Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
07/19/2013
Providence, Rhode Island
-Teddy Long is out in the ring to start the show and welcomes the fans in attendance. Teddy alerts the crowd that Mr. McMahon is going to be on Smackdown to evaluate his own performance. Booker T comes out then to interrupt Teddy and return to WWE. It’s odd that a GM was out of commission due to triceps surgery. I suppose WWE is very particular about the consistency of signatures on forms. Mr. McMahon is now out to make his presence known. Vince is it out to make sure that there’s no dissention between the two of them, with one job open. Teddy and Booker T try to impress Vince with their decisions on matches for the night. It’s more of the same, really. Out comes Brad Maddox to interrupt and ask to also be GM of Smackdown. A drumroll sounds as Vince makes his decision on who will be running the show. The crowd is not happy as Vickie becomes GM of Smackdown. Vickie absorbs the jeers as she thanks Mr. McMahon. Vickie embraces her hatred for the WWE fans that effectively fired her.
Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph tries to get a quick pin on Swagger to start. Swagger bails after Dolph comes off of the ropes after Dolph gets the boot up after they meet on a whip. Swagger breaks up the ten punches and hits him with a slam. Swagger follows with a shoulderblock. Ziggler comes back with a dropkick that sends Jack outside. Dolph follows and tosses Jack in, but Cesaro cheapshots him on the way back in. Both Colter and Cesaro are tossed, the referee expecting foul play. Back inside, Dolph gets two from a small package. Neat reversal as Swagger gets out of sunset flip pinning attempt and puts on the Patriot Lock. Dolph escapes and hits the Zig Zag for the quick win. Dolph has the microphone after the match and teases before saying that he should have dumped AJ a lot sooner.
Final Thoughts: Nothing really happened here. It was just a quick babyface win for Dolph and an opportunity to have this devolve further into something from high school. I would have rather he not come off like Sheamus will in six months when Renee Young turns on him to tremendous cheers from the crowd.
-Backstage, AJ has a fit at Dolph’s comments, toppling over chairs nearby. Langston finally gets a hold of her and gives her a hug and attempts to GET WILD IN THE FRIENDZONE. He settles for a kiss on the forehead and quickly walks off.
Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns vs. The Usos
The Usos charge the ring to start and the two teams brawl. Ambrose runs in and helps his partners beat down The Usos. Mark Henry’s music hits to a giant pop and beats them around the ring. The Shield gangs up on Henry before The Usos even the numbers. The Shield retreat over the crowd barricade and we don’t have a match.
Final Thoughts: I’m actually glad that we didn’t have The Usos and The Shield having a match tonight, and I like the inclusion of Mark Henry. I have no problem with this going on for a little while.
Wade Barrett w/awful entrance music vs. Daniel Bryan
They plug the application before the match. They haven’t done this for a while, so it’s not that annoying. Providence loves them some Daniel Bryan. They lock up to start the match. Bryan peppers with right hands but runs into Wade’s clutches. Barrett puts him over the top turnbuckle and hits a big kick to the exposed stomach for two. Wade hits a slingshot backbreaker for two to follow. Bryan breaks out of a hold and hits the machine gun kicks in the corner. Wade comes back with a sidekick. Bryan flips out of the corner and counters the Winds of Change into a crucifix and into the Yes! Lock for a quick win.
Final Thoughts: While we know that these two could produce a badass match, I didn’t mind Bryan simply dismantling Wade and outclassing him. It’s also nice that Bryan is getting something of a break of late from putting his body on the line in every TV appearance. I like that it was decisive, but didn’t make Barrett look any more terrible than he has for the last three years
-Backstage in a corridor, Brad congratulates Vickie’s new appointment. Vickie tells Brad that they should shake on it, but pulls back on the handshake. She thwacks Brad across the face with a hard slap.
-It’s time for Miz TV, and I’m as excited as you are. Miz has nothing to ask his guest Paul Heyman, as he knows that he’s just going to get a lie from him. He tells him to say what he wants. Paul pleads for CM Punk to stay down, go home, and leave WWE. He says that Brock Lesnar would find it disrespectful for Punk to stand up again. Miz points out that Paul lies because his true nature is even uglier. Miz says that he’s revolted that Paul lied on his children in front of everyone. He drops the microphone and walks off. Paul introduces Miz, again to Curtis Axel, and the two pass on the ramp as Axel arrives. Good segment.
Intercontinental Championship Match – Curtis Axel © w/Paul Heyman vs. Chris Jericho
They lockup to begin and Axel gets the side headlock. Axel hits the shoulderblock, leapfrogs, but takes a dropkick. Jericho clothesline Curtis out of the ring and follows him outside with a slide. Chris goes up top and hits a forearm for two. Axel comes back with a couple of strikes and hits a hard corner whip. Axel puts on an armbar but Jericho comes back with a couple of chops. Off of the whip, Chris hits a forearm and ducks a back elbow to get two with a northern lights suplex. Jericho floats over in the corner, but takes a clothesline to the back of the head for two. Axel misses a corner splash and Jericho comes down from the top with a crossbody for two. Axel counters the Codebreaker into a spinebuster for two. We hit the break.
