By Chris Shore

Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 5/10/11 in Nashville, Tenn.

[Q1] A video recapped Christian's title win and loss…The show opened cold and Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Booker T welcomed us to Smackdown. Christian's music hit and he came to the ring. Christian got a good response from the crowd and he cut a promo about losing the title last week.

Christian said a lot of his peeps had a problem with Teddy Long letting the crowd pick his opponent, but he respected that. He said it was Teddy's job to put on a great show and that's what he did. He said he also wanted congratulate the new champ. He said Orton didn't do anything he wouldn't have done himself.

He said he was looking forward their rematch at Over the Limit and said the thing he took away from last week's show was that a 100 percent prepared Christian can beat Randy Orton. He started to speak again and Sheamus's music hit and he made his ring entrance.

Sheamus said he wanted to congratulate Teddy as well because when he saw Christian's 17 year dream evaporate, his face was priceless. He said he wanted Teddy to continue to do his job and book he and Christian in a match right now. Mark Henry's music hit and he came to the ring.

Henry said he needed Sheamus to pump his breaks. He said Sheamus was the red-headed stepchild who talked funny. Henry said while they all enjoyed seeing Christian's dream destroyed, they didn't come to see Sheamus, they came to see Henry.

Henry and Sheamus fantasy booked matches until Christian attacked Henry. Henry and Sheamus beat him down until Orton came out and made the save. The faces cleared the ring and seemed to be on the same page…[C]

Shore's Slant: Solid opening segment that managed to establish Henry and Sheamus as main event players and still continue the "Christian got his dreams destroyed" theme that should lead to a hot heel turn. Nicely done. Even Henry did well.

[Q2] Backstage, Teddy Long talked to Orton and Christian and booked them as a team against Henry and Sheamus. He walked off and Christian thanked Orton for helping him out. Orton said he had his own motives. He said he heard Christian say that at 100 percent Christian could beat him. He said he wanted Christian at 100 percent so when Orton beat him, there would be no confusion who the better man was…

In the ring, Tony Chimel started to introduce the next match, but Chavo Guerrero was in the ring and cut him off. Chavo introduced the man who was following in Chavo's footsteps, Sin Cara. Sin Cara made his ring entrance to a good pop, as did Daniel Bryan…

1. Sin Cara defeated Daniel Bryan at 11:44. Bryan pretty much started by bumping around for Sin Cara, only taking control long enough to allow Sin Cara to perform a spectacular escape. Bryan escaped to the floor and Sin Cara hit a suicide dive to go to break…[C]

Back from commercial, Chavo continued to say Sin Cara was a thief of his moves and was one dimensional. Bryan hit a big missile dropkick and took control. Bryan showed off his offense and worked his submission moves. Bryan hit several kicks to a kneeling Sin Car and then worked a hammer lock as Chavo continued to semi-bury Sin Cara and semi-praise himself.

Sin Cara hit a flying head scissor to retake control. He spilled Bryan to the floor and went for a baseball slide. Bryan moved and hit a kick. He rolled Sin Cara in the ring and climbed the turnbuckle. Chavo ran over and tried to interfere, but Bryan kicked him away. The distraction allowed Sin Cara to hit a enziguri and his top rope finisher for the pinfall victory.

[Q3] Post-match, the replay aired and Sin Cara saw Chavo's interference on the big screen. Sin Cara pointed at Chavo and Chavo got in the ring and said he helped him. He held up Sin Cara's hand, but Sin Cara jerked his hand away and shoved Chavo…

A video recapped Zeke getting kicked out of Corre last week. A graphic asked whether there would be a response from Zeke tonight…[C]

Shore's Slant: That match was good, but it wasn't the 12 star classic we think they could have. Don't get me wrong, it's probably the best match we will see all night, but it wasn't spectacular except for what Sin Cara can do with his body. Still, a very fun match, and I like what they are doing with Chavo. Though he does lay it on pretty think on commentary.

Country music artist Trace Adkins was announced as being in the crowd. Trace performed at last year's Tribute to the Troops…Layla was in the ring and cut a promo. She said her friendship with Michelle McCool ended at Extreme Rules when she beat McCool. She said she hurt her knee that night, but it was worth it.

Michael Cole cut her off and said no one cared about Layla, McCool, or any of the Divas. He trashed Nashville and then said he wanted to talk about Lawler. Lawler's home town crowd popped big. He said he was going to beat Lawler at Over the Limit and take his Hall of Fame ring and show it to everyone. He said that his mother was going to like that.

Layla told him to shut up. Cole told her to shut up because she was like all the other Divas, pretty little crybabies. Kharma's music hit and she came to the ring. Layla tried to flee and Cole tripped her. Kharma hit the Implant Buster and Cole stood over Layla and laughed She snapped her head toward Cole and he smiled and fled to the Cole Mine to keep from getting killed...Corre was shown backstage…

Shore's Slant: I have no idea what Kharma is doing at this point, but the crowd was hot for her killing Cole. Cole is still over, but it's his interactions with Lawler that have gone stale.

