4/22 Shore's WWE Smackdown Live Coverage: Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio, Big Show and Kane vs. The Corre for the Tag Team titles, and Alberto Del Rio throws Edge a retirement party

By Chris Shore

Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 4/19/11 in London, England.

[Q1] A video recapped Edge's retirement, vacating the title and the battle royal that Christian won…The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Booker T welcomed us to Smackdown. Alberto Del Rio's music played for no reason as they showed the title hanging above the ring. The announce team hyped the two title matches on the show…

"Sir" Michael Cole was introduced and he made his entrance with a cape and sat on a throne in the Cole mine with large cutouts of the Royal Family…

Cody Rhodes made his ring entrance with a paper bag in his hand and three guys with a shopping cart full of paper bags. Cody cut a room and said he was wearing a mask for protection, but Mysterio was wearing a mask because he was ashamed of himself. Cody said the crowd wore masks too.

He said they wore masks because their lives were miserable. But he could see through them. He said no matter how bad it was, they all wished it was worse for their family and friends. He said he offered a remedy at his expense. He popped the bad open to show it had a face cut in it. He had the three guys hand out the bag masks to people at ringside.

Most people put them on as Cody said they would cover their lying eyes, their protruding blackheads and rotted teeth. He said he wanted them to wear the masks until he beat Rey Mysterio tonight. Rey made his ring entrance…

Shore's Slant: I liked the Cody promo, but I'm not sure it resonates well with the casual fans. The live crowd didn't seem very hot for it, but it could be how they were mic'ed.

1. Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes at 14:42. Cody attacked at the bell, but Rey hit a kick and yelled for Cody to run at him. He pulled the rope down and Cody slammed to the floor. Rey hit a seated senton…[C]

Back at 4:16, Cody stomped Rey in the corner. Rey reversed a powerbomb lift into a pin attempt for two. Cody reversed a tilt-a-whirl move into a backbreaker for two, and then worked Rey's back on the post…[C]

Back at 10:45, Cody hit a scoop slam for two and then stepped on his face. Cody did a very cool strong whip to the corner and then used the face mask for a near fall. He set Rey on the top and climbed up. Rey fought him off and hit a senton to go on the attack. Rhodes fought back and lifted for another powerbomb, but Rey hooked his legs and hit a hurricanranna for the win.

[Q3] Post-match, Cody attacked Rey and sent him to the floor. They fought on the floor, spilling over the railing at one point. They brawled through the corwd and then back to the ringside area. Cody his CrossRhodes on Rey and then put the paper mask on him before posing in the ring…

Shore's Slant: Two commercials in the middle of that match hurt the hell out of it. Why would you do that? There was less than three minutes between the two breaks. I am happy that this feud got so much time, but those commercials should have been setup better.

In the locker room the Corre seemed to all get back on the same page after teasing each other about splitting up…A video recapped LayCool's couples counseling and Layla's loss to Kelly Kelly…

LayCool had their second counseling session. They bickered and told the counselor to shut up. McCool said she didn’t think Layla was flawless. Layla started to cry and leave. McCool stopped her and they hugged. Layla went to thank the counselor and McCool attacked her from behind. She slammed her on the couch a couple of times and stormed out…

Shore's Slant: So McCool is bi-polar now? One second she loves Layla and the next she doesn’t? Normal wrestling logic, but it annoys me greatly. This is playing out about like I feared. It's not quite the story I thought it would be, but McCool is a terrible talker.

[Q4][C] Michael Cole was in the ring and setup a video that recapped his knighting and making JR kiss his foot. He introduced Jack Swagger. Trent Baretta was already in the ring…

2. Jack Swagger squashed Trent Baretta at 1:13. Swagger tossed Baretta around. Baretta hit an enziguri and an elbow. He went for a springboard seated senton, but Swagger caught him and hit a powerbomb. He slapped on the ankle lock for the win…Big Show was shown at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice awards, and then backstage with Kane walking towards the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: I love Michael Cole, but this feud has jumped the shark for sure. Can't wait for it to be over.

