By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy
Taped in Kanas City, Missouri.

[Q1] After the standard Smackdown video aired, Josh Mathews welcomed us to the show and reminded us the road to WrestleMania ends in 16 days. Booker hyped a Tag Team Title match between The Corre and Kane/Big Show. The Cole Mine was then assembled at ringside and Michael Cole walked out with his slammy award and joined on commentary. He called his faux booth the “Fortress of Attitude”.

Edge’s music blared over the arena speakers and he entered the arena to a huge pop. Brodus Clay made his way out next with Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez.

1. Edge defeated Brodus Clay at 5:22 Brodus took a few swings and missed, and but caught Edge with a T-Bone Suplex to take control. Brodus slowed the action with a wrist lock while Edge writhed on the mat. Edge fought to his feet but took a front kick to his gut, and then Brodus kept the action on the ground with an armbar. Edge got whipped into the corner but hit a back elbow. He escaped briefly before he got hit with a clothesline.

Brodus attempted a splash and missed, and Edge took control. Edge tripped Brodus into the corner, and followed it up with a splash from the top for a good near fall. Edge attempted a sunset flip, but got sat on for another good near fall. Brodus set up for a splash in the corner, but missed and took a middle rope bulldog from Edge. Edge set up for a spear, but Ricardo distracted the ref and Del Rio interfered with Edge, which was followed by a huge clothesline from Brodus.

Christian ran down and took out Del Rio on the outside, which distracted Brodus and allowed Edge to hit a spear for the clean pin.

Post Match, Del Rio attacked Edge, and Christian made the save and brawled all over the outside with Del Rio. The refs were forced to separate them, and Teddy Long made his way out on stage. He said the main event match for tonight would be Christian vs Alberto Del Rio, and he then followed by saying to ensure the match remained one on one, he would make the match in a cage...

Mathews hyped Sheamus vs Kofi in a champion vs champion match as next...[C]

Barnett’s Brief: I enjoyed the match, despite a few clunky spots. Brodus continues to look like a legit monster heel, and is only a few key wins away from being one of the top heels on Smackdown. The Post Match interaction was very well done, and I am looking forward to see what Christian and Del Rio can do in a Cage Main Event. This was a good opening segment to set the pace for the rest of the show, and definitely gives it a different feel to the very talk heavy Raw and Impacts of late.

Q2]A video recap aired of Sheamus winning the United States Title from Daniel Bryan this past Monday. Back in the Arena, Sheamus entered the arena to some pretty good heat.

2. Sheamus defeated Kofi Kingston at 7:34 Sheamus started out the match attacking Kofi’s injured arm from weeks past. Kofi fired back with some strikes and mounted Sheamus for more strikes in the corner. Sheamus reversed out of the corner and followed with a short arm clothesline for a near fall. He then executed a neckbreaker for another 2 count, and locked in a chin lock.

Kofi fought to his feet, but took a huge back elbow as he came off the ropes. Sheamus continued the assault until Kofi caught him with a wheelbarrow kick in the corner. Kofi climbed the ropes and hit a splash, but Sheamus rolled through and picked him up. Kofi reversed and hit some strikes, and executed his russian leg sweep and the boom drop. Sheamus rolled to the outside to escape.

Sheamus attempted his uranage backbreaker, but Kofi countered with the SOS for a great near fall. Sheamus rolled back to the outside, and Kofi followed and continued his assault. Sheamus kicked the stairs into Kofi’s knee, and rolled him back into the ring. Sheamus followed up with a massive brough kick for a clean pinfall.

Barnett’s Brief: Wow, that was a great match with a lot of good action. Kofi continues to lose, so let the speculation continue about his future, but there is no doubt he is one hell of a worker that deserves good things. Sheamus continues his climb out of whatever hole he was in. Bottom line is that I don’t think this match had a lot of storyline consequences, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Mathews and Cole covered the history between The Corre and Kane/Big Show. A video aired that showed the conclusion to last week’s match. Backstage, Big Show asked Kane to put their differences aside and put a dent in The Corre. He recalled their past run as WWE Tag Team Champs and how people feared them. They both choked each other, and Kane said “You complete me.”...[C]

Mathews and Cole covered the history between The Corre and Kane/Big Show. A video aired that showed the conclusion to last week’s match. Backstage, Big Show asked Kane to put their differences aside and put a dent in The Corre. He recalled their past run as WWE Tag Team Champs and how people feared them. They both choked each other, and Kane said “You complete me.”...[C]

[Q3] 3. Cody Rhodes defeated Trent Baretta at 0:52 Cody Rhodes made his way out to the ring with new music wearing dress clothes and a towel over his head. Rhodes began the match by beating down Baretta. He tossed him into the corner and stomped on him. He used his face mask as a weapon multiple times, and made a quick cover for a clean pinfall.

