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8/31 Barnett's WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Review: Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow, Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler, and Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio highlight this week's show

Posted in: WWE TV Reports, MUST-READ LISTING
By
Aug 31, 2012 - 07:00 PM

By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Review
Taped 8/28 in Green Bay, Wisconsin


[Q1] The Smackdown intro aired. Josh Mathews checked in and plugged Orton vs. Ziggler for the main event. Cole then said we'd see a replay of Triple H's speech from Monday. Lilian Garcia then introduced Sheamus.

Sheamus started and gave a shout out to Triple H. He spoke about their WrestleMania match, and said Triple H had his respect and the respect of the WWE Universe. He called him the embodiment of a Champion, and said he's everything his opponent at Night of Champions isn't. Sheamus began to address Del Rio, but Damien Sandow interrupted. He introduced himself and said he was there to help “all of you”. He complained about the reverence Sheamus gave Triple H, and recalled DX beating him up at Raw 1000. Sandow called Sheamus inept and ignorant.

Sandow said Sheamus called himself a proud Irishmen, but said he did nothing more than promote a stereotype. Sheamus said he had a life and had things to do, and invited Sandow to come to the ring instead of flapping his gums. Sandow then said he had deemed Sheamus unworthy of his time, and said he saved him an intellectual thrashing as a result. Booker T then walked out onto the ramp.

Booker said he came out to agree with Damien Sandow. He said nobody wants to see an intellectual thrashing, but they do want to see a physical thrashing. Booker went for the cheap pop by mentioning Green Bay, and then booked Sheamus vs. Sandow for later in the show. After a catchphrase or two from Booker, we saw Rey Mysterio backstaging as he headed out towards the ring...[c]

Barnett's Brief: Good stuff from Sandow, who pointed out the very valid issue that Sheamus' character is a ridiculous ethnic stereotype. I'm interested to see the match, only because I think Sandow deserves it and is the type of character WWE needs. The show is in desperate need for somebody to point out how shallow the characters are.

Rey Mysterio made his entrance. Cody Rhodes then followed. A PIP promo aired. He said they don't wear their masks out of honor or heritage, they wear them out of fear and ugliness.

[Q2] 2. Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio: Rhodes hit a drop toe hold and locked in a head lock. Mysterio reversed, but Cody fought out with punches. They traded kicks until Rey hit a dropkick and Cody landed on the second ropes. Rey went for the 619 and Cody rolled to the outside. Rey slipped out and Cody slammed him into the announce table for his trouble...[c]

Rey hit a mule kick out of the corner, but Cody came back and hit a twisting vertical suplex for a good near fall. Rhodes continued the assault with a body lock, and then a front suplex. He then continued with a ground assault with knees and a chin lock. Rhodes went to remove the mask, but Rey sent him into the turnbuckle. Rey then hit a seated dropkick. Rey picked up the pace with a heel kick and a head scissor takedown. Rhodes fought back with a knee to the head of a seated Rey, but only got a two count.

Rhodes went for a back suplex, but Rey slipped out and hit a dropkick to the knee of Rhodes. Rey went for a 619, but Rhodes caught him. Rhodes went to roll him up, bur Rey reversed and got a surprise pinfall.

Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes at 9:36.

After the match, Rhodes assaulted Mysterio and went to pull off the mask. Sin Cara interfered and sent Rhodes onto the second rope, which allowed Rey to hit the 619.

Barnett's Brief: Decent match, but this story with the masks just doesn't do much for me.

[Q3] After the match, Cole and Mathews introduced a replay of the Daniel Bryan Anger Managment sketch from Monday. Eve Torres then made her way to the ring to sit in on commentary. Mathews plugged Kaitlyn vs. Natalya up next...[c] Kaitlyn and Natalya were already in the ring.

2. Natalya vs. Kaitlyn: Natty started out in control early, but Kaitlyn quickly reversed and hit a shoulder block. Natty rolled to the outside and Kaitlyn followed, and got spiked on the floor. Natalya locked in an abdominal stretch. Kaitlyn eventually powered out and rolled up Natty, but the ref couldn't count. They traded clotheslines, and Natty made a cover for a two count. Kaitlyn surprised Natty with a roll up a moment later for a surprise victory.

Kaitlyn defeated Natalya at 2:48.

Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Booker T, and showed him video footage of AJ's attack on Vickie from Monday. Booker said he thought the pressure was getting to AJ, and that she shouldn't have made the match for Chris Jericho's career, and never should have attacked Vickie. He then called her “off her rocker”. Vickie then said she has spoken to the WWE Board of Directors and that they will take action. She said if they don't, she will. The announcers plugged a Raw Rebound as next...[c]

Barnett's Brief: The Divas match was decent, but the story is so shallow it's impossible to care about. The AJ storyline with Vickie is more interesting, but it would be silly to pull the plug on her as GM already. If they are blaming the poor 3 hour Raw ratings on her, they are as crazy as her character.

[Q5] A replay of the Punk/Lawler story from Monday was shown. They then aired another Anger Management Segment from Monday as well. They then plugged Sandow vs. Sheamus as next...[c]

Sheamus headed to the ring first for the top of the hour match, followed by Sandow.

3. Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: Sheamus backed Sandow into the corner, and Sandow ducked under the ropes to get the break. They tied up again, and Sheamus backed him into a corner again. He then grabbed Sandow by the beard and pulled him out of the corner. Sheamus then threw Sandow off the ropes, but he ducked out of the ring.

