WWE Smackdown Review 16-09-11 - Edge Appreciation Night!
It is EDGE Appreciation Night which means we must be in Toronto! Meanwhile Mark Henry is being setup to perhaps be a credible World Champion as his match against Randy Orton at Night of Champions grows closer.
Friday Night SmackdownSeptember 16th 2011 (Taped Sept 13th)Toronto, Canada It is EDGE Appreciation Night which means we must be in Canada. And here he comes to kick off the show. Later on he hosts the Cutting Edge with Orton and Henry. But first, mic him up. "It feels great to stand in a WWE ring, but it feels even better to do it in Toronto!". He misses competing, his friendships, and his entrance theme and pyro. But most importantly he misses the fans. Thank You Edge, chant. He cant finish his next thought however as disfigured Cody Rhodes interrupts. Instead of Edge plugging his appearance on the sci-fi show Haven, Cody does it for him. Rhodes thought Edge was above sucking up. Meanwhile his bag squad cover up some ugly faces at ringside. Edge tells him to do something himself and stop blaming everyone else. Cody thinks Edge is bitter. Last time he saw him, Edge was on a high and he was on a low. But now the roles are reversed. I guess that would make you the tragedy. Cody procures a brown paper bag as the crowd chant Spear. He hands it to Edge. He tells him to take it home and stick it on his mantle to remind him of what Smackdown has become. The new home of the new FACE of Smackdown, Cody Rhodes. Edge tells him if hes the new face of Smackdown then the whole show needs a paper bag. He cant understand how someone as charismatic as Dusty had a son like Cody. Edge tells him he has to leave to keep from falling asleep. Now hit his music! Edge strolls out as Cody fails to get his music turned off. Cody keeps talking on the mic and pointing out people who need paper bags at ringside. As he walks around ringside a Fan in a paper bag decks him, and slowly reveals himself to be Ted DiBiase! Ted hops the barrier and lays a beat down on Cody Rhodes. He drops him with Dream Street and tries to stick a paper bag on his head, but Cody escapes. Ted might be all angry and stuff, but that entrance music makes him sound ridiculous. Auto tune is the ultimate heel. Sin Cara 2: Attack of the Clones vs. Daniel Bryan The false Sin Cara plays the heel once more in this one which starts off with Bryan charging him with a dropkick as the lights turn that urine yellow. Bryan charges up a suicide dive, but Cara is quick enough to get back in the ring and take out his knees. Cara works the leg. Booker T: Hip bones connected to the leg bone! Thanks Booker! When we come back from the break theres a submission on Bryans leg that he is fighting out of. Sin Cara gives him a flying head butt though. Sin Cara goes for a Lionsault but takes a double foot to the face as he flips over. Bryan hits him with a LOUD forearm and some strong kicks. Cara catches Bryan in a Tree of Woe and keeps taking it to him with kicks. The referee counts to 5, Cara refuses to break and gets himself disqualified. Winner: Sin Cara Post match, Cara charges at Daniel with a low dropkick to the face and his music plays. The pyro goes off again and the OTHER Sin Cara returns on stage and does his entrance. The two Sin Cara come face to face. And they really do look eerily similar. Someone is going to have to change his ring gear colour for this match when it happens. The new (and improved) Sin Cara cowards out before a fight can happen. The commentators do their best to work it out. Zack Ryder is in Teddy Longs office talking him into invoking a Randy/Henry no contact ruling. But its Ryders job to tell them both. Teddy gets rid of Ryder but the porn film saxophone plays and the lights dim for Aksana to come in and lay the flirt on Teddy. They redo the old Trish/Triple H backstage hammerlock position and who should interrupt but TRISH STRATUS. How awkward. AJ Lee (w/Kaitlyn) vs. Beth Phoenix (w/Natalya) I dont know about her grappling skills. But AJ may well be my favourite Diva. Until Layla comes back of course. AJ tries to use speed, but Beth is too strong. AJ lands on her knees from a Gorilla Press but goes down holding her stomach. Beth dominates her and beats her easily with the Glam Slam. After the match Beth tells all the WWE Cinderellas that their fairy tale is about to end. Winner: Beth Phoenix Backstage Trish is teaching Edge yoga when Christian interrupts! Trish, nice of you to show up when you have something to sell. Christian forgives him for Summerslam and they exchange a hug. Then comes the favour. He asks Edge to ask Teddy for one more match for him. Edge goes to call him a bitch, but he storms off instead. Ryder runs up and tells Edge to tell Orton and Henry about their no contact rule and runs off before a response. Trish: Was that the internet champion? Wade Barrett & Christian vs. Justin Gabriel & Sheamus Apparently Sheamus hand picked Justin as his partner. Sheamus offers them some Irish pleasantries for the match. He tells Christian he looks like a horses arse, and