Jericho fights back. Jericho misses a charge and whacks his shoulder against the post. Axel hits the scoop slam. Axel misses an elbow from the second turnbuckle and Jericho comes back with an enzuigiri for two. Jericho chops him in the corner. Axel fights out of the running bulldog and hits a neckbreaker for two. Jericho hits the Lionsault after pulling back on an Axel dropkick. That gets two. Chris hits some kneelifts, but Axel dumps Jericho. Jericho comes from the top again, but takes a boot to the gut. Axel goes for the Perfect-Plex, but Jericho fights back into the Walls.
Heyman distracts, and Axel fights back, only to be caught in the middle of the ring with the same move. Axel makes it to the bottom rope. Jericho hits a bodypress to the outside and slams Axel into the announce table. Back in, Axel hits a boot to the face after Heyman comes with the distraction and follows with an inverted neckbreaker for the win. After the match, Ryback heads out to the ring. Jericho fights back on Ryback but takes a big Meathook clothesline and gets Shell Shocked. Jericho is left lying.
Final Thoughts: This was a good match, and a nice way for Jericho to begin his vacation. Ryback, I guess, got his revenge for all of the names that Jericho had called him. Still, this was a good match, and Jericho changed it up a little bit for the last time that we’ll see him for a while.
-Damien Sandow stands in the ring and tells us that on Sunday, it was every man for himself. He is adamant that he didn’t screw Cody. He forgives Cody for his actions on Monday, though. Damien claims that he and Cody are still best friends. He asks for Cody to come to the ring. Damien says that he forgives Cody for everything. Sandow offers Cody the task to protect the case for him. Damien hands him the case, and Cody thinks it over. Cody says thank you, and proceeds to thrust the case into his former best friend’s face. Cody beats Damien down and sends him scampering. On a side note, Cody’s mustache seems to be thickening just a bit.
Rob Van Dam vs. Darren Young
RVD has his old pyro back. Young grabs a headlock to start and hits a shoulderblock. RVD comes back with a leg roll up for two. Darren is kicked down, and RVD follows with a standing moonsault for two. He chases Darren outside with a body press. RVD ducks a clothesline and hits a superkick. He attempts a Rolling Thunder, but is interrupted by the whistle blowing O’Neil, DADDY! The fans catch on and begin to chant for ECW.
Young hits a stungun for two and puts on a chinlock. RVD comes back with a couple of spinkicks but Darren answers with a clothesline for two. Van Dam fights back and hits Rolling Thunder. Young misses a sunset flip from the apron and takes a jumping sidekick. O’Neil gets knocked off the apron and RVD cleans up with the Five Star Frog Splash for the win.
Final Thoughts: This was a fun, tidy, little match. I got a great kick out of the antics of Titus O’Neil, who continues to do everything he can with the limited time he is given.
-Backstage, Vickie offers to bury the hatchet with Teddy. Teddy is surprised, and for good reason. Vickie kicks him out of the building.
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio
Orton starts with a few headbutts and punches in the corner. Orton follows with a standing dropkick and lifts Del Rio into the corner. Del Rio reverses with a cross armbreaker in the ropes. Del Rio tosses Orton into the corner, his shoulder slamming into the steel post. Del Rio hits a single arm DDT for just one and chokes away in the ropes. Orton fights back and floats over in the corner, getting two on a rollup. Del Rio is back in control, delivering some headbutts and chasing Orton outside. Orton hits the drop on the barricade but ADR reverses a whip into the stairs. Back in, ADR comes off the top but eats a dropkick. Orton hits a couple of clotheslines. Del Rio dodges the powerslam and puts on the cross armbreaker. Orton makes the ropes.
Orton fights back with a backbreaker for two. ADR scurries away from the hanging DDT and dumps Randy to the apron. He knocks him to the floor with an enzuigiri. Del Rio gets two after rolling Orton inside. He delivers a running kick to Orton’s hurting left arm and takes the time to taunt him. Del Rio tries to steal the RKO but Orton reverses into a powerslam for two.
Del Rio answers back with his double knee armbreaker. Orton comes back with the hanging DDT. Del Rio reverses the RKO into a Backstabber for two. Randy rolls through on the cross armbreaker, dodges a boot, and the RKO for the win.
Final Thoughts: This was a very good ten minute match to close out the show. Both of them looked pretty good, and did a nice, gradual build to the closing sequence of near-falls. As far as RKO setups go, this was a refreshing instance where Orton worked for the opening and used some quickness to get behind Alberto. Good stuff.
–This was a good, solid wrestling show. We had two matches of considerable length that were of high quality, and multiple storylines were advanced tonight. Big E and AJ should be interesting to watch, going forward, with Big E trying to hide his feelings. Mark Henry is taking aim at The Shield with support from The Usos. Also, Cody and Damien are starting what could be a terrific, long term feud. I do wonder why Sandow didn’t see the opportunity to cash in on Alberto Del Rio after his loss to Randy Orton, as at the end they mentioned that Orton would have and should have cashed in if he had the right briefcase. During the show, they also aired a recap of Cena’s decision, outlining Bryan as being a people’s champion of sorts. It’s a good move for them to make Bryan out to be a guy who has broken through due to the passion of his fans. It reminds us that, sometimes, they’ll give fans what they want.