Barnett’s Brief: Well, not much to say there. This is obviously more about getting Cody’s new dark character over than anything else. Mission accomplished as far as I can tell. Rhodes was very good again.

A video aired that recapped the history between Alberto Del Rio and Christian. Josh Matthews then hyped their match later in the show....[C]

Back from break, a video aired of Shawn Michaels as he weighed in further on the Triple H and Undertaker match at WrestleMania 27. Michaels put over the streak, and the Undertaker’s tenacity. All of these videos are worth a look.

Laycool entered the arena...[C]

Kelly Kelly made her way out the ring to a good pop from the live audience.

[Q4] 4. Layla defeated Kelly Kelly at 2:50 Kelly and Layla shoved each other around for a few seconds before Kelly worked some offense in the corner. Layla took control with strikes, but Kelly quickly reversed with a spider like choke in the corner over the ropes. She then hit a duo of clotheslines for a near fall. Kelly attempted her backflip elbow in the corner, but Layla raised her legs and Kelly crashed to the mat.

Kelly recovered and climbed the ropes, but Michelle distracted her and Layla pulled her off the top rope to the mat and covered for a pinfall.

Slater and Gabriel walked toward the ring backstage as Cole hyped their match as next...[C]

Barnett’s Brief: Both girls tried very hard in this match, but McCool was out on commentary trashing Snooki, and I’m not sure even the announcers were paying attention to the action. Kelly is improving rapidly in the ring, as is Layla. An admirable effort from both women, but WWE still doesn’t care about the Divas.

The same Sin Cara video aired again from last week. Justin Roberts announced the Tag Team Title match as we got back from commercial...

5. Kane and Big Show defeated The Corre by DQ at 3:13 Gabriel and Kane began the match. Kane took control with a huge right hand and a seated drop kick on Gabriel. Gabriel escaped and tagged in slater, who ate a series of right hands from Kane. Kane then followed up with a sidewalk slam for a near fall. He continued his assault with strikes in the corner, until he missed a big boot in the corner and Slater took advantage. Gabriel tagged in and continued working on the leg of Kane.

Gabriel and Slater made a few fast tags and continued working the knee of Kane. Kane finally escaped and tagged Big Show, who hit Slater with a Chokeslam almost immediately. Gabriel pulled the ref out to stop the count for a DQ.

[Q5] Post match, the rest of The Corre singled out The Big Show. Barrett managed to hit a weak looking Wasteland on The Big Show. They then switched focus to Kane, and tossed him into the ring steps on the outside. The beat down continued on both men on the outside. Barrett smashed the steps into Kane multiple times, and pancaked Big Show onto the announce table, which destroyed it....

Barnett’s Brief: The Post Match action is the real story here. The Corre destroyed Kane and Big Show with some impressive offense on the outside. The Wasteland on Big Show looked pretty weak, but the rest of the assault was done well and made The Corre look more ruthless than they have in weeks. The match was about what you’d expect from two smaller guys trying to carry two slower, older guys. They did what they could, but it didn’t blow my doors off.

Alberto Del Rio was interviewed backstage. He said Christian was interfering with his destiny. He claimed he would put an end to the distraction tonight....[C]

Jack Swagger entered the arena to his full entance. Cole introduced a video from Monday of his assault on JR. Chris Masters was introduced, but was already in the ring.

6. Jack Swagger defeated Chris Masters at 1:58 Swagger beat down Masters early and often. He hit a stiff clothesline followed by a pancake slam. Masters attempted the Master Lock, but was backed into a corner. Swagger escaped to the outside, and slammed Masters knee into the post a few times, followed by a kick to the ankle against the post. Swagger re-entered the ring and locked in the Ankle Lock, to which Masters tapped immediately.

Post Match, Cole locked in his ankle lock and screamed “Come on Lawler!” repeatedly. Swagger celebrated with him and pranced around the ring.

A video then aired of Chris Jericho, and he hyped his appearance on Dancing with The Stars.

Barnett’s Brief: Cole continues to develop his heel persona to great heat from the audience. The match was a throwaway, but Swagger showed great intensity throughout and they continue to accomplish getting over the ankle lock.

[Q6] Rey Mysterio was shown backstage. He headed toward the ring for a match next...[C]

A recap video aired of the Mysterio/Rhodes saga. In the arena, Rey Mysterio entered the arena to thunderous applause. Ted Dibiase entered next with Maryse.

