By Chris Shore

Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 7/26/11 in Philadelphia, PA.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Booker T welcomed us to Smackdown. Triple H was introduced and he made his ring entrance. He gave a mock BMF walk for a minute and then shook his head and finished normal. Booker T cracked on Cole for the JR moment from Monday.

Hunter said he's had the new gig for about 10 days now, and he has learned that the more you try to fix things, the more they get screwed up. He said he was going to take care the most important things first, which meant the WWE and World titles.

He said he started out on Raw trying to do the right thing and have one champion, but now he has two: C.M. Punk and John Cena. The crowd popped big for Punk and booed Cena heavily. He said both had legitimate claims to the title, and he didn't know what he was going to do, but he would have it figured out by Monday.

He shifted to the World Heavyweight Championship, and Christian's music cut him off. Christian made his entrance and put over Hunter's new job. He said he was happy Hunter was in control because Teddy Long had tried to run the show into the ground. He said he knew Hunter would want to have a close personal relationship with the World Champion.

Hunter said he didn't because he didn't like being interrupted. He said Vince encouraged it, but he saw it as a slap to the face. He said Christian knew that when he got slapped, he slapped back harder. He booked Christian vs. Randy Orton in a no holds barred match at SummerSlam.

Christian started to object and R-Truth cut them off. He said they were going to pick up where they left off Monday and called Hunter, "Mr. H." The crowd gave him the "What" treatment and Truth said, "Don't 'what' me." He said he wanted to "axe" him a question and Hunter said "Axe away."

Truth said since he had jokes he wasn't going to "axe" him anything; he was going to tell him. He said the conspiracies better be over Monday because he was a man of action. Hunter said, "What?" and the crowd popped. He said he was teasing Truth and knew he was a man of action, that's why he would be in action tonight against Randy Orton. Christian offered advice to Truth and Hunter said Christian better be ready for his match next against the man he brought with him from Raw, John Morrison…

Shore's Slant: Hot opening to Smackdown. They are hot-shotting the hell out of both shows this week. I just hope they have something to back it up with over the next few weeks. Hunter is still the same DX Hunter, just in a suit. He shows no signs of changing ti up, so I guess I'll just enjoy it until it gets old. Which should be about two weeks.

[Q2][C] Backstage, Hunter and Teddy Long were walking and talking. Zack Ryder walked up and interrupted. Hunter rolled his eyes and Zack said he had a new idea and it wasn't his fault they didn't know he was the Internet Champion. Hunter's phone rang and he said he had to take it. He said he had an idea and introduced Teddy to his new assistant. Ryder popped big and fist bumped Teddy, much to Teddy's chagrin.

1. Christian defeated John Morrison at 10:56. Morrison knocked Christian to the floor and teased a dive, but stopped. Christian returned the favor but did dive and missed. Morrison hit a corkscrew plancha and Christian recovered…[C]

Back from commercial, Christian hit a neck breaker for two while a video showed Christian kicking Morrison to the railing during the break. Christian worked the injured neck in the ring. He went for a tornado DDT and Morrison pushed off. He had a moment of hope, but Christian hit a spinebuster for two.

[Q3] Morrison had another moment of hope and hit Sin Cara's finisher but from the floor. Holy crap! At the end, Morrison went for Starship Pain. Christian moved and hit a reverse hangman on the top rope. He followed with the Kill Switch for the win….

Jinder Mahal and Great Khali were shown sitting in a sky box watching the show…Thee announce team hyped the main event…[C]

Shore's Slant: Decent match, but the crowd was not impressed with Morrison. He looked pretty good for having been out so long, but he's hit his ceiling it looks like. He needs to do something to give him some credibility as a threat. And quickly.

Wade Barrett was in the ring and cut a promo on why he came to America and joined the WWE. He said it wasn't to entertain people like them; it was to make a lot of money. He said he lost sight of that, but Daniel Bryan reminded him of that. He said Daniel Bryan was cashing in a MitB contract that was rightfully his for a WrestleMania payday that was rightfully his.

Daniel Bryan's music hit and he came to the ring cutting a promo on Barrett. Cole talked all over him and Bryan said Barrett had done a lot of things this year, but he had won MitB and he was going to main event WrestleMania. Barrett punched him in the face and kicked him. He stood over him with the briefcase, gloating, and Bryan grabbed him and hooked the LaBell Lock. Barrett tapped, but Bryan held on for a moment. He finally let go and left the ruing to good heat…

Backstage, Ryder was telling Teddy about some idea he had when Mark Henry walked up. Henry looked at Long and said, "You took care of that thing I asked you about?" Teddy said after the last two weeks and the audio technician, nobody wanted to work with Henry. Henry looked pissed and Ryder said he would find him an opponent. Henry told Teddy he should thank his assistant, which sent Ryder into another moment of begging for a fist pump, which Teddy no sold…[C]

Shore's Slant: Good promo from Barrett and Bryan. It wasn't star making or anything, but just a good, solid promo. Bryan continues to improve every week, and I'm happy to see these two lock it up. I've wanted to see this since the first Nexus.

[Q4] A video showed Justin Gabriel in his native South Africa, and gave some background on him…

2. Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, and Tamina defeated Kaitlyn, AJ, and Natalya vs.. Tamina and Natty started. Natty tried for a crucifix, but Tamina held her. Natty slid out and rolled down for a pin attempt. Tamina kicked out and hit a clothesline and tagged in Fox. Fox hooked a leg scissor and Natty stood up. She slammed Fox into the corner and tagged AJ. AJ ran in and hit a clothesline and a shining wizard knee. She covered and the heels broke it up. Everybody cleared out and AJ missed a splash. Fox botched a scissor kick for the win…

A video recapped what Henry did to Big Show and Kane. Henry was shown backstage heading towards the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: Well I can tell Dustin Rhodes is the agent for the Divas. That was well wrestled. I still couldn't care less about them, but at least they didn't suck in the ring tonight.

