WWE Smackdown live event
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Report by Dot Net reader Brian Strauss

1. R-Truth and Khali defeated Primo and Epico. The show started with Truth getting a HUGE pop and coming out singing the typical "What's Up". Pretty back and forth match, Khali ultimately pinned Primo. Match Time: roughly 10-15 minutes.

2. Layla over Alicia Fox. Run of the mill divas match, with a little bit of pandering to the fans. A group of guys unsuccessfully tried getting a "Layla's hotter!" chant started…good job, good effort. Match Time: roughly 5-7 minutes.

3. Fandango over Ted DiBiase. DiBiase's fall from what grace he ever had "continued" tonight. Plenty of dancing by Fahn-dahn-goooo. Not a very exciting match. Match Time: roughly 10 minutes

4. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) over Justin Gabriel. Swagger and Zeb Colter did their typical "Take back America" speech, to plenty of boos. Swagger seemed to dominate the whole time, but Gabriel kept fighting until Swagger got him with an ankle lock in the middle of the ring and Gabriel tapped immediately…and of course Swagger held it for another 30 seconds. Match Time: much longer than expected, probably a full 10 minutes.

5. Randy Orton over Mark Henry by DQ. Orton probably got the biggest pop of the night, and Henry (arguably, with Show later, the most boos). Sort of an awkward match with the size differences, but the two did a fairly good job. Henry had Orton reeling, Orton came back for a second, Henry knocked him down, took the announcer's chair and drilled Orton with it…DQ. Match Time: roughly 15 minutes

Intermission

6. Wade Barrett over Bo Dallas to retain the Intercontinental Title. From a wrestling standpoint, I thought this was the best match of the night. Barrett started out looking to finish in a few minutes, but Dallas fought back and even took control of the match for a few minutes. Barrett ended up coming back fairly strong and winning. Funny note: Dallas claimed to have cousins that lived in La Crosse, to which Barrett said he's sorry for the cousins for having to live there. Barrett also mentioned his role in Dead Man Down and noted that La Crosse should feel honored to be hosting a movie star. Match Time: a very entertaining 10-15 minutes

7. Team Hell No over Team Rhodes Scholars to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Lots of fun in this one. Rhodes Scholars walked out first. Sandow asked, "Who is the ignoramus that named this town after a moderately popular sport?" to which most booed, obviously funny. Rhodes said that by the time they finished with Hell No, everyone would be standing and cheering… "Even the fat ones out there!" Hell No came out to a fairly big pop, the crowd chanting both Yes and No to Bryan, as per usual. Very good back and forth match.

At one point (not sure if this was planned or fan-induce) Kane and Bryan were arguing while Sandow and Rhodes were both down outside the ring. The crowd started chanting "Hug it out" and they were about to until both Sandow and Rhodes came and took out Hell No by the legs of each of them. Pretty cool sequence. Kane ended up pinning Rhodes, fairly big pop at that. There was another arguing match between Kane and Bryan about who got to hold the titles, another "Hug it out" chant, and a nice hugging session between the two. Match Time: roughly 15 minutes.

8. Alberto Del Rio over Big Show to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing match. There was a tweet/text vote for if Ricardo was to be allowed at ringside, which was nice but dumb considering Ricardo's popularity these days. I believe the tally was 87% voted Ricardo stays. Fairly back and forth match, some good kicks by del Rio and some good slaps and punches by Show. Del Rio got out and used his bamboo stick, Show stole it from him after a few uses, snapped it and yelled "I DON'T NEED IT!" to the fans. More back and forth…chair used by del Rio fairly liberally for about 2-3 minutes. Show kicked the chair as Del Rio was going for another swing, the chair hit him in the face, and we had a stalemate for a bit.

Show took control, crowd chanted "We want chairs!" and Show just yelled at us. Del Rio took back control and got the table out, set it up in the corner, and kicked Show, forcing him to collapse into the table. VERY anticlimactically, Show half-got up at the ref's "nine" and then collapsed and the match was over. A good match, but too short and not a very good ending. Match Time: probably about 15 minutes, but not incredibly exciting

Notes: One thing I will say is that I was in the front row on a corner and Orton came around after his match and shook every hand and gave every high five within reach of him afterward. Pretty classy act if you ask me, considering his popularity, when a lot of others just went back immediately, like Del Rio. Del Rio gave high fives to those on his way out, didn't even make a half a lap for shakes and fives. I just thought I'd note the class Orton seemed to have tonight. A very good show as far as house shows go.

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