[Q4][C] The Corre came to the ring and Barrett cut a promo. He said he was sure Kane was worried about coming to the ring because his partner was in Mexico with the rest of Raw. He said that made sense considering they were stronger and more efficient after what they did last week. Kane's music hit and he came to the ring with no problem. Shocker…

2. Kane defeated Wade Barrett (w/The Corre) by disqualification in 10:00. Kane umped around and then teased the chokeslam. Barrett rolled to the floor and recovered with his team…[C]

[Q5]Back from commercial, Barrett worked the arm for a long, long time. I almost fell asleep it was so long. Kane hit a Samoan slam to retake control. Kane hit all of his spots, and even took out Gabriel and Slater. He setup for the chokeslam, but Slater and Gabriel ran in for the save and DQ.

Post-match, the Corre destroyed Kane. After they were done, Zeke ran out and took out the entire Corre until they recovered and beat him down again like they did Kane. Gabriel hit the 450 on Zeke to close it out…The tag team main event was teased for later…[C]

Shore's Slant: Terrible match. The post-match stuff was better. The best part may have been the ring mic that was clearly picking up the ref at times.

Great Khali and Mini-me made their ring entrance wearing cowboy hats. Huh. Khali can wear a cowboy hat. Who knew? Runjin Singh took a mic and said it was the return of the kiss cam. Mini-Me said Khali loved country music and said one lucky woman would get to make sweet music with Khali tonight.

They ran the camera around and found a homely fat woman that the announce team made fun of. Khali kissed her and the announce team continue to make fun of her and Singh put it over.

[Q6] They turned around and Jinder Mahal was on his way to the ring. Mahal climbed in the ring and stared at Khali. He slapped him twice, yelled at him in Punjabi, and then left. Khali looked pissed, but never touched him…

Backstage, Christian walked up to Orton and asked him if he was ready. Orton said absolutely. Christian said he would keep up his end and told Orton to make sure he kept up with his…[C]

Shore's Slant: Interesting segment with Khali. The kiss cam is stupid but fun. I like the Mahal character so far. He's very large, standing about Khali's mouth/chin area. Khali still can't sell, but at least they are doing something with him.

Back from commercial, Ted DiBiase was already in the ring. Cody Rhodes made his ring entrance with his assistants and had them pass out bags. Rhodes said nobody was immune from the bags, not even his "Priceless Friends." He handed Ted a bag, but Ted tossed it aside…

3. Cody Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase at 3:15. The match went back and forth several times until Ted tried for Dreamstreet. Cody shoved him back to the corner and hit the Beautiful Disaster kick. He followed with Cross Rhodes for the win…

Shore's Slant: Wow, what a shame. This match should have meant something more than an enhancement win for Cody. I hope Ted gets out of this slump soon. It's painful to watch.

[Q7][C] Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Corre. Barrett and Gabriel put over beating up all the big guys in the ring. Barrett challenged him to a match at Over the Limit. Slater said it should be for the title and Barrett agreed…The babyfaces made their ring entrance for the main event…[C]

Shore's Slant: That was how you book a PPV match folks! That was awesome. I can’t wait. Wow, such passion, such energy. Just wow! /sarcasm

[Q8] 4. Christian and Randy Orton defeated Sheamus and Mark Henry at 14:52. The first two minutes occurred in the last segment. Christian and Sheamus started. Sheamus took quick control and tagged in Henry. Henry lifted Christian for a slam and Christian escaped and tagged Orton. He grabbed Henry and let Orton attack. Orton worked over Henry until Henry decided to no sell and went back on offense.

Henry tossed Orton to the floor and distracted the ref. Sheamus dropped down to attack, but Christian ran over to prevent the attack…[C]

Back from commercial, Orton made the hot tag to Christian and Christian went on the attack. He tried for a tornado DDT, but Henry tossed him away and hit a clothesline. He tagged in Sheamus who worked a rest hold on Christian. Sheamus and Henry worked in and out on Christian, complete with hell moves while the ref's back was turned.

Christian reversed a lift into his reverse DDT and made the hot tag to Orton. Orton took out Henry and hit his spots on Sheamus. He setup for the rope DDT, but Sheamus escaped and hit the Irish Curse backbreaker for two. Sheamus tried for the brough kick and Orton ducked. Sheamus spilled to the floor and when he climbed up, Orton hit the rope DDT.

Orton setup for the RKO, but Sheamus pushed off. Christian blind tagged and hit the Kill Switch on Sheamus as Orton hit the RKO on Mark Henry. Christian covered for the pinfall victory and the two babyfaces shook hands to end the show…

Shore's Slant: Very good match to close the show. This was more of a place holder match that served to get Sheamus and Henry near the top quickly more than anything else. I'm still intrigued by the storyline, and if you still think Christian is getting buried, you're an idiot. I mean that with the love of Jesus.

I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. And be sure to check out Jake Barnett and I as we present an All Access Audio review for Smackdown tomorrow. Thanks for reading and I will 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.

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