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The WWE SummerSlam proved to be a disastrous outing for Christian as he was defeated by Randy Orton in their No Holds Barred match, and lost the World Heavyweight Championship. This meant that this week’s episode of Smackdown will be explosive with tons of criticism on the former champion Christian who tried to use his best friend Edge to his advantage during their match at SummerSlam. Besides Orton, Mark Henry and Wade Barrett were victorious in their respective matches at SummerSlam which implied that they will move on to newer challenges in this week’s show. A lot was expected from Smackdown this week. Continue reading to know more on what happened in this weeks Smackdown and my thoughts and analysis on the show.
Smackdown Opener: ‘The legacy’ reunites and self-destructs!
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Teddy Long was the first to be in the ring. He introduced the new champion Randy Orton to us. Orton was in a buoyant mood and thrashed Christian during his short speech. Orton said that Christian was injured badly because of his brutal attack on him on Sunday and hence wasn’t present in the arena. Orton wanted to start anew which prompted the general manager of Smackdown, Theodore Long, to announce a 20-Man Battle Royal as the main event of the night to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. He was interrupted by Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase which made me think that there was a ‘Legacy’ reunion happening out there. Cody spoke about both himself and Orton being champions and how he was a better champion than Orton. He also announced that he will be participating in the battle royal. Then Dibiase spoke disrespectfully about Orton which didn’t go down well with him. Ted Dibiase became a victim to the vicious RKO of Orton and then Teddy Long announced that Ezekiel Jackson had revoked his rematch clause and hence we’ll witness a Intercontinental Championship match. An excellent opening segment involving all 3-members of the formerly ‘Legacy’ stable. It was good to see WWE experimenting with reuniting the group. There is no doubt that we’ll see Legacy reunited within the next few months considering the success of this segment. Moreover, these three aren’t as good when they’re alone. Their utmost success was when they were involved in the group. Hence I feel that WWE should think about bringing back the legacy(pun intended!).
Segment Rating: 4/5
Match 1: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Singles Match for the Intercontinental Championship
Ezekiel Jackson was vying to revenge his loss to Cody Rhodes last week. Though one wouldn’t expect Cody to drop his title within a week of winning it, it must be said that he was seconds from losing it. Ezekiel dominated the initial parts of the match but Cody was the eventual winner. Cody hit the Beautiful disaster on Jackson to get the pinfall victory. Thus Cody starts his reign as the intercontinental champion on a successful note. Cody deserves it 100% simply for the effort that he has put over the past one year to develop his character. Kudos to Cody!
Standing Tall: Cody Rhodes after defeating Ezekiel Jackson
Winner and still Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes
Match Rating: 3/5
Segment 2: Ryder hypes Alberto homecoming; Aksana debuts on Smackdown!
There was a backstage segment involving Teddy Long and his assistant Zack Ryder. Zack Ryder said to Teddy that the new WWE champion Alberto Del Rio was on his way to Smackdown. Ryder also revealed that the longisland iced Z would be a part of the battle royal. Aksana, one of the participants of NXT season 3 came into the scene and had a raunchy conversation with Teddy Long which wasn’t PG in my opinion. There isn’t much to say about these segments since they’re just time fillers. Zack Ryder seems to be getting a lot of TV time nowadays as he’s constantly involved in Smackdown. Good for him but he deserves better than just an assistant general manager role.
Segment Rating: 2/5
Match 2: Justin Gabriel vs. Tyson Kidd
Singles Match
This is an rematch of last week’s match between these two in WWE NXT in which Justin Gabriel won. The result remained the same as Justin Gabriel defeated Tyson Kidd once again after hitting the 450 splash. The match was very good. Both men showcased their aerial skills with several high-flying moves which were interlaced in the fast paced action packed match. Justin Gabriel is getting chances to exhibit his skills through these singles matches. On the other hand Tyson Kidd seems to be out of ammunition with these losses affecting his push.
