3/1/13 Smackdown

Smackdown is in Oklahoma City. Lawler's joining Cole and Josh Mathews for Smackdown. JBL's busy climbing another mountain.

Alberto Del Rio comes out for his match. Sandow criticizes people with bad English. Ricardo has an outdated tuxedo and a spit bucket, eh? ADR says Sandow's mouth stinks. Oh, that's lovely. Now let's have a match.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Damien Sandow: A bit of mat wrestling and basic stuff to start. Competitive match here. I enjoy watching Sandow's aggression in the ring. ADR with the usual comeback because WWE loves to have wrestlers superstars use a specific sequence of moves on that type of spot. Sandow kicks out of that superkick. Swagger and "founding father" Zeb Colter watch in the back. Sandow counters the armbreaker and gets a two-count. ADR kidney punches and backstabber for two. Sandow with a neckbreaker for two. Terminus countered into the cross armbreaker. Sandow taps. Awesome back-and-forth stuff. **3/4

Jim Ross interviews Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter later.

Video package of the epic Cena/Punk match from RAW. Yeah, we know. Rock and Cena again at WM 29.

Team Hell No backstage segment. Rematch against Primetime Players coming up. Daniel Bryan gets to have his arm tied behind his back this time, while Kane is blindfolded. Kane still says he'll be beating PTPs and he doesn't have to look at DB's ugly goat face. Kane wins!

Antonio Cesaro vs. Miz (2 Out of 3 Falls; U.S. Title): So Miz gets ANOTHER crack at the title for whatever reason. Couldn't have elevated some random midcarder? Miz goes for some quick pins on the first fall. Cesaro with good counters and mat wrestling. Miz targets Cesaro's leg. "Miz is awesome" chants from the crowd. Good back-and-forth stuff on the first fall. Cesaro with a unique fireman's carry front slam for two. Miz cradle gets two, then Cesaro hits the Neutralizer out of nowhere for three and the first fall. During the commercial, Miz tied things up. Cesaro tried a dropkick or something from the second rope, and Miz caught him in the figure four for the submission win. Cesaro's knee continues to big him. Again, the third fall is where the two go even more all out to get the win. Miz gets another burst of adrenaline. Double neckbreaker countered and Cesaro hits the alley-oop Euro uppercut for two. Cesaro taunts Miz, then Miz hits the DDT for two. Miz with a ton of punches in the corner and the ref literally pulls Miz away. Running clothesline from Miz, then double axe handle. Figure four from Miz in the center of the ring. Crowd going nuts. Cesaro drags himself to the ropes. Miz figure four attempt again, Cesaro pushes him off. Miz nearly collides with the ref. Cesaro rollup, but Miz counters for two. Cesaro counters that and holds the tights to get three and retain. Excellent match here. ***1/2

Seems like Orton, in his own Viper manner, is thinking about teaming with Sheamus.

Jim Ross to the ring to interview Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. Jim Ross notes that he recruited Swagger when Jack was still wrestling and playing football at Oklahoma. Way to diss your alma mater in your home state, Jack! Ross mentions the Swagger losing streak and the leave of absence and wants to know what began this resurgence. Colter goes on his preaching again of real Americans and not liking undocumented workers. "We the people!" Colter then with a metaphor of a fruit basket that begins to rot. Smell it or throw it out? ADR is stinky? Um, OK. Ross accuses Colter of brainwashing Swagger, and let the sparks fly! Swagger knocks JR's hat off and calls him a sympathizer. Del Rio comes out and basically calls Swagger a "Real Jack Ass." Oh, that's mature. Good stuff, but weak ending.

I love the heel "Real American" gimmick, and Swagger has probably kept his world title shot mainly because it's WM season. Midcarders would have probably gotten suspended or released by now.

Primetime Players vs. Team Hell No: Kane's blindfolded and gets to wear a hood with a goat face on it. WIN. DB then tells Kane to start the match. The ol' schoolboy trip thing doesn't work, so Titus has to use his whistle instead. DB with kicks and chops. DB pulls off an awesome crucifix with one arm to get two. DB tags Kane back in, so Kane uses the crowd to help find his opponent. Genius! D-Young tags in and Kane catches him with a chokeslam! Woohoo! D-Young moves out of the way so Kane can't find him. Kane ends up grabbing both DB and the ref. OOPS. Kane lets the ref go and finally realizes he also has DB by the beard. Titus rolls DB up for three. Probably the most entertaining match I've seen with one guy wearing a blindfold. *1/2

Kane realizes the goat face hood after the match. No hugging it out tonight! Kane puts the hood on DB and slaps him. Tough love.

Matt Striker interviews Big Show. Show wants to make a huge impact by chokeslamming Randy Orton.

Fandango (a.k.a. Johnny Curtis) finally gets a live interview with Striker. Good, passionate promo. Fandango debuts when Striker gets the name right. So we'll never see the debut happen. Way to go, Striker. But you probably saved Zack Ryder from jobbing again. Frankly, if all Lawler wanted to see tonight was Fandango's debut, that's pretty sad.

RAW segment again with Vince/Heyman "fight" -- that really paved the way for HHH/Lesnar.

Big Show vs. Randy Orton: Show dominant early with those big slaps. Orton catches Show with a dropkick but Show gets right back on offense. Show targets Orton's shoulder. Pace is super slow because Show's dominant. Show misses a second-rope elbow and the ring didn't break! Orton with a zillion punches then counters a chokeslam into a DDT for two. Show into the ring post, then the hangman's DDT with Show on the top rope. And here comes the Shield. Ha, a big, older black security guy accompanies Reigns just so Roman can get to the ring safely. Sheamus comes down to help Orton. Shield in the ring and they're brawling. Ref throws the match out, of course. *3/4

Reigns backs into Show, so Show KOs Reigns. OOPS. Ambrose and Rollins are stunned, so they retreat and help Reigns out of there. Show chokeslams Orton and Sheamus with the Brogue Kick to Show. Again, WWE books Sheamus like the next John Cena. Super Sheamus! Ugh.

2/22/13 Smackdown

Alberto Del Rio starts the show with a promo. JBL still needs to get someone like Ricardo Rodriguez. ADR goes into a promo about how getting the title is a culmination of an immigrant achieving the American dream. And now Swagger gets slapped with the jackass monicker. As we'd find out after the Smackdown tapings, he'd be a jackass in more ways than one. Randy Orton to the ring. He wants Swagger tonight. Booker to the ring to confirm that, plus Del Rio faces IC champ Wade Barrett in a champion vs. champion match.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: Sandow calls Sheamus a false idol. You're welcome. Sheamus with a couple of vicious clotheslines early. Sandow into the barricade. Sandow in trouble early but retreats to break the momentum. Sandow gets his offense. Competitive match in the last couple minutes with some near falls and a bunch of counters. Sheamus manages to finally hit White Noise and the Brogue Kick for three. Good effort from Sandow as well. **1/2

WM 30 to be held in New Orleans next year. Probably yet another badly kept secret.

Video package of Shield's two wins in a 24-hour span: first over Cena/Sheamus/Ryback, then Jericho/Sheamus/Ryback.

Kaitlyn & Layla vs. Tamina Snuka & Aksana: Layla's offense has turned more and more into joke moves, and I personally despise it. I think the crowd reaction's getting piped in during this match because the crowd doesn't seem to be caring -- plus a huge reliance on non-hard camera angles. Tamina's not impressed with any of this stuff, either. Blind tag to Kaitlyn and she spears Tamina for the win. Probably the best part of the match right there. 1/2*

WWE Active segment shown just before the divas tag match featured an awkward conversation of sorts between Cody Rhodes and Kaitlyn. Vintage "love-stache!"New on-screen couple forming? Kinda makes me want Cody to do his "Dashing" thing again just for fun.

A big chunk of time to show the entire Rock championship celebration from RAW again. Really? Coulda easily had one more good match in there. Tell people to go watch RAW to see the entire damn thing. Or make it a 2-minute video package.

Interesting exchange between Wade Barrett and Zeb Colter. Barrett was praising Colter and Swagger, but Colter wants none of it, declaring Barrett (from England) part of the problem because he's "stealing a job from an American." I'm not ready to turn Barrett face just yet, but I could easily see him in that role down the line. A very intriguing future storyline, in my opinion.

Jack Swagger vs. Randy Orton: Swagger even has a new Titantron with "We the People" on it. Seriously, Jack?! You had to get a damn DUI and get caught with marijuana? At least from the mugshot, we can now confirm Swagger's a legit 6'6" (well, not sure if he was taking that mugshot barefoot). Anyway, this was a great match; these two were given a solid amount of time. Very competitive match as both guys attacked the other's legs. Orton's shoulder into the steel steps and I'm sure people wondered if he coulda separated that thing again. Orton comes back and back suplexes Swagger on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Swagger pops up and takes Orton's knee out again. Orton still gets his signature moves in. Swagger Bomb avoided and Orton kicks Jack in the gut. Leads to Orton backbreaker and hangman's DDT. Colter finally gets involved slightly, pulling Swagger to the apron. Swagger hangs Orton on the top and gets the rollup for three. Loved this for the prized-heavyweight fight feel, even though there weren't a lot of the close near falls. Unfortunately, I fear the subsequent arrest Swagger got will crush his new push. **3/4

Heard that Darren Young is out for about eight months with a knee injury. Really feel bad for him because he had a solid tag team role with Titus O'Neil. I also feel bad for Tyson Kidd. I personally know that knee injuries of any type just plain suck.

I saw at least one guy online mentioning JTG should pair up with Titus for the "Cryme Tyme Players." HA. Yes, JTG's still employed with WWE as of this blog post.

More video packages of Brock Lesnar taking Vince out a few weeks back. Vickie then announces Brad Maddox as her new assistant on RAW. Vince then challenges Heyman to a fight next week Monday. Might be safe to say that Brock Lesnar and/or HHH will be in the building.

