By Chris Shore

Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 5/31/11 in Des Moines, Iowa.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Booker T welcomed us to Smackdown. Ring entrances for the opening match occurred…

1. Christian defeated Mark Henry at 4:24. Henry tossed Christian all over the ring, "like a baby," according to Booker T. Christian fought back and hit all his high impact spots, but Henry wouldn't go down. Henry clotheslined Christian over the rope, and Christian hit a drop toe hold that slammed Henry into the announce table when he followed.

Christian climbed to the top as Henry rolled in the ring. He jumped off, but Henry caught him for a World's Strongest Slam attempt. Henry lifted Christian. Christian slipped over his back and drove him into the turnbuckle. He hit the world's worst finisher for the win. Post-match, Christian took a mic and stood in the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: Good God, Christian is wrestling like a champ right now. Henry looked very good tonight, in large part to Christian making him look so. Good opening match.

Back from commercial, Christian put over beating Henry and how difficult it was. He said that victory was great, but it's not the victory he wanted. He said Sheamus was facing Randy Orton for the title tonight and he felt like it should be him. He showed the video of last week's match where the ref missed his pin attempt because of chasing Orton from the ring. He made a point of saying he didn't blame the ref or anybody.

[Q2] Teddy Long's music hit and he came to the ramp. He said he had seen the video and agreed that Christian was a victim of circumstance. Christian asked the fans if they would rather see him or Sheamus face Orton and the fans, of course, picked him. Long said he felt his pain, but he just couldn't change the match.

Christian asked for a triple threat. Long said he's been going around it and he's not going to take away what Sheamus earned. He said to make sure there weren't any more circumstances he was making Christian the guest referee…The announce team setup a Sheamus hype video and then hyped the main event…[C]

Shore's Slant: I'm beginning to see glimpses into what Christian's heel character is going to be. I like that he goes out of his way to not blame people…which means he is blaming them. Should be a good character for him, and it could play well with Orton's character if written correctly.

A bunch of Divas were in the ring. A bunch more made their entrance. The group that made their entrance--Natty and crew--had a video cut in and show Natty asking them not to lose…

2. Alicia Fox and Tamina (w/Eve Torres) defeated AJ and Kaitlyn (w/Natalya) at 2:03. The announce team spent the first minute talking about Kharma's motherhood, complete with a "Do we know who the father is?" Tamina pinned AJ, and Kaitlyn and Natty looked worried…

Shore's Slant: Sorry. I couldn't see the finish with all the blood in my eyes. That was terrible.

[Q3][C] A Sin Cara hype video played…Cody Rhodes and his bag boys made their entrance. A video recapped his assault on Daniel Bryan last week. Cody said that even though the statistics said Bryan had beat him last week, they were wrong. He said that Bryan was left laid out with a bag on his face, which made Bryan a loser.

He had the bag boys pass out the bags while cutting his "great personal expense" line. He said that one day he would win the World Title and Daniel Bryan could only watch. And he would watch with a bag over his head…

Mat Striker was with Khali backstage. Striker asked Khali about attacking Runjin Singh last week and showed footage. Jinder Mahal walked up and cut a promo in mostly Punjabi. He had Khali accompany him to the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: Cody needs to take his character to the next level. It's starting to get a little monotonous. I like it, but we need more. And the Khali thing is so strange, but I'm excited to see Mahal in the ring.

[Q4] 3. Jinder Mahal (w/Great Khali) squashed Yoshi Tatsu at 1:10. Mahal tossed Tatsu around and won with a full-nelson suplex slam. Post-match, he had Khali crush Yoshi's head…The announce team hyped the Intercontinental Title match for next…[C]

Shore's Slant: Standard squash match, not a lot to make a judgment on. Now I wonder who Singh is going to recruit to help him save Khali.

The announce team setup the stupid Obama press conference bit for Capitol punishment…Ezekiel Jackson made his ring entrance as a video recapped his getting the best of the Corre last week. Barrett was out next…

[Q5] 4. Ezekiel Jackson defeated Wade Barrett by countout in an Intercontinental Championship Match at 4:09. The first minute of this match was in the last quarter. Booker T pointed out that Zeke has a limited move set and Zeke proved his point. Barrett hit a very cool spinning side slam, but that was most of his offense. Zeke slammed him twice in a row and lifted Barrett for the Torture Rack.

