1/18 Barnett's WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Review: Big Show and Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus, Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston, plus Team Hell No and Randy Orton in action highlight Smackdown

By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Review
Taped on 1/15 in San Antonio, Texas

[Q1] The WWE Narrator said The Rock concern rolls into Smackdown, and then covered Alberto Del Rio’s Championship Win from last week.

A Mariachi Band played in the ring and a traditionally dressed performer danced in the ring. Ricardo welcomed us to Fiesta Del Rio, and then did Alberto’s Ring announcement. Del Rio entered and headed towards the ring. Del Rio shook Ricardo’s hand and gave him a hug. He grabbed the microphone and once again welcomed us to Fiesta Del Rio again, and told San Antonio it’s time to party. He said they were there to celebrate that the fat jackass the Big Show is no longer the World Heavyweight Champion.

Dolph Ziggler’s music hit, and the announcers made it sound like he was cashing in. AJ said she was going to assume that their invitations were lost in the mail. Del Rio asked them why they were at his party, and Ziggler said he was there to tell Del Rio that he didn’t hold the World Title, he held a target on his head. He said anytime he wants, he could cash in that briefcase and Del Rio could say adios to his world championship. Del Rio told them to leave, and they feigned like they were going to attack him when Big Show’s music hit.

Big Show hit the ring and Ziggler reminded him that he was pretty outnumbered. Sheamus’ music hit and he headed towards the ring and said he was there to celebrate Fiesta Del Rio. Sheamus reminded us that he and Del Rio used to beat the hell out of each other, and reminded him about the time when he stole his car. He then said he wanted to be serious, and was out there to congratulate him on his epic victory over Big Show last week. Sheamus then said he had no doubt in his mind that he deserved to be the World Heavyweight Champion.

Sheamus then shook Del Rio’s hand, and said he would make sure none of those idiots mess up his party. Del Rio said he didn’t want any violence at his party, and then smiled and said maybe just a little bit. Booker T then interrupted and bantered a bit with Show about his title loss, and made a tag match for the Main Event between Sheamus and Del Rio vs. Ziggler and Big Show. Booker T then asked AJ, Big Show, Ziggler and Big E to leave. Booker T then asked to kick off the party, and the Mariachis began to play. Del Rio then asked Del Rio to do a spinaroonie, and he obliged.

[Q2] He then asked Sheamus to do a Mexican Hat Dance, and he played it off for a minute, but eventually danced with the female dancer with the band…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: That was fun, if a little cliché. They booked the main event and had a little fiesta that pleased the Hispanic heavy San Antonio crowd. Del Rio got a huge reaction as well.

Kofi Kingston made his ring entrance. Antonio Cesaro was already in the ring. They showed a clip from Monday with Cesaro getting beat up by Miz and Flair.

1. Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston: They traded offense early, with Cesaro eventually tripping Kofi onto the second rope. He hit a gutwrench suplex and a stomp, and then locked in a chin lock. Kofi escaped and hit an elbow, followed by some chops and a drop kick. Kofi rolled up Cesaro, but he reversed and got a two count. Kofi hit SOS and got a two count. Kofi attempted a jumping hurricanrana of the top rope, but Cesaro caught him and hit the Neutralizer for the victory.

Antonio Cesaro defeated Kofi Kingston at 2:50.

Backstage Primo, Epico and Rosa laughed at the Miz backstage and called him Ric Flair’s new sidekick. They said Ric Flair was a tremendous wrestler, and the Miz had catchphrases. Miz retorted that it was sad that insulting him was the first thing they said in two years. He challenged Primo to a match, but called him Epico. Miz said nobody cared about their names. He then left it up to Rosa to decide who he wrestled, but he insulted her in the process by asking her what exactly she did.

Barnett’s Brief: The Miz’s character is not really that interesting to me. He’s trying to be a fan favorite, but he still comes off like a smarmy douche. Kofi and Cesaro had a brief but good match. Cesaro continues to look fantastic in the ring.

[Q3] Khali made his ring entrance, with Tensai already in the ring. They showed a clip of Hornswoggle being beaten up by Tensai last week.

2. Khali vs. Tensai: Khali slapped Tensai in the chest a couple of times, per usual. Tensai got aggressive and beat down Khali in the corner. The ref separated them, and Khali caught Tensai with a boot to the face. He followed up with a big chop and got the win.

Khali defeated Tensai at 1:15.

