Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
07/05/2013
Topeka, Kansas (Or, somewhere in the U.S.A. that WWE doesn’t want you to know about. Happy Independence Day!)
-CM Punk is out to join us at the beginning of the show in this nondescript Midwestern city. Punk has two goals, and those are to get his hands on Brock Lesnar and to win at Money In The Bank. He also talks about how he can get behind the idea of independence. ADR interrupts him. Punk disagrees at ADR’s thought that Smackdown is his show. Del Rio talks about how Punk represents the American sheep in the audience. Punk talks about his dishonesty as a fan of the American Dream, and Del Rio reminds him that he is the champion. Punk buries the belt by saying that being the best in the world is more important. ADR tells Punk to leave the ring. Punk refuses. Teddy comes out and tells Punk and ADR they’ll have a match later on tonight. This is not at all like the Raw main event from two weeks ago.
-Backstage, Punk is preparing for his match, when Paul pops up. Paul doesn’t want him to fight tonight. Punk is going to do it anyway and also turns down his services to walk him out to the ring at MITB.
The Usos vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
The Usos are in control at the start, but Cody returns fire with a dropkick and brings in Sandow. Damien gets The Elbow of Disdain for two and brings Cody back in to beat on Jey. Cody drops the knee and brings in Sandow. A failed double team from the best friends results in superkicks that put down both Cody and Sandow.
Stereo splashes from the top end this match before it begins. After the match, The Shield pop up on the tron and pretty much ask if The Usos feel lucky. They make excuses for their recent failures. Ambrose makes the promo a lot better as he is very confident about winning MITB and owning the world.
Final Thoughts: This just made Sandow and Rhodes look terrible going into the MITB match, and The Usos’ gains were minimal. I can see Sandow turning on Rhodes at MITB and taking the briefcase. Really, anyone but he or Ambrose winning the case would be a disappointment.
Alicia Fox vs. Kaitlyn
Hey, did anyone do a Google image search for Celeste Bonin? Fox has a measure of control at the beginning. She hits a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Fox rams Kaitlyn into the corner and tosses on a chinlock. Kaitlyn fights out with a snapmare and a clothesline. AJ comes skipping out with her music.
Layla is worthless in not stopping the distraction. Fox gets the boot up in the corner, but Kaitlyn fights back. Kaitlyn dropkicks AJ from the apron but gets rolled up by Fox. After the match, Kaitlyn runs AJ off, with Worthless Layla following.
Final Thoughts: This is starting to run out of juice, even though there should be plenty of material to pull from. Layla is just the Diva mom at this point and shouldn’t have been out there. Or, maybe AJ could have distracted her quickly, while staying away from Layla.
-Backstage, AJ is retreating and runs into the Bellas. They both really want her title and say so. She’s still running from Kaitlyn as she finds Big E and freaks out about her dangerous predicament. AJ leaves Dolph behind and runs off with Big E. They probably shouldn’t have mentioned that Kaitlyn was taking forever to catch her.
-Also, Renee interviews Christian and Randy Orton. Randy Orton can’t wait to beat Christian in one more match.
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Christian and Orton start with some basic reversals to start. Christian takes over in the corner, but Orton springs out of the opposite corner and hits a clothesline. They trade some reversals on old moves, and we go to break after Christian counters the hanging DDT and dumps Orton to the outside. Christian puts a boot to Orton’s throat as we return.
Christian stomps away but Orton gets up and they slug it out before Orton gets the Thesz Press. Christian goes up and hits the crossbody for two. It’s nice to see these guys wrestling each other again. Orton fights out of the rear chinlock and whips Christian hard into the corner. On their knees, they slug it out, again. Christian hits a hard slap but walks into a dropkick from Orton. Randy hits some clotheslines but Christian dodges the powerslam and kicks him in the gut.
Orton punches him in the corner after a reversal. Christian dodges a charge but gets hit with a gutwrench powerbomb for two. After a nifty reversal sequence in the corner, Orton hits a powerslam, finally, for two. Orton fights out of the Killswitch, but Christian hits a belly to back suplex. Christian looks for the spear and hits it for a long two count. Orton fights out of the Killswitch, drags Christian to the apron and hits the hanging DDT. Christian counters the RKO and goes up to the top. Orton steps forward from the jumping attack and steps back to hit the RKO for the win.
