8/2 Barnett's WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Coverage: Number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship announced, plus Randy Orton, RVD, Christian, AJ and more in action

By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Coverage
Taped July 25th in Houston, Texas

[Q1] Cole welcomed us to Houston, and said CM Punk would take on Fandango, and that Kaitlyn would take on AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. Lilian Garcia stood mid ring, and announced Alberto Del Rio, who then made his ring entrance.

Del Rio started and said thank you…..for nothing to the crowd, which drew boos. He said the crowd didn’t support him and didn’t want him to be champion, but he was Champion and there was nothing they could do about it. He said the visionary GM of Smackdown Vickie Guerrero had allowed him to choose his opponent for Summerslam, just like John Cena did on Raw. Del Rio claimed Cena wasted his pick on that troll Daniel Bryan.

He then said he planned on picking the beast Brock Lesnar, but he has other plans, so that’s his loss. He also considered Houston’s own Booker T, but just like everything else from Houston, he was a disappointment. He said he made a choice of the biggest, fastest, strongest athlete he could find. He chose a man who was most deserving of an opportunity. He then revealed his choice to be…..Ricardo Rodriguez.

The crowd booed and Vickie Guerrero made her way to the ring. Vickie said John Cena named a worthy competitor in Daniel Bryan, but he named a jiggly man child in Ricardo Rodriguez. Del Rio apologized and said he didn’t mean to offend her, and he would pick someone else right now. Del Rio offered up the Brooklyn Brawler, but Vickie said Vince would think his decision a joke. Vickie said she knew he would make an immature decision, so he would face the winner of tonight’s triple threat between RVD, Christian, and Randy Orton.

Cole and Alex Riley were on commentary and yucked it up with Cole. They plugged the Divas Championship match again, and Punk vs. Fandango…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: An ok opening segment that got the job done. Del Rio and Vickie’s interactions tried to be a little too cute, and the joke opponents for the World Championship got a chuckle from the live crowd. In the end, it was a good way to put over the triple threat main event.

Cole and Riley gave us a recap of Cody and Sandow’s work from last week. Jack Swagger was already in the ring for a match, and Cody Rhodes followed with a ring entrance. Colter tried to cut a promo about everybody who was not a real American is illegally in the US, but Cody attacked Swagger before he really got started.

[Q2] 1. Cody Rhodes vs. Jack Swagger: Cody hit a nice knee to start, but Swagger fired back quickly with a suplex and knees of his own. Swagger continued to work power and got an early near fall. They battled back and forth for a bit, and Cody rolled through a gutwrench attempt and got a victory roll on Swagger for the quick fall.

Cody Rhodes defeated Jack Swagger at 2:02

Cole put over the main event again…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Well, that was kind of fun while it lasted, but two minutes? Jack Swagger has never looked more inconsequential. Ok, maybe that’s not true, but it’s close.

They showed a replay of Cody getting the win over Swagger. Backstage, Josh Mathews interviewed Rhodes. He asked him about Sandow’s Briefcase getting thrown into the Gulf of Mexico last week. Rhodes said Money in the Bank was every man for himself, and he wasn’t even mad about it. Rhodes said that doesn’t mean he wasn’t fed up with Damien Sandow. Cody said he was tired of being talked down to and watching others being talked down to. He made a joke about the briefcase and the oil spill in the gulf from last year, but it bombed. Sandow attacked before his promo could continue. Sandow tossed him into a cargo crate that was nearby until Mike Rotundo and BG James separated them.

Sin Cara made his ring entrance, followed by Big E Langston.

[Q3] 2. Big E Langston vs. Sin Cara: Sin Cara tried to stand with Langston, but got clipped with a shoulder block. Ziggler was shown on the monitor watching the match backstage. Langston continued to work power offense with a huge clothesline and clubs on the apron. Langston applied a modified Camel Clutch using the ropes, and then an abdominal stretch that Sin Cara writhed in.

Sin Cara got a few hope kicks in, but was caught trying a Moonsault directly into the Big Ending for a three count victory.

Big E Langston defeated Sin Cara at 2:51.

