4/12 Shore's WWE Smackdown delayed coverage: Dolph Ziggler's first appearance as World Champion, Triple H addresses the crowd, and Big Show vs. Randy Orton and Sheamus in a handicap match

By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 4/9 in Boston, Mass.

Big E Langston was introduced by Lilian Garcia and he did a very Ricardo Rodriguez type introduction for Dolph Ziggler, who came to the ring with Langston and AJ.

Shore's Slant: Sorry for the delay folks. I'll try and catch up as soon as possible. The delay also means my quarter hours will be screwy so I'm not doing them. We rarely get the quarter hour breakdowns for Smackdown anyway.

Dolph cut a promo with a very weakened voice about being the most gifted physical athlete in the industry. He said the crowd at WrestleMania chanted his name in a match he wasn't even in, and then Monday the crowd went nuts for his win. He said the people wanted to be a part of the celebration, but he won the title not because of them, but in spite of them.

Jack Swagger's music hit and he and Zeb Colter came to the ring. Ziggler said this was their scheduled time and wanted to know what they were doing out there. Zeb said they had never been introduced, but he wanted to congratulate him on winning the title and was happy he was from Cleveland. Zeb said all of that aside, everyone knows who made it possible for Ziggler to win, and that was Jack Swagger.

Ziggler said this was his celebration and Swagger had his chance at Mania so it was back of the line for him. Swagger acted like he was going to get in the ring, but stopped when he looked at Langston. Colter said Ziggler should show his gratitude by giving Swagger a title shot, and Swagger would not wait long for what he deserves. He left and Ziggler started his promo again, but Alberto Del Rio's music cut him off.

Del Rio limped out to the stage in street clothes. Ziggler asked him if he was there for his rematch and dared him to come to the ring. Del Rio told him to relax, he was only there to congratulate Ziggler. He said he knew what it was like to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. He said when his leg heals, he's going to get his title back and then Ziggler would be crying. His music played and Ziggler yelled for it to stop. He said the next person who stepped through the curtain would find out why he was the champion. He waited and then said, "I didn't think so."

Chris Jericho's music hit and he came to the stage to a great pop. He told Ziggler to "Shut the hell up." He said Ziggler should be happy about winning the title, but he was babbling on and on about his crazy girlfriend. He got the crowd to chant "AJ's crazy," and AJ sold being pissed. Jericho said Y2J is the original showoff and he announced it would be Ziggler vs. Jericho in the main event tonight…Team Hell No were shown walking backstage…[C]

Shore's Slant: Fun opening segment with Ziggler showing proper frustration at the disrespect shown him as a new champion. And I like Jericho as a guy who can go in there and make Ziggler's first match as champion look amazing. I know the results, but not how the match goes, and I'm hoping for something good.

The Primetime Players were in the ring. Hell No made their entrance…

1. Team Hell No vs. The Primetime Players. Daniel Bryan won with the No Lock on Darren Young…

Hell No defeated The Primetime Players at 1:38.

Post-match, the Shield appeared on the screen and said they shouldn't confuse their deciding to wait to attack from Monday night as running scared. Ambrose said you had to be smart to make it in this world and they were smart. Reigns said the Shield never retreats, and Rollins told them to believe in the Shield. Kane popped his pyro to close the segment…[C]

Shore's Slant: Looks like we are getting at least a Shield shot at the tag titles, and possibly a six man with Undertaker. I liked the promo. Short and simple has always worked for them. I still don't understand their motivation, and want WWE to address it, but this was a good promo.

Still pictures hyped the Undertaker match at Mania…Santino Marella was in the ring. Wade Barrett made his entrance as a video showed how he won the Intercontinental Championship just 24 hours after losing it…

2. Wade Barrett vs. Santino Marella. Santino would get beat down and tried to kip-up several times, but couldn't. He finally did it as Barrett setup for the elbow. Santino hit his offensive streak and went for the Cobra, but Barrett hit a big boot and the Bull Hammer for the win…[C]

Wade Barrett defeated Santino Marella at 2:24.

Shore's Slant: Let the rebuild of Wade Barrett begun. JBL wins line of the night for saying "Call PETA" after Barrett knocked out the Cobra too.

Backstage, Booker T was telling Teddy Long about the Hall of Fame when Sheamus walked up. He bickered with Booker T about putting him and Randy Orton in a match. Orton walked in and complained about the same thing. He wanted to know whose decision it was. Teddy jumped in and said it was Booker's, but they all made mistakes, and he just wanted to make sure Orton was upset at him. Booker said he was giving them both what they wanted and booked a handicap match against Big Show. Both Sheamus and Orton thanked Booker and walked off. Booker spun on Teddy, but Teddy no sold him…The Bellas made their entrance with Tamina.

Shore's Slant: Zzzzzzz. The Teddy Long vs. Booker T angle puts me to sleep. Why is this taking up time on TV? It felt so forced and dumb.

The Funkadactyls and Kaitlyn danced out as a video recapped the mixed tag match from Raw

3. Tamina and The Bella Twins vs. The Funkadactyls and Kaitlyn. The announce team spent some time talking about the crazy crowd from Monday. Kaitlyn spear a Bella and Tamina. Naomi tagged in and Cole made an ass joke. The match broke down and one of the Bellas pinned one of the Dactyls…[C]

Tamina and The Bella Twins defeated The Funkadactyls and Kaitlyn at 1:29.

More WrestleMania stills aired…Triple H made his entrance to a much nicer reaction than he probably would have gotten Monday. No frostbite this time fortunately, but he was sporting a soft cast on his left arm. Triple H said he told us the ass kicker was back. HE told Brock Lesnar they were going to war and that's exactly what they did. He started to say more, but 3MB cut him off.