Sandow then hit a kick to the knee and locked in a chin lock, but Sheamus quickly fought him off. Sheamus hit a shoulder block, and sent Sandow to the outside. Sandow sent him into the steps, and then hit a kick. He continued the assault in the ring with strikes, and then put on a another chin lock. Sandow hit a slam and taunted Sheamus, but Sheamus clubbed him in response. Sandow got a near fall with a neck breaker, and then went right back to the chin lock. Sheamus fired back with a back body drop, followed by some double axe handles.

[Q5] He then hit a knee lift, after which Sandow rolled to the outside. Sheamus threw him back into the ring and climbed up on the apron, where he ducked a Sandow punch and hit clubbing blows. Sandow covered his nipples for some reason. Sandow then avoided white noise and a brogue kick. He attempted to roll out and leave, but Sheamus tossed him back in. Sandow then freed himself and ran up the ramp, getting himself counted out.

Sheamus defeated Damien Sandow via countout at 6:52.

Barnett's Brief: A match that was a little slower than I expected, but it was good nonetheless. Sandow has a huge upside, and he looked good in defeat here. I like that a smart heel knows when to run away, and it fits Sandow well.

Kidd and Gabriel were in the ring, along with the Prime Time Players. They aired a clip of all the tag teams facing off from last week.

4. Kidd and Gabriel vs. The Prime Time Players: Kidd and Titus started the match. Kidd and Gabriel hit a double team drop kick, which led to a tag. Kidd tagged Gabriel as well. Kidd and Gabriel hit another double team move with a snap mare and a kick, which led to more tags. Titus suplexed Young onto Kidd after a big boot. Kid ducked away from a splash attempt and tagge din Gabriel. Gabriel hit a rolling elbow and a roundhouse kick on both of the Prime Time Players.

He climbed up top and had to hit a kick on an approaching Titus O'Neill. Kidd then ran in jumped at Titus, which sent them both outside. This was enough time for Young to recover and knock Gabriel down and hit his finisher for the win.

The Prime Time Players defeated Kidd and Gabriel at 3:04.

[Q6] After the match, Kane's Anger Management Session was shown.

Barnett's Brief: Kane's anger management session was hilarious. The tag match was better than expected, and I think Kidd and Gabriel have some chemistry as a team.

Mathews announced an interview with Del Rio as next...[c

Del Rio was introduced by Ric Rod. Mathews started and said that last week Del Rio defeated Orton to become #1 Contender. Del Rio interrupted and said not only did he defeat Orton, he made one of the toughest men in WWE history tap out. Mathews asked how he accounts for Sheamus defeating him in the past. Del Rio made like he was going to assault Mathews, but Kane's music hit and everybody scrambled. Kane grabbed a mic and said that part of his anger management course was to come out and apologize to Josh Mathews.

Teddy Long came out after the apology and made a match between Kane and Del Rio, and said it would be next...[c]

[Q7] 5. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio: We joined in progress as Kane was in control. He worked power in the corner and hit a seated drop kick in the middle of the ring. Del Rio climbed the ropes, but got an uppercut to the jaw that sent him over the side of the ropes. He held on and managed to get back in the ring to hit some kicks on Kane. Kane went for a chokeslam, but Del Rio hit an enziguri.

A moment later, Kane hit a clothesline off the top rope. Kane signaled for the choke slam, but Ric Rod grabbed his leg from the outside. Kane pulled him onto the apron, but that allowed Del Rio to hit a kick from behind to Kane's head and pick up the win.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Kane at ????

After the match, Kane grabbed Mathews and tossed him over the announce table. He then dragged him into the ring and hit a choke slam. He said he was sorry and had regret on his face the entire time. Cole hyped another Raw Rebound as next...[c]

Barnett's Brief: The announce team gave away the finish early, and then Cole was monotone throughout the Mathews beating. I'm not sure why Del Rio was even required for that segment. It really could have been anybody.

Cole broke out the super serious voice to talk about Josh Mathews getting carried out, and told everyone to follow the story on WWE.com. They then aired the Triple H highlights from Monday's Raw.

[Q8] Vickie introduced Dolph Ziggler. He then did some leg lifts while holding on to the top rope in the corner...[c]

Randy Orton made his entrance after the break to a great reaction.

6. Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler hit a nice dropkick out of the gate. The match slowed down a bit with a chin lock, but Orton hit a nice drop kick of his own and some Garvin stomps. He raked the eyes of Ziggler with his knee pad and taunted. Orton then hit a vertical suplex with an assist from the top rope. Orton then covered for a two count.

Ziggler hit a kick to the gut and a neck breaker. He followed up with a series of elbows for a two count of his own. Ziggler got another chin lock, but Orton quickly escaped and they traded blows. Orton hit his inverted backbreaker and then hit a stiff kick. Ziggler fired back with a kick of his own and a diving clothesline. He went for another elbow on a downed Orton, but Randy moved.

Orton fired up and hit several clotheslines and a power slam. He then went for his apron DDT, but Ziggler hung him on the top rope. They fought on the apron, until Orton dragged Ziggler up the turnbuckle for a superplex. Orton covered and got a believable near fall. Ziggler snapped back to life and hit a nice DDT for another near fall.

Ziggler fired up himself and went for the Zig Zag, but Orton moved and hit an apron DDT. Orton then covered and got a very close near fall. Ziggler rolled to the outside, where Orton tossed him over the announce table. In the ring, Ziggler missed another Zig Zag, and Orton hit the RKO for the pinfall victory. Ziggler rolled out of the ring in defeat and Vickie grabbed a mic and announced he was still the Money in the Bank briefcase holder.

Barnett's Brief: Good match with a finish that seems to fit into Ziggler's ongoing story of frustration. I see them continuing this feud, with Ziggler finally getting a victory over Orton and moving onto capturing the World Heavyweight Championship.

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

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