Cody Rhodes vs. Miz: Miz still bandaged up because of the Cesaro attack. Yeah, continuing to wrestle doesn't help treat that. Meanwhile, seems like Cody's channeling a bit of Ravishing Rick Rude each day with the love-stache. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that Cody goes after Miz's injured shoulder. Cody goes for the Alabama Slam but Miz counters and locks in the Figure Four for the submission win. *1/4

Alberto Del Rio vs. Wade Barrett: Swagger and Colter watch the match from the stage. Ricardo mocks Barrett getting hurt in the first minute, so Barrett chases after him. ADR stops that with the dropkick. Barrett takes control by tossing ADR from the second rope to the floor. Barrett continues the onslaught with a few more impactful moves. ADR comeback: clotheslines, backbreaker, superkick for two. Barrett catches ADR with Winds of Change for two. ADR kidney punches and backstabber for two. Swagger distracts ADR. Barrett rollup with tights only two. Barrett misses the Bullhammer and ADR locks in the cross armbreaker for the submission win. ***

Solid episode of Smackdown this week. I love this time of year because it generally tends to give us the best free TV matches.

2/15/13 Smackdown

Big Show starts this week's episode. We again see what happened last week, when Alberto Del Rio got some help to remove the tires off Show's bus. Show says ADR has never pinned him, and he plans to take out his frustrations with a KO punch at the PPV. Chris Jericho comes out to say he's gonna win the Elimination Chamber match and possibly face Show at WM 29. He and Show go back 16 years. Booker T decides to have Jericho and Show face off tonight instead. Sounds good to me.

Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton: Orton has to use his quickness to avoid Mark's huge size advantage. Henry with the usual power moves to slow the pace down. A couple of near falls for the big man. Orton manages the hangman's DDT. RKO countered and Henry with an avalanche-like move to send Orton to the outside. Orton avoids the World's Strongest Slam and decks Henry with a chair. Ref calls for the bell but Orton doesn't care. Chair shots to Henry's back. Henry still hits the WSS on Orton. Both guys will be in the chamber on Sunday. *3/4

Mark Henry's pissed and declares the Hall of Pain open for business. He wants all the police and military troops on hand. Yay for heel Mark Henry!

Video package on the six-man tag with the Shield facing the superhero all-stars (Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback).

Tamina Snuka vs. Layla: Tamina's got a Divas Title match at the PPV against Kaitlyn, so it doesn't take a genius to figure out who's winning here. Not many divas matches or segments the past couple weeks. Layla gets tripped up on the apron, triggering thoughts about her legit knee injury that sidelined her for a while. Kaitlyn watches the match from the back. tamina with an impressive Samoan Drop and then the Superfly Splash for three. Match was probably four and a half minutes. *1/4

Footage shown of Punk getting the better of Rock on RAW.

Rock promo, so the fans get another chance to go nuts. Punk still has Rock's title. Rock says Punk merely made a trade: hold Rock's belt for six days and then receive a huge asskicking at the PPV. He calls Punk a spoiled little boy. Punk and Heyman on the Titantron via satellite. Punk reminds Rock of the new stipulations; Rock can lose the title via countout or DQ. Punk says he might just let Rock beat himself at the PPV. Rock with more of the "spoiled little boy" jabs. OK, I get it: you're a man and Punk's a spoiled little boy.

Brodus Clay & Tensai vs. 3MB: Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal representing 3MB this week for the tag match. Tensai's still the "I don't wanna dance but sure, let's tag" mentality. Then the match starts. Slater with air guitar, so Tensai with some dancing. No, I don't really want to imagine a double date involving Brodus/Naomi and Tensai/Cameron. The big guys get the win again this week in a straightforward match. JBL calls Jinder "Punjabi MC" for a nice laugh. Jinder eats a sitdown chokeslam and a Brodus splash. Over in less than three minutes. JBL wins for the Natural Disasters reference. *

OH SNAP, here's the Shield. Triple powerbomb to Brodus. Message sent.

Miz vs. Cody Rhodes: Miz's left shoulder still taped up to sell injuries suffered on RAW. Josh Mathews claims Miz will be 100% by Sunday. Simple strategy for Cody to work on the left shoulder. Miz manages to lock in the figure four and get a submission win. Little over three minutes. *

Jack Swagger vs. Zack Ryder: Poor Zack Ryder is gonna job again! Swagger avoids the Broski Boot and slams Ryder's right ankle into the ring post. Patriot Act applied and the "Real American" gets another quick win this week. Again, match took a bit over three minutes. *

Zeb Colter on the mic after the match. More of the "Real American" preaching. I love how WWE can incorporate U.S. history. Frankly, I can see someone like Bruno Sammartino getting behind such a gimmick.

Video package on how destructive the Elimination Chamber can be on a WWE Superstar.

Matt Striker finally with a "normal" interview to ADR and Ricardo. ADR admits he's never pinned Show but will still go to WM as the world champ. SI SI SI!

Big Show vs. Chris Jericho: Kudos to Chris Jericho for having multiple great free-TV matches in the last few weeks. Show is dominant from the start and even tosses Jericho over the announce table. Even when Jericho gets Show on his knees, Show explodes with a huge spear for two. Still cringe at seeing the impact of that. Jericho avoids one chokeslam but can't avoid the second. Y2J to the outside but Show tosses him back in. Show misses a huge elbow drop and Y2J Lionsault gets two. Y2J counters Show with a DDT for two. Y2J can't get the Walls of Jericho on, then walks right into a KO punch (more like a slap to the face here for max audio effect). Show gets the win. **

ADR looks on from the stage. The usual staredown. PPV is this Sunday (which is actually later today).

2/8/13 Smackdown

Big Show's bus pulls to the arena in Jacksonville. He then walks to the ring and gripes that he lost the title in a match he couldn't prepare for and then get assaulted in his hotel room. The usual "wah wah wah" stuff. Show then goes to Booker T and says Booker is jealous of Show's in-ring accomplishments. Enter Booker. Show accuses Booker of telling Del Rio where Show was staying. Booker says anyone can find a 7-footer in a hotel room. Still need the damn hotel info, though. Basically, Booker dodged the question. Booker "suspended" ADR, but puts Show in a match against Kane.

Cody Rhodes vs. Kofi Kingston: Mustache is still on Cody's face. Kofi on fire early on. Josh Mathews mentions that ADR is still in Jacksonville despite the suspension. JBL calls Cody "Zorro" and "Mark Spitz." Awesome. Cody counters and avoids Kofi's big moves. Cody hits the Disaster Kick and Cross Rhodes to get three. Match went about four minutes. *3/4

Daniel Bryan and Kane in the back. Gotta love how DB passively gloats about how he's in the Elimination Chamber.

We see Lesnar's nukage from the past two RAWs. First to Vince McMahon, then to Miz.

Bruno Sammartino HOF video shown again. Still surreal that HHH managed to get him to agree. Asking price was steep, but Vince OK'd everything. Read online that if Sammartino didn't get in this year, he'd never approve and accept a WWE HOF induction. Not sure how truthful that is, but given Bruno's bad blood with Vince over the years, I'd believe it.

Great Khali vs. Titus O'Neil: And now I hate my life for having to watch this match. I do like Khali's music, but still, don't make him wrestle. Teddy Long and Booker T are watching because Khali's actually a former world champion and could be in the Elimination Chamber. Please don't make that happen. Titus runs right into a Khali chop and it's over in two minutes. DUD

Mark Henry! YES! He tosses Titus into the barricade and destroys Khali. Henry then gets on the mic and reopens the Hall of Pain. He blames Booker T for not contacting him about qualifying for the elimination chamber match. So Mark Henry felt he had to destroy four guys this week to do so. Oops. Mark threatens to destroy the entire locker room. Booker comes out. Mark continues the threats. Booker says Mark's been out nine months. Who gives a crap? Booker will grant Mark a spot in the chamber if he beats Randy Orton. Yes, put Mark Henry in the chamber. Book it. Wasn't Orton gonna take time off anyway? This could be a way to do so.

Big Show wants the proper temperature in the bus, the proper steak, and an unclogged toilet. AlbertoDelRio sighting! He's not in the building so it's OK. Wonder what's gonna happen now....

Big Show vs. Kane: Booker and Teddy are watching this match to see if Kane gets to go in the chamber. Hey, Show hits the Vader Bomb this week! Show missed the second one, though. Kane tweaks his knee on the top-rope clothesline and Show hits the KO punch for three. Match probably went about five minutes (including the commercial break time). *3/4

ADR on the Titantron. He made a new friend,the guy working for Big Show! ADR made some changes to the bus. Show storms outside to see. Back tires got taken off! ADR then dumps orange paint on Show. Ricardo's driving the tow truck! Show cries. Can we not see a 7-foot giant do that, please?

So far, Orton, DB, and Rey Mysterio are in the Elimination Chamber. Three more spots to fill. With both world titles contested in singles matches, it appears there will only be one EC match for the PPV.

Jack Swagger vs. Justin Gabriel: Gabriel's got brown hair now, like it matters. Swagger is aggressive from the opening bell and looks dominant all the way through. Swagger ends it with this gutwrench power bomb and the "Patriot Act" ankle lock. Not sold on the new name for the ankle lock yet, but at least it's something. *

Fandango vignette. I'd hold off on his debut until after WM 29.

Tensai vs. Drew McIntyre: I think a face turn is what Tensai needs to pick up momentum. Pairing with Brodus Clay might look odd, but hey, it probably will sell tickets. Jinder and Heath Slater tackle Tensai about a minute in and the ref calls for the bell. Brodus comes out and the two big men dance. Why not just pull out shades for Tensai so he can "transform" into a dancing machine like Rikishi did with Too Cool? Well, I'm sure people can just skip over this one. N/A

Antonio Cesaro vs. Sin Cara: Short match again. Sin Cara with a noteworthy move, flipping onto Cesaro's shoulders and hitting a big snap powerbomb for two. Sin Cara springboards into a Cesaro Euro uppercut. Neutralizer follows and gets three. Match was about two and a half minutes. *1/4

Striker interviews Miz about what happened on Miz TV. Cesaro comes in and insults Miz so they brawl. Resume the U.S. Title chase!

RAW video package of Shield nuking Brad Maddox. Cena gets the entire WWE locker room to help make the Shield retreat. Six-man tag between Shield and Cena/Sheamus/Ryback at Elimination Chamber PPV.

Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton: Orton has trouble handling Mark. Action spills to the outside and Orton shoves the big man into the ring post. Doesn't really do much but piss Mark off. Orton still manages a clothesline, dropkick, and the hangman's DDT. Crowd all jacked up now. Mark avoids the RKO, splashes Orton in the corner, and hits the World's Strongest Slam for three at 5:30. *3/4

Mark Henry is the fourth guy to be placed in the EC match. Two guys start, and each of the four pods unlocks one superstar "at random" every four minutes.

2/1/13 Smackdown

Alberto Del Rio's in the parking lot ready to fight Big Show in the parking lot. Vintage weapon!

