Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
06/21/2013
Dayton, Ohio
-Daniel Bryan is on the way out to start the show. Bryan is out to share that Monday was the first time he was unable to finish a match. He takes offense to WWE officials thinking that he isn’t tough enough. He also takes great offense to Randy Orton patting his head like a dog after the match. Bryan is adamant that he will beat Randy Orton tonight. This draws out Orton. He says that the match was stopped because people were concerned or his health. Still, Orton respects Bryan. Bryan thinks that Orton is just patronizing him and disagrees. So, in response, Orton is looking to hurt Bryan tonight.
Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes (w/Damien Sandow)
They slug away to start. Sheamus takes control and hits a suplex for just one. Cody fights out of an arm wringer and chokes away at Sheamus in the corner. Sheamus fights back and hits a snap mare on Cody from the top turnbuckle. Cody bails and uses the ring skirt to drag Sheamus out of the ring. He rams his arm into the ring post and then tosses Sheamus into the crowd barricade.
Sheamus rolls in and takes some stomps and knees to the shoulder from Rhodes. Cody continues to work on the arm in the corner. Rhodes follows up with a running knee for just one. Sheamus fights out of an armbar but misses a corner charge. Cody rolls Sheamus up for two. Sheamus fights back from the apron and tries to launch himself into Cody, but Rhodes catches him and applies a Fujiwara Armbar.
Sheamus fights out and hits the rolling Samoan drop. Sheamus, on the apron, kicks down at Sandow because he’s a jerk. Rhodes runs into Sandow and takes White Noise. Sheamus uses the cloverleaf for the submission win. Sandow runs in after the match and beats down Sheamus.
Final Thoughts: This was a fine match, but needed a Brogue Kick finish. Sheamus using the cloverleaf ruins the arm work that Cody had been doing for the majority of the match.
-We get another Wyatt Family vignette.
IC Title Match – Curtis Axel © (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Wade Barrett
There’s a lockup to begin. The Miz is on commentary, again. Axel grabs a side headlock. Barrett puts him in the corner and stomps away. Barrett drops an elbow for a quick one count. Axel returns fire with a dropkick. Axel now pounds away in the corner. Curtis hits a second robe elbow for two. Axel stomps away in the corner, but gets tripped up by Barrett.
Wade hits a snap suplex for two. Barrett traps Axel in the ropes and hits some knee strikes. He follows up with the big boot, sending Axel to the outside. Back inside, Barrett reverses the Perfect-Plex and hits a big boot for two. Barrett misses his own elbow from the second rope. Axel hits the neckbreaker for the win. The Miz and Axel stare at each other after the match, but nothing comes of it.
Final Thoughts: This was a very boring match between two guys. I’m surprised that neither of them tried to play the face. I’m not sure where Barrett goes from here. Being in a tag team would be a good start.
AJ Lee vs. Natalya
Natalya is in control to start. Natalya puts on a deathlock. Lee escapes and puts on a sleeper hold. We come back from the break with Natalya hitting a snap suplex. She follows up with a spinning clothesline for two. Natalya goes for a spinning powerslam thing, but gets caught in the Black Widow submission for the win.
Final Thoughts: Well, at least AJ didn’t play possum for half of the match. In time, I’ll learn to buy in that Natalya is a jobber to AJ. In time.
-Backstage following the match, Aksana says the wrong things to Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn beats her down, leading to the Divas to jump in and separate them after Kaitlyn empties a trashcan on her.
Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)
They lock up to start. ADR gets a shoulderblock. Jericho fires back with a dropkick and clothesline. In the corner, Jericho stomps away. Chris chokes Del Rio in the ropes and takes aim with some forearms. ADR gets the boots up in the corner and kicks and stomps at Jericho. Chris answers with a chop, but telegraph a back body drop.
Del Rio misses a charge and goes outside. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick and heads outside with the baseball slide. Ricardo distracts Jericho on the way back in, and ADR kicks Jericho in the head. We go to break.
We return with Jericho missing a corner charge and taking a hard spill to the floor. Del Rio follows and tosses Chris into the crowd barricade. He follows with a kick. Back inside, ADR gets two. ADR rams a few shoulders in the corner, but misses a charge. Jericho hits the shoulderblocks and comes off the top with the axe handle.
