WWE Smackdown Review - 12/08/11 - Randy Orton Slays A Giant!

Randy Orton defeated Khali in the main event whilst a previously hesitant Christian changed his tune in coming to realise the positive implications of a no holds barred encounter.

The Big News: Randy Orton defeated Khali in the main event whilst a previously hesitant Christian changed his tune in coming to realise the positive implications of a no hallsbarred encounter. Triple H started the show. He droned on relentlessly before finally hitting home the point that he's under a ton of pressure as the new Chief Operating Officer but is loving every minute of his role. He put over the upcoming Cena and Punk match a SummerSlam as being one of the biggest in history and then turned his attention to Smackdown, booking a series of matches including an Intercontinental Title clash with Jackson defending against Cody Rhodes, a Money in the Bank versus Money in the Bank bout between Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan, and a World Championship warm up match for Randy Orton who was pitted against Khali. He turned his attention to Christian but the World Heavyweight Champion came out on his own accord and angrily told Hunter that he was going to sue the wwe for allowing Randy Orton to challenge for his title in a hardcore environment despite having medical proof from his lawyers that Orton is mentally unstable. Triple H no sold this information as if he was talking to a jobber and proceeded to patronise Christian by informing him that he was under contract and if he breached that contract by not defending his title, then as boss he had it within his rights to fire him and subsequently take away his belt. Hunter left Christian to mull this over as he departed the ring but the champion had his music cut and boasting a tactful change of heart stated that he was now quite willing to face and beat Orton at Summerslam and to take on whatever opponent Hunter had in mind for him tonight. This led to Triple H bringing out his opponent Sheamus. Featuring bad acting, awful comedy and amateurishly written drama this was truly a dire segment. Match: Sheamus defeated Christian via count out Really good stuff up until the finish. Tightly constructed back and forth action which saw Christian throw Sheamus to the outside but miss a sliding dropkick, Christian sliding off Sheamus' shoulders and sending the Irishman into the outer ring post and the champ dominating for a while with stomps back inside the ring before Shaemus fired back with some impressive fists. The match continued in this vein with both men seemingly one step ahead of the others game before Christian decided he had enough and walked up the ramp with his title to accept his loss via countout. And people are supposed to see this wimp as a threat to Orton? Obviously these two men need momentum for their matches on Sunday but if you want them both to stand-out it'd be much better to sacrifice Shaemus in a toughly fought fifteen minute loss than to make the world heavyweight champion look so cowardly. The only person the champion should be cautious or slightly under-confident around is the main challenger to their throne. ** ½ Match: Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated AJ and Kaitliyn via pinfall They were pushing the idea of Beth and Natalya as the Divas of Doom, a title which both women have been tweeting each other about recently. They were certainly plenty dominant in this match in a bout which basically amounted to a squash with Beth reversing AJ's wheel barrow roll up attempt into the Glam-Slam for a successful pinfall. Post-match Beth and Natalya celebrated with one another before inflicting a further beat-down on their beaten opponents. A very short match but it served its purpose as another reminder of the changing of the guard in the Divas division and a final warning for Kelly Kelly who will defend her title against Beth this Sunday. * Backstage Zak Ryder was with Teddy Long. He said that the ratings were up because everyone who watches his youtube show is now watching Smackdown. Their conversation was interrupted by the presence of Cody Rhodes accompanied by his protege Ted Dibiase (yes the same Dibiase who was once groomed to be the WWE's next big breakout star). Rhodes wanted to thank Ryder for giving him an Intercontinental Title shot but Long chirped in that this was not Ryder's idea. Long was cut short by Askana however who proceeded to flirt with the GM like she did last week. Video package of Mark Henry's recent path of destruction with demolitions of Big Show, Kane and Kozlov. NXT winner Johnny Curtis was backstage when Henry gave him the bad news by telling him that they had been booked to face each other later on in the show. Match: Sin Cara defeated Tyson Kidd via pinfall Fun match. Cara did the usual rounds with his amazingly athletic but untidy repertoire whilst Kidd was a trooper selling for him. Impressive finish saw Cara using the middle ropes for a springboard front-flip splash before jumping over to the opposite ropes to land a springboard back flip splash for the pin. ** Match: Alberto Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan Del Rio powered Bryan into the corner after an initial lock-up and proceeded to hit him with some stomps. Bryan recovered to unleashed some uppercuts and then hit a dropkick on Del Rio into the corner in an