Triple H reminded us that Cody Rhodes had been fired. He said Cody was fired with just cause as he was disrespectful to the COO.
"I did not fire Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes fired Cody Rhodes." - Triple H
Triple H then claimed to be friends with the whole Rhodes family, but decisions had to be made. He said he was willing to come across as the bad guy here due to what is best for business. He said we would have an open forum with no repercussions for statements made by wrestlers.
The wrestlers didn't buy it and were quiet.
"I, for one, fully commend the firing of Cody Rhodes." - Damien Sandow
He called Triple H the fearless leader and he asked the wrestlers not to kiss his butt.
Kofi said the locker room is living in fear after Cody got fired and Kofi didn't see how this was good for business.
Slater interrupted and said he was uncomfortable with Show standing around and doing nothing. He then kissed some butt.
"This whole vibe that we're not feeling, not cool, dude." - RVD | "I've been waiting since like 2000 to have Rob Van Dam call me dude." - Triple H
Ryback said he was tired of being called a bully. Triple H said Ryback could fight Dolph tonight, just so everyone would know that he wasn't a bully who took an unfair advantage against him on Monday. Triple H then brought up that Daniel Bryan wasn't here. We're at the 12 minute mark now, including the intro videos and stuff.
Triple H said Daniel Bryan could pick a Shield member to fight tonight. Triple H said he wanted to reward the people who spoke up. He made Curtis Axel vs Kofi Kingston in a non-title match, and said next, we would get Rob Van Dam vs Randy Orton.
Rob Van Dam vs Randy Orton
Alberto was at the booth.
Randy Orton won with an RKO. This was straight up chaos. They moved and moved for about 10 minutes straight and kept up a furious pace. The highlights were RVD missing a spinning legdrop and crashing into the rails and Orton hitting a slam out of a Rolling Thunder. This was a good match that the crowd really liked but I thought they could have slowed this down some. Rating:***
Alberto armbarred RVD after and stomped on him.
DB said he was told not to go to the town hall meeting because he was told he wasn't invited. DB said he would let The Shield decide who he faces since they are all going to jump in anyway.
AJ tried to talk with some of the girls and they all ignored her. Yes, Layla, the girl who was skipping with AJ and hugging her, suddenly doesn't like her for some unexplained reason.
AJ said she wanted to defend against a non-Total Divas girl and tried to turn them on the Total Divas. AJ then said she had an idea to get back at them. Dolph Ziggler vs Ryback
Ryback won with a Shellshock. This wasn't much of a match. Dolph mostly got squashed until he chased after Dean and got a clothesline for it. Ryback then brought him in and finished him off.
Curtis Axel vs Kofi Kingston
Kofi won with an SOS. This was a suprisingly good match with an absurdly hot crowd. Since they were in Minneapolis, the crowd like Axel since his dad was from MN. The crowd really turned this into something special and made an otherwise not noteworthy match into something memorable. I really liked Axel's missed lariat into a back lariat and his counter on Kofi's spring off the ropes was really cool. Overall, this exceeded expectations and was a lot of fun. Rating:***1/2
"My worst is a lot better than his, I promise." - Paul on Punk
Paul said he was too concerned about Punk and he blamed himself for Axel's loss tonight. Paul stormed off after Renee said Punk would give him the beating of his life.
Brie Bella vs Naomi
This went to a No Contest as AJ led her troops down and they interfered. Naomi got most of the stuff in and looked good. AJ then announced she was the champ.
The Uso's vs The Real American's
Antonio Cesaro got the win with an uppercut. Good match here. They went at a really fast pace and there were some good bumps. I liked both Uso dives and the finish was really cool. I also enjoyed Cesaro's pimp slap on one of the Uso's. I really like the RA's and they could be a candidate for Tag Team of the Year. Rating:***
Triple H said he knew Show was upset, but said it was because of what 3MB said. He invited him to let off some steam against them tonight.
The Big Show vs 3MB
Big Show won in a quick squash with a knockout punch on Slater. 3MB earned their pay and more tonight. He kneed Drew while his head was on the rails and tossed everyone around easy. You really have to give 3MB credit. They are really good at what they do and take a massive beating at least once a week.
The Shield then came down with Show still out there.
Triple H took Show to the back with him.
Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan won with a flying knee. Tons of interference and not that much wrestling but it was exciting. DB got most of the offense in and really had the crowd going nuts. He also got some shots in on The Shield and Rollins bumped really well for him. This was all sprint but good. Rating:***
Orton laid out DB with the title to end the show.
Overall thoughts: This was a good show with tons of short but good matches. If you like the Dragon Gate style, you should probably enjoy this as most of the matches were moving at 100MPH.
you beat me to it ! I was going to compare this smackdown to DGUSA's style. it looks all really good even if it doesn't interest me at all because all the matches are rematches of rematches of rematches ... but it looks like they just mastered those matches so well that I'm gonna give it a try. thanks for the review :)
I just started watching the episode, and you said "AJ tried to talk with some of the girls and they all ignored her. Yes, Layla, the girl who was skipping with AJ and hugging her, suddenly doesn't like her for some unexplained reason." but that wasn't what I saw here .. AJ tried to talk to them, and layla was the one that greeted her back and told them to listen to her.
