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With Summerslam right around the corner, this week’s WWE Smackdown managed to be a good build up for the big summer show. Christian and Randy Orton will slug it out at Summerslam in a No-Holds Barred match for the World Heavyweight Championship. But did the feud take any further twists at this week’s show? Read more to find it out yourself.
The Opener:
Immediately after the show started, the COO of the WWE, Triple H came out and made blockbuster announcements regarding the matches on the show. He announced an Intercontinental Championship match between Ezekiel Jackson and Cody Rhodes. He also announced that Alberto Del Rio would take on Daniel Bryan in a MITB winner vs MITB winner match. Additionally, he stated that both Randy Orton and Christian would also be involved in matches. Randy Orton was scheduled to take on The Great Khali. While Triple H was about to announce Christian’s opponent, Christian himself came out and made his objections against Randy Orton’s participation at Sunday’s event. Triple H squashed Christian’s requests and announced that Christian would take on Sheamus in the night’s first match. Triple H is doing a good job these days in such segments wherein he manages to bring in some humour into them.
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Segment Rating: 4/5
Match One: Christian versus Sheamus
Singles Match
Christian was expectedly disappointed at facing Sheamus in a match just days before an important title match. This was the reason that he gave up the match by losing to Sheamus through countout. Christian was shrewd to do that but the reality is that Sheamus got a proper victory over the champion. The match was full of action till the count out happened. Good to see Sheamus getting a go ahead as a babyface successfully.
Winner: Sheamus
Match Rating: 3/5
The Divas Of Doom – Beth Phoenix and Natalya enjoying the pain that Kaitlyn is going through
Match Two: Beth Phoenix and Natalya versus AJ Lee and Kaitlyn
The ‘Divas of Doom’ Beth Phoenix and Natalya had been dominating the divas over the past weeks, both on Raw and Smackdown. This week, AJ and Kaitlyn were their cannon fodder as Beth Phoenix dominated AJ and got the pinfall victory. After the end of the match, Natalya tormented Kaitlyn by putting her in the Sharpshooter submission hold. It is clear that both Beth and Natalya are about to dominate the other divas in the weeks to come.
Winners: Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Match Rating: 3/5
Match Three: Sin Cara versus Tyson Kidd
Singles Match
Sin Cara came back to action in the WWE after a short hiatus for a few weeks. Two high flyers gave us a match to remember with plenty of high rise moves which were executed to perfection. Eventually, it was Sin Cara who turned out to be victorious in the end. A fantastic match for the fans to watch.
Winner: Sin Cara
Match Rating: 4/5
Match Four: Alberto Del Rio versus Daniel Bryan
Singles Match
The two Money in the Bank winners slugged it out in the middle of the ring to find out the dominant winner. Given the recent push that has been given for Alberto Del Rio, its a no brainer that he would win this match. And he indeed emerged victorious not before Daniel Bryan had exhibited some of his skills. After the match Wade Barrett came out and attacked Daniel Bryan. It was announced that Daniel Bryan will face Wade Barrett in a singles match at Summerslam. An exciting match in the offing which deserved a PPV status.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Match Rating: 4/5
The New Intercontinental Champion – Cody Rhodes
Match Five: Cody Rhodes with Ted DiBiase versus Ezekiel Jackson
Singles Match for the Intercontinental Championship
This match was billed to be one of the marquee matches of the night and it lived up to its billing. Ezekiel Jackson has been the champion for quite a while, but it did no good for him as he did not get the desired momentum after winning the championship. Cody Rhodes put on a good match with Ezekiel Jackson. Quite a long match in which Cody Rhodes emerged the winner after hitting the Cross Rhodes on Jackson and pinning him. Cody finally won a singles championship in the WWE. He surely deserved it and deserves much more, considering the efforts that he has put in over the past few months to turn himself into an envious, self concentric heel.
Winner and the NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: Cody Rhodes
Match Rating: 3/5
Mark Henry dominating Johnny Curtis
Match Six: Mark Henry versus Johnny Curtis
Singles Match
Johnny Curtis made his much awaited debut on Smackdown in this match, after his NXT season 4 victory. However, his debut turned out to be disastrous as Mark Henry made a mockery out of him by defeating him within 3 minutes. It was about to get even worser for Johnny Curtis as Mark Henry was plotting to break his ankle using a chair. But Sheamus came out and saved Curtis of any further damage. Mark Henry’s path of destruction has continued for quite a while now and let us wait and see whether he can overcome Sheamus too at Summerslam.
Winner: Mark Henry
Match Rating: 3/5
The Great Khali getting RKO-ed by Randy Orton
Match Seven: Randy Orton versus Great Khali with Jinder Mahal
Singles Match
The Viper squared off against the Punjabi nightmare in a classic David Vs Goliath contest. Khali clearly had the advantage but couldn’t capitalise as he went down fighting against Randy Orton’s RKO. However, Orton victory celebrations were interrupted by Christian who announced that he had received some information which would change everything on Sunday. The show ended with Christian standing tall on the ramp. It is clear that Christian has something up his sleeve on Sunday. We would’ve to wait until Sunday to know it. The truth is that this has added even more thrust to the World Heavyweight Championship match at Summerslam.
Winner: Randy Orton
Match Rating: 3/5
The Bottomline:
This week’s edition of WWE Smackdown played the perfect foil for the upcoming Summerslam PPV. The Orton- Christian feud took further inroads and a new Intercontinental Champion was crowned (Cody Rhodes). It was fun to watch with nearly seven matches and 60 minutes of hardcore wrestling action. Check in next week to find out what happened on the summerslam aftermath episode of WWE smackdown.
Show Rating: 3/5