Heath Slater told him to shut up and listen up. He said apparently around here, you had to jump a big dog to get noticed. He said there was no bigger dog than Triple H. He said they were going to rock his face. They made it as far as the apron when the Shield's music hit. Hunter sold being a little concerned at this point, but not too much. The Shield members went to the same sides as the 3MB guys and pulled them down and took them out. They climbed to the apron, and once again Kane's pryo popped and Hell No ran out to make the save. The Shield beat a hasty retreat…

Backstage, Booker was about to chastise Teddy when Show walked up. Teddy said he was out and left. Show asked Booker why he made the handicap match. Show complained about how he was treated and said maybe he should go home since he had an ironclad contract. Booker said that was fine, but he would make sure that contract was held up in court until it was worthless. He said if Show wanted to stay, his match was next. Show stormed off…[C]

Shore's Slant: Well, after that segment it appears we might have jumped the gun on a six man with Undertaker, but maybe they'll do that, a six man with Hunter, AND a tag title match with The Shield winning and invoking the Freebird rule (or Demolition rule for the culturally unwashed.) We'll certainly get the latter, but the other two look more like longshots.

Randy Orton made his ring entrance to a good pop. A video recapped Big Show running in on his match with Sheamus, and Orton sported a wrapped abdomen after Show's spear. Sheamus was out next. Sheamus and Orton argued a little about who would go first, and Show egged them on, but Orton got the nod to start…

4. Sheamus and Randy Orton vs. Big Show in a handicap match. Orton started with punches, but Show hit a side slam and Orton sold the ribs. He escaped and got a quick hot tag, but Show hit a spear on Sheamus to shut him down. He went after Orton again and Orton hit a surprise RKO. That allowed Sheamus to recover and hit a Brogue kick that knocked Show to the floor. Show took his time staggering to his feet and then staggered to the back for a countout loss…[C]

Randy Orton and Sheamus defeated Big Show by countout at 4:02.

Shore's Slant: Eh, it was what it was. The fact that this crowd didn't crap all over it shows that what happened on Monday was an aberration and, with the possible exception of London, won't be repeated again until next year at the post-Mania Raw.

A video recapped the previous match and then Orton and Sheamus were shown walking backstage. The new interview girl (I guess I should learn her name now) asked if she could talk to them. Sheamus said yes and Orton said he would see him in the trainer's room. Orton walked off and the girl said it took both of them to put Show down. Sheamus said it didn't matter how big and strong you were, all that mattered was heart. Mark Henry attacked him from behind and screamed the question, "So it doesn't matter, huh?" The ref ran Henry off and Sheamus sold the attack…

Kofi Kingston and Antonio Cesaro were both in the ring. Oh good, they seem important with that entrance…

5. Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston. Cesaro hit a quick double stomp and yodeled. Dear God I had hoped this was over. Kofi got in a little offense, but Cesaro hit his uppercut when Kofi went for a superman punch. Kofi hit a surprise Trouble in Paradise for the win and the announce team said that will get Kofi closer to a US title shot. Because that's what he needs…[C]

Kofi Kingston defeated Antonio Cesaro at 3:07.

Shore's Slant: I liked the intensity of Henry and how they jumped into that, but we just had this feud over the World Championship. Is this really all they have?

A video recapped the WWE Championship angle on Raw. Cole said he hoped they got some explanation from Ryback on Monday, but he didn't make it a big deal…Fandango made his entrance and you could hear some people singing underneath, they even showed a few people in the stands dancing, but it also sounded like they may have been adding boos on top of everything. By the time he got to the ring, you could hear the singing clearly…[C]

Dolph Ziggler made his ring entrance and wore the title backwards for the first part of his entrance. JBL was vocally displeased by it. Jericho was out next…

6. Dolph Ziggler (w/AJ and Big E Langston) vs. Chris Jericho. After some even back and forth, Jericho choked Ziggler on the second rope and then hit the far ropes. AJ grabbed his leg and Ziggler used the distraction to recover and hit the Fameassor…[C] Back from commercial, a video showed Fandango kicking Jericho in the face during the break.

JBL complained about Ziggler's hot-dogging with his side headlock headstand and Matthews bickered with him about it. Somebody needs to remind these guys who are the heels and who are the babyfaces. Jericho ducked a clothesline and hit a drop kick through the ropes on Langston. He used the distraction to hit a high cross body for two, but Ziggler came right back with a drop kick for two.

Ziggler went for the Zig Zag, but Jericho grabbed the ropes and went for the Walls of Jericho. Ziggler flipped out, but Jericho knocked him down and hit the Lionsault. Fandango climbed on the apron and Jericho hit his springboard dropkick on him. Ziggler went for the Fameassor again, but Jericho blocked it and hooked the Walls. Fandango distracted the ref and Langston punched Jericho. Ziggler rolled him up for the win…

Dolph Ziggler defeated Chris Jericho in about 12:00.

Post-match, Jericho attacked Ziggler and managed to avoid Langston. Fandango went after him, and that allowed Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag. Langston added the Big Ending for good measure and then Ziggler and crew left.

Fandango came into the ring and attacked Jericho. He hit his top rope leg drop and then had his partner bring a mic into the ring. She did the split while he said his name and posed to close the show…

Shore's Slant: Good match with the expected squirrely ending. Dolph is the consummate wormy heel. WWE loves to book them that way, so this should work well going forward. How long he can sustain it is the question, but a good start. It looks like Fandango and Jericho aren't done yet even though we know of no other WWE dates for Chris Jericho right now. I'll have more to say tomorrow in the All Access audio review. Jake Barnett may be joining me, but he is ill so I won't promise. Get better buddy. Thanks for watching along with me tonight, folks.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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