ADR reverses out of the Walls and hits the Si Kick for two. ADR misses the enzuigiri and takes a crossbody from the top for two. Jericho hits the bulldog and the Lionsault, but can’t cover. ADR reverses into the cross armbreaker from the Walls, but Jericho counters back and locks it in. Ricardo distracts Jericho, and Chris decides to give him the Liontamer. It’s a shock that Cole actually calls it a Liontamer.
Ziggler takes the opportunity to run-in on the match and attack, ADR. Del Rio wins by DQ. Jericho gives Ziggler the Codebreaker for showing off. So, Del Rio returns and has Ricardo hold Dolph as he hits the Si Kick to leave Ziggler lying. There is no support for Dolph from Big E or AJ.
Final Thoughts: A good match that has a lot of interesting things attached to it, going forward. Dolph is just a couple of weeks away from being abandoned by AJ and Big E. Del Rio has more momentum as a heel than he has ever had. Jericho had has reasons to lay out Dolph, through history, and the current situation. Great segment.
Christian vs. Drew McIntyre
Christian tosses Drew to start and hits a dropkick to the outside. Back in, Christian trips Drew on to the second rope and gives him a smack. Christian comes off of the top rope but gets caught in a slam for two. Christian gets the boots up in the corner and hits a second rope spinning elbow.
Heath distracts, but Christian floats over Drew and hits the Killswitch for the win. Christian takes the microphone and is damned glad to be back on TV. Christian still wants one more match. The Shield surprises him, actually using the ramp. They beat him down quickly and hit the powerbomb.
Final Thoughts: This was a good segment for Christian. He got another quick win, and now has something to do right away, entering the feud with The Shield.
-Paul Heyman is backstage with Renee Young. Paul denies his involvement in Punk and Lesnar on Monday. He turns the tables on Renee, and asks her a bunch of probing, personal questions. Man, Paul really is a creep to find out all of those things. Delightfully creepy.
Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan
Bryan begins with a flying knee and takes them into the corner. They reverse and beat on each other for a bit. Orton hits some punches in the corner and follows with a European uppercut. Orton stomps away at Bryan. Bryan fights back in the corner with some punches, and Orton reverses on a suplex attempt and hits one of his own. Randy misses a knee drop and Bryan works on that same knee.
Orton reverses out of a leg-based submission hold and puts on a side headlock. Bryan reverses out with a shinbreaker and goes for the No Lock. Orton reveres out of the attempt with a sideslam. Nice sequence. Orton drops Bryan across the ropes and then suplexes him out of the ring from the apron. We go to break.
We return with Bryan fighting back but getting caught with a dropkick for two. Randy puts Bryan on the top turnbuckle and heads up. Bryan fights out and hits the dropkick from the top rope. Both men are down, but Bryan nips up and hits a frenzy of dropkicks on Orton for two. Bryan flips out of the corner and takes the best Orton powerslam I’ve ever seen.
That gets two. Bryan reverses an uppercut into a backslide for two. Bryan hits the buzzsaw kick on Orton for two. Bryan goes to the top, but gets crotched by Orton. Randy hits the top rope superplex and gets two. Randy goes for the hanging DDT, and gets it. Bryan rolls out of the ring before the RKO.
Orton drops Bryan across the barricade. Bryan fights back and hits the running knee from the apron. Bryan hits the dive, this time. Both men are down on the outside, getting counted out. Bryan rolls in first, and Orton doesn’t make it in time. He is unhappy, to say the least. Bryan nearly starts a riot, wanting the match to be restarted. But, the show just fades to black, instead.
Final Thoughts: A very good match, outside of the finish. I’m worrying about Bryan’s character right now. In order for him to not be the heel in this story with Orton, either Orton needs to turn heel, or Bryan needs to be able to tone down the whining just a bit. Still, I look forward to where this leads.
–It was strange that The Shield had such a limited presence on the show. Still, they mixed it up with Christian and can move on to a feud with him. The best match was Orton and Bryan, but I think that the best storyline development is what happened between Del Rio, Jericho, and Ziggler. I wouldn’t mind them having Ziggler lose everything and have to chase again. Perhaps Vickie can stack the deck against him on his return match, if it happens on Raw. The AJ and Kaitlyn storyline is probably going to drift along for a few months, with the rematch taking some time after SummerSlam. But overall, this was a good, fast paced show that rarely felt like it was dragging.
DVR MARKERS
0:00 – Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton – Recommended
0:17 – Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes – Slightly Recommended
1:01 – Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio – Recommended
1:39 – Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan – Highly Recommended
