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WWE Smackdown on 9/3/2012, held at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, was one of those bizarre shows with several talking points. Here’s the top 10 of them.
1. John Laurinaitis as the one-night-only Smackdown GM
The power struggle between Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis entered the next phase as it got personal during the show. Laurinaitis tried to use Long’s girlfriend Aksana to humiliate him. Though it did not end well for Laurinaitis, he is getting huge heat on him in this feud which could very well develop into a Wrestlemania match between the teams of Long and Laurinaitis. His character is getting more and more despicable and has the potential to be a heel magnet much like Vickie Guerrero.
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2. Teddy Long scrapes out with a win in his match against Laurinaitis
With Randy Orton‘s RKO on Kane spoiling Laurinaitis’ attempt to intimidate Teddy Long and Aksana, further embarrassment was in store for Laurinaitis as he was beaten by Teddy. A quick roll-up victory was the best that the WWE could have come up with, considering the in-ring ability of both men. Laurinaitis was left red-faced after this defeat as he was out-smarted by Teddy Long who took advantage of Randy Orton’s distraction to gain the pin-fall.
Theodore Long vs John Laurinaitis
3. Santino defends his US title successfully
Jack Swagger was granted his United States Championship rematch against Santino Marella inside a steel cage. Though Jack dominated the proceedings of this match, he ended up on the losing side as Vickie slammed the door of the cage in his face. Santino escaped the cage to gain the victory but it was not the ideal way to portray a champion. Santino shouldn’t be diminished as a wrestler in such matches. He had minimal offence during the match which was baffling to say the least.
Santino Marella successfully defended his United States Championship against Jack Swagger
4. Drew McIntyre rehired on Smackdown
Drew McIntyre, who was fired last week by Teddy Long, got yet another opportunity to regain his job if he defeated a mystery opponent. At first, The Great Khali was the mystery man, but he was replaced by Horswoggle courtesy of John Laurinaitis. Drew got his job back but his joy was shortlived as The Great Khali attacked him after the match. Drew is a good talent but he has to be repackaged or else he will once again fade into oblivion.
5. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeat the tag champions yet again
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth got even more reasons to stake claim for a WWE Tag-team championship match in the near future as they defeated the reigning champions for the second time in a month.
6. Mark Henry makes quick work of Ezekiel Jackson
Mark Henry defeated Ezekiel Jackson in a singles match. This match had no background leading up to it. It seems like there won’t be any follow up too. With Mark Henry being injury prone in the recent past, it will be interesting to see whether he will be involved in Wrestlemania or not.
7. Michael Cole interviews Bryan and Sheamus
This interview segment was actually not that bad. It was well packaged. Both men made optimum use of the opportunity to show their mettle on the mic. Bryan has improved and same thing can be said about Sheamus too. With Sheamus being the overwhelming favorite to wrest the title away from Bryan, Bryan desperately needs to be made to look stronger. But that doesn’t seem to be the case currently.
8. Six man tag-team match: Miz-ery continues
The main event featured Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and The Miz in a six-man tag team match. The match was physical with a lot of action. Randy got the victory by pinning the Miz. The misery of the Miz continues as he still is not a part of Wrestlemania yet. In fact, out of the 6 men in this match, 4 already are advertised in matches at mania. Randy Orton could be involved in a match with Kane. That leaves the Miz out with nothing at hand at present. Will his free fall from the top be arrested soon?
9. Kane and Randy Orton bring Smackdown to a chaotic close
Kane attacked Randy Orton after the tag-team match. Both men have been at it for the past few weeks. Having them brawl at the end of the show in the middle of the crowd was a nice touch to get this feud over in a short period of time. The question is whether it will translate into a match at Wrestlemania. The answer has to be yes but we have to wait and watch what happens in the coming weeks.
Kane and Randy Orton brawled amidst the WWE Universe
10. Minimal/Negligible diva involvement!
If you had watched this weeks Smackdown, you may not have noticed that there was minimal diva involvement on the show. In-fact only AJ showed up that too alongside his storyline lover Daniel Bryan. Besides there were no diva matches, backstage segment etc. I’m still unable to come to a conclusion whether this is for good or bad. But, this is a strong indicator that we may not have a Divas match at Wrestlemania.
Smackdown was good in terms of build towards Wrestlemania. It also had some good matches and therefore, I would give a 8/10 rating for this episode.
