw around a few big words, acting disgusted at the line of questioning. He said Punk won’t get to Heyman because Punk won’t beat him. Heyman said just because he has a persecution complex doesn’t mean he isn’t being persecuted. He claimed he’s an advocate of peace. Heyman even called for a public boycott of the Night of Champions PPV. He said if people buy Night of Champions, they’ll see Punk get his hands on him. He said in spite of Axel, Punk will find a way to get to Heyman, but it doesn’t mean he’s better than Axel. Heyman said Punk will slaughter him to the point where this will be the last time we’ll get to see Paul Heyman. He said he’ll always love C.M. Punk, but he’ll never forgive the fans. The fans began singing the “Goodbye” song as Heyman left the ring.

- A replay aired from earlier tonight, where Triple H suspended Big Show for the night, and Show was summarily attacked by The Shield.

- Alberto Del Rio came to the ring. He faces Ricardo Rodriguez next.

[Commercial Break]

3 – ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. RICARDO RODRIGUEZ

Del Rio was aggressive in going after Rodriguez to start. Kick to the chest in the corner. A kick to the back of the head followed. Del Rio taunted RVD, who was at ringside with Rodriguez. Rodriguez rolled up Del Rio and Del Rio responded with a superkick. Ricardo got his feet up on a corner charge then hit a Tornado DDT. Cover for two at 1:36. Rodriguez went to the top and Del Rio crotched him. He also kicked at Van Dam at ringside. Inverted suplex off the top by Del Rio for the win.

WINNER: Del Rio, at 2:23. Just a way to get some extra heat on Del Rio before the PPV.

Post-match, Del Rio applied the cross arm-breaker to Rodriguez, until Van Dam ran in. He ended up giving Del Rio the Five-Star Frog-Splash. The finish of the match was replayed, as was Van Dam’s high-impact move.

- A graphic aired for Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton at Night of Champions. A video package aired on that feud. Oh, and Triple H. Lots of Triple H.

- Dolph Ziggler came to the ring. He faces Dean Ambrose in a non-title match, next.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the Canadian Tire Centre was shown.

- Viewers were shown a sneak peek of the season premiere of Haven.

4 – DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. DEAN AMBROSE – IF ZIGGLER WINS, HE’LL FACE AMBROSE FOR THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP AT NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

Ziggler blocked a punch from Ambrose in the corner and unloaded with a flurry of his own. Ambrose came back with a hard whip into the buckle of Ziggler. Cross-body by Ziggler, followed by more right hands. Ambrose pulled Ziggler’s hair and slammed him face-first into the mat. JBL brought up that The Shield put away The Undertaker a few months ago. Ziggler flipped out of a suplex attempt and hit a nice standing dropkick. Ziggler proceeded with his ten elbowdrops, which led JBL to remark, “we’re in Canada, I hope that’s not Jerry Lawler.” Ambrose took over on offense again soon after, and they went to break 3:46 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:41 of the match. Ambrose was still in control. Ziggler finally came back and got a near-fall at 9:23. Sleeper applied by Ambrose, to which Ziggler countered with a jaw-breaker. Fameasser by Ziggler, but before he could go for the pin, the other Shield members interfered.

WINNER: Ziggler, via DQ, at 10:06. Good match, and Ziggler vs. Ambrose is something to look forward to Sunday.

As The Shield beat up Ziggler, the Usos ran out to make the save. Vickie Guerrero came onto the stage and said Ziggler has his U.S. Title match thanks to the DQ. She also turned things into a six-man tag match.

[Commercial Break]

5 – DOLPH ZIGGLER & THE USOS vs. THE SHIELD

The match was joined in progress out of break. The Shield worked over Ziggler, keeping him in the heel corner. They slowed the match down and worked to get the crowd behind Ziggler. Ambrose trash-talked Ziggler, but he missed a charge and fell out of the ring. Roman Reigns tagged in and he cut Ziggler off. He missed a shoulder charge in the corner, though. Once again, another Shield member cut Ziggler off, and once again, Ziggler broke free. This time, he tagged Jimmy Uso. Missed butt splash in the corner by Uso, but a Samoan Drop led to a two-count. Ambrose broke up the pin and hell broke loose. Jimmy ended up superkicking Rollins. He went to the top rope and went for the splash, but Rollins got his knees up and rolled up Jimmy for the win.

WINNERS: The Shield, 5:32 shown.

They aired a replay of the finish, then cameras captured the post-match reactions from all six competitors.

- The Cutting Edge is next.

[Commercial Break]

- Edge came to the ring to host the Cutting Edge. Tony Chimel was once again hauled out of the mothballs to give his signature Edge introduction. They showed clips of Edge having to tend to his injured friend Christian on Raw. Edge said Triple H graciously let him host again tonight because it’s what’s best for business. That led to a “best for business” chant. Edge addressed Christian, saying that when he gets healthy, he needs to take out The Shield. He said The Cutting Edge is where we cut through the crap and get to the truth, so he first introduced Randy Orton. Next, he brought out Daniel Bryan.

The first question went to Orton: “How does it feel to be a sellout?” Orton mocked Edge’s “tough” questions and said it was nothing more than a cheap-shot from someone who is washed-up and can’t wrestle anymore. Bryan told Orton to show some respect, and Edge butted in saying Orton has forgotten he’s an 11-time champion, while Orton has just ten reigns. Orton said he’s not a sellout, rather, he did what anyone in his position would’ve done. He said he simply took advantage of an opportunity. Orton said after ten years of John Cena, WWE needed a change. He said Bryan is good for business, but he’s best for business. Edge said he and the fans know what’s best for business, and the fans responded with a “yes” chant.

Edge asked Bryan if he thought he (Bryan) is best for business. Bryan said he doesn’t care about what’s best for business. Orton yelled that Bryan is naïve. Bryan told him to shut up. He said the most important things in his life have nothing to do with doing what’s best for business or putting money in the pockets of the McMahon family. Bryan said being WWE Champion is his dream. He said he has never dreamed of being the face of a corporation. Instead, he’s dreamed of holding the WWE Title. He vowed to beat Orton at Night of Champions. Orton said he’d help Bryan achieve his dream tonight, then he attacked Bryan. Bryan attempted to get the Yes Lock in, and he did so. Orton tapped out. Referees rushed to the ring to break the hold. Orton slid out of the ring holding his arm. Bryan celebrated in the ring as the fans chanted along with him.

As a tag at the end, Edge, back in the ring with Bryan, implored fans to stay around for Haven, airing right now. Bryan continued his “yes” chants.


Did you watch Friday's Smackdown episode? Send your 0-10 score & Reax to pwtorch@gmail.com for our TV Reax feature.

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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