Smackdown – May 11, 2012

Smackdown
Date: May 11, 2012
Location: Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’ve got two shows before Over the Limit and after Raw we have a
fatal fourway main event instead of just Sheamus vs. Del Rio which
should be a big upgrade over the singles match. Other than that we have
very little set up for the PPV on the blue side. The show is going to be
a filler show so it doesn’t really need to be that set up. I’m sure
we’ll get Show vs. Rhodes again too. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from the Raw tag match and the post match brawl/announcement in the back.

Sheamus/Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio/Chris Jericho

No car for Del Rio this time. Orton and Jericho get things going.
Randy takes him down with a shoulder block and slaps Sheamus on the
shoulder to tag him in. Sheamus clotheslines Jericho down and brings
Randy back in with a hearty slap on the arm. Off to Del Rio who gets
taken down but the knee drop misses. Alberto goes for the arm and drops
some knees on it.

Randy gets in a boot as the announcers say there’s no point in trying
to predict the fourway. Tag to Sheamus who hits the Regal Roll for two.
Jericho low bridges Sheamus to send him to the floor and gets in a shot
to the injured shoulder. Jericho comes in legally and puts on a
modified Fujiwara armbar.

To give you an idea of the commentary I have to listen to here, this
exchange happens: Josh: “I know you can’t predict a winner in the fatal
fourway but will Sheamus retain?” Michael: “I don’t think so because
it’s almost mathematically impossible. He only has a 25% chance.” After
that butchering of both logic and math, Sheamus hits Jericho with the ax
handle and tags in Orton. RKO is countered but a dropkick gets two for
Orton. Everything breaks down and the referee calls for the bell after
about four seconds for the double DQ at 5:19.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t really a match but rather
just a backdrop for the double DQ ending. That’s probably a good thing
too as there’s no need to have anyone look better or weaker before the
PPV. It was just a basic main event style tag match until then and at
least we didn’t have to wait long before it got thrown out.

Post break we’re told that it’s Del Rio vs. Orton and Sheamus vs. Jericho later.

AJ vs. Kaitlyn

AJ takes her down immediately and then does it again. She dropkicks
the knee and hits a running knee to the head for the pin at 35 seconds.

Post match AJ goes after Kaitlyn again but here’s Daniel Bryan. He
says he’s impressed by her ruthlessness and AJ looks like a little lost
puppy. Bryan sees her in a new light and is willing to move past all the
angst they’ve had. After he becomes WWE Champion at Over the Limit he’s
looking forward to moving on. AJ looks at him and Bryan nods, but Bryan
says he’s looking forward to moving on to Kaitlyn. AJ looks completely
psychotic and leaves.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show

Show corners him and chops the chest. Bryan goes for the knee but it
doesn’t do much good. Show chops him again but Bryan manages to take him
down with a middle rope dropkick. He hooks the YES Lock….and there’s
the bell at 1:28. Ace pops up at the timekeeper’s table and says Bryan
wins by submission.

Ace makes Show apologize again and Show is humiliated again. Ace says
that on Monday Show better give him a real apology. Way to emasculate
the good guys WWE! As Ace is leaving he says that at Extreme Rules,
Lesnar destroyed Cena and revolutionized the WWE. In nine nights, he’s
going to beat Cena and shake the WWE to its foundation.

Heath Slater is in the ring and says that his opponent looks like a
caveman with a pea sized brain. The guy he’s facing tonight hasn’t
beaten anyone like the One Man Southern Rock Band. Again, WHAT DOES THAT
NAME MEAN???

Ryback vs. Heath Slater

Slater actually gets in some offense but before I can make an NXT
joke, it’s powerslam, clothesline and MuscleBuster at 1:15 for Ryback’s
latest win.

Teddy Long is guest ring announcer for the next match.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Alex Riley

Teddy has to run off a long list of names for Cesaro such as the
Swiss Sensation, His Opponent’s Plight and Aksana’s Delight. Cesaro hits
a big boot in the corner and a gutwrench suplex. Riley gets in some
jobber offense but the spinebuster is broken up. The European Uppercut
sets up that Gotch whatever move for the pin at 2:23.

Post match Aksana reminds Teddy they were just friends but Cesaro is her lover. They kiss and Teddy wants to cry.

Video on Cena’s work with Make-A-Wish, which he wrote an article for
USA Today about. Love him or hate him, that’s awesome stuff.

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio

The entrances are cut for some reason. Del Rio controls to start but
Orton comes back and hits the slingshot into the bottom rope for two.
Alberto drapes the arm over the top rope to take over. Hammerlock slam
gets two and it’s off to an armbar. Orton gets up and powerslams Alberto
but the elevated DDT is countered. He sends Orton to the apron and hits
an enziguri for two.

Orton comes back again with the backbreaker but Del Rio kicks him in
the arm. Codebreaker to the arm puts Orton down and he loads up the
armbreaker, but Orton kicks him off. Elevated DDT from the top rope hits
but Ricardo is on the top rope. He jumps right into an RKO which is
good for the DQ at 5:22.