Booker T is in the ring with former world champions. Yup, even KHALI is in there, but we all know he's not winning that title anytime soon. Along with Khali, there's Orton, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Sheamus, and Dolph Ziggler. Elimination Chamber match coming up, and the winner of that match challenges for the World Title. Apparently, you have to be a former world champ to qualify.

JACK SWAGGER?! He's been off TV since last fall. Looks like he's put on a little weight and grown some facial stubble. Ziggler doesn't want to subject himself to the Elimination Chamber so he's out. Since Swagger is indeed a former world champ, he also gets to prove himself tonight. Booker makes matches and all the qualifiers have to do is impress Booker and Teddy Long.

Team Hell No vs. Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara: Rey is in his hometown tonight and gets a nice pop. Sin Cara has green attire tonight to match Rey's colors. Masked guys with the lucha moves to befuddle Team Hell No. DB's looking more like a goat face each passing week. Very competitive match. Mysterio gets the hot tag tonight. Kane blocks the first 619 but Rey sends Kane out of the ring. DB with the NO lock and Sin Cara breaks that up. Sin Cara takes Kane out again. 619 to DB and a splash for three. Awesome opener. **3/4

Matt Striker gets all the sucky assignments. Oh, ADR's just getting some fresh air. No biggie.

Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal: And it's fast-forward time, because this match can't possibly be very good. Bizarre chaos at ringside involving air guitar playing and leprechaun chasing. Khali wins with the Punjabi Plunge after 2 minutes. I'm not gonna bother rating it. N/A

Booker didn't see Swagger's return coming. Team Rhodes Scholars walks in. Sandow says the team is dissolving so they can pursue singles careers. Let's hug it out! Booker says Sandow will face Sheamus later tonight.

We see WWE exclusive footage of Vince McMahon getting carted off on a stretcher after taking Lesnar's F-5 at the end of RAW. Vince is legitimately undergoing hip surgery in the near future. While I don't necessarily agree with this possibly making HHH return to TV, it would again have major WM 29 drawing power.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: Sandow getting more aggressive in the ring these days. Major physicality is one thing you can expect in a Sheamus match. Sheamus with the clubbing blows to Sandow in the ropes. Shield comes down from the stands and attacks Sheamus. Ref doesn't bother calling for the bell. Rollins took a huge Brogue Kick and looked woozy even after the beatdown ended. Triple powerbomb to Sheamus ends that. *1/2

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: Typical Orton match here, nothing fancy. Barrett goes for the Bullhammer but hits the ring post instead. SD crowd really came alive for Orton's RKO at the end. *1/2

Barrett attacks Bo Dallas in the back. WWE really pushing Bo hard by giving him an IC title feud for his first WWE storyline (since getting the callup, anyway).

Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston: A good matchup for Swagger to have his comeback. It took Swagger five months to conclude that he was unhappy with WWE's direction? No JBL, I don't think this is the best we've seen Swagger perform. No questioning that he's in great shape, though. Back and forth, very good stuff. Kofi's offense on point as usual. Action spills to the outside. Trouble in Paradise misses and Kofi's right foot smacks the announce table hard. Allows Swagger to get the submission win via ankle lock. **1/2

Big Show arrives and ADR attacks with the lead pipe. Car windows are smashed. Show really can move for such a huge man. Show got on top of the car and took a bump on top of the vehicle. Show squeezed into another car and drove away. Nice segment.

ADR tells Ricardo to stay in the back. Ricardo's got a neck brace. Yup, that won't be a good decision, either.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler: Good stuff to start from ADR. AJ has her hair up tonight. She hops on the apron and Langston knocks ADR off the top. Del Rio just about lands on his head there. Ref eventually ejects Langston from ringside. ADR with the comeback. That superkick with Ziggler on his knees sounded insanely lethal, but got just two. Cross armbreaker countered into a Ziggler Rocker Dropper for two. ADR with punches to the back and a backstabber to Ziggler for another two. ADR to the top and Ziggler with a perfectly timed dropkick to ADR to get two. Zigzag countered into a cross armbreaker, and Ziggler taps. Now this is a match, my friends. Hell yes. ***3/4

As expected, Big Show in the titantron and he has Ricardo. After a few threats to ADR, a KO punch to Ricardo. So we're probably getting yet another singles match between Alberto and Big Show at Elimination Chamber.

1/25/13 Smackdown

Team Hell No to the ring to start Smackdown. We had a hugfest on RAW for sure. Kane says they'll defeat Team Rhodes Scholars (YES) and retain their tag titles (YES) and then go win the Royal Rumble (YE...what?!) So now Daniel Bryan's also in the Royal Rumble, like that's any surprise. Vintage Team Hell No disagreement. Show breaks it all up and says he's guaranteeing a world title win at the Rumble against Alberto Del Rio. Show claims ADR stole the title from him. Team Hell No's not leaving. Rhodes Scholars to the ring. Don't put the cart before the goat! Sandow proposes an alliance with Big Show, so Del Rio comes down to even the sides up. And it only took Booker T about 10 minutes to get to the ring to "officially" make this six-man tag! Rhodes Scholars bails and ADR avoids an attack from Show. A few kissy faces from ADR to Show. Aw. After all, Valentine's Day is coming soon!

Rock advertised for this show.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett: Basically a rematch of the Beat the Clock match on RAW. Can always count on these two getting very physical. Sheamus with that slingshot shoulder tackle to Barrett to start a comeback. Side kick from Barrett countered into a Sheamus rollup for two. Never had an English-born World champ in WWE yet? Interesting. Barrett connects with that thrust kick to Sheamus' face for two. Cloverleaf countered into a rollup for two. White Noise to Barrett. Brogue Kick to Barrett and it's over. **3/4

Renee Young (Renee Paquette) is also doing these WWE World Tour Reports. Yeah, more of her, please.

Natalya vs. Rosa Mendes: Great, now Natalya lost her Hart Foundation music to Great Khali's theme? The world's ending. Khali, Hornswoggle, Primo, and Epico are all at ringside, so we can expect more confrontational stuff. Khali's useless on commentary, and Primo and Epico had to teach Rosa Mendes how to get to the ropes on a submission attempt. Rosa dances in the ring. I don't think she taught her Puerto Rican friends how to do that one. Hornswoggle gives it a go. Facepalm moment! Natalya gets Rosa in the Sharpshooter and it's over. DUD

CM Punk to the ring. Day #432 as WWE champion. He's only afraid of his own potential. Heyman reads a letter stating that if the Shield interferes during the WWE Title match, Punk gets stripped of the championship. Punk says Vince wants to steal the title from him. Punk decides to call the Shield out. Shield comes through the crowd and circles the ring. Punk says if the Shield stands for justice and fights injustice, they would stay out of Sunday's match because it would be the biggest injustice to lose for that reason. Shield leaves. Punk says everyone's inferior to him -- true greatness.

Rock's music hits and the Sacramento crowd goes NUTSO. Serious Rock promo this time saying Punk's reign is gonna be over in two days.

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre: Air guitar and a bandana won't save McIntyre this week. About a minute in, Jinder enters the ring and the ref, just on that, just calls for the bell. RKO to Jinder. Hangman's DDT to McIntyre. RKO to Slater. RKO to McIntyre. And that's how WWE kills two minutes. Goodbye, hairband. N/A

Miz vs. Darren Young: Cesaro on commentary. Titus really never a factor, but Miz kicked him anyway. SCF countered, but Miz wins with the figure four in front of Cesaro. Probably two minutes again. Boo. N/A

Royal Rumble stats shown again.

Alberto Del Rio & Team Hell No vs. Big Show & Team Rhodes Scholars (Elimination): JBL wants a personal ring announcer as well. I don't blame him. ADR now gets to show more of the lucha stuff as a face, and the fans love it. Faces all get good offense early on. Kane runs into the Show KO punch on the outside and gets counted out. During the commercial, Sandow got eliminated. Show works on DB. KO punch to DB sends him to the floor for another countout. Show clearly making a statement for the Last Man Standing match on Sunday. Chokeslam to ADR and Del Rio to the outside. ADR back in at 9. ADR with a superkick to send Show to the floor. Show gets counted out! Down to Cody and ADR, so it'll be a much faster pace. Cody to his knees, and side thrust kick (like Barrett) gets two. ADR with the running enzuigiri in the corner for three and the win. **1/2

Show spears ADR after the match. Show does some housekeeping around the announce table. KO punch to ADR. Show with the appropriate revenge by rolling the announce table over ADR. Show counts to 10. Massive heat for Show.

Of course I'm picking ADR to retain again at the Rumble. They'll find another way to have Show stay down for 10. It should hopefully lead to Ziggler cashing MITB in on ADR at WM 29. Hoping for the full match, honestly (instead of the usual cashing it in while the guy's down). Might as well steal the show on the grandest stage in a kickass match, right?

1/18/13 Smackdown

This is episode #700 of Smackdown, according to JBL.

The show begins with a little fiesta in the ring. Fiesta Del Rio! Mariachi band and dancing. Ricardo in the ring to introduce Alberto Del Rio. ADR with no car this time, but his titantron has the Mexican flag. Twitter handle is @VivaDelRio so they are really going full-on with the babyface run. And with Smackdown in Texas, ADR gets a huge favorable response.

Ziggler comes down with AJ and Langston. Is Dolph cashing in MITB? Nope, they just want to come to the party anyway. Ziggler reminds ADR of the MITB title shot and ADR has a target on his head. Langston speaks! "Que paso, little man." Dammit, shoulda taken Spanish in school. Before anything physical goes down, Big Show also to the ring. Sheamus arrives to even up the sides, so I guess we got a tag match later tonight. ADR and Sheamus shake hands. Who woulda thought that even a couple months ago? I still remember Sheamus' joyride with ADR's car. Don't let Sheamus eat any burritos! Booker comes down to make the match "official." Booker tells Show, Ziggler, Langston, and AJ to leave. Booker with a spinaroonie for old time's sake. Sheamus dances! JBL says now Sheamus will never get back in Ireland. LOL.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston: Cesaro just with a mention in the ring. Yup, your U.S. champ gets the mention, Kofi gets the big TV entrance. Logical! Short match here, seemed pretty average. Then the finish occurred. Kofi goes for a big hurricanrana, Cesaro catches him and turns it into a Neutralizer for three. Match was about three minutes as Miz watches from a backstage monitor. If that finish doesn't tell you how powerful Cesaro is, I don't know what will. Extremely impressive. Kofi might not be a very large man compared to others on the roster, but he's still over 200 pounds and coming down with a lot of force. *1/2

Primo, Epico, and Rosa apparently still speak English on WWE TV. So does Miz have a match with one of the cousins tonight?

