By Chris Shore

Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 7/19/11 in Minneapolis, Minn.

[Q1] The show opened cold with Randy Orton sitting in the ring. He did the "My name is…" bit and ran down all the things that have been happening on Raw. He said the one thing that wasn't going anywhere was Smackdown until he finished his business with Christian.

Josh Matthews narrated a video that showed stills from Money in the Bank and Orton kicking Christian in the nuts. Christian came out to the ramp and Orton said as long as Christian was breathing they had unfinished business. Christian said that was real professional.

He said Orton needed to take a look at himself because it was the voices in his head and his anger problems that cost him the title. Orton said Christian has been hiding behind his lawyers. Christian said Orton shouldn't hate because he used his superior intellect. He said everybody knew the rules, including Orton, and Orton chose to break the rules.

Orton said Christian spit in his face through gritted teeth. Christian said he was sorry and he didn't mean to. He said that after all the incompetence he had been forced to combat since he lost the title, this was justice. Orton demanded a rematch and Christian told him to get to the back of the line. He said he was going to talk to his lawyers about it.

Orton told him to wait a second and they could settle it without the lawyers. He went up the ramp in a huff and Teddy Long and the entire ref crew came out to block Orton. Teddy told him he would get his rematch, but he was already booked to face Kane. He said he expected Orton to be the bigger man and walk away. Orton started to, and then attacked Christian until the refs pulled him off.

Christian got in Teddy's face and yelled at him off mic. They argued for a while and then Teddy lifted his mic and said if Orton had to face Kane, Christian had to face Ezekiel Jackson. He said that match would be next…The announce team finally checked in and hyped replaying Vince McMahon's "firing" for later…[C]

Shore's Slant: And OK open. I wasn't blown away, but it kept my attention. Christian is not getting much of a reaction right now, but he's also playing a very CM Punk type character and he comes off as a cheap knockoff. I don't think it's on purpose, but it's there nonetheless.

[Q2] 1. Christian defeated Ezekiel Jackson in a non-title match at 10:49. The first two minutes happened last quarter. Zeke tossed Christian around to start and then whipped him to the floor…[C] Back at 6:04, Zeke worked Christian on the floor until Christian hit a drop toe hold on the steps.

Zeke rolled in the ring and Christian worked his offense. Zeke powered back and hit about 13 thousand clotheslines. He hit two body slams to zero reaction and Christian slipped out on the third attempt. Christian shoved Zeke into the post through the ropes and followed with the Kill Switch for the win…[C]

Shore's Slant: Dear lord that was awful. I had to be up early this morning and I was literally falling asleep during that match. And on top of all that, it didn't help either guy. What a waste of ten minutes.

[Q3] A great Cody Rhodes hype video aired…Michael Cole was in the ring and introduced the winner of the Smackdown MITB, Daniel Bryan. Cole said in his opinion, Bryan's win was a fluke. Bryan said Cole had buried him from his first day so his opinion didn't matter.

Cole said Bryan likes to strut around and act like he has honor, but as soon as a champion was laid out, Bryan would do what everyone else has done and cash in. He said that was fine, but Bryan would never deserve to be champion.

Bryan said nobody deserved anything in this business. He listed all the things that had happened to him and said he earned his spot here. He said Cole was right about how he did not want his title win to be a fluke. He announced he would cash in at the main event at WrestleMania 28.

Heath Slater's music hit and he came out. He cut a promo and said only Daniel Bryan would pick the biggest stage for his grandest failure. He said Daniel had always failed in WWE and he would fail tonight when he beat Bryan…

2. Daniel Bryan defeated Heath Slater at 10:51. Bryan went for the LaBell lock early and Slater rolled to the floor…[C]

[Q4] Back at 4:50, Bryan hit an arm drag. Slater ducked a corner splash and hit a neckbreaker to take control. Slater worked strikes and stomps on Bryan and whipped him to the corner. Bryan ran up the buckle and back flipped off.