7. Rey Mysterio defeated Ted Dibiase at 3:43 Dibiase took control early, but was reversed quickly with some strikes. Rey climbed the top rope, but was caught mid air with a drop kick from Dibiase for a near fall. Rey took control briefly, but Dibiase reversed with a clothesline for another near fall. He then followed up with a chin lock to slow the pace. Rey fought to his feet, but was quickly countered with a backbreaker.

Rey attempted a springboard tilt a whirl, but was reversed. He then hit the same move again and succeeded. He attempted a third, and Dibiase reversed into a pancake for a near fall. Rey hit a seated dropkick, and then tossed Dibiase on the ropes. He followed up with 619 and a big splash for a clean pinfall.

Barnett’s Brief: Some fun action in this match, but it felt rather inconsequential. Dibiase deserves a program, and Rey continues to tune up heading into WrestleMania. I’m surprised by the lack of interaction between Rhodes and Mysterio tonight.

A video aired showing the conclusion of the Elimination Chamber PPV. Mathews hyped the cage match main event again....[C]

[Q7] A video aired of Snooki on Raw from this past week, and showed the set up for the 6-Man WrestleMania match she is involved in. The announcers ran down the WrestleMania card as it currently stands, and hyped each match.

The cage was lowered in preparation for the main event. Mathews hyped that the Main Event is next...[C]

Ricardo Rogriguez was introduced, and then Alberto Del Rio made his entrance in a 2011 Bentley Flying Spur. Christian then made his way to the ring, and looked determined.

8. Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio by escaping the cage at 11:20 Del Rio charged Christian to start the match, and both men traded strikes. Del Rio took control and hit some mounted strikes. Christian hit a back body drop and attempted to throw Del Rio into the cage, but Del Rio escaped. He then attempted a killswitch, but no luck. Del Rio attempted an early escape, but Christian followed and stopped him.

Del Rio attempted a suplex off the top rope, but Christian held on to the cage and prevented it. Christian climbed further and attempted an escape, but Del Rio caught him and hit a Samoan Drop from the cage back into the ring....[C]

[Q8] Del Rio assaulted Christian with strikes as we came back from commercial. Christian countered with a boot to the chest. He attempted to charge Del Rio, but he dodged and Christian crashed into the cage. Del Rio then hit a back suplex for a near fall, and followed with a chin lock. Del Rio slammed Christian and attempted an escape, but Christian recovered in time to grab an ankle.

Del Rio regained control and attempted to toss Christian head first into the cage, but Christian reversed and he hit a DDT for a near fall. He continued the offense with a big slap followed by a toss head first into the cage. Christian headed toward the door, but Del Rio hooked the ankle. Christian then stomped Del Rio and tried to climb out, but Del Rio hit a jump kick and Christian tumbled to the mat.

Alberto headed towards the door, and partially escaped, only to be pulled back in. He then attempted a cross arm breaker, but it was reversed into a killswitch for a good near fall. Christian attempted another escape, but Del Rio pulled him between the rope and the cage and used Christian and climbed up to the top of the cage.

Christian followed, and he and Del Rio exchanged blows. Both men made their way to the outside of the cage, and Christian managed to hold Del Rio up long enough to beat him to the floor.

Del Rio assaulted Christian post match, and threw him over the announce table. Del Rio’s car honked, and Edge was seated in the drivers seat. Edge admired the car, and Del Rio asked him what he was doing to it. Del Rio begged Edge not to damage the car. Edge grabbed a folding chair from the passenger seat, but Brodus Clay assaulted him from behind before he could damage the car.

Brodus smashed Edge with the chair, and Del Rio placed his arm on top of the chair. Del Rio then hit a conchairto on Edge’s arm, and he writhed in pain while both Del Rio and Brodus looked on intensely to close the show....

Barnett’s Brief: That was a great match to close the show, and it even got some time! Christian getting the win doesn’t bother me, as Del Rio looked strong throughout the entire match. Both guys deserve credit for some innovative cage spots, and the Cross Arm Breaker reversal into the Killswitch was probably the best set up I’ve ever seen for that move. The post match conchairto was a great way to take some heat off the match finish and put it right back on Del Rio, who continues to be the best heel on this show by far. I continue to look forward to this match at WrestleMania.

The overall show was packed with 8 matches, but I think it might have been one too many as the show felt like they were trying to pack too much into two hours. Sometimes less is more, and tonight was one of those night where that should have been applied. I’ll have more to say in my Smackdown Report Card tomorrow, so be sure to come back to .NET on the weekends to check out all the great new content.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please contact me at barnett.jake@gmail.com or on twitter at @barnettjake

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