awesome looking spot. Pinfall attempt by Bryan but Del Rio got back on top with a boot before throwing his opponent into the corner shoulder first. Bryan made an energetic comeback including a suicide dive to the outside but a missed dropkick proved to be his undoing as Del Rio countered with a successful cross armbar submission attempt. Not only did Bryan tap immediately but he did so in a match not even five minutes in length. ** Post-match Wade Barrett arrived to lay Bryan out with his wasteland finisher. The two men will compete against one another this Sunday. Match: Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (w/Ted Diabase) defeated Ezekiel Jackson to become the new champion (MATCH OF THE NIGHT) A title switch two days before a massive PPV which features neither champion nor challenger on the card. Baffling stuff. Anyway at least the match quality was of a pretty good standard. Ezekiel Jackson prevailed in the power game early on but Rhodes wore the big man down, working over his opponents shoulder and grounding him with a headlock. Jackson stood to his feet however and launched Rhodes backwards into the turnbuckles. Shortly after the big man began taking Rhodes apart with his multiple bodyslam routine but a torture ramp attempt was cut short when Cody made the ropes. At this point Dibiase hopped onto the apron to make the distraction and when Jackson turned back around he was met with some head-butts and the beautiful disaster manoeuvre Jackson stayed strong though but a failed charged clothesline attempt left him prone for the Cross Rhodes finisher. ** ½ Post-match Jackson took out his frustration on Ted Dibiase after both Dibiase and Rhodes had tried to embarrass him by putting a paper bag over his head. Graphic for the Randy Orton vs Khali match-up. Video package encapsulating the Punk/Cena rivalry. Match: Mark Henry defeated Johnny Curtis via pinfall Squash resulting in the world's strongest slam for a finish in a match that barely lasted a minute. DUD Post-match Henry went for the trapped leg in chair mid rope splash deal but he was interrupted once again by Sheamus who dashed to the ring as Henry swiftly exited through the ropes. Shaemus got on the mic and belittled Henry for running away. He dared him to come and face him inside the ring but Henry went over and grabbed Curtis instead, delivering another worlds strongest slam onto the floor in order to get some heat back. Match: Randy Orton defeated Great Khali via pinfall Orton did his best to sell Khali's horrible offence but he might as well have been cycling up a steep hill with a flat tyre. This was plodding, nauseating stuff which was mercifully cut short when Orton's dropkick ended up trapping his giant opponent amongst the ropes and leaving him vulnerable to a series of stomps across the chest. He followed it up with a DDT before getting himself worked up into a frenzy in the build up to the RKO. Khali countered with a vice grip however and temporarily got back on top of the match. After an array of uppercuts left his opponent dazed though Orton capitalised by diving across for a successful RKO attempt. * Post-match Christian came out wearing a smile. He was carrying a mic and told Orton that he couldn't wait for their no hallsbarred match because anything goes and he has the best thing going. VERDICT: A very counter-productive, poorly booked show just two days away from one of the biggest wwe PPV events of the year. The World Heavyweight Champion was treated as if he was an extra, there was a poorly timed title defence, a young man was destroyed on his debut and the money in the Bank winner Daniel Bryan saw his momentum ground to a halt as a result of a pathetic tap out in a short encounter. Meanwhile there were lots of matches but none were given enough time to serve their purpose of elevating stars or making them look good in preparation for Summerslam. Whilst everyone else had to make the most of limited time however, Triple H talked as if he was running for president. Props however to the booking team for holding back on any physical confrontation between Mark Henry and Shaemus and at least arousing some intrigue in regards to how Shaemus might fare against the recently dominant monster at Summerslam. Superstar of the Night: Shaemus €“ The Irishman looked crisp both in the ring and on the mic and is looking more and more ready for another spin in the world title scene. Moment of the Night: Sin Cara's springboard flips to finish off Tyson Kidd. When he actually hits his moves properly they look incredible.
Contributor

"Growing up, Laurent was such an ardent fan of wrestling superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin that he actually attempted to send the Texas Rattlesnake a letter demanding that he defeat arch-nemesis The Rock at Wrestlemania 15. Oh hell yeah, it was all still very real to him back then dammit. As an aspiring writer of multiple genres and platforms, he has also recently co-authored a non-fiction movie e-book entitled 'Egos, Cliches, Flops and Lost Films: Examining the powerful madness of the movies' which is written in a similarly light hearted and informative style to his wrestling articles and which can be browsed and purchased by following the link below - http://www.amazon.com/Egos-Cliches-Flops-Films-ebook/dp/B0088YNTBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339093928&sr=8-1"