By Chris Shore

WWE Smackdown on SyFy
Taped on 7/9 in Denver, Colorado.

Shore's Slant: Quick heads up since I am the only one covering tonight, I have heard thunder growing over the past 30 minutes. It's July in the South so I may lose power/cable at any time. Hopefully not though.

[Q1] A video recapped how we got Zack Ryder as the general manager...The opening video, which featured Ryder prominently, aired followed by the pyro, and Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, and Booker T checked in on commentary for what the graphics said was "Zack Down". Zack Ryder made his ring entrance and got the crowd hot with a fist pump.

Alberto Del Rio's music hit and he made his ring entrance, sans car, and ran down Ryder. Ryder said there was someone who wanted to see Del Rio, and it was his opponent. Sin Cara's music and lights hit and he came to the ring...

1. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) vs. Sin Cara. Both men showed some offense before Sin Cara hit a dive on the floor into the break...[C] Sin Cara hit a kick, but Del Rio caught Cara on the top and hit a shoulder breaker to take control. Del Rio continued to work the arm, but missed a dive in corner to allow Cara to hit a flying head scissor.

[Q2] Cara hit a tilt a whirl DDT type move for two and went to the top. He dove off for a senton, but Del Rio moved and Cara crashed. Del Rio hooked the cross arm breaker for the submission victory...

Alberto Del Rio defeated Sin Cara at 9:34.

A WWE hype video for Tout aired with John Cena's first video, and then videos from fans giving their favorite Raw moment...Backstage, Teddy Long gave Ryder props for being GM. Long walked off and Big Show walked up. Show threatened to knock Ryder out, but Great Khali grabbed his arm from behind. Ryder told Show to meet his opponent. Show walked off, and Khali did the "Woo woo woo" bit...[C]

Shore's Slant: Wow, I almost fell asleep during the match. Neither of these guys feels special in any way, and what should have been a feature match became a throw away moment. What a shame. If the best Ryder can do is book Show vs. Khali then he needs to get fired immediately.

A video recapped the Prime Time Playas victory over the Uso three weeks ago, followed by the brawl with the PTP and Primo and Epico. Back in the arena, AW introduced his boys, while the new Puerto Rican babyfaces made their traditional entrance...

[Q3] 2. Darren Young (w/A.W. And Titus O'Neal) vs. Primo (w/Epico and Rosa). Primo hit a drop toe hold on the ropes and then dove on Young's back through the ropes. Young hit a kick as Primo slid back in and A.W. Played it to the crowd over his headset. Primo made his comeback but missed the backstabber. Young went to stand him up, but Primo hooked a small package for the surprise win...[C]

Primo defeated Darren Young at 4:07.

Shore's Slant: It sounded like Denver cars as much about WWE tag teams as I do. I do, honestly, appreciate the effort to put some effort in the tag division, I really do. It's just too little, too late.

A video recapped Edge's retirement as a top Raw moment...Backstage, Ryder was whining at Sheamus about him not having an opponent. Chris Jericho walked up and smarted off to Ryder. Sheamus told him to get in the ring. Jericho and Ryder argued, and Ryder booked the match...Khali vs. Big Show was hyped...[C]

Back from commercial, a graphic hyped the Smackdown Money in the Bank match...Ring introductions occurred for the next match...

3. Christian and Santino Marella vs. Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero). Well, my four favorites to win (confidence wise) are in this match. Interesting. Cody and Christian started. Both men tagged out within 75 seconds. Christian tagged back in almost immediately and hit his punch from the floor on Ziggler, but Ziggler cam back and Christian played the babyface in peril.

Santino got the hot tag and put a string together on Ziggler. He pulled the sock out, but Cody attacked him from behind. Christian drove Cody to the floor and followed. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag on Santino and played to the crowd after the win...[C]

Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes defeated Santino Marella and Christian at 5:36.

Shore's Slant: I'm having a hard time getting up for this show. I don't feel like I'm in a bad mood, so I don't think it's me this time. The show hasn't been bad, just dragging along and kind of boring. And now we get videos of AJ after the break. She's great and all, but I've seen this already, just like everyone who is watching tonight. Not a good way to perk me up.

A graphic hyped Charlie Sheen as the Raw 1000 social media ambassador...