3. Mark Henry defeated Bobby Howard at 1:05. Howard was introduced at 185 pounds with no entrance music. Henry looked confused as the little man came to the ring. Howard made it half way down the ramp and turned around. Zack Ryder came out and talked him into it by telling him he could be Broski of the Week. Henry just walked over and hit a Punjabi Plunge. He followed with the World's Strongest Slam, and then another. He hit a backbreaker and finally pinned the kid.

Post-match, he dragged the kid to the corner and grabbed a chair as the announcers bailed again. He set the kid's leg in the chair and Teddy Long ran out with a mic and told him to stop. He said they went way back, but he just couldn't let him compete anymore. He said he would find him someone, but Henry had to start.

[Q5] Sheamus's music hit and he came to the ring to a pop. Looks like it is a babyface turn. Sheamus said if Teddy was looking for someone to fight him, he would do it. He said Henry was just bigger, and as Henry said, bigger didn't mean better. He told some Irish story that lead him to calling Henry a 425 pound of crap.

Henry got in his face and said he talked too much. Sheamus slapped him and Henry charged. Sheamus pulled the ropes down and Henry fell to the floor. He started to get back in, but Sheamus swung the chair at him. Henry picked up the top part of the stairs and just tossed them around like they were cardboard. He finally left and Sheamus mugged in the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: Holy shit! Henry just tossed those steps around. Crazy. Sheamus just turned and he's big enough to work with Henry so this could be a good feud. Nice setup to get it started. But did you see him with those stairs!

4. The New Nexus defeated The Usos to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships at 2:28. Otunga and Jimmy started. Otunga worked power, but Jimmy hit a heel kick and both men tagged out. Jay ran in and hit a stink face on McGillicutty. Otunga distracted the ref and McGillicutty hit a running neck breaker for the win…

Backstage, Teddy Long walked up to Zack Ryder and said he had caused enough problems. Ryder said he booked Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes vs. Ezekiel Jackson for tonight. Teddy said he made the matches and Ryder said he had talked to everyone and they were cool with it. He walked off and Teddy said, "We'll see about this."…

Shore's Slant: Bleh. Tag team matches suck and will as long as Otunga has the belts. Give me a break. The Ryder thing is kind of a bomb right now, This isn't really his thing. I'll wait to pass judgment, but I'm not impressed so far.

[Q6] [C] The Raw Rebound video played and the announce team hyped the next Raw…Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Truth. Truth cut his normal crazy ass promo and said the viper was gonna get got…[C]

A video recapped Zeke vs. DiBiase two weeks ago…

[Q7] 5. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase defeated Ezekiel Jackson at 2:24. Cody had his bag men pass out the bag masks and Cole punked Booker again. Legacy went right at Zeke and made quick tags to keep Zeke down. Zeke dropped DiBiase on the top rope to come back. Cody ran in and took the body slams. Zeke lifted him for the torture rack, but Ted made the save. Cody and Zeke botched something, but finally Zeke hit the post and Rhodes hit CrossRhodes for the win…

Post-match, Jinder Mahal and Khali stood up in their luxury suite and cut a promo in Punjabi. Khali even said something. The crowd chanted USA…[C]

Shore's Slant: Ugh. A two minute match to setup a feud for the title? Lame. And I'll send along a translation as soon as one of our Punjabi speaking readers sends one along.

Back from commercial, Truth and Orton made their ring entrances. Kane's "injury" was announced during Orton's entrance…

6. R-Truth defeated Randy Orton by disqualification at 14:59. Orton hit a couple of shoulder tackles and then acted like his neck was stiff. Truth got in a couple of shots, but Orton hit a clothesline and then a stomp to the face.

[Q8] Orton missed a knee drop and Truth hit a heel kick. Orton rolled to the floor and Truth followed. He slammed Orton around and rolled him in the ring. The fans chanted "R-Truth sucks" and Truth yelled at them. Orton pulled Truth to the apron and tried for his DDT, but the ref made him stop for some reason. Truth took the distraction and hit a thumb to the eyes and a hangman. He hit his suplex stunner and Christian walked out to the stage to watch…[C]

Shore's Slant: GAAAH! Why did the ref stop Orton? That move has been hit more times than any move except the Five Knuckle Shuffle. I don't mind a little shitty logic now and again but come on!

Back from commercial, Truth hit the Lie Detector for a non-special near fall. Guess that isn't a finisher anymore. Orton suddenly powered back and hit a clothesline. He went for the rope DDT, and this time the ref left him alone. He setup for the RKO, but Truth went to the floor. Orton followed and Christian distracted the ref.

Truth hit Orton with the water bottle and rolled in the ring. Orton sat up and looked pissed. He took the water bottle and drank some. He slid in the ring and tackled Truth. He went back to the floor and got a chair. He slid in the ring and beat the hell out of Truth, causing the DQ.

Orton tossed Truth to the floor and cleared the announce table. He hit an RKO on the table, but it did not break. He teased going after Christian, but went back to Truth instead, and hit another RKO that still didn't break the table to end the show…

Shore's Slant: Boring main event. I mean, really boring. And the finish was garbage too. Orton didn't look out of control, he looked stupid. And the table not breaking didn't help. Wow, this Smackdown started with so much potential and just didn't deliver. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. 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 @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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