By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 12/13 in Raleigh, NC

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Michael Cole and Josh Matthews welcomed us to Smackdown. They ran down the card for the night, and then Josh Matthews welcomed Booker T to the ring. Cole narrated a video recap of Cody's attack on Booker T, and Booker's response from last week. Matthews asked him if he was ready to face Cody. He even mentioned Tribute to the Troops.

Shore's Slant: That makes me sad that the special was used for storyline purposes. It should stand alone.

Booker said he didn't want to fight Cody Rhodes, he was happy moving on but Cody wanted to pick a fight with him. He said Cody needed somebody to legitimize himself, but he wasn't going to be that person. He said he would leave as the new Intercontinental Champion. He started to do his catch phrase, but Cody's music cut him off.

Cody cut a promo on the way to the ring and said that was a great fiction. He said if this was a movie, Booker would win on Sunday and Cody would walk to the back defeated and humbled. He said this wasn't a movie. He started running down Booker and called him "announcer." Booker asked what was preventing him from whooping Cody's butt all over the arena.

Cody said he was facing Daniel Bryan again after two Booker T interferences and that Teddy long agreed that if Booker interfered, he would lose his match Sunday and Cody would file a motion to have Booker suspended. He asked Booker, "Now can you dig that, sucka?" Booker left the ring and sat on commentary while Bryan made his entrance...

Shore's Slant: Booker was good here, and Cody was very good. Wow. That's what I've been wanting to see from him for some time. The kid is close folks.

1. Cody Rhodes defeated Daniel Bryan at 8:33. Bryan went for the LaBell Lock quickly and Cody escaped to the floor...[C] Back from commercial, Cole harassed Booker about returning to the ring while Cody attacked Bryan's taped ribs. Cody hit a suplex from the ring to the floor in a neat looking spot. Bryan came back with kicks and roll-ups and tried for a top rope back suplex.

[Q2] Cody rotated around and landed on top of Bryan when they hit in a very cool looking spot. Bryan kicked out at two, ducked the Beautiful Disaster kick, and rolled Cody up. Cody rolled through and stood, hitting Cross Rhodes for the win. Cody and Booker stared at each other...Alicia Fox was shown backstage walking towards the ring...[C]

Shore's Slant: Good match from Cody and Bryan. The two spots are worth seeing if nothing else. I hate that Bryan jobbed out again, but he's got a little lift from the Henry feud so it should be OK.

2. Alicia Fox defeated Natalya at 1:02. Natty hooked an abdominal stretch almost immediately. Alicia tried to escape and Natty stopped her, only to have Fox roll her up for the win. Post match, Fox had pulled hair from Natty's head. She cut a promo calling Natty fake and telling her to go in the back and cry. Natty stormed back in the ring. Fox hit a clothesline, and then botched her front flip leg drop to kick Natty in the face. Ouch...

Shore's Slant: That leg drop looked brutal. Great camera work catching that. I'm so done with the Divas I'm just going to ignore them until they start trying again.

[Q3][C] A video hyped the Tribute to the Troops on NBC. The announce team put it over more and then setup a video that recapped the pipe bomb of the year award...Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero were talking backstage. Mark Henry walked up and asked Swagger to hurt Show's ankle like he did the last time they met. He said if Swagger hurt Show, Swagger would be first in line for a title shot. He told Swagger to think about the future.

Swagger said he had already seen his future and it didn't include Henry. He said he was hurting Big Show for himself. He said he had already beaten Big Show, something Henry hasn't done. He said he was going to win and then he would be World Champion again. Henry stormed off...[C]

Shore's Slant: Well done promo with Swagger and Henry. I like it when the heels don't get along either. They don't make for great feuds, but little moments like this are nice.

The Usos made their entrance, followed by Primo and Epico with Rosa...

[Q4] 3. Primo and Epico (w/Rosa Mendez) defeated The Usos at 2:58. The Usos got in some offense, but Primo and Epico won when Rosa distracted Jay, allowing Primo to hit the backcracker...Big Show made his ring entrance...[C]

Shore's Slant: It's been a long week. I may actually fall asleep watching this show. Boring segment after boring segment is starting to take its toll. And now we have all the Mexicans all together? Nice.

