WWE Smackdown: Sheamus wanted the belt, but got the boot
I thought I knew exactly where the Randy Orton-Christian-Sheamus angle on Friday night’s Smackdown was headed, but WWE ended up fooling me.
Christian faced Sheamus in the main event, with the stipulation being that if Sheamus won, he would be added to the title match between world heavyweight champion Orton and Christian at Sunday’s Capitol Punishment pay-per-view.
With Orton’s status for Capitol Punishment uncertain when Smackdown was taped Tuesday due to having suffered a concussion (he has since been medically cleared), I figured Sheamus would beat Christian to make Sunday’s match a triple threat. That way, if Orton couldn’t defend the title, Christian and Sheamus could face each other for the vacant championship.
As it turned out, not only did Christian defeat Sheamus, but Orton punted the Irishman in the head after the match, which means he’ll probably be off TV for a while to sell a head injury.
The match itself was good, although it was difficult for the crowd to get emotionally invested in a contest between two heels. As much as the audience dislikes Christian for turning his back on them, if they’re Orton fans they wouldn’t want Sheamus to win because it would increase the chances of Orton losing the title Sunday.
Other thoughts on Friday’s show:
The stars of this week’s episode were Alberto Del Rio and The Big Show. I have to admit that I wasn’t all that excited about a program between these two before this show, but they managed to pique my interest. Del Rio was at his smarmy best when talking about his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, who was destroyed by The Big Show on Raw Monday. “He was my best friend,” Del Rio said. “He was loyal to me. He followed me everywhere like a dog.” Funny. Big Show, on the other hand, showed great intensity. After he was booked to wrestle Mark Henry, an irate Big Show pleaded with Henry not to get in the ring with him while he’s in this state of mind. Henry didn’t listen, and Big Show pummeled him so badly that he had to be carried out on a stretcher. Later, when Big Show came out to confront Del Rio, Del Rio ran away through the crowd and then laughed and winked at Big Show from a safe distance. Big Show snapped at that point and proceeded to destroy the set. After seeing how enraged Big Show was, Del Rio’s smug smile turned to a genuine look of concern. Very good performances by both men. ...
As much as I enjoyed the Del Rio-Big Show angle, it did seem odd that a feud between two Raw stars was playing out on Smackdown. Good thing we had that draft, huh? ...
The way the announcers were going on about Henry not deserving what Big Show did to him, it almost seemed like the angle was intended to turn Henry babyface. ...
Booker T. just kept digging himself into a deeper hole the more he tried to convince Michael Cole that a triple-threat match could be easier than a one-on-one match. When it comes to Booker trying to win a war of words with Cole, as Roddy Piper once said, you don’t throw rocks at a man who has a machine gun. ...
Much has been made about Sin Cara botching spots, but this time he wasn’t to blame for what appeared to be a botched finish in the six-man tag match that saw Cara, Daniel Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson defeat Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. After Bryan nailed DiBiase with a dropkick in the corner, he made a cover and the referee made an awkward three count. The way the wrestlers reacted, it seemed as if it was supposed to have been a near fall and DiBiase was just late in getting his shoulder up off the mat. ...
The Usos looked good in picking up a victory over Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. I was glad to see the Usos win, as I think they have more to offer as a tag team at this point than Gabriel and Slater. ...
Tamina stood out again in the Divas match, as she, Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes defeated Natalya, Kaitlyn and A.J. By the way, why isn’t Naomi – who was clearly the most talented of the competitors on NXT Season 3 – on either Raw or Smackdown yet? ...
Jinder Mahal’s squash victim this week was Vladimir Kozlov. It will be interesting to see how Mahal performs in the ring when he has to work a back-and-forth match. ...
In this week’s corny vignette, Johnny Curtis pulled an ace playing card out of a golf hole, demonstrating that he has an ace in the hole. It would have been funnier if he had pulled Cowboy Bob Orton out of a hole. As several readers have pointed out, Curtis’ jokes are very similar to those in Zack Ryder’s popular YouTube videos. Perhaps this is an angle to set up a program between the two.
Comments
You just made one minor error I wanted to point out--Randy Orton punts people "in the SKULL," not in the head.
Posted by: Bob | June 19, 2011 3:41 AM
I know lately TNA has ruled the illogical booking these days but I still don't understand how face Orton is still going around punting people in the head, especially after he suffered a concussion. I know he's supposed to be the viper, the poor man's rattlesnake.
The rattlesnake usually just kicked someone, gave them a stunner and poured beer over them, he didn't try to cause a head injury (usually). I could see if they're trying to make Orton a tweener but they turned Christian simply to further their feud so it seems like he's treated as a face. I guess it's ok to kick heels in the head?
I will grant that fans cheering for him kinda makes the face thing a no brainer but you'd think he could be an intense face without the punts.
For some reason that always kind of bugs me. Especially since so few will ever come back from a punt and get him back in any way when they return from their 'injury'.
Posted by: Matthew | June 19, 2011 4:01 AM
My, how the tables have turned. Kozlov used to be the one squashing other wrestlers. Now he's getting squashed?