Bryan tossed Slater over the top and then hit a running knee from the apron. They rolled back in the ring and Slater hit a great Double A spinebuster. Bryan reversed a whip and hit an elbow strike. He locked in a choke hold (Goji clutch maybe?) for the win…

A video recapped the Mark Henry vs. Big Show match from MITB. Backstage, Matt Striker asked when the destruction would end. Henry said never. He said he felt something he couldn't describe before. He listed strength, power, violence and said if it sounds like he's talking about him, he was…The announce team hyped the Raw replay for next…

Shore's Slant: Jason was pretty high on the Slater vs. Bryan match when he saw it live, but either they cut a lot out in the commercial or it didn't translate well to TV. Slater can go, let there be no doubt. But his look and act is terrible. Mark Henry is neither. Very good promo from him. I wonder who's next.

[Q5] The announce team setup an abbreviated Raw replay that started with four minutes left in the last quarter…[C]

A video recapped Wade Barrett taking out Sheamus last week…

3. Wade Barrett fought Sheamus to a double countout at 4:28. Both men brawled around in the ring with Sheamus getting the better. They went to the floor and the brawl resumed.

[Q6] They continued to fight until the ref counted both men out. Barrett slammed Sheamus into the post and left him lying…Backstage, Kane cut his "Devil's favorite demon" promo he cut last summer. Orton made his ring entrance…[C]

Shore's Slant: I was distracted during the Barrett vs. Sheamus match, but I liked what I saw. It was a four minute double count out so it wasn't much, but this could be a good feud. Be interesting to see who goes babyface.

4. Randy Orton defeated Kane in a street fight at 23:32. Kane hit a punch at the start and took control. Orton hit a kick in the corner and they rolled to the floor. Orton hit Kane with a Kendo stick, but Kane hit a punch and both men recovered…

[Q7][C] Back from commercial, Kane worked Orton in the ring with a sitting drop kick. Orton reversed a whip and Kane went to the floor. Orton jumped off the apron and Kane punched him out of the air. Kane cleared the announce table and went to choke slam Orton on it.

Orton landed on his feet and attacked Kane. He stomped his head and then messed up and fell through one of the holes where the monitor was. The table turned over and Orton grabbed his leg. He shook it off but continued to favor it. Orton whipped Kane into the stairs and then took them apart. He stomped Kane's foot on the stairs and then slammed the stairs on the foot…[C]

Back from commercial, Kane missed his top rope clothesline and Orton followed with the rope DDT. Orton called for the RKO and struck the viper pose, but Kane shoved him away and hit the side slam for two.

[Q8] Kane went to the top and hit the clothesline. He called for the choke slam, but Orton hit a surprise RKO for a great near fall. Orton thought about what to do and backed up in the corner for the punt. He charged and Kane hit a surprise choke slam for another great near fall…[C]

Shore's Slant: Jason told me this would be a pleasant surprise. He wasn't lying. That last series was off the charts good.

Back at 22:09, Kane had a chair and slid it into the ring. He hit Orton in the gut and then back three times. Kane did the throat slash and lifted for a tombstone on the chair. Orton slid out and they reversed a couple of moves before Orton hit the RKO on the chair for the win.

Post-match, Orton celebrated on the buckle until Kane stood up. Orton climbed down and watch Kane. Kane took a step toward him, nodded, and then offered his hand. Orton shook it and left the ring. Kane sat there and recovered. His music started to play, but Mark Henry came to the ring.

Henry climbed in the ring and they stared off. Kane laughed and tossed his elbow pad into the crowd and attacked. He got in a few licks, but Henry kicked Kane's injured leg and then slammed it on the mat when Kane tried to escape. Henry hit the World's Strongest Slam and then followed with a splash.

Henry went to the floor and the announce team took off. Henry got a chair and put it on Kane's leg. He hit the same corner splash he did on Big Show at MITB to close out…

Shore's Slant: Excellent TV main to close the show. Kane was hitting on all cylinders and proved my point yet again, he can be amazing when you put him in the ring with a guy who can work. The Henry thing is still compelling, though I hope we don't continue on this leg breaking thing for long. WWE likes to take those types of things and run them in the ground, making them meaningless.

I'll have more to say tomorrow on the all access Smackdown audio review and the hitlist. Thanks for watching along with me tonight. 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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