Great Khali vs. Tensai: And this is torture to the WWE Universe. WHY?! No Hornswoggle this week because he's selling injuries of Big E Langston's finisher. Match, even for about 60 seconds, felt like 3 hours. Tensai stayed on Khali in the corner well after the ref told him to stop. Nice job not paying attention. Khali chop ends it quick. I'd also like to know why Natalya is not in a wrestling role right now. Ugh. N/A

Team Hell No in the back. I agree, some people just don't know when their facial hair just gets ridiculous. YES NO war ensues. Orton must be thinking why he's even tagging with these guys. Yup. GROUP HUG AFTER THE MATCH! I love this stuff.

Randy Orton & Team Hell No vs. Wade Barrett & Team Rhodes Scholars: Kane got worked over for a change of pace. Then Cody had to tag in and Kane probably sent the mustache into the third row. A bit of chaos, then Cross Rhodes to Orton. Kane breaks the pin up. RKO to Sandow gets the win. So hey, Orton at least won't be going on a bad losing streak...right? *3/4

OH, IT'S GROUP HUG TIME! Orton refuses, but basically is forced to be a part of it. Now watch Orton refer to this when he turns heel later this year.

We see Rock concert from RAW.

Miz vs. Primo: And as predicted, we got a match between Miz and one of the Puerto Rican cousins. Miz doing a few Flair impersonations. Primo tries for the figure four, but Miz launches Primo into Epico. Miz then with the figure four to Primo, and Primo taps. Match probably went about 6 minutes. Miz gets to celebrate a bit with some of the troops. *1/2

Kaitlyn with Layla and Alicia Fox in the back. Layla gets quite attached to that Divas Title. Could be Kaitlyn's next significant feud?

Kaitlyn vs. Aksana: But tonight, it's two NXT divas who probably should still not work any matches together. And I still don't know what "hybrid" Kaitlyn is supposed to be. Simple offense from Aksana, nothing fancy. Aksana just screams and does some catty attack to Kaitlyn in the corner, then Kaitlyn explodes with a nice spear to get three. Match went a little over three minutes. 1/2*

Nice video package of Mick Foley, who will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Gotta love it.

Shield promo mentioning Ryback, Sheamus, and Orton. You will believe in the Shield!

Sheamus and Orton again mentioning the Royal Rumble. Sheamus probably eliminates Orton during that match to set up the full heel turn for the Viper.

Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus vs. Big Show & Dolph Ziggler: Now as a face, ADR gets to show more of the lucha stuff, which he did against Ziggler in the early stages of the match. Show gets tagged in and looks strong as usual. Langston and AJ get ejected, and I'm a partially sad panda because I can't look at AJ anymore. Ziggler almost gets German suplexed on his head and he's probably on autopilot as Sheamus gets in the match. Show launches Sheamus off the top to the floor. Sheamus then pummeled for a few minutes, hot tag to ADR after Show missed that Vader Bomb. ADR with a big side kick to Ziggler for two. ADR signals for the armbreaker. Ziggler tags Show and ADR didn't see it. Cross armbreaker to Ziggler but Show legdrops ADR. Sheamus delivers White Noise to Show again. Running enzuigiri to Show. Remember the confetti Ricardo tossed on Show on RAW? ADR tosses water tonight! Show looks absolutely pissed, but walks away. Since Show's the legal man, his team gets counted out. Not the finish I personally cared for, but whatever. Mexican-colored balloons fall from the sky as the show ends. **3/4

1/11/13 Smackdown

Booker T starts the show in the ring. He makes some matches for tonight, promoting Cesaro vs. Orton. Booker also says Rock's in the building. Finally, a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Title between Del Rio and Big Show. Show to the ring and pissed off. And the Latino card comes into play. How funny that Show uses the "he's beneath me" line on Del Rio, something ADR's said for a long time. Show lays his hands on Booker to make Booker change his mind. ADR sprints to the ring and knocks Show to the outside.

Randy Orton vs. Antonio Cesaro: Cesaro has to be one of the strongest guys in the locker room, pound-for-pound. Cesaro added another move, the Michinoku Driver II, to his WWE moveset. Orton comes back for a bit but then Orton's tossed up and eats the Euro uppercut for two. Orton with a backbreaker and hangman's DDT. Shield interferes (of course) and the ref tosses the match out. Shield with the triple powerbomb to Orton. **

3MB all entering the Royal Rumble. Hey JBL, do you think 3MB has a chance to win the Royal Rumble? "No." Thank you, JBL.

Punk at the University of Miami's football field and home of WM 28 last year. Punk has a 94 jersey that Rock wore for college football. Yup, the Orange Bowl field is gone, and Punk reminds Rock of that. Rock can go back to Miami but can never go home. Love it.

Great Khali & Natalya vs. Dolph Ziggler & AJ Lee: Mixed tag match because Khali somehow has to keep active as an in-ring performer. Khali moves so damn slow in the ring and has maybe two moves that are believable. They left the AJ "wardrobe malfunction" in, which in the PG era means AJ's shirt got pulled up and we see her black bra. AJ bites Natalya to get out of a potential Sharpshooter. AJ now bites Natalya's ear. We have a female Mike Tyson on our hands (or "Michelle Tyson," according to JBL). Sliced Bread #2 from AJ and we get three. And that was a waste of my time. DUD

Big E Langston and Ziggler take Khali out after the match. Hornswoggle comes in at the wrong time and Langston plants him with his finisher. Complete with Langston literally licking his fingers in delight. Big E definitely fits in the group now.

Another Punk promo. Punk's made a career out of stomping people's dreams. It doesn't matter what Rock's vision is. Punk takes off the 94 Miami jersey and drops it on the turf.

And here comes Rock for his promo. Huge pop made bigger because he's in his hometown. Rock's got the orange-soled shoes. Finally, the Rock has come back...home. Flo Rida is in the building. He mentions all the college football days and the big-name NFL players he played with.

Rhodes Scholars interrupts Rock. They're out to help and correct him. RS will become tag champs and Rock doesn't deserve the ring time. Dead caterpillar on Cody's lip. That'll be trending now. Cody's an adult, dammit! Sandow wants to see if Rock can answer his three questions. Answer them all correctly, Rock stays. If not, Rock leaves. Just bring it! Rock knows 19th-century Presidents and compares Sandow's face equals Abe Lincoln getting busy with a gremlin. Rock gets the second question right and we get more caterpillar stuff. Rock with one question for a great prize: combine a geological aggregate with its lowest form. Rock Bottom! Correct! Spinebuster and People's Elbow to Cody. And Rock layeth the smacketh down on Rhodes Scholars. Loved the segment.

Sheamus vs. 3MB: Yeah, it's a 1-on-3 handicap match. Shemaus quickly dispatches Slater with a Brogue Kick and gets three. Josh Mathews and JBL missed the call live and on the replay. Oops. N/A

Team Hell No vs. Primetime Players: Announcers mention DB tweaking his knee in the RAW tag match against Rhodes Scholars. Basic tag here. DB comes off the top with a double knee to PTPs. Kane chokeslams D-Young and it's over. *1/4

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show (Last Man Standing; World Heavyweight Title): Lots of time given to this one. ADR comes out to a good pop. Main event intros, and Ricardo introduces Del Rio. Doesn't take long for the weapons to arrive. Show sets up a table on the outside and slams ADR through it. ADR still gets up at six. ADR gets a chair and tees off on Show. ADR cross armbreaker on Show in the ropes and Show has to use power and the ring apron to get out. Show sets a table up in the corner of the ring; ADR dropkicks Show through that one, but Show gets up. Sleeper on Show works only temporarily. Big Show chokeslam hits and ADR up at eight. Back to the outside and Show spears ADR through the barricade. ADR still gets up at nine. Back in the ring, KO punch to ADR. ADR slides out of the ring onto his feet to stop the count at 8. Nice move. Technicalities! Show with the steel steps now, but he misses ADR and the steps go back into Show's head. Show's dazed. ADR with the steps three times to Show's bad left shoulder. Show's down by the announce table! ADR rolls the announce table on Show and collapses. Ref counts. ADR gets up at 7 or 8. Ref counts Show down and new champ! Crowd goes nuts. ADR and Ricardo celebrate in the crowd. Well played. ***1/2

Was expecting Ziggler to crash the party with the MITB briefcase, but I guess WWE wanted the crowd to go home happy.

Regarding the 20th anniversary of RAW next Monday, now I'm reading the show may not be stacked with legends as originally planned. We'll see what happens.

1/4/13 Smackdown

Orton starts the show. He wants to be the world champion again and officially enters the 2013 Royal Rumble. Sheamus interrupts and also says he'll be in the Royal Rumble. Orton attacked the Shield for revenge and vows to eliminate Sheamus (last year's Rumble winner). Big Show comes out and says it won't matter who wins the Rumble. Cesaro is next to the party and he's calling Americans "grotesquely obese" -- with Big Show standing 20 feet from him. Booker makes a tag match for tonight.

Miz vs. Heath Slater: Slater has Jinder and Drew with him. JBL wins again for the Spirit Squad reference. Miz with some good basic wrestling on Slater. Outside interference gives Slater the upper hand, and the ref ejects Jinder and Drew. Goodbye, Air Guitar Spirit Squad. Nice match once things settled. Slater works on Miz's left shoulder -- Miz's dominant arm. Miz with the comeback, hitting the SCF for three. **1/4

Great Khali, Hornswoggle, & Natalya vs. Primo, Epico, & Rosa Mendes: Six-person mixed tag match here. For yet another chance at facepalming and blindness, WWE replays the Mae Young "birth scene" on RAW -- and Hornswoggle is born. JBL says "Ugliest baby since (Josh Mathews)." LOL. Epico comes in, so Khali's tagged in. Epico tags Primo. That's tough love for your cousin. Hornswoggle's been watching tape of Stone Cold, got a couple stunners in. I wouldn't call a tag to Khali a "hot tag," more like a molasses tag. Big Khali chop to Epico gets three. *

Wade Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston (IC Title): Kofi lost the title on RAW and had to get his title rematch after pinning Barrett in the gauntlet match on Main Event. Wouldn't Kofi have had a rematch in his contract anyway? Oh wait, heels are more likely to use that, so we can't do that here. Kofi on fire early, so Barrett retreats. The usual Kingston flying stuff here. Barrett tries for the countout win, but unsuccessful. SOS gets two. Boomdrop also gets two. Trouble in Paradise misses, Bossman slam countered into a Kofi rollup for two. Barrett hits that Bossman slam, two again. Bullhammer misses, Trouble in Paradise knocks Barrett out of the ring. Kofi gets him back in, but Barrett gets his hand on the ropes to stop the count. Kofi leaps again and Barrett decks him with the Bullhammer for three. Best match all week. ***1/4

Tamina Snuka vs. Layla: Divas action next. Some physicality on the outside. Eventually, Tamina catches Layla on her springboard move and hits a Samoan Drop. One superfly splash later, Tamina wins. Not much more to write home here. 1/2*

We see highlights of the ending segment to RAW this past Monday. Next week, Rock returns to RAW and we have the TLC WWE Title match between Punk and Ryback.