Barrett hes as thick as a bag of manure and half as useful. I couldnt get Ax, I couldnt get Smasher so instead, I got the 450 Splasher! Sheamus new gimmick should be terrible limericks. Im kidding. Dont do that. Gabriel gets the better or Wade in the opening until he runs into a big Bossman Slam. Christian comes in and the Toronto fans cant help but cheer. He stays all over Gabriel and tags Wade back in. Gabriel rolls him up from a suplex for two, but eats a clothesline straight after. Barrett locks in the reverse chin lock to slow it down. Gabriel elbows out, kicks him a few times but gets lifted and just dropped from a height. Christian is back in and all over Justin. When we come back from the break, Wade Barrett is dropping Justin over his knee for a two count. Christian tags and misses a corner charge. Gabriel drops him with an STO and tags in Sheamus. Wade gets a tag too, but Sheamus is in charge. Christian distracts him as he ascends the buckles, but he still gets his flying shoulder on Wade. Christian runs in, gets set up for the Cross, escapes, gets throw outside. Wade eats a Brogue Kick. Justin tags and theres a 450 Splash for the win! Christian avoids further conflict after the bell. Winners: Sheamus and the 450 Splasher. The Great Khali vs. The One Man Southern Rock Band Heath Slater I think the only way anyone wins here would be for the lights to be turned out. And Slaters music too. Khali no sells all the offence. Jinder Mahal comes out speaking to Khali in his native tongue on the mic. Khali is distracted, but not once Slater hits him from behind. He grabs him for the Khali Bomb, but Mahal jumps in the ring to cause the DQ. Khali takes them both out easily. Winner: The Great Khali (DQ) Evan Bourne (w/Kofi) vs. R Truth (w/The Miz) Whats up? gets an Awesome Truth remix with new lyrics (You Suck) and some backing vocals from the Miz. And as for the Miz, he and Kofi join the commentary team. Miz mocks Kofi for wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He must not realise Truth does that. Meanwhile in ring, Evan reverses a suplex with a knee and gets a two count. Truth ducks a kick with a splits but just takes another in the face. Evan goes up top for the Shooting Star, Truth moves, Evan lands on his feet. Truth drops him with his jumping Flap Jack. Both tag champions have lose this week, which in WWE usually means they will retain on PPV. Although Im not sure itll apply this time. Very short match. Winner: R Truth And that was our main event because now its time for The Cutting Edge. He sucks up to Toronto a bit first. Then he brings out Mark Henry and Randy Orton. He reminds them that they cant touch each other during the Cutting Edge. Which leads me to believe they can after it? Edge says hes going to shoot from the hip. He asks does he honestly think he can beat Henry. Orton points out that Henry only attacks after his matches. He says Henry probably knows that his best isnt good enough. I dont think I can beat you. I know I can. Edge says Randy is right. Lets look at it. Your career has been disappointing. He tells Henry he started in 1998, when Henry was already a veteran, and Mark has never won either World Title. Edge questions his desire. Maybe you just arent good enough to get to that level. Mark tells him the only reason hes going to let him leave under his own power is because. Edge is right. 15 years hes seen weaker, smaller people become champion. Hes seen Orton win it over and over. He says they tell him to go out and smile and show personality. Im done smiling. Im done showing personality. Im here to DESTROY and im here to take what you got. Orton tells him the match will be symbolic. It might look impressive, but hell ultimately be the Worlds Strongest Failure. Edge reminds them again that during the show there was no contact. But its also the part of the time where he tells them that the show is officially over. They IMMEDIATELY start on each other, as Teddy Long frantically brings out a group of lower card talents and Zack Ryder to break them up. Somehow the pack gets thinned out and Henry manages to floor Randy with the Worlds Strongest Slam. Big Splash to Orton. And another Strongest Slam. Mark Henry stands tall with the belt. Thoughts: A pretty decent Smackdown episode, which felt like it had a lot more crammed into it than Raw did this week. Still too many short matches though. The talk of Mark Henrys major failures got me thinking that WWE seem to be ready to pull the trigger on finally giving him a World Title. And although Im not a huge fan, hes never been more ready than he is now. Elsewhere, it was interesting to see the return of the original Sin Cara from his suspension. Where they go next with that storyline will be a weird one since the original Cara has never spoken. One things for sure, they definitely need one of them to change their ring gear. Hopefully they learned at least that from Undertaker vs. Undertaker all those years ago. This Sundays Night of Champions has a packed card and has had a decent build, hopefully now it pays off.