Posted by: Anonymous | June 19, 2011 5:40 AM
So now Raw superstars are allowed to job to Smackdown superstars? I'd understand if it was someone like Hawkins or Ryder (not that I want to him to remain as a jobber), but Kozlov? Who did he piss off in WWE management?
Posted by: paul | June 19, 2011 8:06 AM
Sheamus reminds me so much of my mother in her younger years-- all fiery, muscled and moustached.
Posted by: DumbSmark | June 19, 2011 8:50 AM
Sorry that these comments are off topic but, I'd like to address a couple of points you made in your previous blog, about Impact. First, Angle and Jarrett had a "final" PPV match to determine the #1 contender for the championship. Angle won the match and came out on Impact and proclaimed himself the #1 contender. Shortly thereafter, TNA introduces an elimination tournament to determine the #1 contender. Please tell me that I'm not the only one confused by this. Next, I totally agree with you regarding the Knockouts language. This was started and is continued by the re-emergence of that bimbo ODB. I can't stand it when she constantly plays with her boobs (can I say that here?) and I, quite simply, just can't stand her. Another thing about the Knockouts and the Divas as well, that I can't stand, are those stupid panty hose they all wear now. Why do they wear them? The guys don't wear panty hose. Finally, every week I watch Impact hoping and dreaming that one, or more, of the Knockouts will strip Velvet Sky down to a bra and a thong but, it never happens. She is the hottest female wrestler ever. Russo, here is your chance to be my hero.
Posted by: Magnificent Mark | June 19, 2011 10:25 AM
"By the way, why isn’t Naomi – who was clearly the most talented of the competitors on NXT Season 3 – on either Raw or Smackdown yet?"
Probably the fact that she is a good athlete but doesn't have much else going for her. I can definitely see why AJ got called up before her.
Posted by: chris | June 19, 2011 11:06 AM
While I thought that the angle between Show and Del Rio was good, I didn't like that that it was on Smackdown. I hate how WWE always makes things on Raw seem more important. I believe that Smackdown is the better show and has been for at least three years now. Look at all the people who've been players on Smackdown(Morrison, Ziggler, Kofi, Swagger, McIntyre,) then get moved to Raw and nothing happens to them. Monday Night Raw- Where WWE careers go to die. I believe had they kept Del Rio on Smackdown he would be World Heavyweight Champion right now.
My favorite match was the Usos vs Slater and Gabriel. Solid back and forth action. The Usos seem to be hitting their stride on Smackdown with wins two weeks in a row. Too bad no one in WWE cares about tag teams or the tag titles. I also like that even though Slater and Gabriel split with Barrett, they're still heels.
Finally, Magnificent Mark. Let me help clear up some things about Impact. Angle did beat Jarrett at Slammiversary to win the current # 1 contender spot. The tournament is to determine the #1 contender at Bound For Glory. There are three ppv's btwn now and then, so Angle will be getting a shot soon.
As for Velvet, she is extremely hot. Unfortunately, I don't see her being stripped. What I do think will continue is her using the word "b*tch" 20 times in a promo and getting beat down by whatever knockout she's talking about. At this point, every TNA knockout either has pummeled Velvet Sky or will pummel Velvet Sky.
Posted by: Rick from Carney | June 19, 2011 12:20 PM
Kevin, is the word "squash" really appropriate to describe the Mahal-Kozlov match? I thought that this time, the sorty was different than in Mahal previous matches with Tatsu and Barreta. Kozlov dominated a big part of the match, and Mahal won only because of Khali's interference. It seemed to me that the story of the match was that, this time, Mahal had to deal with a more dangereous competitor than Tatsu and Barreta, and that he wasn't superior to Kozlov and relied on Khali to offer him the win. Therefore, Mahal isn't having a "Kozlov 2008 push", destroying everybody clean: he's more of a cheating heel, who counts on his huge bodyguard to help him when things get serious.
RESPONSE FROM KE: Squash may have been a bit strong. It was a pretty quick and convincing win, though.
Posted by: Axl | June 20, 2011 5:12 AM
Where did my pro wrestling go??? TNA has been so bad lately that I gave up my tickets to see them in Buffalo. I keep hoping for a championship push for Roode and Morgan but that is not coming any time soon.
WWE is really really kid friendly now. I expect the Gobbldy Gooker, Tugboat, Bastion Booger, and Saba Simba to come back and be called legends. It feels like they went back to 1986 when Hogan was champion and they gave him title defenses against people who were not that good. Like now with R Truth. R Truth is good, but not championship material and this program will not help his career.
They want to challenge Cena, have him face Big Show. And turn Big Show heel circa 2002 when he fueded with Brock Lesnar.
On a separate note, I was watching some old episodes of WWF superstars from 1988 and had a few thoughts:
1- Honky Tonk Man can not wrestle but he sure is funny to listen to.
2- Would you get a haircut from a barber with the last name of beefcake?
3- Tag Team division was awesome back then.
Posted by: peter | June 20, 2011 2:03 PM