WWE Smackdown live event
Newcastle, England
Reported by Dot Net Reader Lee Goodfellow

Kofi Kingston won a battle royal to become number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Typical battle royal. It mainly served to set up the later matches. Kofi eliminated Jack Swagger for the win. There seemed to be some Ric Flair homage at one point, with McIntyre delivering a "woo!" followed by what looked like a Flair strut while he was on the apron. Then Masters eliminated him with a Flair-esque chop.

Brodus Clay defeated Trent Barreta. Decent, but short match. Some cool spots, particularly Barreta's springboard dropkick, and the ending sequence (Clay escaping from a Tornado DDT and finishing Barreta with some kind of suplex).

Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly defeated Layla and Kaitlyn Surprisingly good. Layla played a great heel, and Beth Phoenix was awesome.

Chavo Guerrero defeated Drew Mcintyre. Good match. The crowd wasn't entirely sure who to cheer, but McIntyre cut a mid-match promo to certify that he was the heel. Chavo won with a Frog Splash.

Big Show and Kane defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater via DQ (Tag Team Championship Match). Big Show's chops sound excruciating live. The Corre were disqualified when Zeke clotheslined Big Show on the outside. Big Show challenged them to a two on three match as they were leaving.

Big Show and Kane defeated Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Ezekiel Jackson. The highlight was Jackson scoop slamming Big Show. Big Show and Kane won after delivering a double chokeslam to Jackson. The match was alright. I often find it hard to get back into a match after a restart.

INTERMISSION

Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Barrett tried to leave near the start, declaring that he'd stay if he was in a good city like Manchester, to which he received massive heat. His exit was thwarted by Kofi. Barrett finished Kofi with Wasteland. Another good match.

Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes. Cody ran around for a while, escaping to the crowd, but eventually the match got underway. Not on the same level as their Wrestlemania match (which is to be expected since it's a house show), but still very good.

Tony Chimel then introduced Edge, who came out and talked for a while. Many, "Thank you Edge" chants. He talked about his surgery and retirement and such. It was pretty emotional. Eventually he was interrupted by Del Rio, who challenged him to a match. Edge informed Del Rio that he was GM for the night, and that Del Rio would be facing a very good friend of his.

Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a Newcastle Street Fight. This was match of the night. The fans "picked" the Street Fight stipulation. Really, it was always going to be a street fight, and Edge just made it seem like it was the fan's choice. A kendo stick and a chair came into play, but there was a lot of actual wrestling. It looked like one of Del Rio's Kendo Stick shots left a mark on Christian's back, I couldn't tell whether it was bleeding or not. Brodus Clay interfered, and then Edge ran down and distracted Del Rio, allowing Christian to land the Killswitch. He followed this with a spear. I can't actually recall what happened to Clay, I think Christian took him out just before Edge came down.

Edge and Christian talked after the match, gave a 5 second pose, then Christian left and Edge went round shaking hands with the audience. Quite a few members of the Smackdown roster then joined him. Mainly faces, but Jackson, Layla and Caitlyn were there too. They all applauded Edge and hugged him and stuff. Rey Mysterio was taking photos, and he and Edge filmed the crowd on his camera. Eventually, Edge was left alone again, and spent another few minutes shaking hands with fans while he was leaving.

Overall, this was a solid house show. It was great of Edge to make the trip overseas, and everyone in attendance was clearly very grateful. His appearances and the main event were the clear highlights of the show.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: