Friday Night Smackdown
July 24, 2012
Omaha, Nebraska
We get a video package about both Triple H’s loss at Extreme Rules and his medical problems Monday, plus the dominance of the Shield.
Michael Cole welcomes us to Omaha for Friday Night Smackdown! We open with another edition of MIZ TV! Miz (still without his furniture) welcomes us and his guest tonight, Mr Tripping the Light Fantastic himself, Faaaandaaaangoooo. I like Fandango’s tights now, these technicolor stripes. Summer Rae looks even hotter as the full blown heel partner now. He shushes Miz for not saying his name right, and he does it himself. Miz “really’s” him after re-stating his name. Miz gets on him for dancing on Raw during his tag match with Wade Barrett against Miz and Jericho. Miz says his ego is more obnoxious than his name. Fandango says next person to get close to Summer Rae will be danced on their face. He and Miz debate ego and Miz calls him a bag of dancing Skittles. Come on Miz, those tights are sharp. Miz says congratulations, Fandango is the new Fruity Pebbles. With that out comes the Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, whose new music isn’t bad. Wade says he’s never seen a bigger waste of disrespectful skin in his life. Then Miz gets in his face about their IC title match later. With that they start brawling, and I believe their match is next!
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Wade Barrett © vs. The Miz
This is the match Miz gets back for losing the title back to Wade Barrett at the apocalyptic IZOD Center Raw after Wrestlemania. Fandango is doing commentary with the guys and it’s pretty funny. He’s speaking in this very quiet slow tone. Suddenly he asks to put his music on and he starts dancing while the match is going on. This is actually pretty funny. Miz knocked Fandango in the mush while coming off the ropes. We may be seeing a transfer feud here. Fandango belts Miz in the side of the head to force the DQ. Now Miz is getting pummeled in the ring by both Barrett and Fandango. Barrett lines up for the Bull Hammer and knocks…Fandango out with it. So either Miz and Fandango are feuding, or Fandango is entering the IC Title picture. Either scenario is fine with me.
Backstage Daniel Bryan is talking to himself, and Kane says yes they are still a team and we have to deal with it. Daniel Bryan keeps saying he’s not the weak link. I think Daniel is sliding back to the heel side. Perhaps.
MATCH: Jack Swagger vs. Daniel Bryan
So the sliding down the card of Swagger has begun, as his intro wasn’t even on TV. Swagger dominates the action early with power moves as Bryan is not totally in the match mentally. Bryan makes a comeback with his usual steady kicks but Swagger took the momentum back and now is grinding with suplexes. Eventually Bryan slaps the No Lock on and Swagger taps out. Bryan wouldn’t let go and Kane had to pull him loose. Yep, Swagger’s sliding down the card. He gets in Kane’s face for some reason and leaves the ring. He screams that he’s not the weak link.
We get an update that John Cena will be back Monday night in Calgary. We go back to this Monday night with Ryback’s declaration of an Ambulance Match at Payback. Then he took out both Zack Ryder on Raw and Heath Slater on Main Event and put them in an ambulance. Again, no more promos. Just do that for the next few weeks.
In the arena the awesome Damien Sandow is in the ring with Matt Striker and a wood table. Sandow says two troglodytes have been going back and forth with half witted competitions. He says tonight he will appeal to the lowest common denominatior. SILENCE!! He explains the rope on the table in the ring, the Gordian Knot. Some fancy knot that Matt Striker couldn’t do. He says all substitute teachers should be embarrassed. This segment is awesome, but its been ruined by Sheamus. Sheamus is starting to get that John Cena badge of being totally annoying as a babyface. He insults Sandow’s personal life, and is really bad. He offers to solve the Gordian Knot. Sandow says if his troubled childhood can solve it, so be it. Sheamus tries, but Sandow doesn’t let him and he tries to. SILENCE!! Sandow brings out a bolt cutter and snaps the rope. I guess that’s solving it. That’s funny. YOU’RE WELCOME. Sheamus congratulates him, then tries to Brogue Kick him but Sandow ducks out and says he knew he would try that. He’s a troglodyte and the WWE Universe can join him. Sheamus says he knows Newton’s Law, and then he throws Striker out of the ring onto Sandow. Sheamus is a doofus and needs to turn heel again.
MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. Big Show
Now knowing WWE’s 50-50 booking, I’m not sure who won the last time these two met, but the other will win. The match was standard TV fare, with both guys going back and forth with their moves. At one point Show hits a chokeslam and Jericho slides out of the ring. Jericho made a comeback and he hits a Codebreaker on the outside and Big Show fell into the timekeeper’s table and he doesn’t make it into the ring. Jericho wins by countout. After the match an angry Show brings a steel chair into the ring, but Jericho baseball slides into him and gets the chair and starts beating Show with it. Show leaves.
We go back to Monday night for the Paul Heyman/Curtis Axel/Triple H story, including Triple H’s medical problems during his match. From that, Paul comes out with Curtis Axel. Paul puts himself over as having the Midas Touch and he will shine his glimmer on Curtis Axel. He created the Beast Incarnate and the greatest WWE Title reign in the last 25 years. Now he has another young hungry stud. As for Monday night, Curtis Axel says he’s already accomplished more than either his father or grandfather ever did. Monday night he actually won the match and defeated Triple H. That was just Day 1. It continues tonight.
MATCH: Sin Cara vs. Curtis Axel
Sin Cara has defeated Wade Barrett, and now he will job to this guy. Here’s where the 50-50 booking is garbage. This guy defeated the Intercontinental Champion on Main Event, then tonight he will lose to Axel, and right he should. So why have him beat at title holder then job here? Where’s the logic in this shit booking? Solid squash win for Curtis Axel, using some sort of neckbreaker finisher. Superb squash and a way to get this guy over.
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP: Dean Ambrose © vs. Kofi Kingston
Wow, an entire Smackdown and no Dolph Ziggler entourage or Alberto Del Rio. It really focused on mid-cards and growing characters. In that aspect, a solid booking job. The match lasted about 3 minutes when Reigns and Rollins interfere to cause the DQ. With that out comes Randy Orton to save Kofi, and then out comes Sheamus. So Kofi’s US Title match has turned into a six-man tag team match. HERE COMES TEDDY! So here’s your match.
SIX MAN TAG TEAM MATCH: The Shield vs. Kofi Kingston, Sheamus & Randy Orton
Now just as I complement the bookers, they screw the pooch and instead of an awesome US Title match was have a predictable boring tag match and ANOTHER appearance from Sheamus. This match is just like every other six man tag involving the Shield. Back and forth, bad commentary, blah blah blah. Josh Matthews must be fired, as he is a disaster. The Omaha crowd is hot, hotter than the past few week’s crowds. Sheamus goes for White Noise on Ambrose but Reigns spears him, then Orton RKO’s him. Ambrose gets hit off the top rope by Kofi for 2. My anger at the booking is saved by the hot crowd, and Ambrose takes it with his bulldog finisher on Kofi. The Shield stands tall…again. At least it ended the way it was supposed to. With that we’re out.
SCOTT’S TAKE: I enjoyed the focus of the mid-card this week with no Del Rio or any of Swagger’s people. The two title matches were red herring for other stuff which is disappointing, but whatever.
Scott’s Smackdown Top 5:
1) Dolph Ziggler
2) Alberto Del Rio
3) Dean Ambrose
4) Rollins/Reigns
5) Randy Orton