Shore's Slant: Bet on Sheen opening a Tout account soon.

[Q5] A video recapped the AJ, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan moments from Raw. The quarter break occurred in the middle of the video...Big Show made his ring entrance. Khali was out next...

4. Big Show vs. Great Khali. Khali hit two chops. Big Show hit a knockout punch. Thanks for coming...

Big Show defeated Great Khali at 0:34.

The first commercial hyped Twitter and Tout being used to help "create" Raw starting in two weeks...[C]

Shore's Slant: Did that ad air on Monday? If it did I missed it. It also looks like Wade Keller and I were right about WWE making the WWE Universe the new Raw GM. At least that's for sure what this commercial implied.

Kurt Hawkins and Tyler Reks made their ring entrance as a video showed Ryback defeating Hawkins. Reks took the mic and said he would be the first to defeat Ryback...

[Q6] 5. Tyler Reks (w/Curt Hawkins) vs. Ryback. Ryback drove Reks to the floor. Reks hit a hangman on and hit a gut shot, but Ryback hit his clothesline and finisher for the win...[C]

Ryback squashed Tyler Reks at 1:55.

Shore's Slant: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A video recapped Hugh Jackman's time on Raw. The announce team hyped Rock's moment at 1000th Raw, and then more Tour videos of favorite Raw moment...

Justin Gabriel was in the ring. Damien Sandow made his ring entrance. No promo from him. What a failure...

6. Damien Sandow vs. Justin Gabriel. Sandow hit his side Russian leg sweep and elbow for two. Gabriel hit a couple of kicks, but Sandow hit the violent knees and the neckbreaker for the win...

Damien Sandow defeated Justin Gabriel at 1:41.

A video recapped Santino's investigation into the anonymous Raw GM...

[Q7] Sheamus vs. Jericho was hyped for next...[C]

Shore's Slant: Sandow should have talked. He doesn't need a cheap win, he needs to get that character over. They missed yet another huge opportunity with Ryder as GM. Ugh. I grow so weary of nothing being down with the bottom and middle of the card.

Ring introductions occurred for the main event...[C]

7. Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho. Jericho slapped Sheamus and Sheamus attacked. He tossed Jericho all over the ring. He hit his big forearms over the ropes and drove Jericho to the floor and over the announce table.

[Q8] Sheamus slammed Jericho on the apron for an awkward commercial cut...[C] Back from commercial, Jericho was in control, punching Sheamus in the face. A video showed Jericho sending Sheamus into the steps and over the announce table during the break.

Sheamus bounced out of a corner whip to hit a double axe handle. He hit the back breaker for two, and then a Finaly roll for two. Jericho hit a thumb to the eye and followed with a Code Breaker attempt. Sheamus tossed him away and went for the Brogue kick, but Jericho ducked. Jericho hit the springboard dropkick and Lionsault for two.

Sheamus muscled his way back and setup for the Celtic Cross. Jericho slid out and hooked the Walls of Jericho. Sheamus made the ropes and went for White Noise. Jericho once again reversed into Walls. Sheamus teased tapping, and then just muscled his way back over. He immediately hit the White Noise for two.

Sheamus setup for the Brogue Kick and went for it. Jericho ducked and hit the Code Breaker, but it took him a while to cover and Sheamus kicked out. Sheamus kicked Jericho away and pulled himself to the top rope. He went for tackle, but Jericho hit an ugly looking Code Breaker out of the air. Jericho crawled over and covered for a near fall that Denver really loved. Jericho yelled for Sheamus to stand, he did, and hit the Brogue Kick on a charging Jericho for the win.

Sheamus defeated Chris Jericho at 14:47.

Post-match, Sheamus celebrated n the stage with the title. Del Rio's music hit and a car drove out. Sheamus stared at it, but Del Rio attacked from behind. He drove Sheamus off the stage, and then put the arm in the cross armbreaker across the stage to end the show...

Shore's Slant: Well, they managed to drag me back in at the very end. The main event dragged until the last eight minutes or so, and then they told some nice stories, even if I didn't personally like them all. What a dreadfully boring Smackdown. And Zack Ryder might as well not have even been there. He meant absolutely nothing. Fail. I'll have more tomorrow on the Smackdown Hitlist and All Access audio review. Thanks for reading along with me 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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