Winner: Justin Gabriel
Match Rating: 3/5Match 3: Alberto Del Rio vs. Daniel Bryan
Singles Match
Flying High: Del Rio Vs Daniel Bryan
Alberto Del Rio came out and bragged about winning the title at SummerSlam and squashing Mysterio on Raw. Daniel Bryan came out and argued with Del Rio which led to the match between them. A match between men of equal caliber is always the best to watch. This match was no exception as the technically sound Del Rio matched the agility and athleticism of Daniel Bryan throughout the course of the match. In the end, Del Rio who applied the cross armbar on Bryan, got the victory via submission. But the mexican aristocrat did not let of Bryan even after he tapped out. It was Sin Cara who came out of nowhere and relieved Bryan from Del Rio’s painful hold. He attacked Del Rio with some of his quick moves and chased him out of the ring. A wonderful match from two of WWE’s skilled wrestlers.
Leap of faith: Sin Cara attacks Del Rio
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Match Rating: 4/5Match 4: Natalya and Alicia Fox vs. Kelly Kelly and AJ
Divas Tag-Team Match
The usual divas banter which was unsuprisingly won by Kelly Kelly, who has been on a roll for the past few weeks. Kelly pinned Alicia Fox for the victory which angered Natalya. Natalya vented her anger on Fox by putting her in the Sharpshooter submission move outside the ring after the end of the match. Natalya and Beth Phoenix’s crusade against the cute girls is on a roll and I’m to know what they’ll come across next.
Winners: Kelly Kelly and AJ
Winners: Kelly Kelly and AJ
Match Rating: 3/5
Match 5: A 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the #1 Contender to the World Heavyweight Championship
This match featured the likes of Sheamus, Mark Henry, Jinder Mahal, Great Khali, Wade Barrett, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Ezekiel Jackson, Cody Rhodes, Justin Gabriel, Yoshi Tatsu, Heath Slater, Sin Cara, Ted DiBiase, Johnny Curtis, Zack Ryder, William Regal, Trent Barreta, and Tyson Kidd. Plenty of guys who deserve to be contending for atleast the Intercontinental Championship. Here’s the order in which the eliminations happened: Yoshi Tatsu, Johnny Curtis, Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes, Ezekiel Jackson, The Great Khali, Heath Slater, William Regal, Justin Gabriel, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Jinder Mahal,Ted Dibiase and Tyson Kidd. This left us with the final four – Wade Barrett, Sin Cara, Mark Henry and Sheamus. Wade Barrett got eliminated after receiving a brogue kick from Sheamus. Sheamus himself followed suit after a vicious slam by Mark Henry. Sin Cara and Mark Henry were the final two left. But Sin Cara was no match for Henry as he was slammed to the floor by the humongous Mark Henry who became the No.1 contented for the WHC by doing so. This led to a altercation between Henry and Randy Orton, reigning World Heavyweight champion, who was sitting and watching the match at ringside. Fantastic to way to end smackdown. Letting Mark Henry to dominate the battle royal was the right way to go. Jinder Mahal’s strategy to let Khali safeguard him backfired. I’m a huge fan of battle royals and this match was satisfactory in my opinion.
Winner: Mark Henry
Match Rating: 4/5
The BottomLine:
Mark Henry eliminating Sin Cara to win the battle royal
WWE Smackdown seems to be pulling it off. The quality of Wrestling in the show is good. The entertainment factor was dominant in this week’s show. The Intercontinental Championship match, Daniel Bryan – Del Rio match and the battle royal match were all good. Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel match was the best of the night. I’m very much interested to see how the Mark Henry – Randy Orton feud pans out in the coming weeks. Christian’s absence in the show was disappointing. Maybe he’ll return to avenge Orton in the future.
SmackDown Rating: 4/5
Matches worth watching again:
Daniel Bryan Vs Alberto del Rio and Tyson Kid Vs Justin Gabriel