The Awesome Kong hype video aired…

[Q5] 3. Big Show and Kane defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater (w/Ezekiel Jackson) for the WWE Tag Team Championships at 4:02. The first two minutes of the match took place in the last quarter. The babyfaces started out squashing both men. Kane went to the top rope, and Gabriel distracted the ref and Zeke pushed Kane off to allow Corre to take control.

Kane made the hot tag and Show tossed Slater around. He tossed Gabriel onto Jackson on the floor. Jackson jumped on the apron, but Kane knocked him down. Show hit the chokeslam to win the titles…[C]

Shore's Slant: Yawn. I'm so over the Corre and Big Show/Kane. And nothing like a four minute title change. I hate when WWE goes overseas, they never seem to take it serious.

Backstage, the three Corre members argued. Gabriel and Slater argued with Zeke. Zeke said they should look in the mirror, especially Slater who got pinned. He stormed off and Slater shoved Gabriel to the ground before storming off…

4. Drew McIntyre defeated Chris Masters at 3:36. Our correspondent said Drew got a crazy pop from the crowd, but WWE cut it out. Masters went for the Masterlock quickly, but Drew hit a hangman on the top rope to take control. He continued to work the neck, but Master came back and hit a powerbomb to go on offense. He went for the Masterlock again, but McIntyre kicked off the turnbuckle and followed with the Future Shock for the win…

[Q6] The announce team hyped the Edge retirement party…[C]

Shore's Slant: Not to be a prick, but I'm getting sleepy. This has been a very underwhelming edition of Smackdown. That match wasn't bad, but far from exciting. It looks like they are just biding time till the draft on Monday.

The Raw Rebound video was R-Truth's heel turn…The announce team talked over video of the Rey vs. Cody altercation from earlier. They announce Cody vs. Rey in a falls count anywhere match at Extreme Rules…Kofi Kingston made his ring entrance…[C]

[Q7] 5. Wade Barrett (w/Ezekiel Jackson) defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Championship at 8:30. Kofi went right at Barrett and they battled to the floor…[C]

Shore's Slant: Exactly one minute before commercial. Even TNA does better than this.

Back from commercial, the two men battled on the floor and Zeke hit Barrett by mistake. Barrett sent Zeke to the back and he left. Barrett tried for his finisher, but Kofi fought it off in the corner. Barrett ended up dropping Kofi out of the corner and grabbing the ropes in a sloppy pin…

Shore's Slant: I missed most of that match after the commercial due to an emergency phone call, but I saw the ending and I still don't know how to describe it. That'll be on the next Botchamania for sure.

[Q8] Back from commercial Ricardo Rodriguez was introduced, and he introduced Alberto Del Rio. Brodus Clay was in the ring with two balloon towers and a bunch of things under covers. Del Rio did his name bit while some Lain guitar music played and said he had brought a bunch of gifts for Edge. He revealed a grandfather clock and said with that, Edge could watch his life tick away.

He said he knew that Edge's injury made people lose control of their bladder's sometimes so he got him some adult diapers. He said he knew Edge needed company so he brought him someone special. Lita's music hit to a great pop. A very heavy red haired woman came out. Del Rio said she and Edge could have walks on the beach with his next present, a walker.

He said he had one more present and pointed to the ramp. Ric Rod drove out in Hoverround type scooter with oxygen on. He drove down the ramp and then did Edge's pose and the pyro popped. Ric Rod held up a handicap plachard and said all of this was courtesy of him ending Edge's career.

Edge's music hit and the place went nuts. Edge said Del Rio looked surprised, but he shouldn’t be. He said he RSVPed on Facebook. He said Del Rio was a party pooper, and that he had about 1500 lbs. of poop in the ring. Del Rio sent Brodus to get Edge. Christian ran up from behind and hit Brodus with a ladder. Del Rio tried to attack and Christian slammed him into the railing. Christian took the ladder, climbed in the ring and took the belt off the hook to end the show…

Shore's Slant: Not a bad way to close the show, but not spectacular either. The Del Rio stuff was fun, but a little long. Seeing Edge was nice, but he wasn't very good. And Christian made that beat down look way to easy. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading and I'll see you then.

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