The announce crew promoted the Divas Match for later, as well as Fandango vs. Punk…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Another quick match. Big E doesn’t really pick up anything beating Smackdown’s resident Mulkey Brother Sin Cara. On the plus side, they are doing a good job plugging Punk vs. Fandango and AJ vs. Kaitlyn.

A Wyatt Family promo video package aired, with footage from the attacks on various wrestlers over the last few weeks. Riley was smiling like an idiot looking directly into the camera when it was over. Cole threw it back to Renee Young, who interviewed Kaitlyn and Layla. Renee asked her what her strategy was, and acted like she was still shaken by the whole catfish thing. She mentioned fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, you get speared. She mentioned her hometown of Houston, and said it was where she won the Divas Championship for the first time.

[Q4] Layla commented and said she had never seen anyone with the drive and determination that Kaitlyn has. She called her the real deal, and they hugged. Del Rio and Vickie were backstage. Vickie said his choices were immature, and asked him what he thought he was doing. Brad Maddox walked up, and told Vickie she made the right call tonight. Del Rio got in his face, and Maddox reminded him that he would be under his jurisdiction on Monday.

Fandango made his ring entrance, and they showed the clip of Fandango getting destroyed by Punk last week…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: A lot crammed into one segment there. The Wyatt Video was very well done. The Kaitlyn and Layla stuff was obvious foreshadowing for their match, though. I’m looking forward to Punk vs. Fandango.

CM Punk made his ring entrance after the break to a very strong reaction. They showed a clip from Monday’s Raw of Punk nearly getting his hands on Heyman.

3. CM Punk vs. Fandango: Punk started early with kicks and a body slam. Fandango and Punk traded some nice reversals until Punk hit a side kick to the gut. Punk hit a wheel kick, and then attempted a GTS, but Fandango escaped and rolled to the outside…[c]

Summer Rae distracted Punk on the outside, and then Fandango tossed him into the steps. Punk made it back in at a count of eight, and Fandango went right back on offense. Fandango sent Punk hard into the turnbuckle, and beat down Punk with strikes. Punk went for a sunset flip, but Fandango kept his balance and hit some stomps, followed by a chin lock. Fandango missed a knee off the top rope, and punk capitalized with a neck breaker for two.

{Q5] Punk hit a high running knee and a short arm clothesline. He then climbed to the top, but Fandango escaped to the outside to some good heat from the crowd. Punk took a kick to the face, and then Fandango hit a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. He then climbed up top, but Punk hit the ropes and Fandango fell on his groin. Punk then followed up with a superplex, and floated over into the Anaconda Vice for the submission victory.

CM Punk defeated Fandango at 12:25.

Punk celebrated after the bell. A video clip of earlier with Del Rio announcing Ricardo Rodriguez as his opponent for SummerSlam, and Vickie’s subsequent announcement.

Backstage, RVD was asked about becoming number one contender by Renee Young. RVD said that he stayed on top of his game and he’s ready for Christian and Orton. He did his gimmick. Christian walked up and said he deserved one more match. Orton interrupted and said he would be both World and WWE Heavyweight Champion, and he would give RVD an RKO for old times sake. RVD concluded and said he was there for the gold and he would be the winner tonight.

Barnett’s Brief: A very fun match between Punk and Fandango that was very enjoyable. Fandango doesn’t have a main event gimmick, but I think Johnny Curtis is very capable of main event matches. Was RVD always this bad in promos before? I must have been too young to really grasp how terrible he was in promos years ago.

Kaitlyn made her ring entrance for the Divas Title match. A clip was shown of Kaitlyn defeating AJ on Monday. AJ then made her entrance.

[Q6] 4. AJ vs. Kaitlyn for the Divas Championship: AJ ran at Kaitlyn and pulled her hair. Kaitlyn caught AJ the second time around and ran her into the corner with a shoulder block. Kaitlyn hit clothesline, but AJ fired back and applied a sleeper while on Kaitlyn’s back. Kaitlyn backed AJ into the corner and escaped the sleeper, but she was too weak to capitalize. AJ hit a running knee and kick. Kaitlyn hit a drop kick and a gut buster.

AJ rolled to the outside, but Kaitlyn followed and tossed her into the barricade. Layla stepped and stopped Kaitlyn from hitting a spear on the outside. AJ ambused her and threw her into the barricade. She then locked in the Black Widow submission and Kaitlyn was forced to tap.

