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By Jason Powell

Super Smackdown on SyFy
Live from Wichita, Kansas

[Q1] A video opened the show and hyped that the show is live, and that wrestlers from Raw and Smackdown would appear. They also hyped a double main event with the cage match, and John Cena vs. Wade Barrett, as well as the contract signing for the Triple H and C.M. Punk match for Night of Champions... The opening video played...

Pyro went off on the stage and then Michael Cole introduced the show and touted the cage that was hanging above the ring. Booker T and Josh Mathews were also on commentary...

John Cena's music played and he came out to a mix of cheers and boos. Mathews put over the emotion of Cena entering live. Cena impersonated ring announcer Tony Chimel while touting that they were live on Super Smackdown. Cena joked about wrestlers from Raw, Smackdown, Nitro, Thunder, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, etc. appearing on the show, and said even some XFL stars will be in attendance.

Cena brought up Alberto Del Rio and said that if he's backstage, he should come out so that they could start Super Smackdown with a Super Beatdown. Del Rio's music played, but Ricardo Rodriguez came out by himself and slowly walked to the ring. Ricardo said he had a message from Del Rio to give to Cena.

Ricardo delivered the king of all Del Rio introductions. Cena said he sounded like to old cats trying to have sex and throw up at the same time. Cena said he gets that Del Rio isn't in the building. Cena said he had something that he wanted Ricardo to give Del Rio. Cena punched Ricardo.

Wade Barrett's music played. Cena called "Mr. Winds of Change himself." Barrett mocked Cena for beating up a fat ring announcer. Cena said that if he was going to beat up a fat ring announcer, he'd beat up Tony Chimel. Barrett said Cena was hijacking the show and didn't learn the lesson he tried to teach him last year.

Barrett said he used to own Cena. He said that when he's finished with him, Cena will feel just as pathetic as he did when he was Barrett's personal slave. Cena pandered by saying the show belongs to the fans. Barrett called him pathetic. Cena got serious and eventually told him that payback is a bitch. Barrett walked toward the ring and they cut to break... [C]

Powell's POV: John Cena informed us that every WWE Superstar is in the building...except for the first guy he called out. Then we learned that John Cena apparently knows what barfing cats sound like when they are having sex. I don't want to know. Finally, we learned that Tony Chimel is fat. I think that sums up the segment adequately.

[Q2] 1. John Cena defeated Wade Barrett in 3:15. The fans cheered the barfing horny cat whisper by chanting his name to start the match. Cena put Barrett away with the STF and then headed to ringside to shake hands with four military members who were in the "usual four military members section" in the crowd...

Powell's POV: For those who can't understand why I'm leery about Smackdown wrestlers appearing on Raw every week, see the match above as an example. Sure, creative will protect Randy Orton, his opponent of the month, and a couple of other guys, but everyone else is going to be fair game to lose decisively to Raw wrestlers. I'm not saying Barrett should have won, but couldn't they have him put up a fight?

Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Mark Henry, who spoke about the violence of cage matches... Cole set up a Ghost Hunters preview for Syfy... Sin Cara made his entrance... [C]

2. Sin Cara beat Daniel Bryan in 5:00. No mention was made of Sin Cara's advertised match against Alberto Del Rio. Cole was in anti-Bryan mode and said Bryan only knows two moves because he stopped updating his Youtube page after showing how to apply those moves.

Bryan hit his suicide dive early and applied a good submission before Sin Cara came back with some flashy offense, including a springboard cross body block onto Bryan on the floor.

[Q3] Sin Cara hit his finishing combo of a springboard flip into a springboard moonsault for the pin. After the match, Sin Cara waited for Bryan to recover and then shook his hand. Out of nowhere, Sin Cara blasted Bryan with a kick to the head.

Powell's POV: Is this the beginning of the dark Sin Cara character that was discussed at one point? If so, then I assume the real Sin Cara (Mistico) will be returning as the babyface version.

Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne. Kingston brought up some great tag teams from the past and then led Bourne and Striker in doing the "boom, boom, boom" routine...

Booker hyped the contract signing as "coming up...tonight." Oops... A video featured Sheamus delivering the anti-bullying message... [C] A video recapped the Randy Orton vs. Christian feud...