4. Big Show defeated Jack Swagger (w/Vickie Guerrero) at 5:47. The bell rang and before they could do anything, Mark Henry's music hit and he came out. Swagger attacked from behind, but Show knocked him out of the ring. Show rolled Swagger back in the ring and worked his repertoire of strikes and slams in-between staring and jawing at Henry. Show tried to superkick Swagger, but Swagger caught his leg and hurt the knee. He hit two Swagger bombs for two.

[Q5] Show popped right back up and hit shoulder tackles on Swagger. He went for a chokeslam, but Swagger rolled down and hooked the ankle lock. Show sold it for a moment before kicking Swagger away and hitting the WMD for the win. Post match, Henry hit Swagger and a cameraman with a chair before walking away...[C]

Shore's Slant: We got the match you would expect from Swagger and Show. So another sleepy segment until the end. The Henry chair attack on Swagger made sense. The attack on the camera man was a nice touch.

Backstage, Randy Orton and Zack Ryder had a talking segment that I'm not even sure Orton understood. Wow. Heath Slater was in the ring as Ted DiBiase made his ring entrance. A video showed a DiBiase Posse Party...

5. Ted DiBiase defeated Heath Slater at 3:08. Slater got in a lot of good offense early, but DiBiase won with Dream Street. Post-match, Jinder Mahal attacked DiBiase from behind and locked in the Camel Clutch. Teddy long's music hit and he came to the ramp. He said since Jinder wanted a fight, he could have a match. Sheamus's music hit and he came tot he ring...

[Q6] The seizure inducing WWE Network video aired...[C]

Shore's Slant: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Seriously, this show hasn't been bad, but there's a lot of undercard stuff they haven't given us a reason to care about.

6. Sheamus defeated Jinder Mahal at 3:44.. Mahal got in a few shots, but Sheamus basically squashed him. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick for the win...[C]

[Q7] The announce team setup a video that recapped the Slammys and Kane's return...Randy Orton made his ring entrance...[C]

The latest "It Begins" video aired and released back to "live coverage." Zack Ryder made his ring entrance, followed by Ziggler and Vickie, and then Barrett...

7. Randy Orton and Zack Ryder defeated Wade Barrett and Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) 16:08. Ryder and Ziggler started. Ziggler took quick control, but Ryder came storming back and tagged in Orton. Orton picked Ziggler apart for a moment and tagged Ryder back in. Ziggler tagged in Barrett. Barrett lost control and ran when Ryder tagged in Orton.

[Q8] Ziggler came in and Orton tried for his backbreaker combo. Ziggler slipped out, but Ryder ran in and hit a drop kick to send Ziggler tot he floor...[C]

Back at 8:51, Orton did the ten punches in the corner on Ziggler. Barrett got a blind tag and hit the big boot on Orton and took control. He and Ziggler worked in and out on Orton, generally focusing on the legs. Orton reversed a Barrett headlock into a back suplex and got the hot tag to Ryder.

Ryder hit his offense on Barrett and setup for the leg lariat. Barrett ducked and Ryder went over him. Ziggler hit a punch to Ryder and tagged in. The heels worked pretty much the same moves on Ryder until Ryder reversed a Wasteland lift into a DDT and got the hot tag to Orton.

Ziggler got the hot tag too and sold for Orton. Ziggler took Barrett to the floor, but Barrett drove Ryder into the rail. Ziggler hooked a dirty roll-up for to, but when he went for the Fameassor, Orton moved out of the way and hit the RKO for the win as Barrett watched. The show ended with Orton and Barrett facing off...

Shore's Slant: A fair match to close the show. Certainly the highlight, but nothing about this show felt special. This felt more like a Superstars than a Smackdown. Few stories really played into any of the action, and the action wasn't all that great as a whole. And almost zero hype for TLC. I don't get it. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist and all access podcast. Thanks for reading along tonight.

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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