Phew, this match for Axel against Kofi was rather poor. Obviously it was boring as hell, but it was made even more sad when the Minnesota crowd, gripped by some form of temporary insanity, started loudly cheering for Axel. A competent wrestler would have done something, anything with this unexpected crowd response. Remember a few months back when Wade Barrett, the saddest man in WWE, got a few "Barrett" chants in England and was suddenly the happiest, most swaggery guy in the world? And how fun that made his random match? Yeah, well, none of that for Axel! He just kept stomping around the ring ignoring what was going on around him, slapping on chinlocks and hitting blandly competent dropkicks. The fans start passionately cheering for the perfectplex and he doesn't even tease it. Sigh.
so, why did big show, the guy who spent three hours openly weeping on Raw AND Smackdown because Triple H made him punch Daniel Bryan, go out and brutally pummel three guys he basically has zero history with (unlike Bryan who dealt him the most embarrassing loss of his career and acted like a jerk toward him all Monday) ?! is it because they're not high enough on the card to merit big show's big tears ? Listen Show, jobbers feel pain just like Daniel Bryan and the rest of us. Well, maybe not Heath Slater, since he's just a slab of meat engineered for taking punishment, but I'm sure Jinder Mahal didn't appreciate his treatment.
Much like Punk quickly gave up tearing up the status quo in favor of ice cream bars and the silky interior of Triple H's jacket, AJ's beef with the Total Divas is no longer, "You're useless, embarrassing, husks of women who I must destroy", but rather the WWE standard-issue "I'm jealous of the pretty ladies even though I'm very pretty too". Also, much like Punk was suddenly forced to interact with Kevin f--king Nash with a straight face, AJ is now hanging out with Aksana and a shockingly still employed, pants-wearing Alicia Fox. Without shame.
this smackdown ruined a lot of storylines and didn't do anything for me other than making triple h sound like a smart funny tough cool freakin' guy again like he wants us to believe he is forever and ever ... but the matches were good, so, whatever.
"This was a good match that the crowd really liked but I thought they could have slowed this down some" You mean you'd have had no problem with Randy working more vintage-chinlocks? Really? The things you, Rob, complained about? LOL! Okay then!
you beat me to it ! I was going to compare this smackdown to DGUSA's style. it looks all really good even if it doesn't interest me at all because all the matches are rematches of rematches of rematches ... but it looks like they just mastered those matches so well that I'm gonna give it a try. thanks for the review :)
ReplyDeleteI just started watching the episode, and you said "AJ tried to talk with some of the girls and they all ignored her. Yes, Layla, the girl who was skipping with AJ and hugging her, suddenly doesn't like her for some unexplained reason." but that wasn't what I saw here .. AJ tried to talk to them, and layla was the one that greeted her back and told them to listen to her.
ReplyDeletePhew, this match for Axel against Kofi was rather poor. Obviously it was boring as hell, but it was made even more sad when the Minnesota crowd, gripped by some form of temporary insanity, started loudly cheering for Axel. A competent wrestler would have done something, anything with this unexpected crowd response. Remember a few months back when Wade Barrett, the saddest man in WWE, got a few "Barrett" chants in England and was suddenly the happiest, most swaggery guy in the world? And how fun that made his random match? Yeah, well, none of that for Axel! He just kept stomping around the ring ignoring what was going on around him, slapping on chinlocks and hitting blandly competent dropkicks. The fans start passionately cheering for the perfectplex and he doesn't even tease it. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteso, why did big show, the guy who spent three hours openly weeping on Raw AND Smackdown because Triple H made him punch Daniel Bryan, go out and brutally pummel three guys he basically has zero history with (unlike Bryan who dealt him the most embarrassing loss of his career and acted like a jerk toward him all Monday) ?! is it because they're not high enough on the card to merit big show's big tears ? Listen Show, jobbers feel pain just like Daniel Bryan and the rest of us. Well, maybe not Heath Slater, since he's just a slab of meat engineered for taking punishment, but I'm sure Jinder Mahal didn't appreciate his treatment.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Punk quickly gave up tearing up the status quo in favor of ice cream bars and the silky interior of Triple H's jacket, AJ's beef with the Total Divas is no longer, "You're useless, embarrassing, husks of women who I must destroy", but rather the WWE standard-issue "I'm jealous of the pretty ladies even though I'm very pretty too". Also, much like Punk was suddenly forced to interact with Kevin f--king Nash with a straight face, AJ is now hanging out with Aksana and a shockingly still employed, pants-wearing Alicia Fox. Without shame.
ReplyDeletethis smackdown ruined a lot of storylines and didn't do anything for me other than making triple h sound like a smart funny tough cool freakin' guy again like he wants us to believe he is forever and ever ... but the matches were good, so, whatever.
"This was a good match that the crowd really liked but I thought they could have slowed this down some"
ReplyDeleteYou mean you'd have had no problem with Randy working more vintage-chinlocks? Really? The things you, Rob, complained about? LOL! Okay then!