Sheamus & Randy Orton vs. Big Show & Antonio Cesaro: This is the main event for this week's episode. Formulaic tag match. Glad to see Cesaro joining the main eventers for a night; he'll be there very often in the future. Big Show spear is still one heck of a move to take. Sheamus kicked out of Show's chokeslam, woulda preferred Orton come in to break up the pin. KO punch misses, Sheamus with the Brogue Kick. Hot tag to Orton. Sheamus tags himself in and Orton doesn't like it, to say the least. White Noise to Cesaro. Sheamus sets up for the Brogue Kick and Orton RKOs Cesaro in a game of one-upsmanship. Hey, it gets the three-count. Whatever works. **1/2

12/28/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Brodus Clay vs. Primo: N/A (squash)

Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, & Kane vs. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, & Damien Sandow: **

Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz: **1/2

Sheamus vs. Brad Maddox: N/A

Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Titus O'Neil & Darren Young: *

Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): **
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Sheamus starts the last Smackdown of 2012. He drank eggnog-flavored ale at Christmas. Interesting. He also now has a year's supply of sunscreen...ha. Sheamus wants to be champ again in 2013, but he calls Show out now and wants another title shot. Show asks if he looks like Santa Claus. Yup -- only fatter. More bickering because Show refuses to give Sheamus another title shot. Booker comes out. He's gonna put everyone's name -- including Sheamus -- in a tumbler and the name drawn faces Show for the title. Show's pissed and promises to KO who the challenger is. Teddy and Eve both want to help out and cause a ruckus. Duh. SANTINO WINS! Well, this will likely be comical. Show got a nice laugh out of this.

Primo in singles action against Brodus. I swear Brodus' dancing lasted longer than the actual match. Brodus wins in no time. Rosa gets in the ring to speak her mind. Naomi and Cameron with a DOUBLE SUPLEX? Double split legdrop as well. Ladies are finally getting physical. More of that, please.

Santino seeking pointers from Sheamus on how to beat Big Show. Santino pulls his hamstring. Now that's a girly scream. Guess we need another person to face Show now.

Six-man tag next. Kane and DB now more on the same page. DB worked on, hot tag to Kofi. Kofi with the high crossbody on Wade, but Rhodes Scholars breaks that up. Team Hell No takes out Sandow. Disaster Kick to DB. Trouble in Paradise to Cody. Barrett Bullhammer to Kofi gets three. Nice match.

Big Show now says he should have the night off. Booker's gonna pick another competitor for Show anyway. Teddy Long brings in Ricardo Rodriguez. Show puts the belt on Ricardo's shoulder. Ricardo told to announce himself as champ. Show KOs Ricardo. Problem solved for now.

Ryder and Cesaro next. "USA" chants. Neutralizer gets Cesaro the win. Well, that closes a crappy 2012 for Ryder -- at least the second half of the year, anyway.

Miz and Ziggler next. AJ and Big E Langston accompany Ziggler. Lengthy match with several counters and big-time moves. Miz blows a kiss to AJ, so Langston storms up the ring steps as a distraction. Ziggler hits the Zigzag for three. Look for Miz and Ziggler to have great years in 2013.

Miz with more insults to AJ on the mic, so Ziggler goes back to the ring. Miz with the mic shot. Langston sprints in and nukes Miz. Good to get Langston over as a big threat.

Brad Maddox pushes Booker's buttons for one more chance. What is this, a pathetic ripoff of Christian's "one more match" shtick?

Alberto Del Rio wants to kick Show's ass. So Booker gives ADR the title shot against Big Show. ADR says the match is for Ricardo. We see a face trend from Alberto, but WWE isn't going full-on with a face turn. Could be a way to test the waters for the future. WWE wants a new Mexican babyface star, and Alberto's the ticket for that one after the injury bug continues to plague Sin Cara.

Maddox to the ring. He faces Sheamus. Oops. Maddox gets nuked in four minutes. Enough said.

Usos and Primetime Players in a short match. Usos pull the switcheroo like the Bellas used to do, and Rikishi's sons get the win. Guess you gotta do what you can to get a tag title shot these days. JoshMathews and JBL didn't bother to mention this version of twin magic.

Shield highlighted in another video package. These three have major promise.

Title match ends the show. Real notable that ADR got a good pop on his entrance and ring introduction. Main event intros from Lilian Garcia. Crowd with the "Big Show sucks" chants. Nice superkick from ADR gets two. Cross armbreaker countered. Big Show decides to walk away. Sheamus attacks Show and the ref rings the bell. Well, that was a crappy way to end that match. Show dispatches Sheamus.

Show tries to leave again. Entire Smackdown locker room comes out because Show insulted them all in a promo earlier in the show ("losers, rejects, wannabes, and nobodies"). ADR with the running enzuigiri in the corner and Sheamus with the Brogue Kick to end the show.

WWE should hold more televised events in Rochester. Great crowd all night.

12/18/12 Super Smackdown (Live)

Ratings:
Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara: *1/2

Santino Marella vs. Tensai: *

Kofi Kingston, Kane, & Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett, Titus O'Neil, & Darren Young: **1/4

Ryback vs. Antonio Cesaro: *1/4

Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn (Divas Title): *3/4

Brodus Clay vs. Brad Maddox: 1/2*

John Cena & Sheamus vs. Big Show & Dolph Ziggler: **
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Commercial-free Smackdown!

Show goes right to Miz TV. Guests are Ziggler and AJ. Big E Langston also there. AJ kisses Ziggler. I am very jealous. AJ said Cena toyed with her heart and she lost her job to keep his good name clean. So those bows really were from AJ. AJ now knows Cena doesn't care about anyone but himself. Fans say AJ's crazy. Big E Langston is basically AJ's friend and doesn't like it when AJ is called "crazy." Ziggler kept his briefacse, stole the show, and stole Cena's girl. Miz says Ziggler's the sixth member of One Direction (current British boy band). Langston takes Miz out.

Long trying to persuade Booker to sign Brad Maddox. We'll know his opponent later.

Sandow faces Sin Cara. Cody at ringside. Rey's music plays, but no Mysterio. Hey, no Sin Cara lights this time! Not bad here, the usual fun Sin Cara offense. Shield comes through the crowd and tosses Mysterio's mask in the ring. Sandow hits Terminus off the distraction and gets three. Shield nukes Sin Cara after the match and attacks the right knee. Funny how we only learn AFTER Sin Cara's match that the Shield attacked Mysterio and injured the neck.

Tribute to the Troops airs tonight (12/19).

Tensai and Santino fight tonight because Santino made fun of Tensai at the Slammy awards presentation. JBL wins the internet with a Shockmaster reference. You can win awards for power walking skills? Santino slammed Tensai! Cobra hits right on Tensai's hard head, little effect. Tensai misses the senton and Santino covers for three.

Kofi and Team Hell No backstage. Daniel's still bitter about not winning a Slammy. Kofi has his. Kofi says Daniel got to hang out with Ric Flair and Flair's got the best catchphrase. NO! NO! NO! Awesome.

Barrett and Primetime Players face Kofi and Team Hell No. DB worked over, but tag to Kofi and he works on Barrett. D-Young distracts Kofi, though.Kane with the hot tag after that. Titus and D-Young go for some tandem 3-point stance move on Kane, but DB pulls Titus out of the ring. Chokeslam to D-Young gets three.

Cena talking with Sheamus in the locker room. Cena praises Langston as possibly the strongest guy he's been in the ring with. Bro secrets! Sheamus cringes. Cena's messin' with Sheamus. "But is it possible?!" Hey, we want to know! Or do we?

Punk promo. He's still pissed that he wasn't Superstar of the Year and says even Cena knows he wasn't supposed to win the award. Also pissed Cena gave the Slammy to Flair. Punk's a real man and the gold standard who doesn't lose in title fights. Ryback's coming out...oh crap. Ryback still has his guaranteed title match. WWE Title match between Punk and Ryback set for first RAW of 2013 (January 7).

Cesaro and Ryback next. More "GOLDBERG" chants. Cesaro tries to leave and Ryback stopped that. Cesaro shoved Ryback into the steps and goes for a countout win, no dice. Ryback offense is simple and effective. Meathook and Shellshocked end it.

AJ wishes Kaitlyn luck in her divas title match against Eve. Kaitlyn doesn't buy it and calls AJ a lunatic. Catfight! Where's Joey Styles when you need him?

Divas Title match next. Eve in control early. JBL wins the internet again taking shots at Michael Cole. Kaitlyn with several nice moves for near falls. Kaitlyn to the top, but Eve holds on to the ref and then takes him down to get intentionally DQ'd. Well that let all the air out of this one. The match was actually not bad.

Ziggler assuring AJ he'll be the future world champ. Enter Show, who will KO Ziggler far into next year if Dolph tries to set up Show and cash in MITB again tonight.

Brad Maddox to the ring. He's facing Brodus Clay tonight. Brodus dancing Gangnam Style = ugh. Simple match, Brodus wins with the splash. Shield come out to nuke Brodus.

Main event tag match next. Show toys with Cena and taunts Sheamus. Sheamus tags in and gets some shots in, but he gets worked on next. Sheamus counters the chokeslam and hot tag to Cena. Cena with the moves of doom to Ziggler. Sheamus takes Show out of the ring. Zigzag to Cena only gets two because it's Cena. AA from Cena. Big E Langston gets in the ring and nukes Cena again. Ref rings the bell. Vintage AJ skipping much like on RAW. Vintage makeout session with Ziggler and many guys around the world want to be in Ziggler's shoes. End show.