Rating: C. I liked this. The story of Orton using
his usual stuff to counteract all of the arm work was working for me and
even though there was no way Orton would ever tap to the hold, it was
interesting watching him counter all that stuff. Then again I’m an Orton
fan so that probably has a lot to do with it. Also anyone jumping into
an RKO is cool to see.

Del Rio puts Orton’s shoulder into the post and hooks the armbreaker post match.

R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger

This is due to the tag title match that was set up for the PPV. Truth
quickly takes over and hits a dancing legdrop for one. AW and company
are watching in the back. Mason Ryan is with them now. Swagger comes
back with a wheelbarrow suplex for two. He hits Truth’s back a few times
but Truth comes back with a DDT to put both guys down. Swagger tries
another wheelbarrow suplex but Truth rolls him up for two. Dolph trips
up Truth and gets punched and kicked by the champions. Swagger jumps
Truth on the floor but Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise. That lets the
Little Jimmy get the pin at 3:20.

Rating: D+. Another short match in an annoying
series of them tonight. This is your usual formula to set up a tag team
title match and I still have yet to find anyone that cares about this
match and feud at all. This match was just ok at best but again, with
only three and a half minutes to work with, there’s only so much they
could do.

We get a piece of the Cena sitdown interview from Monday.

Santino Marella/Zack Ryder vs. Titus O’Neil/Darren Young

Ryder doesn’t even get an entrance anymore. Titus runs Santino over
to start and slams him down. Off to Young who hits a neckbreaker and
belly to back suplex. Titus suplexes Young onto Santino and it’s off to a
Darren chinlock. Santino escapes and tags in Ryder who speeds things
up. He hits his usual stuff and the Broski Boot gets two on Darren.
Rough Ryder is broken up by Titus and Santino gets clotheslined down
while he loads up the Cobra. Young knocks Ryder off the ropes and the
Demolition Decapitator (called the Ghetto Blaster) gets the pin at 2:59.

Titus makes Lillian announce the winners again. They say they’ll be the new champions and make millions.

Damien Sandow says he knows his message is going over everyone’s
heads but they have no one to look up to. He’ll be the sword of taste
and decency, which concludes the interview. You’re welcome.

Brodus Clay vs. Hunico

Hunico and Camacho jump Brodus before the bell. Camacho is thrown out
and Brodus starts smiling. There’s the bell and the beating begins.
Suplex and splash end this at 54 seconds.

Post match it’s time to dance.

Video on HHH being attacked by Lesnar and Heyman returning to announce Brock quitting on Monday.

Chris Jericho vs. Sheamus

Sheamus takes him into the corner to start and uses the power to
control. Jericho misses a charge into the corner and Sheamus knocks him
off the apron into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Sheamus
hitting the slingshot shoulder block for two. Out to the apron and
Sheamus tries to suplex him to the floor, but Jericho drapes the arm
over the top rope to take over.

Sheamus’ arm goes into the post and Jericho puts on an armbar back in
the ring. The champ fights up but Jericho dropkicks him down. That gets
him nowhere as Sheamus makes his comeback. That gets countered also but
the Walls are countered. Irish Curse is broken up as is the Regal Roll.
The Walls go on but Sheamus is too close to the ropes. He sends Jericho
to the floor where Del Rio pops in and sends Jericho into the steps for
the DQ at 5:45 shown of 9:15.

Rating: C. Just like last time this was a pretty
decent match for the most part as the two of them had chemistry, but I’d
like to talk for a minute about psychology. Sheamus has a bad arm,
Jericho worked on the arm all match, and then he tried a back hold. I
get that it’s his finisher, but sometimes you need to go with the move
that makes sense instead of the finisher.

Post match Del Rio puts Sheamus in the armbreaker but Orton comes out
for the save. Del Rio takes all three finishers and Orton stares at
Sheamus to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show did a great job at
playing up the fourway with only Del Rio looking weak, which more or
less guarantees that he’ll be walking out with the title. The short
matches were annoying, but they got TEN matches on one show which has to
be way up there on the lists of two hour shows. Not a terrible show but
it was more for building up later shows than this one, which is
annoying but understandable.

Results

Sheamus/Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho/Alberto Del Rio went to a double DQ
AJ b. Kaitlyn – Running Knee
Daniel Bryan b. Big Show – YES Lock
Ryback b. Heath Slater – MuscleBuster
Antonio Cesaro b. Alex Riley – Gotch Style Neutralizer
Randy Orton b. Alberto Del Rio via DQ when Ricardo Rodriguez interfered
R-Truth b. Jack Swagger – Little Jimmy
Darren Young/Titus O’Neil b. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella – Demolition Decapitator to Ryder
Brodus Clay b. Hunico – Splash
Chris Jericho b. Sheamus via DQ when Alberto Del Rio interfered

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