Barrett slipped off and Zeke kicked him to the floor. Corre ran out and kept Zeke occupied while the ref counted Barrett out. Corre regrouped on the floor and psyched themselves up. They ran to the ring and slid in, but Barrett stopped. He walked to the back while Slate and Gabriel took a beating from Zeke…

Backstage, Striker asked Sheamus about Christian being the ref. Sheamus said it didn't bother him because Christian should be mad at Orton. Sheamus saw Christian and called him over. Sheamus said he thought it should have been a triple threat too and Christian called him a bad liar. Sheamus started to threaten Christian and Christian told him he was calling the match right down the middle…[C]

Shore's Slant: The Corre continues to suck. They gave it the top of the hour and they sucked. It's not so much their fault, it's the story. No one cares, and creative created that problem, not the workers. Sheamus is so very good on the mic I often forget. He just seems so comfortable with his character. Nice work from both men here.

5. Daniel Bryan defeated Ted DiBiase at 9:27. DiBiase broke the first lockup dirty, but Bryan came right back and hit a running knee for two. Cody Rhodes and his bag boys came to ring side about 90 second into the match…[C]

[Q6] Back from commercial, DiBiase worked the back as a video showed DiBiase hitting a sitout spine buster during the break. Ted dragged Bryan to the corner and worked his back on the post. Bryan battled back and spilled DiBiase to the floor. He hit a suicide dive through the ropes and stared off with Cody.

Bryan went to the top and jumped off. DiBiase drop kicked him out of the air for a great near fall. DiBiase hooked for Dream Street, but Bryan hip tossed out and hooked the Labell Lock for the submission victory. Cody attacked as soon as the bell rang and he and Ted beat up Bryan. Sin Cara made his full ring entrance and then hit flying head scissors on both heels to make the save…[C]

Shore's Slant: Fun match. Half of it was in commercial, but the last few minutes were really entertaining. If this becomes a tag match it has big potential. Sin Cara is the wild card, but he's got some good guys in there to work with. I just hope we get to see this match again for a major title somewhere down the road.

[Q7] The Raw Rebound video played…Johnny Curtis was shown backstage watching the video and then introduced himself. He said he wasn't getting his title shot with Truth so he was going to do what any superstar would do. He picked up a plate and poured milk in it while pretending to cry. He dropped the plate and then poured the milk on his head and just stood there…

Shore's Slant: What the f--- was that?

Christian and Orton made their ring entrances…[C]

6. Randy Orton defeated Sheamus with Christian as the special guest referee for the World Heavyweight Championship at 14:28. Orton took quick control and worked his offense on Sheamus. Sheamus hit a clothesline to take control and spilled Orton to the floor.

[Q8] He followed Orton to the floor and slammed his back into the railing. Sheamus rolled him back in the ring and covered for a two count…[C]

Back from commercial, Sheamus worked a front face lock on Orton. They made their feet and Orton reversed a suplex attempt. He hit a big boot and several clotheslines before his scoop slam. He followed with his backbreaker for two.

Orton hit a superplex for a great near fall. Orton tried for the rope DDT, but Sheamus pushed him away and hit his slingshot shoulder tackle. Sheamus hit a running powerslam for two and Booker oversold it. Orton reversed a lift into a jackknife rollup for two and then Sheamus hit the Irish Curse backbreaker for two.

Sheamus tried for the Brough kick, but Orton moved and Sheamus went over the top to the apron. Orton grabbed him and hit the DDT on the ropes. He did the viper bit, but Sheamus pushed him off on the RKO. Sheamus shoved Orton toward Christian and charged in. Orton moved and Sheamus hit Christian. He said, "I didn't mean it fella, I didn't mean it."

Sheamus hit the Brough kick and covered. Christian counted two and then stopped as he sold a hand injury from his collision with Sheamus. Sheamus shoved him and Christian punched Sheamus with his "hurt" hand. Sheamus turned into an RKO for an Orton win.

Post-match, Christian got the belt and brought it to the ring for Orton. Orton turned around and Christian hit him in the face with the belt. The very hot crowd fell silent and Christian posed over Orton with the belt. He placed it on his shoulder and slowly walked up the ramp to the stage…

Shore's Slant: They had a great crowd for a heel turn. Either that or they piped in the right sounds. The crowd was super-hot for the end, and then fell silent after the Christian heel turn. There weren't even boos really, the crowd was just silent. The match was well done too. Sheamus is still star quality, and Orton is doing the best work that I can remember.

The heel turn assures next week's episode is much see TV, and I for one cannot wait. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist and the Smackdown Audio review. 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.

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