WWE Smackdown Review 09-09-11 - Mark Henry Delivers Another Beat Down To Orton

The Big News: Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes in an exciting main event match up. His celebration was short lived however as Mark Henry arrived shortly afterwards and took the viper to the mat with the world's strongest slam before pressing a chair against the champs neck whilst taunting him. They aired a really cool, grainy and snappily edited video package of Mark Henry's recent path of destruction to start the show. Mark Henry came out and talked about the hall of pain claiming that his best years are not behind him despite being in the industry for fifteen years. He then promised to win the title at Night of Champions. Zak Ryder came out and told Henry that Theodore Long had instigated a no contact policy between Orton and Henry prior to their match of Night at Champions. Both men however would be in action tonight in separate warm up matches. Ryder then tried to leave on multiple occasions but Henry kept asking him to come back inside the ring and taunted him with questions such as who he thought would win the match at Night of Champions. Sensing that he was about to be attacked any moment Ryder went for the element of surprise by hammering some fists into the big man but Henry just swatted him down with his big hand as if his victim was just a fly before taking him down with a power slam. This entire interplay was great with Ryder's increasing sense of fear contrasting well with Henry's cool but unpredictable demeanour. Match: Mark Henry defeated Ezekiel Jackson via pinfall They linked hands to start and engaged in a battle of strength with Henry bringing his opponent down to his knees and then slamming him over the top of his head. Jackson then wanted to lock up again and Henry pretended to go along before just kicking him square in the chest. Jackson did manage to get in some offence however with Henry leaving the ring and leaning against the barricade to take a breather. When Jackson came out to meet him Henry levelled him with a nasty kick to the face before tossing Jackson back inside the ring and winning the match with the world's strongest slam. Short match did a good job of promoting Henry as both tough and knieving. ** Another silly sexual innuendo segment with Teddy Long and Aksana backstage. They aired a video package of the baffling incident from last week in which Sin Cara inexplicably turned heel following his victory against Daniel Bryan. Match: Sin Cara defeated Tyson Kidd via pinfall Fun little sprint of a match despite Cara looking quite sloppy and at one point even parodying Kelly Kelly's rope running which was an extraordinary sight to behold. Quick paced back and forth athletic contest with a finish that saw Cara counter a back supplex into an enziguri and then follow it up with an Olympic slam and the senton/lionsault combo. ** Josh Matthews had promised to interview Sin Cara after the match during commentary and stayed true to his word as he entered the ring with a microphone. Cara spoke for the first time telling everyone that €œI am an intense competitor€ before insisting that he is not going to hold anything back anymore in either his attitude nor his matches. Daniel Bryan interrupted and told Cara that they might have a problem on their hands as he doesn't think Cara respects him. Bryan then challenged Cara to a match next week on Smackdown and told him that he could be as vicious as he wants in their bout. Cara responded to this by hitting Bryan with some kicks and then making him tap to his own labelle lock. Cara was quite the detestable heel here though it was a shame to see Bryan once again being made to look like a first class fool. Backstage Randy Orton was asked about his main event match against Cody Rhodes. He responded by saying that Rhodes is unstable and that unstable can be dangerous as he knows all too well. He then put over Mark Henry by saying that his post-match attack on the last edition of Smackdown showed that he was smart and calculating €“ two words that he isn't used to associating with the world's strongest man. He then said that the only thing capable of putting a stop to Henry's path of destruction was an RKO. They showed footage from Raw in which Natalya had attacked Kelly Kelly after both divas had engaged in a war of words at the announce desk. Match: Kelly Kelly defeated Natalya via pinfall Kelly got the upper hand with a bulldog and then a pretty neat looking submission in which she hung upside down on the ropes with her legs wrapped around Natalya's neck. Natalya countered out however and threw Kelly to the outside and proceeded to give her somewhat of an ass whipping both on the outside and back inside the ring. Smooth finish saw Natalya trying to lock in the sharpshooter only to be rolled up by Kelly Kelly for an unexpected and successful pinfall attempt. ** Christian came out and said that both his match and every other match on Smackdown was going to be postponed whilst he talked about the wrongdoings of Teddy Long who had forced him into a tag match the day before he was scheduled to face Randy Orton inside a steel cage. He said that he demanded another shot at the title