Again, Tribute to the Troops airs in a few hours. Should have that up tomorrow.

12/14/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Big Show vs. R-Truth: *1/2

Cody  Rhodes & Damien Sandow vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: *1/2

Kaitlyn vs. Aksana: 3/4*

Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Great Khali, & Hornswoggle vs. Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Primo, & Epico: *1/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio: **

Sheamus vs. Antonio Cesaro: **1/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Sheamus and Cesaro at ringside to "scout" their respective opponents for TLC. Show faces Truth here. Painful beatdown from Show for the first few minutes. Cesaro stands over Truth and Sheamus shoves Cesaro. Show KOs Truth in the ring for three. Show taunts Sheamus some more. Sheamus stalks Show. Cesaro pushes Sheamus into Show. Show gets all giddy because he thinks the match is off now that Sheamus made contact with him. Booker says the match is still on.

Sandow re-introduces Cody Rhodes as his tag partner. Cody had been sidelined until this past week with injuries. They face the Usos tonight. Standard match here. Sandow holds the tights on the rollup to get three.

Show has Otunga by his side to get out of his title match. Otunga demands to the WWE Board of Directors that the match be called off and that Booker gets removed as Smackdown GM. Booker says the match is still on. Show is pouting like a big baby. Whoa, Otunga brought up Booker's past of serving jail time eons ago! Sheamus storms to the ring with a chair. Sheamus says if the match is off, he'll just kick Show's arse right now. Show says the contract's fine and the match is on. Brogue Kick to Otunga. Well, that was entertaining.

Shield shown taking Randy Orton out. Orton apparently went through a table. Injury angle?

Kaitlyn and Aksana in another match. No intros. They've had some bad matches in the past but have developed a decent back story over the last few months (Aksana being the mystery person taking Kaitlyn out before her divas title match against Eve). Frankly, JBL's commentary was much more entertaining. Gutbuster wins it for Kaitlyn, the so-called "hybrid" diva in WWE.

Striker says Orton has a separated shoulder and a possible concussion.

Miz TV next; guests are Team Hell No. DB and Kane will use tables (YES), ladders (YES), and chairs (YES), and will love every single second of it (YES YES YES). Shield interrupts with their camera. Ambrose again comes out as the big star in that one. Kane invites them to the ring to fight. Shield spotted in the crowd. They make their way down the crowd, but Ryback comes out. Shield retreats.

Khali and Hornswoggle in tag team action again. Natalya is now a valet. Why?! 8-man tag right now. Rosa slaps Tyson Kidd, so Natalya comes over and takes out Rosa. Kidd counters a rollup with one of his own and gets the win. Fairly abrupt ending. The face team ends up dancing in the ring after. Yup.

Kofi and Alberto next. Gotta love the Kofi high-flying stuff to pump the crowd up. Kofi counters an ADR suplex and rolls him up for three. Barrett sprints to the ring and tries a sneak attack, but Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise.

Recap of RAW with the World Heavyweight Title picture. We also see the Sheamus/Ziggler match again from Monday night.

Shemaus tells Regal he will hit Show with a ton of chair shots and become champ again. Tonight, the Celtic Warrior faces Cesaro. I agree with JBL, I love that Euro uppercut as well. It looks vicious and you can hit it from just about any angle. Sheamus with the comeback. Shemaus then sees Show on the stage with a fallen Regal. Show with the chair shot to Regal as Regal holds Sheamus back. Ref counts Sheamus out in the process. I have to give it to WWE. It's been a very nice build for the PPV.

I frankly want to literally see blood flowing between Show and Sheamus. It's not PG, but dammit, if WWE really wants an edgier product now, just do it. Don't show blood all the time, but show it when you need to. This is one instance where adding a bit of color would make it that much better. Show and Sheamus was not built up to be a wrestling clinic. This was made to be a war from the start. Let it be a war with blood.

12/7/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan: *3/4

Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, & Drew McIntyre vs. Brodus Clay, Jimmy Uso, & Jey Uso: *

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: **1/4

Great Khali & Hornswoggle vs. Primo & Epico: DUD (ugh)

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio: ***1/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Announcers say that Punk had minor surgery on his knee and won't be wrestling at the PPV. Lilian Garcia is back announcing after getting hit by a car a couple months ago.

Booker T in the ring for contract signing between Sheamus and Big Show. It's a chairs match. Video package of the feud the two have had. Booker T says no-contact clause until the PPV match, effective immediately. Both Sheamus and Show come out. Booker then tells Show that if he violates the no-contact clause, Show would be stripped of the title. Sheamus says his Christmas comes in nine days. Show can't wait because he believes he only needs to hit Sheamus once to win. Show shoves the table on Sheamus, then signs the contract. Guess there's a technicality that Show still hadn't signed the contract (or that he didn't actually touch Sheamus). I've been impressed by these two in this storyline. Quality matches. Hoping for more of that at TLC.

Sheamus gets Alberto Del Rio later tonight. Show gets Daniel Bryan now. Show slaps hard and DB kicks hard. Show works on DB's left arm. Shield comes down through the crowd. DB distracted, and Show with a chokeslam for three. Show leaves and Shield attacks DB. Kane arrives, but he too gets mugged. Kane through the announce table. Wow, table spot this early in the program?

Sandow still looking for an apprentice.Guy in glasses gets picked, could pass for Daivari's brother. And another failure. Miz comes out. Sandow apparently wears his dad's bathrobe and gets pink trunks from Victoria's Secret. Burn.

Brodus comes out with the Usos to face 3MB. So Brodus = Shrek + Aretha Franklin? Duly noted. Short match here. Drew hits the Future Shock for the three.

Barrett and Orton next. Kofi on commentary. Action to the outside, and Orton tosses Wade into the barricade. Barrett whips Orton into the steps. Typical Orton comeback moves. RKO blocked. WB tries to remove the turnbuckle but Kofi stops that. Orton RKO gets three.

Primo and Epico are former tag champs, and now they get to job to a 7-footer with horrible knees and a short guy with a leprechaun gimmick. Why?! Also a shame that Natalya is picked for the whole "I got a huge crush on Khali" storyline. Hornswoggle gets picked on, so he does the Warrior shaking ropes spot and runs away so Khali can do the damage. Tadpole splash gets three. Infinite facepalms.

Shield does their raw-looking, attitude-filled taped promos. Woohoo.

Cesaro in the ring. America is weak, he says. They all look like the American Dream. Dusty Rhodes, that is. Nice picture. R-Truth comes out for his spiel. Cesaro says Truth's delusional. You don't say? Brawl in the ring, Cesaro bails.

Sheamus and ADR next. Show comes out when ADR seizes control of the match. Del Rio, as usual, works on the left arm. Whoa, ADR did a moonsault! YES! Cross armbreaker on Sheamus while in the ropes. Sheamus comeback later on, but great ADR counters. Back and forth for the last few minutes. ADR moonsault again. Sheamus moves, but ADR lands on his feet. Irish Curse backbreaker and cloverleaf. ADR taps. Awesome.

Show comes to the ring and dares Sheamus to hit him. Sheamus motions for the Brogue Kick, then throws Ricardo into Show's nuts. No actual contact from Sheamus! Match is still on. End show.

11/30/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio: ***1/2

Great Khali vs. David Otunga: DUD

Daniel Bryan, Kane, & Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett, Titus O'Neil, & Darren Young: **1/2

Damien Sandow vs. Tyson Kidd: *1/4

Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: *1/4

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler: **3/4
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Cena opens the show, even though it's Smackdown and not RAW. he's interested in the main event match tonight pitting Ziggler against Sheamus. Del Rio interrupts and reminds Cena about what happened the last time those two faced off. We got a match between Cena and ADR now. Ziggler is an interested spectator in the back. Cena's left shoulder into the post, and ADR attacks that injured shoulder -- but hell, he woulda done that anyway. Cena moves of doom, but ADR hits a backstabber for two. Numerous impressive counters from both guys. Did I see Cena counter with swinging neckbreakers and dropkicks?! Cena counters cross armbreaker with STF, but ADR makes it to the ropes. ADR goes into the ringpost, and Cena wins with a top-rope legdrop. Really enjoyed this. Solid opener. Cena celebrates on the ramp but Ziggler from behind with the MITB briefcase.

Kofi trying to be peacemaker for Team Hell No, but turns out he doesn't have to be. YES! Six-man tag tonight against Barrett and PTPs.

Otunga and Khali next. Trust me, I'd rather have Khali kick my ass than take the bar exam. Short match; Khali wins with that overhead chop. At least now we can move on.

Six-man tag next. DB and Kane actually in sync early on. DB isolated when the heels take over. Titus gets caught on his three-point stance move; hot tag to Kane. Kane chokeslams D-Young. Tag to DB?! Flying Goat and a NO lock for the submission win. Wow, guess we can have champs on the same page tonight.

Striker with the Movember mustache thing. Sheamus starting to see Big Show everywhere he goes, so that doesn't bode well for Ziggler.

Sandow with his pre-match monologue again. He'll share knowledge on an individual basis now and seeks an apprentice from the crowd. Pick me! Some lanky guy in a Punk GTS shirt gets the call. He must answer three questions correctly. He gets the first two right, then the impossible third question. I kinda liked this segment.

Sandow faces Tyson Kidd. Remember when Tyson Kidd actually had the time to really put on a great show week after week? Seems like a distant memory now. Sandow with the Terminus for a quick win.

Slater and Jinder represent 3MB again against the Usos. Jey gets the hot tag this time. Ref has to restrain Jimmy from getting involved. Slater with the kick to the back of Jey's head, then a Jinder full nelson sitdown bomb for the win.

Sheamus and Ziggler in the main event. Another solid match. Ziggler ducks the Brogue Kick and hits a jumping DDT for two. Irish Curse gets two. Cloverleaf locked in, but Show does the run-in and the ref throws the match out. Cena comes down for the save. AA to Ziggler. Cena and Sheamus with the double suplex and double shoulderblock to Show. Faces celebrate in the ring as the show ends.