Kane and Bryan were shown backstage, and they discussed their therapy session from Monday. They made fun of Cody’s mustache and Bryan said that some people don’t know when their facial hair gets ridiculous. Kane said tell me about it, and then Byran told him to say what was on his mind. Kane said no and they shouted yes and no at one another until it got tiresome. Orton walked up and asked if they were going to act like 2nd graders or if they were ready to inflict some pain on Team Rhodes Scholars and Wade Barrett.

Kane said both and walked away, and then Bryan told Orton that they were working through anger issues. Bryan then told Orton that’s some he knows about, and reminded him that they are Champions. Orton said he would be again when he wins the Rumble match. Bryan cut him off and said they would win tonight and then have a group hug. Orton said he wasn’t much of a hugger, and Bryan told him not yet and walked off.

Barnett’s Brief: Fun segment with Bryan doing very well in the promo. I have nothing to say about Tensai vs. Khali, as it was awful.

Team Rhodes Scholars and Wade Barrett were already in the ring. Randy Orton made his ring entrance, followed by Team Hell No.

3. Randy Orton and Team Hell No vs. Wade Barrett and Team Rhodes Scholars: Orton and Rhodes began, and Randy took control early. He tagged in Kane, who hit a low dropkick for a two count. Kane locked an arm bar and tagged in Bryan, who hit a double axe handle and an arm breaker. Bryan followed up with some kicks. Cody ducked the final kick and tagged in Sandow. Bryan attempted to apply the Yes or No Lock, whatever it’s called this week, but he escaped to the outside…[c]

[Q4] Sandow stomped on Kane and tagged in Rhodes, who hit some strikes before he tagged Sandow back in. Sandow hit a side Russian Leg Sweep and an elbow, and tagged in Wade Barrett. Barrett worked over Kane in the corner. Kane fought off all three men briefly, but Barrett caught him with his signature sidewalk slam. Barrett tagged in Rhodes and Kane hit some strikes and tagged in Orton. Rhodes tagged in Sandow, who got dominated by Orton. Orton hit clotheslines and his hanging DDT, but Rhodes interfered before he could hit the RKO.

Kane interfered and sent Rhodes from the ring, and Bryan hit a flying Knee on Barrett on the outside. Rhodes snuck in and hit CrossRhodes on Orton, and then Sandow covered, but Kane broke up the tag. Kane sent Rhodes from the ring, and then Sandow dumped Kane to the outside. Orton then hit the RKO on Sandow for the win.

Randy Orton and Team Hell No defeated Wade Barrett and Team Rhodes Scholars at 7:44.

Post match, Kane and Bryan forced a group hug on Orton. Orton looked disgusted, and Bryan cheesed like a moron….[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Very good match here with a lot of activity at the end. Everyone looked good here with the limited television time they got. The match was 7 minutes long, but about 4 made it to television.

[Q5] The Rock Concert was replayed, at least most of it, from Monday. They cut out the first song, because it wasn’t funny. JBL and Mathews talked about the WWE Title match at Royal Rumble, and JBL predicted Punk as the winner. The Miz then made his ring entrance…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Well, not much to say considering this was mostly a repeat of Monday’s Raw. I liked the Rock Concert for what it was, but it wasn’t something you can watch over and over again and get a lot out of it. It was a good segment in the context of Raw, but it wasn’t a classic that needed to be replayed in such detail 4 days later.

Epico and Primo made their entrance with Rosa.

4. Primo vs. The Miz: Primo hit a nice shoulder block, and did a Flair strut. Primo continued to stay in control for the opening minutes, hitting a nice knee lift and a low drop kick. He then locked in a chin lock. Miz escaped but only briefly as Primo hit some strikes and a leg drop for a two count. Miz hit some strikes of his own, but got caught with a snap suplex by Primo, who covered for two. Miz fought his way back in with punches in the corner, and then pancaked a charging Primo. Miz rolled through a rollup attempt, and hit a big kick to Primo’s face. He then followed up with a jumping clothesline into the corner, and an axehandle from the top.

[Q6] Miz went for a skull crushing finale, but Epico distracted him. Primo then went for a figure four, but Miz kicked him away into Epico. Miz then applied his own figure four and got the tap.

The Miz defeated Primo at 5:31.

Backstage, Kaitlyn spoke with Layla. They talked about Shoes and then Kaitlyn let Layla hold the belt, which she started at and spaced out. Booker T and Teddy Long then came up and congratulated her on her title win. She then headed towards the ring for a match next…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Is The Miz the new little Naitch?

Aksana posed in the ring, and Aksana made her ring entrance.

5. Kaitlyn vs. Aksana: Aksana offered a handshake and then pushed Kaitlyn. They tied up and Kaitlyn took Aksana down for a waist lock and spanked her. She then hit a snap suplex and covered for a two count. Aksana tripped up Kaitlyn and she rolled to the apron. Kaitlyn hit an elbow from the apron and climbed to the top rope, but Aksana pushed her off to the floor.