Final Thoughts: It was a lot of fun for these guys to go out there and counter each other’s moves for a few good minutes. The chemistry is still on display, and hopefully, they have a nice segment together during the ladder match. The clean finish was welcomed bonus.
-Teddy Long is on the phone in back. Heyman comes into the room and Teddy requests for him to jump onto commentary for the main event. Paul is less than pleased.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntrye
Before the match, Dolph cuts a babyface promo. Pretty much, he says that ADR is full of crap. Sheamus should learn how to be charming like Dolph. Drew chases Dolph around to start, but Ziggler stays a step ahead. Drew gets the upper hand with a turnbuckle bomb for two. Back into the corner, Drew batters away at Dolph and hits a snap suplex for just one. Drew locks on an abdominal stretch.
Dolph fights back but gets hit with a couple of nice backbreakers for two. Drew looks good. Good job, Dolph. On the apron, Drew goes for a big boot, but Dolph gets out the way. Ziggler hits a corner splash and a dropkick for two. After a nice reversal sequence, Dolph hits a quick Zig Zag for the win. After the match, 3MB welcomes Dolph back into the ring. So, Dolph goes in, gets low, and bails again to tease 3MB. Good fun.
Final Thoughts: This was a fun and quick little match. Drew looked good for a change, and Dolph was able to show off his great athleticism to attention from the commentary table. With Dolph messing around with 3MB so often, I would welcome them becoming henchmen at the PPV for a desperate Del Rio.
Fandango vs. Justin Gabriel
They trade waistlocks and side headlocks to start. Gabriel hits a spin kick and trips Fandango up on the apron. Gabriel looks to fly but Fandango gets the boot up. With Justin down, Fandango comes down with The Alabama Jam to finish it quickly.
Final Thoughts: Just a squash. Fandango looks better than terrible going into the buildup to MITB.
-Zeb has a message with Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger. I’m trying to pay attention to what he is saying, but I’m just looking at his zippers dangling from his jacket. There are so many unnecessary pockets. Zeb is warning us of the…dangerous, unregulated fireworks from Mexico? Yeah, where are you, government?! He lost a friend in 1988 to a Mexican firework, ya know!
CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio
Paul Heyman is indeed on commentary. They lock up to start. They’re both wearing black trunks. That’s a no-no. The two trade strikes in the corner before Punk hits a snapmare and a dropkick. ADR reverses but misses a charge in the corner. Punk hits the high knee and a clothesline. Punk goes up and looks for the elbow drop, but Del Rio bails as we go to break.
We return with Del Rio hitting an enzuigiri on the arm in the corner. Punk gets out of an armbar but falls after a charge and takes the Si Kick. Punk is on the ropes as Paul talks about how he mentored Cole as an announcer. Interesting. Punk fights back and teases a GTS. Del Rio hits the double knee armbreaker and punches away at Punk. Del Rio hits another kick and gets two. Alberto goes back to the arm. Punk escapes with forearms and hits a scoop slam.
Punk goes to the top and ADR leaps up and crack Punk in the head with an impressive enzuigiri for two. Punk slips out of the cross armbreaker and hits a clothesline but runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Del Rio kicks the Chicagoan out to the floor. ADR gets out of the GTS on the outside, tosses Punk into the barricade, kicks him in the head, and tosses him over the announce table. ADR clears away the clutter from the table and then slugs Heyman. Punk hops on top of the table and leaps onto ADR in a rage. There’s a double countout as Punk continues to beat on Del Rio. Punk tosses ADR back into the ring and hits a GTS to avenge Paul Heyman.
Final Thoughts: This match was alright and featured some nice action. The highlight of this before the match fell apart was Del Rio enzuigiri where he leapt to the top rope, and spun his boot into Punk’s head. The relationship between Punk and Heyman moves ahead a little bit further. When Heyman officially turns on Punk, it’s going to be a great payoff. The slower burn is nice.
–This was a nice little wrestling show that moved along at a nice. Orton and Christian are always fun to watch together. We had a nice little main event. The tag team bout was disappointing, but I’m hoping they’re building to a split and an opportunity for Sandow to win MITB. Dolph was impressive in the ring with Drew, and McIntyre even delivered some impressive offense. And then, there were some squashes. These were short and inoffensive. Zeb’s stance against unregulated Mexican fireworks had me chuckling. Now, we all get to look forward to Monday and the debut of The Wyatt Family.