11/23/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Ryback vs. Darren Young: N/A (squash)

R-Truth vs. Antonio Cesaro: *1/4

Alberto Del Rio vs. Sin Cara: **

Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan & Kane: **

Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow (IC Title): **1/2

Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton: **3/4
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Miz TV starts the show, guest is John Cena. We see the AJ kiss and the tweaked knee. Cena says he's fine and ready to go. Cena liked that AJ kiss and she's a good kisser. Damn you, Cena. AJ comes out, and Ziggler. Sounds about right. Cena wins with the "we still can't prove Vickie is medically a woman" comment. Oh wait, there's another winner: one likes eating a lot of nuts and the other is still looking to find his. Nice opening skit.

Ryback's hungry. D-Young's the victim tonight. Titus then got nuked after that. Pretty much sums up those few minutes.

R-Truth gets his non-title win over Cesaro here. Wonder if that means Truth gets a title reign soon.

Sheamus gets to drink in a luxury suite, a title match at the PPV, and watch big Show compete in a handicap match against Team Hell No.

Alberto Del Rio faces Sin Cara. JBL thinks Ricardo is awesome. ADR controls much of the match, and Cara does his usual fancy moveset. ADR catches Cara on the top rope and slaps on the cross armbreaker for the submission win.

Vintage Daniel Bryan and Kane bickering. Kane says DB and Show should team up and be Team No Show. Vegan turkey for DB this year. DB invites Kane over for Christmas if they win tonight. Kane gets to beat up Santa Claus if so. YES.

Handicap match time. Team Hell No has to tag in and out. Regal and Sheamus watch from the luxury box. Show works over DB's left arm. Show misses a second-rope elbow. UFO sighting there. DB refuses to tag Kane in, but gets some submissions on Show. Kane finally gets in the match and does more damage. DB tags himself back in and Kane takes a walk. DB with the NO lock on but Show gets out and chokeslams DB to get three. Kane avoids the KO punch and Team Hell No get Show out of the ring.

Wade Barrett on commentary to watch the IC Title match. He's the #1 contender and faces the winner of this title match. Sandow's upped his physical offense. Kofi goes back to being the wildcat and hits all his signature moves to retain.

We see the end of RAW again with the Punk celebration and Ryback going through the announce table. Next week, Cole does an exclusive interview with Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose.

Orton and Ziggler in the main event. Ziggler takes a good beating, but then Ziggler tosses Orton into the announce table. Back and forth stuff. that top-rope superplex has to take a crapton out of Orton; he hits his damn head on the canvas quite hard. Hangman's DDT sets up an RKO, but Ziggler counters and rolls Orton up for three. Good stealing of a win there.

Ricardo gets in the ring and Orton hits the RKO. No ambush from Del Rio tonight. Cena then puts Ziggler in the STF on the stage. Four refs can't get Cena off Ziggler. End show. I assume a tag match some some kind happens next week.

11/16/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Damien Sandow vs. Kofi Kingston: **

Layla, Kaitlyn, & Natalya vs. Eve Torres, Alicia Fox, & Aksana: *1/4

Randy Orton & Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio: **1/2

Wade Barrett vs. Kane: N/A

Antonio Cesaro vs. Sin Cara: *1/2

Big Show vs.Great Khali: 1/2*
___________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Show takes place in Cleveland tonight. Sheamus waits for Big Show in the parking lot.

Miz TV starts it off. More evidence that Miz is becoming a face, as Chimel announces Miz as "Cleveland's own" to get the extra pop. "Miz is awesome" chants. He's even on the Survivor Series poster. Guest is Mick Foley. Foley questions which Miz shows up at Survivor Series. Foley calls all his team members out -- and each have had past feuds with Miz in some way. No team unity tonight. Hey, Orton with the thumbtack reference from 2004! Team Ziggler brings his team out to the stage. No Cody because he's nursing injuries from the Kane match on Main Event. Cody's status for Survivor Series uncertain as of Friday's show. More dysfunction on Team Ziggler. Del Rio says he should be the leader.

Sandow faces Kofi next. Sandow slowly showing me more moves. Decent match. Sandow with the rollup for three.

Six-diva tag match. At least they got more time here than on RAW. Layla slaps Aksana's ass and hits Aksana with her own ass. Really? Kaitlyn's getting hot tags now. Never would have believed it, but she's looking respectable in that ring. Kaitlyn knocks Alicia into Eve, then a reverse DDT gets three.

Booker tells Sheamus to wait 48 hours to get his hands on Big Show. Sheamus can't promise he'll restrain himself.

Ziggler/ADR vs. Orton/Miz next. Both teams seem to be well-oiled machines at this stuff, not surprising. Orton with the "shove tag" to Miz. Miz eats up the crowd pops. JBL says fans probably will turn on Miz like they did LeBron James. Ha. JBL rules. Miz gets worked over, then hot tag to Orton. Orton ready for the RKO, but Miz tags himself in. SCF for three as Orton looks pissed. RKO to Miz. Yup.

Sheamus to the ring for a serious promo. He doesn't want to wait until Sunday and wants Show now. Show on the stage saying he's scared of what he'll do to Sheamus. Sheamus doesn't care and wants to fight now. Booker ejects Sheamus. Show butters up to Booker afterward. Show gets a match tonight. No one's bigger than Big Show...right?

Barrett faces Kane. Team Ziggler storms the ring and the ref calls for the bell. Well, that was short. No rating. DB comes down, then Kofi and Orton. RKOs for Sandow and Ziggler.

Truth on commentary as Cesaro faces Sin Cara. Another average match here with the Sin Cara stuff. Cesaro with the Euro uppercut and Neutralizer for three. Truth wants to quote Hacksaw Jim Duggan, so the crowd naturally went "HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" But yeah, it's the "USA!" stuff Truth wanted.

So yeah, no one's bigger than Show, right? KHALI! DAMMIT, WHY?! No JBL, it's not a great idea. Khali's the one guy that moves slower than Big Show. Molasses in the ring. Show spear was cool, but only two. No chokeslam, Khali with the giant hand for two. No Punjabi Plunge. WMD for three.

Sheamus' music plays, but no Sheamus. Show walks to his bus. Poor Matt Striker nearly gets KO'd again. Sheamus waiting in the bus. Brawl time! Car windows and windshields busted. Multiple officials need to restrain Sheamus. 48 hours! End show.

11/6/12 Super Smackdown (Live)

Ratings:
Kofi Kingston vs. Miz (IC Title): **3/4

Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara: *3/4

Sheamus & William Regal vs. Big Show & Wade Barrett: **1/2

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio (Falls Count Anywhere): ***3/4
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Cole interviews Sheamus to start the show. Josh Mathews and JBL on commentary, and they mention a pub fight he and Regal had with Big Show. Vintage cell phone video! Sheamus praises Regal's career and feels Show stooped real low here. Show says he did Sheamus a favor by holding back, because he can KO Sheamus again. Sheamus says Show's full of it. Wade Barrett interrupts and questions Sheamus' sanity. Sheamus doesn't care and wants a fight.

Miz exercises his IC Title rematch clause against Kofi tonight. Kofi with the frenzied pace at the start. Kofi tweaks his left knee, so Miz spends time attacking that. Boomdrop hits, but no Trouble in Paradise. SCF countered into victory roll for two. Miz with half-crab, nice job. Fight on the top rope, but Kofi hits a high crosbody for three. Thought it'd go longer, but nice match.

Miz sticks out his hand for a handshake. Kofi doesn't believe him and dropkicks Miz out of the ring. Classy.

Time for the masked marvels to face the Primetime Players. Don't blink when Sin Cara is on offense. Rey gets the hot tag as Josh again brings up how Mysterio retired JBL. I'd love the retired life as well if I got to play golf and have a home in Bermuda. D-Young distracts Rey as he tries the 619. Sin Cara takes D-Young out, but Rey runs right into Clash of the Titus for three. Millions of dollars for these two!

Vickie tweets that she's been given more evidence in this AJ Scandal. Oh, she even has a typo in the hashtag (#CourgarInCharge).

Booker and Teddy Long business relationship is just fine. Teased tension but Booker was joking. Did a great job of it, too.

Regal gets a nice pop of his own here. Sheamus runs to the ring and we got a war. Barrett getting cheered against Sheamus. Rugged style between Regal and Barrett. Show then tees off on Regal and isolates him for several minutes. Regal with a running elbow to Barrett, leads to Sheamus hot tag. A few moves, but Show spears Sheamus. Regal tags in. Show no-sells the knee trembler and runs right into a KO punch for three.

Del Rio pulls the "he attacked me from behind" card with Orton. ADR vows to show people that he's the only apex predator in WWE.

The spelling for this new gimmick is now "Fandango" (without the extra "O" at the end).

Time for the Falls Count Anywhere match. Ricardo at ringside, a bigger factor now that this is a No DQ match. They do the vintage "fight in the crowd" spot and head to the backstage area. ADR gains control during the commercial break. Ricardo stays close to the action throughout. Orton hangman's DDT teased a couple of times -- once on the concrete -- but countered both times. More fighting in the crowd on the stairs. RR hands ADR a chair to use on Orton. Two chair shots get two. Second commercial break, and they're back in the ringside area. ADR grabs the big steel ringside steps and puts it in the ring. But hell, let's go to the stage! They've spent maybe less than two minutes in the ring so far. RR gets involved again, so Orton kicks him and beats him up in the red telephone booth. Superman's not coming out this time. Vintage Orton in the ring. ADR into the steel chair propped in the corner. Chair shot gets two. Nice to note that the ropes do NOT break the count on pinfalls. Orton goes through a table set up at ringside, but ADR only gets two. ADR trash talk to Orton. Cross armbreaker. Orton gets out by clocking ADR with the mic. Orton into the ringpost. Big steel steps positioned. ADR tries Orton's hangman's DDT on the chair, countered. ADR still tosses Orton into the steps. KO shot with the chair misses. Orton with an RKO on the steps for three. Awesome match.

11/2/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Darren Young vs. Sin Cara: *1/2

Rey Mysterio vs. Titus O'Neil: *

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton: **1/4

Great Khali vs. David Otunga: DUD

R-Truth vs. Justin Gabriel: *3/4

Big Show & Miz vs. Sheamus & Kofi Kingston: **1/2
________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
We start things off with Miz TV. Guest is Sheamus, who basically says Miz didn't win his rematch against Kofi. Sheamus feels like kicking Miz in the face. Miz vows to regain his IC title, so Kofi comes out to say that won't happen. Show then comes to the party. Show refuses Sheamus' challenge. Kofi then backdrops Miz out of the ring.

Booker makes a match: ShoMiz face Kofi and Sheamus. Yeah, ShoMiz is back! Sorta.