AJ defeated Kaitlyn via submission at 3:17.

Layla and AJ skipped up the ramp after the match. Kaitlyn, of course, never saw it coming and was devastated. The Raw Rebound with Daniel Bryan and John Cena was plugged for next…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: Not a bad match, but the Layla stuff was visible from mars. I’m guessing more mean girls stuff, which will be nearly intolerable to watch.

The Raw Rebound aired as promised and showed the saga of John Cena and Daniel Bryan. After the Raw Rebound, Randy Orton made his ring entrance for the main event…[c]

Barnett’s Brief: During the commercial break, and WWE Shop commercial aired that led us to believe Cena buys his shirts from the WWE App just like everybody else. I wonder if they didn’t realize how insulting that is, or if they didn’t care?

[Q7] Christian and RVD made their ring entrances for the main event. Video was shown about how Orton and Christian earned the chance to be in the match. Alberto Del Rio came out on stage and called the men in the ring the three stooges. He said he will enjoy watching them beat the guacamole out of each other. He said he knew Vickie wasn’t happy with his choice earlier, but even Ricardo could beat any of them. He then said one of them would tap out to the World Heavyweight Champion at Summerslam.

5. RVD vs. Christian vs. Randy Orton: Orton got dumped to the outside early. RVD was about to attempt rolling thunder on Christian when Orton pulled him to the outside. RVD dropped Orton on the railing and then hit a shoulder thrust on an attacking Christian. He then hit a spinning wheel kick on Orton while he was set on the apron. Christian recovered and hit a spear on RVD on the outside…[c]

[Q8] Christian hit a nice tornado DDT on RVD and covered for a near fall. RVD rolled out of the ring and Orton immediately re-entered and assaulted Christian. Orton avoided a Christian slap and hit a Thesz Press. Orton then hit a superplex than had both men down. Orton draped his arm over Christian and got a near fall of his own. RVD re-entered and hit some kicks to both Orton and Christian.

Christian ended up on the outside, and RVD hit a wheel kick and a split legged moonsault on Orton for a near fall. RVD attempted a backflip shoulder charge, but Orton got a knee up. Orton attempted an apron DDT on Christian, but he avoided it. Christian sent Orton to the outside, and hit bodyslams on both RVD and Orton on the floor. RVD recovered and put Christian down with a kick, and then hit a suicide splash on both men…[c]

Orton and Christian battled back and forth. Christian hit a diving elbow that got a near fall. Christian attempted a killswitch, but RVD jumped at him. Christian avoided it and RVD hit Orton in the face. RVD kicked Christian anyway and hit a five star frog splash, but Orton broke up the pin attempt to save the match. Orton hit mounted punches on the turnbuckle on RVD, and then fired up. RVD hit a kick and went for Rolling Thunder, but RVD caught him and hit a sweet looking powerslam. RVD rolled to the outside.

Christian went for another Killswitch on Orton, but RVD hit a rope DDT. Orton set up for an RKO on Christian, but RVD snuck up and grabbed his leg. Orton shifted his weight and hit an RKO on RVD. Christian snuck up on Orton and pinned him with a back slide for a surprise win.

Christian defeated RVD and Randy Orton at 18:10.

Christian celebrated as Orton looked to be plotting. Both men got to their feet and Orton and Christian shook hands. RVD did the same when he recovered. Josh Mathews came up to interview Christian and asked him what he thought of his victory. Christian said a few words, but got Ambushed by Del Rio from the back. Del Rio hit a superkick as Christian got up to his knees, and the show faded to black while Del Rio stood over Christian.

Barnett’s Brief: Overall, a slower paced show that had some good moments. The main event was very good, if a little formula with one guy constantly on the outside. AJ vs. Kaitlyn was an ok match, but the direction of the Divas Division is not interesting in the least to me. Fandango vs. Orton is worth your time and another good glimpse of how good Johnny Curtis is. There wasn’t a ton of development for Rhodes and Sandow, but what was there wasn’t bad.

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Contact me at barnett.jake@gmail.com or on twitter @barnettjake.