Backstage, Striker interviewed Christian and said he has no way out. He asked whether Christian could beat Orton in a cage. Christian said everyone from Edge and Bret Hart have turned their back on him. Christian said he doesn't care because he always gets what he wants...

[Q4] [C] Aksana served as the guest ring announcer for the Divas match...

3. Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox in 2:00. Alicia did her usual stripper dance entrance. Beth and Natalya were not as made up as they were on Raw. Beth hit the Glam Slam on Fox and pinned her...

Powell's POV: When did Alicia turn babyface? Alicia has the stripper walk down, so maybe she'd feel more comfortable performing a cross body block from the pole. After all, she showed that she can't pull one off from the top rope.

Teddy Long and Triple H were shown walking together. Booker said the contract signing was coming up next...

Teddy Long introduced Triple H, who came to the ring and delivered a promo while standing in front of the table and chairs that were set up for the contract signing. Hunter reminded viewers that he cancelled the Punk vs. Kevin Nash match. There were some boos. He said he made the match between Punk and himself, which drew cheers.

Hunter said the WWE Board of Directors agreed to let him take the suit off for one night so that he could take care of Punk. Hunter invited Punk to come out so that they could make it official. Cue "Cult of Personality." Cole said that if anyone could have a conspiracy theory, it's Punk.

[Q5] Punk took a seat and kicked his feet up on the table. That couch he kept talking about must be extremely jealous. Punk expressed curiosity over Hunter taking the match instead of Nash. Hunter said he knows that he caught Punk off guard last night. Punk said nothing catches him off guard.

Hunter shut Punk down twice and told him to shut up. He recalled Punk taking shots at his family and said he still tried make it work. Hunter said he is the person responsible for Punk's theme music, his new t-shirt, and even giving him the match he wanted to Nash. Hunter said no matter what he does, Punk continues to push his buttons.

Triple H said he's trying to be the COO, but there's only so much he can take. "You disrespected me, you insulted me as a man," Hunter said. "Now you deal with me as a man." Punk said he doesn't want to face the COO at NOC, he wants the Cerebral Assassin. Punk said the new Triple H sucks, he wants the old guy.

Punk said the last COO Vince McMahon couldn't separate personal issues from business issues, and now Hunter is the same. Punk said Hunter thinks he hates WWE, but he actually loves the place. Punk said he wants things to be better, not just for him, but for everybody. "I am dying for a change," Punk said. "We are dying for a change. I want to be a catalyst for that."

Hunter cut him off and said Punk wants to be the catalyst if it benefits him. Hunter said half the people believe in what he says and the other half like WWE. He said they tune in and they like it the way it is. Hunter said it can be better and that's his job is to make it better. Hunter said Punk only wants change as long as he's on top. "You're no different than anybody else who has ever been in this business," Triple H said.

Hunter said that includes him. He said they are a lot alike, only Hunter looked people in the eye and said what he was going to do, whereas Punk positions himself as a martyr. Punk said he wants everyone to like what they see. "I want this to be fun again," Punk said. Punk added that he is indeed doing it for him and not just for everyone. He said he was a fan before he became a wrestler and he still is, and he will do whatever it takes to make it better and to make it fun again.

Punk said he says horrible things about Hunter's wife because it's fun and because he can, but also because he was testing Triple H. He said Hunter failed. He said he thought they might have been on the same page, but Triple H is vindictive. Punk accused Hunter of hiring his buddies to do his dirty work.

Punk picked up the pen. He said the match is a long time coming because they've never liked each other. "Do me a favor, don't fine me, don't suspend me after I kick your ass," Punk said. Hunter said one of the differences between he and Punk is respect. He said he respects Vince McMahon for what he's done and for building the industry.

Triple H said they wouldn't be standing there if it wasn't for Vince. He said that if Punk wants to compare him to Vince, he thanks him because it's the ultimate compliment. Punk said Hunter is too short sighted to see that Vince lost touch years ago, just as Hunter did. "I want change," Punk said. Hunter said that if Punk wants change, he's going to get it.