before Sheamus came out to interrupt. The Irishman told a story in which he compared Christian to a dog before climbing into the ring and telling Captain Charisma to get out so that he could have his match with Wade Barrett. Christian reluctantly departed the ring looking quite a broken figure. Match: Sheamus defeated Wade Barrett via DQ Convincing brawl with Wade getting in a ton of offence through a large portion of the match. One particularly awesome spot saw him trap Sheamus in the ropes and then kick him so that the Irishman was hanging upside down on the outside. Sheamus eventually made his comeback with fists, knee strikes and a top rope shoulderblock only for Christian to appear to halt his momentum and cause a dq finish. ** ½ Post-match Christian and Barrett both ganged up on Sheamus but the Celtic Warrior fought them both off to stand tall inside the middle of the ring. Common sense would dictate that Christian should get the heat first in this feud in order to regain some momentum after his fall from the main event scene but they seem to be going for one of those superstar in crisis type deals which they usually execute when they've run out of ideas. Air Boom (Tag Champions) defeated Jinder Mahal and Khali via pinfall Rematch from Raw. Evan took down Mahal with a hurrancana but the power game soon caught up with him as Khali and Mahal took it in turns to keep the high flyer grounded. Kofi then got the hot tag and ran wild with his electric aerial routine which included a boom drop on Mahal. Khali then tagged in but Mahal got angry and shouted at him. Khali responded by shoving him right into Kofi's trouble in Paradise finisher for the pinfall. ** Seems then like these matches have been more interested in leading up to a partnership breakdown as opposed to actually trying to rebuild the tag division. Cody got on the mic before his match with Randy Orton. He said that he's an inspiration to everyone and that people have always been jealous of his skills and abilities. He then claimed that that he could see Ted Dibiase was a sinking ship which is why he dropped him the previous week. He then said that Orton had inspired him to reveal just how unstable he can really be. Good promo from Cody here though its hard to take him seriously what with the goofy voice that he uses as well as his bizarre looking face mask. Match: Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes via pinfall (MATCH OF THE NIGHT) They exchanged headlocks before Orton took Rhodes to the ground with an impressive dropkick. Rhodes then used the mask to headbutt Orton and take control by grounding his opponent with some stomps. Cody started working the leg and then connected with his jumping knee strike after countering out of the Orton's mid rope ddt set up. Cody then turned his attention to Orton's sore forearm before the world champion finally got some respite by sending Cody flying after a bulldog attempt. Orton then got on top with a clothesline, powerslam and connected second time of asking with the deadly rope assisted ddt. Rhodes then tried to bail with Orton chasing him back inside the ring. An awesome finishing sequence then took place with Orton countering out of a crossrhodes attempt and then catching Rhodes with an RKO as he came towards him from the middle rope. Really fun tv match with both champs made to look good. *** Post-match Mark Henry took a fatigued Orton to the ground with a world's strongest slam before grabbing a chair and resting it on Orton's neck whilst bad mouthing him. Verdict: A mixed bag of a show. The continued push of Mark Henry is coming along very nicely with the big man using cunning as well as his strength to help get himself to the top. With Orton beat down twice on two consecutive Smackdowns there is now sufficient dramatic intrigue as to how Smackdown's top dog is going to handle his dominant challenger at Night of Champions. Henry blatantly ignoring the no contact policy was also a nice touch to show that he doesn't care about authority. The main event match was also a very well worked contest which maintained the momentum of the world champion whilst also not letting the Intercontinental champion look weak. The main problem with Smackdown and indeed Raw at the moment though is that there is just so much filler. For example where are the wrestlers who should be desperately trying to challenge and take down Cody Rhodes so that they have the chance to hold gold? Similarly where are the tag teams who could help the popular champions Air Boom make this once glorious division exciting again. Instead these once important belts now just seem to be used as props in order to promote other mostly uninteresting feuds such as the Mahal/Khali situation which I'm sure not even their own families could possibly care about. The restoration of these belts would actually revitalise superstars at midcard level and actually give some purpose to the matches that we keep seeing over and over again. Superstar of the Night: Mark Henry €“ Good mic work and ring presence for a man who is now fully immersed in his character's current direction. Moment of the Night: Henry toying with Ryder was classic heel bullying with a sweet payoff at the end.