WWE Smackdown live event
Baton Rouge, La.
Report by Dot Net reader Thad Perkins

Once again, traffic was terrible as usual  but we still managed to get in just as the show was starting. I'm highly impressed with the new set. It looks like they took the tv show set and really scaled it down. It's around 4.000 people in attendance, maybe 4,200 if you count all the people walking around.

Hornswoggle came out to start the show. I was about to opt out and get my refund they were offering since Orton is out. But then Cody came out and trashed LSU and the BCS title game for Monday (Roll Tide Roll!). After some back and forth he beat up on Hornswoggle. Ted Jr. came out and chased him off and the Jinder Mahal came out for the first match some pretty good heat as he jawed with some army personal on the aisle.

1. Ted DiBiase beat Jinder Mahal. Ted cut a pro-LSU promo and how Louisiana was DiBiase country. They traded offense for about seven minutes before Mahal got reversed and ate a Dream Street to take the loss.

2. Ezekiel Jackson and Trent Barreta beat Drew McIntyre and Husky Harris. Tony Chimel somewhat botched the announcing of the Husky's name at first so I thought it was a local wrestler. The guy next to me cleared it up. Husky isn't husky anymore. He dropped a ton of weight. He didn't show off a new gimmick or anything but he was being a basic heel. Tag match lasted about 12 minutes and Drew tapped to the Torture Rack from Zeke.

3. Hunico beat Tyson Kidd. Hunico looks like Konnan Lite when he comes out. He won the 10 minute match after he his his Swanton. It was a very good match. Cody came out and his Cross Rhodes on a downed Kidd and cut another promo before his IC title match. His heat kept growing.

4. Cody Rhodes defeated Justin Gabriel to retain the Intercontinental Title. An excellent match that went about 13 minutes. At one point, Cody was in the crowd and Justin was gonna jump from the top rope to the crowd. It looked like he asked the ref if it was okay, but he was waving him down. Cody missed the Beautiful Disater kick but reversed a DDT into the Cross Rhodes for the win. He kept beating on Gabriel until Ted and Horny came out to make the save. All two and a half men hit their finishers for the crowd. It seems like they're setting up a feud between the former Legacy members.

5. Natalya beat A.J. Your standard Diva's match, just about eight minutes longer. Aksana was the ref for the match. AJ tapped to the Sharpshooter. Then they ganged up on AJ until Rihanna....I mean Alicia Fox and Tamina made the save. The most interesting thing about the match was that my friend who's been a fan all his life as I have, asked whether Bret Hart was really Canadian. I moved down a couple seats from him after that.

6. Sheamus defeated Wade Barrett in a No DQ match. The best match of the night. The match went about 25 minutes. Sheamus is super over and if he wasn't a main eventer already I'd say let him win the Rumble. Halfway through the match, Wade tried to run through the crowd. Sheamus caught him and threw him into a plastic trashcan. Plastic sure is dangerous around WWE lately. At this point they made their way up the stairs to my immediate right. I got some greats pics and a video of Wade bouncing all over the place. Whatever hair gel he uses left some residue on the railing behind me. They made the rounds fighting in the crowd and Wade took control of the match after a Kendo Stick and steel chair came into play. Sometime later, Sheamus flipped out of Wasteland and hit the Brouge Kick for the win.

Chimmel sent us to break was the crew set the cage up. They played that ominous cage music for 10 minutes straight. I went for food and saw a guy dressed like R-Truth. He was only missing the facial piercings. I also noticed the cage they use for house shows is different from the one on a TV or PPV. It's just more like a flat fence and that steel block border wasn't at the top. Intros started and the main event kicked off. Of course, Henry wasn't there because of his injury.

7. Daniel Bryan beat Big Show in a cage match to retain the World Hvt. Championship. Show tossed Bryan awhile before he had his legs worked over. Bryan tried escaping every couple of minutes to no avail. Show hit a spear and put Bryan out of it. Jinder Mahal and Wade Barrett came down to rough up Big Show as Bryan escaped the cage through the door. Sheamus ran down to even the odds and helped Show set up for a double chokeslam. And that ends the house show.

Notes: Another good showing for WWE. They don't make too many trips to Louisiana so it's always a good turnout. The previous show we had this close was the Raw show with the walk out angle. The shirts were split four ways. Cena, Punk, LSU and Saints Jerseys. The crowd was hot most of the night. We love our wrestling in the south. Hopefully they come back soon.

Most Heat
Wade Barrett
Cody Rhodes
Jinder Mahal (yes surprisingly)

Biggest Pops
Sheamus
Big Show
Ted Jr.

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