WWE Smackdown live event
Birmingham, England
Report by Dot Net reader Darren Gutteridge

First, in a similar vein to the guy who posted the Vienna report, I would like to plug my new wrestling website, which is to go live really soon. We're going to try and provide a British P.O.V. on all things pro wrestling, from the American side of thing to the U.K. promotions. We may even be looking for contributors at some point. For more information, please check out my Twitter feed @DazatheG, where all the information will be posted closer to the website going up.

1. William Regal beat Daniel Bryan via the Regal Stretch. A very pro Regal crowd. In a strange turn, Bryan accepted the fact he wasn't the favourite and pretty much worked heel. It made the match feel slightly different, and Bryan played the chicken-shit heel well. It started out with chain wrestling as it did the last time I saw these two wrestle,before Bryan started to get mean and play to the crowd. The finish came when Regal reversed a Le Bell Lock attempt into a Regal Stretch.

After the match, Regal grabbed the mic, and said although he is old now he isn't retiring. He told the crowd that he trained Bryan and this is the first time he had seen any aggression from him. Regal pointed out a former tag team partner in the crowd and said if it wasn't for him, neither of them would be in the ring. He thanked the crowd, and called Bryan the future of the WWE. A great start and a long match.

2. Tyson Kidd beat Jinder Mahal via a roll up. Johnny Curtis was making his entrance when Mahal attacked him from behind. He cut a promo in Punjabi before Mick Foley's music hit. The crowd went wild for the Hardcore Legend. He said he happened to be in the neighbourhood and thought he would stop by for a cheap pop. He advertised his gig in Birmingham in February 2012, before introducing Kidd as Mahal's new opponent.

Kidd worked face for the match, and it started in typical Kidd style with rest holds. When Mahal was on offence the match ground to a halt, but Kidd eventually started to pick up the pace. Near the end Mahal attacked Foley on the outside and grabbed a chair. As he slid in Foley grabbed the chair, and the distraction allowed Kidd to get the roll up. Foley climbed in and pulled out Socko for the claw on Mahal. He said that Vince told him when he retired, for the 1st time, that the WWE was his 'playground', and he could come back and 'play' whenever he wanted. He said he would see us soon and thanked everyone. A solid, if uninspired match, that again went quite long. Don't think we're in for too many matches tonight. I may have seen it as better than it was after the excitement of finally seeing one of my all time favourites in Foley.

3. AJ beat Tamina (with Aksana as special referee) via Standing Sliced Bread. Dull. Tamina dominated most of the match. By which I mean she hit one big move and then looked menacing and played to the crowd for quite a while before another big move. All of AJ's offence came from the top rope, but she was soon shut down again. AJ got the win with an impressive standing version of the Sliced Bread. Aksana added nothing other than be another Diva for the men to look at.

4. Sheamus beat Christian via the Brogue Kick. Sheamus picked up Christian's shirt and did a cute little bull charge with the shirt. The kids seemed to like it, but wasn't Sheamus going to kill Christian last Smackdown? Christian slid out and got the mic, saying he had more teeth than the whole population of Birmingham, and threatened to walk out if he wasn't shown respect.

Christian started walking out but Sheamus ran to him and threw him back in. Good match, if you have seen any of their matches you have seen this one. It just seemed like to opponents that had each other scouted, and they worked that psychology really well. Sheamus kicked out of the spear, and when Christian went for another Sheamus made him eat a Brogue Kick for the 1-2-3. Sheamus was over like crazy with the kids, and made sure to slap every hand at ringside.

Intermission

5. Hunico beat Yoshi Tatsu via Swanton Bomb. Hunico came out as Sin Cara, the crowd was loving it, until Hunico grabbed some Sin Cara signs and tore them up, revealing himself as Hunico. He said that he thought he was going to the big cities like Manchester and London, not dumps like Birmingham. Tatsu came out and the match got under way. They got off to a quick start before slowing it down with ground work. Hunico was on top for the most part, and he got the win in the quicker paced final part after dodging Tatsu's top rope spin kick and hitting a Swanton Bomb. An enjoyable, quick match.

6. Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase beat Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett after Orton pinned Barrett with an RKO. As expected, Orton was OVER. Cody was working without the mask, and there was no sign of the baggers. Lots of stalling to begin with, Cody kept sliding out the ring when the faces went for him. Surprisingly, both DiBiase and Orton where isolated by the heels, who were in control for most of the middle stint. Orton eventually got the hot tag and started the five moves of doom, only to get interrupted during the RKO stance by Rhodes.

DiBiase took Rhodes out with Dreamstreet, and Randy went for and RKO. Barrett countered, and hit swinging backbreaker (Black Hole Slam) for a 2 count. He tried to set up Wasteland, but Orton struggled out and nailed an RKO for the win. He too went all the way around the ring to thank the fans. Standard TV level tag match, but the fans seemed to like it. Sometimes it's just good to give the casual fans what they want – Randy Orton being a bad ass. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

7. Big Show beat Mark Henry via DQ in a World Hvt. Championship match. TV does no justice to these two men. Big Show was in goofball mood, shaking his ass at every opportunity. Thought this was a mission of vengeance since Henry broke his ankle. And it was for, you know, the biggest title on Smackdown! Again, the kids laughed, so it's over with them at least. As for the match, it only started after a five minute shoving match, a bear hug challenge, and a test of strength.

It was slow, with Henry keeping show grounded until Show would rally back. Show hit a chokeslam for a close 2 count, before Henry hit him with a chair for the DQ after rolling out of the way of the WMD. He set up for the chair ankle breaker, but show dodged it and knocked Henry out. He didn't stick around long but slapped a few hands on the way out. Not the best, but they tried their best. And Show was cool in person, so that's good enough for me!

Overall, not the most memorable of shows I have seen in Birmingham, but their wasn't a bad match really. The main event was just a typical big man slog fest, but the action elsewhere was solid to good. I think the shows biggest problem was it definitely felt 'B-show'-y. None of the heels got much heat on the way out expect for Henry. All the others either got cheers (Christian, Barrett), mild boos (Rhodes), or silence (Mahal, Tamina). Orton, Sheamus, Show and Foley were the only ones to deliver 'superstar' level pops.

Biggest Pops:
Orton (By a mile)
Foley
Sheamus

Biggest Heat:
Henry
Bryan (during the match)

Notes: As I said, earlier in the day I went to an appearance by Big Show at Smyths toy store in nearby Walsall. The line was fairly long considering it was a cold and windy Monday afternoon. By the time we got to the front they had stopped photos as so to get everyone in before Show had to leave. Until you have seen him up close, you can't imagine how big Show is. His hand engulfed mine when I shook it. He seemed relaxed and happy, and said he was having a nice day. He signed my shirt and I wished him luck in his match later. A cool guy all the way round. He was very nice to the little girl behind me and gave her a hug. A class act.

The show was pretty much sold out and no were was covered. The crowd wasn't as hot as it has been in previous shows, maybe because the show lacked overall 'star power'. First time I sat on the floor, and it was cool to finally be close to the ring. And to say I marked out for Foley is an understatement. No show here next tour, so it'll be a year before I get to see it again. Until then, please add me on Twitter @DazatheG and help out a new start up website.

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