Triple H signed the contract. Hunter said the area where he's not like is that Vince would have gotten in the ring and taken a beating from Punk because it would be good for business. Hunter said it's now personal between him and Punk. "And I am going to kick your skinny fat ass," Hunter concluded.

The NWO music played and Kevin Nash came to the ring. Hunter held Punk back, but Punk eventually broke free. Nash got a shot in, but Punk worked him over with several punches. Hunter threw Punk down. Nash caught Punk with a kick. Hunter tried to intervene, but Nash shoved Hunter to the mat. Hunter looked up in shock. Nash headed backstage...

Powell's POV: A strong verbal exchange. I'm sure it will be picked apart and people will point out the strengths and weaknesses, but they managed to set a tone that wasn't there previously. Punk was back to having a strong night on the mic after a rough outing on Raw, and Hunter did a good job of establishing his case and working with Punk to make it seem intense and personal. The Nash angle at the end was also well done and left any viewers who assumed Hunter and Nash were in cahoots with more questions.

[Q6] [C] Footage aired of Matt Striker approaching Kevin Nash for comment, only to have Nash stare a hole through him... Cole threw a fit about Hunter getting back in the ring. He said Steve Jobs would have called someone into a boardroom, not gotten physical with them...

4. Sheamus beat The Great Khali (w/Jinder Mahal) by DQ in 3:00. There was no mention of the advertised Punk vs. Khali match. Sheamus still had his rib taped from the Mark Herny slam. Khali went after Sheamus's injured ribs. Jinder eventually interfered for the apparent DQ. Khali missed a chop at ringside and slammed his hand into the ring post. Sheamus eventually got the better of Jinder and left him lying... [C]

Powell's POV: WWE advertised four matches for this show and it looks like they're only delivering two of those matches.

[Q7] The Triple H movie trailer aired... The cage music played as the cage lowered around the ring and then the announcers hyped the main event for after the break... [C] Ring introductions took place for the main event...

Powell's POV: As much as I like the Sheamus character, that segment with him, Khali, and Jinder drained some of my enthusiasm for the show. Fortunately, the live crowd was hot for the main event intros.

5. Randy Orton defeated Christian in a cage match to retain the World Hvt. Championship in 18:35. They cut to commercial roughly a minute into the match. [C]

[Q8] The announcers said the match was fairly even during the break, but Orton was in control when they came back. He called for the door to be opened, but Christian grabbed his foot. Later, Orton superplexed Christian off the top rope, and then the show cut to break with both men down around 9:00. [C]

After the break, Christian was trying to crawl through the door, but Orton stopped him and then ran his head into the cage. It looked great live, but WWE production felt the need to replay it to show the world that Christian's shoulder absorbed the blow. Ugh. Later, Christian avoided the RKO, speared Orton, and picked up a good near fall.

Christian went to the corner and went for the punt kick, but Orton went all Lucy on him by moving the football, er, his own head. At 16:35, Christian set up for his finisher, but Orton avoided it and then DDT'd him off the middle rope. Orton went for the RKO, but Christian avoided it.

Christian tried to leave via the top of the cage, but Orton ran up and caught him. They sat on top of the structure and traded blows. They fought back inside the cage as both men stood on the top rope.

[Overrun] Orton got the better of it and hit a top rope RKO. Orton made the cover and scored the clean pin. Mark Henry's music played and he walked to the cage. Orton met him inside the door with some punches, but Henry quickly fought him off. Henry roughed up Orton and ran him into the cage. He dragged him back into the center of the ring and then hit the World's Strongest Slam...

Powell's POV: Another good match from Orton and Christian, but it really does go against the way the Christian character is portrayed. He acts like a chickenshit heel even though he has good back and forth matches with Orton. I'll always wonder how much money WWE left on the table by not making Christian seem like a legit heel rather than a guy who has to take shortcuts. The Henry attack was logical given that he's facing Orton at the pay-per-view.

Overall, the middle segment (Hunter and Punk) and the main event were very entertaining, and the rest of the show was just kind of there. I am mildly intrigued by the Sin Cara cheap shot, but I could have done without the John Cena squash match and the throwaway Divas match of the night. Check back on Wednesday for Chris Shore's WWE Smackdown Hitlist, and stick around tonight for his WWE NXT live coverage review.

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