Akana rolled Kaitlyn back into the ring and applied a chin lock for way too long. Kaitlyn eventually elbowed out, but Kaitlyn pushed her down and they rolled on the ground pulling hair. Aksana hit a few boots in the corner, and the ref separated them. She worked around the ref and hit Kaitlyn a few more times, and the ref separated them again. Aksana wasted too much time arguing with the ref, and took a spear from Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn then covered for the win.

Kaitlyn defeated Aksana at 3:01.

A video package aired of Mick Foley’s incredible WWE career, interspersed with his childhood dreams of becoming a WWF Champion. Mathews put over Foley as the first of the 2013 HOF Class, and said The Shield would speak next…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Good Foley video. Aksana is a heat vacuum in the ring, so the match with Aksana was boring and kind of killed the crowd. Luckily, the woke up for the spear and cheered for the Foley video.

[Q7] Mathews introduced a clip from Monday of The Shield attacking Mick Foley, and Sheamus, Orton, and Ryback coming to his aide. A pre-taped promo then aired from The Shield. All three men said that they would hold Foley accountable for all the broken bodies and dreams in the wake of his hall of fame career. They then told Sheamus that he would learn to respect, and that they were just getting started breaking more of the 206 bones in Orton’s body.

Backstage Orton and Sheamus were shown reacting to the promo. Sheamus said it was funny how The Shield acts tough from some unknown part of the building. Orton said he didn’t find the Shield funny when they injured his shoulder, and they weren’t laughing on Wednesday. Sheamus apologized for not being there to help. Orton said he didn’t need his help. He then said that he liked Sheamus because he had an answer for everything, except at the Royal Rumble, he wouldn’t have an answer for him. Big Show then made his ring entrance for the Main Event…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: I like what The Shield had to say, but it would have had more impact from the ring. In any case, it was good. Orton and Sheamus also had a good segment together backstage, but Sheamus is still smiling too much, and Orton is always expressionless.

Ziggler was already in the ring with Big Show. Sheamus then made his ring entrance, followed by Alberto Del Rio.

[Q8] 6. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus vs. The Big Show and Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler started with an arm bar, but Del Rio reversed acrobatically. Ziggler hit some strikes in the corner. Del Rio avoided a charging Ziggler and hit a body slam. Del Rio pancaked Ziggler and made a tag to Sheamus. He hit a long hanging vertical suplex, and made a cover for two. Ziggler slipped out of an attempt at a rolling senton and tagged the Big Show.

Show entered and basically mugged Sheamus, hitting him with a flurry of strikes and tossed him from the ring. Big E attempted to run Sheamus into the post, but Sheamus avoided it and the ref noticed and ejected Big E. AJ then argued the ejection, and got sent to the back herself. Ziggler has the worst sidekicks in recorded history…[c]

Ziggler hit a kick to Del Rio, but ate an absolutely awesome German Suplex. Del Rio tagged in Sheamus, who went up top, but got dumped to the floor by Big Show. Ziggler went to work on Sheamus as soon as he crawled back into the ring. Big Show tagged in and dropped an elbow on Sheamus’ knee. Big Show continued to work power, and stepped on Sheamus’ back with both feet. He then worked over Sheamus’ knee. Sheamus escaped the hold by hitting clubbing blows to Show’s chest. Sheamus attempted a tag, but Show dropped an elbow before he could get to his corner.

Show hit a vicious looking knee to Sheamus’s face, and covered for a very close near fall. Show climbed to the second rope and hit a Vader Splash, but only got a near fall. Show tried again, but missed. Both men made tags, and Del Rio hit a huge superkick to a kneeling Del Rio for a near fall. He then locked in the Cross Arm Breaker, but Sheamus broke it up. Sheamus re-entered and hit White Noise on Big Show. Del Rio then hit an Enziguri to knock show off the apron, and dumped a bucket of water on him. Big Show then left in anger, and they won via count out.

Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus defeated Dolph ZIggler and Big Show at 14:28.

Barnett’s Brief: Well, that was a fairly paint by numbers tag main event. They are trying to sell it like Del Rio pouring a bucket of water on Show is the single greatest insult one man can pay upon another, but it’s kind of falling flat with me. The further this goes along, the more I can see Ziggler cashing in at the Royal Rumble. I guess we’ll get to test that theory shortly, but for now it seems like that’s the direction they are heading.

Questions, comments or concerns? Contact me at barnett.jake@gmail.com or on twitter @barnettjake.