Sin Cara up against D-Young in singles action. Rey and Titus are at ringside supporting their respective tag partners. Standard match that you'd expect from these guys. D-Young hits his gutbuster for three. Great, Titus has a whistle now. Where's Mr. Perfect's coach when you need him? Titus with the big mouth to call Rey out, and Mysterio has no problem with that.

Good laugh when Josh Mathews brought up how Rey retired JBL and JBL saying he was sick that night. Titus blocks the 619 thanks to D-Young distracting Rey. Three-point stance from Titus didn't work, and Rey rolled him up for three. Oops.

We get the main event segment from RAW: announcing Team Foley and Team Punk at Survivor Series. Should be a good one. I'd also look to see if Maddox gets put in as ref again -- or otherwise makes some type of appearance in the match (whether to cover for a fallen ref or just get involved for the hell of it).

No Eve tonight. Natalya wants to be the replacement. Otunga steps in, but Booker wants him to face a returning Khali. Dammit. Spit take! Poor Natalya -- and Teddy Long.

Next up is Orton and Barrett. Rubber match between the two. Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo at ringside as well. ADR tries to get the jump on Orton, and Ricardo helps out. Orton goes on with the match anyway. Wade unable to put Orton away with a number of moves. Randy with the usual signature comeback moves. ADR again with the distraction from the stage. Ricardo gets decked, but Barrett takes advantage and rolls up the Viper for three. Orton's pissed and looks for ADR. They brawl in the back by the catering area. Was that marinara sauce to Ricardo? Orton backdrops ADR through a table. Why does Matt Striker have to interview Orton right there? Orton introduces Striker's face to the dessert table. Yup.

Jerry Lawler returns to RAW in two weeks in Columbus. Real awesome news that he's recovered so quickly.

Otunga and Khali? Please shoot me that Khali's even back wrestling. Josh says Khali's hands are the size of laptops. Really?! Yes JBL, I'd say iPad minis. So stuff happens and Khali hits that overhand chop to the head for three. I lost brain cells. And please don't tell me Natalya will be having eyes for Khali. Yes, Khali has big hands.

R-Truth in a quick match with Justin Gabriel. JG mocked Truth's dancing pretty good there. Good counters and kicks from JG. JG misses his springboard move and Truth hits Little Jimmy for three.

More RAW footage highlighting the AJ Scandal. Still trying to figure out why the hell WWE would even bother to take TNA's Claire Lynch angle like that. Couldn't they have figured out a better way for Cena to feud with Ziggler?

Main event tag match time. Looks like Kofi and Miz start, then Show tags in. Sheamus tags in, so Show tags out. Sounds about right. Kofi with the early spark, but then the heels beat him down. Kofi with the hot tag to Sheamus. Sheamus goes to town on Miz. Kofi gets to work on Miz. Sheamus takes Show to the outside. Ref restrains Sheamus. Show with KO to Kofi and it's over.

Show pisses Sheamus off and Miz -- who stupidly kept celebrating in the ring -- eats a Brogue Kick. Making another statement there....

10/26/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Kane vs. Cody Rhodes: *1/4

Miz vs. Yoshi Tatsu: 3/4*

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton: ***

Layla & Kaitlyn vs. Eve Torres & Aksana: *

Damien Sandow vs. Daniel Bryan: *1/2
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Josh Mathews and JBL announcing from Providence, RI. Two days from Hell in a Cell!

Orton starts things off. I'm assuming he grew his hair out for the movie role. Promo on Alberto Del Rio. Orton vows to give ADR the biggest beatdown at HIAC. Del Rio comes out and says he's the new apex predator; Orton's just a "garden snake." Orton calls ADR spineless. Wade Barrett attacks Orton from behind, probably came through the crowd. Teddy Long books Barrett against Orton for later.

Daniel Bryan and Damien Sandow on commentary, naturally on opposite sides. DB and Damien praise their partners' in-ring abilities. Nice array of moves from Rhodes. DB says Sandow's the weak link on Rhodes Scholars and says Sandow doesn't have a manly beard. Nice stuff, goat face. Kane with a chokeslam for three. Fairly average stuff to me. Commentary was awesome.

Miz gets Yoshi Tatsu in a warmup match for HIAC. Poor Yoshi has been jobbing for a while now. Kicks and knees from Miz, aggressive ring style. Yoshi with a couple of moves, but otherwise all Miz.

More hyping of the WWE Title match this Sunday at HIAC. I'm curious on how WWE will treat this one. I'm all for Ryback's big push, but still hope for Punk to keep the gold.

The whole "who attacked Kaitlyn?" storyline started because Eve botched her spot in the divas battle royal a few months back. At least it did wonders for keeping Kaitlyn and Aksana somewhat relevant on the show. Basically, the story now is Eve sent text to Aksana to take Kaitlyn out at Night of Champions, so I guess Aksana wore the blonde wig. Booker doesn't know who the believe but tells Eve if the allegations are true, Eve's fired. Booker makes a triple threat match at HIAC between Eve, Kaitlyn, and Layla. Guess Eve retains again. Divas tag coming up.

Orton faces Barrett. Back-and-forth match given a lot of time. JBL continually says Orton shouldn't have taken this match 48 hours from the PPV. Several counters led to near falls, some of them signature moves or finishers. Del Rio with the interference as Orton set up for the RKO. Souvenir elbow got three. Big win for Barrett's momentum. ADR tries to take Orton out after the match. Goes for the armbreaker, countered. ADR gets out of the RKO and slithers away.

Time for the divas tag. JBL still says Teddy Long was in the blonde wig and is the worst blonde man he's ever seen. Nice to see Kaitlyn showing more aggression in the ring. Layla goes to kick Eve, but strikes Kaitlyn instead. Eve tossed to the outside, and Eve covers Kaitlyn for three. Wonder if that'll happen at HIAC as well. Oh, and Eve's kick has a name now: the Bombshell.

WWE's really pushing the "AJ Scandal" with Cena. Cena and Vickie have taken it to Twitter.

Kane tells DB if the goat face loses, the Big Red Monster will know "who the tag team champions really is." Kane and Cody on commentary as DB takes on Sandow. DB pushes Cody, Sandow gets to Daniel. Kane intimidates Sandow around ringside. Cody tosses DB into the ringpost. Sandow with Terminus and it's over. Poor goat face.

We end the show with a face-to-face segment between Sheamus and Big Show. Must be around a dozen security in the ring. Sorry, the security can't hold these two guys back. Brogue Kick to a security guard, but Show avoids it.

Basically, three questions to be answered: (1) will Big Show KO Sheamus with the WMD; (2) will Sheamus manage to nail his Brogue Kick on Big Show for a win; and (3) will Ziggler cash in MITB? All three should be answered on Sunday.

10/19/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Randy Orton vs. Miz: **1/4

Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow vs. Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel: *1/2

Daniel Bryan & Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big Show: **1/4

Antonio Cesaro vs. Ted DiBiase: *

Heath Slater vs. Brodus Clay: 1/2*

Layla vs. Natalya: 1/4*

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett (Lumberjack): **
_______________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Josh Mathews and JBL on commentary.

Miz TV starts things off. He's still saying Kofi's title win was a fluke. Stitches obviously still in Miz's head. He's invoking his rematch clause at Hell in a Cell, so add that one to the card. And Team Hell No are the guests tonight! Daniel Bryan really sporting a hell of a goat face. Miz basically saying it'll be DB's fault that they lose the tag titles at HIAC. DB's the world's toughest vegan! HA. More vintage Team Hell No bickering. DB brings up the 45-second win on Big Show, so Show arrives to the party. Ziggler comes down and must get in on the act because he's the MITB holder. Miz really never had control of his show. Booker puts a halt to everything. Two big matches. Team Hell No against Show and Ziggler.

But first, Miz faces Orton. Oops. Alberto and Ricardo watching from a luxury skybox, saying he's the new apex predator in WWE. Good match with Orton taking it via RKO.

Teddy suggests Sheamus face Barrett in a Lumberjack match. Eve lurks in the background, so I guess she's stealing the idea if Booker likes it.and blaming Teddy if Booker hates it. Sure enough, the former occurs.

Team Rhodes Scholars continues to get booked strong, picking up a win over Gabriel and Kidd. Nice finish with the blind tag and the disaster kick to Kidd's face. Unfortunate that it was real short.

Next on the card is Team Hell No vs. Ziggler/Show. Show's offense just hurts. Spear to Kane, gorilla press toss DB to the outside. Decent isolating of DB. Finally, DB actually voluntarily makes a tag to Kane. DB then tags himself back in later. Kane saves DB from Show. NO lock to Ziggler and it's over. Another day in the lives of Team Hell No.

Cesaro outside Sun Studio for a taped promo, then faces DiBiase in singles action. Nice thing about that Euro uppercut is how it can be hit from just about anywhere. Neutralizer wins it.

I'm happy Ryback's getting his push to face Punk in the cell. I just wish Punk could keep the title while Ryback gets a big win. Can't really do that here, though. Would be interesting if Ryback does get the belt. Punk could always gain it back, but it's just cool to have him tell people how many consecutive days he's been champ.

3MB is in the house. McIntyre really can scream into that mic. Slater faces Brodus Clay tonight. Jinder with the distraction, and Slater gets the win. Funkdactyls must be sad pandas right now.

Eve again at ringside for Layla's match against Natalya. Josh continues to inquire about the blonde wig purportedly found in Eve's bag. Eve with the professional demeanor while just going with the jealousy spiel. Layla gets the win with a roundhouse kick. There was a match going on? Poor Natalya.

Teddy has Eve's iPad and shows some info to Kaitlyn. Teddy says Kaitlyn can do whatever she wants with that info. Kaitlyn takes a couple photos. Could be Eve with a blonde wig on or just some incriminating notes.

Lumberjack match time. Hey, it's a great way to get otherwise-unused superstars on the show. You can always expect a hard-hitting affair between Barrett and Sheamus. 3MB actually pulled Wade out of the ring, so Sheamus took them out. Man, these are some poor lumberjacks. Not doing their job. Throw 'em back in! The inevitable brawl between lumberjacks commences. Team Hell No comes down and chases Team Rhodes Scholars out of the arena. Sheamus nails his Brogue Kick on Barrett in all the chaos and gets three.

Zigzag from Ziggler. He tries to cash in MITB but Show KOs him. Message sent to Sheamus.